Interesting, when you throw up those numbers like ...

2006-06-16T06:36:00.000+08:00

Interesting, when you throw up those numbers like that, it always puts things in sharp relief. Looking at them, my ratings don't seem quite right ... I've probably slightly under-rated Power Grid, and over-rated Age of Steam and Reef Encounter. Back to the BGG ratings screen ... I don't think I ever claimed that Fun was a universal constant, but I certainly did explain why I felt Caylus was Not Fun for me, and people I game with.

Anyway, to be (marginally) on point, I think "elegance" is part of the answer, but clearly only a part. Elegance implies simplicity and grace to me, so I can certainly see, say, Web of Power being described as elegant, but I really fail to see the appeal of that game. I think of it more as design compactness, efficiency and interconnectedness. Compare wonderful Knizia games like Beowulf, Amun-Re, or Tower of Babel, where you discover different ways in which the different systems interact in subtle ways. Nothing is wasted, and nothing in the design stands on its own - everything affects many other things. By comparison, Caylus does not have a high degree of "connectedness".

Ultimately, I think there is an art and a craft to game design. The craft is getting the balance right, making sure all the systems connect to each other in interesting ways, making sure it doesn't take to long, and so on. The art is making it interesting, making the game tell a story, making the game appealing at a visceral level - and giving it grace and elegance.

At the end of the day, I would say Caylus succeeds at neither end. It's partially successful at the game design craft, but in my view it fails wholly on the artistic side.

Great to have you back Rick. I'll refrain from har...

2006-05-29T00:10:00.000+08:00

Great to have you back Rick.

I'll refrain from harassing you with my thoughts on Caylus but I found it interesting that in Chris' argument against Caylus, neither of the games he mentions I would consider fun (with possibly the exception of Modern Art). You brought in the concept of elegance in your post to further your position on Caylus. While I might find it difficult to argue against Adel, Modern Art or Settlers' elegance, there's no way I'd argue these to be universally fun. This to me highlights the subjectivity of "fun". Caylus may not be elegant or as polished as those designs, but I still find it fun.

Comments on Divine Diversions: Spoiled by Elegance

Interesting, when you throw up those numbers like ...

Great to have you back Rick. I'll refrain from har...