Thursday, November 29, 2012

Board Game Madness 11/29

Fun:
New Games:
  • Quarantine: Where once there was Pandemic, now there's Quarantine. Be part of the solution by building the most effective hospital in this tile laying game. Manage which rooms you build and try to prevent infections from killing your patients... or your patience. Release date March 2013.
  • Batman: Gotham City Strategy Game: WizKids is coming off their last IP games from the Star Trek universe and opening up the DC universe with their first Batman game. This looks like a Clix euro with area control and resource management mechanics. There's one big difference here though: You're the villain! Release February 2013.
  • Frenemies of Catan: Want your Settlers of Catan game to be more social? More interactive? Mayfair just released an expansion where you help out your friends to get a bunch of bennies. I'm not sure of the price of this, but it is expected to be available in the next few days.
  • Recent releases: Beer & Vikings, Plethora, Lady Alice, Roll'n Bump, Croak!, Uchronia, Gauntlet of Fools, Hooyah: Navy Seals Card Game, The Palaces of Carrara, Card City, Okiya, Legendary
iOS:
News:
  • Dominoes is being inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame
  • What happens when a board game is labeled sexist? What happens when the person calling attention to it is 6-years old?
  • One of our local game stores, The Game Table is moving to Hicksville, NY and renaming the store Game Master Games. Bigger space, more to offer! They are "almost there..." I tried to do a drive-by view but they weren't open yet.
Recently Played:
  • Two weeks worth of gaming here...
  • Gaming with the wife, we went back to one of our favorites: Core Worlds. I've already pre-ordered the expansion. Hopefully it'll come soon!
  • My sister-in-law came and we played Kingdom Builder.
  • I've been teaching Alien Frontiers a LOT lately. At least 3 times in the last 2 weeks.
  • Other friends came over and we taught them 7 Wonders and Pandemic. I spotted them at The Game Table last week looking for both games for purchase...
  • Actually Pandemic was the game of the week. My kids learned it and are now in love with the game. We played it about 5 or 6 times with different people.
  • We had a game day after Thanksgiving where we played Poo, Fortune and Glory: The Cliffhanger Game and Homesteaders
Happy Gaming!
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Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Board Game Madness 11/14


Fun:
  • You know it’s funny, but when I played Talisman with my friends it always devolved into arguments. But in this case it seems to have solved sibling rivalry.
  • It’s time for taking holiday pictures. Fall leaves on the ground. Nice sweaters being worn. Your favorite board game on display…
  • What do meeples do when they aren’t playing board games? Check out this fantastic geek list of staged pics (some of the individual ones have been referenced in previous entries).
  • Pimp your game: How about redesigning the tile set from The Settlers of Catan
  • I mentioned last week that the Jack Vasel Memorial Fund Auction is up for people who would like to donate to gamers in need of some help. Or if you need to apply for assistance. It seems that Mad Men actor Rich Sommers has donated a game night with fellow actors Simon Helberg (Big Bang Theory) and Jorge Garcia (Lost). Only good for those in the LA area though.
  • Apparently Hasbro is looking to sponsor board gaming nights on New Year’s Eve. I already throw one and based on the games they are giving, I’m not sure I’d have any attendees, but their hearts are in the right place at least…

New Games:
  • Roll for the Galaxy: Tom Lehmann turns his award winning card game Race for the Galaxy (one of my favorites) into a dice building game (a la Quarriors!). We still get some good play from this one so it may be worth checking out. Release Q2 2013.
  • City of Remnants: Post-apocalyptic power grab with auctions and dice. Sounds interesting! Release early 2013.

iOS:
  • Fluxx coming in December

News:
  • How did families entertain themselves when the power went out from Sandy or Athena? Board games!
  • Apparently the board game company GMT Games is giving out free paper and pencil war games to the unemployed. Only thing is their war games take weeks to play so that’s time away from looking for a job!
  • Apparently Kurt Vonnegut designed a board game called General Headquarters, a mix between Chess and a war game. No one picked it up though.

Recently Played:
  • During the Nor’easter this past week, the family whipped out Snow Tails right after the kids had their fill of a snowball fight. Then my wife and my older son and I played some Dominion.
  • My sister-in-law stayed over for a night and we got a quick game of FITS in.
  • My son and I played some more Blood Bowl. He’s got the rules down, now it’s just getting him to sit still for long enough to play. We played only a half.
  • Friends came over this weekend and we got some Core Worlds, Alien Frontiers and Race for the Galaxy in. Apparently it was sci-fi day. I interrupted the game play to watch the Jets game. My friend didn’t understand why I couldn’t do both at the same time though.

Happy gaming!

Credits: Board Game Geek, Purple Pawn, Game Salute, Google News
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Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Board Game Madness 11/7


For those board gamers who have been affected by Hurricane Sandy and you have lost so much, please avail yourself of the Jack Vasel Memorial Fund. They are undergoing an auction right now and here’s the writeup that Tom Vasel has posted:

**

One tragic event and two acts of generosity brought the BGG community together: the result was the Jack Vasel Memorial Fund. In January 2011, Cate Pfeifer (Cate108) posted an auction for Tom Vasel and his family to help with the unfortunate loss of his son, Jack. The generosity of the BGG community was amazing. Tom was touched and wanted to pay the kindness forward so he created the Jack Vasel Memorial Fund. He used some of the money that BGGers donated and spent to build this fund. The fund is a not-for-profit with a simple goal: raising and distributing funds to help gamers in their hour of need.

Are you a member of the public that is part of the gaming community and has suffered a personal hardship?

The gaming community's generosity up to this point has been amazing, and we anticipate you will continue to amaze us. However, we are not just here to raise money, but also to do good.

Please contact Tom (tom@jackvasel.org is preferred) if you believe you are a member of the gaming community and have suffered personal hardship. Tom and the rest of our Board of Directors are happy to work with you to explain our eligibility criteria, confirm your situation is within our mission statement, and then provide assistance.

**

For those of you who have been affected in any way, please find a safe and warm space to stay and keep a bright outlook. We will recover.

And now back to the blog…

Fun:

New Games:

iOS:
News:
  • It appears that two gamers killed another one over his collection of Magic: The Gathering charges
  • If you are interested in what took place at the Settlers of Catan World Championships, it’s over at the Unboxed Blog
  • Shut Up and Sit Down has recorded a videocast about the golden age of board gaming. I have not had a chance to view it yet, but they do good work so I’m sure it’s well done.
  • Geek Dad from Wired.com goes over history-related board games in his article this month.

Recently Played:
  • LOTS to report on here…
  • My son had a family math night at his elementary school before Halloween. We all went and played some math games and solved problems. It was really cool. We played Farkle and Diceathon.
  • We also had our Halloween-themed board game night right before the Witches Sabbath and played Zombicide, Zombie Dice, Fury of Dracula and Ghost Stories (which we won on Nightmare mode! I’ve never done that before!)
  • Some gaming with my older son brought Quarmageddon to the table
  • I also played some Dominion with my wife and friends and then we brought Yahtzee to the table. It’s been a long time since I played that one!
  • On the night that Sandy hit, my son and I were playing some Blood Bowl. In the middle of the game the power went out and we played by candlelight. The lights came back on and we finished. Emboldened by the sudden electricity windfall, we took out Zombie Dice. Then the power went out again. We finished the game again by candlelight and then put the kids to bed before the storm got really bad. Eventually the power came back on again (that night believe it or not – we were SOOOOO lucky!). So we decided to take a shot at Race for the Galaxy and were able to make it through the game.
  • With friends coming over after the storm to take showers, charge their devices, etc. we had a veritable gamefest over the next few days. We played Homesteaders, Kingdom Builder, 7 Wonders, Tichu, No Thanks and Cards Against Humanity. The last few were at a game night I called to celebrate the passing of Sandy. Really, it was just an excuse to get everyone over to play games.
  • I also had my birthday after Sandy and some gaming was had. I taught a friend Alien Frontiers and we played more Zombie Dice and Dominion
  • Finally, I kept my Blood Bowl team, the Death Rockers, undefeated last night with a 2-1 win over the Frogluks of Guk, a Slaan team. I’m now 4-0 and in first place in my division.

Happy gaming!

Credits: BGG, Purple Pawn, Game Salute, Google News
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