Wednesday, May 2, 2018
The Best Thing About Hero Quest...
Friday, March 30, 2018
Hardback Review
Received my Hardback copy that I Kickstarted. Having played Paperback once or twice, the thought of an evolved version piqued my interest. Here's an initial take after an unboxing and one game: I loved this playthrough, and I'm looking forward to the next one!
Press your luck - In most deck builders, your hand is your turn. A bad draw leads to an unsatisfying nothing turn. Not so with Hardback. Use ink and remover to turn a bad draw into a high dollar buy. I like that drawing cards (a coveted power in Dominion and Star Realms) is a core mechanic rather than in the soup of card benefits.
The power of not buying - In most deck builders, you need to buy something by the end of your turn. Use it or lose it. Adopting this in Hardback can lead to filling your deck with trash letters (L. Ron Hubbard syndrome) and a perennial lack of money. Instead, go for quality by NOT buying cards and instead buying ink. This allows you to play ACROSS turns by saving up ink, drawing all your cents next turn, and dropping it on that sweet consonant or Perennial Classic with great benefits. Once we realized this, play went a lot faster as we could buy high cost cards. We just had to wait and plot and plan.
A Game About Words - Our first game was with 3 people: one experienced gamer, one apathetic adult, and one ADHD preteen. I was worried that, like Scrabble, the word part of the game would turn players off. Instead, it provided fun stories and interesting interactions. You can turn any card into a wild and lose its benefits, so using all your cards can help you, but not as much as the above pressing your luck. I played two words that mean 'toilet' while my tongue-tied son bought "reveal adjacent wild" cards so he could focus on getting points.
Surprisingly and Pleasingly Interactive - There are no attack cards as a benefit in the standard game, but that doesn't mean it's not interactive. When in doubt, Just give up: Ghost Writer let's you play open-hand and rely on other players. They even get ink as a benefit! For a genre rife with negative player interactions ruining games (no-attack Dominion is a staple at our house), this is a refreshing way to add positive interactions. The Perennial Classic mechanic is similarly combative but not adversarial, and the Jail benefit and ability to reset the offer row can elicit a groan or two while you foil your opponents' plans.
OMG The Design There are puns everywhere, the cards are complex but not cluttered, the cardstock is pleasing to hold, and the use of meeples rather than tokens makes it chunkier than the small box lets on. Leaving room in the box for more cards might hint at expansions, but it comes with plenty of alternative ways to play. I can't wait to break out the player powers and co-op mode.
I know Paperback was hard to get for a while. If you have a chance and need a deck builder with less combat and more pithy reveals, get Hardback.
Link to Reddit discussion: https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/7tlini/hardback_first_impressions
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
2014 Board Game Buying Guide
Lunch
- Love Letter is a card game of bluffing and card counting with just 16 cards. It handles 2-4 players, but it is best with 4. Also, it comes in a number of different re-themes, so you can get a non-threatening version to appeal more to co-workers.
- Tsuro of the Seas handles 2-8 players. This "last man standing" tile game has compelling artwork, fast rounds, and dead simple rules. A whole game seldom lasts more than 15 minutes so people can jump in with little fear of going over their lunch time. There are simpler versions and expansions, so you can get as much depth as you want in the time allotted.
- Hey That's My Fish plays well for between 2 and 4 players. You should be able to explain rules while setting it up. All about area control, the gradually shrinking board is apt to cause panic even in the normally stone-faced players from Finance.
Date Night
- Hive is one of the few abstract games on this list (like chess or checkers). It presents the elegance of chess without a board, and the pieces have heft and make a wonderful clacking sound like Majong tiles.
- Jaipur is a colorful trading game whose tokens and cards make a visually impressive setup. The 2 of 3 mechanics means it is natural to play round after round. This game used to be rare, but it has benefited from a recent reprint.
- Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures Game maxes out the nerd factor. This is as close as you can get to a war game, so check with your significant other before taking the leap. Games run about 45 minutes, and it plays in a space the size of your dining room table. Best of all, there are endless expansions to add iconic and obscure characters to your fleet of ships.
Family/Friends Game Night
- Forbidden Desert is a cooperative game where you play against the game to avoid thirst, storms and the heat to get out of the desert alive. The mechanics and components are top notch, and it plays in under an hour.
- In King of Tokyo, players take the role of giant monsters vying for control of Tokyo. A fast paced dice game, the randomness and ridiculousness of it all is a hit.
- Card game The Builders: Middle Ages is a great worker placement game: hire and set workers to build a town. The rules are simple, but the gameplay is complex. This definitely benefits from replayability and the tin means it is sturdy enough to go anywhere.
- Love Scrabble but have that one friend that outstrips you every single game? Try Qwirkle for scrabble like crosswords without the burden of words. It is more puzzle than game, depending on how cut-throat you get.
- Ticket To Ride: Europe is rummy with a board, and this edition of the game is fantastic. I learned more geography from this game than I did in grade school, and the artwork is fantastic. Expansions are available and cover alternate maps and expanded ticket options. It even has an App version you can pass-and-play if you don't want the fancy box.
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Cards Against Mormonism
The cards themselves were brainstormed under the influence of alcohol and put through the refiner's fire until about 100 unique cards (33 Black and 80 White) emerged. Once the list was solid, we copied it into the brilliant Cards Against Humanity custom card batch processor. It worked flawlessly the first time marking Pick 2's and adjusting fonts as needed. This spat out two PDFs perfect for printing your own Mormon expansion to Cards Against Humanity.
This set is formatted to match the free print-and-play PDF still available on the CAH Website. Like that set, it is shared under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.0 license. You can see the original doc with those that did and didn't make it in Google Docs if you want to try your own hand at it and bring some apostasy to game night.
Sincerely,
DuncanYoudaho and FannyAlgersAbortion
Download Links:
White Cards
Black Cards
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Space Hulk: Death Angel in a Cigar Box
The Plan
Lessons Learned
- I did not leave room for the rule book at first. I had to chop down the height of the dividers once I realized the oversight.
- I originally slotted the vertical dividers x 2 on the wrong side of the measurement. This left half of the cards with a much tighter fit. It took me a it to figure out what I'd done, and I was unable to salvage those dividers. When making cuts in "The Middle", ensure you have things in the exact middle by flipping your pieces around once they have been marked. The middle should be in the same place on both pieces.
- Removing the exterior lining may not have been the best way to do things. The biggest problem with this box is that the cards will slip out through the gap between the lid and the bottom. Moving the push/pop dowels to the outside edge could fix this too. The sleeves would probably need to come off if the second option was used as the interior would lose 1/16" on all sides.
- Salvaged cigar boxes need better hardware. Especially when transporting them, it is important that all components remain secure. A swing latch could greatly increase the ability to keep the lid closed beyond the simple latches on the cigar boxes. I'm going to pick some up and make some recommendations in a future post.
Monday, July 28, 2014
DnD Table 3 and 4
Preamble
The Legs
- Outside Length: 72" x 2
- Inside Length: 69" x 2
- Outside Width: 27" x 2
- Inside Width: 21" x 2
- Legs: 30"+ x 4
- Blocks: 4 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 4 (mine are from oak as that's what I had lying around)
- Lots of 2 1/2" construction screws
- 4x 5 1/2" Carriage Bolts with Washers and Nuts
- Inside Width -> Inside Length
- Inside Length -> Outside Width
- Outside Width -> Outside Length
If all goes well, you should have a sturdy and light set of legs to use as a base for any table top you can dream of. The method of attaching the top to the base is discussed in the next section.
The Top
The latest addition was a lighter table top. Previously, we used a piece of 3/4" Oak Plywood with vinyl stapled to it. This was extremely sturdy and stable, but it was a huge pain to move. I designed the new top to be light and attach directly to the legs.Much like the legs, the top was stick framed using flashing from Lowe's. This time, 1x2's provided a good base, and Kreg Pocket Hole joinery held everything together. Along the center line, two lengths are abuttewd to provide enough surface area for the hinges. Instead of heavy plywood, I used a thin luan top. All this was wrapped in vinyl again (the most successful table covering we've had thus far). Unlike previous folding incarnations, the vinyl was split in two pieces and each half of the hinged top was wrapped separately. The cut list for my 6' 6" top is below. The Inside Stiles are not required to be the listed lengths as long as their total lengths come under 72". I placed them so they would fit between the blocks in the legs and help the top align to the legs. Your mileage may vary; see lessons learned below. As always, your local dimensional lumber may vary, measure twice, cut once, and always wear your safety glasses:
- Outside Stile: 78" x 4
- Rail: 19" x 8
- Inside Stile (Ends): 17 7/16 x 8
- Inside Stile (Center): 37 1/8" x 2
Assembly is a little trickier than the Legs. With your pocket hole jig, join the Outside Stile to the Rails at both ends. Use the Inside Stiles to locate where to place the inside Rail. Add the Inside Stiles to make a double-layer of wood in the center of the table-top to better brace the hinges.
I have tried many things to secure the table top with a minimum of fuss. Right now, I'm using machine screws and associated sockets sunk into the top. The screws thread through the legs and into the top. They require climbing under the table.
Lessons Learned
- I would decide on a method of attaching the table before I started building. The primary candidate is a Sash Lock. Placed correctly, it would easily lock the legs to the table top without climbing under each time.
- I would avoid insetting the hinges. Instead, careful placement would allow the hinges to be used without interfering with the mating of table top and legs.
- I would wrap the vinyl completely around the top so all stapling was done on the bottom.
- I would not tell my gaming group how much better this version of the table was until after it had proven itself. I have gotten no end of grief every time I climb under it to hook the two together. What are friends for, eh?
Bonus Shot: Plans
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Random Board Gaming Shots
Alea Lacta Est - Press your luck game with a Roman theme. Translation: The Die is Cast. Very fun!
Kremlin, a reprinted Avalon Hill game. Note the prototype OFBC illuminating the board
Forbidden Desert with Ethan. He loves this game, and it is awesome to see him strategize.
Telestrations with Ethan and my Grandparents. Considerably less innuendo than usual.
Dominion Case from Hobby Lobby Box and Baltic Birch 6 Ply, 5/16ths
Build
Box is a generic Wooden Artist Case from Hobby Lobby. The case fits Dominion and all expansions. Walls are Baltic Birch 6 ply. The exterior walls are glued in place, but the interior ones are not. It is designed to hold at least 3000 cards. The card separators are sized for sports cards and will get labels eventually.To add detail to the cover, I used a Harbor Freight Wood Burning Kit similar to this one from Amazon and a blown up card back image. I taped the image in place and traced over it with a ballpoint pen. After going over the trace lines with the wood burner's pointed tip, I shaded it with the wedge tip.
I still need to put finish on the cover of the case. I'm worried about the burning rubbing off over time. I also need to add labels to the card dividers.
Take Aways
- I would make the outside edge of the exterior walls come below the edge of the box. This would allow the box to close more easily. Right now, it is a tight fit.
- I would sand off the finish from the cover before wood burning. I probably will get lung cancer from the fumes I breathed in while doing this.