Among the host of events taking place on the fringes of the Cannes International Games Festival, there are… board game tournaments. More or less official, these competitions sometimes bring together hundreds (or thousands) of players around a game. The 2023 edition of the IJF is notably marked by the national final of the tournament Ark Nova. The expert game of the year brought together a community of relentless gamers. So much so that the publisher of the game Super Meeple has chosen to support this enthusiasm with a series of tournaments in several cities in France, before a grand finale in Cannes.
Other than a few goodies and eternal glory, players don’t have much to gain. However, many of them register for these tournaments, which sometimes take on a more official form. Unknown to the general public, this practice is nevertheless common. 20 minutes went to meet three board game champions to capture the beauty of the game in Tournament mode.
Frédéric Meunier, champion of “Catan”
“What immediately surprised me about board game tournaments was the audience. There are people who come to see other people play. My kids also watch other people play, but video games, on Twitch. I discovered the existence of a championship of Catan in Parthenay (Deux-Sèvres). It is a village where every summer is held a great game festival where I go often. You can try lots of games in a great atmosphere. I entered a competition Catan without knowing that it was for a French championship. I had played this game, very well known among small casual players, only three or four times. I won and so I was invited to the world championship in Malta. I got caught up in the game, that’s the case to say. I still prepared myself a little, even if I didn’t want to invest too much time in it. I tried to play other games with different players to try other strategies. But playing in the league, chaining games, it’s still special. In Malta, I finished 50th out of 90. Something like that…
If I am invited to championships again, I will go, because it is an opportunity for a great stay. But Catan is far from my favorite game. I prefer Splendor. Or big, long games like Terra Mystica. »
Philippe Pinoli, triple French Champion of “Monopoly”
“The competitive aspect of the game, I fell into it in 2015, in Cannes, for the qualifications for the world championships. I had done championships Magic Before. After that, I went to the world championship and I offered to organize the French championships the following year. Every year, I gather more than 1,000 players. It’s still not bad… I know that it still surprises a lot of people that this kind of competitions exist because people think that the Monopoly, it is a hobby. But us, when we play, we are in a much more aggressive mode. The goal is to ruin your opponent, we don’t let the children win… Like the Monopoly is a very popular game among non-gamers, people have invented house rules that distort the game. And they use it to play merchant and teach kids to count. But in truth, Monopolyit is an expert game, with very little chance. Against me you have no chance of winning.
In tournaments, there are rules to speed up games and reduce chance. Already, if we respect the normal rules, a part of Monopoly is played in an hour. In tournaments, the best play in forty minutes. And there is no luck. I count the results of dice for people who chouinent “yes yes I have no luck at the dice”. It’s an excuse to loser luck.
Monopoly is an interesting game for competition because there is tension. There cannot be a tournament of The good pay For example… “
Samir Bachar, champion of “Yu-Gi-Oh! »
” Yu Gi Oh ! is a collectible card game inspired by a manga and a fairly famous anime in the 2010s. I fell into it at the end of college, when anime was in vogue. I was playing in the yard, at recess. Pretty soon, I looked to optimize my decks of cards. I became the best of my friends so, to find opponents, I started tournaments. For the past two or three years, I have been doing this thoroughly, but not full time. Some big players, it has become their job, they live with tournament bonuses which can go up to 50,000 euros for the winner. I kept a job on the side, so as not to depend on Yu Gi Oh !.
I compete out of passion and also to reimburse my expenses. In this game, you have to constantly buy new cards so as not to be dropped. I spend at least 500 euros a year, to stay at the level. Above all, you have to keep up to date, very quickly. When a new set comes out – often the day before a big tournament – you have to learn the new cards right away. Otherwise, we are sure to lose, even if we are a good player. It’s cruel…
The ultra-competitive aspect of the game, in addition to the fact that the anime is completely finished, means that there are relatively few new players. It’s hard to get started today from scratch. The game only got more complex. At the very top level, there is not much renewal. Fortunately, there are quite a few youtubers who keep the passion around the game alive. The funny thing is that new players don’t even know the anime! »