I thoroughly enjoyed playing Decorum. I have not played many board games that had similar premises to this one. In this game the players are decorating a house together. Each player has specific design objectives they must reach and together the team must create a space that satisfies the needs of everyone. Rather than stating what you need, you must make sly comments and use compliments or passive aggressive comments to communicate your contentment with the current design. So while this game centers around communication, everything is indirect and thus you must try to keep track of each person’s specific reactions, comments, facial expressions, and body language. This game is deceptively simplistic and I remember one of my group members commented early on that we were going to complete the game within minutes of starting. In the end, we did not even finish the game despite having the entire class period dedicated to its gameplay.
There was not necessarily a designated leader in this game, but rather we seemed to divide into pairs who would work together. Throughout the game there were several heart-to-heart discussions in which we could share information with one other player. I am unsure what the best way to share information would have been, but we mostly shared with a partner who would then work to try to meet both of our needs when completing their turn. In some ways this was extremely advantageous as we could cooperate to progress further in each of our individual turns. At the same time, not having any information concerning the other pairs’ needs led to a lot of undoing of each pair’s progress. The frustration and miscommunication that resulted from this unequal information was the most challenging part, however it also seemed to drive our motivation to succeed.
Overall, I enjoyed this game because it was intellectually interesting because you had to keep track of many details and think about different possibilities in order to complete a “simple” task. There was unequal information however the goal is to work together rather than to sabotage one another. I think this game would be a useful exercise for people who do not know each other well but must work together in a group or on a project of some sort. It forces you to be aware of each other’s communication styles and be patient and thoughtful with each action rather than simply trying to do what will help you individually succeed.