Hello everybody,

I'm doing a research on board games especially about human interactions while playing board games. I'm writing on forums of games I recently played and would be very thankful for your help.

The question is actually only one and is very simple. What is it that you enjoy the most while playing board games with group of people ?

If you want to help me a little more, listing different situations would be great. I'll give you a quick example. When my friend and I have nothing better to do and we decide to play a board game, the most enjoyable thing to do is talking, not particularly about the game, but rather how the life goes on and so. When playing some more competitive games, the thing I enjoy is looking at the opponent's face and trying to guess his/hers next move rather form the face then the board itself.

And bonus question is which features of the game you like the most in Starcraft ?

Thank you all for your effort.

Our group focuses mostly on social interaction rather than competitive game play. If we have been playing for a while and see one tactic/race that is unfair (for SC:BG, reaver rush) we will make small house rules (no building robotics bay till turn 2). We focus on the FUN aspect of playing rather than WINNING. We try silly strats like massing scourge when there are no air, or vulture when the field is air-intensive, just for lols.

It's a bit hard to imagine us playing any differently. The whole fun of a board game in itself is the socializing. If you wanted competition, you could play a video game like... Starcraft... But we just like joking about.

A feature I like about the board game of Starcraft is the very broad amount of strategies and combination of units possible, especially with the large amount of technology cards to choose from. Another feature is the order tokens and their purposes even when they aren't executed, giving you a hilarious sense of pride and cunning when you make someone use their orders to defend from your mystery order, when in actuality, is nothing. Bluffing always causes a riot.

IMHO the social interaction varies significantly depending on what board game you play. Some easier games will allow you to small-talk while more complex games need your undivided attention at times. This, of course, doesn't even mention how competitive a game is.

In my groups there are really two types of meetups:

1. We meet to socialize and then end up playing a game or three. Those are usually lighter games so we can get up, walk around, get caught up in a little conversation in the kitchen while grabbing a drink, etc. During these times the socializing is clearly our foremost concern. We wouldn't play StarCraft is such a setting. Mostly because my group is so diversified that there will always be at least one player who hasn't played StarCraft yet. Having to go through 1-2 hours of explaining a game when all you really want to do is socializing is just not practical.

2. We feel the urge to play a specific game and then we get the right players together to make it happen. In this case we clearly met for a specific reason so socializing is done but only inbetween players' turns. There may be a break to order food or pop something in the oven, but all in all we met to play a game. Most talking will usually revolve around the game...with some exceptions, of course.

I think there are games out there that are much more suitable for an evening of leisurely socializing than StarCraft. Using StarCraft in your research may not reflect the actual goings-on.

Also, at several game nights I go to people meet and mingle regardless of whether it's game night or not. Some will choose a game based on wanting to hang out with (a) specific player(s) for an hour or two, some will choose a specific game based on what they want to play and then go find players who share that interest/passion. However, I have never seen most of the more complex games by FFG being played to mingle with specific people.