Board games are good for game designers
You probably already know this but it is important for a game developer to play different games and learn from them. This will teach important lessons about what works and what does not in games. Unfortunately many forget that not only computer games count as games. One place in particular to find good games are in board games where classics like Chess and Monopoly can be excellent learning experiences. But actually these two games don't even tell half the story of what board games are today.
Board games are often great examples of how a limited set of rules and physical game pieces can create fun and exciting gameplay. Chess has nearly endless strategic choices and Monopoly will play different every time and feels different if more or fewer players are added to the session.
The important thing is that board games have evolved tremendously over the last decades. Newer games like Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne, Space Hulk or Arkham Horror all prove that board games have come a long way since Monopoly.
Board games today also mimic some of the themes and gameplay from well known computer games. Examples here are World of WarCraft, StarCraft and Doom, or popular tv series like Battlestar Galactica.
If you haven’t played a board game in a long time you should take a look at some of the new offerings the genre has and give them a try. You might learn some valuable lessons about game design from it and become a better designer yourself.
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