Unexpected advantages of role-playing board games
- Transfer
(c) Big Bang Theory
When it comes to role nastolki, many in my head there is a picture: a dimly lit basement filled with people throwing dice in stupid robes. But, believe me, these kinds of entertainment have many advantages. Role-playing games can be not only fun entertainment, but also a way for someone to acquire useful life skills.
If you have never played such games, then you probably consider them an occupation for the last nerds, nerds and losers. What could be more stupid than sitting at a table with strange types, pretending to be goblins, knights, mages, trolls, dragons, and doing other nonsense?
(c) Big Bang Theory
However, do not rush to label. Role-playing desktop are much more interesting than most "traditional" games. Fantasy adventures involve the participants in a pleasant social interaction, you have to solve problems “on the fingers” together, be creative and work in a team. Sounds familiar, right? Yeah, like a phrase from an HR employee. All these skills will be useful in a variety of life situations, first of all - at work: in the office, in the shop, anywhere. Role-playing boards are not really about dragons and dungeons, but about critical thinking and teamwork.
Just do not misunderstand: this is not at all a simulator of corporate team building with all the resulting playfulness and falsity. Role-playing games are really good fun, allowing you to forget about the problems of real life without harmful consequences. But at the same time you also learn something new about people, about communication, train and develop your social skill. Solving game situations, you get acquainted with different views and approaches of other people, which enriches your life experience.
Pumping creativity
(c) Big Bang Theory
Inventiveness is the basis of any desktop RPG. It encourages non-standard approaches. You are absolutely free in decisions, and it depends only on you how the plot will develop further. Yes, each game has its own rules, but this is only a certain framework for the story formed by the players.
Telling stories (fairy tales, if you want) is one of the most effective ways to activate the brain. And without stories in an RPG anywhere. During the story or experience of a plot, the parts of the brain responsible for speech, the processing of cause-effect relationships, and prediction are intensively used. In other words, during an RPG game, your brain switches to an afterburner.
This is as good as social interaction or reading books. The latter, by the way, is also very close to the desktop RPGs:
“... Dungeons & Dragons makes you work with text, tell stories and invent worlds. But what is more important, for playing D & D you need to read guides for players, for the leader, for monsters. All these are very voluminous books written in excellent language. ”
Desktop RPGs are especially shown to people whose leisure time is mostly colored with TV. To some it will help to move, to feel the taste for life, to forget about propaganda and bad taste pouring from the screen. Not to mention the fact that you shake off dust from the convolutions responsible for fantasy.
In the desktop RPGs, one of the participants plays the role of a moderator, or game master (Game Master), somewhere else he is called the dungeon master. This person should be a particularly good storyteller. Even if you stick to an already finished plot, where the main work is done for you, you still have to come up with dialogues and personalities for the NPCs , and also vividly describe the world that players are exploring. While ordinary participants should make their characters more interesting and alive, inventing for them additional features of appearance, character or biography.
In the desktop RPG, you start from the original descriptions and create something new that you and other players might like. By the way, many famous people at one time were fond of playing Dungeons & Dragons . For example, comedian Stephen Colbert , writer George Martin , actor Robin Williams , the author of the Simpsons Matt Greining , author of the TV series The Community Dan Harmon. The ability to talk is one of the most important social skills that increases your attractiveness in the eyes of other people.
Pumping social skills
(c) Big Bang Theory
As already noted, desktop RPGs are a little more than 100% social interaction. You have to talk to people, express your feelings depending on game situations, and all this is not alone or in front of the screen. All live, face to face. In addition, no one has canceled the usual conversations for life in the intervals between gaming sessions.
If you find it difficult to make new acquaintances, and even more so - friends, the community of players can become the life-giving environment where you solve these problems. Even if everything suits you, in any case you will meet people and communicate with them closely enough. Your social circle will expand, and you will gradually find new points of contact and common interests, besides the game itself.
If you have children, it is especially useful for them to be in such companies. It helps in the fight against shyness, develops the ability to show initiative in dealing with strangers and unfamiliar people.
Pumping team skills
(c) Big Bang Theory
The meaning of most desktop RPGs is not victory, but teamwork. Game events depend on the activity of the players, and if you do not try, then you will get little pleasure from the process. Here everything is tied to cooperation, and sometimes it is much more interesting and fun to play when there are no formal “winners” and “losers”.
In many games, as in life, you have to compete. However, rolovki allow you to slow down the pace, so to speak, and take a break from the competition. And already pumping team skills can be invaluable in building a professional career. After all, we all actually play the role. Both in work and in the game, if you are not doing your job, then the whole team, the whole team may suffer.
Again, this does not mean that desktop RPGs are as serious a thing as work. They just allow you to experiment and hone your skills, and then successfully apply them in your professional activity. Maybe you will find the makings of a leader, helping participants in a game battle to avoid serious damage. Or show a tendency to come to the aid of "comrades in arms" who got into trouble. Perhaps you will discover the ability to think outside the box, finding a way out of difficult situations. There are no good or bad roles in these games. There are only roles you can play.
Pumping problem solving skills
This skill keeps the whole world, like desktop RPGs. There will be problems one after another before your team. Maybe you will be faced with the task of solving a puzzle, traveling through mazes, simultaneously inventing a way to deal with a gang of goblins, in order to solve the mysterious murder, thereby preventing the Dark Lord from taking over the kingdom. Talk about problems?
The plots of desktop RPGs consist almost entirely of problems that will have to be solved. In each game situation you will need to think about every action, while reacting to events. Do not do without improvisation. And you will feel enthusiastic when the whole team will find a smart way to resolve a difficult situation.
All this will help you develop critical thinking and look for different approaches. In an RPG, you are both a chess player and a chess piece. You will learn to assess the situation from different points of view and you will always be sure that you will find a way out (from a cave filled with goblins).
Just pleasure
Remember the moment in the past when you did something a little silly. Maybe they joked at a party or fell while dancing at someone's wedding. In general, at first you were embarrassed, and then began to recall this moment as something very funny. Roughly the same with desktop RPGs.
Here, half the fun lies in the separation from the real world. The game seems to return to childhood. Sitting at the table, you seem to find yourself again in the courtyard, experiencing shifts, saving the world. Tell me honestly - who does not like it in the depths of the soul?
Where to begin?
Probably the most difficult thing for you will be to take exactly the first step in the world of role-playing nastol. Perhaps the following tips will help you with this.
To get started, select a game that interests you. Surely you will lose the diversity of games, but this means that everyone here can find something to their liking. Science fiction, fantasy, stories about vampires, werewolves, superheroes, the worlds of Howard Lovecraft , zombies, aliens, "Star Wars", fighting games ... In short, for every taste. If you are not fascinated by the world of a particular game, then, most likely, you will not get pleasure either. So pay attention to the choice.
Offhand, you can recommend these popular games:
If you can’t make a choice, go to the board games store and ask for advice from the seller and visitors. You will surely hear enough recommendations.
Having decided on the game, find out what you need for it. In most cases, this is at least a copy of the game rules. It happens that you need some kind of book, but they cost from about $ 40. Look for information in the network, look at the offers online stores. Most games are offered in digital versions, which will cost significantly less.
What else you might need:
- Guide dungeon master or game master .
- Bones. In many games, special dice are used, they have more or less facets than cubes.
- The pencils. Do not handle!
- Table. The more space for books and character cards, the better.
- People. Without a company to play it will not work. Ideal when four or five players.
Next, carefully study the rules of the game. No need to cram them, just enough to navigate, to know the basic provisions. If you know someone who is already playing this game, then ask you to teach. Maybe you join the already established company to play and feel. If you feel too insecure, look for a video on how to play this game.
Feel free to invite friends and acquaintances to play together. In extreme cases, you can always find a company in the specialized forums.
The main thing - do not go in the wake of prejudice and shyness. Try at least once to play a desktop RPG. You will surely like it.