When you are playing anything from a card game to a board game or miniatures game, it’s good to understand what type of player you are. This will help you focus on what brings you the most enjoyment in games, decide on the games you are most likely to find fun, and figure out what’s wrong when you’re not happy with a game.
What I’m going to talk to you about today is Timmy/Tammy, Johnny/Jenny and Spike. These are three types of people that approach games differently. However they aren’t mutually exclusive, we all usually have varying degrees of them in us, it’s all about figuring out which you lean more towards and why.
Timmy/Tammy
If you are this type of player you play the game to experience something and are generally just happy to be there doing your thing. This can take many forms, for instance people who want to:
● Socialise and interact with people
● Try new things. New games, modes etc
● Power their way to victory in big bombastic ways, rather than eek out a narrow victory
● Embrace the chaos. See what happens. Enjoy the narrative that is created
I am a Timmy player, and for me it's mainly the socialising and experiencing cool chaotic or narrative moments. I’m not really that fussed if I win or lose. That isn’t the same for all Timmy players though, some very much do want to win, but in specific over the top ways.
Johnny/Jenny
If you are this type of player you play the game to express something. If you tell a Johnny/Jenny that a card in a card game is unusable, they are likely to take this as a challenge to make a deck where it is key to the winning strategy. They seek out the interesting combinations and interactions that others might not see or dismiss. Wanting to do something unique and often challenging. Does it always work? No, but that’s part of the challenge. Often artists and designers fall into this category and base the games they play on specific artistic themes, for example certain Warhammer chapters they have painted, not because they are the best, but because they look incredibly cool together in a group.
I’ll tell you about a time my inner Johnny type came out. I was playing Netrunner and there was a piece of ICE you could play that, if drawn and played on the first turn AND you drew certain other cards to get enough money to activate it AND the enemy player ran into it on their next turn, it ended up limiting their hand size so badly you basically won the game then and there. There is certainly some Timmy to that too, but I enjoyed the combo. Oh and it actually worked, both my first two opponents at the event ran into it and I won. Then I continued to lose for the rest of the day, but I lost while happy.
Spike
If you are this type of player you play the game to prove something. They want to show everyone how good they are at a game, be that through skill, pre-planning or meta-gaming. Whatever way they like best to try and win. You show a new game to a Spike and they are likely to dig deep into it, re-read the rules several times and find the optimum solution. That doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to win, but that is certainly their goal and what drives them.
Sometimes they cross over with Johnny/Jenny, in that they come up with combos that work really well, but they are focusing more on what the combo can achieve rather than the combo itself. They could also take an idea which someone else has come up with and improve upon it in some way. Or they could be keeping a watchful eye on what everyone else is playing and go for the direct counters.
Spike is the one I have the least of, if any. I’m not in the game to win but can appreciate when that is people's goal.
The other two types
There are two other types worth mentioning, Melvin/Melanie and Vorthos, although we won’t focus on them. Melvin/Melanie’s appreciate game mechanics and technical design. Like a combination of magic cards that feels right when they are played together, or abilities on units that trigger other units etc. This is a little Johnny/Jenny like, but a bit more specific. Vorthos on the other hand is all about the lore and appreciates any game that has a good backstory. They also like it when parts of the game tie directly into the backstory, instead of being designed purely from a practical aspect.
Putting this all together
So what type of player are you? Well while you are reading this you’ll likely have had some inkling towards one or more of these, and that’s an important point. They are not mutually exclusive. You can have bits of all of them, it’s just most likely you have more of some than of others. I for example am like 70% Timmy and 30% Johnny, but no Spike. Discovering your type can help you think about the games you play in new ways, and make picking new games more rewarding, as you are less likely to pick up and play a game you are unlikely to enjoy because it leans more towards a player type you don’t have a lot of.
Whatever types you are, enjoy!
