After having a hard time getting this weeks post down on paper I decided in a moment of panic to think of all the different ways I could procrastinate writing this post within a board game.
1. Engage in no trades in the game of Monopoly.
2. Only conquer one territory a turn in Risk.
3. After castling in Chess only move your king back and forth for rest of the game.
4. Hoard resources in Settlers of Catan by never turning in any cards to get anything.
5. Never move your back line in checkers.
6. Order all units to support in Diplomacy.
7. Every move of Clue goes between the Kitchen and the Study.
8. Shoot no one in Bang!
9. Do not complete any objectives in Firefly.
10. Play Twilight Imperium.
#10 cracked me up.
ReplyDeleteBut you have the makings of a more serious design examination here. What elements of a game design can force the game to move forward even if players procrastinate? Monopoly fails in that respect; if no one develops a monopoly, everyone's income will exceed the rent they pay every time they go around the board, and the game will never end. If people hoard cards in Settlers, the robber will make them pay, but nothing makes them build.
Pandemic, on the other hand, compels players to make progress, or it overwhelms them. Games that end when a card deck is exhausted generally have a built in timer. Finite roll-and-move games like Life and Parcheesi necessarily end after a certain point (although arguably they don't give players an opportunity to procrastinate, either - except perhaps by leaving pawns in the start circle indefinitely).