Finally came around on cooperative board games after hating them for 5 years

I always thought games like Pandemic and Spirit Island were just group projects with cards. Last month a guy at my local game store in Cleveland asked me to try The Crew with three other strangers. After one round I got why people like working together. The communication limits made it feel like a puzzle not a lecture. Anyone else have a game type they wrote off until someone forced them to play it?

2 comments

2 Comments

matthews211mo ago

You said "The communication limits made it feel like a puzzle not a lecture" but I think that's backwards. The communication limits just make it frustrating when someone has the wrong card and nobody can say anything. I tried The Crew twice and both times we spent half the game just staring at each other trying to figure out who screwed up. At least with Pandemic you can talk through the problem like adults. The whole "silent cooperation" thing feels like playing charades with someone who doesn't know the rules. Give me a competitive game any day where I can just blame myself when I lose instead of sitting there quietly while three other people silently judge my play.

bettys511mo ago

Did you catch that recent episode of The Dice Tower where they talked about this? Tom Vassel basically said the same thing, that the silence in The Crew feels more like a barrier than a fun challenge.