I wanted to let everyone know that Geek and Sundry's 2nd Annual Tabletop Day is coming up on Saturday April 5th. There are events all over the US and the world. Tabletop Day is all about getting together and playing all kinds of games. Board games, card games, CCGs, LCGs, Miniatures, War games, basically anything that gets you in a room interacting with other people and having fun with games. I had a lot of fun last year, and I'm looking forward to another great year.
I'll be hanging out at Gateplay in Hilmar California. If that's nearby, please stop by. If it's no where close to you, go to http://www.tabletopday.com and find an event near you.
Do check out the blog section on the website. I had a chance to write an article - http://www.tabletopday.com/matter-perspective/. It was a great opportunity to get the BoBG name out there alongside a lot of other great bloggers.
Mark your calendars for April 5th and play some awesome games.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Monday, March 3, 2014
Space Playmats
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| Applied Perspective Mat The folds are only because it wasn't on a flat surface. |
Then, in late November, I saw a link for a kickstarter by 2 astrophotographers (people who take pictures of stuff in space) that had really reasonable prices. One mat was $30, more mats were less per mat. I ended up buying 4 for $100, so $25 per mat. I got them early of all things, and I absolutely love the mats. The art pops off the mat, and really gives a new dimension to space battles. Since I'm a tournament organizer, it's great to have 5 mats for people to play on.
All of these mats are great, and each time I have to decide which one to play on. It's a nice problem to have. One of the things I wanted to do was to make the things I have look nice. I play a lot of STAW and X-Wing, so it makes sense to have nice play mats. Now, I fully admit that I don't need 5 of them, but it's really nice to have the variety. All of the kickstarter mats are on vinyl, which really stays put on a table, and keeps the ships from moving around too much. They're not perfect by any means, but they do their job of keeping ships there. At this point, the black mat is but a low cost memory.Storage
I know storage on something like this is an issue, so here's what I've done. I have a poster tube, where I keep my mats. They're all rolled up together, with the images face out. Every time I roll them up, I roll in a different direction so I don't crease the mats, but I'm not too worried about that.
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| My personal favorite |
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| Close up of two ships on my favorite mat. You can see how the ships standout, as do the tokens. |
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| A battle that I wasn't in. This mat kinda absorbs the dominion ships, but it's still a great play surface. |
Saturday, March 1, 2014
February 2014 Recap
Welcome to March!
February, while short, was a good month of gaming for me. I logged 35 game plays and got to play 2 games I've never played before. I came in 2nd (again) at STAW in Hilmar, and now I'm back in 2nd, by one point.
I started the Bits series, which I think is fun, so I'll be doing more of that. I'll try to do some other articles, but I'm not sure what to talk about at the moment, so if you have any ideas, feel free to comment.
Just a quick list of what I actually played in February
12 Times
February, while short, was a good month of gaming for me. I logged 35 game plays and got to play 2 games I've never played before. I came in 2nd (again) at STAW in Hilmar, and now I'm back in 2nd, by one point.
I started the Bits series, which I think is fun, so I'll be doing more of that. I'll try to do some other articles, but I'm not sure what to talk about at the moment, so if you have any ideas, feel free to comment.
Just a quick list of what I actually played in February
12 Times
- Resistance: Avalon
4 Times
- King of Tokyo
- Love Letter
- Star Trek Attack Wing
- For Sale
- Boss Monster
- Catacombs
- Cosmic Encounter
- Dixit
- Eldritch Horror
- Escape: Curse of the Temple
- Hanabi
- Incan Gold
- Munchkin
- Takenoko
- Tsuro
Game Acquisitions
I bought Suburbia and Suburbia Inc, as well as an expansion for Dixit, and some more STAW ships. I'm trying not to buy too much, life expenses loom, but we'll see how things go.
I bought Suburbia and Suburbia Inc, as well as an expansion for Dixit, and some more STAW ships. I'm trying not to buy too much, life expenses loom, but we'll see how things go.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Bits 5 - Social Games
Social games like Mafia/Werewolf and Resistance have been around for a few years, and they're here to stay. With further development of these games with activities like 2 Rooms and a Boom, social games are making an impact. But are they really games?
I think the answer is "it depends on the people." I know that's not a satisfying answer, but it really is true. Some people will consider them games, and some people won't. Personally, I think they're both games, but they're different than games like Catan, Ticket to Ride, or Small World. Mafia and Resistance both fall into the "group think" mentality, meaning that a group starts having expectations for the way loyal people should behave in the game, and anyone who does something different is under heavy suspicion. These types of games often require people to have good poker faces, and learn to lie well in game. I'm not saying that you should learn to lie well to people, but I will say that what happens in these sorts of games needs to stay in the game.
Observation and an ability to read people is crucial in social games. Everything that someone does or doesn't do can give a little clue about them. That's the main reason that I love Resistance: Avalon. It's one gigantic puzzle that everyone is trying to figure out, where most people will get close, but it's hard to get perfect. There's a lot of discussion, and sometimes it's impossible to know for sure. That's where you just take a guess and go for it.
Social games may not be games in the eyes of some people, but they are often a lot of fun. I've spent a lot of hours playing Avalon and Mafia/Werewolf, and most of them have been a blast. That being said, these games aren't for everyone. You really have to be involved in the game, and when you're not, it's hard to have a good time.
TL:DR - Social games are games. They're not for everyone, but with the right group, they're a blast.
I think the answer is "it depends on the people." I know that's not a satisfying answer, but it really is true. Some people will consider them games, and some people won't. Personally, I think they're both games, but they're different than games like Catan, Ticket to Ride, or Small World. Mafia and Resistance both fall into the "group think" mentality, meaning that a group starts having expectations for the way loyal people should behave in the game, and anyone who does something different is under heavy suspicion. These types of games often require people to have good poker faces, and learn to lie well in game. I'm not saying that you should learn to lie well to people, but I will say that what happens in these sorts of games needs to stay in the game.
Observation and an ability to read people is crucial in social games. Everything that someone does or doesn't do can give a little clue about them. That's the main reason that I love Resistance: Avalon. It's one gigantic puzzle that everyone is trying to figure out, where most people will get close, but it's hard to get perfect. There's a lot of discussion, and sometimes it's impossible to know for sure. That's where you just take a guess and go for it.
Social games may not be games in the eyes of some people, but they are often a lot of fun. I've spent a lot of hours playing Avalon and Mafia/Werewolf, and most of them have been a blast. That being said, these games aren't for everyone. You really have to be involved in the game, and when you're not, it's hard to have a good time.
TL:DR - Social games are games. They're not for everyone, but with the right group, they're a blast.
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Bits 4 - Tournaments
As a Tournament Organizer (TO) for Attack Wing and X-Wing, I have a bit of experience running tournaments, albeit rather small ones. Still, I think there are some valuable lessons that I've learned both in running and playing these that I think are worth sharing.
First, we'll start with advice for running things.
First, we'll start with advice for running things.
- Show up early, plan to leave late.
- Over prepare, meaning, bring pens, paper, copies of any FAQ's/or be able to look things up.
- Have a timer of some kind.
- Be flexible. Random stuff happens and it's best to go with the flow rather than impose your will.
- Encourage having fun.
- Try to have some random prizes so that everyone walks away with something.
- Create an environment that people want to come back to.
Now, some advice for playing in a tournament
- Do not try to win at all costs. Gaming is about having fun, not necessarily winning.
- Listen to and respect your TO/Judge.
- Respect your opponent, say something like good game or well played afterwards, win or lose.
- Be grateful that you get to spend some time with fellow gamers who enjoy the same thing you do.
- Bring something to do in case you get a bye match.
- Bring extra stuff, you never know when you might lose something, or be able to help someone out who forgot something.
- Be a gracious winner, and a gracious loser.
- If you don't win, try to find something positive about the experience.
Hopefully none of these things are groundbreaking, but you'd be surprised how much a little bit of common courtesy helps things flow. I've had a lot of fun winning and losing tournaments. The only major issue I've had are with some people who don't know the rules/take far too long on their turns. While I enjoy winning, I've learned that it isn't everything. I'd rather have a lot of fun and lose than have no fun and win.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Bits 3 - Too Many New Things
I feel jaded against all these new games. I look at games that came out in 2013, and only a very small handful even interested me. I think there are great games out there, but there's also a lot of mediocre games. Case in Point: Firefly. I enjoyed Firefly (the show and movie), I'd love to have a boardgame based on it, but the Firefly boardgame was nothing special. It's a good pick-up-and-deliver game, but it's not great. As such, I'm not buying it.
I think that we as gamers can be overly fixated on what's new and exciting. I'm trying to be excited over playing the games I own repeatedly. Repeated plays are where I learn new strategies and can try new things. A game isn't much good to me if I only play it 2 or 3 times. I've said that board gaming is a great hobby when it comes to cost because you can buy 5 games and play them each a bunch of times. Buying a $50 game and playing it twice isn't very good value.
When new new new is pushed down our throats as gamers, good games suffer. There's something to be said for playing 3 favorite games in a night, rather than 3 new games. I still enjoy trying new games, but there needs to be a balance with old favorites.
All of that being said, I'm still going to buy new games, just not as many as I have in the past.
I think that we as gamers can be overly fixated on what's new and exciting. I'm trying to be excited over playing the games I own repeatedly. Repeated plays are where I learn new strategies and can try new things. A game isn't much good to me if I only play it 2 or 3 times. I've said that board gaming is a great hobby when it comes to cost because you can buy 5 games and play them each a bunch of times. Buying a $50 game and playing it twice isn't very good value.
When new new new is pushed down our throats as gamers, good games suffer. There's something to be said for playing 3 favorite games in a night, rather than 3 new games. I still enjoy trying new games, but there needs to be a balance with old favorites.
All of that being said, I'm still going to buy new games, just not as many as I have in the past.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Bits 2 - 5 Pillars
Many subjects have fundamental ideas that everything builds upon. Boardgaming has many pillars, but I submit that there are 5 major pillars: Alhambra, Carcassonne, Dominion, Settlers of Catan, and Ticket to Ride.
I'm aware that this list is missing a war-game, a dice game, and a cooperative game. If you want those, I'd suggest Memoir '44, King of Tokyo, and Pandemic respectively.
Each of these games brings a little something different to the table. They introduce core concepts that other games build upon, but they are also good games in their own right.
Alhambra - A bit of set collection, understanding where you can score points, even if it isn't first place, and a reward for spacial thinking and planning ahead.
Carcassonne - Very light worker placement, multiple ways to score points, short vs long term investments, as well as learning when to work with other players on a feature and when to cut your losses.
Dominion - Deck building, learning how to maximize potential and minimize "dead" hands, teaches players when to go for more stuff, and when to switch to victory points.
Catan - How to manage resources, trading with other players and the board.
Ticket to Ride - Emphasis on route planning, adapting to unexpected changes (blocking), and balancing what you have versus what you might get.
So there you go, the 5 pillars of boardgames. Agree or disagree? Leave a comment.
I'm aware that this list is missing a war-game, a dice game, and a cooperative game. If you want those, I'd suggest Memoir '44, King of Tokyo, and Pandemic respectively.
Each of these games brings a little something different to the table. They introduce core concepts that other games build upon, but they are also good games in their own right.
Alhambra - A bit of set collection, understanding where you can score points, even if it isn't first place, and a reward for spacial thinking and planning ahead.
Carcassonne - Very light worker placement, multiple ways to score points, short vs long term investments, as well as learning when to work with other players on a feature and when to cut your losses.
Dominion - Deck building, learning how to maximize potential and minimize "dead" hands, teaches players when to go for more stuff, and when to switch to victory points.
Catan - How to manage resources, trading with other players and the board.
Ticket to Ride - Emphasis on route planning, adapting to unexpected changes (blocking), and balancing what you have versus what you might get.
So there you go, the 5 pillars of boardgames. Agree or disagree? Leave a comment.
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