Learn how to think strategically

as I thought it was. Giving up for now.

Went to my friend’s LAN party yesterday, with some other mutual friends we hadn’t seen in a long while (there were five people total). We played Starcraft for a few hours, which I am not very good at because… it’s a strategy game! :) But at one point it was decided that my friend’s wife Jen and I should play a game one-on-one, because we were about the same skill level.

Let me tell you, it was hilarious.

We started as the same race, and followed roughly the same strategy throughout the game. Most of our battles were one-on-one with the exact same units, and we made a lot of the same mistakes. There were flying buildings to be had. Jen conceded after about forty minutes, although even at that point it wasn’t clear who was winning.

But besides the hilarity, what was good was that the other three, two of whom have exceptionally good strategical sense, were watching. We got commentary afterward:

• I concentrated too much on building things early in the game, which strapped me for resources later on. (Jen, on the other hand, had an obscene amount of resources left over at the end because she didn’t build enough.) I need to plan my resource usage out a little better.
• Neither of us placed many defenses inside our bases. (In fact I had none until the very end.) Fortunately Jen didn’t decide to attack my base from the rear until the very end or I would have been done for (and vice versa)... if I was playing anyone else I would have been toast. I need to be more proactive in my defenses.
• Although both of us managed at times to take out large portions of the other’s forces, neither moved in to take advantage of our newly weakened opponent. I need to take advantage of opportunities I create before they disappear.
• Things I did well: I played my early game well (though this is not so much strategy as experience and reflexes). I built air units as soon as I noticed Jen was lacking air defense… this was key in me gaining the upper hand near the end. I made good use of reconnaissance, saving me from massive death a few times.

All in all a good learning experience. We agreed to do the same thing at some point in the future to see how we improved. (But far in the future, since we both prefer cooperative games.)