Ep 83: Pain

Straight from the mind of Amber, this is an episode where she and Marc discuss games that are "painful". Marc prefers the word "tense". Regardless of what you call it, there's a reason Agricola is both known as "Misery Farm" and beloved by thousands. What makes a game painful rather than pleasant? What tricks can designers use to adjust the perception of their game? Are all board games simply metaphors about the inevitability of death? 2:15 -- The background 6:23 -- Game actions and the perception of time 15:00 -- Kingmaking tangent 18:53 -- Existentialism 27:02 -- Other games that cause Amber "pain" 29:53 -- Generous and non-generous games 37:17 -- Point floors 42:23 -- Non-gamers and not wanting to feel incompetent 46:22 -- Intermediary goals 49:37 -- Games where you can lose on the first turn 59:52 -- Is pain good? Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.