From video to tabletop — lessons from my gaming evolution
Illustration: Iris Tang
As someone who grew up playing video games in the early 2000s, I remember with fondness the sound of a computer or console whirring to life as it processed the contents of a game disc or cartridge.
I still love playing video games and, like most people today, simply download games from console, mobile or computer web stores. With every technological advancement, I’m constantly fascinated by the enhancements in game graphics and worldbuilding.
Along the way, particularly because of my time developing Fly-A-Way in Playlogue Creations, my diet of games expanded to include those from the tabletop world. Oddly, or perhaps aptly, my appreciation of game development as a whole improved because of this.
I take greater notice of game mechanics and processes, across digital and physical platforms. And, as a designer, I have found that tabletop games are a wonderful way of thinking about design’s relation to form and function.
1. Tabletop games help me grasp game mechanics
I find that when I’m playing a tabletop game, compared to a video game, I spend a lot more time thinking about what went into the game’s development. I think it's to do with the waiting time between player's turns and the analogue experience of manoeuvring game components.
How does this game work? Why is it designed this way? What outcome would using this card lead to? And what strategy works best with this card to let me win?
These are questions I often find myself pondering over throughout a tabletop game session. Whereas, during a video game, I usually find myself thinking about the graphics (of the characters, the equipment and the setting), the motion (the interaction of players with each other and the larger game world) and the storyline (scenes and dialogue that evoke feelings and remain in my memory).
Perhaps being enveloped in a world on screen makes me forget that rules and mechanics govern the architecture of video games too. This cinematic experience I describe, however, might be particularly applicable to the genres of video games I most enjoy, such as First-person Shooters (FPS), Massive Multiplayer Online Role-playing Games (MMORPG) and Rhythm Games. Nevertheless, thanks to the tactile experience of playing and examining game mechanics in board games, I now have a better eye for detail when it comes to the overall design and rules of video games.
When revisiting the MMORPG MapleStory, for example, I find myself noticing the specific allocation of power, health and other stats to each character in the game, and thinking about how this creates unique game experiences.
Instead of just going with the flow of the game, I also think about the different jobs players take on in the game and how they were designed to be fun while also being challenging.
2. tabletop games are a great window into the form and function of design
As a designer, I am interested in how design relates to the form and function of everyday things around me, like books, furniture, stationery and packaging. For instance, a simple mechanical pencil is made up of parts like the end cap, the body, the coil spring, the lead, the eraser and the push button. The general form of the pencil is designed in a way that makes it ergonomic enough for a person to hold it while writing, and, in order for the click mechanism and push mechanism to work, all the parts need to be in the right place. In short, everything is made for a reason.
Similarly, from the way trays are designed to hold game components to the way these components are used in play, board games are instructive in thinking about the form and function of design.
After admiring the beautiful artwork on the box of the popular game Parks, for instance, I slowly unpacked it, noticing the design of every component I laid out.
To reinforce the game’s nature theme, the two inner trays are moulded into the shape of tree trunks. While being eye-catching, they are also functional, adequately holding game components and fitting snugly in the box.
The components include character pawns that come in the shape of colourful little human hikers and animals, as well as game pieces that are in the shape of water droplets, trees, mountains and the sun. These components, too, have specific functions. The hiker pawns represent players’ respective treks from park to park and the water tokens are used to fill your canteens during the game.
3. tabletop games help me savour player reactions and interactions
If you’re playing video games with your friends online, especially fast-paced ones like FPS and MMORPGs, chances are good that your eyes will be mostly fixed on the game map and much of your interaction with other players will be through commands and yelps over the speaker.
There is an undoubted thrill to this, but playing tabletop games, I’ve come to savour more the live interactions of players. For one, you get to see the immediate facial reactions of your friends and family, which can be hilarious or even intimidating.
When I played the strategy game Arboretum some time ago with my colleagues, planning my moves to build the best garden was only one part of the joy of the game. The other was watching everyone size up each other and persuade or dissuade one another from playing certain cards.
This in-person feel of tabletop games has become all the more precious because of the isolating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. And while we might not all be able to gather and play tabletop games like before, I am glad that tabletop gamers worldwide are using online tools like Zoom to keep the tabletop gaming community alive until everyone can one day play in person again.
crossing over and levelling up
The lines between digital games and tabletop games are not always clear and we might be more aware of these lines as we use online forums more frequently during this pandemic. The blurring of boundaries is not exactly new, though.
Some examples over the years include the classic video games Street Fighter and Resident Evil being turned into tabletop games. And classic tabletop games like Ticket To Ride and Pandemic have been available for play on mobile phones and computer screens for several years already.
As someone who has “levelled up” from immersing myself freely in the two game mediums, I believe that our experience of game design can only be enriched by such cross-pollinations.
What has your gaming experience been like? Do you identify with one camp of gamers or both? What synergies and divergences do you see between the two? Let us know in the comments.