I would like to present two very dissimilar games, from the opposite ends of a spectrum.

Star Realms and Letter of Marque. Both can be played by two-players or more and both are
about trading attacking, defending and ships.
Ill start with the good.

Star Realms is a complex deck building boardgame, created by Reuben Klamer and released in
2014. (The game was published by White Wizard Games, ADC Blackfire Entertainment, ADC
Blackfire Entertainment GmbH, Broadway Toys LTD, Devir, Games Factory Publishing, Hobby
World and IELLO.) It involves managing resources, building an armada, strategy and short and
long term tactics. Its themed around a retro-space future and makes the player the head of a
giant space organisation.

Its primarily played by two people, although the expansion allow multiple players, the
experience is designed for a 1-1 combat scenario. A game session is usually 30-40 minutes
long.
At the start each player has a determined amount of money and 50 Lifepoints, the goal of the
game is lower the other players Life to zero. To do that each player needs to acquire ships to
attack the enemy, or space stations to defend themselves, while providing other bonus abilities.
Ships can be bought from the Market during every turn, and since both players start off with
nothing but money, the first few rounds are usually battle-free. During this time, players can buy
any number of ships or stations and mix them into their deck, or in the case of stations place
them in front of themselves. The Market consists of five cards placed between the players. If a
card is bought, a new card is drawn. Bought cards can usually be used to buy another higher
value cards. The purchase of ships continues until the very end. Bought ships end up in the
players own pile and need to be shuffled after every turn.

Players can attack with any number of cards and can use spaceships that stay until they are
destroyed to defend themselves. Some cards have special powers, like extra attack points, or
extra health points. Some cards can be combined with others for an even greater effect.

The game is won, once the opponent doesnt have any Life points left.

Star Realms focuses very heavily on domination and has some slightly lighter strategy
elements. Chance plays also a part in the game, since the different between cards is quite
significant. Luck is one of the major factors that decides what each player is able to buy,
although player choice is also relevant.
The intensity of the battle increases especially in the last few rounds, when the players Health
is low and attacks and defenses are the strongest. The game requires constant focus and
strategic thinking skills, as each player has to react to both random chance and the opponents
actions. While the game is hectic, there is no time limit or time constraint, each turn is fairly
quick, although weighing the odds does take some time.. Often players have to decide between
attacking and defending, taking for ourselves or leaving for the opponent and thats when the
game gets really interesting.
The game requires hands, cards, a deck and some sort of score-tracking solution to play. The
location of the game isnt constrained, the physical gamespace only requires a table. Star
Realms is not a social game, while general banter during gameplay is possible, its not
important or necessary. Interaction between players is not necessary, although it enhances
almost every gameplay experience. The game could be played just with some fine motor
functions and sight as well as proper cognitive skills. Memory, pattern recognition, foresight and
analytical thinking are also needed, the game system relies heavily on reactions of the
opponents actions.

Its best played by people above 12. Experience gathered while playing the game is of higher
importance than age or anything else. Since Star Realms focuses heavily on domination, has a
space battle-esque setting with a slight military aspect and alien vessels, it would be more
appealing to the male demographic, as these themes are more often in male-oriented
games/movies, although the deckbuilding aspect of the game is not gender-specific. The game
is culturally or ethnically neutral.
As of now, there isnt an active player community around the Star Realms, although interest is
high for the title.

There is no story or lore or hidden storytelling. The only indication to some sort of narrative is
the name and artwork of the ships and in the names of certain game functions have. It would be
difficult to make the game function with a different theme, but not impossible. While the game
system is abstract and doesnt attempt to simulate real-world warfare, still allows the player to
feel like the captain of a giant space organisation battling another organisation. Game items
have names that work within the theme quite well.

Progression is the key motivating factor, the more the game progresses the stronger the deck of
each player becomes. This means bigger and meaner attacks and a lot more life-point losses
during every turn.
Surprise and Anticipation come up often, due to new cards being drawn at every turn. This
means players need to evolve their tactics. Understanding the game doesnt take long, but
Mastery of it system can only be achieved after multiple playthroughs. Through mastery, one
might gain more stability and composure and could navigate the playing field more easily. A
game system where the player has more knowledge and control is also a lot more Empowering.
Star Realms relies heavily on multiple gameplay sessions, although the game doesnt equally
reward different playstyles.

Player action is a key component of the game, it needs to happen at every turn, to avoid taking
damage. Players need to create new goals and adjust and react to opponent actions. These
goals are short term, since the turns are quite fast, so one doesnt need to invest in them for too
long. Each turn serves as clear point, where the game progresses, actions happen. Actions
from the game system are purely chance based, but they are communicated clearly, however
the game system doesnt have goals. The game state is clear, since both players have counters
in front of them displaying their current health.
As nice and complex the game is, there are some problems with it.
Balance issues are a major negative factor, some cards are overpowered and buying these
early, is almost game-breaking and leads to a much quicker and easier win-state. Luck plays far
too big of a role, more balanced cards might have worked better. Lastly, as a more subjective
critique, the artwork and design on the cards looks kind of dated for such a new release.
Irregardless, Star Realms was great experience, a game I would definitely recommend to
others.

The second title I wish to elaborate on is far more simple, its called Letter of Marque.

Letter of Marque is a very light, 2-6 player bluffing game. Its developed by Bruno Faidutti in
2009 (and published under Arclight, Edge Entertainment, Fantasy Flight Games, Heidelberger
Spieleverlag and Kaissa Chess & Games).
The game revolves around 17th century ship trade, attacks and bluffing. Unfortunately luck and
chance are the most prominent aspect of the game instead of cunning or tactics.

The game is best played by multiple people and game time is usually less than 10 minutes.
At the start each player gets 5 ships, 5 treasure and 3 canon cards. Then the players proceed to
take turns. During each turn a player can send a treasure to the sea, attack an opponents ship
or bring a ship he or she sent back to port, acquiring its treasure card. To send a ship, the
players must take a treasure card and place a ship on it. 2 of the ships have an icon on the
bottom, invisible to other players, indicating whether the the treasure is guarded or not. If
another player attacks the ship with a canon card and the ship is guarded, the attacker wont be
able to take the treasure. If the ship is not guarded, the attacker can take the treasure card.
Since there are only 3 canon cards, the number of attacks each player can make is very limited,
since cards and ships are not reusable.

Treasure from ones own ships and stolen treasure is counted at the end, the player that has the
most, wins.

Letter of Marque is about one central element. Luck. There is also a slight bluffing aspect to it,
but is neither necessary nor encouraged by the game system. Whether a ship one wants to
attack has defenses or not is almost completely random from the opponents point of view, there
is no way to anticipate or predict one ships worth, unless its the last few rounds, and all the
other ships were already revealed. One could argue that there is some leeway, since its
expected that bigger treasure cards would be protected, while smaller treasure cards wouldnt
be, but thats not exactly a fun gameplay mechanic. Dominance over the opponent is the key
factor of the game. Constant focus or witty decision-making skills are not required. The game is
usually more interesting at the end, since more is revealed about player actions by then and
predicting a ship defensive capabilities is therefore easier.

The game needs hands, cards and miniature ships to be played, score tracking is organic. The
location of the game is typical, the physical gamespace needs a table to place cards on.
Placement of the cards requires fine motor functions, memory and pattern recognition are
deciding factors as well. Obviously sight is also needed. Bluffing is a social aspect of the game,
although its not encouraged, its perhaps the most interesting aspect of the gameplay. For this
to happen a mouth and ears as well as emotion-displaying skills come in handy.

Letter of Marque is best played by people above 6, but due to its simplicity it seems doubtful
that people above 10 would find it interesting enough. Experience gathered while playing the
game is not needed, since there isnt exactly any way to master the game. There arent really
gender-specific aspects either. Attacking others in-game and pirate-like themes might be more
appealing to the male demographic, but its only a small part of the game.Just like Star Realms
the game is culturally and ethnically neutral.
I didnt find an active player base around Letter of Marque, although since it was released in a
digital form, some form of interest might be present towards the game.

There is no story, lore or underlying narrative in the game, besides a few vague expository lines
on the box. The artwork doesnt really push any concrete narrative, the 17th century trading
aspect seems to be the only story-bit of the game. This theme is something that appears in
game-elements as well. Canons are used for attacking and ships carry some vaguely defined
cargo, which is simply referred to as treasure. The game system is abstract and doesnt
simulate real world situations.

The key motivating factor is domination. The more the game progresses the more treasure
players have and more of the opponent's ships are revealed. The end-game is perhaps the
most tense part of the experience.
Due to the game being Chance based Surprise and Anticipation play the biggest role. The only
important question while playing is something like: should I attack this player, he/she might
have a guarded ship on that treasure? Understanding the game and its rules takes very little
time and effort. The games simplicity doesnt allow any form of Mastery, besides perhaps a
social form of mastery, where players have external knowledge of other players and therefore
may have a bigger insight on their actions. Stability and Composure are not achieved by
playing the game, the quick turns and short playtime dont need either. Empowerment is very
luck-based as well, skill or tactics dont exactly play a huge part of it and winning the game
doesnt really bring any satisfaction to the player.

Player action drives the gameplay, but player choice, while not limited, doesnt need much
thinking during a large part of the game. Memory plays a big role, since one has to remember
how many of certain ships an enemy player might have, but for the most part its mostly a
lottery. Players do not need to create new goals, and dont necessarily have to react to the
actions of other players. The turns serve as clear indicators of game progression just like the
treasure cards piling up in front of players, that also indicate the current game state. The game
system doesnt make actions and is not part of the game. Since each game session is relatively
fast, the stakes are never raised significantly, and investment in the game is not necessary.

As said before, the game is basically about trial and error and if one plays with strangers, its
entirely luck based. On the other hand the artwork on the cards and the variation on ships is
quite nice. The little ship-figurines look quite great as well, for a game this simple. These little
ship-statues add a lot to the game, since one could have easily made them into cards, their
gameplay use, would be identical. Perhaps they were added to be more appealing to a younger
demographic.

Someone on Youtube actually suggested the game should be played simply to determine who
should go first in an other, more complex game. I believe this is a nice use of a game like this.