Tabletop Leadership

In class this week, we started playing Time Stories, a story-based board game where you work as a team to complete a mission. My group’s play session was mostly focused on trying to understand how the game works while also starting to explore the map and storyline. We made some progress in the hour and thirty minutes we played, but a lot of the time was spent figuring things out as we went.

The hardest part of the game for me was getting started. After the professor showed us how to play, my group thought we understood it, but once we actually began, we realized there were a lot of details we didn’t fully get. There are so many moving parts, and even small things, like the character card being called a “receptacle,” were confusing. As we continued, I kept wondering if we were playing the game correctly, especially in regard to unlocking portions of the map, and I’m still not completely sure at this moment (I’ll have to enquire about that next week).

Overall, the biggest struggle for me was understanding the dice and what the symbols meant. Even when my group explained how they worked to me, it just didn’t fully click. That said, I did really enjoy the mystery aspect of the game. I liked dissecting the clues, and I think the storyline is really interesting, so I’m excited to see what happens next session!

There are definitely leadership elements in this game, as you have to communicate clearly with your group and sometimes convince others why your idea is the best option, like deciding whether it’s worth spending time to investigate something. You also have to summarize the information on your cards for the group, which means you need to explain things clearly so nothing important gets missed. If communication isn’t strong, the whole group can fall behind.

Overall, the session was a little confusing but still fun. I liked the concept of the game and how interactive it is, even if I didn’t fully understand everything yet. I think once I get a better grasp on the rules, I’ll enjoy it even more.

I think my brother Maleek would really like this game. He’s a video game designer and enjoys sci-fi and story-based games, so this feels like something he’d be into. The storytelling and problem-solving aspects especially seem like they would fit his interests.