Playing to Win! Or Not…

 

In a statement that may shock and disgust Matt, the sites proprietor who you know and love, I don’t always play to win (Matt: Sacrilege!). A general rule of thumb I follow is that the average amount of fun in the room is more important than me winning. There are many factors that consequently influence how competitively I would play. Have a read of my take on how I play games!

 

Hosting

As a host of any event there is an onus on you to ensure that everyone is having a good time. I feel like this remains the case even when the event involves a competitive game. Hosting an event would lead me to a) focusing more of my attention on other people’s enjoyment and b) avoiding overly antagonistic play especially if the game is unfamiliar to the players.

 

Teaching the game

Having new players to a game should instantly lower any competition in my opinion. No point has been proved if they have a miserable time, because they didn’t instantly pick up on how to respond to a complicated strategy you’ve tried many times before. I find that this happens without even trying, as my focus is very much on making sure they get the rules right and that they are getting into it, so the amount of thought that goes into my turns is decreased dramatically. This effect can occur to a lesser extent even if I just own the game, and have played it much more than the others. If playing a game I own, the difference in experience and “hosting” effects can contribute to less competitive play.

 

 

Not playing to win vs. Playing to lose

In the above scenarios I would advocate not playing to win rather than playing to lose. By that I mean thinking about your moves less, favouring less aggressive play and keeping a reasonable amount of your focus on other peoples game experience and not your own. This is not the same thing as actively playing badly. You don’t need to actively make mistakes such as lopsided trades or leave things undefended. These things could be confusing when you are teaching a game and not allow new players to experience the game properly. In addition the mechanics of many games break if you actively act against the system. Imagine a game of Skull (check out our review here!) where you declare at the start “I will always play a flower”, then actually do so. By never bluffing in a bluffing game, you aren’t making the game easier for people, you are cutting the heart out of the experience for them.

 

 

Game Length

The length of a game also factors into degree of competition. Games that are very long are likely to dominate a day or evening, and thus if one player has a bad time in that game, the whole event will have been bad for them. Imagine a scenario where you can attack two players, one who is weak and losing badly and one who is doing well. Attacking the weak player is the better move and is more likely to lead to you winning. What do you do? For me the length of the game will be a factor, if the game is short and ending soon I’d be more likely to play to win than in a longer game. Picking on the stronger player in a longer game, will a) keep things interesting and dynamic for them, rather than them just sitting and accumulating points, and b) Allow the weaker player to regroup and do something else. Even if it is less optimal for me winning, the enjoyment of the game by everyone will probably increase. At shorter play times, ganging up on people and player elimination, are less of a problem, because there is always the next game to turn things round.

 

Messing around

Another scenario where I wouldn’t be actively trying to win is when, frankly, I’ve thought of something more fun to do! Having fun is why the game is being played. Making a move that you know is suboptimal can lead to more interesting game states then perusing more straight forward strategies. However there are limits to when this is appropriate. In games with a strong spatial element, you making weaker moves deliberately can hand the game to whoever is near you, and ruin the experience for other players. The seriousness with which other people are taking the game and the game length need to be taken into account when considering this. Shorter games are way more suitable for trying a crazy idea or shaking up the meta game, than something long and complex. For example, claiming to be the 6^th Duke at the table in a game of Coup (we reviewed it here!), just because you thought it was funny that 5 had been said and not called, isn’t going to ruin the game for anyone. You will probably lose an influence/life and everyone will laugh at you. Trying to Prince a mandatory trasher (like Lookout) in a game of Dominion, isn’t going to skew the game in favour of another player as you doing badly helps the other players equally. However, giving someone all of your money and building plots for the last tropical fish tile in a game of Chinatown, just because you want to “Find Nemo” isn’t going to go down well. You’ve probably just rendered the last hour and half meaningless just because you can’t deal with your feelings about clownfish like a sensible adult.

 

 

Co-op games

Co-op games form their own special case, as not playing your best doesn’t just hurt you, it hinders everyone. Thus I’d always favour playing to win in a co-op game! However this isn’t an excuse for “quarterbacking”, in which one person tells everyone else what to do on their turn. The group may be more likely to win if you told them what do each turn, but as always winning shouldn’t come at the expense of fun. Giving advice when asked, rather than forcing your opinion on others, should be a good rule to follow (Also applies outside of games!).

 

Summary

For me, the aim of playing a game is to have fun, and whilst winning can be very fun, paying attention not just to your enjoyment, but other people’s is going to increase the net amount of fun in the room. A game that you’ve won but everyone else is miserable isn’t a success in my opinion (see Monopoly), a game where everyone had fun except one person is better (see Matt playing Tzolkin/Manhattan Project) and a game where everyone had fun is the best! If everyone had fun and you won? Well that’s a bonus.