Games in Class vs. Pick 3

In class this past Thursday, I played two games, Trigger and Ticket to Ride. I found Trigger to be much more challenging than one would anticipate due to the constant use of negatives and double negatives in the questions. It was a very different game but I enjoyed playing it. My group barely had time to play Ticket to Ride because we had to refer to the rules online as the hard copy was missing from the game box. It seemed to have a good amount of strategy requires and I would like to play it again.

These games I believe fall into the "fun" category if you will (with a touch of education). They definitely have more teaching potential than the games we created during our Pick Three assignment. Trigger could be easily modified to a specific subject, and use more factual questions pertaining to that subject. For example, they could be historical facts, and the player would not only have to be the first to answer, but if the statement was false they would have to answer why it was incorrect. I really can't say how educational Ticket to Ride could be because of the very little playtime we had with the game.

Trigger had some great Player vs. Player interactions, in that you had to be the first one to slap the "target" as well as be correct. As a penalty for answering incorrectly, you would lose a card. Cards essentially kept you in the game, so it did become very competitive on a Player vs. Player basis. There was a ton of Player vs. Game Interaction, in each round, a question was read from a card and a player would have to slap their hand down, their right hand for true, and their left hand for false. The Player vs. Game interaction was somewhat competitive as well because it required you to think on your feet and respond as quickly as possible to the questions, which in some cases, were very confusing to answer as either true or false.

In general, I find Player vs. Player interaction more fun as opposed to Player vs. Game interaction. In my opinion, when a game becomes competitive, a game becomes fun. The actual game is essentially a forum or grounds in which the competition takes place. The game must be clear, concise, and easy to pick up in order to be truly enjoyable. My favorite board games can usually be completely understood after the first game. I really find it annoying when it takes hours to grasp the rules and/or goal of a game. I'd rather do something constructive than "study" a game in order to "have fun" playing it.