I know of some people who dislike what is generally a pretty solid board game because of how you interact in the board game. And Jamie Stegmaier of Stonemaier games talks about this as well in how their games are created. But I want to talk about the different types of player interaction that you have in a game. Because, on the flip side, I see board games talked about where player interaction almost doesn’t exist. Everyone is playing their own solitaire puzzle or game and you don’t interact over much. And some people don’t like that. So let’s break down the three different types of player interaction.

Negative Player Interaction

Let’s start out with the negative version of player interaction. This is when a player in a game can cause another player to lose something or to take something from another player. Or some other action that is actively putting them further away from winning the game.

A game like Uno, for example, is actively built around negative interactions for it’s core interaction. You are close to winning, draw two or skip your turn or I’ll reverse it away from you. All these actions are likely to keep you from winning the game. Or if I can deduce/guess what color you have, I might intentionally change it, though that one is more of the next type of interaction.

But you can get the idea for negative player interaction. It is about making another players position in the game worse. Now, sometimes that might be keeping them from winning the game, and that might be a part of the game, but games that rely too heavily on negative interaction are often the ones that end up in fights or people not liking games as much.

Neutral Player Interaction

Next u up is going to be neutral player interaction. This is when players might be racing towards a shared goal, for example. Or when spaces are limited for players. I go somewhere that you want to go in a game and it blocks you from going there. I’m passively impacting your strategy in the game. But it’s not, normally, done out a negative reason for it. It can be, but that’s again that situation where you might be blocking someone from winning a game.

An example of this is common in worker placement games. There are five worker spots that do different things. But only one worker can go to a spot. So if I take the one that sells goods, that means you can’t go there with your worker to sell your goods. You still play with the other options, but I’ve interacted with you in the game so that it limits what you can do.

I think a lot of games strive for this one because it’s pretty basic. And you don’t want it to be off putting to you players to have negative interactions. But a smart player can block good moves from another player if they want. However, it’ll cost them something in return and therefore going for that negative interaction is generally a bad plan.

Positive Player Interaction

Finally we have positive player interaction. This happens in a number of different games, so I’ll break it down in a couple of different examples. But the gist of it is, I do something and you get a benefit as well in the game.

An example of this would be New Frontiers or Terraforming Mars Ares Expedition. You pick an action to do and every other player gets to do that action. So that’s a positive because it means you get to do something every round. But as the player who picks that interaction, I get a benefit, so it’s not like I’m just picking something for everyone to do the same thing. This is a nice way to do it because it keeps players engaged at all times.

Another example is Flamecraft. In Flamecraft it’s a worker placement game but the spots aren’t limited. Instead, if I go to a location where another player has their worker, I give them a good. That is a positive because I go where I want to for my strategy, but there is a cost to me that benefits another player. It’s a bit different than the other type of positive interaction, because it can be seen as a slight negative for me, but only a slight one.

This sort of interaction is meant to make players feel good. It also shows up in worker placement games where you bump a worker back to someone’s worker pool, for example. That means they don’t need to spend a turn bringing back their workers.

Why One Way Or Another?

Now, I want to say, I don’t think that any version of player interaction is particularly bad or should be avoided. But I think that some maybe are more polarizing. Especially when it comes to positive or negative interactions. Mainly from two camps, “I don’t want to help others” or “I don’t like it when a game is mean to me”.

Both of them do, I think, have their place. And generally their space is on the opposite end of the spectrum. If I play a short game, I am more fine with negative interactions. Why, because the game is over fast, and the same with two player games. You are mean to me, I am mean to you. That is the expectation and there is no ganging up on someone. When it is a higher player count or longer game, that is less palatable because someone might be ganged up on and then be playing catch up for two hours.

On the flip side, I think positive interaction works better in longer and higher player count games. Firstly, at a higher player count it can help shorten the game. And in the example of New Frontiers and Terraforming Mars Ares Expedition, every player is engaged throughout the game. But I like that for a longer game because it keeps you from getting stuck behind or ganged up on.

Final Thoughts

I don’t think there is a right way or wrong way to do player interactions. And each way works, depending on the game. I think that some of them are better than others in certain situations though, and as a game designer or player, you need to know what makes sense for a game or for you.

Don’t add in a few negative interaction cards because that is what games do. Or as a player, don’t pick a game you can tell has take that cards if that doesn’t work for your group. Know your game and your group to create the right gaming experience.

But let me know your favorite games with all the different types of interaction.

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