When Games Matter: Pandemic (Board Game Edition)

Last updated on: April 19, 2011 at 3:07 pm by Drew Dixon

When Games Matter: Pandemic (Board Game Edition) 2011-04-19T15:07:08-06:00 Drew Dixon

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

When Games Matter is a weekly exploration by Drew Dixon of meaningful moments in games. Operating under the assumption that games do in fact matter, Drew seeks to highlight those moments that have much to say to say about who we are and the world we live in.

I have been writing a lot lately about how games have a unique power to bring people together. I have also been writing about how frustrating they can be and how they are so often bent toward competition. Behind each of these explorations is the question: what is a game? Is it merely a set of rules in which we participate? Must games by their very nature be competitive?

I think there is an element of competition in every game, whether the goal merely be to complete it, every game has a goal and completing that goal requires competition against and opponent or the game itself. There are ways of making such instances less frustrating and more fulfilling though as this has been my experiences playing Pandemic with numerous friends lately.

The best way I can describe Pandemic is that it is the opposite of Risk. In Risk you compete with your friends to conquer the world, in Pandemic, you work with your friends to save it. Each player has a unique role that gives him/her special abilities that aid in curring rapidly growing diseases that are plaguing the world. Each turn the spread of the plague is increased and so the game gets increasingly difficult as you progress. You win together or you die together, no one player wins over and against anyone else.

If you have any hope of winning, you must work together. In my short experience with the game, play becomes so team-based that the effort really ceases to be individual and morphs into a decisively collaborative experience. I will say that in the groups I have played with (admittedly almost entirely new players), I have lost more games than I have won and yet I don’t think I have ever had more fun losing at a board game. When we lose we reflect on what we might have done better and what mistakes perhaps led to our losing and yet even though some of those mistakes can be attributed to an individual, play becomes so shared that everyone seems to take responsibility for everyone else’s mistakes. In fact when I lost recently, it was due to a mistake that I convinced my teammate to make thinking it would help.

When I announced to the group that I had encouraged the mistake that lead to our defeat I was quickly met with numerous comments about things that each of them could have done differently. We all owned this defeat and instead of blaming each other, we commiserated which was much more enjoyable. Perhaps I had this experience simply because of the wonderful people with whom I was playing, but I think game design had something to do with it as well. The idea of such thoroughly collaborative play is now something that I am looking for in more games, because I don’t think a board game has ever felt so shared and meaningful.

Previous Post

April 19, 2011

On the Other Hand: The Organizing Power of the Internet

Next Post

April 21, 2011 ...by the Bell, Chapter 5: Speaking of Christ's Death

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Asides Elsewhere Featured Film Games General Culture Headline Literature Music Of the Moment Podcast Politics RetroPost Sports Technology Television Uncategorized Viral

Select a Month February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz