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| The Strong, Silent Player |
There is a type of player in Yahtzee that you may never notice until it's too late and you're counting your losses. They're an enigma, a spectre, a grey man, like a fuzzy, half forgotten memory of a bad dream. They blend into the background, they would go completely unnoticed if you weren't the one that had invited them to play. They come in, do their job and leave with no fanfair. They are the strong, silent player.
Of all the opponents I have discussed on this blog, it's the strong, silent player you need to be most wary of, for reasons that will become clear. These players have a will made from solid tungsten, but they stay quiet, keep it to themselves. They're like the Buddhists of Yahtzee; they never let their ego get the better of them and they are as calm as the day is long. It's like Yahtzee is some kind of meditative process to these people, as if the stress of competition, which can often move grown men to tears, actually aids them in their endeavour. What's more, if you don't spot them, you'll end up feeling like you've just been mugged by an apparition at the end of the match and you'll be sat there, sobbing into your alcoholic beverage of choice and have no idea who was responsible.
The strong, silent player is the perfect example of why you should not just concentrate on only your own game but instead study all those around you so you can adapt your approach to suit. The strong, silent player will be very mild mannered, like a Jahovas Witness that's just knocked on your door and asked you to join their cult. They will also be either extremely softly spoken or entirely mute. They tend to be interested in the game and the game only. But the real danger is in the way they play. The tediously consistent performances will become all too apparent in their often match winning scores. There is something connected to their demeanor that just seems to correlate with their scores. I don't often refer to real people during these types of posts, but I'm going to break this loosely implemented rule. Take my son, Miles. I'm not saying that he is silent all the time, in fact he qualifies as a gob shite in most respects, but when he is at the Yahtzee board he is almost silent and shows zero emotion. While he doesn’t always win, he is, without fail, well in the top three. I have racked my brains trying to figure out how he does it, but can't. He's not offering any hints neither! But to be fair, I'd keep those secrets to myself too. For a spotty teenager, he definitely fits the strong, silent mould, and I have to say, I'm pretty jealous!
Despite the fact that the strong, silent player says very little or nothing at all, they are often no less irritating than the underhanded player or the clueless player. If you, like me, are the type of player that wears their heart on their sleeve and tend to let others know what state of mind you are in, often to the detriment of your own success, it can be infuriating to see a person totally unresponsive to the dizzying highs of victory or the all consuming weight of grief and loss. I think the reason that it's so infuriating is the fact that a total lack of emotion can often be taken for an impartial or even a care free attitude. This is, of course, not so much the fault of the strong, silent player as it is a weakness of the overly emotional player, but I use it as an example of how each type of player has the ability to affect the dynamic of a match.
So, having said all this, how does one defend themselves against the strong, silent player? I speak only of defence because to attempt to get inside their head and put them off their game is nothing but a mere exercise in futility; pointless and unworthy of the expenditure of energy. It can be hard to know what they are thinking or how well they are doing, so the best approach is a cagey one, and a solitary one. There is no great way to impact their performance, so it's best to concentrate solely on your own. Some might argue that this is the only way you should approach Yahtzee and that the mind games often found in a match are unsportsmanlike. I will remain impartial on that subject, but suffice it to say, it's pretty much your only option when it comes to the strong, silent player anyway. That is not to contradict what I said earlier in regards to being aware of the types of players you are up against, it's imperative that you recognise each player for what they are, it's just that there's no sense in wasting brain power that could be better applied to your own play and desicions by banging your head against a wall, trying to implement strategies that wouldn't work anyway!
The strong, silent player is the true enigma of the types you find at a Yahtzee match and they are the hardest to battle against, take it from me. Watch out for them, you may not notice them at first, but as soon as they start winning and ultimately lifting trophies, you will have no choice but to accept their omniscient presence. But, be vigilant, you'd be surprised at how merely recognising that a strong, silent player is lurking in your midst can be truly beneficial to how you shape your play and maybe even taking the match to those hard to read, impossible to shake spirits of the Yahtzee board. Short of taking a Ouija board with you as well, of course.
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