Issue 13  April 7th 2017

Lucky number 13

It's Friday and we are at issue number 13. Let's fight the triskaidekaphobia by talking about luck aspect in board games.

Many games are using dice as randomizers. What differs is the ratio between luck and skill (or strategy). In some games like Monopoly or Zombie Dice luck is prevalent, almost no skill or strategy is involved and much relies on a dice roll. On the other hand, there are games like chess or Onitama with no luck involved. Modern games have revolutionized the use of dice. In games like Roll for the Galaxy, Tiny Epic Galaxies or Roll Player there are almost no bad rolls. Each die can be used to improve your character or perform some action.

Some people really dislike dice in strategy games. Others, like Isaac Childres went to a great length to create a game without dice but with a factor of randomness. Gloomhaven uses a deck of cards as a randomizer because the deck is customizable. The deck can be made better by removing negative cards or worse by adding some.

You can read more about this in Luck and Skill in Modern Board Games by The Board Game Snob and Luck in Board Games: How Much Should There Be? by Best Dang Games.