Computer gaming is my primary hobby and entertainment source, it has been since my early childhood, but every once in awhile I get the urge to visit some of the roots of gaming — the tabletop games. These are those wonderful games that involve boards, cards, miniature figures and tons of player generated content and entertainment. These are the types of games that influenced the creation of our own console and PC games. If you’ve never really looked into, tried or cared about them — give them a try, in many ways these games are far more advanced than their electronic cousins likely ever will be.
I’ve probably hit on this topic before, but the biggest appeal these games have for me is their open-endedness. You can change, modify, add, remove rules as you see fit for your game — no programming required.
Imagination is key and a little of it can go a long way to the creation of entire worlds, civilizations, history — the rise and fall of empires and leaders. This is storytelling as a game. Even with war games, even with streamlined RPGs like DnD’s 4th edition. It’s all about the story and the social experience.
Cost is another factor of tabletop gaming that I like — for most of the games. Pen and paper RPGs take very little to get going, a core rulebook and you’re set. (usually) This can be quite cheap, 10-20 bucks for a PDF from sites like RPGDriveThru, to more expensive print copies ranging from 25-40 bucks. (depending on size, company, hardcover/softcover, etc) Sourcebooks are generally where things can get expensive, these are supplements to the core rules that are essentially ‘expansion packs’ — you don’t need them to play but they do add to the experience. Games like Dungeons and Dragons can easily have a sourcebook coming out every month and if their core books don’t change over a few years these can pile up. In some ways its really nice, though. Being an MMO gamer I know how important content is — especially new content. If I could get a new expansion every month I’d be overjoyed. These sourcebooks (DnD’s at least) tend to range around 20 bucks, so they’re not even that far from the standard MMO subscriptions — well worth the cost to me. The other thing to remember about these purchases is they last for as long as you have the book — you can play these games till the day you die, even if new rules are released and your current edition is no longer supported. You can create your own new content and rules.
One of the biggest reasons to play tabletop games is also one of the ones that keeps me from playing — you need a group of people. Small town, small population, no gaming stores in at least 30 miles = little to no playerbase. But, with the wonderful internet, this is changing. These days it’s not impossible to do tabletop gaming online — even with war games. Sites like RPTools have open source programs that allow players the world over to interact with each other and play their favorite games online.
There really is no excuse anymore to not play these games. Think of a genre you like and look it up — there’s likey a tabletop game out there that will fit it.
