2010-3: Magic: the Gathering (-2)
Finally down to my top 3. First, the old #1, Magic: the Gathering, takes a tumble down the rankings.
Several reasons behind this, both in the total lack-of-play department (a grand total of one game of Beach Week: the Gathering, and none of standard Magic), as well as an epic fail at trying to play competitively (sold off some old rare stuff to buy a bunch of singles, at around $100, to try to play “extended” format magic, but due to my inability to read a calendar the cards rotated out of the format before they ever arrived on my doorstep, and my deck wasn't legal for the tournament. This kind of thing is exactly why I stopped playing competitive Magic, but every half-decade or so I forget and try again).
Narrative Theme: 7. They try. They really do. Pictures and quotations on every card. Novels to accompany every release. Recurring characters from set to set. Unfortunately, unless you're playing “block” format (only using cards from a single set), the story is so fragmented as to be non-existent. At this point, there have been 13 different “core” card sets that have no real storyline, 6 different “pre-block-format” storyline sets, and 17 “block format” collections of 2-3 story-related card sets. And that's ignoring sets consisting entirely of reprints, silly non-tournament-legal sets, and “intro” sets. Each of these sets range in size from 250-550 cards, putting us well over 10,000 cards in existence, and more every year. So if you're playing block-only, the narrative theme is more like a 9, but if you're playing with the full historical range it's more like a 4-5.
Mechanical Theme: 5. You're supposedly a wizard, employing the magic power innate in the lands you have visited/conquered/something-or-other to summon creatures to fight for you, and/or to cast spells. Got it. Makes some sort of sense, relates vaguely to the mechanics. Trouble is, that's the 10,000-foot overview of the game. Does it have anything to do with the individual card-set storylines I discussed above? Nope. Does it have anything to do with what the cards are actually doing? Not particularly. You could (and I have) re-theme this game to be about virtually anything. And thus the collectable card game genre was born.
Price vs. Component Quality: 1. And here's the core problem with Magic (and all collectable games for that matter),which just so happens to also be the reason it's so deep and compelling. New sets are coming out all the time, and old sets are “rotating out” of playability (“Standard” format uses the last two sets, “Extended” format uses the last 4-5). Unless you have iron self-control, or have no interest in being competitive (which is where all the fun is at), you are going to end up spending a LOT of money, for not much reward. How much money, you ask? Let's assume that you want to be truly competitive, which means that, starting today, you are going to purchase 4 copies (a “play set;” as you can have up to 4 copies of any 1 card in a deck) of every card from every tournament-playable set that comes out. You can purchase full play sets online for approximately $950-$1,000. Or, if you have lots of time on your hands, and want to roll the dice, you could buy 2 cases of cards (= 12 boxes = 440 packs of cards = 6,600 cards) for around $1,050, and spend the next 30 hours of your life sorting them, and then many more hours down at the local game shop trading cards you have too many of for cards you don't have enough of. You should then end up with enough extra cards that you can sell some online, and make back $200 or so of your investment. (Math courtesy of my local game store's retired math major:http://www.yottaquest.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=47:the-metaphysics-of-farming-a-full-playset&Itemid=17 Ok, so let's round that to $1,000 per set, and there are 7ish sets that come out every year. $7,000 per year on a card game??? Not counting tournament entry fees, travel costs, etc.? Insanity. I love playing Magic. I particularly love playing competitive Magic. But I don't love it $7,000/year worth.
Rule Complexity: 9 or 10. Yes, we're in war game territory. The newest version of the “basic” rulebook clocks in at 34 pages, while the February 2011 edition of the “comprehensive” rulebook is 186 pages. That's with no pictures, extended examples of play, stories... just rules. For comparison's sake, my #4 game, Brass, has a 13-page rulebook. #5 Indonesia? 8 pages. #6 El Grande? 11. In fact, I suspect that if you added together all the pages in all the rulebooks for the rest of my top twenty-five games, they'd be fewer than Magic's mammoth 186-page tome (which isn't even complete, you need 3 more documents to have all the rules).
Depth/Replayability: 10. Magic is still my favorite game to play. There's so much going on here, so many variables. I've devoted more time (and money) to Magic than every other game on this list, combined and cubed. And I've never gotten bored. Given the constant influx of new cards, I doubt I ever could get bored.
Mechanical Elegance: 3. Great concept, and the game would have scored a 7-8 when it first came out, back when it had a 10-page rulebook. 15 years and 10,000 cards later, things have gotten too over-complicated for words.
Length vs. Enjoyment: 8. Approximately 15 minutes per game. Perfect. The problem is, variability is all over the map, as game length really depends on the specific deck match-ups. I've played 30-second games, and I've played 2-hour games. If it really always clocked in at 15 minutes, with this depth of play, Magic would rank a perfect 10.
Other indefinables: What stops me from playing Magic, or even recommending that other people play, is limited time and money, and the high barrier to entry for new players. So, despite the fact that for the first time in my life there's a store within walking distance where I could play competitively all day long, every day, and despite the fact that it's still my favorite game to play... I now can't/won't play Magic, except at the beach. I'm just unwilling to make the investment necessary to reap the enjoyment I know I would get out of the game.
Best for: People who love complicated games with excellent tournament support and a huge player base. Magic is often compared to Chess, and with good reason.
Avoid if: You have an addictive personality, or a shortage of funds.