Reply To: How do you feel about new game mechanics?

[McLaddie]

My wife and I just bought a new Toyota Camry.  After which I was surprised by how many other makes of cars looked like it [or it like them], often with some of the same things like headlights and grill. It’s hard to tell which make first had that particular design, but what is obvious is that everyone else thought it was well-liked enough to copy it.  Why? Because is is easier and has a higher surety of being liked than something entirely new.  [That ‘Practical’ part of your original list.]

On the other hand, often games are promoted as ‘new’ or ‘improved’ because that sells too.  How well they are accepted has a lot to do with presentation and compelling “Whys.’

If the rules are simple, easy to grasp, then the ‘new’ will be easier to accept. If the new offers things that gamers want more of or haven’t been offered before, then there will be more reasons to ‘take a risk’ and spend good money on an ‘unknown.’  Then again, if gamers aren’t sure of the new game mechanics, they will often go with the designer because of past history or other games he has done that they like.  He gets a following… which, at times can mean that anything done is great, regardless of the promotional claims.

So… Personally, I look at the game, what it is supposed to do for me compared to what I want.  If the game works, the mechanics are coherent and capture dynamics that I haven’t seen before, then I will like them… and I don’t do well with complex games… My latest game love affair is Chain of Command and I haven’t gotten into WWII before.  So in many respects, the whole era, both familiar and new mechanics were new to me…  But I still enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to your wargame too.

I can tell you how I feel about playing or worse purchasing a game that claims to be something revolutionary or offering new experiences only to find that they use ‘pips’ instead of command points or ‘elan’ instead of combat strength points and the rest is very familiar.  I hate it. I feel suckered and certainly don’t enjoy playing ‘same old, same old’ when I already have that game with different names for the mechanics.  But I am ever hopeful.