garygarison wrote:
While I'm happy to close the book on our TM discussion, the question of superfluousness in game design is one that interests me.
Anyone willing to put forward an example of a game with an element that does indeed qualify as superfluous? I'm talking the strict definition here, none of this, "Well, I like what it offers, so that means it's necessary."
Anyone willing to put forward an example of a game with an element that does indeed qualify as superfluous? I'm talking the strict definition here, none of this, "Well, I like what it offers, so that means it's necessary."
Gregory Calder, a good friend whose opinions I respect, has this take on the concept of "superfluous":
(1) Gregory has loved the base game 7 Wonders ever since it first hit the table in our gaming group.
(2) Gregory also loves the recent expansion, 7 Wonders: Cities, with especial love for its game-balancing idea of the Doves of Peace.
(3) But Gregory thinks that the previous expansion, 7 Wonders: Leaders, is superfluous. There is a significant amount of downtime (significant as a proportion of the normal zippy playtime of 7 Wonders), with no real upside. Plus Gregory thinks that the luck of the draw -- killer combos of Leaders -- increases the luck vs skill ratio by too much. Initially I was sceptical of Gregory's reasoning, but on second thoughts I now concur. Hence I will be reorganising my 7 Wonders box so that it will contain only the components for the base game and Cities.