Abstract Strategy Games

Think of a board game, stripped down of any possible theme, just a concentration of simple rules with equally simple win conditions. What comes to your mind? Now hold on to that thought. Many of you will be thinking of Chess as the quintessential game that satisfies these criteria, others will mention Draughts or Checkers as they are known in the US.

Games like Chess or Draughts fall under a category of games collectively termed abstract strategy games (aka ASG). These are games which exist within an established gaming framework that has withstood the test of time and which adopts extremely terse rule sets. The beauty of these gaming constructs is not in their self-evident simplicity but rather in the myriad permutations to which each move is subject to. Taking Draughts for example, each piece can only move in very finite and simple ways. At the start of a game, each piece can move diagonally, either to the left or to the right, one space at a time. Alternatively a piece may capture another by jumping over it along the same, permissible, diagonal paths. Now fast forward to, say, half a dozen moves and suddenly the number of possible moves increases, as do the implications of each move executed. This complexity or increase in the number of possible permutations, is what makes these games highly replayable and timeless. Just to put you in the picture it was calculated that Draughts has ten to the power of twenty different possible board positions.

When it comes to game mechanisms, most of these games appear to follow the principle game concept of capturing the opponent’s pieces and you would not be faulted to think that this was the only game mechanism out there. In truth there are several variations when it comes to ASGs.

Area Control is another game mechanism that has been explored in classic ASGs. When this principle is followed, it is more about claiming territory and inhibiting the movement  of your opponent. In the classic game Othello or Reversi, players take turns trying to enclose lines of the opponent’s pieces between two of their own. When this is done, anything in between becomes spaces claimed by the active player. At the end of a match the player with most of their own pieces on the board is the winner. To achieve this effect players use special two-sided checkers with one side being dark and the other light. Yet while at face value you could still say that you are capturing pieces, in truth it is more an encroaching tactic since pieces are never truly removed from the board but only added. An even more ancient game called Go, hailing originally from China, uses a similar encroaching tactic until there is no more spaces to claim. Admittedly Go is infinitely more complex to both play and master, but the basic principle behind both is similar. Go has a strong  and passionate crowd of followers the world over and is considered by many to be superior to Chess. If this can be used as an indicator of the game complexity, the first AI win against a Chess grand master took place in 1997 when IBM's Deep Blue beat the world chess champion after six games with two wins, three draws and one win for the chess champion. Eventually AIs caught up with Go but that win had to wait nineteen years until 2016 when Google's DeepMind defeated the raining Go champion 4 wins to 1. You can have a look at a very entertaining video of Go over here.

Seeding games adopt a pool of common pieces, moving them along a common path leading to special designated areas where they can then be claimed and removed from play. Mancala is one such game. Tactics here involve moving pieces in such a way as to increase the chances of claiming them, removing them from play, while at the same time making it difficult  for your opponent to do the same. Interestingly, games like Five Tribes adopt this mechanism as part of their ruleset, proving that the  tactic can still be employed effectively in modern board games.

Other classic ASGs like Hnefatafl, also known as The Viking Chess Game, adopt an asymmetric approach where one side is trying, in this instance, to help a King escape while the other will do its utmost to stop him from doing so. Have a look at this gorgeous digital adaptation from Rain Games, available on Steam. Then if you would like a decent presentation on the history of asymmetric board games including Hnefatafl, have a look at this excellent video.

Yet ASG’s are not something you can compartmentalise as being something from the past. There are many game designers out there coming up with some brilliant ASG’s. Just consider Hive for instance. This is an ASG that does away with a board focusing instead on hexagonal tiles with a “capture the queen” objective. Some may argue that there is a theme, insects but the same can be said for Chess in that case.

Another intriguing modern ASG is Tzaar. This game, designed by Kris Burm, is part of a series of ASGs known collectively as the GIPF project

published by Rio Grande Games. Tzaar is a game which invites players to make choices throughout. There are three types of pieces and they must all be represented on the board if you want to win. It is part capture and part positional in that you can try to manoeuvre your opponent into a position where he cannot make legal moves and therefore lose.

Personally, when I think of ASGs I think of them as game mechanisms laid bare, stripped of all that would otherwise obfuscate their simple, elegant geniality. Here you have all the elements of a game, all the strategic depth in one beautiful package. This is why many have survived the test of time or have been transformed or are still being transformed one generation after another. Most people will forget the number one board game of 20XX but tell them to sit down and show an ASG like Chess or Draughts  and you will most likely find that they know the game.

That is all I have for you today. Now I will take my leave, I’ve just loaded Viking Chess and I think I will take it for a spin.

Upgrading your Hobby

When it comes to the fairly modern phenomenon of commercially available board game component upgrades, your attention becomes equally drawn to the fact that game designers these days feel a growing need to differentiate themselves from competition through either some gimmicky component or other trendy game design feature. This is a perfectly natural progression to the design process, since it is only by standing out from the crowd that one can hope to get noticed. 

The issue however is that the more sophisticated your board game becomes and the more components you cram into your box, the more expensive the product gets going to retail. Personally, I feel that this matter has deteriorated (depends obviously on how you look at it) with the advent of Kickstarter games. Most Kickstarter products feel intrinsically premium in their overall design. In many cases designers will beef up products with a substantial number of upgraded components, frequently trading cardboard counters with all sorts of plastic equivalents, metal coins and, in some cases, neoprene mats instead of cardboard game boards. In doing so, the price of the product increases but since these games are aimed at fans, the latter are often willing to fork out the price. 

Yet before I dive into this subject matter any further, let’s consider where this all started. This is because to be fair, in the past people still upgraded their favourite games, or created souped up versions, just that they were all homebrew productions, carefully and lovingly crafted. I have seen gorgeous 3D renditions of such popular titles as Settlers of Catan, Talisman and others. All clearly the product of very artistic folk but not commercially available. If they were, they would most probably cost a fortune. If I were to speculate here, I think that it’s precisely these homebrew ideas that gave designers of kickstarter products ideas for embellishing their published games. Yet they weren’t the only reason I am sure, the crux of the matter I guess was that in order to add value to the rather pricey kickstarter products, designers had to offer something that went beyond standees or cardboard cutouts. 

Where does this leave the more mainstream (non-Kickstarter) offerings? In most cases these products are published in various formats, from an entry level, mass-market package that follows traditional production formats, to premium versions aimed at hobbyists. For instance, if you were to Google “Hanabi”, a popular set-building game, you would be surprised by the number of variations the search will come up with. At its most basic level, Hanabi is just a card game which may or may not employ counters to maintain tallies. As you go through your search results however, you will also find a version that comes in a tin box and another that has totally replaced the cards with Mahjong-style, chunky, plastic tiles. Obviously, the latter is significantly more expensive than the card-based sets.  

Now, the million-dollar question, does it pay to purchase a premium version of any given game? The answer is a bit complicated and must be summed up in two words, basically “it depends”. 

Some will argue that any board game is the sum of three key features namely: - 

• Gaming mechanisms and quality of play 

• Design and friendliness of the user interface and 

• Replay value. 

The first point, that is, gaming mechanisms and quality of play are indeed fundamental. If this aspect is spot on, minor design flaws (we are talking aesthetics not related to core game mechanisms) could be overlooked to an extent. As an example, I would like to point out the game Ethnos by CMON games. In terms of game play and replay value, the game is great, yet its design is minimalistic at best and generic when it comes to the fantasy art employed on the in-game cards. Do I still consider it an enjoyable game, definitely. This is because the user interface, though plain, is spot on and everyone knows what he or she should be doing next. While games like Ethnos could benefit from upgraded artwork, it would be more a “nice to have” in this instance. 

Yet there are games, which already have great design and artwork, but which would offer a better player experience if the quality of one or more components were upgraded. We’re not talking about components that would change the game mechanisms in any way whatsoever, other than from a tactile perspective. For instance, using metal coins when these are intended as the counter type within a game can be a very pleasant tactile experience for the players concerned.  

Companies like “The broken token” in the USA have in fact specialised in offering upgraded coin options for some of the more popular game titles including, among others, Lords of Waterdeep, Viticulture, Scythe and Seven Wonders. In most instances the upgrades can come with a steep price tag (when compared to the core game), so that they may not be for everyone’s pockets. Still, if you are passionate about a particular board game or other, having bought all available expansions, the next step could well be upgrading some or all its in-game components. 

Alternatively, components could be upgraded through other means if you happen to have the tools and artistic disposition. At the simplest level, players could decide to manually paint in-game miniatures to make them more appealing. This, if done properly, can add more depth to the pieces used in play, though care should be taken to ensure that any paint applied to the miniatures is durable and can sustain some measure of handling.  

If one were to take board game component upgrades seriously, 3D printers would be another way one could use to produce game tokens. Over recent years, the cost of entry-level 3D printers has dropped significantly. You can now find basic, 3D plastic filament printers, selling locally for around €200. The benefit of using these printers is that all you need to produce multiple copies of a given token, is a good 3D model file and plastic filament.  Once you load the file, all the printer requires is a clean environment where it can be left alone to perform its magic. The quality of the final product depends on the printer’s resolution as well as on the quality of the filament used. Both aspects need to be considered when purchasing these materials. 

Given the investment necessary I think that only genuine board game hobbyists will really consider going to such lengths. If you love a particular game, chances are you will go out of your way to get the best version of that game. Consider Chess boards for instance, you can well enough play with a €15-30 set but you will find hardcore chess players willing to spend thousands on a luxury set and custom table. I think that it is all about the enjoyment you derive from the game itself as well as the disposable cash you are willing to spend on your hobby. The more enjoyment you derive whilst playing, the more likely it is that you will spend money to get the best possible experience. 

Given the reality of today’s global situation, no discussion on this topic can be complete without discussing the logistics behind purchasing and getting any upgrades. Due to the global pandemic and now, very unfortunately, also because of the disruptions that are being experienced in relation to the war in Ukraine, global transport logistics have suffered a heavy toll. As a consequence shipping goods around the globe has become increasingly expensive. Getting single items to your home has never been costlier. I will talk on a personal level here and say that my board game purchases from abroad have gone down to zero over the past 24 months. At the moment, I am more likely to tap into the local market and purchase goods from local suppliers, who still somehow manage to keep costs per item low by aggregating their shipping. For now this stratagem appears to be working for the local importers as the prices are indeed competitive and comparable to online prices.

Yet having said all this, it all really comes down to personal taste and the pleasure one derives from playing a well presented and upgraded game. Clearly, if board games are not your thing, or you just happen to be a casual player, then upgrading games will not appeal to you. If on the other hand, you do consider yourself a hobbyist in addition to enjoying board games in general, then upgrading game components will definitely add to the experience.