This is an amazing game in itself that not only relates very well the atmosphere but gives you a very good experience of what dealing in high politics in a medieval world must have felt like. It is even better if you play with opponents that actually roleplay their characters.

What makes a Game of Throne such a fantastic game is that you cannot win alone. You need to build alliances for that but of course in the end there can only be one winner… which makes thing very interesting.

Go and buy it if it is not in your game library by now.

@Razjah – Warhammer would be right up the alley for this kind of mental cross training, but I can’t even begin to factor the cost involvement. I’ve got friends who have offered to give me old armies and I’ve refused every time. I know I would get hooked and want to expand.

@borfaxer – That is definitely taking clue to a whole new level!

@callin – The problem I find with computer games for mental cross training is that they do the math and some of the complex stuff for you. Every game is going to be a bit different in this approach, but they don’t require as much immersion. I find that playing computer games helps me heighten the storytelling part of my mind. Since the computer is doing much of the math and the to hit modifiers, etc. I can concentrate on weaving side-stories based on what is happening. I’ll interpret dialogue certain ways or imagine what my character’s reaction is like, etc.

@Kurt “Telas” Schneider – Very true. Very true.

@unwinder – I would disagree somewhat. Chess is great for building up logic centers and teaching abstract concepts, but I don’t know if it would target the same areas of the brain that boardgames with lots of modifiers would. Chess variations might do better, but they still target the planning and strategizing parts of our brains, as opposed to the sections that deal with implementation of lots of set rules. I can see how it would help with the frameworking of a combat. Visualizing the combat as a chess board and understanding that you need to make the best use of your pieces.

@celith – The 1911 expansion adds many more routes and you use only a subset of them each game, which helps with the knowing the routes problem. It also ensures that every city has a destination– I believe there are a few cities that are overlooked in the standard deck.

I mean, obviously.

Balance is key (says the alleged Libra).

A game that’s been around forever that I still love to jump into is Illuminati from Steve Jackson Games. With a group of experienced players, you quickly find yourself with a LOT of stuff to keep track of.

You seem to be speaking from the point of view of a GM, which makes sense given where we are, but actually playing in a few games will also help. In something like 4E, where your character has many choices, you’ll quickly teach yourself to remember your abilities.

My blog- http://bigballofnofun.blogspot.com/

As role playing games are derivative of board games it does make sense that you are able to grasp the mechanics of your role playing game quicker as your thinking about it more often.

But I do play a few “normal” boardgames at CABS, a rather large local boardgaming club. I do train games (18xx series, Ticket to Ride and RR Tycoon), Carcassone, Memoir ’44, Shadows over Camelot, Battlestar Galactica, Porto Rico, Cuba, Settlers of Catan and a lot more. My older son also likes playing these, and sometime I can get my wife to sit still long enough to play, too.

I’d like to get someone to play Game of Thrones and Battlelore, but no takers yet. My older son was on a chess team last year, but he quit when it started to get like work, and his ol’ man tried to learn, too.

Lord of the Five Rings (Card Game)

For example, Player A suggests that Professor Plum did it in the Hall with the Candlestick and Player B shows them a card to disprove it. Later, you make the suggestion that Professor Plum did it in the Study with the Candlestick and Player B doesn’t have anything to show. Then you know that Player B previously showed Player A the Hall.

When I play with family, they hate it when I track the logic statements on a pad, so I have to do it mentally. It’s challenging, but I think it’s good practice.