If every aspect of the game is known at the start, there will be less tension (CalculatedRisk) in each move. If the game is the same every time, Replayability may suffer.
One of the FourteenFormsOfFun, and also called "Exploration and Discovery" in Better_By_Design?, March 2002.
Discovery manifests in a plethora of ways:
- Carcassonne? consists of building a map of tiles, 'discovering' the landscape as it is played.
- Clue? is based on learning information.
- Castle_of_Magic? hides certain pieces of critical information at the start of the game, as well as the identities of the other players. During the game, this information is revealed, as meanwhile you learn who your friends and enemies are.
- A partial counterexample is the 18xx? games, which have a fixed starting map and for the most part only randomize on who is the first player. However, one discovers how a given strategy plays out against the other players as the game progresses.
- Games with a strong theme allow players to discover other worlds. This same idea relates to the popularity of books, movies, and other entertainment.
Therefore, give players something to discover in the game as a whole, and with each time it is played.