Banter – the key to success
Board games provide social experience. We play to meet people. To have fun, to tell jokes, to laugh. Sometimes we also play to win. But let’s face it. If the reason I am in this hobby is winning, I should quit. I don’t win that much. But I do have much fun, I do tell jokes, and I do laugh all the time.
Yesterday’s #boardgamehour was dedicated to banter. As Walt explained to me (since I didn’t know that English word before) banter is: „Table talk. Conversations with jokes.”
Man, playing games for me is all about banter. I am not playing games. I am bantering games!
One of the games that let’s you banter a lot is Michiel Hendricks ’Legacy: testament of duke de Crecy’ published by my Portal Games. At the beginning it looks like boring and dry euro about marriges in XVIII century. Not fun at all. But if you start play, you will discover that author designed cards in an extremely smart way and with a help of publisher (that would be me!) who added cute artwork we have one of the most funny euro games out there!
In the game you choose Friends cards and put them into play as a husbands and wives of your children (and grand children and so on). You choose who deserves to join your family. In a second you are grabbed with a theme. And your fellow players begin to banter…
You’ve just put into play David, the shoe maker. Your family looses Prestige and all players will make laugh of your daughter who had to marry such a dude. Is she pregnant already? they ask. Are you happy with your son-n-law? How’s his family? Do they fancy art? Yeah…
You put into play Constant, the king’s relative… Your family earns a lot of money and Prestige, but… Yeah, bantering again. This man is infertile! You gave up grandchildren just to earn Constant money?! Do you love your daughter? You made her marry such a pig?!
We can go on. Just imagine the moment when you put into play Friedrich, the blackmailer. You can see what’s going to happen, right? You can hear all those nasty jokes about your poor daughter thrown into arms of Prussian beast! But on the other hand, if your son will marry Margareth, hot Prussian physician, that’s other story. You gain Prestige, you have hot lady in your family and now you can look at fellow players with pride in your eyes…
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The trick Michiel introduced in Legacy is so damn simple. No fluff on the cards. Just name, name of the card which at the same time acts as a fluff. Look at those cards:
Sarah, the revolutionary. And that’s it. We see here hot Merida-look-like girl who looses 1 VPoint if you have another US character in the game, because she is a revolutionist! What a lady! I want her!
Elena, the art collector. She get’s 3 cards when you put her into play since she knows many people. Again, I have to say! What a lady!
What about Michael, the ambitious officer? We all want to have such a person in our family! Young and ambitious! This is a good husband for your daughter!
And so on, and so on.
Each card has funny title. Each card makes you comment. Each single card makes people banter. Say jokes and laugh. This is conscious choice that Michiel did. He removed fluff from cards. He changed names of the cards into funny fluff itself. And he succeed. We added funny pictures and here it comes – amazing social experience. Pure fun. Jokes and laugh.
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I do like to read reviews of Legacy, because each reviewer points out this aspect of the game – jokes and bantering, all the time.
Little Metal Dog wrote: As the game progresses and this immense tableau starts to spread out before you, passers by are drawn in almost magnetically, wondering what on earth is going on and why you appear to be building some sort of pyramid while you rant about needing more money to give your great-grandchild the mansion they so desperately require. All the while your opponents are mocking your decision to marry off the youngest heir to the Gardener’s daughter but you did it anyway because love must prevail and it’s the only card you had at your disposal that worked…
Space Biff wrote: Like when you marry your highborn grandson to Arianne the Courtesan because it doesn’t require an action (scandal!) and you really need her plush dowry so you can afford a banquet for your daughter. Then Arianne gives birth and dies thanks to a complication. Thank goodness! What a stroke of luck! Now you can marry your grandson to Isabella the Castilian Princess, a much worthier pairing, and one that will bring a whole set of new friends into the fold.
Drive Through…just listen to Joel Eddy in his „Your Horrifying Comical Testament” video at 18:04 min:
photo credit: zenobia_joy via photopin cc
I strongly believe that good board game is the one that tells a good story. You play it and suddenly you are sucked into it, you feel chills on the skin. Emotions grow. In a moment you defend castle. You hear roar of warriors. You smell boiling oil. You are into it.
That's how I design my games. I always want to tell a good story. I want players to be into it. As deep as possible.
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