This was a forum exchange on Boardgamegeek, that was worth reblogging because it touches on our gut instinct when encountering new things in a familiar field.
Yep. And I’ve spent decades developing my palate for games. I think I know what I will like on first taste.
the comment I was responding to.
I completely disagree with this sentiment. I had been a heavy gamer for a while before being completely underwhelmed by Glory to Rome (5 player) and Innovation (2 vs 2 team game) when I first played them. I had a similar experience with Taluva (4 player).
One of my gaming buddies who knew my preferences guessed (correctly) that I must have had bad experiences. He sat me down for a gaming session with two player Glory to Rome and Taluva. In both cases my eyes were opened and they now are among my favorites. My revelation on Innovation came later after I moved to Vegas, after all the folks on the forum continued to talk about the greatness of this game.
Part of the problem was the initial play setup that introduced me to these games. I couldn’t imagine playing a team game of Innovation even now, but I’d be totally down for a 5 player game of Glory to Rome now that I grok the game (even though it wasn’t an ideal introduction to the game). The initial dislike of Taluva was just a complete whiff on my part.
I mean, I wouldn’t give just any game a second chance “just cause”, but these three games were clearly misread by me even though I was already an established gamer.
Mottainai could count as a fourth example. By the time I tried the game as a print-and-play version, I was already calling Carl Chudyk (designer of Glory to Rome and Innovation) a minor deity. After trying it a couples times with my wife, I regarded it as just a pale imitation of Glory to Rome. Last year, I decided to buy a copy as a performative marketplace gesture to signal that I love Carl Chudyk via a direct purchase from the publisher.
Now that I had a new copy, I decided to give it another shot. Even so, it took about five plays to wipe Glory to Rome out of my head and grok the game on its own terms…and the rest is history.
Most of the time, I will know if I enjoy a game after the first play – hell, I usually know to avoid a game after reading the rules! But those rare exceptions makes me believe that having total confidence in one’s own palate a dangerous overreach.
I wonder if my deeply religious upbringing is why I remain so tentative when making opinions. Prideful self assuredness was one quality that was not well received by my deity of that time. This constant self-questioning has enhanced aspects of my career, especially when it comes to critiquing designs (especially floorplans) and tweaking work processes. However, I also think it set me up to be a weak designer – creativity often requires one to go out on a limb and jump on it … and I’m just not up for that sort of exercise.