My take on co-operative games - and why I don't like them as much as I should.
I'm posting this here because I don't really have anywhere else to post it yet. I might do so later as a note on Facebook, but for now I want to vent my spleen about co-operative games, following a very bad article about games being good for your brain, including, gods forbid, Monopoly. One of the games included was Pandemic, the mention of which did actually lead to some thinking.
I didn't like Pandemic. I'm only semi-sold on Scotland Yard these days (although I do love the map, the concept and being Mr X) and I'm not really all that bothered by the idea of other co-operative games. It's not the competetive streak in me that causes me a lack of eagerness to play them, but the fact that nearly every time I've played a co-operative game, I've been the one sat there listening and doing sweet sod all except move my piece the way I'm told. Okay, part of this might be due to my inability to have enough confidence in my own voice, or being too polite to talk over people until I'm heard, but I tend to find that in every co-operative game I've played, someone usually takes charge and I become quieter and quieter and shove my pieces around and eventually lose any interest altogether. I'd be interested in studying the dynamics of people playing co-operative games to see how applicable this is to other gamers.
Oh wait, there WAS one relatively co-operative game we played which involved a timer for making moves. That was...interesting. And stressful. VERY stressful!
I didn't like Pandemic. I'm only semi-sold on Scotland Yard these days (although I do love the map, the concept and being Mr X) and I'm not really all that bothered by the idea of other co-operative games. It's not the competetive streak in me that causes me a lack of eagerness to play them, but the fact that nearly every time I've played a co-operative game, I've been the one sat there listening and doing sweet sod all except move my piece the way I'm told. Okay, part of this might be due to my inability to have enough confidence in my own voice, or being too polite to talk over people until I'm heard, but I tend to find that in every co-operative game I've played, someone usually takes charge and I become quieter and quieter and shove my pieces around and eventually lose any interest altogether. I'd be interested in studying the dynamics of people playing co-operative games to see how applicable this is to other gamers.
Oh wait, there WAS one relatively co-operative game we played which involved a timer for making moves. That was...interesting. And stressful. VERY stressful!