About two years ago I decided to become a general. Every boy dreams about it, right? So was I. To fulfill my dream I bought Commands & Colors board game, a well-known, award-winning war game by Richard Borg. As I heard it is a great and quite simple war game with a map, with blocks, with units…
In C&C troops are not cardboard tiles lying on the board but great wooden blocks that proudly stand on the map. Oh, yeah!
As soon as the box arrived I opened it and soon after I learned something new. I learned that C&C has wooden blocks, indeed. 345 of them to be precise. But what is more, C&C has also stickers. Which I need to tape on blocks. On both sides. Oh, yeah.
After spending the whole damn weekend with 345 blocks and 700 stickers I decided that in the next decade or two I will no buy block game. I can live without being general for a while. Just don’t show me any other block game for couple of years, ok?
***
Essen 2012. New game by Richard Borg. This time Borg has partnered with Zvezda, the well-known Russian manufacturer of toy soldiers and model airplanes. It is called Samurai Battles. This is another variant of the Command & Colors.
Borg designed rules, Zvezda produced little samurai figures. That’s how bestseller is born.
Of course, I bought it. I brought it home.
When Merry looked at the box, when she saw the words 'Based on the mechanics of Commands & Colors’ she burst out laughing.
'You’re going to spend the whole weekend with stickers? Again?! ’
The irony did not hit on deaf ears. I raised my head and replied: 'This is a novelty from Russia. There are plastic figures, you moron.’
'Oh, interesting.’ Merry said, and began to open the box.
When she opened it she laughed. So much laughed. Curled up with laughter. she was crying with laughter.
Moments later, I started to cry. The box contained 122 figures. Around 500 parts of figures that need to be assembled, to be precise…
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.
