Cooperative review series

Cooperative games are all the rage these days. Most board games pit player against each other with one claiming victory over the rest. Some games, though, have players working together against the game system (strictly cooperative) or in a many-against-one scenario (semi-cooperative). There are even sub-genres within semi-cooperative games: some with set adversaries from the start and others with a "hidden traitor" aspect where you discover who is and is not loyal to the cause over the course of the game.

These are certainly not new concepts but cooperative games have seen a major resurgence as of late. I've covered some cooperative and semi-cooperatives games here already: Pandemic, Battlestar Galactica, Shadows Over Camelot and Space Alert. Lately my gaming groups have been on a bit of a cooperative kick, though, so I thought I'd take some time to dig a bit deeper into the realm of cooperative gaming.

My next few reviews are going to cover a wide variety of cooperative games, both old and new. For the most part, each will be discussed on its own merits. Here's a quick rundown of some of the games I'm thinking of discussing:

Lord of the Rings
Defenders of the Realm
Arkham Horror
Dungeons and Dragons: Castle Ravenloft
Red November
Ghost Stories
Forbidden Island
Descent: Journeys in the Dark
Last Night on Earth
Fury of Dracula
Betrayal at House on the Hill
Saboteur
Bang

Some discussions will certainly be more in-depth than others but hopefully I can give them all a fair shake, even if it has been awhile since I last played some of these. Maybe it'll be a good excuse to go back and revisit a few, although some may ultimately not make the cut if I'm not comfortable enough with my knowledge of the game. At the end of the series I plan on compiling my thoughts on how they stack up against each other, grouped by mechanic (cooperative, one vs. many, traitor). There's a lot of ground to cover but I hope to get through them fairly quickly to help keep the thread going.

Are there any games not listed that you'd like to see included? I can't guarantee I'll have a chance to get them tabled up but I'd love to hear about other cooperative games I may not be aware of! Right now the most obvious omissions from my list are Castle Panic, The Republic of Rome and Battlestations. I have access to both The Republic of Rome and Battlestations but doubt they will have a chance to hit the table any time soon.

I'm a big fan of cooperative style games. I find they often provide a low barrier of entry for new gamers as they are often more comfortable working together with more experienced gamers instead of against them and rules questions are easily answered without giving away individual strategies. There's also a lot of fun to be had in the camaraderie of rallying against the odds of a challenging game system or flying under the radar and keeping your treacherous motives hidden. Cooperative games provide a very different and highly enjoyable social gaming experience than traditional versus style games.

My thoughts on these games will hopefully get posted over the next few weeks. If the thought of cooperative gaming already has you excited, though, check out some of my earlier posts or grab any one of the games I've mentioned above. If you've never tried any cooperative games before you are most certainly in for a new experience! For those that love cooperative games, I'd love to hear about your favorites.