Cooperative board game
Encyclopedia
In a cooperative board game, players work together in order to achieve a goal, either winning or losing as a group. As the name suggests, cooperative games stress cooperation
over competition
. Participants typically play against the game, and sometimes against one or two other players as well, who take the role of traitors. In many contemporary cooperative games, cards are drawn each turn from a deck of random events. These provide the conflict or challenge in the game, and make it progressively more difficult for the players.
Cooperative board games should not be confused with "noncompetitive" games, such as The Ungame
, which simply do not have victory conditions or any way to compete. Furthermore, team or partnership games in which players compete together in two or more groups (such as Axis & Allies, and card games like Bridge
and Spades
) usually fall outside of this definition, even though there is cooperation between some of the players. Multiplayer conflict games like Diplomacy may also feature cooperation during the course of the game. These are not considered cooperative though, because ultimately only one individual will win. Games like Descent: Journeys in the Dark
have similarities to roleplaying games and could be considered cooperative because players tend to work together. Cooperative board games generally involve players joining forces against the game itself, and can be played without any player in the role of the opposition. For example, in Save the Whales, players work together to protect whales from the challenges inherent in the game setting--radioactive waste, commercial whaling, etc. However, in some cooperative games, players actually cooperate with the opposing forces in the game. For example, in Max the Cat, players are mice who keep an aggressive cat at bay by offering him milk and other appeasements. In this way, all participants in the conflict scenario are fulfilled and the resolution is truly cooperative or "win-win".
, The Fury of Dracula, and Arkham Horror
. Early developers of popular cooperative board games include Jim Deacove of Family Pastimes (inventor of Max the Cat) and Ken Kolsbun of Child and Nature (inventor of Save the Whales.) In 2000, Reiner Knizia
published Lord of the Rings
which influenced a number of subsequent titles, including Shadows Over Camelot
, and Battlestar Galactica. Other recent cooperative games are Pandemic (game), R3d Nov3mb3r, Forbidden Island and Castle Panic.
Cooperation
Cooperation or co-operation is the process of working or acting together. In its simplest form it involves things working in harmony, side by side, while in its more complicated forms, it can involve something as complex as the inner workings of a human being or even the social patterns of a...
over competition
Competition
Competition is a contest between individuals, groups, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. It arises whenever two and only two strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For...
. Participants typically play against the game, and sometimes against one or two other players as well, who take the role of traitors. In many contemporary cooperative games, cards are drawn each turn from a deck of random events. These provide the conflict or challenge in the game, and make it progressively more difficult for the players.
Cooperative board games should not be confused with "noncompetitive" games, such as The Ungame
The Ungame
The Ungame, created in 1972 by Rhea Zakich, is a non-competitive learning game of conversation that "fosters listening skills as well as self-expression."-History:...
, which simply do not have victory conditions or any way to compete. Furthermore, team or partnership games in which players compete together in two or more groups (such as Axis & Allies, and card games like Bridge
Contract bridge
Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard deck of 52 playing cards played by four players in two competing partnerships with partners sitting opposite each other around a small table...
and Spades
Spades
Spades is a partnership trick-taking card game devised in the United States in the 1930s, in which the object is for each pair or partnership to take at least the number of tricks they bid on before play began. Spades is a descendant of the Whist family of card games, which also includes Bridge,...
) usually fall outside of this definition, even though there is cooperation between some of the players. Multiplayer conflict games like Diplomacy may also feature cooperation during the course of the game. These are not considered cooperative though, because ultimately only one individual will win. Games like Descent: Journeys in the Dark
Descent: Journeys in the Dark
Descent: Journeys in the Dark is a 2 to 5 player high fantasy adventure board game published by Fantasy Flight Games in 2005. Descent was designed and produced by Kevin Wilson. The game is not related to the video game Descent, but rather is based on an improved version of the mechanics of FFG's...
have similarities to roleplaying games and could be considered cooperative because players tend to work together. Cooperative board games generally involve players joining forces against the game itself, and can be played without any player in the role of the opposition. For example, in Save the Whales, players work together to protect whales from the challenges inherent in the game setting--radioactive waste, commercial whaling, etc. However, in some cooperative games, players actually cooperate with the opposing forces in the game. For example, in Max the Cat, players are mice who keep an aggressive cat at bay by offering him milk and other appeasements. In this way, all participants in the conflict scenario are fulfilled and the resolution is truly cooperative or "win-win".
History and development
Early cooperative games were used by parents and teachers in educational settings. During the 1980s, several cooperative games were published in the gaming hobby, namely Scotland YardScotland Yard (board game)
Scotland Yard is a board game in which a team of players, as "police", cooperate to track down a player controlling a "criminal" around a board representing the streets of London. It is named after Scotland Yard, the headquarters of London's Metropolitan Police Service...
, The Fury of Dracula, and Arkham Horror
Arkham Horror
Arkham Horror is an adventure board game designed by Richard Launius, originally published in 1987 by Chaosium and most recently published in 2005 and revised in 2007 by Fantasy Flight Games. In both editions, players take on the role of investigators in H. P. Lovecraft's Massachusetts town of...
. Early developers of popular cooperative board games include Jim Deacove of Family Pastimes (inventor of Max the Cat) and Ken Kolsbun of Child and Nature (inventor of Save the Whales.) In 2000, Reiner Knizia
Reiner Knizia
Reiner Knizia is a prolific German-style board game designer. Born in Germany, he developed his first game at the age of eight. He has a PhD in mathematics, and has been a full-time game designer since 1997, when he quit his job from the board of a large international bank...
published Lord of the Rings
Lord of the Rings (board game)
Lord of the Rings is a board game designed by Reiner Knizia based on The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. The game was published in 2000 by Kosmos and Fantasy Flight Games, and won a Spiel des Jahres special award for best use of literature in a game. It features artwork by illustrator John...
which influenced a number of subsequent titles, including Shadows Over Camelot
Shadows Over Camelot
Shadows Over Camelot is an Arthurian-themed board game designed by Serge Laget and Bruno Cathala. The game was also published in French as Les Chevaliers de la Table Ronde and in German as Schatten über Camelot. Players take on the roles of Knights of the Round Table and play the game by...
, and Battlestar Galactica. Other recent cooperative games are Pandemic (game), R3d Nov3mb3r, Forbidden Island and Castle Panic.
See also
- Cooperative gameCooperative gameIn game theory, a cooperative game is a game where groups of players may enforce cooperative behaviour, hence the game is a competition between coalitions of players, rather than between individual players...
(in mathematical game theoryGame theoryGame theory is a mathematical method for analyzing calculated circumstances, such as in games, where a person’s success is based upon the choices of others...
) - Cooperative gameplayCooperative gameplayCooperative gameplay is a feature in video games that allows players to work together as teammates. It is distinct from other multiplayer modes, such as competitive multiplayer modes like player versus player or deathmatch...
(in video games) - German-style board gameGerman-style board gameGerman-style board games, frequently referred to in gaming circles as Euro Games or Euro-style, are a broad class of tabletop games that generally have simple rules, short to medium playing times, indirect player interaction and abstract physical components...