Guest post: Ameritrash and Euros

Aha, the gauntlet has been taken up!  Here is my fellow gamer and buddy Rami, speaking in defense of Ameritrash games (see my previous post...):

Greetings everyone, I am the mysterious stranger that Eric has spoken of. You may call me Rami, or Excelcior the great, or maggot...I don't particularly care. I am a gamer. I almost want to say I am a "true" gamer yet no gamer can be more true than any other. I prefer to coin the term a 360° gamer. I will play anything at least once. Not just board games - anything. I am a continuing player of RPGs, computer games, and miniature games as well. I would even consider a LARP if I knew a group that was into it.

But enough about me. Lets talk about what Eric won't. Ameritrash! First of all let's establish that the name is not derogatory. It is just a name that stuck. Many people who enjoy the games speak the name with a level of respect, not to mention the term "Ameritrasher" sounds cool. For those not familiar, American games are generally ones with slightly more chaos and luck than the European (or German) games are known for. You have more fiddly bits, more dice, more player confrontation, and more chaos.

Let's start off by touching upon that last point since it often seems to be the largest complaint about many of these games. "This is too chaotic" people always say. While I have some similar sentiments to these groups, I personally find a majority of Euro games far too… well, orderly. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it seems that often in these games the conditions are far too ideal. This seems relatively strange considering how chaotic real life is. This is perhaps why we cling to the Euro games as the beacon of light. They are true order of a perfectly predictable world shaped only by our decisions. This is nice once in a while but also isn't it sometimes interesting to play in a slightly more realistic setting. Where you might not have full control of the situation but often each other person is in the same situation as you are. I guess what I'm trying to say is, chaotic is good as long as everyone is affected negatively equally.

I can go into more detail with the rest of the points but I can see this post is already getting long and rambling. Which means I have something to talk about in the next post at least.

So enjoy your gaming, and never be afraid of a little chaos.
Rami

Rami is apparently an occasional poster on Deathofmonopoly. If you have any topics to suggest, a score to settle, or wish to engage in a duel to the death you may reach him at rfinkelshtein@gmail.com.