board games

Day 320: Fortunate

Building a Better Dystopia in Euphoria.

Building a Better Dystopia in Euphoria.

I’ve accepted the fact that I’m only going to accomplish 3 of my 5 goals I set for this year (actually, 4 of 6 when you include My Quest to Blog Every Day in 2015). I’ve already read 26 books and played 10 new board games, so I’m assuming that I’ll do two things: write 30 more reviews to bring my Yelp review total to 100 and post 45 more blogs to achieve my daily blogging goal.

I won’t break 100 on the golf course this year or finish the AFI 100 Greatest American films list, but I’m okay with them being lifelong goals for me.

It’s the board games goal that took me by surprise. Back in January I was bit by the board games bug. Hard. It’s like my love of gaming had laid dormant for so long when it was suddenly awakened on the day I received my copy of Pandemic.

From that day on, I’ve been buying games, playing games, talking games, and enjoying the heck out of my new hobby. My wife and I have hosted a few family game nights and whenever our daughter is home from college we’re playing games on at least one of the nights that she’s back.

One of my favorite gaming-related things I’ve done this year, though, was joining a weekly gaming group. Over the past two months I’ve played dozens of games with cool people I never would have met otherwise. It’s been a fun experience and I’ve learned that gaming has come a long way since I bought my first 20-sided die in middle school.

There seems to be something for all kinds of gamers these days. Whether it’s killing zombies or ruling a dystopian world, using cards or dice, or playing a 10-minute “filler” game or an hours-long session, there’s almost no reason not to game. Even if you’re gaming on a budget or have tons of disposable income, the many price points offer plenty of opportunities to experience something new.

As I’m reminded each week with my gaming buddies, I’ve been fortunate this year to have embraced such a fulfilling hobby.

Day 315: Roll for the Galaxy

Roll for the Galaxy.

Roll for the Galaxy.

My reaction upon seeing the components to Roll for the Galaxy: so many dice!

I’d heard a lot of good things about this game and it lived up to the hype. You get to roll lots of dice while trying to build the best galactic empire. You roll, you assign dice, and you add up your victory points. And so much more.

For my first time playing it tonight I was a bit lost, but my fellow gamers were patient and answered all of my frequent questions. By the time I got the hang of it, though, the game was over.

The experienced players told me that the original Race for the Galaxy had more (and different) icons, was more difficult to learn, and was not as fun to play. Looks like I’ll skip that one and give Roll another shot sometime.

Day 308: Steampunk Rally

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Steampunk Rally.

While I love science fiction I’m not the biggest steampunk fan. After playing Steampunk Rally tonight, though, I might have to take a closer look at the genre; for gaming purposes steampunk was awesome.

Steampunk Rally looks like a simple race around a track, but it’s much more than that. Each player builds a contraption to get around the track. The card drafting and dice rolling mechanics give everyone lots to do on each turn, with plenty of options to re-roll dice or play special event cards.

With all of the dice and cogs and cards it seemed a bit overwhelming, but after a few turns it was easy to get into the swing of things. I missed a few opportunities to build a better contraption and I had bad luck with my movement, but I did get to play a “ray gun” card that put a ton of damage on my opponents. Even though it had no effect on the winner (who seemed to be way ahead throughout the game), it was hilarious to play the card.

If you can’t beat ’em, might as well ray gun ’em.

Day 296: Avatar

Ruel slays the dragon.

Ruel slays the dragon.

I wanted to give a shout-out to Derek of iheartprintandplay.com, the artist responsible for my avatar shown above. It’s how I’m identified at islaythedragon.com, where I write a weekly board game news column, and I’m starting to use it throughout my social media profiles.

My wife got a kick out of the image and I loved how it incorporated my lifelong love of Star Wars and my recent obsession with bow ties.

Check out Derek’s website for a lot of cool print-and-play downloads for your role-playing and board-gaming needs. You can also find him on Twitter and Facebook.

Thanks again, Derek!

Day 294: DungeonQuest

Just a few turns and I'm almost finished. Dungeonquest is brutal.

Just a few turns and I’m almost finished. Dungeonquest is brutal.

I didn’t do anything special for Back to the Future Day, but my gaming group did do a little time traveling tonight. We split into two groups and my table did some space colonization in Tiny Epic Galaxies before we went back to the time of dungeons and dragons in DungeonQuest.

When I was in junior high I played D&D, but I grew out of it as I entered high school. DungeonQuest isn’t a role-playing game, but it has all of the fun aspects of D&D: different characters with special abilities, monsters to be fought, and treasure to be gained.

And, of course, a big ol’ nasty dragon to wipe out you and your fellow adventurers.

I quickly learned that DungeonQuest is a brutal game. Getting to the dragon was hard enough and the various monsters, traps, and what-not could easily take you out. My first action resulted in my near-death and the other two players bit the dust within a few turns. We used a house rule that regenerated our characters and extended the game, but there was more death to come.

It was a lot of fun strolling through a dungeon again. And as long as the house rules permit multiple lives, I’m happy to do it again.

 

 

Day 289: French Friday

Carcassonne.

Carcassonne.

There wasn’t anything particularly French about today, but my wife and I played Carcassonne so that gave me a chance to use the alliterative post title. After an early dinner we watched Book of Life (good animated movie), went out for ice cream, and came home to play the game.

Carcassonne is a city in the south of France that I’d love to visit one day, if only to see the actual landscape that inspired this modern classic board game. In my mind it’s a mellow place since that’s the feeling I get whenever I play. Draw a tile, play the tile, place a meeple if you want, and score points if possible. Simple, relaxing, and I have no idea why I let it sit in storage for years before actually playing it.

Day 287: Takenoko

Takenoko

Takenoko

I was excited to finally play Takenoko. It seemed like something I would like from the get-go and it was. With its mellow tile-laying and set-collecting gameplay all wrapped up in a cute theme featuring a hungry panda and a hard-working farmer, it’s hard not to like this game.

I think it’s safe to say that I’m an Antoine Bauza fan. I’ve enjoyed Hanabi, Tokaido, 7 Wonders, and now Takenoko.

Day 280: Star Trek Catan

Star Trek Catan.

Star Trek Catan.

I’ve now played three of the most popular gateway games, thanks to my local gaming group. I’d played Ticket to Ride and Carcassone (also with the group a few weeks ago) and Catan was the last one on my list.

I was somewhat familiar with the game and actually own a copy (a birthday gift), but hadn’t played it yet. Tonight the first game the group put on the table was Star Trek Catan. The basics are the same, but the added “helper cards” featuring the Star Trek characters were fun.

The rest of the group was familiar with the game and each player seemed to prefer Star Trek over the original. I loved the theme and I’ll have to see how it compares to Catan. Somehow trading brick and lumber while avoiding the robber won’t seem as exciting as trading Dilithium and Tritanium while avoiding the Klingons.

Day 271: I Slay the Dragon

I Slay the Dragon

I Slay the Dragon

This has been in the works for the past few weeks and I’m happy to announce that I’m now part of the team at islaythedragon.com, “a collaborative blog about games, gamers, and those who tolerate them (namely, gamers’ spouses and families.”

I’m captaining the helm of The Village Square, where you’ll find the latest and greatest board game news from the interwebs. My first column went up this morning and I’m excited to be working with such fine folk. Stop by the site and slay dragons with us, take on the Empire, and boldly go where no one has gone before!

Day 266: Betrayal at House on the Hill

Betrayal at House on the Hill

Betrayal at House on the Hill

I made my first trip to the House on the Hill tonight, thanks to my local gaming group. Five of us braved the haunted house and one of us did the betraying, which resulted in a fantastic gaming experience.

Betrayal at House on the Hill is like a role-playing horror movie with the brilliant addition of the traitor, which ratchets up the suspense. I somehow managed to survive as old Professor Longfellow and my fellow survivor and I were able to outlast the traitor and the house itself, which was slowly but surely killing us. Two of our group weren’t as fortunate.

Even though this was my first time playing BAHOTH, I loved it. The role-playing aspect of it was fun and gameplay ran smoothly (I liked the tile-laying mechanism and it helps a newbie like me to have four veterans explaining things). After skimming through the rule books, I found so many scenarios that there seems to be a lot of replayability built into the game.  I can’t wait to play it again and I just added it to the top of my Games Wish List.