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September 07, 2005
You Mean What Now?
There's a word I use often in reviews that I know some readers understand, but I suspect others might not.
That word is "elegant".
When I say a game is elegantly designed, or that a certain mechanic or playing piece layout is an elegant solution to a problem, I don't mean the standard definitions you find at the top of that link. I mean something much more like the jargon definitions further down, from the mathematical use of the word. "Combining simplicity, power, and a certain ineffable grace of design."
An elegant solution is one that does its work as smoothly and just as visibly or invisibly as necessary. A very elegant solution might do several things at once, which is a real goal in games (board, card, and RPG) since "more rules" is almost always a bad choice (harder to learn, easier to get wrong, etc.). Or it might place the information you need commonly in a clear, handy place while less necessary information is hidden or even eliminated. True design elegance combines both, reducing the factors to a minimum and communicating them in a clear, ready fashion.
It has nothing at all to being fancy and everything to do with being functional.
I bring this up because elegance (or its lack) is likely to be a recurring theme in my Gen Con 2005 reviews.
Posted by ghoul at September 7, 2005 11:49 AM
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