Links: Active vs. Passive Media, Games in Mainstream Media & Game Night with Catchphrase

In more or less all other media (even including many videogames, considering their mostly linear format) the underlying idea is that one "author" creates something that is then received/consumed by other individuals. The author has a great deal of control over how the medium is received, the message that is delivered, and ultimately, the experience that is created. And in most cases, the "consumer" interacts with the medium more or less alone (even if they sort of "share" their experience with others by sitting near them or talking about it after the fact). And perhaps the biggest point of contrast to me is that the consumer of passive media has no real option to make a choice about the content of the media or to experience anything different than from what the author has pre-loaded into the work.

The nature of criticism for these "passive" types of media, therefore, tends to focus mostly on the substance of the message delivered by the work, rather than on the "mechanics" of the delivery method. Now certainly, story structure, diction, tone, and other structural elements of how the work was delivered do come into play. But by and large, the bulk of literary and film criticism is much more about discussing the work's message, its relevance to the society in which it was made, its relation to previous works, what experience in the author's life led to it, and other such socio-political issues.

But boardgames are very different. With rare exception, games are meant to be shared, interactive experiences. And one hallmark of modern boardgames is player agency, where the participants are given choices that have a real impact on the outcome of the game. So while a game designer may have a general intent for how a game should develop, the specifics of any one particular play are greatly dependent on the choices of the players involved in it.

Therefore, the most important element of boardgame criticism must be to focus on the mechanical aspects of the game. While the core element of a work in pretty much any other medium is the message that is being conveyed, the core of a boardgame is the system of mechanics constructed by the designer. And even if there is a theme, tone, or message that the designer wants to invoke or portray in some manner, it still comes down to how well the mechanics of the game actually get that message across.