Author Archives: jackowcl

BuzzFeed Quiz: Don’t Starve and Leadership

           I decided to create a BuzzFeed quiz based off of characters from the game Don’t Starve. I decided to choose this because each character from Don’t Starve has a unique personality with quirks, perks and drawbacks. I started with the original 9 characters and gave an overview of each character in the results as well as what that might say about the quiz taker’s own personality. Each character’s backstory and personality are over the top stereotypes so giving basic traits to the quiz taker based on the character is more likely to be resonated with. After that I imagined what each character from don’t starve would be like if they were a leader, how would they treat their followers and what would people go to them for and added that to each result as well.

            I asked my friends to take this quiz and tell me their result. Then I asked them if they believed it accurately depicted them or not and why. Most of my friends believed it to be mostly accurate to them but some were just a little too off.

            The first one to take the test was Nick. He got the result Wendy. Wendy is a sweet girl whose sister haunts her. I had her answers be mostly related to family, love, and care. Nick told me that he does like to be alone in his head or outside somewhere. He believes he is a caring leader and loves to listen to other’s stories and problems. The only inaccurate thing was that he didn’t have that strong of a connection with his mom.

            The second one to take the test was Jeremy. He got the result WX-78. WX-78 is a self-sustaining robot who constantly improves himself and hates humans. I geared his answers towards logical thinking and being alone without any desires or emotions. Jeremy believed this is really close to accurate for him in the sense that he doesn’t like rainy days, generally doesn’t like people, loves his pets, and is a logical thinker. The only inaccurate thing was that he is an emotional person, not a heartless robot.

            The third person to take the test was Connor. He got the result Wes. Wes is a silent French mime who expresses his emotions through physical motions and painting. I made his answers fall towards indecision, quietness, and wanting to have only close friends. Connor believed this result was accurate to him because he can lead a group of friends and express with art. He had no complaints with his result.

            The fourth person to take the test was Daniel. He got the result Maxwell. Maxwell is the antagonist of the game and is entertained by watching the other players struggle to survive. However, he crawled his way to the top after being at an all time low and decided to focus his answers on competition, winning, and himself. Daniel thought this was kind of accurate in the sense that he is competitive, but he loves people, doesn’t see them as subjects, and tends to have good relationships.

            The fifth person to take the test was Riley. He got the result Wolfgang. Wolfgang is a strong character who can take on the toughest foes and has a high self-esteem. I aimed his answers at strength, confidence, and attention. Riley thought this result was accurate for him except he hoped he didn’t come across as boastful.

            The sixth person to take the test was Zach. He got the result Wilson. Wilson is a witty, creative scientist who isn’t that good at being a scientist. I geared his answers toward creativity, ideas, and not being good enough. Zach did not think this result was accurate at all. He is extroverted, hates the winter, is afraid of the unknown, and says that no one goes to him for creative input. The only thing that this result kind of got right was that he means well even if nothing goes to plan. Zach then decided to take the quiz a second time and he got the result Wes, like Connor. He once again did not think the result accurately portrayed him because he is not silent and doesn’t communicate with art.

            The seventh person to take the test was Maggie. She got Maxwell as her result, like Daniel. She was sad that the result said she would rather be feared than loved.

            The eighth person to take the test was Rebecca. She also got Maxwell. She said that it was accurate because she liked control and to be respected but that it was inaccurate because she appreciates input from others and doesn’t make gut decisions.

            The ninth person to take the test was Julia. She got Wendy like Nick. She said she’d like to think it fits but she said that she does need to work on her active listening skills more for it to fit perfectly.

            The tenth person to take the test was Mackenzie. The got Wolfgang like Riley. She said it was accurate because she is confident, opinionated and likes to command a room. She also says she prioritized health, but she doesn’t center her life around it. She only thinks its inaccurate because she doesn’t see herself as a leader and people don’t look to her for instruction.

           The eleventh person to take the test was Ethan. He got Woodie. Woodie is a polite Canadian lumberjack stereotype who also turns into a werebeaver. I centered his answers around hard work, the outdoors, and being polite to people. Ethan believed this was fitting because he is down to Earth, people respect him and his values, and he also definitely turns into a werebeaver.

            So overall, I think my test was accurate with some exceptions. Tests that categorize people can’t all be winners because humans are too complex to begin with to be put into 1 of 9 characters from a video game.

Take the test for yourself here:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/jackowcl/what-dont-starve-character-are-you-and-what-does-8yay0v5dcx

Game Review: Azul

            I decided to review the board game Azul by Michael Kiesling. This game is for 2-4 players with around a 30-45 minute play time. There are two different versions you can play, and you simply flip your board for the other one. Side A, you have specified places for the color tiles to go while Side B, you have more freedom with where you place the tiles as long as you follow the same pattern of no repeats in columns and no repeats in rows.  The game involves players collecting all of one color of tile from a plate or from the center and placing them into one of five rows on their boards. If the player has too many of one color to the row, the tile “falls” to the bottom of the board where it will have negative points. Once the tiles for the round are gone, all the players see which rows they filled up completely with the colors and move one of the tiles over to their main board in that same row. They add up their points for that round and then continue to play until someone fills up an entire main row or the tile bag becomes empty. Then the players add end of game goal points to their scores which could be filling an entire column or row, or they collected all 5 of one color. The one with the most points wins.

            If I were to rate this game, it would be 5/5 for visuals and 4/5 for game mechanics. To a new eye, this game seems to be very difficult and they may be turned away by it. That is what almost happened when I showed this to a couple of my friends. But once you play through a few rounds and they get the idea of how to add up their points, it becomes easy to understand. The gameplay requires you to have a plan, but then also 5 back up plans after that if someone takes the color from the plate you were eyeing. You also need to keep track of the center of the plates because if no one is choosing a certain color, it may become overpopulated and the poor soul who has the last turn of a round ends up with so many lost points. These may seem like a negative, but I like how much you need to strategize and think ahead. You don’t have to wait around on your turn already knowing what you will do because you tend to constantly have to change your plan of attack. You have the ability to look around at other people’s boards and determine which plate they may be after and you could wreck their plan. It’s not my play style, but I like that the players can choose that strategy if they wish. There are so many different ways to fill the same board and it gives you options. It’s clever and fun. You don’t really know who is going to win until the very end. Even if someone was ahead the entire game, the end of game points could create an upset. You are always on a constant equal playing field with people fighting over tiles and creating bargains with each other. Besides the cool game mechanics, I just love the art for this game. Each tile has a different pattern and the board it just so pleasing to the eye. Everything is very cohesive; nothing looks out of place. For such a simple concept, it is very ornate with many different looking textures in the art on the board. Even the bag for the tiles is decorated. The only thing not decorated in this game is the small black cube used to keep track of your points. I think that is just amazing and deserves credit.

            Pertaining to our class, Tabletop Games and Leadership. I think this game takes a lot of strategic thinking and planning but being able to be flexible. Your plan could disappear within a single second as soon as someone chooses the exact play you were going to make on your next turn. Then you must adapt and find a new plan. I think this could really help teach leadership. Sometimes things don’t go the way you wanted or planned. As a leader, you must reflect on the past and change things to be better in the future based on what you learned. You can have as many plans as you want, but even then, none of them could work. If this happens, you must go in a completely different direction you never thought of before. This changing and adapting can teach so many lessons and open the world to more possibilities. This may be just a game about building up tiles, but on a deeper level, it’s a game about flexible planning.

What Type of Gamer am I?

When I took the assessment, I learned that my motivation profile is low conflict, immersed, and gregarious. I had 4% conflict, 88% social manipulation, 50% strategy, 38% discovery, 22% need to win, 98% immersion, 92% aesthetics, 74% social fun, 89% cooperation, 12% chance, and 50% accessibility. Some of these I am surprised by and others, not so much.

For conflict, I knew that it would be low. As much as I am competitive and want to win, I tend to steer away from these types of games just because I don’t want to talk up a big game and lose. I don’t want to be a sore loser and try to cheer up the rest of the game night. I’ve been going for less conflicting games so I can just brush off a loss and move on. It makes it much more enjoyable just to have a good time and not feel stressed about having to win all the time. For social manipulation, the secondary motivation, I was quite surprised. I am a pretty bad liar, so I have difficulty understanding what makes me drawn to this type of motivation. I think in this case, it’s less about my ability to lie and more about detecting other people’s lies. I do enjoy playing the game Coup and it’s just fun to look at other’s faces and try to tell if their lying. I barely lie in that game and when I do, its me pretending to be ambassador just so I can shuffle through the deck and not have to lie about a role by finding it.

For strategy, I was not surprised about either. I do enjoy strategy games but sometimes I don’t want to be strategizing. It’s just my personal preference at that time and it changes constantly. I do love making smart plays but sometimes I don’t even want to think about something in advance. For one of the secondary motivations, discovery, I’m surprised how low it is. I love playing new games and discovering new game mechanics. There are several different types of games that I have. Why this is so low I can’t understand. Maybe I like the same game too much. For the other motivation, need to win, I am not surprised just like the conflict. This one I know is higher because it is more based on how I play independently and I’m not attacking other people specifically. I do like to win but I don’t want to think about it as much.

For both immersion and aesthetics, they are extremely high, and I agree with these results. I love games with good character, and environment design. I love when the style and aesthetic matches with the game’s theme. A couple examples of this is Root, and The Tea Dragon Society. They are just so cute, and I love their style so much. So even if I’m losing, I get to gush over the cute pictures. I also love backstories and lore and fantasy elements. Games should be an escapism, so I want to go to another world. If I don’t, then what’s the point?

Finally, for social fun, I agree with how high it is. When I pull out a game, it should be because I want to have fun with my friends and come up with new inside jokes and discover more about each other. When my friends and I play Bohnanza, it is always hysterical, and it just makes me laugh and have a good time. It’s pure fun with my friends. For cooperation, I also understand why its so high. I love teams and working with people to win. Its nice to be able to trust someone and not be alone. If we lose, we lose together and that’s not so bad anymore. For chance, I know it is so low just because I don’t like it. Chance just feels like you’re constantly losing a fight and you can’t do anything about it. Even when you win, it’s empty because it was all because of luck. For accessibility, its higher than discovery but I still feel like both should be higher knowing how many different games I love. Traditional games are a little boring now that my friends have introduced me to so many others.

Game of the Week: Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

I know what you’re thinking. “Legend of Zelda is not a tabletop board game so why did you play it for tabletop leadership’s free play week?” Well, I’m sure everyone knows the craziness that has been happening recently. Classes at Miami University have been moved to online along with everyone else’s lives. This makes it quite difficult for a tabletop board game class to function. We have to improvise. Luckily, last week was free play week and this week is spring break so we have time to adapt to our new online home environments.

Many of you might have grown up with Legend of Zelda games and know all the history behind the lore and have figured out which order the games stories align in. Breath of the Wild is actually my first Legend of Zelda game. I grew up playing Battle for Bikini Bottom, Star Wars Battlefront, and Lego Indiana Jones, not the pure classics. (Though I beg to differ that Battle for Bikini Bottom is a classic in its own way). What I know about Breath of the Wild is that it is unlike any other Legend of Zelda game because it is open world. I may be wrong about that, but bear with me. I had previously played this game at my friends house a little after it first came out but I haven’t touched it again until now when I bought it for myself. It is an absolutely beautiful game with an environment that tells a story which I absolutely love. I would almost prefer to never run into the old man to hear the story about the city’s ruin and to figure it out myself. There is a main over arching quest and then several mini quests you can go on, but you can also just completely explore the landscape for yourself.

I think the hardest part about this game is the travel. Your stamina isn’t that much help starting off and it takes a while to get the paraglider and even that needs stamina and a large mountain to jump off to work. You can use horses but if you are going through a forest or up a mountain, the horse stops and is difficult to maneuver. To combat this I’ve been trying to conquer every tower to take advantage of teleporting, but getting to the towers are a nightmare when they are surrounded by enemies I am not ready to fight. Enemies are also quite difficult in this game because it is open world. I don’t know which enemies I am ready to fight and which I should avoid all together until I can come back stronger with more hearts, stamina, and better weapons which would most likely break before I can finish the enemy off.

This is a single player game so it is hard to see the leadership value in this game, but I believe it is there. You are the hero this land deserves, but you are not above anyone. You need to buy your supplies, food, and hotel stays like everyone else and if you can’t, you have to go fight or find it yourself. No one is doing you any favors, in fact you are the one fulfilling favors. As a leader, you shouldn’t expect anything from others and you should be the one helping your followers. You are guiding them toward lighter days and you should be prepared to carry the burdens. When you are working in a team, you do not single out the person who made a mistake, you bear the responsibility because you were the one who did not lead them correctly. In Legend of Zelda, you will pick up the mistakes from 100 years ago and save Zelda from Ganon.

I think my friend Gen would love this game. She is super into Pokemon and loves the new game which is also kind of open world. She would appreciate the story and the graphics as much as I do. She would enjoy the somewhat relaxing atmosphere until she kicks it into high gear to fight something. She would be amazing at this game.

Game Event Review: RECON 2020

I attended the 2020 League of Geeks RECON event February 22nd and 23rd. RECON involved many activities in several different rooms in Armstrong and it was a bit overwhelming, but at the same time, was incredibly fun to go to. On the morning of the 22nd I participated in the Game Awards. This was the first year RECON was holding a Game Awards where students on campus could turn in the games they have created to be played by others at RECON and by a judge. I turned in two games with two different teams. I created a board game based off of the infuriating video game I Am Bread with Jeremy, Juliette, and Steven during our IMS 211 class and we decided to put that into the running. I also turned in a game called Nexia that I created with Bryan, Seth, and Jonathan during our IMS 212 class. We created a game that was based on Risk, Catan, and a dash of DnD roleplay. It was a strategic resource and army management game with a board that is different every time it is played. Players explore new lands and collect resources to build towns and armies. During the Game Awards playing session. I taught the game to two girls who came to the event. It is a very complicated game to explain, but they got a hang of it quickly and had fun doing so and voted for the game as their choice to win. The judge came by to ask questions of the girls while they were playing and took notes and went to go judge the others. The announcement would be tomorrow, but after the girls left, I had to pack up and run to go do volunteering for a different club of mine. I forgot a lot of the rules that my team and I created for the game and I hadn’t played the game since last semester, so it was a bit difficult for me to explain correctly. I also felt like I was keeping the players from other events they wanted to go to because my game was so long. Also, because it was long, the judge never even got a chance to play the game. Next year I will probably create a new game that will hopefully be shorter to play. I also think that the Game Awards should be advertised a lot more and encourage more people to turn in their games. Many IMS students make games for classes anyways, but there weren’t many games that were participating in the awards. There weren’t many people who came by to playtest the game either. I think location was a big issue there. The room was so far away from everything else so no one would walk by to see and be interested in it. I hope Game Awards will be much bigger next year.

Later that night, I came back to RECON to volunteer for Miami Game Design Club. I am vice president and I signed up to run the Murder Mystery for 2 hours and ended up staying there with my friends until closing time. The Murder Mystery was something we started creating last semester and involved a group of around 5 people to come into a room and read a bunch of different documents and piece together the murder of Steve, a journalist from the 1920s. We worked very hard on this event for a while and I was happy to run the event. The players looked to be very excited to play and some people did solve the murder in the end. I believe our event was a success which I was worried it wouldn’t be. All of the information to solve the murder was in documents and I thought players would get tired of reading so many papers that we created. Many of them created charts and timelines on the white boards and they really put their heads together to figure out new information. We could have made it more definitive though because it seemed that even when people got the answer, they weren’t positive they got it right. I did like our decorations and the story we created. It was very entertaining and because it was set in the 1920s, the last group ended up playing music through his phone to set the tone of the room. It was a very chill atmosphere and I would have loved to play our own murder mystery if I didn’t know the answers already.

On Sunday, I planned to come to RECON for the Game Awards and then go back to my dorm because it was an incredibly long weekend. I came to the pavilion where the Game Award announcements would be held and chatted with my friends until the judge came. It was a very small ceremony where the player’s choice and the judge’s decision were announced. My game ended up taking the win and I was very excited. One of my teammates was there and I gave him a little fist bump. It was very helpful to get feedback on the game we created from our class. He gave us a notecard with the notes he took about the game and his ratings on characteristics about it. He gave a high rating on the art which I created, and this gave me a lot of confidence. The entire Game Awards event seemed underwhelming. I know it is the first year it was held, but I wish it held a little more importance. There wasn’t a lot of time given for people to playtest the games and give their feedback. The judge couldn’t even play all the games in that time. The room was so tucked away from everything else, so it felt like an afterthought. During the awards announcement, the judge was late and there wasn’t much of an audience. The audience that was there was either the people who made the games, and people who just so happened to be in the same pavilion playing games on their own. The announcement was made off to the side of the pavilion and I didn’t feel much accomplishment even though my team won. Even my teammate seemed to be falling asleep even though it was noon on a Sunday. I hope next year is much more exciting. I think the Game Awards could really be something special that people look forward to every single year.

As I said, I only planned to come for the Game Awards announcements then I would leave. I didn’t leave. I got sucked into playing some of the play-to-win board games with my friends. This was probably the most fun I had all weekend. We played Planet and Root. Planet was an amazing game and it was simple to learn and understand. Each of us had a magnetic planet that we added terrain tiles to and tried to win animals during the rounds to have them inhabit our planets. All my friends really hoped that one of us would be able to win it so we can continue to play it after this event. After Planet, I was really intrigued by a game named Root. The art style reminded me a lot of the video game Night in the Woods. My friends and I pulled that game out and were suddenly overwhelmed by it. This game is very complicated, and each person is playing their own separate game with different objectives. We had two people come over to us to try to explain how the game worked and eventually we were able to start. We sadly could only play through 2 rounds before we had to pack up and put it back so the prize drawings could start. I really loved the idea of playing a game that will be randomly given to a person who played it. Free games are always fun but playing them first gives them an idea of how it works and an appreciation if they win it. It was also just a fun time to play with my friends.

The last part of my RECON experience was the prize drawings for both the ticket drawings and the play-to-win game drawings. The atmosphere during the drawings was incredible. Everyone was a good sport and hyped up every single person who won something, even if they themselves lost. It was humorous and relaxing. I didn’t win during the ticket drawings, but I did win the game Root which I was really hoping for. I now own Root and the title of Game Awards winner and that felt pretty good leaving Armstrong that day. After such a hard week and busy weekend. RECON created a positive atmosphere for me to forget my worries and just play with friends. I even got to play Bohnanza with my friends after the drawings which has been our collectively favorite game recently. The League of Geeks brings together so many nerdy and geeky people to one area to just forget about life and have fun playing and creating. RECON is such a large event and I was happy to be both a participate and a volunteer. I could appreciate it on both sides. I highly recommend that anyone should go next year. There is bound to be at least one event during the weekend that interests you.

Game of the Week: Ladies and Gentlemen

During week 6 of Tabletop game and leadership, we played the game Ladies and Gentlemen. I have never played anything like this before and at first its theme was a bit alarming. However, that is precisely the beauty and fun of it.

There are 2-5 teams comprised of a lady and a gentleman and each role plays an entirely different game. The ladies open their shops every day with new items and head to other shops to buy new dresses and accessories for a ball coming up. The gentlemen are battling it out in the stock market trying to make as much money as possible. At the end of each day, the ladies ask the gentlemen to buy items for them and the men have to decide what they can or cannot buy that day. At the end of the game is a ball, and the best dressed lady wins for her team.

As I said before, each team has a gentleman and a lady and these two characters are married. During the game it is part of the rules to act out your role and never fully reveal exactly how well you are doing to your partner. This was the hardest part of the game for me. I am completely comfortable in this type of setting only if I am playing with all of my friends. Even if I was paired up with a girl as my gentleman, there is a kind of humor in that and I would be more comfortable. This game is meant to play off of this heterosexual relationship of rich white people and cause humor and I think that is absolutely brilliant. I only wish to play it later with people I know better.

This game is tied to leadership specifically because of the identities of this game. As a leader, you are almost required to understand the identities that are important to the members of your team. You need to know this not only as a human, but also as their leader. Giving the respect your team deserves is as important as everything else. This game forces you into a new identity and allows you to play within it. This makes you think about your own identities and which are most important to you.

I think my friend Maggie would absolutely love this game. She find humor in everything and relaxes everyone around her. She would love to be the gentlemen because one, she is very aggressive and would pick up the best items the fastest, and two, she would have so much fun role playing a husband and have even more fun if her wife was male. She would enjoy making jokes about this game the entire time about straight white rich people.

At the end of the game, I wasn’t the prettiest at the ball, but I would love to try this game again now that I know what I’m doing and come out on top!

Game of the Week: Survive! Escape from Atlantis

Yesterday in Tabletop games and Leadership, we played Survive! Escape from Atlantis. We had the complete expansion set, but opted out of using the Octopus expansion. This game was interesting. It was a game different than anything I played before. This game is in the combat game genre and the only other specifically combat game I played before was King of Tokyo, but it had extremely different game mechanics.

For Survivie! Escape from Atlantis, you were given several meeple with several different values from 1-6. They are placed on the mixed tiles in the middle of the board representing Atlantis and you must board a boat and sail safely to the corners of the board to land. There are sea monsters that can move and destroy your boat and kill your meeple. Other players have the opportunity to control these monsters and target you. The end of the game is decided by a volcano tile and you count the values of the meeple you saved.

The hard part about this game is the helplessness I felt while playing. There were so many opportunities for players to kill your people before it was your turn again and sometimes they weren’t even the cause. I lost both games while playing in class and I lost by a giant margin compared to everyone else. I was told this game doesn’t cause much anger when meeple are killed, but when I lost all my meeple except 1 in the second game, I couldn’t help but feel a bit upset. It was so hard to avoid death for me or even get my meeple off the island. At the end though, I feel like I have to narrow it down to the luck of the tiles I chose to put my meeple on and the tiles I chose to sink.

Leadership in the game I believe is in the cooperation you must do in this game despite it being a combat game where it is player versus player. When a player boards your boat you must make a pact to work together to get out alive. When a player has the opportunity to kill your meeple, you must convince them why they should not. Leadership cannot work without cooperation and teamwork even when you don’t want to work with the others on your team. I’ve learned from a different class about the difference between teams and groups. Groups split up the work and never discuss together and at the end, the project is a thrown together Frankenstein of several different approaches to the problem. Teams constantly meet and there is a leader who brings people together to work on the problem and create a seamless product. Teams are the better option and this game shows that you cannot win without a little bit of teamwork with others you are competing with.

Even though I already know he loves this game, I would have definitely recommended this game to my friend Jeremy. He was the one who showed me the game King of Tokyo and always wants to compete in games. He has expressed how much he hates cooperation in games and wants to do everything himself. I also saw this when playing Bohnanza with him. He barely traded at all and ended up losing. He did not want to help others even when it was hurting him. He would love to kill meeple in Survive and quickly escape by himself.

I would love to try this game again and hope for better luck.

Game of the Week: Mysterium

Last week I got the chance to play the game Mysterium in Tabletop Games and Leadership. Several times since coming to college I heard of this game and how I should play it because of my obsession with Betrayal at the House on the Hill and Clue. As much as Clue holds a dear place in my heart from my childhood, this game blew it out of the water. Mysterium contains intrigue, cooperation, and creative thinking.

Mysterium is a game with a team of detectives and a ghost who are all working together to solve the ghost’s murder. The ghost may not speak and will give the detectives dreams to hint towards the person, place and weapon. The detectives discuss their dreams with the other detectives and they try to uncover what it means. Once everyone finds their own stories, the ghost will give a final hint to the players on what is the true story of their demise.

I have not played Mysterium before this class and it was easy to pick up and figure out. However, there is some difficulty in deciding what each dream means. There are usually several unique aspects to each card and it is hard to distinguish which aspect the ghost was aiming for. The advantage a returning team of players have is memories associated with certain cards. Friends who play this game can develop a very specific meaning to a card which any one of them could understand immediately when given this card. As difficult as it is to be a new player to the game, the randomness of the cards and the fact you are working together compensates for this.

The Tabletop games and Leadership course gives you a new perspective on games every week because you start to decide what about the game could tie back to leadership. There are many things in this game that could teach leadership, but one of these is the ghost’s position. The ghost of the game has no say in what the dream they gave meant. They chose based on their own ideas and associations with the card. However, they are able to listen to and view the thought process of the detectives. The ghost must reach an understanding of where everyone’s ideas are at and what they focus on. Through this observation, they can change the entire game’s direction toward everyone’s success. This relates a lot back to leadership because you cannot lead without your followers. Leaders must understand their followers’ needs in order to successfully lead and keep their followers from wandering. I did not play the role of the ghost, but I would love the opportunity to lead the detectives in their mystery.

I love the game Mysterium, but I know of someone else who would also love to play this. My sister-in-law Claire. Claire and my brother, Shane, are major board game nerds and would always invite their friends over to play during college. Claire is intelligent and precise, but her personality is very easy going. She is cooperative because she would always trade with me during our games of Catan and listen to my ideas on how to overthrow my brother from his board game throne. Shane is very competitive and will do whatever it takes to win. I know from growing up with him I would try to avoid being on a team against him. I’m sure Claire would love a game where it is fun and cooperative to avoid my brother’s boasting or sulking at the game’s end.

Overall, this was a fantastic game for week 4 of this course. I can’t wait for week 5!