Imagine for a second you were transposed into the karmic driven world of Earl. If you have precise information about A and B, or enough equations related to them, you can solve this mathematical problem. For example, if you know that "A - B = 1", "A * B = 6", you can calculate that A must be 3 and B must be 2, so A + B = 5: but if you know that there A match For example, AA, BB are numbers that are determined by a six-sided die roll, not a math problem that can be solved. You can still do the math, for example mentioning that A + B is probably 7, but you won't know for sure what A + B is until you roll the dice.
One of the oldest classifications used for board games is the Ameritras games, which are divided into European games . It is clear that there are many errors in this classification. European games don't have to be made in Europe, ameritrush games don't have to be trash. But often this is the difference. European games are math problems, but not American games.
American-style games are often themed games with a lot of random descriptive elements. If the game allows you to make decisions, those decisions determine which pages of the story book to read or which story cards to read, which is not a mathematical problem unless you know the contents of the whole book or the whole deck. Story card (what you shouldn't do). And that means your math skills can be used to make smart decisions ("If I did, I'd have to roll 5 or more of those two six-sided dice, it would probably work"), but there's still a lack of motivation. I know what will happen. Sometimes everyone at the table laughs or sighs when you finally get 2 with those two dice.
European-style games often have little to no randomness, no storybooks or cards with unfamiliar content, and little or no player interaction. The words "stuffing" or "table building" are used to describe games where the player chooses an action knowing exactly what will happen. Put your staff in this case, * you will get * 2 points. Now the strategy of this game is to create math problems that most people can't solve in their minds. You hire staff to buy resources, you use those resources to buy buildings, buildings build other resources or create new employees, some activities require a certain amount of victory points. In some cases, there is absolutely no match or interaction between the players, so the game is often more cunning or skill based on multiple moves than math, and whoever has the most points wins in the end. Obviously, if you perform exactly the same sequence of moves in the next game, the chances or interactions of the players will not affect the outcome, your winning points will remain the same. The results are determined.
Now computer math is much better than humans. If you're playing European-style determining games, computers can solve equations, determine the best order of moves, or quickly learn how to optimize with some machine learning algorithms. You can't beat the computer in this game. Although people rarely play European games against the computer, it happens that people play these games against someone who has played them more often than before. And if machines can learn the best order of movement, humans can learn it too. Generally more experienced players at least know which moves are better than others, even if they have not mastered the whole sequence of the best moves.
I don't really like European games. I know them as math problems and for fun I don’t like to solve math problems. With the determining nature of the game "John suggests a game at the table because it's his favorite game, other players don't know the game" until "John wins". I also noticed that the action game "I put an employee here to get 2 grand" was frustrating at first because there is no opening and no luck. I like to play dice or read story book page 127 / storyboard page 127 because I don't know what the result will be. So every step of my favorite American-style storytelling game is a test. No need to win after passing X, I like collaborative play.
However, most games do not fit 100% into any one of these categories. Classic European-style games like Settler of Catan have dice to determine the advantage of assets in direct interaction of players with riders, so they are not completely determinants. However, I still prefer American style / narrative / themed games. I would rather describe "I put my partner on the farm - 2 grand to power" than "I take my hero to the side of the ogre, roll a few dice to see if I hit him". However, I like to tackle some minor resources and random mitigation options in my games. I really liked the god of sleep with whom my wife and I played, except for every step that started with putting a crew on one side of the ship. I like that I don’t know what will happen if I decide to go somewhere. But I like that if a fight starts, for example, I have no luck, I can use some of my command points to deactivate it, or by managing my fatigue wounds carefully, I can make it more probable in battle. Victory I don't want my game to be a math problem where I have to calculate 3 steps ahead, but I'm good at the small amount of math involved in guessing the possibility of a die roll.
