How Simple Game Rules Create Complex Rivalries & Grudges

No doubt many game rules have created awkward friendships, cutthroat competition, strategic backstabbing and 'why are we still friends' moments. However, isn't this precisely what draws players back repeatedly, keeping them engaged until the early hours of the morning? Game mechanics are intricately woven to make the player experience magical and entertaining. Board game designers are secret psychologists, adept at predicting how players will think, feel, and react at every turn.

In the board game 'Politicsophy,' strategy is one aspect, but tact is the driving force that shapes the game. Similarly, in real-world politics, these two elements can determine a politician's success or failure. Chess is a beautiful game that is so strategically driven we often overlook the underlying mechanics that dictate how it is played. The mechanics were designed long before they was such a thing as a board game designer, but it was originally based on the four divisions of the military (infantry, calvary, elephants and chariots), which would make this person(s) a strategist during the Gupta Empire.

Board game designers wield dice like wizards wield wands and arrange game pieces with the precision of a chess grandmaster plotting the ultimate checkmate. Many don't realize for example, that to modernize the game of chess, the 'bishop' which was previously 'elephant' and the queen was 'vizier' or 'advisor' were changed to speed up the game and help the game be more dynamic and tactical. The foundational rules of the game has not changed throughout the centuries and in 1924, were codified by the establishment of the World Chess Federation (FIDE).

Game rules are critically important because of the framework and structure they provide. This structure creates an opportunity for fairness and balance giving every player a chance to succeed. Structure also creates consistency ensuring that the game is played in a predictable fashion each time.