Days of Wonder Pseudo-Ameritrash?

So I have been playing a lot of Days of Wonder games. And are moslty always attracted to them but for some reason they always let me down.

The games I'm talking about here are:

Battlelore/Memoir 44
Pirate's Cove
Shadows over Camelot
Small world

At first sight I always like the games. Nice themes: (Fantasy) wargaming, pirates, knights of the round table, fantasy worlds. Nice components, nice sculpted mini's, good looking artwork.

It's the gameplay that's a huge letdown for me. If the rulebooks were different it would make great ameritrash that I'm sure of. There is direct conflict in some games, it has a luck factor. It's not that. It's just the leave me feeling cold. The games are streamlined way too much. When a game absolutely craves for dice resolved combat (small world anyone?) it's not there. Things like that kill the game for me. It makes me believe that Days of Wonder are just Eurogames in an Ameritrash camouflage. I know in a way that can be applied to more ameritrash games but I never get that feeling as strongly as with Days of Wonder games.

So what do you guys think?

LilRed wrote:

It makes me believe that Days of Wonder are just Eurogames in an Ameritrash camouflage.

This kind of statement means the whole classification system has gone too far.

It might just be that there's not enough complexity offered in those games to meet your taste. If I want to play a WWII or pirate themed game, I want more supporting detail than either Memoir '44 or Pirates Cove offer, even though I think they both play very well and understand why others like them.

Nick Warcholak wrote:

It might just be that there's not enough complexity offered in those games to meet your taste. If I want to play a WWII or pirate themed game, I want more supporting detail than either Memoir '44 or Pirates Cove offer, even though I think they both play very well and understand why others like them.

+1

DoW do 'family friendly' games (must be good for the sales numbers) and sometimes adults want something with a bit more bite and/or complexity.
I like M'44 and play it (not as often though) with my regular gaming opponents but as I have played it with my son since he was about eight I think that sums it up nicely.

DoW make forgettable family games with really nice production values.

small world seems to be a spoof AT game. it is AT at first look, but when you play it you suddenly realise it's not remotely AT.

I used to think DoW was the be-all and end-all of AT games. Hahaha. At the time, the only game with dice I played was Battlelore. I thought "Wow. These people know their shit. They got dwarfs and goblins and stuff!"

Then I played Descent, and I never looked back. Until FFG got Battlelore.

I still like DoW games, for playing with my sister. She gets a nosebleed whenever we play Arkham Horror. Her favorite games are TTR and Pirates Cove. She does play Descent though.

moss_icon wrote:

small world seems to be a spoof AT game. it is AT at first look, but when you play it you suddenly realise it's not remotely AT.

I played it again tonight and I gotta say it's growing on me. It's hardly a classic but at this point I'm happy enough to see it come out.

I think Days of Wonder makes great family games. They're pretty, simple and kind of fun. If I had kids I would love to play Pirates Cove or Memoir 44 with them or something with them.

I would agree that they are a family game company. Shadows Over Camelot and Memoir '44 are GREAT games to play with non-gamers, because they are accessible and look terrific. That they don't have the depth of other games is kind of forgivable, because you won't be playing them with people who play games more than once or twice a month. The best game for this is Ticket To Ride, but no one will mistake THAT for AT.