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The before and after on my game group's social dynamic shocked me
About 4 months ago, I started a weekly board game night at the Red Dragon Cafe in Portland. At first, everyone was super quiet and only played competitive games like Catan. Then a new guy brought a copy of Wavelength, a party game, and in just three weeks the whole vibe shifted. Now half the group is laughing through co-op games and people actually talk between turns. Has your group ever flipped like that from one specific game?
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kaiharris11d ago
...maybe I'm missing something but is it really that deep? People were quiet for a few weeks at a board game night. Then someone brought a different game and people loosened up. That's pretty normal stuff, not some wild social shift. I've seen the same thing happen with a pizza order changing the whole table mood (you know, someone actually gets the good toppings). It's just people getting comfortable, not the game itself being magic.
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dakotawood10d ago
Yeah but @kaiharris, I've got to push back a little. Is it really just "people getting comfortable" if they're not talking for weeks and then suddenly a different game flips the whole mood? That feels like the game is doing something specific, not just time passing. Like, do you think some games just naturally create more pressure or awkwardness (maybe too much downtime or weird rules that kill conversation)? I'm genuinely asking because I've seen the same thing but always assumed the game itself was the key, not just the timing.
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