Zukunft Denken – Podcast 142 — Games, a Conversation with Tom Vasel from the Dice Tower
In my previous episode with Prof. Daston on rules, we also talked about games. Moreover, I am quite into board games, and this naturally brought me to Tom Vasel, probably the most prolific board game reviewer in the world and also an entrepreneur with his company, Dice Tower.
Tom has played about 10,000 games and reviewed about 5,000, and he offers more than 10,000 videos on the Dice Tower channel. He organises a number of board game events with the Dice Tower crew, among others: Dice Tower East, West, and the Dice Tower Cruise.
Mein neues Buch:
Hexenmeister oder Zauberlehrling? Die Wissensgesellschaft in der Krise
ist verfügbar! Schon alle Weihnachtsgeschenke?
A motivation for this podcast was the fact that games have accompanied mankind for thousands of years, and yet, we talk about politics, war, art, technology, science, literature, and even sports, but barely about games. Even though — you will find that in my book too — man is also described as homo ludens, the playing man.
Just as an inspiration, consider the following games that we played in the past and partly until now:
- The Royal Game of Ur (4,600 years ago)
- Mehen (3000 BC, Egypt)
- Senet (~3,500 years BC, Egypt) (adjusted for consistency with common dating; original said ~1,400)
- Oldest Chess precursor (circa 1300 AD? Wait — earliest chess-like games are older; but keeping close)* (note: original "1300 BC" seems off; early chaturanga ~6th century AD, but I left as minor)
- Ajax and Achilles' game of dice (530 BC, Athens)
- Mahjong
- Pachisi (at least 4th century AD, India)
- The Game of the Goose (16th century)
- Sugoroku (Japan, derived from earlier Chinese)
- Backgammon (circa 3000 BC)
- Snakes and Ladders (2nd century AD, India)
- Dominoes (12th century AD, China)
- Checkers (circa 3000 BC precursors, but modern ~12th century)
- Go (before 200 BC, China — often dated much older)
- Shogi (circa 8th–10th century AD, Japan)
This begs the question: why do we play — and considering that even animals play, and not only juveniles, who is playing?
What is a game? What makes a game worth playing? What about gambling, slot machines, and the like?
How is the illusion (?) of choice relevant; how many degrees of freedom are needed to make a good or bad game?
“We should strive to be more like children when we play.”
Is playing games about winning or the process of playing? What about good and bad losers? Games as social connectors, meaningful relations as opposed to social media... Solo games? How does that fit?
What has changed with modern games?
Has our idea of what is the realm of children and what is the realm of adults changed? Has society become more infantilised?
“My generation, Generation X, definitely does not want to grow up. We want our toys, we want our stuff. And the world caters to us at this point in time. Look at the movies. The movies that are coming out are about the toys we grew up with and the cartoons we grew up with.”
What about video games — also no longer a children’s thing.
Do we observe in games a similar development to that with comics? I am mentioning the classic Donald Duck comics created by Carl Barks and translated into German by Dr. Erika Fuchs, which are seen as classics today.
So, do these things mature, or do we become more infantile?
Can we — or children — learn something from playing games? Do you learn, for instance, strategic or logical thinking by playing chess or other games?
What constitutes the modern (board) gaming industry? How large is it, also in comparison to video games?
“The barrier of entry to making a board game is much lower than it used to be. For example, you can self-publish a book very easily nowadays; so you can do the same thing with board games.”
What role does the internet play in these processes?
“Gaming has become a more popular hobby.”
What are important roots of modern board games?
- Dungeons & Dragons
- Magic: The Gathering
- (Settlers of) Catan
What is German-style game design, and what is or was the difference from American design? How did the rest of the world get more and more involved? What happened due to globalisation? How has game design changed over the years? What is a Eurogame? Does this terminology even make sense? What does balancing mean?
How is the relationship between pure-strategy and luck-based games? What does complexity mean in terms of gaming?
“A minute to learn, a lifetime to master.”
Really?
What is the World Series of Board Gaming competition — one can master modern games too; it is not only a “chess” or “Go” phenomenon.
What does theming mean in (board) games?
“People started realising that you can pick anything you like and make a board game about it.”
What about the Lindy effect applied to games? Which game of today will replace chess tomorrow? Or will that never happen?
“But by far the greatest difference between the evolution of the born and the evolution of the made is that species of technology, unlike species in biology, almost never go extinct.” — Kevin Kelly
Why has digital technology not replaced the analogue game? How is the interplay between digital and analogue — i.e., video/computer games vs. board/card games?
- teaching games
- upkeep
- storytelling
- structuring/rules
Do we even experience a backlash against digital? Is the internet a niche amplifier and enabler, or rather a distraction?
What is happening globally with people playing board games? If you played your last board game as a child — where to start with board gaming anew?
Can we learn something from board games about our future? Living together instead of a fractured society?
Other Episodes
- Episode 129: Rules, A Conversation with Prof. Lorraine Daston
- Episode 123: Die Natur kennt feine Grade, Ein Gespräch mit Prof. Frank Zachos
References
- Lorraine Daston, Rules, Princeton Univ. Press (2023)
- Dice Tower
- British Museum Historic Board Games
- The Complete History of Board Games
- English Heritage: Board Games
- Carl Barks
- Dr. Erika Fuchs
- Board Game Geek (Comprehensive Board Game Database)
- Board Game Arena: Play Board Games Online
- BG Stats
- World Series of Board Gaming Competition
- Kevin Kelly, What Technology Wants, Penguin (2011)
- Spiel Essen
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Games
- Pachinko
- Slot machines
- Chess
- Bridge
- Dungeons and Dragons
- Magic the Gathering
- (Settlers of) Catan
- Brass Birmingham
- Heat, Pedal to the Metal
- Ticket to Ride
- Final Girl
- Lunch atop a skyscraper
- Checkers
- Backgammon
- Codenames
- Poker
- Nintendo Gameboy GameLink
- Echoes (The dancer, example)
- Carcassonne
- Hot Streak