Chris Crawford on Game Design

Old-Style Games

These are the golden oldies, the games that have become classics and are part of the culture.

Monopoly

Monopoly is the most successful boardgame of all time. Designed in the 1930s, it concerns real estate transactions. Players acquire property; charge rent; assemble monopolies; buy, sell, and trade land; develop that land; and attempt to become the richest player by impoverishing the other players. The game offers an excellent balance between resource management and predatory play. It is, however, saddled with the old cliché of a path of steps along which one moves by rolling dice. That concept had already been overused when Monopoly was introduced during the Depression.

Traditional Card Games

There are plenty of such games, and ...