Tattered Page

While I was off pretending to know something about that mythological thing called “reality,” Psychochild started a decent debate on complexity as it relates to games… a lot of good points all around- in the article and in the comments. Psychochild advocates against oversimplification, while others point out that the broader market can’t grasp games as complex as Monopoly or program a VCR… or that those of us with less gaming time prefer less complex games.

As a kid, I sought the most complex games under the assumption that the more complex, the more challenging; the more challenging, the better the game. Certainly, a game as simple as tic-tac-toe is rather unchallenging. We move on to Connect Four until it too becomes predictable. We see Chess as a more complex advancement from Checkers. Axis & Allies can be seen a more complex version of Risk.

At each stage, the increased complexity brought more of a challenge, gave us another variable to plan against, and kept us on our toes.

Taking it to the Extreme

I never leave “good enough” alone. At one point, a group I frequented took the classic Axis & Allies board game and replaced the combat resolution with rules akin to Squad Leader. (I think it WAS squad leader for the ground, but I can’t remember the naval rules.)

If you know anything about those games… well, I’ll pause here so you can wipe the tears away. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

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