The People at r/BoardGames

While perusing the familiar website social networking site Reddit the other day (News Site? Community Organization?), I came across a subreddit for Board Games.  It was pretty straightforward, I mean, they called themselves r/boardgames.  I suppose "they" is a bit of a loose term though.  At no point was there any sort of democratic process where "they" selected their name, but alas this is not an investigation into the history of r/BoardGames and its origins.  This is a look at their conversation.

Reddit works in a fashion where people can "upvote" posts that they like and "downvote" things that they don't want to see.  I'm going to trust my audience knows enough about Reddit that I don't need to explain further, but what I will do is point to my method for understanding r/BoardGames.  In order to understand the general culture of any subreddit, I will take a look at their all-time top posts.  In r/BoardGames, the majority of their top posts center round the game Settlers of Catan.  Beyond just Settlers there is a clear preference for modern games with an emphasis on strategy and complexity.  While my favorite board game is Scrabble, which I have probably made pretty clear at this point, Settlers holds a special place in my heart.  Why? Because I'm really good at it.  That is until the American version screwed me over.

Settlers of Catan in association with Carcassonne and a few other European games introduced me to a new world of complicated and innovative board games.  I grew up playing Scrabble and Monopoly, you know, the classics.  These new games challenged me in a new way.  I lived in Germany at the time, so my family became avid Settlers fans, and I have been honing my skills for nearly 12 years.  Then, I played for the first time with a bunch of Americans.  They wanted to use their board, and I though there would be no problems. Whoops.

First, there was a language hurdle.  I had to learn what certain things were called in English, not because I don't speak English, but within the game there is effectively a new language.  That was fine.  I caught on quickly, and it did not affect my German-born strategy.  There were some gameplay changes that hindered me.  I couldn't build when I wanted to, and the game moved slower.  My aggressive building and trading strategy was regularly interrupted by bullshit rules that were foreign to me.  Even with all those challenges, I still put myself in a position to win.  Me being me, I set myself up for a dramatic victory.  The pieces were aligned, and nobody knew what was about to hit them.  BOOM!!! I flipped over my "Siegpunkt" or "Victory Point" auf Englisch.  The game was mine.  But wait...my friend protested.  The malarkey American rules prohibited my final maneuver.  I never got another chance at drama.  They stripped me of my medal.

Let's just say, I know what you're going through Lance Armstrong, Settlers can be a bit of a sore subject among my American friends, but I welcome it with open arms when we use my familiar language at home.  So, r/BoardGames, you're alright.  You're into some cool shit, and I might just have to stick around a little longer.  I just really hope you don't end up being a bunch of elitist board game fans because Scrabble is still #1 in my heart, and I'll even play it in English.