Res Arcana
BoardGameGeek
- rank: 180
- rating: 7.6
- published: 2019
- designer: Tom Lehmann
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Why It's On The List
- You'd think that a game with an eight card individual player deck would feel claustrophobic - instead, it's the entry point to a brilliant Tom Lehmann design that challenges each player to build a victory point engine while defending themselves against the direct and indirect challenges of the other players.
Tips & Tricks:
- Proper assessment of your deck at the beginning of the game is vital.
- Like many of Tom's designs, the speed curve is slow for the first couple of turns and then accelerates rapidly toward the end of the game.
- You can win without taking a Place of Power - but it's not easy to do.
- You don't have to "crank" every card in your tableau - sometimes it's smarter to pass and grab the magic item you need.
Extras
- The first expansion - Lux et Tennebrae - adds some nice variety to the system and a couple of new mechanics that don't overwhelm game play. (Note: my son noted that there's a lot more Tennebrae and not very much Lux in the expansion.)
- The second expansion - Perlae Imperii - throws more new curves into the system - but again without overwhelming the incredibly solid base game.
- Res Arcana Duo is a two player version of the game... but I just put all of the content into my box to give the system even more variety.
- The production of Res Arcana is gorgeous - and the box is appropriately sized for the components - including all three expansions!
- This is the second of seven(!) Tom Lehmann game designs on my list.
Ruminations on Game Themes & Christianity
- I've been asked about my comfort level with the darker/sorcery-based elements of the theme of Res Arcana as a follower of Christ. This isn't the first time (nor will it be the last time) that this kind of question is raised.
- Rather than reinvent the wheel, here are some things I've written at different times over the years on this very subject.
- I was asked in an interview if a game's theme can go "too far". Here are my thoughts:
- Everybody has a belief system of some sort, which includes ethical & moral considerations.
- If a game (or a movie or a book or whatever) violates those beliefs, you should not - if you want to stay true to your belief system - partake of it.
- Just because something does not fit your ethical or moral schema does not mean it should be outlawed for everyone else.
- Therefore, people are going to play games I think are morally reprehensible... I am under no obligation to play them nor are they under any obligation to avoid them because of my beliefs.
- In a different interview, I was asked "Do you think that there are games that are actually a detriment to play? Just how important is philosophy in a game?" My (very long) response follows.
- The first time I remember struggling with this is back in the golden days of D&D... yes, children, back when we oldsters had to walk uphill 5 miles in the snow both ways to the game store to buy The Village of Hommlet module, and then wait forEVER for the The Temple of Elemental Evil to come out. (Still bitter about that one, TSR.)
- I grew up in church, and there was a substantial section of folks in the evangelical subculture who felt that D&D was evil and/or dangerous. While their opinions didn't stop me from playing, I did choose to run my 3 year campaign (I was the DM) as a "one God" universe... and didn't allow players to have full-out evil characters. My strong feeling at the time was that I wanted a world that I liked... a world that reflected my values. So, characters got "punished" when they were cruel or rude or unwise – and "rewarded" for altruistic behavior.
- I continue to struggle with this: it's easy for me to pick out games that offend me (the aforementioned Hellrail and Lunch Money), but you're actually touching on a bigger question. For years, my response to someone trashing fantasy/magic-based games has been, well, kind of lame. It's consisted of pointing out the logical flaw in the argument: if the objection to playing D&D/Talisman/Magic: the Gathering/etc. is based on the fact that these games encourage anti-Biblical behavior, you've got a problem if you play Monopoly, which clearly "teaches" players to run each other into the ground. Like I said, it's not the world's best argument (negative arguments seldom are), but it's served me well over the years.
- But the real question is: what ARE games "teaching" us? When we play Family Business, are we really learning how to "rub out" the competition, Mafia-style? When we engage in the free-wheeling backstabbing of Intrige, will that transfer over to the rest of our lives?
- The answer is: it depends. Over time, I've come to believe that someone with a strong belief system can engage cultural items (movies, music, games, tv shows, magazines, etc.) with thoughtful discernment. They can think through the implications of the work/items they're interacting with and discard those assumptions/philosophies that are harmful. To continue my gaming example, I can play Family Business without choosing to actually shoot someone... or, more to the point, without taking that "every man for himself/king of the mountain" philosophy back into my work or family life. Or, frankly, even into the next game.
- What concerns me is that there are lots of folks who lack:
- a. strong belief systems (note: I didn't say Christianity... while I believe that a relationship with Jesus is the best way to live & the only way to die, what I'm talking about here does not require a belief in a Higher Power)
- b. discernment skills - For them, it's a crapshoot as to how they'll deal with any kind of cultural input. In the same vein, kids don't have these kind of necessary filters in place.
- So, I think games (and commercials & movies & newspapers, yadda yadda yadda) have the ability to "teach" us both good & bad behavior choices and systems, if we let them do so without thinking about them. It depends upon our willingness to stay engaged rather than let our brains & hearts pickle in philosophies & ideas unconsidered. (And, since kids have less ability to do that, helping them choose wisely about the games they play - and teaching them those discernment skills.) The line gets fuzzier when you go from playing games which encourage questionable actions (whether it's the bluffing/lying of Liar's Dice or the cutthroat nature of Diplomacy) to games with questionable themes. Can immersing yourself in a particular theme be a problem?
- Again, the answer is a squishy "it depends." A non-gaming example: because of my personal beliefs & struggles, I am VERY careful about the films & television shows I watch. A long addiction to viewing pornography (finally broken with God's help) means that I choose not to see films that feature sexually charged scenes and/or nudity... I don't want to start the cycle again. (It's similar to recovering alcoholics choosing not to hang out in bars.) It may seem "prudish" to you, but it's a healthy & wise choice for me.
- The same is true in gaming terms. While I never experienced any kind of attraction to occultic practice while playing D&D, I can see where someone who had struggled with this would find D&D (and fantasy fiction & the like) something to avoid.
- I'm not sure this is a complete answer - I find myself comfortable & yet uncomfortable with some of the games I play and/or own. While they don't bother me, I'm sure they would be a problem for other people, and so I'm still dealing with the implications of those feelings.
