Four Competitive Games That Reward You for Reading Your Opponent

Knowing the gameplay basics and having strong mechanical skills aren’t the only things that matter in competitive games.

Whether we’re talking about card games, video games, or any old form of games, understanding what your opponent is doing is just as important as keeping tabs on your own gameplay.

Chances are the opponent will subconsciously repeat the same moves, prioritize the same strategies, and have the same reactions under pressure.

Learning to read these repeating trends and adapt your game accordingly is what separates the best from the rest.

Here are four games that reward you for reading your opponent and ought to help you build on that skill.

Poker

Poker is perhaps the most obvious game where you’re not supposed to just focus on your own cards, but try your best to read your opponent too. It’s all about pattern recognition and psychological mind games.

With experience, you’ll start to “feel” how other players act when they’re sitting on a powerful hand, and how they try to act when they’re preparing for a bluff.

If you’re just a beginner, you should primarily focus on learning the power rankings. In fact, check out this printable poker hands cheat sheet; it’s bound to come in handy during your first few sessions.

Just make sure everyone knows you’re using it, so there’s no mid-game drama.

Chess

Chess has no incomplete info. All the pieces are visible at all times, unlike poker, where each player hides their hand. Still, it’s insanely difficult to figure out what’s on your opponent’s mind. For example, a seemingly random move can start a wicked attack combo 5 turns in advance.

Some players love aggression, while others play a more positional (read: defensive) style. If you’re able to read it in a timely manner, you can lead them into positions they’ll feel a lot less comfortable in.

When playing chess, not only are you constantly thinking 5 moves in advance, but you’re also trying to understand what your opponent will do 5 moves in advance. The thing is, you’ll rarely be right. Most of your predictions will fall short after just one or two moves… but that doesn’t mean you should stop predicting. On the contrary, you need to work on further improving it.

Tekken

Tekken is a wicked one! It requires impeccable reflexes and move recognition, and it features thrilling psychological mind games. To be successful in Tekken, you need to learn your fighter’s combo starters, concentrate on your own button combinations, and make sure you don’t do the same moves over and over again in a loop.

The problem is, you need to constantly monitor what your opponent is doing, too. That’s the hard part. You have to keep tabs on his moves, recognize his combos, and adapt your moves to what’s happening in the fight.

Knowing each fighter’s moves plays a vital role, but quickly reading your opponent’s strategy and outplaying him matters even more.

Rock, Paper, Scissors

Here’s the most basic example. You might think Rock, Paper, Scissors is a completely random game… but little did you know that people aren’t really good at being random.

Since you only have three choices, you’ll start noticing how players switch after a loss or stick with the same one after a win. Another thing you’ll notice is the fact that almost everyone refuses to play the same option more than 2 to 3 times in a row.

Even though we’re talking about an insanely shallow game here, the psychology can provide plenty of depth. Once you start assessing gesticulations, verbal suggestions, and hesitations, you’ll begin to realize how psychology can change the way you play even the simplest of games.

Final Thoughts

All five of these games are vastly different. They all feature different gameplay loops, but require several similar things from the players, such as assessment, adaptation, and prediction.

They’re easy to kick off, but increadibly hard to master. You can learn the core mechanics in minutes, but truly understanding the opponent and making all those micro-decisions takes experience.

Long story short, no matter which of these games you end up playing, never make conclusions based on just one move. Instead, keep assessing every single situation, monitor your opponents’ moves, and look for repeating patterns.