Author Archives: elmoremm

Free Play 2

This weeks game play was a free play and my group of 4 chose to play Among Us. I actually downloaded the game as an app on my phone and found it pretty easy to use in this format. Our game play went extremely well and I think we all enjoyed ourselves. We played multiple rounds with different numbers of players each round. We had a chance to type in the chat with strangers and it kept us entertained.

The hardest part about this game was keeping it a secret when given the role of the imposter. Since we all were on the zoom call and chatted throughout the game, often I found myself almost giving away my role or having a hard time speaking when I was the imposter. I really liked that this game was easy to play and easy to learn. I did not know the rules of the game coming in to today and I learned within 5 minutes.

This game ties to leadership because you are part of a team. Whether an imposter or a crewmate you are responsible for making your team win and that requires leading your teammates to success. However, focusing on the enjoyment factor of the game, it was easy to learn and easy to play and allowed for us to chat with each other. If I were to play this game again I would invite my boyfriend to play. I think we both would have a laugh trying to keep it a secret of who is what and messaging others in the chat. Overall it was an enjoyable week!

Ladies and Gentlemen – Reflection 6

This week we played Ladies and Gentlemen. Honestly, it did not go as smoothly as I would have pictured. Tabletop Simulator made it difficult with all the moving pieces and we had a member drop out in the beginning, who was my partner. I decided to take the role of a gentlemen, simply because I am a business major and enjoy the stock market, so thought this role would suit me better than the lady role.

I think the hardest part of this game was moving all the pieces simultaneously. I think this part of the game would have been easier in person, but is very difficult over the web. I also think it would have been more enjoyable in person, reaching over each other to grab the resources, creating an exciting environment. What I liked most about this game the simplicity of the male character and how easy it was to learn his part. I believe the lady role was a tad bit more difficult, but I would like to try that role if I had the chance to play again. I think this game ties to leadership because you are taking on a character who is responsible for another person. Essentially you are leading a team of 2 to help each other succeed by being successful at the ball.

If I were to play this game again I would want my mom to play with me. She is a multitasker and enjoys a busy environment, so I think she would enjoy the environment this game creates. She also won’t take the time to learn an overly complex game and I believe I could teach her this game in a reasonable amount of time.

Week 3 – D&D

This weeks game play went well. We were missing one of our players, but things ran smoothly still. It was interesting because we have the chance to explore a town, which we hadn’t gotten to do the last 2 times. It made me realize the amount of freedom one has in the game and how they can really choose to explore anything they desire. Griff did a great job of helping guide us in decision making when we were stuck or confused.

The hardest part about this week’s game was the amount of decisions we had to make. While I enjoyed the freedom of exploring the town, I also felt it was challenging to decide what to actually do once there because I have never played this game before. I thought this hard decision making tied to leadership because leaders are often forced to make decisions for the group and they aren’t always easy. A leader may be making a decision in which they do not know all the effects or consequences of this decision, but consider all their options and choose which they believe will lead to the best choice.

If I were to play this game again I think it would be interesting to play with my brother and his best friends. They are a great group of guys who enjoy making jokes constantly. Because of this I think they would make the game enjoyable and constantly have me laughing. They have never played before and I think it would be nice to play with other inexperienced players as it is less intimidating. Overall, I had a positive experience playing D&D for the first time.

D&D Week 2

This week we played D&D again, continuing our game from last week. I thought this weeks game play went even smoother than last week. We defeated Cleric together as a team, which made us all work together. I had a better time this week as I began to understand a lot more of the rules and had a chance to start using spells. I liked using different spells as it kept me engaged in the game. The only thing I really don’t like about the game is that there are so many different rules it seems like it would be hard to really know all of them without looking different things up constantly.

The hardest part about the game is deciding what route to take. Being an indecisive person, having to make all these different choices is difficult for me. The open endedness of this game really allows for one to create their own story. I think this ties to leadership because a leader must make choices for a group. They are depended on to make a correct choice and lead the group to success.

I would enjoy playing this game with my sister. While she isn’t very into role playing games, she is very good at making choices. She has never been an indecisive person, so seeing her play this game would be interesting for me. I think she would enjoy being able to control the story line.

Week 8: D&D

I think overall playing D&D for the first time went relatively well. The hardest part for me was understanding all the different rules. The game itself is so open-ended, but there are certain rules one must follow. Our leader of the game kept the game moving and helped to ensure all of us understood what was going on, which made it more enjoyable.

I like that you get to create your character in this game, but I have already realized the character I created is not the best and if I were to go back and try to create another character it would be much different then the one I did create. What I don’t enjoy about the game is that it seems to require some creativity, which seems to be the trend for all role playing games. I think I struggle with these games as I am not very good at diving into the character I create. I am hoping as the next couple weeks of play go on I become better at this skill.

This game ties to leadership because you are becoming a character and must lead that character throughout the game. Particularly in our game play we had one character be in the front when we walked together and continually made decisions and lead us to where we ended up. This requires both strategy and intelligence.

I think my cousin would enjoy playing this game with me because she already regularly plays this game. When I told her we were starting this game in class she was thrilled for me to learn because no one in our family does play. It will be nice to be able to talk to her about it and relate and maybe even play together.

Week 6 – Free Play

This week for free play my group decided to play Incan Gold since we did not have a chance to last weekend. Overall, the game play went extremely well as everyone knew the rules of the game. Each player either won the game or came in second place which made it fun. We spent time talking about each others hobbies and found topics to relate on, which was interesting.

I like that this game includes both luck and skill. There is a certain skill to knowing exactly how much risk one should be taking. In fact, the hardest part about this game is knowing when to stop. I think it is really easy to get carried away and keep flipping your card saying you want to continue the journey. However, there are a lot of negative cards that will take all of your points away from you. I really do not dislike any aspect of this game.

I would recommend this game to any math teacher. I think this game shows the aspects of probability and could really enforce that idea to many students (and it is super fun to play!) I think this game ties to leadership in the fact that in order to play this game you must lead yourself to success. You have to choose the right time to make a risk in order to win!

Week 5 – Incan Gold and Can’t Stop

This week we were going to play both Can’t Stop and Incan Gold. Starting the game was rocky as we had trouble with the board game arena website. Once we figured out the issues (realizing we had to play Incan Gold on a tabletop simulator) we started and decided to stick with the game Can’t Stop. I believe setting up the game was the hardest thing about it. 

Our game session went really well. Once started we had no issues and everyone came prepared as to knowing the rules of the game. We had some chatter and it was enjoyable being able to talk to people that I had not met before. I think this week was my favorite game play so far. 

I noticed that I do not have a very risky game style. This is parallel to how I am in a leadership role. I typically go with the safe and what I considered smart option, instead of a risk it all mentality. I liked that this game was very easy to play and took only minutes to learn. It makes it a very good game to play with a social group. There really is not anything I disliked about this game.

I am highly considering purchasing this game for my family because I believe they would really enjoy it. Playing with them would be a blast as we are all very competitive in nature and this game is exciting in the sense that you are risking your progress every single turn. 

Fiasco – Part 2

This week we continued playing Fiasco from where we left off last week. Overall the game went well. I have to thank my group as I had wisdom teeth surgery the day before this class and so wasn’t feeling great and they supported me in that. They let me take a smaller role in Act 1, the Tilt and Act 2 and I mostly utilized the chat function while I iced my face.

The hardest part about this week was once again getting started. While we had our background from the prior week, actually starting Act 1 was challenging. I think we were all nervous to actually dive into the acting portion of the game. This ties to leadership because we needed someone to be brave enough to lead the game in discussion in order for the game to really get started.

I personally didn’t love the game Fiasco. I had a really hard time being creative and making my story lines interesting. However, I would suggest this game to my sister as she is extremely creative and I can imagine her succeeding in this role.

Fiasco – Part 1

This week we played the first session of Fiasco. This was a game I was very timid to play as I have never played a role playing game and the idea of it really intimidated me. I am not a very creative person, so I was nervous about having to make different scenes. The hardest part about the game was getting started. My group personally struggled with using the Steam platform itself and moving things around in the simulator. Getting started was difficult because we all were pretty quiet and this game revolves around speaking. Once we got into it the game flowed pretty smoothly. 

I think this game ties to leadership because you have to be a leader of discussion. In order for the game to be successful you have to be a strong speaker and really play the role you have chosen for yourself. I like this game because I really don’t believe you need materials to play. It would be easy to just play this game anywhere as long as you had dice and pictures of the playing cards. However, I didn’t enjoy this game because it is a little too open ended for my taste. I am someone who enjoys strict rules and guidelines for games and this game did not have a lot of that. 

Throughout the game I played a drinking buddy to two different people. This doesn’t fully align with my personal values as I do not drink very often. I also made some decisions I typically would not make in real life. This was easy for me to act in this role, even though it didn’t personally align with what I believe in. 

I think my mom would really enjoy this game and I would love to teach her how to play. She has always been the creative one in the family and I think could make a really strong story line. She has a great sense of humor, so I would enjoy hearing what she would be able to come up with.

Week 1 (Roll Player)

To begin this class we started with the game Roll Player. As someone who has never played a character creation game, I quickly realized how it tied to leadership. In order for someone to be a successful leader, one must know what traits a successful leader has and then embody them. Creating a character gives the opportunity to create someone who embodies the traits we aspire to have.

My particular session of playing with my classmates was very enjoyable. We kept our Zoom call on so that we could participate in discussion while we played and anyone could ask any questions throughout. It was nice to get a chance to talk to people outside of my typical classes, as I am an accounting major and don’t know a single person in the class. My only complaints are while Tabletopia is very user friendly software, the speed of the game was definitely slower than it would be as an in-person class. I also had more trouble visualizing my next moves as I am very much a physical learner.

Overall, I really enjoyed playing this game. It was unlike any game I have ever played before. I think the hardest part about it was definitely thinking ahead and planning what strategy to take in order to have the most points in the end. There are many different directions one can take in order to score the most points. I want to introduce this game to my boyfriend, Daniel, as I think he would really enjoy it. He is also an accountant and has a very numbers based mind and typically enjoys playing games that involve strategy. Definitely a great first week of class!