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Are the mechanics of a game more or less important to the general feel it brings to the game?
I generally make games around the mechanics, which I generally find more fun. What about you?
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Do you believe a card game is made of its parts or its feeling more?
Started by
Psyconics
, Oct 27 2016 07:13 AM
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#2
Posted 27 October 2016 - 11:04 AM
Tragic
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The mechanisms of the game is what counts. Theme is good to have but a game with theme and no mechanisms will suck but a game with great mechanisms and no theme can be really great, just look at all the abstract games out there that rock
In a perfect world you want both, but I would take mechanisms over theme any day, all day.
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#3
Posted 27 October 2016 - 08:26 PM
Psyconics
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People won't be able to attach themselves to the game easily, for it wouldn't feel relatable to real life. In a game, I think that you need a theme that overarchs with strategy you get into, or people won't want to try out the game.
#4
Posted 31 October 2016 - 08:25 PM
Tragic
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not sure I agree with that..Bridge, Poker, Texas Holdem, Gin Rummy, Hearts, Tichu... etc etc... all the most popular card games on the planet have either no theme or very little theme.
#5
Posted 01 November 2016 - 09:16 AM
Jhaelen
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I think, this question can be rephrased and generalized: "Do you prefer Euro-style games or Ameri-Trash games?"
Personally, I feel that the game mechanics are more important than the theme, but I typically don't enjoy games without any theme or with a 'painted-on' theme.
And I actually believe there's currently a trend in board games towards 'hybrid' games:
Euro-games increasingly come with a better theme, and Ameri-Trash games more and more integrate 'typical' Euro-game mechanics, like worker placement, etc.
I don't think card games are an exception. You can easily create any kind of game using (almost) nothing but cards. Just look at games like 'Assault on Doomrock' or the forthcoming 'Arkham Horror LCG': they use cards for everything, including an abstracted or variable 'game board'. Cards have the advantage that they can also work as a method of randomization without having to add other material like dice. At the other end of the spectrum you can create card games that don't have any random elements like the 'Battle-Con' games (although these days you'll at least want to have random elements in the setup to improve replayability).
#6
Posted 04 November 2016 - 09:25 AM
Skelton
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Theme is what attracts me but the mechanics are what keep me playing.
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#7
Posted 02 January 2017 - 09:40 PM
Mulletcheese
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Both. I love when the mechanics and theme of a game just click, and you know the theme wasn't just tacked on afterwards. I can even appreciate a bad game if it takes the effort to have some streamlined mechanics that work with the theme.
Like how in the rage ccg the character cards were double sided so they could flip between human and werewolf form. Or in pathfinder how damage was capped at the number of cards in your hand (cards are also hit points in that game) so a mage (large Hand cap) was much squishier than a fighter (small hand cap).
Like how in the rage ccg the character cards were double sided so they could flip between human and werewolf form. Or in pathfinder how damage was capped at the number of cards in your hand (cards are also hit points in that game) so a mage (large Hand cap) was much squishier than a fighter (small hand cap).
#8
Posted 23 April 2019 - 01:12 PM
IoriYagami
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The mechanisms of the game is what counts. Theme is good to have but a game with theme and no mechanisms will suck but a game with great mechanisms and no theme can be really great, just look at all the abstract games out there that rock
In a perfect world you want both, but I would take mechanisms over theme any day, all day.
Really? So you played Arkham Horror (2006), Arkham Horror 3rd ED, Arkham Horror LCG, Call of Cthulhu LCG, Eldritch Horror because they have same mechanics? Or maybe same theme?
Why I can't see any vids on your channel with Cardfight Vanguard, Weiss Schwarz, Pokemon TCG, Wixoss and other very interesting mechanically games? Hmmm, does their 'anime' theme is of no relevance to this face, right?
not sure I agree with that..Bridge, Poker, Texas Holdem, Gin Rummy, Hearts, Tichu... etc etc... all the most popular card games on the planet have either no theme or very little theme.
Ahem. Come on. You know that's silly. Games have cash pool prize in them, and so many people play for that. Secondly, they have been there for centuries, of course they have a preexisting advantage. (But I bet my bucks most poker players have NO IDEA what TCG, CCG, LCG means, like AT ALL. Thrirdly, classic card games are cheap and easy to find anywhere, like common house hold items. So that's not a sane comparison. It's like comparing ancient swords with unique features and a mass-produced butter knife. Most people LOOOVE better knives! Woo-hoo!
