The Moment

I'm the host of a local game night that meets in the cafe area of the local Borders Bookstore. We usually take up two to four of the cafe tables and play our games right there, amidst the coffee-drinking, book-buying public.

Because of this, I regularly meet people who have no idea what kind of games we're playing. Their experience is limited to Trivial Pursuit, Monopoly, Clue and maybe Risk so our games are a completely new world to them. Many just can't imagine, based on their own experience, that games can be fun, challenging, exciting, tense, and exhilarating. The people who dismiss the whole idea usually have convinced themselves that games just "aren't for me."

I am sure that many of these people would love many of the games we play. Since today is a family holiday in America, let's take a look at a category of games that I generally don't enjoy, "Party games". I've spent many enjoyable hours playing Wits & Wagers, a trivia game where you don't need to know any trivia, you just need to bet on which player you think does know the answer, and Ca$h 'n Gun$, where players are "Reservoir Dogs" characters splitting up the loot -- everyone simultaneously points their gun at another player and you either flee, missing out on the split, or stay, hoping that the person pointing at you haven't decided to use one of their three bullets on you. There are even some non-party games that can be played with a group that provide hours of enjoyment. I'm thinking of Bang!, Wings of War, Fearsome Floors, Formula De, 6 Nimmt. I could list dozens.

For me, when I play a game, one of the things I enjoy in a game is when it has what I call "The Moment".

What is this "Moment" of which I speak? For me, it's the delicious tension (yes, I know using the word "delicious" to describe an emotion is pretty effeminate), while you wait for your turn, hoping against hope that no one messes up your carefully laid plans. I find that the moment happens most in resource management games where I'm competing against the other players for limited resources or actions. Two good examples are Power Grid and Agricola.

Let's look at Power Grid. "The Moment" occurs on the penultimate turn of the game. I've bought the resources I need to power my plants to maximum capacity. I have a stash of money that (quite often) just happens to be exactly the amount I need to connect to three more cities and win the game. Now, all that's left is to wait while every other player takes their turn. I've calculated it out and it seems unlikely that anyone will take the cities I need, but there's no way to be sure.

The tension as the turn makes its way around the table is incredible. Do I engage in small talk, hoping to distract the other players from seeing my upcoming game-winning move? Or would that give away what I'm doing? When the turn makes it back to me and my plans are unspoiled, it's fantastic. Likewise, the sting of defeat is greatest when I'm tripped up right on the threshold of victory.

These types of moments occur in many of the games I play and I consider them one of the marks of a great game. Consider Monopoly. Does it have anything comparable? Nope. Once you've acquired your properties, made your deals and built your homes, all that's left is rolling of the dice, waiting for someone to roll badly and give you the game. The game is effectively over, you're just waiting to see who won.

In Agricola, you can gather a full fifteen wood, have a huge herd of animals standing by, and just as you're about to take the "Build Fences" action, build a huge stockade and use the Lasso to pull the ten sheep into your new pastures, the player before you takes the sheep and has a big barbecue. Or, he takes the "Build Fences" action and builds a tiny little pasture out of four wood. Both actions completely screw you over. Beautiful.

"The Moment" happens to be my favorite thing to experience in a game. It's one of the things that makes gaming so much fun.