How to rate games, your input requested
I am setting up a new online collection of game ratings for Area 42 and I wanted to reach out to those of you who are experienced game players for an opinion.
Many game sites (electronic or otherwise) will give a single number to rate their games by. To me this seems an oversimplification. I can have loads of fun playing Diplomacy on the one day and then turn around and play Fluxx the next. Diplomacy has no randomness, lots of backstabbing and involves a board and a war theme. Fluxx is a card game where more often than not you win randomly when its not even your turn!
So here is my question. Given that Area 42 wants to have multiple rating systems, can you suggest any that you would like to see?
You will note that "Fun" is explicitly not one of our ratings. If the game isn't fun on some level then why would we sell it? The point of this exercise is that different games are fun for different reasons. There will be people who don't like playing games with lots of Double Crossing just as there will be those who only play those kinds of games. The goal is to help people find the games that are fun for them!
Here are some that we have already thought of to help communicate what we are thinking of (and a sample game that would score high in that category)
Ease of Learning the Game (needs a much shorter name) (example: Fluxx)
Player Cooperation (ex: Settlers of Catan which requires trading of cards)
Double Crossing (ex: Diplomacy)
Complexity (ex: Arkham Horror)
More?
Many game sites (electronic or otherwise) will give a single number to rate their games by. To me this seems an oversimplification. I can have loads of fun playing Diplomacy on the one day and then turn around and play Fluxx the next. Diplomacy has no randomness, lots of backstabbing and involves a board and a war theme. Fluxx is a card game where more often than not you win randomly when its not even your turn!
So here is my question. Given that Area 42 wants to have multiple rating systems, can you suggest any that you would like to see?
You will note that "Fun" is explicitly not one of our ratings. If the game isn't fun on some level then why would we sell it? The point of this exercise is that different games are fun for different reasons. There will be people who don't like playing games with lots of Double Crossing just as there will be those who only play those kinds of games. The goal is to help people find the games that are fun for them!
Here are some that we have already thought of to help communicate what we are thinking of (and a sample game that would score high in that category)
Ease of Learning the Game (needs a much shorter name) (example: Fluxx)
Player Cooperation (ex: Settlers of Catan which requires trading of cards)
Double Crossing (ex: Diplomacy)
Complexity (ex: Arkham Horror)
More?