Three Years Of Games (Data, Data, Data!!)

That pretty much sums up my 2013!

At the beginning of 2011 I was inspired to start recording some of the things I was doing out of curiosity.  Specifically I wanted to track the games that I played and the music that I listened to.  I wouldn't exactly call it a new year's resolution but I was determined to stick with it and I have.  Now, three years later, I've recorded every single game I've played and every album I've listened to.  Since this is a board game blog I won't share my fastening music history but I will indulge you with tales of the games I've played (or at least the data I've collected).  One thing's for sure, the games you love and think you're playing are not necessarily the ones you're actually playing.  So let's start with my Nickle and Dime list, I know it has bias towards shorter games but it's still worth looking at.  Here it is presented in wonderfully abbreviated microbadge form, the number on the left is the play count.

Shelf Wear #1: A Seasoned Look at 7 Wonders

In Blink, Malcolm Gladwell relates an intriguing story. In the 1970s, as he tells it, Pepsi began the "Pepsi Challenge" taste test to determine whether people would choose Coke or Pepsi if they didn't know which brand was which. Pepsi won overwhelmingly in the test (which resulted in the failed and much maligned "New Coke"), even though most drinkers still professed to prefer Coke. Gladwell's point was that the method used to determine which was better was a "sip test," based on a very small sample of each cola, rather than the fuller view provided by an entire drink. Pepsi may be better after a sip, Gladwell says, but Coke is better after a glass. (Says him: I still prefer Pepsi.)

So what does that have to do with iSlaytheDragon? We are a blog that strives to be timely, and as such, our reviews are often a "sip test." We play games several times before reviewing them, but numerous pressures (timeliness, deadlines, variety) generally prevent us from "whole beverage" kinds of reviews, reviews of games that have stood the test of time for us. And that's okay. As I've said over and over again, we're reviewers, not critics. We strive to help our readers discover games and determine whether those games are worthy of their gaming dollars. The "whole beverage" test we leave up to our readers.

But the thought of going deep rather than simply broad with reviews is appealing. Hence this new series, which I'm calling Shelf Wear. Shelf Wear will focus on games that we've played a lot, quantified to 50+ plays. Chances are these will be games we've already reviewed or at least talked about, but our opinions may have changed with (or are at least better informed by) experience.

The first Shelf Wear retrospective review is of 7 Wonders.

'Tis The Season For Gaming

My daughter by the Christmas tree

I remember Christmas time from my childhood fondly.  Every year my parents, sisters, and I would cram into our car early in the morning and make the drive from Wisconsin to Ontario to visit the rest of our family.  Once we arrived the adults would have all us kids play in the basement while they attempted to catch up and relax.  I particularly remember emerging from the basement to find them playing some sort of game.  We'd barge in with a stream of inquisitive questions "Can we play? What's that card do? Who's Winning?"  Once the volume got loud enough we were sent back to the basement only to interrupt again later.  Now that we have kids of our own we usually resort to nap and bed time to get our gaming in but still face our fair share of curious children.  It's a bit of a family tradition by now I guess.  So what did we play?

Debt, Diplomacy, and Deviousness (a review of 7 Wonders: Cities)

It's easy to blend in when you're in the city. In the country everyone knows everybody. It's hard to carry out your subtle machinations among farmers. But in the city? There's so much activity, so much bustle, that you can traverse dark alleyways without notice. There are plenty of places to hide, even in plain sight. There are plenty of people to plan with, plenty of people to backstab. And there are plenty of opportunities for you to make your way to the top.

Enter the dark underworld of 7 Wonders in Cities.

Heads of State (a review of 7 Wonders: Leaders)

Civilizations may be built on the sweaty backs of the workers, but they stick around through shrewd management at the top. You may be in command of the chariot of your civilization, but the the wheels of your victory will spin faster with the right foremen and -women in place. Micromanaging is what your workers need.

The Leaders expansion to 7 Wonders allows you to put powerful overseers like Caesar and Cleopatra to work for you.

Far from a Raw Deal (a review of Sushi Go!)

Sushi: a food as beautiful as it is polarizing. Fish--raw or otherwise--may not be your thing, but you know what is?

Victory points.

And there are many of those to be had if you compose the best meal, preferably washing it down with the most pudding.

Top Ten Lunch Games

I've written on the subject of lunch games many, many times, but probably most completely here. The category of lunch games--games that can be played and in most cases taught in an hour--is near to my heart for several reasons, not least of which is lunch when I am most likely to have time free to play a game. The pressures and responsibilities of home prevent me from attending more than one game night a month. But over lunch? Then I am free.

In my earlier post, I listed several criteria for ideal lunch games. They are:

• Goldilocks playtime (neither too short nor too long)
• Simple rules
• Simultaneous (or near simultaneous) play (in other words, there's always something to do)
• Chaos factor (players have an opportunity to break gameplay conventions)

So which games am I most excited to play over lunch? Here's my list.

News Bits: 11/4/2013

This week's NEWS:

Asmadi Games opens prerelease preorders for Impulse [Link] This is very exciting news for me. This was one of the best games I demoed at Gen Con. It combines Carl Chudyk's multi-use cards we've come to know and love with the spatial elements of an epic space board game. This is a print-on-demand title, and the components will be better in the final published version, but those who preorder this edition will get 50% off the final version. I preordered mine...

News Bits: 7/29/2013

The big news this week was a failed Kickstarter campaign and the discussion surrounding it. But there's more than that. Here is the NEWS:

Fred Hicks discusses the Doom That Came to Atlantic City Kickstarter campaign [Link] Kickstarter for board games is coming out of its infancy into the shaky years of adolescence. This kind of scenario (along with many, many, many others) has with good reason made many people wary of using the platform. I know there's a lot of idealism surrounding Kickstarter, about it being used to fund people's dreams, but really, I think Hicks's advice is on the money. And because there is no great way to test first-time campaigners (to see if they're overreaching), and since I've had several less than stellar experiences myself, I'm much more likely to use my money to fund Kickstarter veterans. Against the spirit of the service? Perhaps, but less risk. (Also, the game's designer responded here. Designer/publisher relationships are complicated, to say the least.)

News Bits: 7/22/2013

Here is the NEWS:

Sentinels of the Multiverse to debut on tablets in 2014 [Link] More games coming to tablets is great news, but I think Sentinels is especially good news, given how much easier some of the bookkeeping will be in a digital format.

News Bits: 6/3/2013

I was on vacation last week, so I'm still catching up on news. But here's a good deal of the news from this week:

Bellwether Games interviews designer Ed Marriott (Scoville [unpublished]) [Link] I look forward to Bellwether's monthly designer interviews, and Marriott's interview is no exception. He details the prototyping and design process. Here's an excerpt I liked:

Simplify! In the game design process it is so easy to add more and more little rules to cover the “what-if” scenarios in your game design. I always recommend starting simple and adding detail only when necessary

News Bits: 5/20/2013

News, news, newsworthy news:

Mayfair Games sponsors GenCon guest of honor Walter Koenig [Link] Presumably so you'll buy Star Trek Catan. Still, who doesn't love Chekov?

Let's Build A Tableau Together (A Guide to Tableau Building)

Categorizing mechanics can be a tricky thing as we recently saw in a series of articles about whether or not Settlers of Catan is a worker placement game (Here's the Point and Counterpoint to get you caught up).  Rigid definitions aside, it’s helpful to know what type of games are out there and once you’ve identified what you like there’s a multitude of other games that share similar mechanics. We’ll be picking out some of the most popular mechanics (or at least our favorites) and exploring how they work, what games use them successfully, and why we love them. This week let’s take a look at Tableau Building.

Building the Babel (a review of Tower of Babel)

A tower to the sky? You don't really know why they're building it, but hey, they asked for your help, you've got nothing better to do, and they helped you when you needed to move to your new place, so it's your obligation. And you're willing to do anything for victory points.

Ah, victory points. Victory points make the world go round. In fact, they've always made the world go round, in modern and ancient times. You'll help your friends, but only as long as they help you more. After all, you've got to maintain your reputation as the world's most respectable builder. Your monuments are the ones that will endure.

Enter the world of Tower of Babel: the game where helping others is necessary, but helping yourself is paramount.

News Bits: 4/15/2013

A fairly light week as far as news is concerned, but there's some good stuff here nonetheless. Here it is, the NEWS:

Z-Man Games reveals Pandemic triptych [Link] Z-Man Games revealed the final artwork for the In the Lab and On the Brink Pandemic expansion covers this week, and all three games form one long photo. Is this a compelling enough reason to buy the new edition? Maybe, just maybe...

News Bits: 4/8/2013

This week's NEWS:

Steve Jackson asks, "Would you like to be acquired?" [Link] Steve Jackson Games, probably best known for their wildly successful Munchkin franchise (but also for their also wildly successful Ogre Kickstarter campaign), is extending an invitation to established game publishers who might like a little more support and backbone. While I don't much care for Steve Jackson's games (Revolution! excepted), there's no denying their success and know-how. Seems like it could be a golden opportunity for partnership.

News Bits 3/4/2013

Lots and lots of news this week:

TableTop invites you to International Tabletop Day [Link] The Geek & Sundry web sensation TableTop has started its own holiday. On March 30, 2013, board and RPG gamers are encouraged to do what they love--play games. At home, in public, wherever (here's the video announcement). I hope I can participate in something. (Any excuse for games, says I.) (And the story was also picked up by someone at USA Today.)

My Year in Games: 2012

Starting near the end of April 2011, I began to track every game I play (give or take a few, I'm sure) on Board Game Geek. And starting in January of 2012, I gave an overview of the games I played in the previous year, namely my "nickels and dimes" (games played 5+ and 10+ times, respectively).

It's time to continue that tradition. Here's my list of nickels and dimes from 2012, along with some commentary and a comparison to my list from 2011.

News Bits: 1/21/2013

Another week jam-packed with news. Here it is:

Z-Man Games announces new version of Pandemic [Link] Well, this video is Matt Leacock, the designer, doing the announcing, but it coincides with the release of a Pandemic Facebook page. Leacock mentioned two new roles and a new board with big pawns. I assume (or, rather, hope) that this means a bigger game board, reflective of how awesome Pandemic is. Z-Man Games reports that they are also overhauling the On the Brink expansion and will sell an upgrade kit to make the new version compatible with the old Pandemic. (The upgrade kit will also contain the two new roles. Huzzah!) There is a new expansion coming this year as well: In the Lab. The new edition of Pandemic will be available in February.

Rebuilding Another Medieval French City--In Style (a review of Tournay)

I know: the title of this review is probably not making you very enthusiastic about Tournay (another Medieval French Belgian town needs to be rebuilt?!), the leaner younger brother to geek darling Troyes , but hear me out. Tournay is different within the Medieval city-building genre, and it's significantly different from Troyes. While it's true that Troyes is more clever and maybe more enjoyable (that's debatable), Tournay remains in my collection while Troyes passed quietly out--unwept, unhonored, and unsung. Why is that? And why are comparisons to Troyes most likely inappropriate for this game? Check out my comments below!