Shon-Ting Fu

Monopoly is definitely one of the first board games that I’ve played. It was one of the games that brought the whole family together on the same table. And believe me, it was not an easy task to get everyone doing the same thing. Monopoly has succeeded because of its easy game mechanic that suits a wide range of age, education and gender. Scrabble, however, attracts a different market being a game that requires a strong verbal background to play the game to its full potential. I was introduced to scrabble a lot later than monopoly, two Christmases ago to be specific. Compare to Monopoly, Scrabble has never drawn my attention due to my poor verbal background, and I would blame that on having a late start on my English verbal practices (started in the states in 10th grade).

The two board games, Monopoly and Scrabble are quite similar in the beginning. While each player in monopoly rolls dices to buy the open board of properties, each player in scrabble plays words on the open board that has less limitations and strategic constraints. Towards half way into both games, however, the social dynamic and the game play changes drastically.

In Monopoly, bargaining and trading becomes a very strategic and important element of the game. Each player is easily put into a situation where the trades are made to balance the monopolies between all the players. At that point, temporary alliances and enemies emerge and the pace of the game increases. Combined with the dice rolls, each turn becomes more risky and the overall energy of the board rises. It is really common that players shout or scream when they land on a hotel during desperate moments =).

In Scrabble, planning and watching for bonuses becomes a huge part of the strategy in the second half of the game play. This is because as the game reaches the edges of the board, the bonuses become more effective and the word choices are limited. While thinking about words that are available to the player himself, another part of the game is to prevent other players obtain the bonuses or convenient letter combinations. The most rewarding part of the game is when a player puts down a very good word, and which other players would usually applause for. As mentioned, the later end of Scrabble is aimed, more than less, for a higher educated group of players.

Lambdamoo, an object oriented environment in which players interact virtually through text. This type of social interaction has a very different take compare to face-to-face interactive games such as Monopoly and Scrabble, most apparent being a “goal” within the context of a game. In both Monopoly and Scrabble, the game has set its parameters and variables for players to achieve a common goal. Within that context, players interact and respond based on the events and interactions in game. Lambdamoo, however, is a virtual community in which there is no final goal that players are trying to achieve but simply interact openly within the environment. To players like me that has only got a chance to scratch the surface of a community based environment, I lacked the experience of the pre-established community. To the existing players in Lambdamoo, I’m no more than a ordinary visitor that left a gentle footprint on the carpet of the moo living room.

In conclusion, Lambdamoo is a community driven environment that opens up an infinite amount of possibilities within the context of the virtual environment. It being goalless allows instances such as the “digital rape” to occur since there is no restricted guideline as to what the players are expecting in this game. Where as, on the other hand, Monopoly and Scrabble these two face-to-face interactive board games have a specific goal and rules that players follow and obey during the play experience. Ultimately, the two face-to-face board games forces live interactions between the players, which is very different than the “player’s choice to interact” digital environment.