Showing posts with label Board Games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Board Games. Show all posts

Sunday, March 24, 2024

Spring Break Recap

The box cover of Ticket to Ride new york board game

 I'm back from Spring Break.  We hit the aquarium, zoo, museum, and a Lego Discovery Center.  Oh and I reminded the family of my gamer greatness by winning at Ticket to Ride New York.  Also lots of fishing; got my kids onto a school of crappies.  Love watching the 5 yo catch fish back to back to back to back to back to back (easily caught 100 of them through the week).

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Black Friday/Cyber Monday Gamer Haul

 It's that time of year again where we share what we bought over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shop-a-thon.  For me I nabbed a few gamer things!

 First up was what my teenager has been waiting for: his own gaming PC.  We ordered all the parts which will make up his holiday haul.  He is also getting some hand-me-downs from my recent upgrade (GPU and PSU).  We went with an AMD build again; Ryzen 7600X CPU, 5700 XT GPU (hand me down), 2 TB NVMe SSD, and 32 GB memory.  I'd say I got great deals but it was pretty lackluster as far as deals go this year.

Model I
 Next I snagged a couple items for myself.  First I jumped on Glorious's free shipping deal to get my Model I wired mouse.  I have a Model O wired currently and it sold me on the lightweight mouse.  The only downside of the Model O for me is that it has only two side buttons.  The Model I brings three side buttons and a fourth "sniper" button (defaults to lower DPI for sniping in FPS games).  It will take a bit to retrain myself to the four buttons but so far so good and it keeps the same lightweight feel!

 I was nostalgic for some holiday season tunes ringing through the halls (home office) so am finally filling the "no speakers" gap for my home PC.  I grabbed this soundbar to fill the role.

 Lastly I surfed the board game sales and like PC parts... it felt like a down year as far as deals go.  I did end up grabbing the Arkham Horror The Card Game Revised Core Set which was at an all time low.  This was on my "want to try" list and now that I have a teenager in the family it felt like the right time to adult our co-op games.  Looking forward to giving this a whirl.


Arkham Horror The Card Game Revised Core Set

 

 

Wednesday, August 09, 2023

GamesMadeMe: Game Manuals

 GamesMadeMe is a series of posts that cover gaming-related topics that have shaped who I am as a gamer today. With the release hype of Baldur's Gate 3 upon us (no, I am not playing it) it had me thinking about my journey into Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. Specifically the big, fat ringbound instruction manual.

shadows of amn manual
A legendary artifact of gaming past!

 That is a good looking instruction manual!  When you picked up the box at the game store (a local mall GameStop for me at the time) there was some weight to it and you knew you were getting into something good.  Seeing the manual slide out of the game box was an awesome feeling and you knew what you were going to be doing for the next few hours while you waited for the multi-CD install process to finish.

 Even before Baldur's Gate 2 I have fond memories of sitting in the back of the family minivan reading through the manual of whatever latest video game I just bought.  I still remember buying Final Fantasy 8 and flipping through the manual.  I was so excited for that game and decades later that memory is stuck in my head.  Some of my favorites like FF8 and BG2 are still with me to this day.

 That experience is all but gone today and I can't remember the last video game I bought that came with any sort of game-related material.  I can still get a hit of the nostalgia with most board games and their manuals but it's more of a chore there as you really can't play the board game until you digest the rules book so it's always getting in the way of the fun.

 I have tried to bring some of this joy to my oldest son as well.  He found my Shadows of Amn instruction manual some time after he was reading by himself and he consumed the whole thing over the course of a couple days.  He didn't really want to play the game; was just fascinated there was a "book" with so much about a game in it.  We also bought him the collector's edition of the Zelda Breath of the Wild strategy guide and I've never seen a kid more fond of a book in my entire life.  He gets limited electronic time so he filled other time with reading and earmarking every last part of that book and coming up with elaborate plans for his one hour of electronic time the next day.  Man that makes a gaming dad smile ear to ear.

 Dang... need a tissue.  /sniff  Where does the time go anyways.  Game manuals made me the gamer I am today.

Sunday, January 01, 2023

Happy New Year and some Axis & Allies & Zombies

 Happy New Year everyone and welcome to 2023.  One of our household traditions is to play Axis & Allies & Zombies .... and... I wanted to share my Axis victory image from last night. As my son would annotate his version of the picture "w for dad"!

 This should teach him not to get greedy with the Soviets in future games.  Moscow can fall quickly and is the most reasonable target for the Axis to win.  In the picture you will see black (Germany/Axis) in Moscow where a hard fought battle was won after a northern blitz move.  

 It was looking pretty bleak for the Axis before this which is why my son tried to start pushing into eastern Europe with the Soviets.  A move he certainly regretted when the tanks rolled into Moscow.

 What a great way to start off 2023 (for me at least)!



Friday, December 30, 2022

Reviewed: Santorini: New York

 Santorini: New York is another game from the pile of new stuff this holiday season.  As avid fans of the original we were very excited to give this one a try.  Read on for some more thoughts.

 The first aspect of this updated version that catches your eye are the skyscrapers: giant golden buildings!  These beefy golden components not only look awesome but they play a key role in the game and we were excited to get to place them on the board!

 Gone from the original is the perfectly square map and in it's place is a New York shaped map.  This fits the theme but I feel like it gives up a bit of the "chess like" feeling of the original.  There are nooks on the board that a player will get stuck on (or at least did in our first couple of games).

 Also added to this version as a required feature are role cards that are played each turn that require/allow a player to take a unique action.  The twist is that if the card says "must" the player "must" take the action or lose a worker.  Simple to start but later in games this can be a real problem if, for example, you only have Subway Operators left and there is no free spaces to move to... goodbye worker (of which you only get two!).  

 The roles add some variety to the game and unlike the original where the cards were optional rules they are a core part of New York.  This makes the game a little harder to teach to anyone that has never played Santorini but for our family who are Santorini veterans it took no time to pick up.

Grrrrr... Statue of Liberty!!!!
 One annoying mechanic in New York is the Statue of Liberty.  The player that plays the highest numbered card that turn gets the statue.  You MUST have the statue in order to take a winning move.  If you can take a winning move (of which there are multiple in this version of the game) but don't have the statue you can't win.  I don't feel this really works and in our experience elongated games and punished players who were unlucky in the cards they were dealt.

 In summary the game is fun, but would not be one I recommend someone get if they don't have the original.  The original is superior; mostly for the "no god/role cards: version that is easy to teach/hard to master.  With that said, if you own the original and enjoy it, then New York is worth getting as it kicks it up a notch. 

Thursday, December 29, 2022

Reviewed: Planted: A Game of Nature & Nurture


 Planted: A Game of Nature & Nurture was another board game in the pile of new games for the family this holiday season.  Here are some thoughts.

 In Planted players are raising house plants and working to keep them fed and watered so they grow up and score lots of points. Throw in some decorations (pots, shelves, hanging baskets, etc) for bonus points.  The game is played over four rounds in which players select a card before passing the remaining cards left or right similar to Sushi Go.

 Our family really enjoyed the game. It is light weight and plays quickly (~30 minutes in our experience).  It is easy to learn but requires some skill in planning out what you want  to focus on each turn.  

 Only persistent cards like tools carry over between rounds so each turn is mostly self contained.  This can frustrating if the cards dealt that round don't support what you are working for with your plants, but there is a catch all mechanic where unspent resources at the end of the round can be turned into extra victory points through a mechanic known as propagation.  This was very useful in the early rounds when I didn't have many plants and thus wound up with more resources than I could use and when victory scoring came it was the difference that put me over the top!

 The artwork and components are top notch.  We especially loved the water tokens.  The plants featured are all real and we found a few of our own houseplants dwelling in the mix.  "Hey is this the plant we gave grandma?" is the quote of the night; thats how good the artwork is of the plants.

 Over all a big thumbs up for Planted.  Anyone looking for a light weight family game this is it.

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

Reviewed: USPS The Great American Mail Race Board Game

 USPS The Great American Mail Race Board Game was gifted to our family this holiday season and we've had a chance to sit down and play a couple games.  Here are my thoughts on the game.

 The first thing I noticed about the game were the components.  Mail trucks, an eye pleasing board, package/letter/postcard cards, and best of all: the postage slips and stamp!

 To fast forward to some final thoughts; the components make the game.  The game itself is simple and after a few plays the strategy is limited.  But the satisfaction from stamping your slip when you complete a delivery?  It feels awesome.  Every. Single. Time.

 Components aside the game itself is easy to understand and teach.  It plays quickly (~30m now that we know what we are doing) which makes this a great holiday game to play with family.  We are looking forward to playing with my brother-in-law who is a true blue USPS mailman but doesn't play games; that is approachable the game is.

 The game play is straight forward and comparable to Ticket to Ride.  You get letters/packages that need to go places and you can draw cards that let you move across the board to get them to those places.  Postcards are on the board and once passed they are gained by the player.  The board is split into different regions and delivering packages from/to different regions gains additional points.

 Best of all as players complete the deliveries and actions on the board they get to stamp their little postal slip and that is so satisfying it has brought my family back to the table multiple times.  I personally love the stamp!

 There is a bit of player on player competition as well in the game.  If you are passing another mail carrier you can either take one of their deliveries or give them one of yours.  Have a long haul package destined for Alaska?  Drop it on another carrier!  Have the travel cards to grab a package from another player and delivery it?  Then sneak in for the steal.  The only downside is newer players will get picked on by experienced players, but it is one of the most fun aspects of the game. Without "assisting another mailman" this game would be far too basic.

 My biggest complaint about the game is that there is not variable rewards as far as distance for a delivery.  A delivery that requires you to go from coast to coast is worth the same as one you can complete in the same turn.  This is OK if you have the stronger travel cards such as planes or trains, but if you don't... well you either have to swap mail with other players and try to stick them with the stinker package or you need to spend your turns trucking it out to its destination; either way its the same reward.

 Another nitpick I have is that the next letter/parcel/postcard that will replace a delivered one is visible to all players.  This is too much information for players to plan moves.  Having the "next up" be hidden somehow instead of face up would add some much needed randomness to the game.  With that said the cards being face up does allow a bit of skill in chaining deliveries together.

 My last comment will be on the rules.  They are well laid out for the basic game but they offer nothing for the scenarios or questions that pop up regularly.  For example: what does "passing through" really mean?  If I stop on a spot but don't end my turn there is that passing through?  Or is passing through just when I move through it?  Does the hot air balloon count as passing through or not because it says "go over"?  What happens if a postcard appears on the spot I am already at?  Do I just get it?  Questions I am not alone in asking as evidenced by Board Game Geek's rules sub-forum for the game.

 Over all the game is a gem and far too good considering it is literally licensed by USPS.  Have you played it?  What are your thoughts?  Leave a comment and I'll assist you with delivering it!

Wednesday, September 14, 2022

Online Gaming Marketplace Shakeups

 I caught wind of recent news regarding TCGPlayer and BGG Geek Marketplace and wanted to share some thoughts.

First, eBay has announced their plans to buy TCGPlayer. This transaction makes sense as TCGPlayer has really become an eBay-a-like for trading card games.  This news would have been filed away in mind as a blip, but then I saw the amount that eBay spent: $295 Million.  Holy cheese balls!  

I had a short stint as a volunteer writer for TCGPlayer posting articles about the World of Warcraft TCG.  At the time it was very much a fan run site for fans of TCGs.  I did not get the vibe of "we are a future multi-million dollar corporation".  Feels like I missed an opportunity here had I stuck with the freelance writing for TCGPlayer.... giving me vibes of the time I missed out on contributing to WoWHead before it got gobbled up for a million dollars... which makes me lament my younger days and not having the chance to become a streamer (I was an early adopter of Google Video before Google had Youtube).  Apparently my destiny is to always be early to the party!

The next news item to cover is Board Game Geek's (BGG) sudden announcement they were shutting down Geek Market.  This came as a surprise as BGG was in progress testing an updated version of Geek Market so to go from beta testing a new version to shutting down the entire thing (including the original Geek Market) caught the BGG community by surprise.  Since that announcement and uproar from the community the folks at BGG have opted to establish a new classified-style market.  

I don't really have any commentary; just found the news interesting.

More can be read in these three posts at BGG (in chronological order)

  1. Announcement: Classic & Beta GeekMarket Shutting Down | BoardGameGeek
  2. GeekMarket changes update: Classifieds coming | BoardGameGeek
  3. Launching New GeekMarket Next Week | BoardGameGeek



Friday, January 03, 2020

New year; let's blog! Christmas board games



This was one of Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) ventures into unique games (the other attempt being Keyforge). Stealing FFGs blurb: "Every copy of Discover: Lands Unknown is unlike any other in the world. A mix of environments, storylines, characters, locations, items, and enemies have been engineered to tell a story unique to every copy of the game thanks to an algorithm that ensures no two copies are alike."


Whew! May 14th 2019... the last time I posted. Let's kick start the 2020 tires by posting to this web log.

First up; Christmas has come and gone and with it so has a slew of new board games to give a try. Here are some thoughts on a couple.

Discover: Lands Unknown



https://amzn.to/39M3BLkGeneral critical consensus seems to be that Discover: Lands Unknown was a flop, but I found the game to be engaging and enjoyable while delivering on its core mechanic of a survival experience.

In my first game I lost a fight with a bull moose and watched from the sideline as my wife and oldest son survived onwards before starvation nabbed them both in the middle of the night. 

Better oriented in follow up plays we were more successful as a party of survivors.  Keeping supplies of food and fresh water are key; crafting flint to start fires is also a good idea.  Weapons are helpful, but combat (other than if required by your unique scenario) is better avoided (as evidenced by my scrap with a bull moose).

One aspect that I found interesting (but did not explore while playing with my family) was the potential for players competing with each other.  As far as I can tell there is no overt direction by the game that players should cooperate, but it does become apparent that survival is easier together.  With that said the game puts players in interesting positions to overtly (or covertly) compete with each other.  It could be as simple as the elected Tribal Leader moving a monster towards one player vs another or one of the players holding off on crafting a key item so the rest of the party can't get access to it.  In the Tribal Leader case it is an overt act and this can kick off a debate at the table of whether a change at Tribal Leader is warranted.  In the crafting case it is a covert action; other players do not know what project cards you may be holding and is easily played off as though you don't have resources to craft it yet.  I imagine in other scenarios there may be more of a drive for players to compete directly with each other and there is a "Scenario 5" that I believe is designed around replayability and meant to be the player vs player scenario.

My only complaints for the game were that initial set up takes longer than I'd like and there is some hunt and pecking in the rule book. Also the "quick reference" sheet that is the most helpful rules reference is on the back of the scenario sheet which was not obvious at first.  In later play throughs all that we needed was that quick reference.  And good news is that once everything is sorted and the players better understand the reason for the setup it goes much faster.

I suppose the more we play the game we may exhaust the two scenarios that came with the game, but I suspect by the time we get there we will be done with the game and personally I find it interesting that we could get a used copy that would deliver a brand new and unique adventure (even though many reviews note there is not that much difference form one copy to the next even if the components are different).

Photosynthesis


https://amzn.to/2MUaWOV
The second game gifted over the holidays was Photosynthesis.  This has been on my list for a while.  As an avid gardener the aesthetic of this game spoke to me.  The green, orange,yellow, and blue of the trees looks great on the table.


The game falls into the "easy to learn, hard to master" category.  Other than punching a lot of cardboard set up is a breeze.  The game plays quickly as well and boils down to a simple loop of "plant seeds, grow trees, collect points, THROW SHADE".

That last bit about throwing shade is where the "hard to master" part comes in.  Players really have to think in three dimensions and future planning is well rewarded.  Where trees are planted, when they are planted, and what stage you are going to grow them to while the sun rotates around the board offers an amazing array of choice. 

Do you want to shade your opponent out or take that fully developed tree off the board to score the points?  You could grow that tree, but now it shades your other tree for two turns which will leave you a point short to score a bigger tree.... BUT in three turns it will shade out your opponent for the next four turns!

The game plays fast (excepting the chess-level thinkers out there) and has won an immediate place in our family's rotation of games.

Warmachine High Command


This is one from the bargain bin at our local Ollies (#olliesarmy represent!).  High Command is a card drafting game set in the Iron Kingdoms setting of Warmachine.  I would best describe it as a drafting version of Smash Up for folks that want the Warhammer 40k aesthetic instead (yes I said Warhammer damn it!).

Players pick a cross selection of cards to play (like picking two factions in Smash Up) and then slowly draft them into your discard deck so you can eventually shuffle them back into your draw pile to get and play.  There are also war casters that sit on the sideline waiting to be rushed in for a single glorious predictable turn before being removed from the game.

Characters and war casters are deployed to locations (just like Smash Up) eventually waiting for one side to out muscle the other and claim the location as a prize (just like Smash Up). 

As you may be able to suss out by the snarky review I was not impressed by the game.  The cards are a mess.  The text is tiny, iconography is horrible, and over all plays is a slog. The best part is the random end to the game which can occur at any moment once the game progresses to the "stage 3" event cards that represent the turns.  Do I have one turn?  Two?  Who knows!  Throw in locations that benefit a specific faction only (and it sure is likely will be your opponents) and its lovely.

The good news is my oldest son likes loves the game and the second core set Faith and Fortune was only a few bucks as well at the good ole Ollies so I'll be enjoying this one for a while apparently.  I hope he never reads this blog...



Saturday, January 02, 2016

What I'm Looking Forward to in 2016

2015 is gone, 2016 has arrived.

Here is a quick list of a few things I am looking forward to:

1. Green Bay Packers play off games.  The packers are in the play offs once again and I am hoping for another magical run.  This year's team has been in  funk to end the season, but I truly believe in "any given Sunday".

2. Progress on Kickstarter projects I've backed.

Camelot Unchained (CU) is progressing; slowly.  I am looking forward to the work that Mark and team get done this year and hoping for my beta access by year's end.

Crowfall feels like it is moving along faster than CU, but that may just be the "making of" documentary style of communication that Crowfall is using to keep us up to date.  I am looking forward to many of the concepts behind Crowfall.  Another hopeful beta by years end.

Secret Hitler is, by all accounts, an impressive party board game that solves many of the faults of games such as The Resistance.  This is pretty much a guaranteed 2016 delivery and I look forward to playing it with friends alongside rounds of Good Cop/Bad Cop and Batman Love Letter.

3. Back into Minecraft.

"We found a giant cave in Minecraft!" The quote, from my six year old son, warms this gamer's heart (pun intended).  I am back into Minecraft as my son begins his journey into a game that is as magical for him as it was for me when I first picked it up.  Minecraft is one of the best games I've ever played and I am stoked to be sharing it with my son.

4. Guild Wars 2 wealth building

I tipped over 4,000 gold in Guild Wars 2 (GW2) in 2015 and thats just liquid gold.  If I counted total account value of what I've dumped into ascended gear, gem purchases, and general non-frugal spending I am sure its in the tens of thousands of gold.  Maybe in 2016 I will get back to actually playing through content (I've only done a single zone of the expansion and still have yet to complete my personal story and have not unlocked any of the full spec lines).

I hear that there is a huge World vs World (WvW aka wuvwuv) update coming.  As WvW was my first passion in Guild Wars 2 (and my first heartbreak) I am interested in what Arenanet pulls off.  From some of the leaked information (sorry no links to the leaks) the approach using Guild Alliances instead of arbitrary servers that no longer exist (due to the megaserver tech used now) is interesting and exactly what I've recommended for over a year to bring the "Guild Wars" back to Guild Wars 2.

I am also interested to follow the PvP leagues.  I am not dedicated enough to make any decent progress in the leagues myself, but I do pride myself in so far having a > 50% win ratio in the lowest bracket.  The PvP balance of GW2 is interesting and best equated to watching the pro Magic: The Gathering (MtG) scene.  There is overpowered team comps currently just as there is overpowered decks from time to time in MtG.  Casually observing the developers as they fix these situations has always fascinated me even if I am not "in the meta" myself.

5. Maybe blogging?

I may blog a bit again in 2016.  Anything is possible in a new year!

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Town of Salem is fun

Hidden role games; I love 'em.  But mostly for the social aspect at the gaming table; not inside my PC over the magical tubes that make the internet.  The main draw is a randomly assigned team that has "perfect information" playing against the uneducated masses.  In Town of Salem that means its the mafia out to get the town.  It works surprisingly well considering the limitations of what is essentially a chat room with rules.

Games set up quickly with three players being assigned roles as mafia and being identified to each other mafia member.  The rest of the players are divided amongst various town or neutral roles (including a serial killer who is out against everyone).  At that point the premise is simple: mafia kill townies, townies figure out who the mafia is and lynch them.  The fact the mafia know each other and the townies don't know anything other than their own role opens the doors for all kinds of social shennagins.  Is that guy saying he is the jailor really the jailor or is he the godfather laying waste to townies at night?  Throw in a handful of neutral roles such as the jester (who wants the town just to lynch him) to the aforementioned serial killer who is out to kill everyone and you have a very unique game of "who's who" and "who dun it?".

The game is available via Steam or their website.

Friday, November 29, 2013

Black Friday Gaming Deals 2013

Video Game Deals

Amazon.com video game deals (limited quantity, new deals cycling on all day/weekend)
Some of my personal picks:
EVE Online The Second Decade collector's edition (price reduced starting at 4:10p PST today)
Starcraft 2 Heart of the Swarm (price reduced starting at 8:10p PST today)
For those of you with Skylander-obsessed kids: buy 2, get 1 free Skylanders SWAP force characters

Steam Autumn Sale
General Steam sale rules:
1. Don't buy a game until the last day of the sale unless it is on a daily sale
2. Flash sales are often repeated
3. Don't hesitate to buy a daily deal as the available keys can run out
4. The best deals are usually repeated the last day of the sale

Board Game Deals

Amazon.com still has their buy one, get one half off deal for board games.  See my previous post on the sales and my recommendations.

Target also has buy one, get one half off on their board games (slightly different selection than Amazon).

Cool Stuff Inc is running some good deals on board, card, and miniature games.\

Miniature Market started their sale yesterday and had some really great deals (like Netrunner data packs for $7), but it appears a ton of their stock is sold out already.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Android: Netrunner is an amazing game

I am a huge fan of card games (one of my favorites of all time being The Spoils TCG).  I've played Magic the Gathering on and off since the 1990s in both physical and digital forms.  I've tended to prefer board games with cards more than those with dice.  There is just something soothing about holding a hand of cards and battling wits with an opponent.  Android: Netrunner itches all the recesses of my mind and is one of the most amazing card games I have ever played.

First, this is not your 1990s Netrunner; I am here to talk about Fantasy Flight Games re-release and reworking of Netrunner under the title Android: Netrunner.  Aside from theme, borrowed names, and a few core mechanics (corp vs runner), the two games can be separated from each other.  For all intents and purposes when I am referring to Netrunner, I am referring to Android: Netrunner.

The core of Netrunner themed by a runner hacking the servers of a big corporation.  This is brought to the game mat through asymmetrical game play where one player plays the role of runner and the other player plays the role of corporation.  The corporation figures out ways of protecting their valuable servers via cards known as ICE while the runner figures out ways to break through that ICE (via icebreakers) to loot and plunder the wonderful rewards within.  Alongside the main icebreaker vs ICE there is a slew of card types that have immediate or triggered effects.  Cards are played through the use of "clicks" and paid for via the payment of "credits".  The end goal is to collect 7 agenda points; which are scored after being advanced by the corporation or stolen by the runner via various means.  An alternate victory condition is for the corporation to be run out of cards or for the runner to be dealt more damage than they have cards in hand (known as flat-lining).

What really sets Netrunner apart, in my opinion, is the play of the corporation.  The corporation primarily plays their cards face down to the game table.  Playing a card is know as installing.  ICE is installed face down in front of servers to protect them from "runs" (aka hacking attempts).  Agendas, assets, and upgrades are installed face down in the servers themselves.  The cards remain face down, generally, until the runner attempts to access them (either through a run or card effect).  ICE and most assets and upgrades have a "rez" cost that the corporation must pay to flip the card face up and reap its benefits.

The corporation is not forced into "rezzing" a card leading to a critical aspect of the game: bluffing.  The potential for the corporation to bluff a runner is there and many a Netrunner game has been lost to a bad decision.  At the same time, just like in Poker, a bluff is still only hiding an end result that can be broken down to a mathematical probability.  A good runner is going to be able to look at their cards in hand and in play and know when the odds are in their favor.  Between experienced players, bluffing does not play as big of a role as it does for new players learning the game, but the simple fact of having a bluff as a physical representation (face down cards) on the board is an amazing piece of the puzzle for this game.

By description it would seem that the game is tilted towards the corporation player, but that is anything but the truth.  The game, in my experience, slightly favors the runner as the idea of playing offensively is more natural and the defensive nature of the corporation is something harder to learn and execute.  The runner could always stumble into victory while the corporation will only find victory through appropriate planning.

The runner also has advantages in their favor, first being that they receive 4 clicks per turn to the 3 clicks of the corporation's turn (the corporation is allowed to draw a card for free every turn though as a compromise).  Clicks are actions that can be taken during a turn.  Secondly, the runner can "trash" corporation cards for a set cost after accessing them which allows the runner to really negatively impact the corporations play.  Lastly, the runner does not need to spend actions each turn advancing agendas to score the related points.  The runner simply needs to access an agenda played by the corporation to steal it and thus receive it's allocated agenda points towards their victory total (7 are needed to win).

The one big drawback to the runner is that their hand of cards is their life total in the game.  Run out of cards and take one more damage and the game is over, victory going to the corporation regardless of the state of agenda points scored.  This is a great mechanic which forces the runner to hold back cards and again opens up the bluff mechanic between the two sides.  Could the corporation player be holding a card that will do one meat damage and thus bring the game to an end if the runner chooses to end the turn with zero cards in hand?

To further cement Netrunner as an amazing game it also allows deckbuilding via a living card game (LCG) model.  LCGs, contrary to booster-pack games such as MtG, release sets of cards on a regular basis.  In each set is a complete play set of every card in that release.  There is no rarity or chase cards to worry about.  If a player wants to play a deck, all they need to do is buy the appropriate "data packs" that contain the cards they want.  Gone are the days of having 50 copies of that single common card while having only 1 of the rare.  In Netrunner all a player will ever need is sold in each data pack release.  Data packs average in cost about $10 to $15 and are released about every 3 months.  There is phenomenal value in the LCG model and at the end of the day the core set is plenty to start out with and try some of the deckbuilding without having to invest anything else.

Now there are a couple areas I think the game could improve.  First of all, the card layout and use of symbols needs work.  It is hard, at first, to differentiate cards or determine values such as influence for use in deckbuilding.  The card design appears to be artistic in nature more than driven by the need to present information.  This makes for some stunning visuals on cards, but can lead to some agonizing card pile searches looking for a card of a certain faction or value that is not easily visible.  Secondly, some of the terms used to describe aspects of the game are a bit hard to grasp at first.  For example: the runner's hand is known as their grip, but the corporations hand is known as the HQ.  While players adjust to these terms after playing the game, I am not sure what, if anything, is gained by calling a players hand (just one example) by another name.

Over all, Netrunner is a phenomenal game and quickly is rocketing up my chart of favorite card games.  It is not for everyone, but for the core gamer out there seeking a challenging and competitive card game there is nothing finer than Netrunner currently.  Add in the LCG model and it is friendly to the wallet.  If you are interested in the game, the core set is currently on sale for $29 on Amazon.


Monday, November 25, 2013

Board Games: Buy one, get one 50% off

Amazon.com is running an amazing pre-Black Friday deal on dozens of popular board games: buy one and get one half off.

There are some great games on sale.  Here are a few of my picks for games worth getting.

Ticket to Ride

Blokus

The Resistance

Castle Panic

The Settlers of Catan

Munchkin

Dixit Journey

Apples to Apples


There are also some add on packs (aka DLC of the board game world) for some popular games:

Munchkin Zombies 2 Armed and Dangerous
Munchkin 7 Cheat With Both Hands
Munchkin Clerical Errors

Battles Of Westeros: Wardens Of The North

Tannhauser Single Figure Packs: Gorgei

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Memoir 44 Online, thoughts on sustaining multi-player games

It is an undeniable fact that it takes money to maintain online games for players.  The revenue from initial sales cannot justify a game’s online existence past a set amount of time.  Subscriptions or DLC or micro-transactions are a reality (Guild Wars not withstanding).  Currently the Free 2 Play with micro transactions model is winning out.  Players get hooked on the freebie and then come back paying for more.  Some people view this as bad, but personally I view it as good and in my world it’s a way for me to reward the developer for giving me the game to try first before I invest.
This upkeep is one of the reasons I believe we have not seen many popular board or card games come to the multi-player online space, even when they are directly tied to an online game.  It baffles me that the World of Warcraft card game, is in fact, a physical card game.   Where is the UI mod that lets me play WoW the card game while playing WoW the MMOG on my PC? 
I can live without fluff card games such as the WoW CCG on the PC, but I have a significant itch for some good online multi-player board gaming on (and I’m not just talking cheap flash rip offs).  Fortunately, in stepped Days of Wonder (DoW) with Memoir 44 Online
Not only did they pick the right game to try out to scratch my itch, but they chose the right platform (Steam) and a solid business model (pseudo-subscription).
In order to play games online, players must spend Gold Ingots (GI).  For starters a player is given 50 GI, which results in them being able to play about 16 games completely free of charge.  From there they can purchase buckets of GI to play more games.  The amounts are various generous and I can forsee months worth of play for very little investment.
My only concern with the model is that it probably won’t work for games with smaller followings as after the initial freebie rush, the players start getting gated out.  I’d prefer to see a monthly recurring infusion of free GI to players so the free ride lasts.  If the game is good enough it will convert those free riders into paying players.  Free GI would actually be a great way to market the game.  Other systems such as refer-a-friend would work as well to reward players for joining up.
Memoir 44 Online is doing its best to show the potential of this system.  It’s a great, time-tested board game to begin with, so it was a question of implementation and DoW nailed it.  Anyone having played the board game can immediately sit down and be ready to go with the PC version.  For new players there is a well made tutorial and the game itself lends to ease of learning via right clicking to see the rule cards governing each piece of the game. 
Online match making is a little hard to understand as the same screen used for launching solo play is used to initiate multi-player games. After a quick chat in the main chat room, I was able to figure out how to start a match (but ended up being invited into a game by another player).  I didn’t fair well on my first couple of matches just due to the fact I hadn’t played Memoir 44 in ages and have far more experience with its fantasy-based sibling Battle Lore.


The game runs absolutely great on my laptop (Alienware MX11 R2) and hooked up to the big screen it’s a glorious site to behold.  The added flair to actions and combat is a nice touch.  And the biggest benefit to playing this game digitally is the zero set up and zero clean up of all the tiny plastic pieces!

Tuesday, August 03, 2010

Microsoft Surface > iPad for boardgames

I was mildly intrigued by the idea of boardgames played virtually on a tablet such as the iPad. However, Microsoft's Surface continues to impress me, this time showing off Settlers of Catan.

Watch the video:



Now, some people may ask what advantage the Surface has over something like the iPad? Aren't they both just touchscreen interfaces and isn't the Surface super expensive? Yes, to both questions, but both are besides the points.

The iPad and like devices are touchscreen, but that's it. The Surface incorporates cameras within the screen to identify tags on different objects. That is how in the video both the real dice and card blinds work. That's the benefit of the Surface and why it's the better platform for virtual board gaming: it is meant to be used with real objects, not just virtual.

That leaves only the price at play and the Surface is expensive. But then again it is marketed as something that would be installed in a cafe or arcade of some sort, not a home use gadget (yet!). I really think Microsoft has a much better chance at long term success with the Surface vs. the flame of the moment tablets (which like netbooks, I guarantee will burn out soon enough).

Thursday, April 29, 2010

I hate the iPad, but this is pretty cool

For the record: I hate the iPad.  It is the epitome of everything that is WRONG with Apple.  With that said, Small World has been converted from boardgame and has been released as an iPad app by Days of Wonder.  This is the same boardgame developer known for Ticket to Ride, Battlelore, etc.
Small World for iPad is the first digital adaptation of this award-winning fantasy board game. It enables two players to face off against each other and vie for conquest and control of a world that is simply too small to accommodate all of the zany fantasy characters that inhabit Small World. Sitting across from each other around the iPad, players use their troops to occupy territory and conquer adjacent lands in order to push the other players' races off the face of the earth.
While this isn't the first boardgame to make it to iPad, it's the first one that caught my attention. Small World is a great game and the graphical styling is perfect for a touch tablet.


While I don't want to give up my real board games for virtual ones, I realize my shrinking group of board game friends can not keep the fire alive. Virtualization of board games allows me to enjoy them across the Internet in an official capacity (yes, I realize the above app is not Internet based, but other board games are). I am excited about the future of touch tablets filling a niche in the board gaming market.