Games, inside and out
Mar 13th, 2008 by Matt Snyder
Here are some games I think are pretty good options for playing with people outside the subculture of gamers. They aren’t grand-slam-homeruns guaranteed to convert masses into seeing the light and brilliance of role-playing. They’re just pretty good.
And, I offer up my own efforts:
Dust Devils is a good “straight” Western game. People “get” it. 44: A Game of Automatic Fear is a bit more complex, and that may pose an obstacle. However, it does have very little preparation required and is meant to play in one sitting. In that sense, it doesn’t require a hard-core, long-term investment to play.
I’m intrigued by a number of other games, though I know relatively little about them. For instance, Best Friends by Gregor Hutton among some others.
Here are some of my favorite, all-time role-playing games that are not very good for playing with people outside the subculture of self-identifying gamers. This doesn’t mean it can’t happen, ever. It means I think they have barriers to overcome the the games above don’t have. (And, some are “better” than others in this regard.)
- HeroQuest
- The Riddle of Steel
- Dungeon & Dragons
- The Shadow of Yesterday
- Savage Worlds
- Conspiracy of Shadows
- a|state
And, my own effort:
Nine Worlds is a pretty complex game with a pretty unusual setting. My neighbor’s not bound to “get” it easily.
I have to ask, what about Emily Care Boss’s games?
Oh, and Under the Bed, maybe Risus, for simplicity’s sake.
Sure, those are good candidates, Guy. I’m just not as well-versed is all. I do have Breaking the Ice, but I’ve never played it.
Which D&D?
Freeform roleplay also work fine, as long as you know how to make it work. It is a good response to the question “What is roleplaying?”, assuming everyone has few minutes of time and the location is silent or private enough.
Heya Matt, I’m interested in what you think separates those two categories (”good for gamers” and “good for non-gamers”), that is, the criteria you’re using to do so, and also describing what the barriers you see in the latter list of games actually are. Would you be willing to write up something along those lines?
Do you think that Dust Devils’ pagecount is an obstacle to outsider gameplayers? It seems to me that only in gamer circles is 100+ pages not a shitload of rules.
Are you assuming that these games are learned in isolation, like we all did back in the 70s and 80s, or that they’re taught by an experienced teacher?
Stuart, I’m thinking of any edition of D&D for various reasons. Primarily 3rd edition since that’s what people likely have easy access to. It’s very complex.
Raven, the reasons for most “easy” games are boiled down to “How much time will it take people to ‘get’ the game in questions, and how much time do they have to devote to playing it?” For example, Prime Time Adventures takes about 3 seconds to explain “You’re writing your own TV show. Go.” HeroQuest on the other hand takes, what, hours? “See, there all all these cultures, and they each have a take on the gods, so you’re in the mix of all this stuff happening, and here’s how these rules work, but not these ones. And, here’s several dozen pages to read about the setting, which is important.” And similarly for many of the other games there. Contenders says “Ok, it’s like Rocky or Raging Bull. You get to be Rocky! Neat.” But, a|state is all like “Well, have you seen the Matrix and Dark City? It’s kind of like that, but different. But, there are all these areas and groups. And, all these social structures. Also, here are rules for penetration for rail guns. … ” Etc. Barrier of entry, for the most part (not exclusively) is my language for “I can get people into it, but how long will it take me, will they keep interest, and for how long?”
John, I don’t think Dust Devils’ page count is too extreme. The actual rules are far less than half that 100+ pages. There just aren’t a shitload of rules. Neither is there just one page, either. So, sure, it’s a barrier for some, but I don’t see it as serious as many, many other games. Also, it takes people zero time to know whether they want to play. “Want to use poker and cards to make up a story like Josey Wales?” BAM. They’re in or their out in my experience. If they’re in, they have fun and don’t struggle too much. Some, but not too much. And, the game is six years old now. I’m happy with it in that regard with it so far.
Also, I generally assume that one person is teaching a group of others. I’m not seeing a lot of people coming into the activity of role-playing “cold.” If it’s happening, I’m not hearing about it at all. I’d like it to happen, but it ain’t. I do think a small amount of people already familiar with many RPGs are inviting, say, co-workers or improv acting club pals over and trying it out, for example.
I got my mother in law to play HeroQuest.
In retrospect we probably should have played the same game with a different system. It wasn’t the normal stuff that you’d think would make it hard to get in (geeky setting, whatever… we changed it to Ireland anyway), it was that the rules are just esoteric and fiddly enough that anything other than a simple contest with no augments was murder.
Same game with Trollbabe or CowRaiding Devils (ha, I’m funny when I’m sick) would have worked ever so much better.
I’d recommend Meg Baker’s 1,001 Nights, Ron Edwards’ It Was a Mutual Decision, and maybe even Josh Newman’s Shock: for games that have relative ease of entry.
I will say, Matt, that I find your reply to Stuart a bit misleading. Sure, you can boil PTA down to “You’re making a TV show”, but that’s not an explanation, it’s a hook. It may be a better hook for nongamers than “You’re exploring a dungeon”, but it’s not a description of how the game is played by any stretch. I’m not saying that PTA or any of the other games you point out aren’t easier to teach/grasp than say D&D or GURPS or what have you, but they still have a considerable learning curve, and are not necessarily intuitive to folks who were weaned on board games- even complex Euro style ones.
I know this from a fair bit of experience trying to get my board gaming friends to try various of the indie fare.
So, while I agree with your basic premise, I object faintly to the characterization of the games mentioned as simply “one, two, three, go” in accessibility.
Ok, I’m off my soapbox now. Carry on!
D. (Nev)
My favorite “traditional style rpg” would be Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (and maybe “Dark Heresy” if I could get my hands on a copy). I am always surprised that this game does not get more love.
Best Friends is a great game to get non-gamers into, but the game desperately needs more examples and possibly a revision. I have never laughed harder during a game……