Spiel Preview Thoughts

As everyone lucky enough to make the trip heads to Essen for the 2015 Spiel game fair, I quicly scanned through the incredibly extensive geeklist created by W. Eric Martin over at BoardGameGeek & despite the surface look, I still saw a ton of interesting things that I'll be waiting anxiously to see if they show up ion the various vlogs & podcasts I follow. Here's what I'd be looking to buy and looking to check out if I were actually lucky enough to be flying to Germany this month:

September Acquisitions

My attempts to slow down the number of new games coming in met with mixed success last month – while I still obtained more games for my shelves, I did also clear some space thanks to the flea market at TBGT. And luckily, the order I made on CoolStuffInc during September after winning a giftcard didn’t actually arrive until October 3rd which makes this list look a little better!

New Games Obtained in September
Arboretum (gift)
Chicago Express + expansion
Cyclades
Discoveries
Kigi (Chinese edition)
Legacy: Gears of Time
Mountains of Madness expansion for Eldritch Horror

Games Sold in September
Ascension base set (plus assorted promos)
Cubist
De Vulgari Eloquentia
Fresco
Ingenious
Lagoon
Quiddler
Skyline
Smallworld
Tiny Epic Kingdoms

Eldritch Horror Case - the Lower Workings

I was finally able to come back to this project, and start work on the lower level. Unfortunately while working on this part of the case, I realized I was going to end up only able to fit the Mountains of Madness components into my plan, and not the upcoming Pyramids release. But having the case able to store the base game, 2 small box expansions and 1 large box expansion seems pretty good to me, so it is what it is.

TBGT Numbers & Superlatives

The event is over & recapping is going to take a while, but here are some initial stats.

Twitter-sourced Gaming - Weekend Gaming Recap

Apparently this week was in fact destined for lots of gaming opportunities as multiple invitations were extended on Twitter for the weekend. As a result I got to game on both Friday night & Saturday afternoon. 

TBGT - Flea Market Prep

This Saturday morning at TBGT is the Flea Market, a chance to move out some games that have been sitting unplayed and hopefully snap up a few deals to replace them. I've been meaning to better curate my collection for a while, so these are the games I have that are hopefully destined for somewhere else:

Opened & Unpunched

• Dreaming Spires - $40
• De Vulgari Eloquentia - $25

Opened & Unplayed

• Cubist - $25
• Garden Dice (with Card Expansion  in box) - $25
• Island Fortress (with KS promos) - $20
• Lagoon (with KS wooden pieces) - SOLD
• Rise! - $5
• Skyline - $10
• Tessen (damaged box corners) - $5
• The Fittest - $5
• Tiny Epic Kingdoms - $5

Played - Condition Varies

• Ascension (good condition - 7 promo cards included) - $20
• Fluxx (beat up box - anyone need cards for protypes???) - $2
• Fresco (played once - has expansion modules 1,2, and 3) - $30
• Ingenious (box has shelf wear) - $10
• Oz Fluxx (played once) - $5
• Quiddler - SOLD

First dibs goes to locals & event attendees as I don't really want to deal with shipping. After the event, I may open it up if there's a bunch left over.

I may be adding more games later but we'll see how ruthless I'm prepared to be as I get ready for TBGT.

TBGT - Games I Want to Play

Next week is That Board Game Thing (TBGT), a 5 day invitational gaming event here in NC that offers a great opportunity to get a bunch of games to the table. The focus is just on playing games, this is the first year they'll have multiple (as in 3) vendors on-site, so I usually get a long list of titles played & learned during the event. The fun starts Wednesday so (partly as reference for myself) here's the list of games I'm hoping to get in:

Labo(u)r Day & beyond - Monday & Tuesday Gaming Recap

I managed to play games Monday & Tuesday which was a very welcome change from my typical once (maybe) a week gaming opportunities, especially given that minor surgery a few weeks ago had resulted in a gaming hiatus. Not only did I get to game more, but I got to play nothing but really good games making it a very successful couple of days. I was remiss in writing up each day's gaming at the time, so you're getting them in one long post instead.

Island Dynasty - Wednesday Gaming Recap

Wednesday night at the Armory was my first gaming in a while (excluding a few rounds of Tides of Time) & it was nice to sink my teeth into some tricky decisions in both of the games we got to the table.

Eldritch Horror Case - the Top Level

For this project I'm using some pretty basic materials:

• This artist's case purchased from Hobby Lobby in 2012 (if you want one, you may want to find a less scummy source if their behavior appalls you).
• 5mm black foamcore
• X-actor knife with a supply of fresh blades (change often)
• Metal ruler
• Elmer's Glue-All (basically an all-purpose white glue)
• Dressmaking pins (used to temporarily hold joints in place until the glue sets)

For construction, I decided to start with the top layer of the case that I had wanted to hold the cards and bits accessed throughout the game. My hope was that as I created dividers and cubbies, I might be able to store extra pieces on this layer that I had earmarked for the lower section. Sure enough, I was able to move the dice and miscellaneous tokens (omen track marker, 1st player marker, etc.) to this layer fairly easily. The biggest factor in my fitting in more stuff was that I chose to make some areas two-layer, stacking storage boxes on top of each other in order to have wider openings (easier to scoop chits out of) without taking up huge amounts of space in the box.

Hunting & Building Out West - Wednesday Gaming Recap

Wednesday night at the Armory (of last week, yes I'm behind thanks to some minor surgery) was a chance to learn a couple of new games and play a couple of "old" favorites. We started the night with a quick 8-player round of Codenames while waiting for various people to arrive. This game remains as much of a hit as ever, and in fact my copy saw other plays later in the night while I was doing other things, which lead to a few strangers thanking me for bringing it & requesting I keep doing so.

Eldritch Horror Case - Planning & Resource Gathering

First step of the project was to figure out how everything would fit best within the case. I basically pulled out everything I had and started just putting it in and out of the case in different configurations. Of course then I realized one flaw in my thinking - I wasn't considering expansions! I know it's only a mater of time before I buy Mountains of Madness & the recently announced Under the Pyramids expansion is also shaping up to be a must-buy, and who knows what will come next...

Eldritch Horror Case - Introduction

So years ago I bought an artist's case online with a vague idea that I would turn it into a thematic container for my copy of Arkham Horror (and possibly Elder Sign also). For a while I even stored AH within the case in an effort to spark enough inspiration to get started, though when we bought our house the resultant move meant the game returned to its original box for safe passage.

Fast-forward to now & that case has sat in the closet with my crafting stuff since we moved into our house a little over a year ago. Not only that, but while I enjoy AH, Eldritch Horror has pretty much replaced it as my solo game of choice. For one thing, I've even purchased both of the small box expansions & keep looking longingly at the Mountains of Madness - my AH is still only the base game, as the relatively few play opportunities & table-hogging nature of the game conspired to prevent my justifying adding to it. So clearly, when I found the artist's case again while sorting through some boxes, it was time to revisit that old project but with a new game destined for such special treatment!

Now I have never attempted a custom insert before & my only use of foamcore was to make a dice tower a long time ago, so do not assume I'm an expert. But as I work through this project, it's incredibly satisfying to see some fairly impressive (for me) results, so I figured I'd document the process here:

Introduction (this post)

Planning & Resource Gathering

Phase One - the Top Level

Phase Two - the Lower Workings

Phase Three - the Inner Lid (coming soon)
The Final Product (coming soon)

Nonsensical NC - Monday (& Tuesday) Gaming Recap

In an amazing twist, I managed to game 2 nights in a row this week! I know, it's almost unheard of outside of a convention, but there it is. And speaking of conventions, both nights offered the chance to play more of the goodies that had worked their way back to NC from GenCon. Not only had the games traveled in recently, but Matt of The League of Nonsensical Gamers was in town for a week of training for his real job, so he had put out the call for NC gaming & we were glad to answer him. As a result, this recap is going to be a long one, so feel free to go make a coffee or something before I get going.

On Monday night, we met at the Atomic Empire to start the week off right. The turn out in general was pretty impressive for the store's weekly open board game night & a good number of us had made sure to be present to welcome Matt to one of our FLGSs so the place was pretty packed. Matt & I started with a game of Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn while we waited for the others to arrive - Matt then switched out/teamed up with Chris when he arrived so he could also learn the game. I had randomly grabbed Maeoni Viper's starting deck, and thanks to a couple of pumped-up Silver Snakes (and the use of counter-spells) was able to destroy Noah Redmoon before Matt & Chris were able to get more than a couple of wounds on my phoenixborn. I thoroughly enjoyed the game and am looking forward to exploring some of the other decks. I don't know that I'll ever deck-build as there's plenty in the box to keep me occupied for a while. Though, saying that, I may check BGG to see if anyone's suggested a good deck to try out Dimona Odinstar, the promo phoenixborn I received as part of the pre-order.

My snake on the right is getting pretty big... and will only get bigger

After that Burke joined us, and we moved to Chris's bag of GenCon goodies, opening up his still-in-shrink copy of Artifacts, Inc for a 4-player game. I was nominated to read & teach the rules, which is always a bit nerve-wracking, but this game isn't particularly complex so we were able to get going fairly quickly. We did have a few questions that we couldn't find answers for (for example, do bought cards refill immediately or at turn-end?), but we just house-ruled & kept going. I ended up pulling out the win, but the scores overall was fairly tight. It was a solid game & strategy-wise, definitely a step or two above Machi Koro, but I don't know that I'll be searching a copy out any time soon - it was good, but not great & honestly, Ryan Laukat's art-style is pretty enough but just doesn't do much for me. The downtime was also a bit much, though I've been informed since that there's an official variant on BGG that may fix this.

Josh makes his move (Photo from @dicehateme)

After Artifacts Inc, we pulled out Riff Raff & swapped Josh in for Burke. This is my favourite dexterity game (though I'm not really all that good at it) & I was glad to finally break out my copy. As ever, the game draws a crowd, and so, after Chris had won our game, 4 new competitors were quick to jump in and play a game of their own while we moved on to another GenCon purchase - a 5-player game of Warehouse 51. This is a game I will absolutely be adding to my wishlist in the hopes of adding a copy to my collection. It's an auction game, which normally isn't my thing, but the addition 2 twists made it a game I really enjoyed: the addition of counterfeit items (known only to a few people) & the money for successful purchases being paid to the next player both add a social element to the game that works extremely well.

I played Oksana Kasperskaia in Warehouse 51 - LOVED the art

In an effort to cram as much gaming into Matt's NC trip as possible, some of us decided to meet at the bar in his hotel on Tuesday night to play some more. We started by setting up a 4-player game of The Village Crone, figuring out the rules & then abandoning it for another table where we played 2 rounds of Codenames 5-player - Adam & I vs. Chris, Matt & Josh. BOTH rounds ended with the assassin being guessed which was just insane! However, based on multiple sessions, I will always choose to team with Adam for this game - for some reason we do really well (other than that whole assasin thing, sorry!).

Then we moved back over to The Village Crone - Adam chose to spectate/eat/read rulebooks while the rest of us played. Our game went faster than I'd expected based on other peoples comments, but there wasn't much counter-spelling in our game which was likely why, as that would have considerably lengthened the game. In the end Matt reached the point goal first, ending the game. I have mixed feelings on this one and want to play at least once more now that I have a better idea of the value of different ingredients - who knew soil was so valuable?! My initial impression is that the game doesn't quite live up to its potential.

My view of the village

Finally Adam taught us how to play Chicago Express which he described as being to 18xx games "what Ticket to Ride is to Euro games" - having now played both, I can see that's a fairly accurate statement. I really liked how the action selection worked and the game as a whole was a lot of fun. The board was tough to read, even after we moved the table a few feet to get better lighting, and I misjudged the timing of a large purchase which took me out of the running, but I can't wait to get another chance to play this economic game as I'm sure I could significantly improve my performance.

Check the mood lighting - & Josh's murderface (photo by @dicehateme)

In all over the last 2 days I got to play 7 games, of which 4 were new to me & 5 were GenCon releases. Ashes, Chicago Express, & Warehouse 51 were games I want to add/am happy I added to my collection, while Artifacts and The Village Crone will stay firmly in the "meh" camp until I get a chance to play them again & see what a second round does now that the teaching game is out of the way. But really overall, a successful couple of days gaming and a really great couple of days hanging out with friends old & new.

Games Played: Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn, Artifacts Inc, Riff Raff, Warehouse 51, Codenames, The Village Crone, Chicago Express
New-to-Me Games: Artifacts Inc, Warehouse 51, The Village Crone, Chicago Express

Spies in the Trenches - Wednesday Gaming Recap

Wednesday night at the Armory was the night for all of our local GenCon attendees to share their new purchases with those of us who weren't able to make the trip to Indianapolis. Everything I played was fresh from the con, so it was nice to experience a little bit of what I'd been hearing about.

GenCant - Sunday Space-faring

For the last day of GenCant, I had arranged to spend the bulk of the day playing Forbidden Stars with Eric, Chris M, and Burke. Since we were meeting when the hall opened at 1pm, I was able to sleep in after Saturday's late-night long movie marathon. I got up & grabbed food on the way, ensuring that, by the time everyone arrived, I was caffeinated, fed & ready to go.

GenCant - A Chill Low-Key Saturday

GenCant is the con of sleeping in for me apparently - I lay in bed enjoying a coffee & playing Alphabear for some time before eventually hauling my lazy ass out of bed to get moving (thank god for coffee delivery-men). It was then time to get Deefer all set up with her badge at Registration, so she could join in the GenCant fun (and enter Ichi's contest).

First task for the day was to check out the Plague bin - a tub full of dice (& germs) to scrabble through looking for gold. It wasn't nearly as large or as disease-ridden as the GenCon version, but the dice selection was pretty neat. There's a post here detailing exactly what was in the bin. After that, we made our way to a local bar for a few beers, some delicious food and a couple of games of Jaipur. We each won a game 2-1, and declined to play a tie-breaker game as we had been camped out in the booth for a while and needed to make our way home while driving was still a viable option.

After returning to the hall, Deefer and I played a few games of Fetch the Orange Ball while listening to podcasts. I had planned to play some solo Eldritch Horror but ended up watching a ton of GenCon 2015 coverage before settling down to watch some movies - specifically Hot Fuzz and The Two Towers. So not a ton of gaming but since I had already scheduled a Forbidden Stars game for Sunday, I wasn't too upset.

GenCant Pic - What's In The Box

For the GenCant photo contest, I put together a small scale version of Chessex's infamous Plague Bin - the huge mass of dice and germs to scoop through and buy by the pound. The resulting photo ended up something of a fun photo puzzle too.

The GenCant Plague Bin

GenCant Coverage - Friday

I was slow to get moving on my first full day of GenCant - I was tired & achy from the last few days of work, so I decided to treat myself and hit snooze a few more times. This con isn't really about getting in early or rushing to a particular booth first, so I could afford that simple luxury.

Once up, I donned my PJ pants and wandered in the direction of coffee - this con's lax dress code is a winner in my book! I then settled down to catch up on the latest gaming news, tuning into W. Eric Martin & the Board Game Geek crew on Livestream as they shared live interviews from some other convention going on in Indianapolis, or some such place. I haven't been to it, so clearly whatever this other con is, it's not that special. While watching the latest releases, I caught up with some fellow GenCant attendees on Twitter and made plans to meet up at one of the con's satellite locations for some gaming after lunch.

Tons of parking outside Hall GA

More coffee and a quick lunch of delicious nachos later, it was time to put on real pants & make my way to the gaming. When I arrived at the satellite gaming area (a short drive), I was happy to see there was plenty of free parking close by. This meant I was first to arrive, and so I was able to grab another coffee and ponder the games for sale in this area. Once Daniel and Linus arrived, we settled down to teach Daniel Abluxxen. The scores stayed close during the 3 rounds, but in the end, Linus pulled off the win with scores 30-26(Daniel)-20(me). We then set up a 3-player game of Yspahan, got through the teaching, and started the first turn when James walked in. Luckily it took just a few min to shift the set-up for 4-players and get him up to speed so we could restart to include everyone.

Setting up Yspahan

I've wanted to learn Yspahan for a long time and so I was really glad to get it checked off the list. I really liked the dice mechanic for determing available actions, and had fun figuring out the nuances of different strategies. Daniel destroyed us, but I felt like I performed relatively well and am determined to get another game of it in the near-ish future if at all possible to see if I can beat my score of 56 with more experience (& possibly better rolls). Next we pulled out Arboretum in which I failed to score much of anything but did manage to stop others scoring many of their high-potential paths, so at least that was something. This game is gorgeous, and the component quality was impressive - I'm just glad the gameplay seems to hold up to the promise of the bits,

Akrotiri mid-game

By the time we finished Arboretum, Falcon and Eric had arrived so we split into two groups - the others started Viceroy while Daniel taught me Akrotiri. This 2-player game from Sen-Foong Lim and Jay Cornier was sooooo good. The randomness of the tile draws was frustrating but in a good way, as all of the water icon-containing tiles apparently ended up on the bottom of the stack, which made it super tricky to excavate temples in relation to those. Plus we had a ton of islands that were literally impossible to reach making it tough to find an open island on the map. I ended up buying a TON of maps in order to increase my chances of getting all my temples down, despite those issues and in the end I was able to pull out the win. This is one game I will almost certainly be adding to my collection at some point.

The final map - with my excavated temples & goal cards in front

After grabbing some food, I joined in a 6-player game of Age of War which is actually the only game of the day that I'd actually played before. After that, I headed back to grab a cup of tea and watch some of the streams & videos from GenCon. All in all, not a bad first full day of GenCant, and I have plans in place for Forbidden Stars on Sunday so I know I'll be getting some more good gaming in this weekend. Hopefully there'll be more tomorrow but with a Beer, Bourbon & BBQ festival going on this Saturday in the area, I may have to take a break & check that out.

GenCant Coverage - Arrival at the Convention Hall

I had to work Wednesday/Thursday, so didn't make it to GenCant until late Thurs evening, when things were already in full swing. Upon arriving at the con, a short walk down some stairs from my room, I immediately headed for registration to pick up my badge. This con is so fancy, by the way. you get a choice of badge design - I grabbed 2 so even if mine flips around, people can still see my name. Registration was still open despite the late hour which was super convenient, & there wasn’t too much of a line (most of the other con-goers I saw were busy grabbing food & at this point) so I really didn’t have to wait long at all before being able to enter the hall & scope out the amenities.

Hawk & Spider - Weekly Comics

While at the Atomic Empire on Monday night for gaming, I picked up my sub. My order was a small one this week comprising of just three issues:

All-New Hawkeye #4

Magneto #20

Spider-Woman #9

I haven't read the Hawkeye yet as I only received the final issue of Fraction & Aja's Hawkeye run last week, and I've been holding off on starting the new series until I got some closure on that one. Now that I've survived the emotional turmoil of their final issue, I'll probably sit down sometime this week (at GenCant perhaps) to break out the new series & catch-up.

 

 
I'm thoroughly enjoying the Spider-Woman series, and loved the first part of this issue detailing the various cases handled by Jessica, Ben & Roger as they traverse the nation. Javier Rodriguez's art (& Alvaro Lopex's inking) is wonderful & I love the facial expressions & use of colour throughout the book. I can't wait for the next issue to see if Roger's okay & how they'll be able to get out of Historic Dodge City.

Racing for Second & Playing Tricks - Monday Gaming Recap

I got to the Atomic Empire earlier than usual as traffic decided to be nice for once, leaving me with time to kill. I hit a nearby drive-thru & grabbed some dinner before heading into the store to eat & pick up my comics. I grabbed a beer (Fullsteam's Summer Basil - so freaking good!) & waited to see who all was going to make it. While waited, I resisted heading to the front of the store where they had a copy of La Granja just sitting there taunting me - I'm trying to save money at the moment, but man was it tempting given that my FLGS sells it for just $6 more than CoolStuff & I could have it right now!

I wants it, the precious...

New Additions to My Game Collection

Between Origins, Kickstarter deliveries & my recent birthday, I've added quite a few titles to my game library since the beginning of June. Here's what's new on my shelves:

Pub Euros - Building Cars & Farms

On Sunday evening, I left work & headed straight for a fairly-local Irish pub to join some friends for some great food, drinks, & gaming. We ended up with 7 people showing up to hang out & play, which was awesome for a super last-minute invitation via Twitter. After grabbing something to eat, we started a couple of games. Daniel, Eric & Megan started a 3-player game of Cacao while Adam, Linus, Chris and I sunk our teeth into Kraftwagen.

Gaming Photo - Forbidden Stars

Approaching the final round of Forbidden Stars from the Eldar's perspective. For more info about how things played out, listen to The Geek AllStars episode 104 where Dan & Chris discuss our game from a few weeks ago.

Gen Con Dreams

Even though I've ended up with that particular weekend off of work, I will not be attending GenCon 2015; I'm hoping to attend the 2016 show but we'll see what happens as things draw nearer. For this year, I'll be enjoying GenCant, jealously watching everyone's tweets, and hopefully getting in some gaming at home.

But despite not attending the convention, I've found myself zealously keeping up with BGG's GenCon Preview list along with various podcasts and videos covering the games that will be available for demo and for purchase. Based on those sources, here's my dream GenCon 2015 Top 11 lists - To Try and To Buy (a la The Geek AllStars):

World's Fair 1893 art by Beth Sobel (from BGG)

To Try

1. World's Fair 1893 (Foxtrot Games - Booth 3029): I love the theme, what I've seen looks great, and Chris Kirkman's unbridled enthusiasm has caused this game from J. Alex Kevern to leap into the top spot on this list (it was on here previously, just placed a little lower). This game is one of the main reasons I've been getting more & more bummed about not attending the show.
2. City of Gears (Arcane Wonders - Booth 741): I wanted to demo this at Origins and just didn't manage to, so it'd definitely be one to check out.
3. Thunderbirds (Modiphus Entertainment - Booth 2530): so this is basically my childhood in a box, which means I'm desperate to try it out. I can't say for sure that it'll ever actually enter my collection, but it's quite likely unless the gameplay just really doesn't do it for me.
4. Spirit Island (Greater Than Games - Booth 2143): I failed to get a demo of this at Origins despite really wanting to, so this one stays on my "to try" list for now. I love the story & theme, the art I've seen looks beautiful, and the escalation throughout the games sounds really enthralling.
5. Nevermore (Smirk & Dagger Games - Booth 1743): this drafting, set collection game has some interesting take-that elements and a curious theme. The art look grogeous and I'm intrigued by the idea of "dead" players turning into ravens & having to get the right hand to become human again to have the potential to win again. A definite demo game for me.
6. Grog Island (eggertspiele - Booth 1753): this game sounds pretty interesting and I love the theme of retired pirates, so it makes my list of demos for sure.
7. Kraftwagen (ADC Blackfire - Booth 2330): I love Glen More (which a wonderful friend gave me for my recent birthday) so I'm really curious about this game, but what I've heard has been so mixed that it's definitely one I'd want to try out first.
8. CHEW Card Game: Cases of the FDA (IDW Games - Booth 2723): I'm a huge fan of the comics and have managed to get my husband hooked on them also. I'd love to demo this quick 30-min card game to see if it's something we'd enjoy playing at the bar together (one of the few places I can get him to play games with me).
9. Discoveries (Ludonaute - Booths 1517, 1617, 1627, 1717): Sounds really interesting but i haven't seen quite enough yet to put this one on the Buy list yet. Hoping someone local picks up a copy so I can try it out.
10. Ghostbusters: The Board Game (Cryptozoic - Booth 601): I so want this to be good, but wasn't 100% convinced by the Kickstarter campaign. Would definitely love a chance to be proven wrong.
11. Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King (Mayfair Games - Booths 116, 117, 129, 323, & 331): tile-laying with an interesting auction & variable scoring conditions based on cards (ala Kingdom Builder). I'd definitely like to take a better look at this one.

Mysterium box art (from BGG)

Broom Service box art (from BGG)

To Buy (assuming unlimited funds & unhampered access)

1. Mysterium (Libellud - Booths 1517, 1617, 1627, 1717): I thoroughly enjoyed playing Chris's copy of the Portal edition but hadn't been able to justify importing it. This would be my absolute must-buy were I attending the con.
2. Imperial Settlers: Atlanteans (Portal Games - Booth 2052): I finally managed to learn Settlers at Origins and, as expected, it was all I could have hoped for. Another faction is something I can't resist, even though I've barely had time to scratch the surface of the original four. Clearly I just need to get in more games.
3. La Granja (Stronghold Games - Booth 2329): I've played Adam's copy of this twice now, in 4-player and (a surprisingly quick) 2-player games. I LOVE the game, and so it would absolutley be coming home with me, were I to be in Indianapolis. As it is, it's only a matter of time before I give in and buy my own copy.
4. Broom Service  (Alea - Both 1401): I played this game at Origins and can't wait to get my own copy to try out the various variants since we only played the basic rules. The game looks awesome on the table, has great components & cards, and I really enjoyed the gameplay - a must-buy for me.
5. Codenames (Czech Games Edition - Booth 2052): I played a very rough prototype back in April and loved this party, deduction word game, even despite having to work around such issues as being able to see through the thin cardstock used for the cards. So clever, so easy to teach but tricky enough to play that you'll be stumped at least a few times; it's just a great little game. And now that it actually has art, it looks amazing.
6. The Village Crone (Fireside Games - Booth 1949): I like the theme, the mechanics sound interesting & the inclusion of a solo mode all sparked my interest. Adding in the modular board was just icing on the cake.
7. Viceroy (Mayday Games - Booth 143): I had somehow missed seeing anything about this game until recently, but now that I've seena  few videos and posts, I think this game is right up my alley. And if I was attending GenCon, I'd definitely be preordering it for pick-up in order to get the playmat add-on (and possibly the fancy gems).
8. Sansoucci (Alea - Booth 1401): I heard great things from people I trust after Origins, so given unlimited funds this would definitely be in my bag along with Broom Service.
9. Artifacts Inc. (Red Raven Games - Booth 2927): I can't actually quite say what it is about this game that puts it on the Buy list as opposed to the Try list but it just grabs me. I like the theme, the gameplay sounds intriguing and hopefully it wont disappoint.
10. Arcadia (APE - Booth 1537): I played the crap out of Theme Park on both the PC (a long time ago) and my DS. I love the theme and the listed mechanics (hand management, set collection) all scream "yes please".
11. Bring Out Yer Dead (Ginger Ale Games/Upper Deck Entertainment - Booth 1207): I played and thoroughly enjoyed this comically macabre area control game at Origins, but did so after the convention was over so preventing my picking it up then.

Moonrise with Lanterns in the Cherry Trees - Monday Gaming Recap

I finally made it back to the Atomic Empire after a while and was able to get in some small but fun games. When we got there, the others were already occupied setting up a learning game of Parfum, so Kit & I settled down with Sky Tango. After a two-player game, we were joined by Graham for a three-player round. We love this game that I picked up at Origins, and the third player definitely shifts strategies slightly. I lost both games, but continue to love this gem from Johann Rüttinger & Jacques Zelmet.

Origins 2015 - Games Played (Friday & Saturday)

Hopefully I can move a little faster & combine more than 1 day into the one post in order to finally finish this series...

Friday

Trambahn (2P): Chris Copac & I sat down to try this 2-player game about building & running tram routes. I really enjoyed it (even though I got absolutely destroyed!) & would like to grab a copy eventually. It's a little Lost Cities-ish but with some more options on your turn.

2x Shoot Your Friends (4-5P): This is one of those games with a great "toy factor" that is fabulous for a convention but probably not for your regular game group. Play cards in front of yourself or your opponents until you get a combo in front of someone that lets you all grab for the single plastic gun in the middle of the table in an attempt to successfully shoot someone and knock them out of the running. Fun and quick, though at times painful if you catch the gun wrong, this was perfect filler before settling down to something meatier.

Broom Service (5P): I was super excited to play this KedJ nominee and it definitely didn't disappoint (at least, it didn't disappoint me). Not everyone at our table enjoyed it which did cast a pall over the game session, but in the end, for me, my enjoyment of the game was enough to counteract the black mood. I loved the art & the terribly punny names of all the characters, adored the components, and really enjoyed the tension in choosing cards hoping someone else didn't mess up your plans by forcing you to play them in a different order than you were hoping. In a few rounds I got completely screwed but that shifted my focus to having a back-up plan in mind, and I actually then found it very satisfying when I was able to recover from my Plan A being foiled by pulling off something equally useful. We played the basic set-up and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy so that I can try out the more advanced options.

Prohis (partial game - 5P): We played a partial round of this game while waiting for our food to come. It was okay, a very well-done, streamlined Sherriff of Nottingham, but as a bluffing game, not one I'd be searching out.

Cacao (4P): I played another game of Cacao to start the post-dinner gaming as some others wanted to learn it. Still enjoyed it, and was happy I'd purchased it. Note: I personally played the game twice during the con - my copy however, was played something like 6 or 7 times as people kept borrowing it to teach others. So in terms of cost per play, this one has more than proven its worth already.

Walled City (4P): I got to sit down & learn this game from Daryl Andrews himself. I really enjoyed jostling for majorities while having to keep in mind how I was setting up things for the future, and I found the gameplay intuitive that I could focus on strategy and on manipulating the board rather than making sure I was remembering the rules properly. The game provides a satisfying, surprisingly quick game, that I certainly wouldn't pass up the opportunity to play again. We did have one poor casualty (pictured at left) when Jeremiah ripped on of the meeples in half - you can see the moment in Tiffany's con round-up over at her Youtube channel here at around 12:50.

Red7 (4P): We played what seemed to be the longest game of Red7 ever, taking about an hour and a half. But I hadn't managed to play this one before the con, despite owning it, and so I'm glad to finally check it off the list. I'll definitely pull it out again when looking for a quick filler (assuming it doesn't usually run so long, that is).

Saturday

Loop Inc (4P): The first of two prototypes I got to play on Saturday, this time-travel game from Scott Almes was fantastic! The twist that you have to replay your previous day(s) actions in the same order but can interweave newly acquired cards into them is really fun & forces you to consider the likelihood of actions being usable in future turns instead of just considering your current goal & playing it out before determining the next thing you want to work towards. The art is wonderful & the flavour text on the cards is hilarious (and each individual card of a type has different text from the others which had me wanting to read each new card as it was revealed every single time). Honestly, as I said on Twitter at the time, "If you at all like time travel & you don't back Loop Inc. when it hits Kickstarter, you're NUTS. This is awesome". The Kickstarter campaign ends on July 9th so if you haven't checked it out already, go now and do so.

Voyages of Marco Polo (3P): A second play, this time three-player and I enjoyed the game just as much on the second play. We had discovered that a rule had been misinterpreted on our first play anyway, so this gave me a chance to play correctly (ah, con rules). I managed to win this one by an extremely large margin (I lapped one of my opponents on the score track and almost lapped the other), but all involved still seemed to really enjoy the game which is always a good sign.

Angry Dice (2P): While waiting for our food at Double Comfort, we pulled out a set of Angry Dice with all of the expansion dice. Various matches were played with the new challenger choosing their set of dice first. I personally took on Stephanie using the Lucky Beans dice after she'd defeated Matt, but unfortunately I just couldn't beat her. If I remember correctly, I don't think anyone else could beat her either, so at least I lost to a master.

Colt Express (5P): This was my first time playing this game and will possibly be my last, purely because I don't think any other play could live up to the hilarity. The State of Games Origins recap episode discusses it a little, but basically it was a session full of bad puns, crazy shenanigans, Darryll doing a phenomenal job telling the story of the cards as he flipped them, Doc's infamous "groping hand", and so much more. I frequently had to remove my glasses to wipe away tears due to laughing so hard, and by the end we'd gained spectators who seemed to be having as much fun as we were if not more. One of the best experiences of the con & one I don't think we could ever recreate even if had the exact same people in a similar setting (i.e., pretty fried & loopy from a day at a con).

2 x Flip Hue (5P): This brain-twisting, tiny card game was really interesting even if it took a while to figure out how to approach the cards. I enjoyed it, though others at the table didn't seem to, and would love to try it again now that I have a better idea of how to manipulate everyone's hands.

The Networks (3P): This was the second playtest of the day, this time playing a game from Gil Hova. Centred around running a successful TV network by filling your evening line-up with the best shows, stars and ads while also gaining viewers from re-runs even after you've replaced those shows with better and better options. The game played really smoothly and is nicely complex without being difficult to pick-up and be competitive. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this one as Gil finishes polishing the art and gets ready to launch it on Kickstarter.

Doug, Doug, Goose, Caboose (7P): I jumped in for a couple of rounds of this fun little party game of remembering names & racing to recite the line-up before your opponent. Tons of fun in a tiny package, and I actually had a copy sneakily slipped into my bag while playing in the bar on Friday so I have it to pull out at future gatherings.

SpyFall (8P): The night ended with this social deduction game combined with good old Jameson. It's definitely not a game I'd search out, and the pressure of having to come up with a good question was terrifying, but it was a good end to the night. I did bow out around 3 or 4am, but they continued on without me till around 7am which is a testament to how crazy fun this game can be at the end of a long day.

Origins 2015 - Games Played (Thursday)

My first full day in Columbus, and decent day for gaming despite spending a good amount of time in the vendor hall.

Cacao (4P): I purchased this without having much knowledge of the game itself, but I had figured what I'd heard had been good enough. What I found was a nice, quick game beautifully produced, with enough decision-making to feel like I was actually getting somewhere when I pulled off a great placement. And it almost had a phenomenal insert except for the odd decision to raise the ends preventing the box lid from sealing the contents in place. I definitely prefer it to Carcassonne & can see this being one we play over dinner at home.

The Voyages of Marco Polo (4P): One of my favourite games of the con, and one that I went back and purchased the next day rather than wait to own it. The mechanics themselves are a blend of things we've seen before but the package as a whole was really enjoyable and seemed to add something new. I've been rather tired of Alien Frontiers (& mad that I never got part of my rewards from one of its KS campaigns) so it was really nice to enjoy the dice-as-workers mechanic again. I loved the fact that low & high rolls each have their own advantages, and the crazy OP player powers that are all as OP as each other made for a lot of satisfying moments.

That night after dinner, I got to play 4 games that WEM had brought back from the Tokyo Game Market which was a great opportunity to try something completely new. The first of these was Timebomb (6P). Another hidden alliances, bluffing game that just really wasn't my thing. A more raucous group might have helped but honestly, this type of game just doesn't do it for me. The following three games, however, were all games I would happily play again:


Wok on Fire (4P): This little gem about prepping food was wonderful & I would love to get my hands on a copy. Using their spatula card each player gets to flip the ingredient cards in the "wok" twice, before helping themselves to any of the face-up cards as they attempt to create delicious combos. The art was adorable, the game was tons of fun, & watching opponents flip over the dreaded negative-scoring green peppers while fishing for valuable proteins or elusive chili peppers was both satisfying and hilarious.

Sheep & Thief (4P): This game certainly wins for the most unusual components of the night. The cotton ball sheep had a tendency to roll & mine kept wandering away from where they were supposed to be. I enjoyed the game itself; it combined drafting & path building with a little bit of take-that, and I'd like to play again, just not anywhere drafty!

Guns & Steel (4P): The last of WEM's games that I played, this one was essentially a tech tree game as we attempted to gain new technologies in order to have access to more advanced resources with which to create even better technology, build Wonders, and improve our offensive & defensive capabilities. I really enjoyed it, although the teeny tiny card text made even Imperial Settlers look easy to read. Josh did end up in a situation where his hand severely limited his ability to act but I wonder if that's a new player trap that would be easier avoided on repeated plays. Now if only I had access to these games... 

Why First?! (5P): This racing game is about coming in 2nd to gain points, & then having the 2nd-most points after all legs have been run to win. I really enjoyed the simultaneous playing of cards on anyone at the table - combined with having both positive & negative cards, it led to a lot of chaotic scrambling back & forth as one player's attempt to move an opponent would end up foiled by someone else attempting the same thing but in a different direction. Super cute, great art & components, and easy to teach plus the spin of second place being all that matters made this one I'll be looking for in the future upon its eventual US release.

Costume Party (5P): A quick card game about wearing unique costumes to a party in order to score points. Some typos that caused cards & rules to contradict each other were frustrating but it was enjoyable enough, although I won't be looking for a copy.

Coup: Guatemala 1954  (6P?) I think I played this on Thursday night - it was the one game of the con that I know I played but apparently I never wrote down so I'm fuzzy on timing & who was playing. It's Coup, lots of interchangeable roles, some interesting twists but again, it's Coup. Not my type of game but I was glad to get in a game with some folks I'd kept missing earlier in the con. A fine way to end the night but definitely not my type of game.

Origins 2015 - Games Played (Wednesday)

Alright, this is the beginning of what's gonna be a long one (and I know, I know, it's been a long time coming). Here's the round-up of everything I played while in Columbus, starting with the day I arrived.

Wednesday

I got into town at 1pm, dumped my car at the hotel & immediately contacted Tiffany and Copac while making my way over to the convention centre. They were playing in the cafe outside Hall C so I was able to grab a coffee & shake off some of the aches from the drive while they finished up a game of Lanterns (a game I own & still haven't managed to play). After that, it was time to play something...

Imperial Settlers (3P): I have been wanting to learn this game for what feels like forever, & so I was really excited to have Copac teach it as my first game of the convention. And it didn't disappoint. I LOVED this game, & immediately logged into CoolStuffInc to throw a copy in my cart ... except they were out of stock! Luckily I happened to notice their physical booth had copies Thursday, so I grabbed one at the con as I definitely didn't want to wait any longer to add it to my collection.

Nations: The Dice Game (4P): I haven't played the full Nations. Despite not having that frame of reference, I really enjoyed this distilled down version. I liked the quick pace & accessible approach to civ-building, & I think it's one I may be able to get my husband to try. I'm sure if I played Nations, I'd prefer it; but since that game wouldn't get played at home, my plan is to get a copy of the dice game & avoid its big brother for now.

Welcome to the Dungeon (4P): This extremely well-produced little push-you-luck game from Iello was surprisingly fun & pretty perfectly priced. The first few rounds we were fairly conservative, but once everyone had a better feel for how much a stripped down adventurer could survive, we got a lot more risky & started really trying to trick other players into getting stuck with the dungeon. I picked up a copy the next day & have already pulled it out at my local pub while waiting for food.

Gib Gas (4P): This simultaneous blind bidding, racing-themed game just fell flat for me, despite a lot of praise from people whose taste I usually agree with. It was just too long and I didn't feel particularly satisfied after a good round, or all that upset after a bad one. In the end, I destroyed my car ending the game & honestly felt happier it was over, than I felt  annoyed about losing.

Money (4P): I actually enjoyed this Knizia game which surprised me. I didn't do particularly well, but I'd definitely play again if someone brought it out (which is more than I can say for some of the other games from the good Dr.).

Resistance: Avalon (7P): Late-night Resistance at Char Bar looks to be on its way to being a tradition of my Origins trips. This was my first time playing with a special role & I pulled it off. I was Percival and sure enough, the Assassin accused me of being Merlin preventing the bad guys from seizing the win. This isn't really a game I enjoy, but when the group is working well (and we've had a few drinks) it's well worth playing for the experience.

Cockroach Poker (7P, though more like 6P as Tiffany was exhausted & falling asleep): another late night game. I've played this one before and it really doesn't do anything for me, so I honestly don't remember much about this particular play.

Origins 2015 - Overview

Now that I'm home from Origins (and from the vacation I took immediately upon my return), I can finally sit down and recap the convention.

Firstly the overall numbers:
    37 individual plays of
    32 unique games of which
    29 were new to me.
    28 different people played with of whom
    14 I met at this year's convention.
    11 games obtained plus
    3 gaming-related accessories and
    10 comics trades purchased.

In upcoming posts, I'll be covered the games I played & purchased, but today I just want to focus on the other parts of the Origins experience: the people, the food, and, of all things, my hotel.

The Food
I make no secret of the fact that food is important to me when I travel; typically my husband & I plan vacations to take advantage of great local eats. Origins is obviously different as my focus is on gaming, but last year I had found some pretty awesome options for meals that didn't involve convention centre cuisine. But, this year, the food was somewhat disappointing, though a few standouts helped save this aspect of the con at least in part.

North Market was just as fantastic as I had remembered - I made many trips for coffee, & often grabbed a crepe from the A Taste of Belgium stand while there - the banana Nutella was as good as ever but the standout for this trip was the lemon curd & lavender sugar version (pictured above). Other great dishes from the trip were the pierogies from Barley's & the Reuben balls from the Three Legged Mare (though the rest of that meal was extremely disappointing).

On the negative side, we went out on Saturday night to a local restaurant that's apparently renowned for its Southern cuisine, especially their fried chicken (which is even featured in their mission). Unfortunately, multiple people were served extremely raw chicken, service was horrendously slow, and various checks were screwed up and took what appeared to be Herculean effort to fix.

The People
Origins has always seemed to be the con you attend for the people & this year was no exception. Last year was the first con I had ever attended solo, so I was very much out of my comfort zone. Because of that, I spent most of the time with the same people staying very much in a safe little bubble. This year, I made an effort to play with a larger variety of groups & so I met a TON of new people & had some really awesome gaming experiences. I did miss hanging out with Tiffany, Copac & Dan as much, but it just gives me even greater incentive to find other opportunities to play with them outside of the Columbus Convention Center.

The craziest thing I did this year was to offer up my floorspace to a complete stranger from Twitter who needed a place to stay. My solo hotel room is my escape if I'm all social-ed out and so I was worried in the run up to the con that I'd screwed myself by taking on a roommate. In the end, however, things worked beautifully: Tiffany R was an incredibly considerate roommate and through her I met a lot of the new people I previously mentioned. It just shows you that taking the occasional risk can be well worth it (though obviously don't offer to share a hotel room with someone you have zero knowledge/references for - in this case we had mutual friends I could refer to).

The Accommodations
Normally I wouldn't waste much space on a hotel but having stayed at The Lofts both years, I have to take a few sentences to push this particular place to anyone attending Origins in future years (unless doing so leaves no room for me, that is). It costs about the same as staying at the Hyatt, is just across the street from the Convention Centre, and the rooms are amazing. As evidence - this was my room this year:

Gaming Photo - Resistance: Avalon

Finishing up Day one of Origins 2015 with some 1am social gaming.

Building Outposts, Tales & Cities - Monday Gaming Recap

Last night at the Atomic Empire, I played a trio of 4-player games with Daniel, Jeremy & Terry. We started with Soulfall which Terry had recently acquired. The art in this game is gorgeous, and the game was pretty enjoyable - some neat decisions and interesting card effects. But it seems clear that the bulk of the budget went into the art, and not into production costs. It was quick, easy to pick up and I'd definitely play again ... but I won't be bothering to search out a copy. Plus the box design made it impossible to read the freaking title which annoys me enough to make me lower my opinion of the game.

Origins 2015 - Packing games for the Con

I leave for Origins in less than 48 hours and so, I'm trying to get everything ready before tonight's game night. A big part of going to the con is deciding what games to take and how best to pack them for ease of carrying around. This is what I've settled on so far (with the exception of Trajan, which I haven't pulled off the shelves yet, and Trickster as I'll get that from Daniel tonight).

Bad-ass Ladies (& a Few Dudes) - Weekly Comics

So I rarely manage to pick up my comics on Wednesday & so I usually end up being spoiled for something. This week, despite getting them today (Saturday), I've managed to avoid more than just a few teasing images so I'm counting this as an extremely successful week.

When I got to the store, my sub looked like this:

All-New Hawkeye #3

Black Widow #18

Sandman Overture #5

Secret Wars Journal #1

Swords of Sorrow: Masquerade & Kato (one-shot)

Phil Noto's covers are sublime.

Kate!!! Historical AU Kate!!

Plus I picked up the following while I was there:

 A-Force #1

Operation: SIN #5

 

How awesome is this cover?!

Peggy Carter = badass

I don't know if I'll actually get them all read before I leave for Origins on Wednesday morning but I'm hoping to grab a few hours on Monday to curl up with a big pile of comics (including some I haven't got through from last week).