I play Heroclix.
There, I said it.
I used to play, when the sets first came out, and then I stopped and sold 90% of my collection because the early figures were vastly unbalanced and the rules were still being re-worked and re-tooled... I was also dealing with some rather painful personal issues; a lot of anger, a bit of self-loathing and low self-esteem coupled with my completionist attitude and desire to own all the figures lead to me spending too much money and too much time on something that ultimately enraged me and alienated me from some friends, so I quit. Gave up playing completely and only held onto a few choice figures (my Batman and Superman figures because come on, it's freakin' Batman and Superman - they're just too cool to get rid of).
Then I found myself in my local comics shop and they asked me to play in their weekly tournaments after I'd bought a few single figures to help fill out my Batman and Superman collection. I had no intention of playing, the wound was still sore and I was afraid to find myself getting too involved again and not enjoying it. I came up with countless excuses to avoid playing, ultimately hoping that telling them that I didn't have the time in my schedule to play would get me off the hook.
And then they changed the time and day of their tournaments so that I could play.
Dammit. Out of excuses.
So I wandered in one Saturday after teaching a karate class, paid my entry fee, got my booster packs (each with five random figures), built my team, and played.
And it was fun again.
The guys were cool - friends instantly - and while there were winners and losers for certain, everybody just kicked around and had fun with it. There was no hyper-competitiveness (well, there was a little, but not enough to turn me off), nobody's feelings got hurt (that I could tell), and we were all just like-minded nerds hanging out in our little clubhouse of a comic shop making obscure pop-culture references and jokes and enjoying a Saturday afternoon.
So I kept playing.
I never did very well, but within a couple of weeks I was regularly placing in the middle of the pack. Never winning, but I came in second once and the shop owner was awesome enough to kick in a few random booster packs for people to pick from so that everybody at least got to take home something.
A tournament started up soon after I started playing again, promoting the newest set of figures that had come out based on a Marvel Comics storyline that was published last year called Fear Itself. The figures were wickedly cool, extremely detailed, and I really enjoyed the sealed tournaments (where you buy packs at the store and build your team based on the random assortment you got) because it kept things even. Some of the more hardcore players, of course, had hundreds of figures and, given the chance, could construct some practically unbeatable teams, so the sealed events were my game of choice.
And then something strange happened last week...
I won.
The grand prize.
The ultimate, final game of the entire tournament, netting me this gorgeous figure as my prize:
I was overcome with pride and joy at actually winning, for once, as well as the incredible prize, but what really struck me the most was the reaction of the other guys. Everybody was really happy for me; there were lots of handshakes and shoulder-pats and really kind words all around and it really got to me, making me feel really good about just playing.
Which brings me to my point.
There are a lot of people I know who insist on playing to win. For them, the game isn't the thing, winning is. It's only fun for them if they win.
And this, ladies and gentlemen, I think robs people of a lot of enjoyment of the fun of just playing.
Remember when you were a kid and you'd just go outside and play? Not sports, not competitions, just whatever your imagination came up with. There were no winners or losers, there was nothing to win or lose at. It was just playing for the sake of playing, and it was fun. Everybody had a good time and everybody went home happy.
It seems to me that this unfettered play is driven out of us as we grow older. Playing "nothing," is replaced by playing sports or specific games and instead of being about just having a wild, grand old time, it becomes about winning.
Now before anybody gets all uppity and starts beating their chest and accusing me of being one of those bleeding-heart hippie liberals who things everybody deserves a trophy, just stop. I'm not saying that. I think we should reward winners and that everybody is not equal and that we need to take the lessons learned from failure and use them to encourage us to do better and improve ourselves.
But I don't think we need to sacrifice one type of play for the other.
Personally I like to play Roleplaying Games - like Dungeons and Dragons, RIFTS, and the like. The great thing about those games is that it's not about winning or losing at all, it's about telling a story, and winning at an RPG means you told an awesome story that everybody enjoyed and had fun playing/telling. It's the opposite of competition, really, as nobody wins unless everybody wins, and the prize itself is the enjoyment of the game that everybody shared with each other.
There need to be more games like that. Or better yet, people need to play that way more often so that we get back to enjoying the simple act of playing again.
Play time is fun time, after all, and having fun is always a win.
So I challenge you, dear readers, to try it sometime. Find a game, an activity, something with other people around you to play with and don't keep score. Don't worry about who's winning or losing. Ignore the rules you don't like or, better yet, make up your own. I'll even make it easy on you -- click here and drop the $25 to get a game that guarantees so much fun for everybody who plays that I promise you won't give half a shit about winning or losing and you'll never want to stop playing.
From there I'm sure you'll find more games and have more fun all around.
Enjoy!
(and please, I invite everybody to email me or post in the comments some of your more awesome moments from playing this game - it'll only inspire others to play and try to make their own awesome combinations and we'll keep the cycle of everybody winning going on for pretty much ever)
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