international tabletop day

Every Night Is Game Night: Indigo

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I’m playing a board game and blogging about it every day this month (I did a similar challenge last year).

Feel free to join me during my Every Night Is Game Night: My Daily Play & Blog Challenge. And tweet me with what you’re playing these days!

Indigo

Tonight my wife and I played Indigo, which I bought last week during Amazon’s yearly International Tabletop Day Sale. Like most gamers I’m a Reiner Knizia fan and when I read the reviews of his Tsuro-killer game, I knew I had to buy it, especially when it was only 16 bucks and change (MSRP $39.99).

Indigo is an abstract tile-laying game for 2-4 players. There are six tiles with different colored gems on them placed onto designated spots on the board. Player “gates” are also laid down along the edges of the board and each player starts with a tile and a player shield.

On their turn a player places their tile anywhere on the board and if a gem connects to it, then they move it onto that tile. If the gem leaves the board between one of their gates, then they receive it; if a gate is shared, then both players get the gem (extras are included). Gems are placed behind a player’s shield. After their turn the player draws a tile.

Play continues until all gems are claimed. Each gem is worth points according to their color (blue 3, green 2, and yellow 1). Most points wins.

Indigo is an excellent filler game, probably best described as Tsuro for gamers. The draw one, play one mechanism is easy to learn for new or casual gamers, while the network building to claim the gems will appeal to players who want a bit more strategy than Tsuro. It’s a terrific addition to anybody’s game night.

Epilogue

My wife and I have a running joke whenever we lose to each other in a game. “This game is obviously defective,” we laugh. “Better return it.”

I won tonight, 10-9, so it was my wife’s turn to recite our joke. I’m sure I’ll say it more than a few times myself over the next month.

 

Day 95: Game Night Continued

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Pandemic and Ticket to Ride

I’m considering changing my 2015 Goals list to include “Play 10 New Games.” I’ve bought and played four new games in two months, so I’m nearly halfway there and I have more than enough on my Amazon Wish List to make this a reality. While my stepdaughter was back for spring break, she really got into Pandemic, which happens to be my favorite game of the new bunch. My wife is slowly getting into it as well and we managed to win on Heroic Level this morning.

Running a close second is Ticket to Ride, which is my favorite for a family experience. Everybody has a great time playing this and, as I’ve read in several articles, it is a great “gateway” game to bring in new players to the hobby. I love that my niece and nephew enjoyed it so much that they immediately wanted to play after their first game.

The other two games I bought were fun as well: Tsuro and Castle Panic. Tsuro is quick and light; easy to learn and a perfect “warm-up” game. It was fun with my youngest niece, who learned quickly and nearly won in her one attempt. As for Castle Panic, I believe my nephew and I were the only ones who took to this one. When we played with his sister he was our designated sound-effects guy, eagerly providing the soundtrack for each goblin, orc, and troll that we slayed.

I’ve loved every second of our game nights. It’s much more satisfying bonding over board games than video games or television shows. Even the good-humored trash talk has been great; I’ve learned that my wife is quite skilled at the art, as she regularly reminds me who owns the longest win streak (7 straight) in our Ticket to Ride matches. Hint: it’s not me.

Day 87: Castle Panic

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Yesterday I talked about Tsuro, one of two board games that I bought recently. The other was Castle Panic, a cooperative game that’s on the easy side of the learning scale, with a fun theme; I mean, who doesn’t like to slay trolls, goblins, and orcs? You and your partners are defending the castle against wave after wave of monsters. Each monster has 1-3 hit points and you use the cards to take away those points. Other challenges face you, including a Raiders-of-the-Lost-Ark rolling boulder that crushes everything in its path, plagues that thin out your ranks, Orc Lords leading the charge on the castle, and many more.

Over the past few nights, I’ve managed to go 3-1 in solo play. It’s definitely on the easier side of the difficulty scale, which is exactly what I wanted as I was stocking up on games for my niece and nephew’s visit. I hope they enjoy it as much as I do. I’ve already added the Wizard’s Tower expansion to my Amazon wish list.

Here’s the always entertaining Wil Wheaton and his Tabletop episode on Castle Panic:

 

Day 86: Tsuro

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My wife’s a natural at Tsuro.

In anticipation of a visit from my niece and nephew, I bought two new games, one of them being the light and easy Tsuro. My family and I had fun breaking in the game the other night. It’s easy to learn and my wife’s a natural, winning the majority of games during our brief session.

Each player receives three tiles and is required to play one. Their dragon token is then moved along one of the paths on the tile. As each tile is played, paths are joined and the token can be taken on long or short journeys around the board. Fly off the board, however, and you’re out. Last dragon on the board is the winner.

Tsuro only takes about 15-20 minutes play, so it’s perfect for non-gamers and newbies or a nice filler between longer-running games. Along with Ticket to Ride, Zombie Dice, and Pandemic, I’m adding Tsuro to my rotation for International Tabletop Day on April 11th.

Day 75: International Tabletop Day

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This year’s International Tabletop Day is Saturday, April 11. It’s a day for celebrating tabletop gaming. Woo hoo!

After years of all-things-poker as my default game night, I picked up a few of the more popular games and started gaming with my wife. We both enjoyed Ticket to Ride, while I loved Pandemic enough to play solo games on a near-nightly basis. I’m excited to play Ticket to Ride with my nephew and nieces; I think they’re old enough to get into the game now.

It’s been great rediscovering my love of board games. Almost two years ago I stopped by Game Haus Cafe for the first time and was blown away. I knew that there were a lot of great games out there, but seeing hundreds and hundreds of them on the shelves really opened my eyes to the scene.

I started reading posts on boardgamegeek.com, watching episodes of Tabletop on Geek & Sundry, and posting a few screen shots of my gaming on the Google+ Board Games community. It’s been a lot of fun and I can’t wait to celebrate tabletop gaming with the rest of the world on April 11. I have an idea of where I want to host an event and I’ve got my fingers crossed that I can pull it off. If not, there’s always the comfort of my living room.