Why make it a Minis game? For the Skillz!

In Episode 105 Part 1 the guys have been considering the fact that sometimes they need to decide whether a game should be a minis game, or a card game or something else. Well, Glenn does, Mike just makes it into a minis game anyway. But if you're making the same considerations Glenn has some reasons for why you might go one way rather than another, this part of the conversation is about what player skills you want to abstract and which you want to directly test.
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[@CyrusRiahi]

I'm super behind on episodes, but seeing this I just knew I had to watch this one. Great vid as always, and very helpful :)

[@MrLigonater]

I’ve been toying around with trying to do a single mini duel style game, and I realised that for the most part, it is a card game that uses miniatures rather than a proper miniatures game. I’ve tried to make different cards interact with the physical locations of the minis, but I’m not sure I’ve found the right balance.
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But also I definitely see what you mean that the experience I’m trying to evoke is probably better achieved by another activity, (like fencing). But part of that is because the design challenge for this is to make a combat system for a game that feels like your are making important decisions about how a individual character fights that isn’t the same boring combat you get in most roleplaying games.

[@RuleofCarnage]

Increasingly I think that a good single minis miniatures game is the white whale of indy design right now. There are some nice card based dueling games out there, so it should seem doable. Good luck with it.

[@Eurorack_Goblinmode]

It seems to me, a large part of the appeal of minis game is the hobby aspect.
My bro really dosnt have much interest in playing warhammer, but he’s spent $$$ and time on building an army.
So as a designer maybe you just want something that satisfies the hobby condition, even though the game could be abstracted to cards?
That isn’t to say people can’t hobby on board games, I’ve seen ppl build 3d catan sets, etc. But idk, a minis game seems to be inviting that sort of interaction with the game. Maybe I spend hours painting minis, making terrain and end up playing a game where those things really don’t matter all that much, but I still have the joy of painting/showing off my minis, all the while playing mostly a card game or something where the minis are decor, or stage props.

[@RuleofCarnage]

Whilst I think that's true for many people, I also think the number of people its true for is significantly less than the number of people for whom assembling and painting minis is just a pain in the ass. Minis wargames are a niche of a niche, for the average person the hobby aspect makes a game less attractive rather than more, so its a rather odd thing to needlessly and willfully tack onto a game that doesn't inherently suggest it.