Community and play

Recently I had the privilege of sitting down for one of the longest games of my life.

A little over a year ago some friends introduced me to a new game called Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition. This tabletop board style game, along with the fantastic expansion Prophecy of Kings, is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever played.

Growing up my brothers and I played strategy games of all sorts, board games and computer games. Though we liked just about any game we could find, strategy became a recurring genre. Age of Empires, of course, was the golden standard; and still is. Age of Empires II: Age of Kings, followed by its continued expansions and updates (the latest was in December) shows the love and appreciation for this game by the community and developers.

Of course a strategy game like Age of Empires can’t truly be replicated in a board game setting. That brings me to one of my other favorite games, Civilization, in all of its iterations. Though other genres have long ago taken over the market, there remains a solid contingent of players who appreciate the deep thought and strategy required in playing these types of games. Not that other genres lack it, but spending multiple hours at a time on a game requires investment. Civilization is a game that can be played over days and weeks. When you play against other people you’re working to play against the personalities of people as much as the game itself. Every turn you make has consequences, and players will react to perceived aggression or weakness in different ways.

This is now my third time playing Twilight. The first time we played with four players and the game took twelve hours. The second time we tried six players and we spent nearly fifteen hours. Most recently we wrapped up close to fourteen hours.

The thing that makes Twilight so interesting, along with computer games like it, is the sheer amount of information you have to process. It’s built to overload. The logic tree of decisions you have to make is nearly infinite. During each turn I have to decide what I’ll do, but that’s contingent on what the previous player did, and what the next player will do. Throughout the game you are always looking for a specific path to victory, and seeing which of the dozens of decisions you’ll make will limit or increase that chance.

I’ve loved watching Age of Empires games in recent years to see how the pros (and yes, amazingly enough there are professional players) will handle things. The job isn’t to know every bit of data at once, but rather to know more than your oponent. When things are falling apart you stay cool and look for paths. When a player, even a professional, starts to panic, that’s when the game is over.

Twilight is a bit different. Except for one of us who has played a bit more, we’re all extreme novices at this game. We barely understand the rules, and thanks to the unending patience of our friend, we’re able to navigate through the rules.

Early in the game I messed up and lost my chances at victory. I felt quite defeated, and all but gave up. But, despite a momentary collapse of morale, managed to pick myself back up and keep playing alongside my friends. My mindset turned less to victory and more to creating chaos, which was my own version of fun. My faction is a strong one, when played a certain way. But I didn’t know how to play it, except for a tiny idea of the basic strategy you might apporach.

Something turned though, toward the end. The other five tied for first, with me trailing. In that position I became the default for the table to vote on when it came to doing things that might benefit a single player. Near the final round I tied alongside the group, all of us eyeing the path to victory. Then one friend attacked another, and the attacked player asked the board to help. Several of us stepped in, and it was just enough, along with a massive gift from the attacked player, for me to barely squeak in a win.

I’ve been thinking about the game since. In Age of Empires community games you’ll often see a professional join a bunch of amateurs, and almost always get defeated. They’re so much better than the rest, but often don’t perceive the group dynamics at play. If they attack a player at the wrong time, and don’t overwhelmingly defeat them, the rest will gang up on them.

This keeps playing out in Twilight as well. The best player is often pulled down by the rest to keep things even until the very end. Yes you play the game, but you also play across with the other players.

The final thing though, and probably the only reason I’d be willing to put up with over a dozen hours of play, is the quality and character of the people I’m playing with. All of us are grown adults, well into our late thirties, with families and children and busy lives. When we commit to playing we know that it’s as important to have a good time as to make it fun for the rest. The only reason I’ve been willing to play for three times is because of how fun and kind and amazing everyone is.

To me this is the best type of play. A little friendly competition, getting away from screens (mostly) for a day, and spending time with friends in one of the most mentally taxing rules of play I can imagine.