If you're anything like me, you enjoy games that use random results in tandem with skill. Whether it's a Warhammer 40k and your perfectly executed strategy falls apart because the dice gods frown on you, a computer RPG where that big number explodes over your enemy's head to signal a critical hit, or even Monopoly where you can strike it rich or go bankrupt based on a single six-sided die. As I've played a variety of games in my life, I've almost always lost interest in games that are based solely on calculation, and you win or lose based 100% on your actions.
Most of us enjoy this because it adds tension to the game. No matter how much of an upper hand your opponent has, you're rarely out of the game. A single attack could devastate a key piece of your opponent's plan, an ability that triggers on a critical hit could give you the edge you need, or you can find yourself in those wonderful do-or-die moments where the perfect dice roll will win you the game. These games aren't only left up to chance - you must play your pieces carefully, cast the right spells, and maintain control of anything not left up to chance. But no matter how much I calculate, nothing in the game is ever certain except that I or my opponent will emerge victorious.
While I love the thrill of the game, there's also something comforting about that randomness. I have never enjoyed fighting games because it requires perfection to do well. There's no room for error, and any slight mistake can end the game for you. To me, that's torturous. While randomness allows a B-rank player to put up a fight against an A-rank player, things like chess, Street Fighter, and even Starcraft set a very hard division between skills.
Most of us enjoy this because it adds tension to the game. No matter how much of an upper hand your opponent has, you're rarely out of the game. A single attack could devastate a key piece of your opponent's plan, an ability that triggers on a critical hit could give you the edge you need, or you can find yourself in those wonderful do-or-die moments where the perfect dice roll will win you the game. These games aren't only left up to chance - you must play your pieces carefully, cast the right spells, and maintain control of anything not left up to chance. But no matter how much I calculate, nothing in the game is ever certain except that I or my opponent will emerge victorious.
While I love the thrill of the game, there's also something comforting about that randomness. I have never enjoyed fighting games because it requires perfection to do well. There's no room for error, and any slight mistake can end the game for you. To me, that's torturous. While randomness allows a B-rank player to put up a fight against an A-rank player, things like chess, Street Fighter, and even Starcraft set a very hard division between skills.
Some love that because it demands that they reach their maximum potential and devote themselves to improving. They have to work tirelessly to learn all the nuances until they can play a nearly flawless game. Every victory is earned 100% by them, and any loss is 100% on them.
I don't like that. I like having room to fail, and letting a part of my success or failure not be in my hands. It lets me battle both my opponent and chance, but it also lets me breathe a little easier when I make a mistake because there's room to recover from it.
Let me clarify that I don't think randomness wins games. I could go down to my local shop and play against Keith, a guy who is representing America in a global Warmachine tournament coming up. If we played 10 games together, despite me being a decent Warmachine player, I would count myself lucky to end with a 1-9 record. I might be able to flail about and seem equally matched at the beginning, but even the best dice rolls will only do so much for me.
However, two equals can get together and enjoy the fierceness of skill vs skill as well as the excitement of the unknown. If we've both played our first turns perfectly, then victory goes to the one who can work around and with the dice, not win because of them. It's not about rolling dice randomly and losing because no matter what you did, you just couldn't win because of random results.
Of course sometimes I do lose because of bad results. It's rare that I can look back on a game and say there's nothing I could have done differently, but it happens. When it does, I do my best to accept the loss as my own and not whine about bad dice. After all, that comes with the territory of unpredictable results.
That's my take on randomness in games - what's yours? Do you like the excitement, the way it can smooth over a bad play, or something else entirely?
See you tomorrow!
I don't like that. I like having room to fail, and letting a part of my success or failure not be in my hands. It lets me battle both my opponent and chance, but it also lets me breathe a little easier when I make a mistake because there's room to recover from it.
Let me clarify that I don't think randomness wins games. I could go down to my local shop and play against Keith, a guy who is representing America in a global Warmachine tournament coming up. If we played 10 games together, despite me being a decent Warmachine player, I would count myself lucky to end with a 1-9 record. I might be able to flail about and seem equally matched at the beginning, but even the best dice rolls will only do so much for me.
However, two equals can get together and enjoy the fierceness of skill vs skill as well as the excitement of the unknown. If we've both played our first turns perfectly, then victory goes to the one who can work around and with the dice, not win because of them. It's not about rolling dice randomly and losing because no matter what you did, you just couldn't win because of random results.
Of course sometimes I do lose because of bad results. It's rare that I can look back on a game and say there's nothing I could have done differently, but it happens. When it does, I do my best to accept the loss as my own and not whine about bad dice. After all, that comes with the territory of unpredictable results.
That's my take on randomness in games - what's yours? Do you like the excitement, the way it can smooth over a bad play, or something else entirely?
See you tomorrow!
I also very much enjoy the randomness of dice rolls. I also have a strange fondness of dice though as well and I can't seem to get enough of them. The biggest difference is that you have to plan for a certain amount of failure and success into any army you build. Dice adds "odds" to any game and a percentage chance that something can happen. For instance I am not going to count on something that only has a 25% chance of hitting a certain target and a 25% of actually killing it. So I have to plan another route. This will impact my overall strategy with the pieces I have in play. I have actually had games where my dice kept screwing me over so much that no matter what I did it seemed like my stuff only carried NERF guns and weapons, hence the creation of the dice purgatory or detention.
ReplyDeleteOverall you will never have the same climatic or depressing moments in a game without randomness as you will with it. Those moments of rolling triple 1's or triple 6's will always be the core of many laughs or forehead slaps.