game night

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 273: Dead of Winter

Dead of Winter

Dead of Winter

The September heat wave is nearly over, so it was the perfect opportunity to fight off the cold … and an unending wave of zombies.

Actually, it was another warm night, but my local gaming group got into a cold-weather mood and played Dead of Winter. I enjoyed it despite having one of my characters die immediately, thanks to a horrible first roll of the die. It happened so fast I forgot her name, but I did miss her search skills for the rest of the game. My lone survivor was the ninja and he proved quite adept at slicing and dicing zombies.

Dead of Winter is a terrific co-operative game with a traitor element. The theme is outstanding if you’re into zombies and the tension level ramps up quickly as characters try to scrounge up food, fuel, medicine, and weapons. The traitor managed to complete his mission (it was between me and him and I was expelled since I was going to die of frostbite anyways) as we all succumbed to our lost morale.

Day 260: I Tried, But …

X-Wing Miniatures Game Core Set

X-Wing Miniatures Game Core Set

Confession: as a self-proclaimed Star Wars geek, I don’t have much of a collection. I have a Yoda figurine, an Admiral Ackbar action figure, a few books, some old trading cards, and a few knickknacks. Nothing too exciting. I LOVE the original trilogy, but I didn’t save any of my childhood toys, then later in life I didn’t feel the need to collect Star Wars stuff. The memories of the films were sufficient.

And even though Force Friday offered a lot of cool things to buy, I still had no urge to buy Star Wars toys, clothing, food, or what not. I’ve resisted the urge, even though I was getting more excited about the movie every day.

My excitement finally got the better of me.

I took the plunge and bought the X-Wing Miniatures Game Core Set. I can’t remember the last time I bought a miniatures game (if ever) and a Star Wars-themed game would be the one, of course. I told myself that it serves the dual purpose of owning a few cool Star Wars miniatures and satisfying my urge to game.

The core set comes with the X-Wing and two Tie Fighters shown above, which are beautiful. But they’re not just aesthetically pleasing, they’re functional as well: using the game’s cards, dice, and range-finding system, you and a friend can create dogfights on your tabletop.

The spaceships only take up a small portion of the living room table and I’m trying not to remind myself that there’s plenty of room for the Millennium Falcon, Slave I, and all of the other iconic ships. I do remind myself, however, that each addition isn’t cheap.

So, I tried to resist the Star Wars merchandising empire, but like Yoda said … well, at least I know this game will be more fun than Episode I.

Day 259: Tokaido

 

I’ve had Tokaido on my Games Wish List for a while and I was able to play it tonight with my gaming group. The game is worthy of its accolades; the artwork is gorgeous and gameplay smooth and relaxing. After we finished, I asked for another round next week.

The photo above was my view at tonight’s table. It’s a beautiful setup, but there’s something the picture can’t capture: the “soundtrack” to the game that one of our group had playing through his phone. The music meshed perfectly with Tokaido’s calm and mellow theme and it was a nice change of pace for a Wednesday night.

Day 257: From the Tabletop

X-Wing Miniatures The Force Awakens Core Set

X-Wing Miniatures The Force Awakens Core Set (image from fantasyflightgames.com)

News and notes from the world of board gaming …

7 Wonders Duel Release (source: Repos Production)

My favorite game of the moment is the highly regarded 7 Wonders. I love leading my city through the ages, constructing buildings and wonders while improving its science and technology and strengthening its military. In 23 days, the two-player version, 7 Wonders Duel, will be released. Click here for the countdown clock and an overview and trailer for the game.

#WhatDidYouPlayMondays (source: Geeky Goodies)

Chris Cormier of Geeky Goodies created the Twitter hashtag #WhatDidYouPlayMondays for gamers to tweet about the games they played during the previous week. It’s a terrific way to see what others in the Twitterverse are bringing to the tabletops, from quick fillers to all-day campaigns. And in the spirit of the hashtag, last week I played Samurai, Taluva, Lost Valley: The Yukon Gold Rush 1896, and Carcassone with my gaming group.

Force Friday (source: boardgamegeek.com)

It’s been nearly two weeks since Force Friday, the unofficial holiday of new Star Wars merchandise. Included among the action figures, light sabers, and BB-8s were a few games, most notably the X-Wing Miniatures Game The Force Awakens Core Set. Early reviews of the game were positive, but if you’re like me, reviews don’t matter since the words “Star Wars” seem to short circuit the part of my brain that controls my logic, reasoning, and impulse-buying powers. I predict the “shut up and take my money” refrain will be the most commonly uttered phrase when Star Wars mania hits the holiday shopping season.

Day 252: Carcassonne

Carcassone

Carcassone

I dusted off my copy of Carcassonne and played it for the first time tonight, thanks to the weekly gaming group at my FLGS (Friendly Local Game Store). I’ve had this game for over a decade, but it’s never made it to the table. After I bought it my buddies and I got into poker, so that became our weekly and twice-weekly game night for years.

My recent gaming rebirth had me itching to play Carcassonne and three of us played the game tonight. I liked the mellow tile-laying experience; it’s a pleasant game from beginning to end with the only stress being trying to complete the cities, roads, and other structures to score points.

After playing Samurai, Taluva, and Lost Valley: Yukon Goldrush, Carcassonne was a nice and light change of pace. I’m not sure if I’m a fan yet, but I enjoyed seeing the tiles all laid out at the end; it was like we created a nice countryside with meeple citizens.

Day 245: Swashbuckler

 

 

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Swashbuckler

I stopped by the open game night at my FLGS (Friendly Local Game Store) and played two new games. First was Dragon Run, a nifty little press-your-luck card game in which you’re trying to grab treasure before the dragon turns you into toast. You and your opponents play characters with different abilities (thief, psychic, warrior, etc.) and there are spells and talismans to help or hinder your quest. It played fairly quickly and was a good way to start the night.

The second game was a real treat: Swashbuckler. This was a game from 1980 that one of the game night regulars put a lot of time and effort tracking down then upgrading its components (check out the gorgeous miniatures in the photo above). I love the pirate theme: it’s like a classic Errol Flynn movie, with everybody throwing chairs, swinging from chandeliers, and lunging and parrying.

Three of us played two characters each. Every player plots six moves per turn then reveals simultaneously; there are a few detailed charts for combat and movement and two six-sided dice determine your fate. It was easy to get into the spirit of things: after every successful (and even unsuccessful) move, we would lunge or parry in the air or make jokes in good swashbuckler form.

The Dread Pirate Roberts and Inigo Montoya would be proud.

Day 243: Coins for Games

Soon to be growing soon: my humble games library.

Soon to be growing soon: my humble games library.

As I wrote back on Day 13 of this year, I keep my spare change in a jar. When it gets filled up, I take it to my local Coinstar and convert it into an Amazon credit. Coinstar normally charges about nine percent to count your coins, but it waives this fee if you opt to take the Amazon credit.

I usually cash out about $60 from the jar, so after I visit Coinstar I’ll be working my way through my Games Wish List. It’s nice not having a bunch of coins lying around; I’d much rather have a bunch of board games lying around.

Day 240: Gaming Goal

 

Sushi Go!, one of the 10 new games I've played in 2015.

Sushi Go!, one of the 10 new games I’ve played in 2015.

I just realized I hit one of my yearly goals. It was my fifth goal, added on Day 100 of My Quest to Blog Every Day in 2015: Play 10 new board games.

As a reborn gamer, I’ve had a lot of fun becoming reacquainted with the board game hobby. The best part is that my wife and stepdaughter enjoy a few of the games and my nieces and nephew always ask to play Sushi Go or Love Letter whenever they visit.

Gaming is so much better when it’s with family.

For years, game night meant an hours-long session of poker with my buddies. Typically no-limit hold ’em, but if there were enough hardcore players in our group we would have a long mixed-game session. I loved playing Omaha Hi/Lo, Badugi, and other variations of poker.

Today, though, I find myself opting for hours of board gaming over gambling. One of the best decisions I made this year was buying Pandemic. It was my gateway game and I couldn’t get enough of it. It was nice that it was solo-friendly since I could log in a few solitaire games after my wife had gone to bed.

My stepdaughter immediately took a liking to it as well, so that was a terrific surprise. I treasure the time we spend together and what better way than trying to save the world from being laid to waste by a super virus?

Here’s my list of 10 games I played for the first time this year. I’ve listed them in order of preference, so my #1 game is Pandemic, etc. I’d recommend any of these games for anyone’s collection.

  1. Pandemic
  2.  7 Wonders
  3. Ticket to Ride
  4. Love Letter
  5. Sushi Go!
  6. Zombie Dice
  7. Tsuro
  8. Castle Panic
  9. Mille Bornes
  10. Moose on the Loose