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Tom Vasel: Alas, poor card games!
I’m typing this as I’m getting ready to run out the door - school is starting this week with a vengeance, and I have quite a bit to do prepping for my classes.
A few weeks ago on www.boardgamegeek.com, I posted a thread about a card container that I was looking for here. Since then, I have ordered thirty of these, and am anxiously waiting to put my card game shelf into order - which is in a disarray.
But it got me to thinking about card games in general. I have a couple hundred card games, and most of them fit on one or two bookcases, as opposed to the fifteen bookcases for my board games. But whenever I invite someone to my gaming room, and they get over their initial shock at how many board games I have (I always tell them that there are people in America with ten thousand - dwarfing my measley thousand), I ask them what game they want to play.
Guess what? It’s never a card game.
Card games look insignificant on the one side, with the big, beautiful board games drawing attention to themselves. Recently, I’ve been enamored with games such as Fairy Tale and No Thanks! - but they are games that I have to bring to the table to get anyone to notice them. People are initially really drawn in by games with the beautiful looks like Reef Encounter, etc. If you look at BGG, you’ll notice that the top 100 games include fewer card games than board games.
Board games are bigger and flashier, but are they better than card games?
Well, since many board games are simply card games with a few extra components, probably not. But I must admit that I’m usually inclined to rip open the box of a new board game, and then casually glance at the card games I receive. Yes, I may be wooed by the bigger and better pieces, and is that a bad thing?
Card games have their place - as they can easily fit in a backpack or pocket for travelling purposes. Games such as Bang! have become staples of many gaming groups. Yet the hundreds of card games on my shelves often sit their sadly, watching their bigger brothers get played more often than they.
And I don’t really care - because as much as I like card games (and Fairy Tale is really fun!), a board game seduces me in a way few card games do.
What about you? How do your card games fare?
Tom Vasel
“Real men play board games”
www.tomvasel.com
P.S. I do play LOTS of card games, and enjoy LOTS of them. I simply play more board games.
© 2006 Tom Vasel
Posted by Tom Vasel on Aug 7, 2006 at 03:00 AM in Columnists, Tom Vasel / 1657
Comments:
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For the record, I can’t stand Bang! Any game that can allow for a player to be eliminated from the game before he/she ever even gets a chance to participate in said game WILL NEVER BE PLAYED KNOWINGLY BY ME. (Yes, I know I’m screaming). OTOH, Tichu is routinely in my top three games played by quantity on an annual basis. Dale Posted by Dale Yu on Aug 7, 2006 at 08:18 PM | #
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It’s much the same with me, Tom. I love card games and play my share, but when we get together on game night, the vast majority of the games played are boardgames. The one outstanding exception is Tichu. However, card games really come into their own when there’s only two players. The Mystery Rummy games, Jambo, Babel, San Juan (which, of course, also plays great with other numbers), Schotten-Totten, and Balloon Cup are the ones that usually come out with two. So thankfully, I have plenty of opportunities to scratch my card game itch. Posted by Larry Levy on Aug 7, 2006 at 08:26 PM | #
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OK, Tom… I have 993 board and card games, and they take a mere 9 bookcases total. How you stretch your thousand over 15 bookcases is beyond me. That said, yeah, card games are generally in the realm of filler and its always board games that get played first. Still, three of my top 5 played games this year are Card games (Poker, Tichu, Railroad Tycoon, 6 Nimmt!, and Maus Nach Haus). Posted by David Fair on Aug 7, 2006 at 08:29 PM | #
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David, you must have huge bookcases or many many many small games. My 800+ fit on 3 particle board 5 shelf bookcases, 10 plastic 5 shelf bookcases that are all wider than the particle board bookcases, 4 large cabinets, one small set of step shelves for smaller games and just about any other flat surface in my basement. How you fit you 993 games into 9 bookcases is beyond me! Posted by Dale Yu on Aug 7, 2006 at 08:36 PM | #
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Actually, I kind of prefer card games. I would almost prefer a good trick taking game over most other sorts of games. I actually finally found one other local gamer who is a card player. Now we just need two more. Sad, really. As to card game storage, I tend to wrap the original failing boxes in a rubber band around both of the flaps to keep the cards in. Then many, many of these card games are loaded into 16 x 20 cardboard card boxes that have three dividers. You find these at US game stores for CCG folks. Single deck card games can fit in easily, and 3 double-deck card games can go in together sideways. I think I have 3 of these boxes so far on one half of a shelf together containing 201 card games. ( I checked, and I wonder why I have 3 copies of Hanafuda. ) Posted by Frank Branham on Aug 7, 2006 at 09:23 PM | #
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The bookcases are Billy bookcases from Ikea, not that big: 3-ft wide, 7 feet tall. I use the top of the shelf unit as well. See some picks from back when I only had about 800 games here: http://rck2.com/zp/Game+Closets/page/1 Posted by David Fair on Aug 7, 2006 at 09:25 PM | #
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Mine fit on nine bookcases--and some of those are just three shelves high. It helps when a lot of one’s wargames come in envelopes… I get fewer card games in than I’d like, but not too many fewer. I’m horrible at trick-taking games, so I strenuously avoid those. I’d love to get Vampire, Money!, Canasta, Cicrus Flohcati (I managed to come up with one non-Knizia card game, anyway) to the table. Posted by Alfred Wallace on Aug 8, 2006 at 12:05 AM | #
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I prefer to play board games as they tend to have more depth. However, I do play a lot of card games as they are extremely portable and tend to be quicker to explain to new players. Lugging boardgames on airplane flights is very limiting, so if I visit family I tend to focus on card games. I consider several card games to be some of the best “gateway games”. Play a game of No Thanks or For Sale! with people and they will discover a very new type of game. I then mention that I have a good collection of boardgames that are just as unique, different, and fun. Posted by Matt J. Carlson on Aug 8, 2006 at 08:37 AM | #
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I like to start the session with the big board games and end with the card games. Tichu, Mu, etc. depending on the number of players. Posted by Anye Mercy on Aug 8, 2006 at 01:56 PM | #
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( I checked, and I wonder why I have 3 copies of Hanafuda. ) Hanawadda? Posted by Jeff Allers on Aug 8, 2006 at 03:35 PM | #
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Ohhhh, a 17th-century Japanese card game. Looks interesting--is it worth trading for one of yours? Posted by Jeff Allers on Aug 8, 2006 at 03:45 PM | #
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Hanafuda. It is a deck of Japanese playing cards. Most of the games for it are gambling games, with some interesting Casino-like games. (I’m referring to the card game family that includes Tablanette, not the gaudy things in Vegas.) The trippy thing is the flower card deck itself. There are 12 suits of 4 cards each. Several cards also include animals, banners, and a sun or moon. Many games give bonus points for cards containing elements, and being an Asian game, there are quite a few exceptions and special cases. Posted by Frank Branham on Aug 8, 2006 at 03:48 PM | #
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