By: Matthew McHale
The life of an adult ( I use the term adult loosely ) trying to find time to get to engage in a favorite hobby can be nerve wracking. We have work, we have kids events all the time, maybe we are back in school or running a side business. And of course if your a home owner work there is never done. Myself I have plenty of unfinished projects around the house I just can't seem to get completed. I not complaining really it's just the way life is. But it can be frustrating not getting the time to do things you just like to do.
At different times I seem to deal with it differently. I went through a long stretch of not playing any games. The longest stretch by far since I got heavy into gaming. About 5 weeks without a single game. I was just completely out of it.
Now after a great day of gaming at a large game party I feel myself again. I'm back to wanting to get as much gaming in as I possibly can. I'll just have to make the time. I love being a game geek!!!
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Monday, May 14, 2012
Mayhem at Mekash Manor II
By Jim Reed:
Jeff and I recently attended a game day in our area hosted by Chad Mekash. Chad is Grimnir on Board Game Geek where you've probably downloaded at least one of his great rules summaries. He has also done reviews on the Point 2 Point Podcast.
When we arrived, we were greeted by Mulder and Scully (Chad's beautiful dogs). We quickly jumped into a game with of Lost Temple, the new Bruno Faidutti game from Stronghold Games. Playing in the game was none other that Stephen Buonocore, owner of Stronghold Games.
Now I have to admit, we had just played Lost Temple a week earlier and in all honesty, I didn't like it very much. But, this is a great example of why you should always give games another shot. Why didn't I like it the first time? I had missed a glaring rule in the rulebook! This rule gives each player a gem every turn. The reason I didn't like the game the first time was because I thought it was stupid how there was hardly any ways to get gems yet many cards had you spending gems to gain their benefits. Ooops! I ended up really enjoying this game and will be talking about it more soon.
Next, I knew the day wouldn't be complete without getting one of my new favorite games to the table, Lords of Waterdeep from Wizard of the Coast. We played with the same four of us. Me, Jeff, Stephen, and John P. (This was Jeff an Johns first play) I love this game! I have to say though, that now that I feel experienced in playing it, it's easy to win against new players. I finished with a score around 140 and the other players didn't break 100. One of these times I'll get dealt the builder. During the game, we broke for lunch as Chad provided hogies (that's a Sub or long roll Sandwich) from one of my favorite local delis and his wife presented cookies she baked in the form of Meeples and blocks from Hammer of the Scotts.
After LowD, all the other guest had arrived and were heavy into their own games so we decided to pick something light and short and we Agreed upon Nexus Ops. Jeff or I had never played before and this was with the original Avalon Hill version. I must say we immediately fell in love with this game. I started out doing very bad but wound up winning in the end with Stephen and Jeff only 1 point behind. Early on I got secret mission cards that I had no chance in completing but as the game progressed I drew some that were much simpler and played into what I had been doing with my units. I'm adding this to my "must buy" list.
Afterward we had a great interview with Stephen Buonocore that will be, or already is (depending on when you're reading this) in episode 19 of Not Just Another Gaming Podcast. (Stephen gives us the scoop on not one, not two, but three announcements from Stronghold Games)
Jeff had to take off as did I for a bit, but I returned to all of the dinner still being left out for me. I devoured some delicious lasagna and salad before taking over for Chad in a game of Eminent Domain from Tasty Minstrel Games. This game is also on my "must buy" list but I hadn't played it in a few months. Chad had played about 5 turns so I had to figure out what he was moving toward. He had dumped his Produce cards and was pushing for heavy colonization. This was the first time for the other three players and I quickly noticed they were also focusing on colonizing. As a back up, seeing that the colonize cards were about to run out, I focused a few turns on research and grabbed the research cards that contained the colonize ability. After that, with everyone having trouble settling planets, I was rolling through and ended the game with 7 planets for a huge margin of victory.
It takes a few plays of this game to really grasp the mechanics of Action / Roles Selection. I could see it was frustrating to the other players and because of this Bob S. didn't like the game very much. Hopefully he'll give it another try. From what I know of the guys I was playing with, they're big war gamers, so I can see this game not appealing to them.
But not to worry, because the next game to come out was 1812: The Invasion of Canada. I had actually seen a few things on this game and was pretty excited to play it! Chad joined the game, as well as , Bob, James and John B. (John and I drew the Americans) It was later that I realized John has designed many games for Victory Games, West End, and Decision Games.
Again, I'll be talking about this one more later but overall I really enjoyed it. It is incredibly light but highly tactical. Early on John and I were doing so bad, including losing one of our reinforcement locations, that he mentioned possibly conceding the win on turn 3. We were talked out of it and on turn 7 We had put ourselves in a good position but it was made better when John played a card allowing us to move 8 armies. On the final turn of the game, we made a bold push but came up just short. The British ended up winning 1-0. Not bad seeing as how it was 6-0 when we thought about throwing in the towel.
Everyone left and Chad and I ended the night with one final game, another game of Nexus Ops. The two player experience was just as fun as the four player, confirming my enjoyment of this game.
During the course of the day, I saw a wide variety of games being played. Sekigahara (which doesn't look like a game for me but who knows, I'm judging a book by its cover.), z-man games Feudality (I don't know much about but it looked interesting and worth me trying to find a game of it at some point. Plus it had Pumpkineeples!), Eclipse, Ascending Empires (which for some reason I have no desire to play), Conquest of Nerath, Merchants and Marauders (I hear it was a pirate victory!), and many more.
It was a great day! Getting a chance to play with a few guys I'd never gamed with and a few I only see once every couple months was the best part. Well, ok, the cookies were pretty good too!
Some photos courtesy Bob S.
Jeff and I recently attended a game day in our area hosted by Chad Mekash. Chad is Grimnir on Board Game Geek where you've probably downloaded at least one of his great rules summaries. He has also done reviews on the Point 2 Point Podcast.
When we arrived, we were greeted by Mulder and Scully (Chad's beautiful dogs). We quickly jumped into a game with of Lost Temple, the new Bruno Faidutti game from Stronghold Games. Playing in the game was none other that Stephen Buonocore, owner of Stronghold Games.
Now I have to admit, we had just played Lost Temple a week earlier and in all honesty, I didn't like it very much. But, this is a great example of why you should always give games another shot. Why didn't I like it the first time? I had missed a glaring rule in the rulebook! This rule gives each player a gem every turn. The reason I didn't like the game the first time was because I thought it was stupid how there was hardly any ways to get gems yet many cards had you spending gems to gain their benefits. Ooops! I ended up really enjoying this game and will be talking about it more soon.
Next, I knew the day wouldn't be complete without getting one of my new favorite games to the table, Lords of Waterdeep from Wizard of the Coast. We played with the same four of us. Me, Jeff, Stephen, and John P. (This was Jeff an Johns first play) I love this game! I have to say though, that now that I feel experienced in playing it, it's easy to win against new players. I finished with a score around 140 and the other players didn't break 100. One of these times I'll get dealt the builder. During the game, we broke for lunch as Chad provided hogies (that's a Sub or long roll Sandwich) from one of my favorite local delis and his wife presented cookies she baked in the form of Meeples and blocks from Hammer of the Scotts.
After LowD, all the other guest had arrived and were heavy into their own games so we decided to pick something light and short and we Agreed upon Nexus Ops. Jeff or I had never played before and this was with the original Avalon Hill version. I must say we immediately fell in love with this game. I started out doing very bad but wound up winning in the end with Stephen and Jeff only 1 point behind. Early on I got secret mission cards that I had no chance in completing but as the game progressed I drew some that were much simpler and played into what I had been doing with my units. I'm adding this to my "must buy" list.
Afterward we had a great interview with Stephen Buonocore that will be, or already is (depending on when you're reading this) in episode 19 of Not Just Another Gaming Podcast. (Stephen gives us the scoop on not one, not two, but three announcements from Stronghold Games)
Jeff had to take off as did I for a bit, but I returned to all of the dinner still being left out for me. I devoured some delicious lasagna and salad before taking over for Chad in a game of Eminent Domain from Tasty Minstrel Games. This game is also on my "must buy" list but I hadn't played it in a few months. Chad had played about 5 turns so I had to figure out what he was moving toward. He had dumped his Produce cards and was pushing for heavy colonization. This was the first time for the other three players and I quickly noticed they were also focusing on colonizing. As a back up, seeing that the colonize cards were about to run out, I focused a few turns on research and grabbed the research cards that contained the colonize ability. After that, with everyone having trouble settling planets, I was rolling through and ended the game with 7 planets for a huge margin of victory.
It takes a few plays of this game to really grasp the mechanics of Action / Roles Selection. I could see it was frustrating to the other players and because of this Bob S. didn't like the game very much. Hopefully he'll give it another try. From what I know of the guys I was playing with, they're big war gamers, so I can see this game not appealing to them.
But not to worry, because the next game to come out was 1812: The Invasion of Canada. I had actually seen a few things on this game and was pretty excited to play it! Chad joined the game, as well as , Bob, James and John B. (John and I drew the Americans) It was later that I realized John has designed many games for Victory Games, West End, and Decision Games.
Again, I'll be talking about this one more later but overall I really enjoyed it. It is incredibly light but highly tactical. Early on John and I were doing so bad, including losing one of our reinforcement locations, that he mentioned possibly conceding the win on turn 3. We were talked out of it and on turn 7 We had put ourselves in a good position but it was made better when John played a card allowing us to move 8 armies. On the final turn of the game, we made a bold push but came up just short. The British ended up winning 1-0. Not bad seeing as how it was 6-0 when we thought about throwing in the towel.
Everyone left and Chad and I ended the night with one final game, another game of Nexus Ops. The two player experience was just as fun as the four player, confirming my enjoyment of this game.
During the course of the day, I saw a wide variety of games being played. Sekigahara (which doesn't look like a game for me but who knows, I'm judging a book by its cover.), z-man games Feudality (I don't know much about but it looked interesting and worth me trying to find a game of it at some point. Plus it had Pumpkineeples!), Eclipse, Ascending Empires (which for some reason I have no desire to play), Conquest of Nerath, Merchants and Marauders (I hear it was a pirate victory!), and many more.
It was a great day! Getting a chance to play with a few guys I'd never gamed with and a few I only see once every couple months was the best part. Well, ok, the cookies were pretty good too!
Some photos courtesy Bob S.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
When Good Games Go Bad!
When good games go bad.
By, Jim Reed
Most gamers, including myself, usually make the decision on whether or not we like a game after just one play.
Sometime we may be undecided and agree that at least one more play through of the game is needed before we make a final judgement. (The reason for this could be a completely different article so I'll leave it be for now.)
Also, there are those games that we don't like after playing the first time but for whatever reason, we find ourselves playing it again and finding that we do like it.
Well, what about the other side of that coin. What about the games that you really enjoy the first time or even the first few times you play them but at some point, during a subsequent play, you realize you don't like the game very much anymore.
Sometimes I can see the reasons for this and sometimes I just can not.
Apples To Apples for example. I've just played this game so damn much that I just don't like playing it anymore. (But I do b/c others still want to) Over playing of a game has caused a drop in my likeness for quite a few games actually, but the trend mostly seems to be with party style games and fillers . (This makes sense seeing as how they are the most played with my bi-weekly group and at casual get together)
Over playing makes good games go bad.
There are two other games that Get a lot of negative press, Munchkin and Killer Bunnies. These games often get that love it or hate it reaction. But for me, I really enjoyed these games when I first started playing them, but now not so much.
This is because of the expansions. For me, when I started adding in Munchkin expansions to the base game, it seemed to start weighing the game down. There were so many more races and classes and a lot more race/class specific weapons and items that it clogged things up. And the same goes for Killer bunnies. I bought the first few expansions which included the weapons Imporium, pawn shop, and defense cards and once again, the game seemed to get bogged down. I still enjoy playing both these games but I play base versions of Munchkin only (preferring the original overall) and play Killer Bunnies with only the blue and yellow cards.
Expansions can make good games go bad.
Finally it's the "I just don't know why but I don't like the game as much anymore" category. Obviously, for a lot of gamers, we can say that with games like Sorry, or Payday, or Parcheesi, because we didn't realize there were better games out there.
Last week, I got a chance to bring Shadows Over Camelot to the table for the first time in over a year. I had been trying to pull this one out on several occasions but it never worked out. I loved this game. I never had a bad experience with it, and the only reason it wasn't getting played was do to timing and player issues. So when I finally realized the situation to play it was perfect, I removed it from the shelf in anticipation. Setup and explanation went flawlessly and then we started playing. Somewhere, I realized I wasn't enjoying myself, and I had no idea why. Things going on in the game didn't seem that fun to me and I found myself caring less and less what happened as the game progressed. But honestly, even now, I'm scratching my head as to what the problem was. My mood? I don't think so. I was happy to be playing and didn't have any burdens or worries going on. The other players? They were great and all seemed to be enjoying the game. So why???
Looking at my collection, I realized I owned quite a few games that I used to love to play, but for some reason, right now in my life, I don't care if I ever play them again or not. Bohnanza, Zooloretto, Pandemic, and Battlelore. I mention these above others because these are all games that at one point I loved playing. Nothing happened that made me dislike them, so what makes me suddenly feel like I don't? Has this happened to you? With what games an why?
Sometimes, good games just go bad!
www.njagp.com
By, Jim Reed
Most gamers, including myself, usually make the decision on whether or not we like a game after just one play.
Sometime we may be undecided and agree that at least one more play through of the game is needed before we make a final judgement. (The reason for this could be a completely different article so I'll leave it be for now.)
Also, there are those games that we don't like after playing the first time but for whatever reason, we find ourselves playing it again and finding that we do like it.
Well, what about the other side of that coin. What about the games that you really enjoy the first time or even the first few times you play them but at some point, during a subsequent play, you realize you don't like the game very much anymore.
Sometimes I can see the reasons for this and sometimes I just can not.
Apples To Apples for example. I've just played this game so damn much that I just don't like playing it anymore. (But I do b/c others still want to) Over playing of a game has caused a drop in my likeness for quite a few games actually, but the trend mostly seems to be with party style games and fillers . (This makes sense seeing as how they are the most played with my bi-weekly group and at casual get together)
Over playing makes good games go bad.
There are two other games that Get a lot of negative press, Munchkin and Killer Bunnies. These games often get that love it or hate it reaction. But for me, I really enjoyed these games when I first started playing them, but now not so much.
This is because of the expansions. For me, when I started adding in Munchkin expansions to the base game, it seemed to start weighing the game down. There were so many more races and classes and a lot more race/class specific weapons and items that it clogged things up. And the same goes for Killer bunnies. I bought the first few expansions which included the weapons Imporium, pawn shop, and defense cards and once again, the game seemed to get bogged down. I still enjoy playing both these games but I play base versions of Munchkin only (preferring the original overall) and play Killer Bunnies with only the blue and yellow cards.
Expansions can make good games go bad.
Finally it's the "I just don't know why but I don't like the game as much anymore" category. Obviously, for a lot of gamers, we can say that with games like Sorry, or Payday, or Parcheesi, because we didn't realize there were better games out there.
Last week, I got a chance to bring Shadows Over Camelot to the table for the first time in over a year. I had been trying to pull this one out on several occasions but it never worked out. I loved this game. I never had a bad experience with it, and the only reason it wasn't getting played was do to timing and player issues. So when I finally realized the situation to play it was perfect, I removed it from the shelf in anticipation. Setup and explanation went flawlessly and then we started playing. Somewhere, I realized I wasn't enjoying myself, and I had no idea why. Things going on in the game didn't seem that fun to me and I found myself caring less and less what happened as the game progressed. But honestly, even now, I'm scratching my head as to what the problem was. My mood? I don't think so. I was happy to be playing and didn't have any burdens or worries going on. The other players? They were great and all seemed to be enjoying the game. So why???
Looking at my collection, I realized I owned quite a few games that I used to love to play, but for some reason, right now in my life, I don't care if I ever play them again or not. Bohnanza, Zooloretto, Pandemic, and Battlelore. I mention these above others because these are all games that at one point I loved playing. Nothing happened that made me dislike them, so what makes me suddenly feel like I don't? Has this happened to you? With what games an why?
Sometimes, good games just go bad!
www.njagp.com
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