The Value of Randomness

The scenario: the tension has built during the course of the game and you've developed a strategy that is clever and potentially a game changing or finishing one, the moment of execution comes and the result is left to the toss of dice or drawing of completely random cards. The result can be very disappointing and not at all rewarding to those who come up with exciting moves. Do we want to leave such things to complete chance, holding great ideas to the same level as mediocre and even bad ones? 

Randomness can be a good challenge in a game, for example, when determining your resources, such as who will go first in turn based games, or which tiles will you draw in Settlers of Cataan. It can also be a fun way of determining  your obstacles, such as which property will you land on in Monopoly after they have all been purchased or which monster will be revealed in the Adventure Tile System. There are times when randomness provides a challenge because of unpredictability, the lack of information which I've discussed previously, but also the uniqueness of each game, and thus its "re-playability." But these are all very different than the unexpected and the not (directly) controlled nature of another persons decisions. 

In Chess or International Football, the field and the tools are set before the game begins. The tools being the pieces you'll be using, chess pieces and a football, respectively, and the mental and physical capabilities of the players. Also, the rules are a kind of tool, as well. Some games offer different rules depending on the role, resources, and scenarios the game is experienced by a given player. Yet, these games are exciting because it is unknown exactly how a given player will respond under specific, but yet to be determined, circumstances. In Apples to Apples and DiXit the outcome of your choices is determined by deliberate, but unknowable beforehand, decisions by other players. The rules explain the abstract conditions for winning or the effects of resolved conflicts, such as:

The object of the game is to checkmate the opponent; this occurs when the opponent's king is in check, and there is no legal way to remove it from attack.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess, October 11, 2011.

However, the specific scenarios are created and evaluated by the players. Chess rewards strategic thinking because the rules are clear and the outcome of a given move is never in question. Likewise, in Apples to Apples a clever choice of word based on a careful evaluation of the judging player is rewarded because the rules are clear and, although the judge will decide subjectively, that subjective adjudication has internal logic. The same with DiXit where a well laid card based on the psychological assessment of all the players, except the storyteller of that round, will be rewarded because the rules are clear and the internal logic of the other voters.

What do you think of randomness in games?