What I Played Today: October 30

Code Words, Smash Up, Red7, One Night Revolution, Race for the Galaxy

I made it to game night! I should get a tiny trophy! I had a mild panic attack that everyone would hate me for not showing up for over a year. That didn't happen! I don't know what I would do if it did!

Anyway, there are a lot of people I DON'T know there, including a guy that apparently has a hook-up with game designers, so much so that he has prototype for a game that is similar to Spyfall, which is a game I have not played. There are two words; most player get one word, one player gets the other. All players writes down a related word to the word they have, and then they must try to figure out who is the sole recipient of the other word, OR if you are that person, you try to figure out what the other word is. Whoever does the best gets points. There are a bunch of other rules. The concept is fine; the execution is clearly in need of work, thus, prototype. I got into a tiny fight with a guy who was like, "Well, why wouldn't everyone just be an asshole to the guy who is winning?" because the thought of being a dick NEVER OCCURRED TO ME. I guess I am just not tooled that way.

Then a game of Red 7, which went fine, everyone wasn't too dumb about it. This game has a weird level of entry. I don't know, it's fine, but it's unusually difficult to teach.

A game of Smash Up! Which is now officially out of control! The game was already kind of difficult to handle when there WEREN'T 40 goddamn factions. We played a game, slowly, and eventually it got to the point where someone was clearly going to win and I tried everything in my power to stop it, but I couldn't, because ninjas. The end.

I also tried to play One Night Revolution, which I might just fucking stop doing, because it has gone poorly every single goddamn time I've tried. This time it was five players, and I should have known immediately this was a bad idea, because I was playing with the same goddamn player who ruined One Night Werewolf with this group for this, and this other player who just seems....slow? Like, I don't want to be an ableist jerk, but...this guy takes a while to understand some concepts. And of course these two problem players break the game when one views the other and fingers him as a baddie, game over, pack up your cards, throw the game in the fucking garbage.

I admit that I kinda lost my shit here. I had reached a breaking point in which I was very frustrated that I could not get an even decent experience with this ten-minute game, and I said some frankly dickish things to people who did not deserve it, both when I was cleaning up and just now. I am very sorry that I feel this way, but I also feel that it is important to admit and display that I do, in fact, have this feelings, and while I am in no way proud, I am definitely a real human being who feels a bit of pride from this dumb game that I paid money for. I paid for this thing, and I want to play a single good game of it. I'm sorry for my stupid foolish pride.

BUT enough for that. How about a game of Race to the Galaxy? This game is pretty good. I got stuck on a military track, and couldn't get the planets I needed. It happens! I have no hard feelings about it. I could CARE LESS about Race for the Galaxy, because I've gotten my money's worth from that one copy I bought three or four years ago. Apparently they changed the Gambling World at some point. Who knew?

But yeah, kind of excited to going back to this again, TWO weeks from now, because the game center is closed for bullshit next week.

What I Played Today: March 25

Lost Legacy, Red7, Pairs, Trivia

I went to a bar trivia night at a place that KINDA counts as a bar. I mean, they have five beers! What do you mean five beers is not enough? What do you mean you don't like beer? Anyway, it went already, we were leading into the halfway point because we nailed the current events section, and then the sports round happened. Rest in peace, sports section.

Also played a lot of little games, like Lost Legacy, which nobody ever seems to like, Red7, which grows on people really well, and Pairs, which nobody understood. A good time was enjoyed by about 33% of all participants!

What I Played At Some Point: JoCoCruise

One Night Werewolf, Imperial Settlers, Red7, Sheriff of Nottingham, Concept, Glass Road, Battlestar Galactica, Exploding Kittens, Johann Sebastian Joust, AquaSphere, Two Rooms and a Boom, Pairs, Lost Legacy, Dixit, Story Wars, The Resistance, Rock Band, Fantasy Life

I have been away on a cruise! A hip cruise, named after a guy with long, puffy hair, so it's okay, I'm not a huge nerd. That's not what this cruise is about, despite the insistence of literally everyone else I was with on the boat.

ANYWAY, this trip was mainly about playing board games in the best game room on the high seas. New games, old games, any game! That's why I went, for the great game room and maybe for some showing off. So let's go through what I played over the long week, possibly in alphabetical order.

What I Played Today: January 16

Shadows Over Camelot, Tiny Epic Kingdoms, Boss Monster, Red 7

I saw a weird flyer, and instead of doing what literally everyone else would do, I called up a friend and decided to check out the purported event! I'm weird!

So I gathered up a bunch of games and went to the theater space, where we learned that the event was happening because the owners had a free night on their schedule so they decided to host a board game night? Odd. There was some guy trying to understand the Shadows Over Camelot card game, and I knew that game, so I volunteered my services, explained it as best as I could, which is hard because there are like twenty cards that are unique and difficult to understand, and also TWO that are not even explained in the rulebook! Anyway, we got going, cheating a little bit, which is too bad, because I was the traitor. There was also...this guy. I don't like to complain about people, but I just could not stand how this guy would draw a card and slam it down on the pile with this thumb, bending the card every time. I don't put protectors on my cards, but I also expect people at least try not to hurt the materials. He also just kinda refused to play by various rules because he found them inconvenient. Just...burnt my brisket. And of course his favorite game is Battlestar Galactica and he was suggesting it all night. Ahahahahaha, no.

Also got a chance to finally crack Tiny Epic Kingdoms. I like it! It's a small scale 4X game, where you slowly build your kingdom, invade other territories, slowly build a tower, and expand your magical powers. It's really simple, with a lot of ways to get points and a lot of ways to end the game, with the only real variance coming from the magic powers of each race. Very easy to learn, fun to play, lot of hard decisions, very good. I did not win.

Then after trying to get a game of Resistance off the ground (didn't work), my friend and I figured out that we both didn't like Boss Monster! It's a game where you build up a dungeon to take out heroes, but it's too simple, and there's too much of a luck factor of whether you get the cards you need or not, and it's mildly unbalanced, and I did not have fun. The art is good though, some solid 16-bit art. But...play Infernal Contraption instead. Much better game with the same general idea.

Then a few games of Red 7, which is a fun abstract game in which you must be winning at the end of your turn or you are out. You can add a card from your hand to your tableau and/or change the rule of what counts as winning. Oh, and you only have seven cards to do it, no drawing. It's pretty good! Quick, smart, clever. There was one round where I started the game winning, then it got to my turn I was out, which is kinda silly, I liked it!

I don't know, maybe I'll go again. It was interesting, at least, although I was really hoping for more bluffing games. These are theater people, for Chris's sake.