The games we played were Tokaido, Scrabble, and Chicken Cha Cha Cha. Each game was very different in terms of gameplay and mechanics. Tokaido was fun because of the art and mechanics because there was no dice rolling involved. Scrabble was a very classic game that was easy to understand, but in terms of “fun” became boring after a while because we couldn’t come up with any more words. Finally, Chicken Cha Cha Cha was a simple but chaotic game because of the competitiveness and easy to understand rules. So out of all three of these games, I think Chicken Cha Cha Cha was my favorite because the rules were so easy to follow.
Chicken Cha Cha Cha is a memory game where in order to win, one player has to collect all the other player’s tail feathers.The main mechanics were dice rolling memory matching. To move, a player would roll the dice and then if they want to keep moving they would need to match the tile in front to roll again. If there is a player in front of them, they would need to match the that tile in order to steal the feather. The most fun experience was matching the tiles, since it’s unexpected and surprising when we do get a match, especially if it’s to steal another player’s feather. This was also the emergent game experience; since the rules are simple, it is up to the player to create the experience and make it interesting through matching the tiles (or failing to do so). From the reading, the author makes a point that the mechanics should be consistent, and replayable. So by making the game not a traditional board, it allows for more randomization thus increasing replayability. Furthermore, since this game had the most simple rules out of the three, it created a simple but emergent gameplay. We were able to play multiple rounds in about 30 minutes, and each round there was a different outcome.
Traditional board games often consist of rolling a dice and moving on a path. This relates to gameplay in video games, where you can move forward to advance in the game. Along the way there are often challenges that you have to overcome, and that is the same for board games. Both video games and board games are a process of learning and revealing a story as you move on in the game.