Co-operation? What sort of trickery is this?!!!!

 

Forgive me a little ancient history. 

In my original era of gaming, barring D&D / Dungeon-crawlers (neither my thing) I can’t recall other co-operative games. I suppose Escape from Colditz was close, as a 1 vs many, though I had a rude awakening the first time someone showed me it could very much be played semi co-op

 “I’ll have that traitor court-martialled!!”

 

 

So after a rather long break from gaming that started just before the millennium, returning to the hobby a decade and a half later revealed an amazing array of co-operative games, and that richness has continued since. Here are a few examples played at NOBOG over the years. Perhaps you were one of the players?

Pandemic is very well-known, but my favourite ‘Pandemic system’ game is one that doesn’t carry that name, though it was designed by the same person (Matt Leacock). The game is Thunderbirds, originally released via Kickstarter crowdfunding, and followed by a retail release…. but then the IP licence expired, never to be reprinted. Here’s a shot of it being played at NOBOG in Sept 2019. The board may look rather simplified, but it presents a fierce challenge, as it’s not enough to plan for your own turn, but have to consider the player(s) that follow you. Will your move aid them as well, or risk leaving them helpless? Gameplay is pretty easy to learn, though it does present a bit more of a puzzle than Pandemic, despite the use of dice in solving most events. For anyone who grew up on the Gerry Anderson series, there will be plenty of moments where a wry smile develops as you remember an episode from decades before.

Cthulu / Lovecraft has become a popular theme, and especially so for co-operative games. There is something so obviously appealing about ones sanity being tested by unspeakable monsters, though any schoolteachers will I’m sure say that the joy wears off after a while. Recent gaming has seen Mansions of Madness (a very cinematic crescendo with the narrative side to the fore) and Cthulu Death May Die (a more cerebral puzzle, albeit with figurines that may be outgrowing the term ‘mini’), but the game illustrated takes us back to a NOBOG session in the dark and distant June 2017, the game being the “Big book of madness”.

Between two… Games design might sometimes feel a little derivative / repetitious, but there are some cracking original ideas out there. I’d definitely count in this the games Between two cities of Mad King Ludwig, and Between two castles of Mad King Ludwig. The premise is that whilst the games are competitive, this is achieved by playing co-operatively with the players to your left and right. You create a tableau with each of those players, but only the lowest scoring of those two counts as your score, so you’re naturally encouraged to treat them both equally. Such an innovative design, but also a game that must be useful to bring new players into a more experienced group, as they’ll get help from both sides. Here is Between two castles, being played at NOBOG in December 2019.

Escape rooms have become a big thing in the wider public awareness and NOBOG even played one in board game form this month (Adventure Games - November 2022). Have any been played at NOBOG before? I can’t recall any, but they seem like they’d be a good fit.

Just One has been a popular closer to NOBOG evenings for a while now, and we’re most likely to play it as an uber-chilled casual game than actually keeping score. Here’s a more recent photo of a large game of it being played at NOBOG in Sept 2022. Super easy to teach / learn, and it gets some longevity from needing to think about the interests / experiences of your fellow players e.g. a clue based on a Marvel superhero would be wasted on me, but might be perfect for someone else. For me it (and not Monopoly) should be the game that is in every household, and Christmas would be a lot more tolerable were that the case.

 

How about you?

-        Do you enjoy a little co-op play alongside more traditional competitive games?

-        Any favourite co-op games, or ones you’re keen to try out?

-        Did you play in the game illustrated (or any other time)? If so, any thoughts on the game?