Reviews and Thoughts on Games in Class – Week 4

Observance Game Review 

• Was it fun? Yes, this game was fun. The gameplay is a lot like Battleship and I quite enjoy that game normally. 
• What were the player interactions? For me, I played as the US border patrol side and I got to do different search patterns to try to find the people that were trying to cross the border. I would call out the space that I was out and what search formation. If I found someone, they were captured and taken out of the game. I also got to hide the churches and green card like you would with the ships in Battleship, and kept it a secret from the other player. The other player from the Mexico side would ask me for coordinates to search for the churches and the green cards. When they found them, it allowed them to have a safe space to rest and be able to safely cross the border.  
• How long did it take to learn? This game didn’t take very long to learn at all, thanks to it being very similar to Battleship. 
• Would you play it again? Yes, I would play this game again. I liked the games message and gameplay and I would like to see who would do better if the roles were reversed. 
• Analyze the game using the 3 act structure. In the first act, the US border patrol side places the churches and the green card without letting the Mexico player know. Players take turns moving their characters in and out of and around the board, each searching for different things. The second act would have been after the first few turns and when there were significantly more characters out on the board. The US border patrol player started to place a few walls that blocked both players’ path, and each player started to find a few of what they were looking for. The third act of the game was when there was only 1-2 characters from Mexico remaining. That meant that they would either safely cross the border or be captured from the US side. When all the characters were captured or safely crossed the border, the game ended. 
• What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game? This game was definitely competitive, as players played as the US border patrol vs citizens from Mexico looking to get a better life. The players directly opposed each other, with the US side trying to remove the Mexican characters from the game, and the Mexican side just trying to safely survive. 
• What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout? The game’s metaphor is about illegal immigration between Mexico and the United States. I liked that each of the characters had their own backstory about what led them to be in that position for either side, as it really humanized the situation and gameplay. The standout mechanic for me was being able to pick different search formations, and I somehow always seemed to pick the wrong one, where I would have caught them had I picked the other one. 

Thoughts on Ames’ chess game 

While I didn’t get to play and I don’t really know much about normal chess, I really like that message of this game of chess. I found the mechanic of the bomb to be super interesting and would love to see how the game plays out if someone decided to use it. I also thought that it was super clever and interesting to include the little citizen pegs in the sandy parts of the chess board. I think that helps people think about the citizens that are often caught up in the middle of war, as opposed to just having the chess game stacked in the favor of one side. 

Thoughts on Train

I think that this is a super effective and clever way to communicate the message of the Holocaust in a game format. I find it interesting that this game is something that would really only work in a gallery setting. I also like how the designer made it so that players were compliant in making bad decisions, but they didn’t know until the very end of walking through the exhibition. I would really like to experience this in person, but I don’t really want to personally play the game myself, but I would love to watch others’ reactions to this experience. 

Thoughts on Síochán Leat (aka The Irish Game)

I really love how this designer decided to make a game to teach their kid about their background. It makes me think about how cultural education could be taught even more so through games. I also think that the design of the game board looks super interesting with some of the pieces almost appearing to float above the ground.