Part of my daily routine involves surfing the web while drinking my morning coffee, and again at night before bed. There are a few gaming related sites that offer content frequently enough that I check them out almost daily.
Board Game Geek
Hands down the best gaming related website ever. BoardGameGeek.com has so much content I could waste hours reading through all of the articles. The reviews and ratings are extremely helpful when trying to decide what games to purchase, and the trading system helps you to get new games for ones you wish you didn't own. The best part is the game collection management, wish list, and play tracking tools, along with the gaming related social networking types of functions. Every serious gamer should be on BoardGameGeek.
Magic: the Gathering
If you play Magic: the Gathering there are plenty of reasons to check this site often. Plenty of excellent articles are written each week, and chances are that one or two of them will interest you. During the weeks leading up to a new set release this site is really great, with nearly daily card previews and fun to read design articles. Interesting new products are also announced here, keeping you aware of all that's going on in one of the most interesting and dynamic games in existence.
Fantasy Flight Games
Fantasy Flight makes a lot of excellent games, and this site features articles about all of them. Worth checking out frequently to find out about the latest goings on from a very interesting board game manufacturer.
Steve Jackson Games
Although I don't play as many Steve Jackson games nowadays, I still like checking out their website. The Daily Illuminator blog has an interesting daily entry that often has appeal beyond their company's games.
Penny Arcade
Penny Arcade is an excellent web comic with a daily blog post accompanying it. They generally focus on video games, but have talked a bit about table top games in the past. A very funny comic and a very excellent site.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
My Top Five Euros
I own 22 European style board and card games ("Eurogames" or "Euros"). I recently sat down and figured out where each game ranked in relation to the others using a paired comparison technique, where every game is compared to every other game in my in a series of head to head matchups, and the total number of "wins" determines a game's ranking.
The following is a list of the top five highest ranked Eurogames in my collection, as of December, 2009.
#5 – Stone Age
#4 – Dominion
#3 – Princes of Florence
#2 – Power Grid
#1 – Railroad Tycoon
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Game Night Food and Drink
In addition to games and friends, there are three things I like to have when I'm playing games: music, drinks and snacks. Since I already wrote about my musical preferences in an earlier post, I'll now cover the food and drink I like to have available while playing games.
When choosing drinks for my game events, I like to have something available to suit nearly every taste. I usually pick 3-4 different drinks to have available for my guests, most of which are two liters of soda. I like one of the two liters to be either Coke, Pepsi, or Dr. Pepper (my favorite of the three). Many people drink only diet sodas, so I also make sure to have some Diet Coke on hand. For people who don't drink caffeine, 7-Up, Root Beer, or some orange soda usually does the trick. Lastly I feature a non-carbonated option such as iced tea.
It's important to serve food that won't mess up your cards, counters or other game components. Instead of greasy potato chips I serve Fritos or Chex Mix. I also like to make my own party mix consisting of equal parts peanuts, cashews, raisins and M&M's. The always popular chocolate chip cookies are another great choice.
For longer game days where I need to serve a full dinner, I fill up a slow cooker or two with food that can be eaten at any point during the evening. Tacos are my favorite for this, as it's easy to fill up the Crock Pot with meat and put all the toppings in a sectioned plastic container. Chili can be done the same way, with many of the same toppings. Even burgers and hot dogs can be cooked ahead of time and kept warm in a hot beef broth and liquid smoke bath.
When choosing drinks for my game events, I like to have something available to suit nearly every taste. I usually pick 3-4 different drinks to have available for my guests, most of which are two liters of soda. I like one of the two liters to be either Coke, Pepsi, or Dr. Pepper (my favorite of the three). Many people drink only diet sodas, so I also make sure to have some Diet Coke on hand. For people who don't drink caffeine, 7-Up, Root Beer, or some orange soda usually does the trick. Lastly I feature a non-carbonated option such as iced tea.
It's important to serve food that won't mess up your cards, counters or other game components. Instead of greasy potato chips I serve Fritos or Chex Mix. I also like to make my own party mix consisting of equal parts peanuts, cashews, raisins and M&M's. The always popular chocolate chip cookies are another great choice.
For longer game days where I need to serve a full dinner, I fill up a slow cooker or two with food that can be eaten at any point during the evening. Tacos are my favorite for this, as it's easy to fill up the Crock Pot with meat and put all the toppings in a sectioned plastic container. Chili can be done the same way, with many of the same toppings. Even burgers and hot dogs can be cooked ahead of time and kept warm in a hot beef broth and liquid smoke bath.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Geeky Media
Here is some of what I've been reading, watching, and listening to lately.
I purchased the role playing game Grimm in PDF from Fantasy Flight Games, which is an RPG set in a world inspired by the Grimm fairy tales. So far I'm very impressed with the rules and setting, and intend to run a game for my three older kids using this system. In addition to reading the rulebook to the RPG, I have been doing some research by reading some of the Grimm fairy tales on the web.
I regularly listen to three podcasts. The Geekbox is a podcast about video games, television, comic books, and other geeky things. Fear the Boot focuses on role playing games, while The D6 Generation covers miniatures wargames and some board games. Of the three, I enjoy the cast of the Geekbox the most, despite the fact that I don't play many video games. The D6 Generation is very hit or miss, but the podcast is very long so I often find enough content worth listening to. Fear the Boot covers some very interesting topics, and is very consistent in its quality.
The best geeky television right now is on ABC, with two excellent shows that have major geek appeal. Flash Forward is an excellent show about the entire world seeing a vision about their future, and the consequences to society that result. Even better than Flash Forward is V, a show about aliens invading the earth through stealth and subversion, while pretending to be our friends. What I really like about V is how it quickly covered in the first episode everything you knew if you watched the original series, and by the second episode the show was already going in some interesting new directions. Another show I'm enjoying quite a bit is Glee, and I look forward to an upcoming Joss Whedon directed episode that has been promised.
I purchased the role playing game Grimm in PDF from Fantasy Flight Games, which is an RPG set in a world inspired by the Grimm fairy tales. So far I'm very impressed with the rules and setting, and intend to run a game for my three older kids using this system. In addition to reading the rulebook to the RPG, I have been doing some research by reading some of the Grimm fairy tales on the web.
I regularly listen to three podcasts. The Geekbox is a podcast about video games, television, comic books, and other geeky things. Fear the Boot focuses on role playing games, while The D6 Generation covers miniatures wargames and some board games. Of the three, I enjoy the cast of the Geekbox the most, despite the fact that I don't play many video games. The D6 Generation is very hit or miss, but the podcast is very long so I often find enough content worth listening to. Fear the Boot covers some very interesting topics, and is very consistent in its quality.
The best geeky television right now is on ABC, with two excellent shows that have major geek appeal. Flash Forward is an excellent show about the entire world seeing a vision about their future, and the consequences to society that result. Even better than Flash Forward is V, a show about aliens invading the earth through stealth and subversion, while pretending to be our friends. What I really like about V is how it quickly covered in the first episode everything you knew if you watched the original series, and by the second episode the show was already going in some interesting new directions. Another show I'm enjoying quite a bit is Glee, and I look forward to an upcoming Joss Whedon directed episode that has been promised.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Board and Card Game Themes
For board and card game events in which multiple games will be played during the session, I like to choose a specific type of board or card game to feature. Currently I am focusing on four broad themes: Eurogames, Amerigames, Wargames and Train Games, each of which is explained below.
Eurogames
Eurogames refers to European Style board and card games, although not all Eurogames are European. Eurogames tend to have a theme that is only loosely tied to the game mechanics, feature minimal and indirect player conflict, and emphasize strategy over simulation.
Examples of Eurogames I play include Acquire, Agricola, Amun-Re, Hoity Toity, Power Grid, Princes of Florence, Puerto Rico, Settlers of Catan, Small World and Stone Age.
Amerigames
Amerigames refers to American style board and card games, although not all Amerigames are American. Amerigames tend to emphasize a highly developed theme, have direct player conflict, and feature significant amounts of luck.
Examples of Amerigames I play include Chaos in the Old World, History of the World, Illuminati, Last Night on Earth, Talisman and Twilight Imperium.
Wargames
Wargames feature direct military conflict as the central theme. There is a lot of crossover between Amerigames and Wargames, and newer Wargames feature elements of Eurogames as well.
Examples of Wargames I play include BattleLore, Conquest of the Empire, Heroscape, Hammer of the Scots, Here I Stand and War of the Ring.
Train Games
Train Games are those in which the operation of a railroad is the central theme. Most train games feature route building, goods transport, and/or a stock market; although not all of these components are found in every train game. For example, Ticket to Ride focuses solely on route building, Chicago Express emphasizes the stock market, and Railroad Tycoon contains both route building and goods transport.
Examples of Train Games I play include Chicago Express, Railroad Tycoon and Ticket to Ride.
Eurogames
Eurogames refers to European Style board and card games, although not all Eurogames are European. Eurogames tend to have a theme that is only loosely tied to the game mechanics, feature minimal and indirect player conflict, and emphasize strategy over simulation.
Examples of Eurogames I play include Acquire, Agricola, Amun-Re, Hoity Toity, Power Grid, Princes of Florence, Puerto Rico, Settlers of Catan, Small World and Stone Age.
Amerigames
Amerigames refers to American style board and card games, although not all Amerigames are American. Amerigames tend to emphasize a highly developed theme, have direct player conflict, and feature significant amounts of luck.
Examples of Amerigames I play include Chaos in the Old World, History of the World, Illuminati, Last Night on Earth, Talisman and Twilight Imperium.
Wargames
Wargames feature direct military conflict as the central theme. There is a lot of crossover between Amerigames and Wargames, and newer Wargames feature elements of Eurogames as well.
Examples of Wargames I play include BattleLore, Conquest of the Empire, Heroscape, Hammer of the Scots, Here I Stand and War of the Ring.
Train Games
Train Games are those in which the operation of a railroad is the central theme. Most train games feature route building, goods transport, and/or a stock market; although not all of these components are found in every train game. For example, Ticket to Ride focuses solely on route building, Chicago Express emphasizes the stock market, and Railroad Tycoon contains both route building and goods transport.
Examples of Train Games I play include Chicago Express, Railroad Tycoon and Ticket to Ride.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Five Card Draw: A Magic Variant
On Halloween I built a large all black Magic: the Gathering deck featuring many zombies, vampires and other horror themed cards. To add some excitement, I decided to create a variant way to play by borrowing a mechanic from a favorite board game of mine, Ticket to Ride.
In this variant both players play from a shared deck, and the draw phase is altered. To start, five cards are drawn from the top of the library and placed face up alongside the deck. Whenever a player must draw a card, he may either draw from the top of the deck, or instead choose any card from among the five face up cards. If the player chooses to draw one of the face up cards, it is immediately replaced.
A player's initial hand of seven cards is dealt before the five face up cards are laid out, and all mulligans are taken as per the normal rules. For all purposes the five face up cards are considered to simultaneously be the top card of the library, as is the actual top card of the deck. If any effect is triggered by, or affects, the top card of the library, then the player who has priority makes the decision as to which card that is.
If at any time the five face up cards consist of at least four basic land cards, the next player to determine the top card of the deck may choose to remove all five face up cards from the game and immediately replace them with the top five cards from the library. This may be done immediately before the active player draws, or before a player needs to make a choice about which card is on top of the library.
I played twice using this variant; once in a three player game, and the other time a two player match. Both times the games were enjoyable and balanced. This small twist made the game a lot more exciting, and I would definitely play this way again if ever in a situation where everyone is sharing one deck of Magic cards.
In this variant both players play from a shared deck, and the draw phase is altered. To start, five cards are drawn from the top of the library and placed face up alongside the deck. Whenever a player must draw a card, he may either draw from the top of the deck, or instead choose any card from among the five face up cards. If the player chooses to draw one of the face up cards, it is immediately replaced.
A player's initial hand of seven cards is dealt before the five face up cards are laid out, and all mulligans are taken as per the normal rules. For all purposes the five face up cards are considered to simultaneously be the top card of the library, as is the actual top card of the deck. If any effect is triggered by, or affects, the top card of the library, then the player who has priority makes the decision as to which card that is.
If at any time the five face up cards consist of at least four basic land cards, the next player to determine the top card of the deck may choose to remove all five face up cards from the game and immediately replace them with the top five cards from the library. This may be done immediately before the active player draws, or before a player needs to make a choice about which card is on top of the library.
I played twice using this variant; once in a three player game, and the other time a two player match. Both times the games were enjoyable and balanced. This small twist made the game a lot more exciting, and I would definitely play this way again if ever in a situation where everyone is sharing one deck of Magic cards.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Command and Colors Day
Last weekend my gaming group played several games that use the Command and Colors system by Richard Borg. This system involves using a combination of cards, dice and miniatures to fight battles between two opposing armies. The games we played were Battle Cry, an American Civil War themed game, Memoir 44, a World War II game, and BattleLore, the fantasy C&C game.
I have played BattleLore and Battle Cry several times before, and enjoy both of those games very much, but Memoir 44 was new for me. Overall I was very pleased with how Memoir plays, and I was surprised to see how similar to Battle Cry it was. The card deck was where M44 really stood out, however, with many interesting tactics cards that did an excellent job of capturing the feel of WWII.
We finished off the day of gaming with a three vs. three game of Epic BattleLore. This was also new to me, and I really liked how it played out, although my team got crushed. In the future I hope to create a campaign based around BattleLore with an epic game as the grand finale.
After playing for over eight hours I feel we really put the Command and Colors system through it's paces. All six of the participants had a great time, and no one game was the clear favorite. Considering the high replay value of these games, I think this is one event I'd like to make a regular occurrence.
I have played BattleLore and Battle Cry several times before, and enjoy both of those games very much, but Memoir 44 was new for me. Overall I was very pleased with how Memoir plays, and I was surprised to see how similar to Battle Cry it was. The card deck was where M44 really stood out, however, with many interesting tactics cards that did an excellent job of capturing the feel of WWII.
We finished off the day of gaming with a three vs. three game of Epic BattleLore. This was also new to me, and I really liked how it played out, although my team got crushed. In the future I hope to create a campaign based around BattleLore with an epic game as the grand finale.
After playing for over eight hours I feel we really put the Command and Colors system through it's paces. All six of the participants had a great time, and no one game was the clear favorite. Considering the high replay value of these games, I think this is one event I'd like to make a regular occurrence.
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