2020年经济学人 自制游戏(2)

Tasks that require some collaboration¹ can be satisfying, as when players in “Pandemic” work together to stop a deadly virus spreading, or when rivals trade resources in “Settlers of Catan”.

需要一些合作的任务可能会令人满意，比如“流行病”爆发时的玩家需要共同阻止致命病毒的传播，或者竞争对手在“卡坦岛”交易资源。

But vicious competition can be relished², too, especially if it means putting your annoying relatives in their place.

但是恶性竞争也可以获得乐趣，特别是如果它意味着把你讨厌的亲戚放在他们的位置上。

On Planet Ozerdale, the different astronauts work together to display a range of talents.

在奥泽代尔星球星球上，不同的宇航员在一起展示了一系列的才能。

Some, if lucky, can outperform the others.

有些人，如果幸运的话，可以胜过其他人。

Is it more rewarding to create a new game, calibrate³ sometimes complicated rules, make hexagonal tiles for the board, set up a website to share the idea and anticipate how others will be entertained

这样是不是更有收获呢，你可以创造一个新游戏，校准一些复杂的规则，为棋盘制作六边形的棋子，建立一个分享想法的网站，并预想如何娱乐他人

—or to get down to the absorbing business of rolling the dice⁴, defeating monsters and dodging⁵ asteroids⁶?

——或者开展滚动筛子、击败怪物和躲避小行星等一些有吸引力的业务？

In your correspondent’s household, the most intense excitement seems to come in the early stages of crafting a new thing.

在记者家里，最激动人心的似乎是在制作新东西的早期阶段。

For the inventor the pleasure is from being a storyteller of sorts, one who introduces a cast of characters, bestows⁷ each with attributes (a scientist able to invent new technology; the miner with geological nous) and then dreams up novel scenarios⁸ for them.

对于发明者来说，快乐来自于成为某种类型的讲故事者，一个介绍角色的人，赋予每个角色属性（一个能够发明新技术的科学家；一个具有地质常识的矿工），然后为他们梦想新的场景。

For those who lead others in roleplaying games, such as “Dungeons and Dragons”, it may be a small step to put a game on a board.

对于那些在角色扮演游戏，如“地牢和龙”中领导别人的人来说，把游戏放到棋盘上可能是一小步。

For their audience—especially parents, who are prone⁹ to being baffled by many intricate rules—having cardboard tokens in hand helps to keep things simple.

对于他们的观众——尤其是父母，他们很容易被许多复杂的规则所迷惑——手里拿着纸板代币有助于保持事情的简单。

The real goal, whether for those trapped at home during lockdown, or astronauts stranded¹⁰ on a planet of wolf aliens, is to have a chance to escape.

真正的目标，无论是在隔离时被困在家里的人，还是被困在有狼外星人的星球上的宇航员，都是有机会逃脱。

1 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

2 relished   

v.欣赏( relish的过去式和过去分词 )；从…获得乐趣；渴望

参考例句：

• The chaplain relished the privacy and isolation of his verdant surroundings. 牧师十分欣赏他那苍翠的环境所具有的幽雅恬静，与世隔绝的气氛。 来自辞典例句
• Dalleson relished the first portion of the work before him. 达尔生对眼前这工作的前半部分满有兴趣。 来自辞典例句

3 calibrate   

校准；使合标准；测量（枪的）口径

参考例句：

• Pesticide levels in food are simply too difficult to calibrate.食品中杀虫剂的含量很难精确测定。

4 dice   

n.骰子；vt.把（食物）切成小方块，冒险

参考例句：

• They were playing dice.他们在玩掷骰子游戏。
• A dice is a cube.骰子是立方体。

5 dodging   

n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避

参考例句：

• He ran across the road, dodging the traffic. 他躲开来往的车辆跑过马路。
• I crossed the highway, dodging the traffic. 我避开车流穿过了公路。 来自辞典例句

6 asteroids   

n.小行星( asteroid的名词复数 )；海盘车，海星

参考例句：

• Asteroids,also known as "minor planets",are numerous in the outer space. 小行星，亦称为“小型行星”，在外太空中不计其数。
• Most stars probably have their quota of planets, meteorids, comets, and asteroids. 多数恒星也许还拥有若干行星、流星、彗星和小行星。

7 bestows   

赠给，授予( bestow的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Second, Xie Lingyun bestows on basic subject and emotion connotation. 谢灵运赋的基本主题及情感内涵。
• And the frigid climate bestows Heilongjiang rich resources of ice and snow. 寒冷的气候赋予了其得天独厚的冰雪资源。

8 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

9 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

10 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。