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When I first played or heard about cooperative games, my reaction was one of polite disdain.
But then I played a few and I got it.
Theres something uplifting, very Fellowship of the Ring, to band together to beat a game.
It encourages discussion much more than competitive games.
Cooperative games have attracted more academic interest for the skills they can help players develop, particularly kids.
Multiple studies in the last decade have found that cooperative play in video games reduced subsequent aggression in teenagers.
Crime author Dennis Wheatley and his friend J.G.
Heres a list of some of the best cooperative games Ive played.
Daybreak
Leacocks latest game deserves a separate mention, as it doesnt share the core mechanics ofPandemic.
They even hired Orson Wells to voice their commercials!
If you arent successful by the third roll, the fox moves three spaces towards its foxhole.
If the fox reaches the foxhole first, though, the players lose!
Theres no text in the game, so its great even for kids who arent reading yet.
Each game comes with a log book of 50 missions, increasing in difficulty and complexity.
(Everything is recyclable, except the occasional tiny bit of plastic.)
You dont play to just play it.
There are six timers in different colors, each with a different quantity of sand in it.
Its been such a hit its inspired numerous knockoffs, and now has a harder sequel game calledSkyrockets.
You do this over a series of rounds, with more rounds for two players than for four.
Its very, very hard to win, but incredibly fun to lose.
