Risking a board game that you do not know, it takes a little courage. First, you have to understand the rules, then lose, lose again, and lose again, until you have mastered all the workings. What’s the point, when you know by heart the techniques to win at Monopoly, at Risk or at Trap’Souris (I admit, I promised that I’ll put it away, that one). Cyril, Maréva, Frank, Fabrice or Thomas are real adventurers in the Board Games departments. There is no question, for these enthusiasts, of constantly struggling with games of Pictionary, Scrabble or Trivial Pursuit.
While opening, Saturday and Sunday, at the Corum, Let’s go out to play!, Montpellier Board Game Festivalreaders of 20 minutes who responded to our call for witnesses, explain to us why they love to constantly test new boxes.
“Why stay with classic board games, when a whole world is available to us? »
“Trying new games is like watching a new movie instead of sticking to old classics, experimenting with new things in the kitchen instead of making common dishes, or discovering a new author instead of reading and re-reading Zola or Hugo”, explains Cyril, who presents himself as a “bulimic” of games. This allows “to travel in a multitude of universes, with different mechanics and atmospheres. Why stay with the classics, when a whole world is available to us? David agrees with Cyril. “I like to compare board games,” he explains. As for the seventh art, I like to discover new works. Do you often watch the same movie over and over again? We thought everything had been invented, but we realize every year that authors can innovate and surprise us. »
Brussels 1893 was a real revelation, at the beginning of the 2010s, for Nicolas, now a student in science and game techniques, in Belgium. “Given the complexity of the game, it took me many months to master the rules, but it was a huge surprise,” he says. A complex game, but which gave me a completely different image of the board game: as in chess, the winner is not necessarily the one with the best luck at the dice or when dealing cards. »
“My entourage is never against part of a new game, and it’s always a good time”
Notice to lazy people who panic at the idea of learning new rules, “when you start, you quickly realize that many rules use already known mechanics and thus facilitate learning, resumes Cyril. In addition, thanks to the rules in video, no more excuses to say that we do not understand! Thomas, on the other hand, has his little technique, to assimilate the mechanics of new board games without worrying. “If the booklet is two pages, that’s cool,” he says. We take a half, and an hour to read them and play a part, generally. If the rulebook is 30 pages, we consult it on the Internet before the evening, and we are almost ready to play when we unpack the game.” Getting to know new rules, “it doesn’t bother me, on the contrary! “says Dominique, a fan of party games. “It makes the brain work! »
Maréva loves poking around festivals, discovering the latest playful nuggets. “The fairs are also moments shared with other players, publishers and game authors,” she says. Among the novelties that she has unearthed lately, there is Nekojima, a very funny wooden balance game, and Revelio, an investigation game that has a taste of coming back to it. Her passion for board games even pushed her to create her own game, Time Collectors, a strategy game that makes players travel through time. “My entourage is never against part of a new game, from the moment when it’s me who explains the rules,” smiles Maréva. And it’s always a good time. This does not prevent us from bringing out old games that rocked our childhood! »
Frank is also on the lookout for the latest novelties. With his partner and his daughters, this madman has tested dozens of board games. “We started with games for two (Carcassonne, Catan, Les Aventuriers du rail) then, our two daughters having, it is the case to say, taken to the game, we moved on to more family games ( The Settlers of Catan, Smallworld, Citadel, The Pillars of the Earth, Mexican train), cooperative games (The Forbidden Island, Pandemic) and, more recently, more challenging games (Terraforming Mars, Dune). But we have to find space to store all these discoveries. “History to limit ourselves, because it still takes up a lot of space, we favor games rewarded with the Ace d’or or the Spiele des Jahres, the two most important rewards in this field”, advises Frank.
“There is a real editorial richness and constant renewal”, in the games market
Fabrice, he is overwhelmed with boxes. He has 85, he says. “I was so frustrated by Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit that I did my best to discover new horizons, new mechanics, new themes…” Among his latest acquisitions, this inveterate player particularly recommends Ark Nova, a game of zoo management, and Coffee Traders, which immerses participants in the cutthroat coffee market.
According to Christophe Fiorio, the president of the association which organizes the Montpellier Board Game Festival, there has been “a real appetite”, for many years, for games that are off the beaten track (and hackneyed). “It’s a market that is growing, every year, by 10 to 15%, confides this expert. Not all markets are booming. There are approximately 800 new products every year. And if publishers produce so many new products, it’s because it works! There is a real editorial richness, and a constant renewal, in this sector. »
Saturday (9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.) and Sunday (9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.), at the Corum in Montpellier, the Sortons Jouer! offers to test lots of board games, to meet authors and to participate in lots of initiations. FREE ENTRANCE.