Party on, Gayme!

About exactly a year ago, the BFF suggested we make a gaming resolution for the new year: to refrain from making any game purchases in 2008. Guess how long THAT lasted??
Well, we actually did pretty good for a couple months, maybe even four or five, but we HAD to get Zombie Clowns!!! And, yes, we've picked up a few more than that.
But between the holiday game buying, gift received, and after-holiday sales, I would be comfortable making THIS year's gaming resolution not buying more party games, we are pleasantly well stocked.
The latest in the collection is Gift Trap. I fell in love with this game maybe a year and a half ago, when I saw Scott (Board Games withScott) review it. The game play sounded pretty good, nice family party game. But what really excited me were the awesome BITS! Every player (3-8) gets an adorable little gift bag filled with their game pieces, two plastic "gifts" one to represent gifts you gave, and one that looks open to represent the gifts you got, and several cardboard markers.

I finally like Risk

One of the cool things about my new iTouch, is the game apps that are available. Many are free, and a lot of the pay-for games have a free component to try before you buy. Since the BFF has had his iTouch for a few months, he had already downloaded several games and lots of other apps that all put themselves on my Touch when I first plugged it in, and now I'm sorting out which ones I will actually use.
One app I found on my Touch was Lux Touch, and the first time I opened it, I could't figure out what it was. I'm glad I gave it another chance before deleting it, as I discovered it is a solo Risk-type game.
Ask anyone who's ever played Risk what is the worst part about the game, and I'll bet they say the length!! It can take forever for it to get back to your turn, not to mention how long it takes to do all the die rolls!
Now imagine there are a mere seconds between your turns, even with four other players. The computer invisibly rolls all the dice, and destroyed armies just magically disappear.
I've only beat the computer once, but isn't that the case with solitaire? I have to say, when I'm just wanting a quick time-killer, I often click on this one. The whole game of Risk in just a few minutes, and no worry of someone tipping over the board in frustration.

Best...Calendar...EVER

So I realized I've been remiss in plugging the BFF's new blog! He is always finding cool free things out there on the interwebs, and on his blog, he posts one or two each day!
His 'thing' today is an awesome meeple pdf calendar!

Farming in the New Year!

I welcomed in the new year with a solo game of Agricola today. It's odd to not have to work on a Thursday but have to go back in on Friday, so it is going to be an early night, and I'm all to myself, so what better way to start the year?!
I've really been enjoying the Agricola posts over on the blog Playing with Myself (and loving the blog name too), where the writer tells of his solo gaming in the Adventures of Johan.
In a tiny tribute, I present the story of:
Renee and Ayesha
Renee and Ayesha started their life together on the farm with many path choices. Clay did appear to be a good possibility for Renee, and Ayesha was going to manage the farm itself, plowing and gathering grain as much as possible. They set their sites on building a larger home, and fill it with many children, so the idea of working outside the home delivering clay was replaced with carpentry classes for Renee.
While taking classes, Renee decided to also take up brewing beer, a quick easy way to feed the upcoming family. In addition to the planting of the grain, Ayesha saved up for the baker's oven, after trading in the fireplace they had bought earlier. They were blessed three times with young'ens, and the kids were glad to help out around the farm!
They added enough rooms on to the house to hold all the kidlets, and even had a room for Mr. Wooley, their pet sheep. Even if their home was only clay, it was homey. The growing of grains was very successful, and all were fed with bread and beer. Thanks to their oldest child's interest in hedge keeping and mini pastures, they were able to build two small pastures at no cost to them at all. They were even able to save up for another fireplace, and then build it up into a cooking hearth, for cooking of the animals to go with the bread.
In the end, they realized they could have turned their clay nook into a stone mansion instead of letting a couple of the youngsters race canoes, and they had way more reeds saved up than they would ever need, now that the chillins' were heading off on to their own lives, but they had a happy life, and now Renee and Ayesha are ready to retire.