Monday, November 24

A Nice Stack

So here is what came in the mail last week starting at the top of the stack:
Zombie Fluxx
Race For The Galaxy; The Gathering Storm (expansion)
Cthulhu Rising
Killer Bunnies and the Journey to Jupiter (the board game)
Mutant Chronicles
A Touch Of Evil, The Supernateral Game
The BFF (that's Boy Friend Forever) ordered this fine stack o' games with birthday money. Yeah, his birthday was the end of August and he ordered these just a coupe days after. But one of the games hadn't officially come out at that time, so we knew the games wouldn't be shipped until that last game had come out.
We've read through some of the rules, and yes, we've played one already! That's a post for another day.

Saturday, November 22

Big Box

A big box came in the mail this week....what could be inside??

Thursday, November 20

Rapid Recall

The other game that we played at this month’s family game day was Rapid Recall. This game is definitely in the Party Game category, playing with two teams of at least two, and could have many more. One thing we like in a party game is something that doesn’t HAVE to have even numbers on the teams. Since we’re mostly playing just for fun, we don’t get bent out of shape over teams, and always try to mix up who’s on which team.
Rapid Recall is one of the variations of Password, as in “Everyone loves Password, how can we change it just enough to make a new game of it?” Taboo is a good example of this. Rapid Recall is not.
In Rapid Recall, one team member has a list of words, and gives clues to his/her team, but the team doesn’t shout out the answers, they instead throw a chip into the chip bowl when they think they know the answer. After the timed period of clue giving and chip throwing, there is a separate timed period (and second timer) for the team members to rapidly recall all the answers they thought they knew, and take a chip from the bowl to signify they got the answer. If they miss any, then the other team also has a timed period to try to remember the answers, also taking the left over chips. The game is won when one team has enough chips to fill up their side of the board.
I think the concept is actually kinda good, but I think the execution is what kinda breaks this game. Team members tried to coach each other to remember the answers they had thrown their chip in for, which works in theory, but when others start listing words, it’s easy to forget what words you were trying to remember. Sometimes different team members thought of different answers for the same chip, and the rules say only the first answer counts (like if the answer was supposed to be flower, and they answer rose instead), so there was a little scuffling if someone answered quicker and wrong. It was also very difficult to get momentum back if it was lost, especially for the second team to try to venture guesses. If there was any discussion at all, we’d all get off track, then you can’t remember anything!
I would rearrange the concept a bit and try it again. Here’s my idea of better mechanics to the good concept:
Everyone plays for themselves. Players take turns around the table reading the clues, and everyone has a turn giving clues (once or twice around depending on how many people you have). All other players are the guessers and like in the real rules, they throw in a chip when they think they know the answer, and the giving of clues and throwing in of chips is still timed. Then on to the guessing of clues, which will not be timed, but will go in turn around the table, starting with the player on the clue giver’s left. Each player makes a guess or passes, and if they got one of the words, they take a chip, and play continues around the table until either all the chips are gone or all players pass in turn. You don’t have to only guess the answers you personally put in, and similar answers can still be guessed. How many chips each player gets each round is added up, and after everyone has had a turn (or two) giving clues, the winner is whoever has the most chips, representing the most correct answers. You’ll have to make sure to keep guessing chips and scoring chips separate, which could be done using the two different colors that came with the game, or after each clue giving round, the number of correct answers everyone has is just written down. That might be easier.
I think this would be fun in the guessing and remembering parts, and there will definitely be a benefit to being the person on the clue giver’s left. The most recent answer will probably be on the tip of the tongue, no matter who threw in the chip. Or players might try to only remember their own answers, but by the time it gets to them, their answers were already given. It could be a fun party ruckus.
I picked up this game at a thrift store, Extreeme Artist and I love to go thrifting, and I always look for games. Unfortunately, the one brand of thrift store we usually go to because of it’s better hours, is the one that prices games a bit higher than the others. But I guess $2 or $4, a game for under five bucks is a good bargain even if you end up only playing it once. That being said, I still want to get my money’s worth, and besides playability, I’m usually checking for good bits.
This game has very interesting bits, two colors of plastic chips (which do rather resemble a puffy Dorito); three cups to hold the chips, two triangle ones that are the same colors as the chips, and one larger one to throw the chips into; the board with triangles of the same colors with a hole in the center to set the larger cup into; two sand timers of different time; the box of questions; and the device to put the question card into, which has a handy sliding arrow to mark which words have been guessed. All these bits would have many uses, counting games with little ones, markers for other games, guitar picks, cups for actual chips, you get the idea. And another box of words for whatever other Password-like game you like to play.
Hmmm, you could use the sliding arrow card holder to check off your grocery items…


Monday, November 17

Agricola: Family Photo

So here's the photo of us playing Agricola on game day.
Sorry, I'm not in the shot, someone had to take the picture. ;p



Update: The comments are now corrected, Dad, so you can post anonymously.

Friday, November 14

Agricola: Family

On our family game days, I try not to be too bossy about what we will play, and just see who shows up and what they want to play. I was hoping to play Agricola, so I was glad when Dad asked about it. Since both of my kids were home this time, along with both of my parents, me and the BFF, that's six and Agricola only plays up to five. I offered to just be the teacher, and let them all play, and that way I could help anyone with their turn, but my folks opted to play as a team. This worked out great, I think, because while my Mom is a great gamer, she is a bit of an unconfident player with new games, and playing on a team with Dad gave her someone to confer with about each turn.
I wanted to introduce the game to the new players with the Family way to play. This was the first time playing Family for the BFF and I, so we were all trying something new. The Family way to play mostly means no cards, no Occupations and no Minor Improvements. The first board piece for possible actions is turned over, with a couple slight changes on actions that involve the cards; Starting Player has one food instead of a Minor Improvement, Occupation is changed to Build Stable &/or Bake Bread, and the Day Laborer is changed from two food to one food, one building supply (not sure why the change on the Day Laborer). Playing five player gave us lots of great action possibilities as well, I think I like playing five player best, lots of wood and clay available!
We had a good time playing, and ended with most of the scores pretty close, the BFF excited that he beat me by one point! Team Mom & Dad got a somewhat slighted, since there are only four stoves/ovens to be able to cook animals in, and they didn't get to buy one. They ended up having to take a couple begging cards, but if they had been able to get an oven, they wouldn't have had to beg, and would have had a comparable score. (BTW, the BFF only beat me by one point because I forgot that I had to have TWO plowed fields to get a point.)
I thought it would be fun, since the game or version was new to all of us, to do a bit of a survey about what everyone thought of the game. So here are same questions I asked everyone:

1)What did you think of the game? (BFF and I-What did you think of the Family way of playing the game?)
2)On the BGG scale, please rate the game.
3)What was the best part of the game?
4)What was the worst part of the game?
5)What’s your favorite game right now?


And here are everyone's answers:

Rawk Star Age 17

1)It was ok, pretty good
2)6
3)The little sheeples
4)First player system, I didn't like how it worked. It wasn't an incentive at the end, and if you're the last player, you're messed up
5)D&D 4.0


Artist Extreeme Age 15

1)It was fun.
2)7
3)Having to decide what to eat
4)The length
5)Munchkin / D&D


Grandpa Retired and Loving it

1)I thought it was fun, took a little long to get into.
2)7
3)I kinda liked the way it related to agriculture, to reality. You need to know that you have to eat.
4)Takes a while getting into it the first time.
5)Pegs & Jokers-depends on who you're playing with. With our volunteer friends: card games; with you guys: a board game.


Grandma Retired and feisty

1)I guess I enjoyed it, I think I will enjoy it more the next time I play.
2)8
3)Learning a new game.
4)Not understanding the rules to begin with.
5)The card game Golf / Pegs & Jokers


the BFF Forty-Something

1)I thought it was harder because getting things like grain was harder, not more than one way. was it more fun? no.
2)7 for Family, 8 for regular
3)Playing it with the family, almost a gateway game
4)Waiting between turns
5)Race for the Galaxy


ME A little older than the BFF, and he never lets me forget it

1)Not as much fun without the cards
2)6 for Family, 9 for regular
3)Playing a three generation game
4)Not having the cards
5)Agricola (did you even have to wonder?)

Monday, November 10

SSG@B&S

Yesterday was the second Sunday of the month, so time again for SSG@B&S (Second Sunday Gaming At Bryan And Shell's).
I started this family game day a couple months ago, it's not just about the gaming, it’s about the family and close friends. With the BFF’s son already a legal adult, and my two getting closer to that age every day, I wanted to set up a tradition, something that will give them an excuse to come home every once in a while after they have moved out. And the bonus is it gives my parents and brother the excuse to come over, too. My folks are retired and do volunteer work in different parts of the country, and are gone about half of the year on their trips, so it's nice to see them when they are in the state. My brother lives in the same city as we do, he actually lives across the street from the parking lot I park in for work, but just like in any busy family, we really don’t see each other that often. But since gaming was always a part of our life when my brother and I were growing up, it's still something that can bring us all together.
Yesterday was this months game day. My parents and my children played Agricola for the first time, with the BFF and I. We played the Family rules. My brother got here after we had started, but was happy to play Spore on the computer while we were farming. We also played a party game called Rapid Recall that I had picked up at the thrift store. I'll write more this week about each of these games.

Monday, November 3

Can You Hear Me Now?

One of my favorite gaming podcasts, Garrett's Games & Geekiness, holds contests pretty regularly, where you answer a question or two in order to be put into a drawing.
The new fun thing is that you get two entries into the drawing if you send in a recorded entry. Well I couldn't pass that up!
You can hear my voice and silliness on Episode 138 of this great podcast.
Spoiler Alert: I didn't win ;p