6 Board Game Mechanics Most Likely To Tempt People Alpha Game

There are unfortunately many aspects of board games that can tempt people to alpha game. Going over all of them in one article would be challenging. So in this piece, I’m going to focus on board game mechanics. So, just what are the board game mechanics most likely to tempt people to alpha game?

The board game mechanics most likely to tempt people to alpha game are I Split You Choose, engine building, negotiation, social deduction, programming, and combat.

What Is Alpha Gaming?

To get us started, we need to have a common definition of what an alpha gamer is. While you are free to have your own definition, for those who would like one provided, please see mine below.

An alpha gamer is someone who wants to control a game and generally tells everyone what to do. This can manifest in many ways, such as being as complaining, being a sore loser, manipulating, and more.

6 Board Game Mechanics That Tempt People To Alpha Game

There are many different game mechanics that can tempt people to alpha game. In fact, you could make the argument that any game mechanic can tempt people to alpha game. That’s because it’s not the games that are the problem but the people playing them. But what I’d like to focus on are the game mechanics that popped out to me as I looked through the list of them. These are the game mechanics that, when I saw them, I thought, “Yes, those will absolutely tempt someone to alpha game.” 

With that in mind, we’re going to start with the I Split You Choose mechanic.

I Split You Choose

I first became aware of the I Split You Choose game mechanic through a former friend of mine. That friend is now a board game designer who’s not terribly famous or anything, but they have designed two board games, both of which you can find on Amazon, and one of which has gotten a lot of positive buzz. 

I’m not going to name that friend because we haven’t talked in years, and I’m not looking to name-drop anyone, but I’m really proud of them, and I think it’s super cool they were able to fulfill their dream to be a game designer. I wish them all the best, and I look forward to what they design next.

Anyway, years ago when I knew them, they were working on a game based on alchemy. That game featured the I Split You Choose mechanic, which was one of their favorite mechanics, and I imagine it still is to this day. 

How This Ties Into Alpha Gaming

Now, as to how this ties into alpha gaming, that’s because the more information that’s visible to all the players, and the more decisions they have to make with that information, the more chances there are to alpha game. Imagine how hard it would be to alpha game if you had no idea what information the other people were working with? After all, it’s pretty hard to tell the person hiding in Scotland Yard, Letters From Whitechapel, or Specter Ops: Broken Covenant what to do because you have no idea where they are or what they’re doing!

But in I Split You Choose games, by the very nature of those mechanics, the information has to be visible. As a result, players who are tempted to alpha game can see what decisions others are faced with. Those alpha gamers may figure out better decisions than the other players, or they may do so faster.

If they see someone struggling, or if they think it will benefit them, they may start to suggest or tell the other players what to do. If the other players are receptive to this, they may start to do it more and more. This can lead to an unfortunate alpha gaming situation.

Engine Building (Or Any Type Of Building Mechanic)

The next mechanic that can tempt people to alpha game is engine building. You can replace this with other types of building mechanics such as dice building, bag building, deck building, and so on. 

The reason this type of mechanic can tempt people to alpha game is that they’re usually set in competitive games, the information is typically visible to all the players, it involves a lot of strategy, and it involves a lot of decision-making (you may be starting to notice a theme with these mechanics, by the way). When you put all of those things together, especially when those engines may depend on shared or limited resources to build them, they can tempt people to alpha game.

Negotiation

There’s one game that comes to mind for this game mechanic, and that’s Chinatown. If you’ve never heard of Chinatown before, it’s a game that has open-ended negotiation. In other words, you can negotiate anything in the game. You can even offer to pay someone real-life money for something in the game. I don’t advise doing that, but you can!

Of course, negotiation is in plenty of games from Rising Sun to The Resistance. But when you have something as open-ended as a negotiation with high stakes, it’s a sure bet people are going to be tempted to alpha game. This is even more true because inherent to negotiation is the fact that you want to walk away with as much or more than the other people you’re negotiating with.

You have to dominate discussions when it comes to negotiation, which also lends itself to alpha gaming. That doesn’t mean alpha gaming has to happen; it’s just more likely.

Social Deduction

This is more a category of games, but inherent to social deduction games are negotiating, discussing, debating, arguing, talking, and, yes, decision-making. Because all these mechanics are wrapped up inside the social deduction mechanic of games, it’s easier to just refer to all of it as social deduction.

Social deduction games have high stakes. They’re usually team versus team games. Players are pitted against one another. There’s suspicion, manipulation, deception, and more.

But these are another set of games and mechanics that require someone to step up and dominate the discussion. If you want to make sure people pick who you think the traitors are, or if you’re trying to drive heat off of yourself, you have to talk, you have to be confident, and you have to dominate what’s going on in the game. Otherwise, others will, and they’ll take you along for the ride. So, yes, social deduction games can tempt people to alpha game.

Programming

I have played and own Lords Of Xidit and Colt Express. Those are my go-to programming games if I ever want to play one. I know other games exist, such as Robo Rally, but I like what I have, so I stick with those. 

Programming games have a lot on the line. That’s because, if you’re not familiar with them, they require you to program several moves in advance. Then they go off all at once, but the catch is all the other players’ moves are happening at the same time or are interspersed with yours, so there’s a high chance what you wanted to happen will get derailed in some way.

If you go in with the right mindset, it’s hilarious. Colt Express, in fact, does a great job with this. You think you’re going to end up with a diamond, and you end up getting shot, punched, and robbed instead. Or maybe you planned on collecting a diamond, but you ended up with a briefcase full of cash. 

But not everyone has that mindset. Some people go in with more of a serious attitude. This is fine as long as it doesn’t affect other people’s enjoyment of a game. But some folks may get caught up in trying to make their programmed movements and actions happen in the best way possible. They may try to make other players feel guilty about their programmed movements and actions interfering with theirs, or they may try to talk them out of it. While this can be done in good fun, some may not mean it that way, which is when you may be dealing with an alpha gamer.

Combat

I love games with combat mechanics. I’m a big fan of Blood Rage, the aforementioned Rising Sun, BattleLore 2nd Edition, Kingdom Death: Monster, Ascension Tactics, and so much more. Combat games have stakes, they have strategy, they have great table presence, they feel cinematic, and they are just plain fun.

They can also tempt people to alpha game. Since games with combat mechanics have stakes and since they require strategy, whether light or heavy, they can again lead one player to try to make the others feel guilty or to try to make suggestions to help the other players out if they’re noticing things they aren’t. Alpha gamers aren’t always out to get others or to make them feel bad, after all, sometimes they’re just trying to help.

Did You Know?

(Each time you refresh the page you will get a new “Did You Know” fact!)

Did you know that Pachisi/Parcheesi/Ludo inspired more games too? As it turns out, both Sorry and Trouble are variants of the originals. Really cool!

Conclusion: 6 Board Game Mechanics That Tempt People To Alpha Game

So, now you know a whole bunch of game mechanics that tempt people to alpha game. I don’t want this list to come across as a recommendation you stay away from those types of games though. Rather, I hope you can use this list to increase your awareness of what types of games might tempt you or others to alpha game so that you and they can prevent it from happening.

But what do you think about all of this? Did I miss any mechanics you think tempt people to alpha game? Let me know in the comments below!

And, as always, keep on gaming, fellow board gamers.