When Good Games Go Bad!

When good games go bad.
By, Jim Reed


Most gamers, including myself, usually make the decision on whether or not we like a game after just one play.

Sometime we may be undecided and agree that at least one more play through of the game is needed before we make a final judgement. (The reason for this could be a completely different article so I'll leave it be for now.)

Also, there are those games that we don't like after playing the first time but for whatever reason, we find ourselves playing it again and finding that we do like it.

Well, what about the other side of that coin. What about the games that you really enjoy the first time or even the first few times you play them but at some point, during a subsequent play, you realize you don't like the game very much anymore.

Sometimes I can see the reasons for this and sometimes I just can not.

Apples To Apples for example. I've just played this game so damn much that I just don't like playing it anymore. (But I do b/c others still want to) Over playing of a game has caused a drop in my likeness for quite a few games actually, but the trend mostly seems to be with party style games and fillers . (This makes sense seeing as how they are the most played with my bi-weekly group and at casual get together)

Over playing makes good games go bad.

There are two other games that Get a lot of negative press, Munchkin and Killer Bunnies. These games often get that love it or hate it reaction. But for me, I really enjoyed these games when I first started playing them, but now not so much.
This is because of the expansions. For me, when I started adding in Munchkin expansions to the base game, it seemed to start weighing the game down. There were so many more races and classes and a lot more race/class specific weapons and items that it clogged things up. And the same goes for Killer bunnies. I bought the first few expansions which included the weapons Imporium, pawn shop, and defense cards and once again, the game seemed to get bogged down. I still enjoy playing both these games but I play base versions of Munchkin only (preferring the original overall) and play Killer Bunnies with only the blue and yellow cards.

Expansions can make good games go bad.

Finally it's the "I just don't know why but I don't like the game as much anymore" category. Obviously, for a lot of gamers, we can say that with games like Sorry, or Payday, or Parcheesi, because we didn't realize there were better games out there.

Last week, I got a chance to bring Shadows Over Camelot to the table for the first time in over a year. I had been trying to pull this one out on several occasions but it never worked out. I loved this game. I never had a bad experience with it, and the only reason it wasn't getting played was do to timing and player issues. So when I finally realized the situation to play it was perfect, I removed it from the shelf in anticipation. Setup and explanation went flawlessly and then we started playing. Somewhere, I realized I wasn't enjoying myself, and I had no idea why. Things going on in the game didn't seem that fun to me and I found myself caring less and less what happened as the game progressed. But honestly, even now, I'm scratching my head as to what the problem was. My mood? I don't think so. I was happy to be playing and didn't have any burdens or worries going on. The other players? They were great and all seemed to be enjoying the game. So why???

Looking at my collection, I realized I owned quite a few games that I used to love to play, but for some reason, right now in my life, I don't care if I ever play them again or not. Bohnanza, Zooloretto, Pandemic, and Battlelore. I mention these above others because these are all games that at one point I loved playing. Nothing happened that made me dislike them, so what makes me suddenly feel like I don't? Has this happened to you? With what games an why?

Sometimes, good games just go bad!


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