I like games. I like all kinds of games. I do not care if they're card games, party games, video games, tabletop games, practical games or board games. I like games because I like to have fun, and while there are plenty of enjoyable activities that may or may not have anything to do with gaming (or fun), games are geared specifically towards fun.
See, I was home schooled from Preschool all the way through High School. I have a metric ton of siblings, and I had a lot of friends, but I never did really play any sports or have anything that took a major chunk of my time. I ran around outside and built incredibly dangerous "shelters" and bridges in the woods with my friends, and God only know how many trees we cut down in the prime of their lives. But as far as free time went, I had a lot of it, and finding things to occupy that time (when you can't really leave the house due to being too young to drive) were getting to be repetitive. Yeah, we had an NES growing up (Legend of Zelda anyone?), and eventually a Playstation (Crash Bandicoot?) but we didn't have a lot of games that could be played with other people. It really boiled down into "someone plays while everyone else watches". There were a couple of two-player games, but those were few and far between.
Eventually we moved to Virginia. My mother, being an incredible bibliophile, was always at the local library. One day she saw a flier for some kind of after-school game activity hosted by the library, and signed both me and my sister Jace (the one 18 months younger than me) up for the activity. Now let me tell you, the man who was actually running the activity? He was awesome. This guy (I wish I knew his name) bought board games, played them, and then modified them. This particular activity was one of his games he had modified. He had taken "Battlecry", a civil-war era miniature-and-cards war game, and after obtaining a few supplemental decks of cards (and modifying the rules ever so slightly), had turned it from a two-player game into a six-player game. He had set up two of these, so that a total of 12 players could play. Jace and I wound up at separate tables, but both wound up being the union. The host presented the rules, and the battle scenario was the battle of Fredericksburg. He had painstakingly painted all the plastic pieces so they looked more realistic. We played our games, I lost mine (by a margin of 1 point), Jace won hers (by a margin of 2 points, and despite the fact that her teammate ran all the union troops on the right flank out of the city and into the waiting and fortified artillery of the confederates).
I was hooked. Until that day, the best board game I had ever played was "Risk", and that game was a total dice-fest. I mean, come on, ever played Risk? It pretty much looks like this:
Player 1: Alright, I'm attacking from Australia to Asia. Hand me the three red dice.
Player 2: *Takes two white dice*
Player 1 rolls
Player 2 rolls
Player 1: I lose one, you lose two.
REPEAT UNTIL EVERYONE WANTS TO DIE, AND THEN LET PLAYERS 3-6 DO THE SAME THING.
But this was different. There was different terrain, different unit types, different strategies... It was a whole new world!
We told our mother how much we had enjoyed it (I told her I wanted a copy of Battlecry probably a dozen times) and she signed us up for another one the next month. And the next month. After that third one, I remember the man stopped coming to the library due to summer being over, and by the time the next year rolled around it was full all the time so we never got to play again. But those first three got me. I received a copy of Battlecry for my birthday, a copy of Sid Meiers Civilization: The Board Game for Christmas, and then found a local game shop. I purchased Nexus Ops, Grass, Some Star Wars game I don't remember, as well as a few other games I no longer own (gave away).
My collection continues to grow (sometimes slowly, I did not get a whole lot of games while in college), and I still love playing games.
I've found that the more informed I am about a game, the less likely I am to wind up with some overpriced cardboard and a really lame rulebook. I like to talk about games, but trust me, you look like an idiot when you ask someone "hey, ever heard of Twilight Imperium?" and they think you're talking about the next Stephanie Meyer book because all they've ever played is "Monopoly". So I decided to get my talk on here, and perhaps someone else will read something I write, and it will save them from winding up with some trash in a pretty box. Or maybe (as is often the case with me), they'll read something I write, try it out, and find a gem of a game that they are forever introducing people to.
Finally, we reach the part of the post that matches the title. This is the rating system I will use, with everything being a 1-5 scale:
FUN: 1: Not fun at all. I will not play it again.
2: It can be fun, but only in select circumstances. Probably won't play it again.
3: Eh, it's okay. I will play it with other people if they request it.
4: This is a fun game. I will happily play it again and might suggest it myself.
5: This game rules! I regularly suggest it and don't care if I win or lose just so long as we
can play.
THEME: 1: Theme has little to nothing to do with the game. Pasted on.
2: The theme is there, but it's boring.
3: Theme is interesting but has nothing to do with the game.
4: Theme is interesting and the game has some interesting rules because of it.
5: Rich and interesting theme. Totally draws you into the game world.
QUALITY: 1: Cheap components, nothing really shines here. Maker cut corners and it shows.
(misprints, flimsy materials, etc...)
2: Some neat pieces, but flimsy and break easily.
3: Some neat pieces, fairly durable, maybe a couple of flimsy components.
4: Neat pieces, proper material used, no misprints.
5: Really unique, durable pieces.
ART: 1: The game was printed on wood from the ugly tree.
2: Simplistic art, no real thought.
3: Average art, about what you would expect.
4: Unique art, done well and fits with the game.
5: Unique, beautiful art that fits with the game and enhances enjoyment.
INTERACTIVITY: 1: This might as well be a solo game. Nothing you do really affects other
players.
2: Very little interactivity. Something you do may affect someone
three or four turns down the road. Maybe.
3: Interactive. You have to take your opponents possible moves into
account.
4: Very interactive. If you fail to plan for your opponents possible moves it
will cost you dearly.
5: Almost everything you do affects your opponents immediately or nearly
immediately.
COMPLEXITY: 1: This is simple. This is war (with playing cards).
2: This is simple. There are a twist or two, but nothing major.
3: This is average. A few moving parts, a couple things to keep track of and plan
with/for.
4: This is complex. A lot of moving parts, a thick rulebook, a lot to remember.
5: You will refer to the rulebook often. You will not remember everything.
LUCK: 1: No luck involved. In any way.
2: A little luck, maybe a dice roll here and there.
3: An even balance of luck and strategy.
4: A lot of luck. Most of the game is rolling dice or something similar.
5: Nothing but luck.
The overall rating will be the FUN rating, because after all, that's what games are all about. The other ratings are not really good or bad based on the numerical score, they're just there so that you can understand whether or not this game is likely to be a fit for you. Some people prefer a cheap, simple, themeless game. Other people would like a complex, large, barely interactive game. Those ratings are really just descriptors.
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