I haven't been able to put my finger exactly on this yet but it seems to me that most of the current "designer games" lack soul. I understand the design considerations; no direct conflict, playable in under 2 hours, resource management etc etc. But, after a solid year of playing many, many "designer games" with a diverse group of people (family, friends, old wargamer friends)a lot of the novelty has worn off. It seems to me that most of the games boil down to elaborate and restrictive math problems. You start to feel like you are trying to massage a mathematical formula to your advantage more than anything else. In other words if you play to win your actions are mostly predetermined by percentages and statistics like accounting....soulless.

You never really feel like you are participating in the theme the game sets forth as much as you are trying to accumulate points through abstract processes. You are never really conquering anything or building anything just working the math to amass points. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy some of the games and I think they have their place but as an immersive "gaming experience" I think that they are ultimately lacking.

When I think about my favorite gaming experiences when I was most enjoying myself, I think about atmospheric games in which I really felt like I was participating in the history or theme as much as "working the math" to win. I think about "Republic of Rome", "Squad Leader", "King Maker", "Twilight Imperium", "The Fury of Dracula". Games where I was making decisions, reacting to variables (dice,)taking some chances and playing against other players plans not just trying to squeeze every point out of a rigid system.

Though I enjoy the play, I have never had that immersive feeling with my favorite "Designer Games"; "Taj Mahal", "El Grande", “Ra", "Tigris and Euphrates". I think that the coming generations of games will marry the streamlined "Designer Game" philosophies with the soul and experience of traditional simulation games.