In class on Tuesday, we discussed how we wish to create our games with our teams and then proceeded to get into groups to play a board game. Our group played Fury of Dracula which involved one player as Dracula who secretly travels the European countries and turns humans into vampires. The remaining players are the Hunters who must locate the Count and kill him before he can win the game. The game alone took more than an hour to read the instructions and figure out the logistics, and even after doing so, we were still slightly confused. It really opened my eyes to this sort of perspective, because I’d always been explained the rules of a game by a friend who knew the game if I was new at playing it. I never really had to learn a new game by myself/with others by reading thoroughly through the instructions – especially a game as difficult as Fury of Dracula, so I found that interesting.
Once we got into the game, however, our group was able to discuss more about the cooperation and teamwork involved and how this differed from other games. The game initially reminded me of Betrayal at House on the Hill in that it had various character sheets and each one had their own “stats”/abilities. One character, Mina’s, ability involved her being able to find out if Dracula is in the same region as she is given the fact that she is in the same city currently as another hunter. Additionally, the fact that hunters on the same city could trade with each other and see each other’s cards shows the teamwork involved in utilizing each characters’ abilities and items. However, Dracula didn’t have teamwork involved with his character, as we were all meant to plot against him. This differs from other board games that are often highly competitive between characters, like Trouble. If you don’t try to work together, you will likely be at a disadvantage. I found this interesting since a lot of the board games I’ve played have been mostly competitive.
Hand, Stephen. Fury of Dracula. Games Workshop, 1987, and Fantasy Flight Games 2006. Board Game.
I definitely agree that working with together is extremely important with cooperative games. My group played Mountains of Madness and there was a constant need for communication, and it had to be quick. There was a timer to count down the time we had to communicate to one another, so it was essential that we all listened to each other and worked together. I also never needed to learn how to play a game by reading the instructions, especially instructions that were more like a very long manual. My group found that even trying to understand how to properly set up and play the game required cooperation in itself.
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