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A Gaming Life
More 80’s – The Thing Coming to Your Table
I didn’t realize with yesterday’s Rambo post that this would actually be becoming a Thing, but apparently it is.
Yes, the 1980s are invading the 2010s, and they are winning.
The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31 is a new game coming out by Mondo with Project Raygun (a “designer collectibles” division started by USAopoly).
There is more detail about it on Mondo’s web site, but it looks really cool.
Race for the Galaxy app is real – and it’s Marvelous
As promised (and this is so rare in the boardgame App world!), Race for the Galaxy came out for iOS and Android on May 3.
Released by Temple Gates Games, this app is probably a new benchmark in digital board game development. It’s pretty, it plays well, it has asynchronous multiplayer, three levels of AI (including the infamous Keldon AI for the highest difficulty, which will kick your butt and then give you a wedgie for good measure).
The layout is gorgeous.
The 80s are Returning!!! – Rambo Kickstarter Upcoming
You can tell that many current game designers grew up in the 1980s.
We’re in that sweet spot where 35-45 year-olds are really getting into game design, and why not use something that we grew up when designing a game?
First, there was (in 2016) Legendary: Big Trouble in Little China, a game based on a very niche movie that has a cult following.
Then there is the upcoming Big Trouble in Little China: the Game that is coming out sometime soon (or maybe it came out and I missed it?)
But now, somebody’s coming to kick Jack Burton’s ass.
That’s right, Rambo’s coming.
Should Your Kids Play Board Games?
There’s plenty of controversy regarding whether or not (and how much, if so) your kids should play video games.
But what about board games?
I just saw an interesting blog post on Twitter by “Dr. Corriel” called “8 Reasons Your Child Should Play Board Games” and it is a really good article.
I especially like Reason #2: “They Teach Children How to Lose”. Because if I had kids, I’d be teaching them that again and again and again and…
Ahem. Sorry. Actually, I wouldn’t that often, but it is a good thing for kids to really learn. Because it’s a big bad world out there, and sometimes you’re not going to be successful. It’s best to learn that early.
As an addendum to that, I think that teaching a child how to lose will also teach them how to win. By that, I mean winning graciously. Because if a child knows how to lose and how it feels to lose, then they may remember that when they win and their sibling is on the losing end.
Or their poor father.
Sorry, projecting again.
I do believe that seriously. I don’t have a medical degree, so I could be wrong, of course.
But it makes sense to me.
Anyway, go over to Dr. Corriel’s blog and read the whole post. It’s interesting and I think has some great reasons to game with your kids.
Let me know what you think in the comments below (and let her know on her blog as well!)
Dead of Winter – Warring Colonies are Coming!
Zombie games have become old hat (but it’s not “plaid”), but there are still some interesting things out there in the genre.
One of the more interesting recent games is Dead of Winter: A Crossroads Game from Plaid Hat Games.
It came out in 2014, but there is an expansion out already in 2016 that I haven’t had a chance to play: Dead of Winter: The Long Night. This is a standalone expansion, so doesn’t even require the base game.
Now, Plaid Hat Games has announced a second expansion, called Warring Colonies (h/t: TopTableTop on Twitter)
I’ll let Plaid Hat’s post tell you all about it, but I will give you a couple of teasers.
It will play 4-11 players in a team variant where two different colonies compete with each other. Sometimes they’ll have to cooperate though, as some crises may need both sides to join together briefly or ruin can come to both.
A Long Wolf variant where one person is a team by themselves! And if it’s a male Wolf, he’ll probably have the shaggy beard to go with it.
Tons of new survivors, Crossroads cards, Crises, and…hell, I’ll let them say it:
Warring Colonies comes with a mountain of content, much of which supports the new team variant for 4-11 players, in which two colonies compete over the same locations for limited resources and power.
I’ve played the base game a few times and really enjoyed it. This sounds even better, though I can’t imagine how much table room this is going to take up.
Warring Colonies is “coming soon” (ain’t that always the way?) and pay attention to their blog for more previews. It will require the base game and, for the Warring Colonies variant, will require The Long Night as well.
And definitely check out the article for a lot more detail.
Keeping Track of Your Game Plays
Are you one of those people who keeps track of your games played? You want to know how many times you’ve played a game, how many times you’ve played it against certain opponents, how many times Bob has kicked your ass at a game?
Not everybody is like that, but I certainly am. I like to keep track of everything so I can see just how many times I’ve been able to get a certain game to the table. Or just how many times I’ve played it so I know whether I can do a review of it (for example).
Previously, people would enter this information into an Excel spreadsheet or a Word document or something. Maybe they’d even use Google Docs.
If you have an iPhone or an iPad, however, you don’t even have to do that! (and, hopefully soon, Android users will be able to as well).
Welcome to Boardgame Stats, one of the best utility apps out there for any gamer.
This app lets you do everything that you may want to do as a board game statistics nut. You can see when you play most often, how many players you mainly play with. You can check out your stats against a particular player.
New to Me – April 2017
It was another great month for “new to me” games in April. I played a total of six new ones, and not a bad one in the bunch.
I always enjoy playing new games, but I’m not in the “Cult of the New,” as I don’t care when they came out. I just want the new experience.
That being said, I did get one from 2017 in right at the buzzer on April 30!
I’ll start with my top game, though, as it’s quickly moved into my Top 10 favourite game.
Galaxy Trucker app – International Tabletop Day
One of the most impressive board game apps out there in the ever-increasing App Universe (yes, that’s an official title, no need to go check on that) is Galaxy Trucker.
This is a game that I really don’t like on the table because when you are creating your ship, it is a mad dash to grab tiles, see if you can add them together to create a good ship, and if you can’t use them you put them back. My lack of quick spatial skills (actually, my lack of spatial skills in general, but it’s made worse when you have to make that decision quickly) means that I am terrible at it. And thus I don’t have fun.
Sure, it’s fun to see the ship you lovingly created fall to pieces as you make the run from the base planet to your destination, but getting to that point is not fun for me.
The app is awesome because it gives you the ability to create your ship without the speed required. You can set it up so that each player is given a set number of points on their turn and they can choose tiles and spend those points to add the tiles to your ship. It’s a really elegant system and has turned the game from something I actively avoid to something that I really enjoy.
So what brings up a post about an app that came out a couple of years ago?
International Tabletop Day
Expansion Fatigue – Is it Possible?
As boardgamers, we love our expansions, at least most of us do. If we have a favourite game and a new expansion is announced for it, we start drooling like a dog who just noticed that you work at a dog food plant and just might have a treat for him.
Games like Smash Up are always coming out with new faction decks. It seems like each year, an expansion comes out with at least four decks in it and assorted counters that work with those decks. I’m not a follower of the game (I have the base game, but haven’t bought any expansions yet), but I know they came out with the Big Geeky Box (along with yet another faction deck) to store all of your Smash Up cards.
For those fans of the game, I’m wondering if your space is running out in that box?
However, even Smash Up can’t hold a candle to Marvel Legendary.
This game is a blast to play. I love it dearly.
But it’s just getting too damned big for its britches.
Review – Favor of the Pharaoh
Playing dice games out in the middle of the desert can be a trying task. You throw the dice and they just land without actually rolling.
“Look! I just got seven 6s!!!!”
“Nonsense, you just tossed them there!”
Not to mention that it’s hot. Very hot.
Throwing dice may have been even more difficult in Ancient Egypt. I wouldn’t know, I wasn’t there.
Or was I?
Anyway, even if you don’t know what it was like, you can certainly get the feel of rolling dice to try to become the Pharaoh with Favor of the Pharaoh, the dice rolling game published by Bezier Games in 2015.
Favor of the Pharaoh was designed by Tom Lehmann with art by Ollin Timm and is a re-skin of Lehmann’s To Court the King. I have only played Court online once or twice, but I definitely have to say that I prefer Favor.