Morels (no comment necessary)

jeb wrote:

edulis wrote: Anyway Morels is on my wish list.

Given your avatar, this is the "No shit" of the Year winner.

That's so awesome, Jeb.

Sorry Frank,

I don't have to read the mechanics to knock the theme. We still don't have a decent haunted house boardgame on the market. Or cops and robbers. Or lightweight adventure game. Or spy game. et al. But now we have a game about Morel mushroom hunting. Uh, no.

It's all that's wrong with the game industry... next to that game about ditch digging in the Panama Canal or that moose mating game. No matter how clever the gameplay, incredibly inane themes that no normal person would think are fun, immediately put the kibosh on the buy, interest factor.

And that's how it should be.

I thanked you by accident, as I'm not sure I totally agree with you Ryan.

On the other hand, I downloaded a game called Crack Whore, and thought, there needs to be more good games about women with loose morels.

ok, I'll get me coat

Ryan B. wrote: Sorry Frank,

I don't have to read the mechanics to knock the theme. We still don't have a decent haunted house boardgame on the market. Or cops and robbers. Or lightweight adventure game. Or spy game. et al. But now we have a game about Morel mushroom hunting. Uh, no.

It's all that's wrong with the game industry... next to that game about ditch digging in the Panama Canal or that moose mating game. No matter how clever the gameplay, incredibly inane themes that no normal person would think are fun, immediately put the kibosh on the buy, interest factor.

And that's how it should be.

OK, it's finally Friday, so:

Yeah, I hear you. As we all know, if a small husband-and-wife publisher (which is Two Lanterns Games) decides to release a light, family-friendly game about collecting mushrooms, that totally prevents everyone else from releasing games about haunted houses, cops and robbers, light adventure, spies, etc, the only themes that sane people enjoy. Well, my nephew and niece (8 and 5 year olds) or my wife would probably love the mushroom-collecting theme, but they are clearly insane. Fuck them. This is why we can't have nice things.

Like, for example, how awesome it would be, if there was a game about haunted houses, we could call it "Betrayal at House on the Hill" or "Mansions of Madness", it would be so great! Or a spy game, maybe about SMERSH from the James Bond novels. Or a light adventure game about exploring a temple, and escaping it before it collapses. It could even be real-time, with lots of die-rolling!

But those fucking insane nerds just have to ruin everything! Right?

Ryan B. wrote: Sorry Frank,

No matter how clever the gameplay, incredibly inane themes that no normal person would think are fun, immediately put the kibosh on the buy, interest factor.

And that's how it should be.

Damn it, once again I am not normal.

I have two different sets of standard playing cards with mushroom photos and illustrations on them. I think this game is awesome for the art alone. I've only scanned the rules, but I am fully in.

Ryan B. wrote: Sorry Frank,

I don't have to read the mechanics to knock the theme. We still don't have a decent haunted house boardgame on the market. Or cops and robbers. Or lightweight adventure game. Or spy game. et al. But now we have a game about Morel mushroom hunting. Uh, no.

It's all that's wrong with the game industry... next to that game about ditch digging in the Panama Canal or that moose mating game. No matter how clever the gameplay, incredibly inane themes that no normal person would think are fun, immediately put the kibosh on the buy, interest factor.

And that's how it should be.

The theme *IS* pretty silly and esoteric. But Euros don't come with themes, they come with skins. There are only tiny bits of detail glued on to give the artist something to draw, and have practically nothing to do with the source material.

Not so on Morels. They totally ran with the theme into almost obsessive detail, and lavish description. When I saw the game at Gencon, I immediately dismissed it as mushroom set collecting.

Someone made me look at the cards and rules, and the game is actually kind of awesome. In a totally Foxfire kind of way.

Where all the Thallids at?

Revelation: Morels are, in fact, Marro cocks.

Here's the gameplay:


This guy is a John Clowdus wannabe! That's got to be worth something.

this game looks as exciting as watching paint dry

If you're doing it right, watching paint dry can be quite the experience. LMAO

Rliyen wrote: Where all the Thallids at?

Attachment Thallid.jpeg not found

Damn, one of my friends was obsessed with making a Thallid deck. Which, quality aside, is madness because there aren't even enough of these shitty guys to make one. Urrrgh.

moofrank wrote:

Ryan B. wrote: Sorry Frank,

I don't have to read the mechanics to knock the theme. We still don't have a decent haunted house boardgame on the market. Or cops and robbers. Or lightweight adventure game. Or spy game. et al. But now we have a game about Morel mushroom hunting. Uh, no.

It's all that's wrong with the game industry... next to that game about ditch digging in the Panama Canal or that moose mating game. No matter how clever the gameplay, incredibly inane themes that no normal person would think are fun, immediately put the kibosh on the buy, interest factor.

And that's how it should be.

The theme *IS* pretty silly and esoteric. But Euros don't come with themes, they come with skins. There are only tiny bits of detail glued on to give the artist something to draw, and have practically nothing to do with the source material.

Not so on Morels. They totally ran with the theme into almost obsessive detail, and lavish description. When I saw the game at Gencon, I immediately dismissed it as mushroom set collecting.

Someone made me look at the cards and rules, and the game is actually kind of awesome. In a totally Foxfire kind of way.

To clarify my argument: Hey, I understand there is a market for this with the Euro crowd. So you raise a good point there, Frank. And I don't have any issue with these games being produced for the Euro crowd. In fact, they absolutely should because there is a market for them and hobbyists certainly enjoy them. But they just seem to predominate the market. I just think the focus of game-making has become more and more narrow in so much that every game seems to be designed with a Euro bent. (unless expressedly Ameritrash or fantasy themed.)

And if something is designed to be more lightweight? Well, Pete just showed us all an excellent example of how crazy people get with the notion that exists in some quarters that everything needs to be designed with the "Euro" manta in mind.

I just would like to see more balance from my perspective. Make some games for the Euro Market, make some for the fantasy genre, the Ameritrash market and then the mainsteam market too. Games are getting too complex and I for one, would enjoy some simplicity while still being able to make some engaging decisions, interact with my friends and just have fun.

Some examples of some fantastic lighter games with some "mainstream" themes:

Scotland Yard
Survive
Clue
Monopoly (I love tossing that gaming hand grenade in there.)
Pirate's Cove
Mystery of the Abbey
Lost Cities

BTW, to the other comments: House on Haunted Hill is way too fiddly, IMO and Mansions of Madness? That game was so roundly criticized, I didn't even think to bother to note it as an example. But yes, I will concede that they both have good themes.... just not the best mechanics. And ya kinda need both.

As a sidebar:

To highlight these principles around working to accommodate everybody and some of the challenges I face: I am a leader in a boardgame meetup with over 700+ members right now.

We actually dedicate a regular Tuesday night group to strategy and Euro games. It is relatively well-attended and there is definitely a sub-set of people that really seem to enjoy it. Which is why we put that event together. Thrilled to do it!

But we also dedicate an extremely well attended group on Thursday nights (which I used to host) that is our "bread and butter" and concentrates around strictly lighter fare. I am always asked about getting new games for this group and every time I have tried to introduce something with an offbeat Euro theme, it never goes over well.

And is hard to find new games for this group that I know that they will like. There are only so many games of Balderdash, Ticket to Ride, Cloud 9 to be had before people want to try something else. It is very easy to find games for the Tuesday night group. Much, much harder to find new games for our Thursday night group, however.

OK, I have to ask you: from what kind of parallel universe are you writing?

Because in this universe, this is how BGG's top list looks like, when I list games released in 2012:

www.boardgamegeek.com/search/boardgame?s...vsearch=1&q=&include [designerid]=&include[publisherid]=&geekitemname=&range[yearpublished][min]=2012&range[yearpublished][max]=&range[minage][max]=&range[numvoters][min]=&range[numweights][min]=&range[minplayers][max]=&range[maxplayers][min]=&range[playingtime][max]=&floatrange[avgrating][min]=&floatrange[avgrating][max]=&floatrange[avgweight][min]=&floatrange[avgweight][max]=&searchuser=wice&nopropertyids[0]=1042&playerrangetype=normal&B1=Submit

(Fuck, I cannot link it. Use Advanced Search, select From: 2012, then sort by rank.)

Please, compare the number of games with "typical Euro-themes" to the number of games with
typical AT-themes (sci-fi, fantasy, pirates, atom-bombs, war, zombies, lost temples, superheroes, werewolves and vampires, gladiators, etc.), then explain to me, on what exactly do you base your claim, that "every game seems to be designed with a Euro bent"?

For fuck's sake, we even had a worker placement game with a D&D theme this year!

wice wrote: OK, I have to ask you: from what kind of parallel universe are you writing?

Because in this universe, this is how BGG's top list looks like, when I list games released in 2012:

www.boardgamegeek.com/search/boardgame?s...vsearch=1&q=&include [designerid]=&include[publisherid]=&geekitemname=&range[yearpublished][min]=2012&range[yearpublished][max]=&range[minage][max]=&range[numvoters][min]=&range[numweights][min]=&range[minplayers][max]=&range[maxplayers][min]=&range[playingtime][max]=&floatrange[avgrating][min]=&floatrange[avgrating][max]=&floatrange[avgweight][min]=&floatrange[avgweight][max]=&searchuser=wice&nopropertyids[0]=1042&playerrangetype=normal&B1=Submit

(Fuck, I cannot link it. Use Advanced Search, select From: 2012, then sort by rank.)

Please, compare the number of games with "typical Euro-themes" to the number of games with
typical AT-themes (sci-fi, fantasy, pirates, atom-bombs, war, zombies, lost temples, superheroes, werewolves and vampires, gladiators, etc.), then explain to me, on what exactly do you base your claim, that "every game seems to be designed with a Euro bent"?

For pete's sake, we even had a worker placement game with a D&D theme this year!

Wice,

I did what you said. Very good instructions, by the way. A TON of Ameritrash at the top of your list. Perhaps I need to stop reading Opinionated Gamers. (LOL)

I definitely believe that Ameritrash games are on the rise as compared to Eurogames. And remember, the list as you sorted it focuses on "good" games made in 2012. Not total games made. So looking at what you've got and if we were checking off the boxes:

2012
Lots of Ameritrash made? check.
Lots of Fantasy made? check.
Lots of Euros made? check.
Lots of "mainstream" made? ?

Lots of attempts to hammer Settler of Catan, as a "mainstream" game at Target, Barnes and Noble, etc. check.

People I have seen wanting actually wanting to play Settlers of Catan at my Thursday night game group? 2 (and both attend our Tuesday night group regularly...) New people: 0


And I looked over your same list to see what might work in that Thursday night group. And Escape! probably has the chops to get people excited and playing. Not much else besides that.

It is this group that I feel is under-represented as buyers with regards to the massive share of the games produced in the industry. This group certainly keeps Hasbro in business. For that, they can look forward to Monopoly: 2013 NASCAR edition this holiday season. Yea. Unfortunately, this group will never post on any boardgame forum board about any level of discontent. They just don't buy. If nothing excites them, they will easily pick up and go to something else to entertain them.

But bring something like Escape! to the table... and all of a sudden their eyes might actually be opened to all the fun you can have with boardgames, which is something that something that "Morels" will never be able to achieve.

Just my take...

Ryan B.