Spiel des Jahres 2018 Nominees

There is 0% chance that Azul doesn't win.

Anyone have any experience with any of those kids' games? That could be fun to pick up. Maybe I should wait for the winner to make the decision easier...

All three nominees for GAME OF THE YEAR are only ages eight and up! Has that ever happened before?

Black Barney wrote: All three nominees for GAME OF THE YEAR are only ages eight and up! Has that ever happened before?

Going through the previous lists, it has happened twice before:

2012: Kingdom Builder, Eselbrucke, Las Vegas
2013: Hanabi, Augustus, Qwixx

There are a few other years where only one of the nominees was above eight and up.

Well, Shellie has pulled off maybe the most effective ad ever conceived for TWBG. As a result of her posting this, I have insta-purchased all three nominees for kids' game of the year. All three sound like fun games I could play with Emily, and bring them to play with her cousins. Might as well introduce her to board games early on before she becomes a digital social outcast.

I'll let you all know how they are.

I still like the SdJ intentionally remains as non-beardy as possible in its nominations. There's a place for beardy games (fuck, that's mostly what I play) but it's neat that I could show someone a big time awards ceremony which will be accessible.

Gary Sax wrote: It's good they didn't nominate Gloomhaven.

Fixed.

To me it all reads like:
Milch & Gherkins
Milch & Gherkins
Milch & Gherkins

It remains a very german game list

I've played Azul and it's in there with Splendor and Century Spice Road, as an abstract filler that just kind of hangs around and does its thing. The production is gorgeous, though, and that's given the impression that it's also a stellar game. Without the beautiful tiles it would get zero attention. There's nothing bad about it, but nothing other than its production to distinguish it from a million other similar things.

Also played Heaven and Ale and it's a typical mechanisms-first design with a gently dusted on theme. I know I harsh on this stuff a lot, but it's the usual fare. The rules are a mishmash, but at least it didn't get 14 other mechanisms piled on top of it. Again, looks very pretty.

This is a shit list. Also, I don't believe that The Mind is a game.

*crawls back into lair*

The Germans might have better taste in boardgames if someone would just time travel back to assassinate Hitler.

* I step out of time machine *
* I approach baby Hitler *
(ten minutes later)
"Okay so the Fungoids are exactly like the Crystalines except the opposite..."

Played Funkelschatz and Panic Mansion.

Funkelschatz is great fun. We tied a few times and I never won more than 3-4 points so it was always close and exciting. I noticed the tears starting to come after not winning after several games so I decided to switch it up to Panic Mansion

Big mistake

Because it’s a race on who can finish first, it’s much more stressful so after I won six in a row, she got pretty upset and ran up to her room crying. Ack! I hate this game, it’s way too intense. I was hoping for something more cooperative . I think the emojita one will be better

Watching her react was like reliving my childhood where I’d cry every time I was first eliminated from Risk or lost perpetually at chess (I don’t remember chess making me cry though). Anyway, I see she gets this after me. Her mom isn’t like this at all. She loves playing games and doesn’t mind losing

I wisely moved us to Disney Infinity after and we had a blast as Ultron and Stitch teamed up capturing gnomes in an obstacle course and visiting amusement parks

Barney, your situation reminds me of a a couple that used to play Jyhad. The guy taught his girlfriend how to play and helped her design some decks. The game is very complex and cutthroat, with each player trying to eliminate the player on their left. The girlfriend was very competitive, and took it very personally when she lost. Since it was a multi-player game and she was an average player, that meant that she usually lost. On a couple of occasions, she got so frustrated that she started crying during the game. I didn't like her, but I felt bad for someone who could be so miserable while playing a game.

One night at the game shop, she wasn't sitting at the Jyhad table. She was at another table with some strangers, playing The Hobbit co-op boardgame. And she seemed really happy. After that, she didn't play Jyhad much anymore, and eventually broke up with her boyfriend and moved away.

It sounds like you should look into co-op games, for the sake of someone who doesn't enjoy direct competitive games.

Great advice Shell, thanks !

Shellhead wrote: It sounds like you should look into co-op games, for the sake of someone who doesn't enjoy direct competitive games.

Depending on the age, I think it's important that you don't rely solely on co-op games to deal with this issue. Kids need to learn to lose at some level, and how to take lessons from the loss to improve themselves at a later date. Much of this involves how you approach the games you play, before during and after. If you had the same issue in your youth you may be telegraphing to your daughter without realizing it. Kids need to learn that they aren't going to get the best grade in the class every time.

That said, which one of you was Stitch? That's the much better pull for Infinity.

S.

She’s Stitch. I wanted someone that can fly. I thought I had stranded her on an abandoned bridge at one point but she cleverly summoned a helicopter to fly herself out of there

Yeah learning to lose is super important. I eventually did and always take losses as a learning opportunity now. In fact it’s one of the only ways to get better. We talk after every loss and hopefully she’ll come around like I did. If I hadn’t taken all those brutal beats as a kid, I don’t think I would have become the strong competitor I ended up being.

She’s 7 now. I think she’s old enough to learn that winning isn’t the point of playing games, it’s just to have fun. Not sure how to instill that value though... especially when even I have trouble believing it, lol

Shellhead wrote: Barney, your situation reminds me of a a couple that used to play Jyhad. The guy taught his girlfriend how to play and helped her design some decks. The game is very complex and cutthroat, with each player trying to eliminate the player on their left. The girlfriend was very competitive, and took it very personally when she lost. Since it was a multi-player game and she was an average player, that meant that she usually lost. On a couple of occasions, she got so frustrated that she started crying during the game. I didn't like her, but I felt bad for someone who could be so miserable while playing a game.

This is my partner, but without the crying, just intense anger. The good part is that she knows it about herself, so she doesn't play competitive games as a general rule.

Gary Sax wrote:

Shellhead wrote: Barney, your situation reminds me of a a couple that used to play Jyhad. The guy taught his girlfriend how to play and helped her design some decks. The game is very complex and cutthroat, with each player trying to eliminate the player on their left. The girlfriend was very competitive, and took it very personally when she lost. Since it was a multi-player game and she was an average player, that meant that she usually lost. On a couple of occasions, she got so frustrated that she started crying during the game. I didn't like her, but I felt bad for someone who could be so miserable while playing a game.

This is my partner, but without the crying, just intense anger. The good part is that she knows it about herself, so she doesn't play competitive games as a general rule.

My girlfriend doesn't like to play boardgames. She is very competitive and doesn't like to lose, and assumes that she won't win against me because I play so many boardgames. Last year, I discovered that she even ruins a co-op game by ignoring teamwork and trying to treat it as just another competitive game.