Here’s the newest Burning Question (formerly Question of the Month).
Is every game worthy of a second play? Game designers put in a lot of thought and sweat into creating a game. Shouldn’t we respect that and at least give their games another chance? Maybe it was the people you were playing with. Maybe you were having a bad night. Would one more play really be that bad?
Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below or shooting me an email.
Tom G
Go Forth And Game 
Comments
One response to “The Burning Question”
My first impression upon reading your burning question was yes, every game is worth a second play. There are a lot of reasons I play a game again even though my initial play indicates the game has serious enjoyment problems. However, the burning question is tied to respect for the thought and sweat that went into creating the game. In that case my answer is no because while I can appreciate the amount of effort a game designer puts into their game it does not create a debt of respect that is paid off by further play.
I am not saying that respect for effort by the designer is not a valid motivation for a second play. I do wonder how far it should go. If a designer is known to have made an extraordinary effort does respect for that effort mean playing for third time, a fourth time, a tenth time? Since you said every game does that mean with enough effort by the designer one should be willing to tackle and unattractive theme, a game style one does not prefer, a playing time that is a burden?
I am very likely to play a game that made a poor first impression a second time but for different reasons than respect for the designer’s effort. When playtesting it is for what the game design will become, when preparing to write a review it is my commitment to the reader to deliver analysis backed by experience, when playing a game I am not good at (timed dexterity) it is for the social aspect with the others playing the game, when playing a second time to make sure I did not just get a bad first impression I am playing for my benefit.