Games are an amazing way to bring people together, Board games were my favorite thing to do with my family when I was younger, I use to play monopoly and uno with my cousins and we loved it. As I have gotten older the opportunities of playing board games are obsolete with being an adult and all but they are still one of my favorite activities to do with my family.
Defining a game is maybe one of the trickiest things to be asked, it really depends on who you ask and their experiences with a game. Some people could say it’s a thing that is played and there is a winner and a loser, or you could google it, which there are multiple meanings for a game, but the top answer Is ‘an activity that one engages in for amusement or fun’. But why are we trying to define something that has so many possibilities and meanings for every single person? I personally believe it’s defined by our own experience. (Moore)
The use of Hermeneutics which is a theory based on interpretation has been used for thousands of years. The use of Hermeneutics is important In the world of games as it gives a clear idea of how games should be played based on what game designers have made them to be (Arjoranta).
Since starting back at university and looking into tabletop games it’s really interested me how different people interpret different things, it is based on each person’s experiences and if they are more a problem-solving type of person or more creative which makes the possibilities endless in the world of table tops games ( Booth, p.2).
My first experience of being back at university and learning about tabletop games was quite fun. My group and I looked at the game’s codenames and Throw Throw Burrito. Because this was the first class of the semester and my group and I were sort of strangers it was interesting to see how each one of us interpreted the instructions and the gameplay, especially in the game Codenames.
Codenames is not a traditional board game, I have never played it before, so I was interested to play it. Some of my group had already played it and they explained it to be kinda like charades but just with one word, so it is very important to have effective communication and language when playing this type of game. Not having effective communication can make an obstacle for the players as playing with strangers is kinda difficult as you wouldn’t know how the other people communicate in their own way.
The name of the game made sense and connected to the theme and the box art and designs on the cards were all tied together making it a cohesive aesthetic. The mechanics of the game made it an easy game to play as it was just using different types of cards that mean different things.
The next game was Throw Throw burrito which for a game that was supposed to be easy but it kinda took me a while to understand the game maybe because it was 9:30 in the morning when my group and I played it and were just too early to take in the rules. Throw Throw burrito is all about being quick and efficient with the way the game is played, the game made you on edge as you don’t know who would pick you for a battle to the burritos.
Reflecting on playing both of these games I have played; I didn’t really have any expectations playing them. I felt like I was going in there blind but ready to learn. I noticed that playing these games with different people left a lot of room open for interpretation and different behaviors to either clash or work together in these situations. Fortunately, my group and I had similar personalities, and were we all able to help each other understand even though we had different experiences.
Games are an amazing way to connect and interact with new people, they can give us an insight into how people operate and think as each person interprets games differently which I personally think makes games successful and fun to play as it shows what meanings games are communicating to the different players.
References :
Arjoranta, J. 2022. ‘ How are Games Interpreted? Hermeneutics for Game Studies’. Game Studies, The international journal of computer game research. (online) https://gamestudies.org/2203/articles/arjoranta_how_are_games_interpreted
Booth, Paul 2021. ‘The Epic Adventure of Grundy and Trixie. An Autoethnographic Journey Through Gloomhaven‘. Board Games as Media. Bloomsbury. New York. pp.192 – 214.
Moore, C. 2021. ‘BCM300- What is a game?. (Online) http://www.youtube.com. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me2mA68z7EA
Mia’s life 