Front Page

Content

Authors

Game Index

Forums

Site Tools

Submissions

About

KK
Kevin Klemme
March 09, 2020
35175 2
Hot
KK
Kevin Klemme
January 27, 2020
20840 0
Hot
KK
Kevin Klemme
August 12, 2019
7430 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
December 19, 2023
3985 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
December 14, 2023
3509 0
Hot

Mycelia Board Game Review

Board Game Reviews
O
oliverkinne
December 12, 2023
2080 0
O
oliverkinne
December 07, 2023
2587 0

River Wild Board Game Review

Board Game Reviews
O
oliverkinne
December 05, 2023
2258 0
O
oliverkinne
November 30, 2023
2501 0
J
Jackwraith
November 29, 2023
3022 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
November 28, 2023
1973 0
S
Spitfireixa
October 24, 2023
3699 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
October 17, 2023
2627 0
O
oliverkinne
October 10, 2023
2463 0
O
oliverkinne
October 09, 2023
2294 0
O
oliverkinne
October 06, 2023
2511 0

Outback Crossing Review

Board Game Reviews
×
Bugs: Recent Topics Paging, Uploading Images & Preview (11 Dec 2020)

Recent Topics paging, uploading images and preview bugs require a patch which has not yet been released.

× Talk about other nerd culture stuff in here.

The Benefits of a Lifestyle Game

More
14 Aug 2018 00:09 #279713 by san il defanso
Somewhere in these forums in the last year or so I mentioned that I am now at the point where I would be fine transitioning a lot of my gaming time toward more D&D, with only occasional board gaming. It turns out that moving to Manila actually made that happen. I have done comparatively little board gaming, particularly with adults. In contrast, I have a weekly D&D group, so I'm much more in a roleplaying place now than I was in the US.

It's caused me to reflect on the unexpected pleasures of taking on a true lifestyle game. I know a lot of people here play Magic, 40K, Hearthstone, what have you, and for many years I thought it seemed strange to primarily focus on a single game to the exclusion of most others. But now that I'm neck-deep in D&D, it has provided a measure of simplicity to my gaming life to allow myself to focus on a single system.

The biggest part of that is simply the ability to not have to track with a ton of different releases. Of course, all lifestyle games have their own treadmill to keep up with, but there is something kind of dependable about the ability to keep drilling into a new system. I think there is also a refreshing ability for a game to become more human when it exists on the lifestyle tier. There's a bigger community built up around it, and they are producing new content, new ways to play, and recommendations at how different corners of the game can be used. There's also that element of organized play, though I've never taken advantage of that in my own situation. (I've not yet seen an Adventurer's League group in Manila.)

This all feels more rewarding than the increasingly quick turnover in board gaming. I still sometimes like the less ambiguous aspects of board games, that allow for more structured enjoyment and less preparation. But I already have a lot of that stuff, and I don't really want to add to it. It also makes me really cautious about engaging in any OTHER big lifestyle game, because there just isn't enough time.

How about you? Do you have any "lifestyle" games that take up a lot of your time? Do you have any that you wish could take up more of your time?
The following user(s) said Thank You: ChristopherMD, Frohike, Colorcrayons, stoic, charlest, GorillaGrody, BaronDonut

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
14 Aug 2018 08:29 #279719 by Michael Barnes
To be honest, I spent a few wilderness years kind of searching for something that felt missing in my gaming hobby. Kind of got into a funk, really. Getting back to classic German games during the Eurogames Reclamation Project helped break through the funk a lot, but it was really Silver Tower that was the turnaround. Because that brought me back to Warhammer, and that led back to painting and collecting miniatures. And it reminded me of what it’s like to go to a gaming event and everyone present is there to play ONE game and they all know how to play it. Unlike board game events where a quarter of the time is deciding what to play, a quarter of the time is learning new rules, a quarter of the time is set up, and a quarter of the time is actually playing. I remember the first time I went to an AOS event, it felt so refreshing that no one was there with a new game, passive-aggressively trying to get everyone to play it. And that there was no fun-murdering read through of a rule book. All focus was on th one game.

Like you’ve pointed out, Warhammer also gave me a way to enjoy the hobby outside of the gaming session, and it has become very much my lifestyle game of choice. And it also connects me back to the gaming I was doing in the 1980s and 1990s in a logical arc.

To be honest, even as a games writer, I can’t keep up with all the releases. Most of them I don’t care anything about. My Twitter feed has been full of posts where folks have shown off these massive piles of review copies and I’ve seen maybe 5 games that I’m really interested in. There’s maybe three games I think are going to be with us for a while (such as Root) But I’ve seen title after title that are going to be just like the “hot” games of. Gen Cons past...forgotten and irrelevant within a year.

But Warhammer never fades, nor does D&D or Magic.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Gary Sax, ChristopherMD, Frohike, cropcircles, GorillaGrody

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
14 Aug 2018 08:51 #279721 by Sevej
Total Space Marines painted: Over 75 figures.

Total games played: 4, the last one 4 editions ago.

Not one bit of regret over that.
The following user(s) said Thank You: SuperflyPete, Colorcrayons

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
14 Aug 2018 08:54 #279722 by hotseatgames
While the idea of just playing one thing over and over so that everyone is an expert has its appeal, I find fatigue creeps in. Variety is the spice of life.
The following user(s) said Thank You: stoic

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
14 Aug 2018 09:25 #279725 by SuperflyPete
After spending so much time playing Attacktix and Heroscape competitively, planning trips (GenCon, BotCon, TixCon) around them, I would NEVER go back to that.

I just don't care that much about games anymore, as a lifestyle. I do my one con a year, play games on the back porch or next door, or occasionally head to my buddy's group but honestly, with my lifestyle and history, I figure I have maybe 10 years left and I don't want to spend my time thinking and playing games obsessively.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
14 Aug 2018 11:29 #279737 by DarthJoJo
My lifestyle games of choice the past few years have been Game of Thrones and Arkham Horror the card games with a sprinkling of Imperial Assault. Since moving from Minneapolis and Fantasy Flight headquarters to a much smaller town, it’s probably just going to be Arkham with that sprinkling of Imperial Assault. Probably for the best as my kids and wife wouldn’t mind seeing me more.

As has been mentioned, I love having that community of people into the same game and willing to have unnecessarily long and involved conversations, but man, fans can just be the worst. I’ve followed podcasts and Facebook groups for all these games, and the level of entitlement and whining just blows me away constantly. Restricted lists and errata are always demanded immediately, and when they are released, they aren’t good enough.

Part of the problem is a divide between these hyper-competitive players and what Fantasy Flight offers. There is an official tournament scene, but I struggle to see why people get so fired up when the literal top prize in the game is the chance to design a card. No money at all is on the line. Cripes.

At least the Minnesota communities have always been chill and unwilling to just netdeck the best thing. I think there’s an independent streak in the state that wants to win but in our own way.
The following user(s) said Thank You: ChristopherMD, jpat

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
14 Aug 2018 12:29 - 14 Aug 2018 16:50 #279744 by Shellhead
Most of my lifestyle games have been RPG campaigns that lasted a few years. There were also some CCGs that I was really into for a while, though only Jyhad really fit the description of "lifestyle game." I started playing Jyhad when it came out in 1994, and played fairly regularly until 2010, even when the game went out of print for four years in the late '90s.

I moved away from my original gaming group and the city where I [edit: not group] grew up back in 1991. Since then, my social circle has tended to change every few years, with maybe one or two people staying friends with me after a given social circle drifts. Just now, I have realized that those social circles tended to coincide with my lifestyle games, because all of the friends that I have made since 1991 have been gamers. It's been two years since I wrapped up a four-year D&D campaign, and if not for Facebook I would have completely lost touch with half of those eleven players by now. I haven't made any friends through any of my long-term girlfriends either. The first one was a grad student from China who was very focused on education and career. The second one was a drug addict, so her friends were mostly criminals. My current girlfriend has always been self-conscious about our age difference, so I rarely encounter her friends.

Social circle # duration/lifestyle game:

1. (original gaming group)/1979-1991/wide range of games, especially RPGs
2. 1991-1993/GURPS Fantasy & Stormbringer
3. 1994-1999/Jyhad (1st group)
4. 1994-1996/Call of Cthulhu & Stormbringer & some CCGs
5. 1997-2003/Call of Cthulhu & Legend of the Five Rings RPG
6. 1999-2010/Jyhad (2nd group)
7. 2001-2004/Vampire LARP
8. 2005-2012/Call of Cthulhu & boardgames
9. 2013-2016/D&D 3.5

After wrapping up that last D&D campaign, I was hoping to play a lot of boardgames. It's been a little less than once per month. When I host, the turnout has been low. Every other month, somebody invites me, and their turnout is low. Part of the problem is that several of my gaming friends have current lifestyle games that don't interest me, like Shadespire or one of the Star Wars games. But mostly this is my fault. I live within a few miles of two gaming stores that regularly host boardgaming, and I rarely seem to find the time or energy to go.

On a positive note, I recently met a fun couple at a goth birthday (batday) party, and they invited me to their monthly boardgame event this Friday. They invited 125 people (!), though only 12 have said yes or maybe so far. They have four gaming tables set up in their basement, and facebook pictures show that they have had maybe two dozen people show up for past sessions. Both the invite list and the RSVP'd list is split roughly 50/50 male/female, not counting the androgynous ones. The host posted his game collection in the invite, and it's a mixture of AmeriTrash and light euros. The couple is also into RPGs, including a current D&D campaign. Maybe this will be my next social circle.
Last edit: 14 Aug 2018 16:50 by Shellhead. Reason: grew up, not group
The following user(s) said Thank You: Gary Sax, Frohike, GorillaGrody

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
14 Aug 2018 12:37 - 14 Aug 2018 12:38 #279746 by GorillaGrody
What I find strange is how much competition there is in the lifestyle games category, and how much "legacy" style boardgames are attempting to creep in to that mindset. Often, the competition is within one company.

It was one of the reissues of Space Hulk that kicked off my Warhammer obsession. One of the great appeals was that the Space Marines and Genestealers from that game could be used in other games. So, too, with Silver Tower, Gorechosen, etc. I can use my small GSC army of in about 5 different games, not counting the different "modes" of wargame play. Do I? No, but between Kill Team and Space Hulk, I feel I've gotten my money's worth. Had I bought the figures 20 years ago, I could probably continue playing with them now. It's fun, it's friendly to house ruling, the figures are worth spending time and money on.

I mean, I like to think that the best part of my "lifestyle" is reading, learning stuff and helping people in need (aspirationally and sort of practically this is sort of true). Making room for GW stuff is what, then? A sort of economical selfishness? For no reason I can articulate--and for reasons that often prove totally untrue out in the field--it seems like Warhammer people have lives in a way that other lifestyle games don't allow for. For instance, I'm trying to imagine a conversation about Netrunner or Magic that would be threaded with self-exploring irony in the way that most conversations about GW's nutty, antiheroic world tend to be. Maybe it's just the Britishness of the whole endeavor, I don't know.

To my opening point, it seems like FFG is attempting to breach this lifestyle market in the worst possible way. Sort of cheap, sort of good, sort of worth your time, utterly resistant to creative house ruling, not very fun to paint, swimming in self-seriousness, and two years later you have to buy it all over again; not just the books, but everything. It all swims in this very American sea of gormless, heroic nostalgia combined with a flinty, cynical market-first attitude. And there are three versions of everything, none of it cross-compatible. I guess they need to make a case to their shareholders that the merest generosity does not equate to theft, and no one on the team is smart enough to do that.

As for boardgames, my main competitor is my wife. She likes to dig in to single games with limited variables and get good at them. Azul is a current favorite. That doesn't leave a lot of room for reading semi-competent prose off of a card and then ripping up the card and then putting a sticker on a map. Even good Legacy games don't seem to penetrate. Gloomhaven sits on our shelf, unplayed.
Last edit: 14 Aug 2018 12:38 by GorillaGrody.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
14 Aug 2018 13:00 - 14 Aug 2018 13:01 #279748 by cropcircles
For me, it's chess. I love the heady combination of geometry and simmering aggression, the smell of a green-and-white vinyl board, the heft of a triple-weighted tournament piece... And I have to say, mechanical chess clocks are maybe the greatest over-produced game bits ever invented. The sensory, tactile feel of the game is awesome.

I've been playing seriously for 25 years now, and there's no sign of it getting stale. Just the opposite, actually: I love being so familiar with a game that the the rules become completely transparent and when you sit down with a friend you quickly fall into a gritty, tense, pugnacious, flow state. Before I had kids, I used to play five-hour games every weekend. You'd hit you clock, start thinking, and then look up 40 moves later and realize 4 hours had passed and only now were you getting to the truth of the matter.

Glorious stuff.
Last edit: 14 Aug 2018 13:01 by cropcircles.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Gary Sax, GorillaGrody, DarthJoJo

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
14 Aug 2018 13:28 #279750 by ChristopherMD
My lifestyle game is Kickstarting. Its soooo much fun. The anticipation and excitement that goes on during a campaign is second to nothing. Watching the previewers make all these great videos showing what the games might be like to play is fantastic and they really deserve more money too. Not to mention the community of other backers that are all just as hyped as I am. Really makes me feel like I'm a part of something special. I remember watching a recent campaign and cheering on with the community while watching the counter to see if the final stretch goal would be unlocked. It was a close one and I had to lie down for a bit afterwards to calm down. Usually I just drop off the games at the thrift store after punching them out, sleeving the cards, and assembling wooden inserts. Because the fun in Kickstarting is all in the purchasing not the playing and besides I have to make room for more. There's literally no downside to this lifestyle game and lots of great memories to be had.
The following user(s) said Thank You: dysjunct, RobertB, Frohike, birdman37, fightcitymayor, Whoshim, Erik Twice, BillyBobThwarton

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
14 Aug 2018 14:02 #279753 by fightcitymayor

ChristopherMD wrote: My lifestyle game is Kickstarting. Its soooo much fun. The anticipation and excitement that goes on during a campaign is second to nothing. Watching the previewers make all these great videos showing what the games might be like to play is fantastic and they really deserve more money too. Not to mention the community of other backers that are all just as hyped as I am. Really makes me feel like I'm a part of something special. I remember watching a recent campaign and cheering on with the community while watching the counter to see if the final stretch goal would be unlocked. It was a close one and I had to lie down for a bit afterwards to calm down. Usually I just drop off the games at the thrift store after punching them out, sleeving the cards, and assembling wooden inserts. Because the fun in Kickstarting is all in the purchasing not the playing and besides I have to make room for more. There's literally no downside to this lifestyle game and lots of great memories to be had.

This delightful bit of satire does showcase one downside to "lifestyle games" and that is approaching them as though they were boardgames. We all know at least one person like this:

January: "Dude, I found this English Civil War minis ruleset made by three guys from Britain! It's amazing! They also cast all their own metals, so I put in a $500 order for 3 complete armies, it's gonna be so rad!!!"
February: "Yeah, woohoo, my minis showed up today! Gonna prime them this weekend & read the 200-page rulebook in small bits during the upcoming break, should be amazing!"
March: "I haven't been reading that much, and I think I have half the first army primed, but haven't painted yet..."
April: "Naw, dude, I don't play that game anymore... sold the whole lot off on eBay for like $50, but I found this new Wild West minis game that has plastic starters for a really good price, so I just zapped a PayPal payment of $350 over to the publisher and they should show up this week, super stoked!!!"

The Moral Of The Story: A sampling boardgame mentality rarely meshes well with lifestyle games.
The following user(s) said Thank You: ChristopherMD, san il defanso, Frohike, Colorcrayons

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
14 Aug 2018 16:50 #279775 by Legomancer
I did the lifestyle game with Magic (and I guess various RPGs) but I'm no longer at a point in my life where I want to play a game when I'm not playing a game. I don't want to follow any "meta" and I don't want to read articles about a game and I don't want to look at an upcoming release and decide which portions of it suck before it's even out and all that stuff. I like getting together, playing a game, enjoying the game, and then not worrying about the game until the next time I play.
The following user(s) said Thank You: ChristopherMD, Frohike

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
14 Aug 2018 17:11 #279781 by dysjunct

san il defanso wrote: But now that I'm neck-deep in D&D, it has provided a measure of simplicity to my gaming life to allow myself to focus on a single system.


It's an easy way to avoid making choices. I mean that in a positive way. We live in an era with way too many choices, most of them meaningless. Outside of gaming, it's an unexpected but great side effect of being vegan. I don't have to waste my time in 90% of a grocery store, or looking at 90% of a menu.

With gaming, I think it goes back to most of the real, lasting value of the hobby being social. If you are part of a community then you form relationships with them. It's easier to be part of a community when you don't have to worry about person A who doesn't like Euros, person B who thinks dice hate him, etc. -- just get together and play.
The following user(s) said Thank You: san il defanso, Frohike, Whoshim, GorillaGrody, DarthJoJo

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
14 Aug 2018 21:11 #279801 by san il defanso
A lot of this new gaming phase for me is a product of my particular situation here. I wouldn't have expected a community largely composed of people working for Christian organizations would be able to support not one, but two D&D groups, but the times they are a-changin' I suppose.

One thing that has been nice about focusing on a single game is that it's much easier to find decent conversations about the games in question. In board gaming the online discourse has been so thoroughly poisoned by Kickstarter that almost every online conversation is about acquiring more games. If you want to talk about actually playing stuff, I've only really had luck making that work on this very site.

But if I want to talk about D&D online, there's a pretty active Twitter community, a couple of decent subreddits, some Youtubers, and some notable blogs that all talk about the actual process of playing the game. Not about whether to buy something new or bragging about new purchases, but about actually playing. Part of this is because WotC has been pretty slow about releasing new content for 5e, but it would not surprise me if it was the case for other games like 40K or Magic.
The following user(s) said Thank You: ChristopherMD, Frohike, Colorcrayons, cropcircles

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
15 Aug 2018 17:18 #279854 by Colorcrayons
That's excellent to hear that you've gained a solid group. It's a blessing really.

san il defanso wrote: How about you? Do you have any "lifestyle" games that take up a lot of your time? Do you have any that you wish could take up more of your time?


I'd likely hurt entire boxes of puppies to get my old D&D group back. But I played consistently for a decade and while I loved the immersion, I'm ok that it's no longer a part of my life. I got the memories.

My lifestyle games are any games that I enjoy, whether it be M:tG or a boardgame like Wiz-War. I don't like to do the churn. I like to find something I enjoy, and keep on enjoying it regularly. perhaps my long experience with D&D played a role in that mindset.

Good games deserve to be explored. Exploration rewards players with heightened enjoyment.

To me, playing games for any other reason is more than likely a waste of time. Hence why my collection is lean, lithe and energetic.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Whoshim, DarthJoJo

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Moderators: Gary Sax
Time to create page: 0.273 seconds