Board games with emergent complexity? (lemmy.world)

submitted 4 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

30 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Some games are complicated - they have really complex rules. Examples of this are games where you have to track many different types of tokens, with different rules for each.

Other games have really simple rules, but still manage to produce extreme complexity in they way they are played.

Go is the perfect example of this. It literally has 2-3 rules, but because you can play anywhere, the complexity it can produce is wide and deep, to the point that tomes have been written on how to play it.

What other boardgames exist that have very simple rules, but produce complex and interesting game play?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] [email protected] 7 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Tokaido is kinda like that. It's not hugely deeply complex or anything, but it has two simple rules that together create really emergent gameplay. 1) On your turn, you can move however far foward you like and 2) Whoever is in the rear most position on the board takes the next turn.

[-] [email protected] 10 points 4 days ago

*Tokaido (in case OP or someone else wants to look it up.)

I played it a few times at a friend's house and really enjoyed it. Never won a match, but that's not the point - the entire game is about travelers making the most out of their trip throughout Japan. For this reason, the game feels very chill, despite being competitive.

It's not my favourite board game ever, but it was a nice change of pace for a while. I think it does get a bit stale after a while, though.

this post was submitted on 20 Jun 2025

55 points (100.0% liked)

Board Games

1794 readers

25 users here now

Let's Play a Game! A place to discuss all things board game, regardless of genre. Everything from Scrabble and Catan to Ark Nova, 1830 and beyond is fair game! That means we have blackjack. Bring your own hookers, sorry.

Rules:

Play nicely with others here.
Discussion should be at least somewhat related to board games and all that entails.
Self-promotion is allowed within reason. Don't go overboard!

Other comms that might be of interest:

Other boardgame comms:

[email protected] (Spanish)

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]