So, you probably know that I like dogs. They are so awesome. BUT! What you may not be as keenly aware of is that I also like to howl. Back when Max was a young puppy beagle, I (perhaps unwisely) used to howl quietly at him to try to get him to bay. I also tend to howl as a reflex when I see a full moon. And I noted tonight, while drafting the latest Magic set Innistrad – which among other beasties has a number of Werewolves – that I absolutely love howling when I first pick a Werewolf card in draft. I’m so happy that we made a format where I can proudly howl at my fellow players, especially because with the fact that all the Werewolves are double-faced cards, I don’t just look like a crazy person (well, not all the way) because everyone can see I took the Werewolf.
I also find that it reminds me of the joy of mini-meta-games – that is, using goals outside the primary goal of a game to enhance one’s own enjoyment, like a sidequest or a personal mission. When I am playing a game that is old hat to me (like Magic) and/or I get bored with the primary goal of the game (like in Risk: Legacy), I look for other things to do that fill my attention. The aforementioned games have a plethora of sub-goals to focus on (like synergistic combos, “one big turn,” opening new packets of stickers, etc.) This is one reason I don’t like playing Poker, because once I check out of the main game, the only apparent sub-goals of interest are money-related (blech) and Jedi-mind-trick-related (double blech).
I didn’t realize until recently that I really do need a host of potential mini-meta-games to stay with a game for an extended period of time.