Boardgames To Go 258 - Elegance in Boardgames (with Greg Pettit)

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Which is more elegant? Perhaps they both are?

@Gregarius

Openers:
• Mark: dnup
• Greg: Gold Country

What the heck is "elegance" in boardgame design or play, anyway? Can it be defined? Probably not, but it can definitely be discussed. Greg suggested on our Discord server that the term is so imprecise, so subjective, that no one should use it any longer. I disagree. Though it definitely is subjective, it's also been talked about for so long in our hobby that some common characteristics have emerged. I had fun digging through BGG archives, but also much further back into rec.games.board and Sumo magazine to read how it's been considered (or re-considered) for decades. Now, there are even YouTube videos from designers & publishers that talk about the concept. Plus a lot of reviewers/pontificators, like us.

It's not accurate to say we reached any definitive conclusions, but I do believe we identified some common characteristics that hobbyists mean when they say a game is elegant.

1. Fewer rules. Possibly in an absolute sense, but more often we mean there are a modest amount of rules relative to the game's subject, experience, or what it's trying to do. Probably fewer rules compared to "peer" games, too. However, the rules still need to be clear, not suffering from brevity.

2. A "clean" and highly functional physical design. Boardgames are tangible items, and the ability to see & handle the game components across the table without reading glasses or tweezers or endless storage containers is a strong aspect of an elegant boardgame. The physically beautiful abstracts have a leg up here.

3. Natural or intuitive gameplay. This relates to both of the above characteristics, and is especially interesting to think about for our usual themed boardgames. The rules, the production, and setting or subject of a game can help make it easier to learn & play a game just because it "makes sense." Players can almost anticipate how & why certain things happen, rather than just needing to remember the rules.

Game duration sometimes get mentioned, but even I don't like to include that as a quality of a game's elegance. True, a lot of common examples for elegant games tend to be shorter (and so do my favorites), but I believe that's correlation rather than causation. At least theoretically, a longer and thematically complex game could still be elegant in the way it's learned, played, and physically experienced. (The degree of difficulty for the designer/publisher is quite high, and I struggle to think of any great examples, but I want it to be possible.)

I really recommend designer Matthew Dunstan's entire YouTube channel, and this episode about game elegance in particular.

How to design elegant games

Closers:
• Greg: Thrift store finds
• Mark: How games like Carolus Magnus can receive themes that are both arbitrary and perfect at the same time Also be sure to check out the excellent BGG blog by

@waxbottle, Mostly Short Sentences

-Mark