Mechanics

Nerdverse Unshuffled

Do you ever watch a game review and wonder, "But what does any of this mean?" How do you decide whether a board game is for you?
Board game mechanics, or mechanisms, are all the moving parts that make a board game a board game. They define what a board game is, how it plays around a table, and what you spend your time doing while you're playing that game. And in a lot of ways, the history of board game mechanics is the history of board games.
Join your hosts, Jacques and Fayyaad, as we take you through a brief overview of the history of board game mechanics, looking at some games from as early as 3,500 years BCE, all the way up to modern board games by looking at some mechanics added in the last few years.
As always, the focus is on how understanding this jargon term will help you be part of the conversation and how to make better, more informed choices as a consumer and a member of this growing and fascinating hobby.

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Unshuffled is a Nerdverse Productions podcast: nerdverse.co.za.

Chapters

1. Why start with Mechanics? (00:00:00)

2. A little light reading (00:02:07)

3. The history of board game mechanics (00:04:09)

4. Examples of board game mechanics (00:07:35)

5. How many mechanics are there? (00:12:09)

6. How does understanding this terminology help us? (00:13:29)

7. What makes a mechanic “good”? (00:21:28)

8. Conclusion & Credits (00:32:03)