An introduction to modern board gaming

1. Cardboard Comeback
The World of Modern Board Gaming

3. Who am I?
Ben Turner (@phantomwhale)
Board Game “addict” for 10+ years
Host two open gaming groups in the CBD

4. Agenda
1. History
2. Modern classics
3. What’s changed?
4. Why modern board games?
5. A-Z of game genres
6. Finding the right game for you
7. How to get into gaming

5. History of board gaming
(abridged. Heavily)

8. MB Games (1860-1984)
Snakes and Ladders
Game of Life
Yahtzee
Connect 4

9. Parker Brothers (1883)
Monopoly
Trivial Persuit
Cluedo
Risk

10. Hobby Gaming

11. Axis and Allies (1982)

12. Heroquest (1989)

13. European Games
Settlers of Catan (1995)
Carcassonne (2000)
Ticket to Ride (2004)

14. BOARD GAME EXPLOSION !!!

15. Modern Classics
Our new cardboard overlords

17. Modern Classics
Our new cardboard overlords

27. So What’s
Changed?
I seem to remember enjoying the first hour of
Monopoly. Once.

28. No Player Outage
No players must be out of the game early. All players
must stand a chance, however small, to win the game
till the very end.

29. Quick game is a good game
The game must last a reasonable amount of time. Family
games typically last 45 minutes.

30. Meaningful Decisions
Modern games are based on interesting mechanisms
that keep players on the edge of their seats. Players face
difficult decisions. Making the right ones is important to
win.

31. Is it my turn yet ?
Modern games are fluid, with little downtime. To avoid
any lengthy process, some games make everyone play
simultaneously. For turn-based games, designers make
sure that everyone is active even when it is not their
turn to play

32. Make it pretty
Modern games benefit from quality work of illustrators
which reinforce the theme

34. Why board gaming?
I thought Angry Birds meant an end to all this dice rolling

40. An A-Z of Game Genres
Massively abridged. Again.

41. Area Control
Small World (2009)

42. Co-operative
Pandemic (2007)

43. Deduction
The Resistance (2009)

44. Dexterity
Loopin’ Louie (1992)

45. Engine Builder
Splendor (2014)

46. (Push Your) Luck
King of Tokyo (2007)

47. Microgame
Love Letter (2012)

48. Party
Ugg-Tect (2009)

49. Roll and Move
Monopoly, Snakes and Ladders, Ludo, Game of Life…

50. Real Time
Galaxy Trucker (2012)

51. Story telling
Mice & Mystics (2012)

52. Zombies
Dead of Winter (2014)

53. The Right Game for You
Or why new games are trumping the old “classics”

66. How to get started
Less talk, more gaming!

67. Find out more
BoardGameGeek.com (website) - forums for ALL games
TableTop (YouTube) - celebrity geeks playing games
Shut Up and Sit Down (website) - funny video reviews
Dice Tower (YouTube / podcast) - video reviews since ‘95

68. Which game is the best?
Spiel des Jahres
Dice Tower “seal of excellence”
Golden Geek (BGG)

69. I want one!
Games Laboratory (CBD)
Mind Games (CBD)
Good Games* (CBD)
SpielDeluxe* (North Melbourne)
GateKeeper Games (Fitzroy North)
*or online

71. Join Us
Melbourne Boardgames Group - meetup.com
Godzilla Games (Tues weekly)
Cardboard City Games Club
(Wed fortnightly)
Cafe Games (Sat monthly)

72. Thank you for listening
And have fun gaming !!!

73. Any Questions ?