Another week that begins with the NEWS:
Spielbox teases deluxe edition of Hanabi [Link] Well, this looks awesome...though nearly $80 is more than I'd be willing to pay, considering the basic version is $10. (Of course, the problem is finding a copy, with the initial print run sold out.) But still: stylish.
Showing posts with label Battlestar Galactica. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Battlestar Galactica. Show all posts
Monday, September 9, 2013
Monday, June 10, 2013
Thursday, April 4, 2013
So Say We All (A Review of Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game)
Everybody look to your left. Now look to your right. One of you is probably a Cylon. It might even be you.
At least, that's the way of things in Fantasy Flight's Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game. Players will take on the roles of characters from the (modern) show as they face dangers, tense political situations, dwindling supplies, and of course the fact that some of the players are secretly Cylons working against them.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
A Weekend to Remember
This past weekend was Memorial Day Weekend, a time for remembering those who fought in our country's wars and did not come home. Pushing past all the hype, the free day off of work, and the excited commercialism, most of us celebrate the day by spending time with our families. And spending time with family is a great time to bring out the board games.
Anyways, I had a pretty game-filled weekend, so why not a little recap, starting all the way back last thursday?
Anyways, I had a pretty game-filled weekend, so why not a little recap, starting all the way back last thursday?
Friday, May 11, 2012
FDQ: Do You Add Bling to Your Games?
*Our weekly FDQ is your chance to share your stories or thoughts on
various boardgame topics. We love to hear your comments! And, if you
have a question or an idea for an FDQ let us know on Twitter, in a
comment below, or just e-mail us!*
When scrolling through the pictures on Board Game Geek, it doesn't take long to find gamers taking matters into their own hands. Custom Crokinole boards. More evocative minis. Carved, knitted, painted: whatever a person's other hobby, it is combined into the hobby of gaming to create something of beauty. So that's today's question: do you add custom bling to your games? Answer in the comments! Feel free to share pictures.
@FarmerLenny holds forth:
I'm not very good with my hands, so often custom bling is beyond me. However, I do like to make my games special where I can. I sometimes follow my sister's lead in Canasta Caliente, allowing the winner of the previous round to wear the coveted chili pepper necklace. I had great plans to pimp my copy of the 1962 version of Acquire...until I found the 1999 one at a reasonable price. How do you improve upon those skyscrapers?
It's not exactly a case of adding bling, but I did create a new storage solution for Dominion to make all of my expansions fit in one box (just like everyone else). And if a game is complex, I'll usually make (or find) an aid so players know what options are available to them. (Though I eschew aids for something like 7 Wonders because the aid can easily become a crutch; the iconography is easy enough to master after one game.)
I do have two bling dreams for my games: a custom draw bag for Ra and a new carved king for El Grande. If these projects ever come to fruition, you can be sure you'll see them here.
@Futurewolfie mutters:
When most of the games you buy are from Days of Wonder and Fantasy Flight, everything is pretty blinged out already. Most of the "bling" I've considered adding is in the way of storage solutions - trying to find good plastic storage for SmallWorld tokens, or card boxes to keep Twilight Imperium organized (neither of which has been successful or completed in any fashion...).
However, I do have lots of minis, and the best way to bling out minis is to paint them. I'm no minis painter - I have neither the patience, nor the dexterity. Fortunately, a good friend and fellow gamer has invested some time into minis painting. I hope to get my Battlestar Galactica minis painted next week, and eventually my Star Trek: Fleet Captains minis detailed. Unfortunately none of this has been done yet, so I have no pictures to share.
When scrolling through the pictures on Board Game Geek, it doesn't take long to find gamers taking matters into their own hands. Custom Crokinole boards. More evocative minis. Carved, knitted, painted: whatever a person's other hobby, it is combined into the hobby of gaming to create something of beauty. So that's today's question: do you add custom bling to your games? Answer in the comments! Feel free to share pictures.
@FarmerLenny holds forth:
I'm not very good with my hands, so often custom bling is beyond me. However, I do like to make my games special where I can. I sometimes follow my sister's lead in Canasta Caliente, allowing the winner of the previous round to wear the coveted chili pepper necklace. I had great plans to pimp my copy of the 1962 version of Acquire...until I found the 1999 one at a reasonable price. How do you improve upon those skyscrapers?
It's not exactly a case of adding bling, but I did create a new storage solution for Dominion to make all of my expansions fit in one box (just like everyone else). And if a game is complex, I'll usually make (or find) an aid so players know what options are available to them. (Though I eschew aids for something like 7 Wonders because the aid can easily become a crutch; the iconography is easy enough to master after one game.)
I do have two bling dreams for my games: a custom draw bag for Ra and a new carved king for El Grande. If these projects ever come to fruition, you can be sure you'll see them here.
@Futurewolfie mutters:
When most of the games you buy are from Days of Wonder and Fantasy Flight, everything is pretty blinged out already. Most of the "bling" I've considered adding is in the way of storage solutions - trying to find good plastic storage for SmallWorld tokens, or card boxes to keep Twilight Imperium organized (neither of which has been successful or completed in any fashion...).
However, I do have lots of minis, and the best way to bling out minis is to paint them. I'm no minis painter - I have neither the patience, nor the dexterity. Fortunately, a good friend and fellow gamer has invested some time into minis painting. I hope to get my Battlestar Galactica minis painted next week, and eventually my Star Trek: Fleet Captains minis detailed. Unfortunately none of this has been done yet, so I have no pictures to share.
Friday, March 23, 2012
FDQ: What Game Is Beautiful?
Board game design, at least within the hobby, is considered an art form. Mechanics in harmony create a well-oiled machine that is wonderful to take part in. But there are some games that go the extra mile, and beyond being beautiful mechanically are beautiful to behold. What game best falls into this category for you? Answer in the comments!
@FarmerLenny answers:
It's hard to choose just one...so I'll choose two. The first is Fresco, which is a fairly obvious choice. The components in this game are astounding, and even the insert is beautiful. The artwork throughout captures the feel of master painters fulfilling their commission. A game about master painters that wasn't beautiful would lose all street cred, so Fresco seems like an obvious choice.
Next to Fresco, the next most beautiful game I can think of is Troyes. I love the artwork style in this game. While the theme is bland, the artwork more than makes up for it, drawing the player back in time to the Middle Ages. The subdued art and color coding make it a game that's easy to stare at.
@Futurewolfie answers:
The choice for me is obvious: Twilight Imperium. Fantasy Flight Games, with their commonly hefty rulesets and lengthy playtimes may not appeal to everyone, but one thing is certain: they consistently go the distance with art, design, and the inclusion of fancy bits. Twilight Imperium is no exception. All the pieces and bits are excellent quality, with lots of color. It all feels very space-y, with art for each race that fits well within the theme, and the ships! Oh, all the tiny little plastic mini ships. Fleets of them! Fleets of these finely detailed constructions, all in one box. This game is a delight to unpack, and it has one of the finest looking boards (once assembled) I've ever seen.
Takenoko is a fairly recent acquisition, but it too carries the banner of beauty. With vibrant colors, solidly crafted stackable wooden bamboo pieces, and painted minis, Takenoko is definitely easy on the eyes.
Honorable mentions: Battlestar Galactica, and Small World. I seem to have a lot of beautiful games because I could go on.
@FarmerLenny answers:
It's hard to choose just one...so I'll choose two. The first is Fresco, which is a fairly obvious choice. The components in this game are astounding, and even the insert is beautiful. The artwork throughout captures the feel of master painters fulfilling their commission. A game about master painters that wasn't beautiful would lose all street cred, so Fresco seems like an obvious choice.
Next to Fresco, the next most beautiful game I can think of is Troyes. I love the artwork style in this game. While the theme is bland, the artwork more than makes up for it, drawing the player back in time to the Middle Ages. The subdued art and color coding make it a game that's easy to stare at.
@Futurewolfie answers:
The choice for me is obvious: Twilight Imperium. Fantasy Flight Games, with their commonly hefty rulesets and lengthy playtimes may not appeal to everyone, but one thing is certain: they consistently go the distance with art, design, and the inclusion of fancy bits. Twilight Imperium is no exception. All the pieces and bits are excellent quality, with lots of color. It all feels very space-y, with art for each race that fits well within the theme, and the ships! Oh, all the tiny little plastic mini ships. Fleets of them! Fleets of these finely detailed constructions, all in one box. This game is a delight to unpack, and it has one of the finest looking boards (once assembled) I've ever seen.
Takenoko is a fairly recent acquisition, but it too carries the banner of beauty. With vibrant colors, solidly crafted stackable wooden bamboo pieces, and painted minis, Takenoko is definitely easy on the eyes.
Honorable mentions: Battlestar Galactica, and Small World. I seem to have a lot of beautiful games because I could go on.
Friday, March 2, 2012
FDQ: Minis or Cubes
It's an age-old topic of debate. Games come with a variety of parts. Sometimes tokens are relegated to printed cardboard circles; some games resort to classic meeples and cubes to represent various elements of the game board. And then some companies, attempting to pack in as much flavor in the components themselves, fill their boxes with detailed plastic minis.
The idea of minis excites many gamers, but some just wish the parts were simpler and the games were cheaper. So, fellow gamerites, what do you think? What is your preferred style of game component?
@Futurewolfie says:
I know that @Farmerlenny will probably hate on the minis, but honestly, I love 'em. I love theme and flavor in games, and detailed plastic minis just add a whole lot to that. Starships in Twilight Imperium? Awesome! Knights in Shadows over Camelot? Sweet! Zombies and heroes in Last Night on Earth? Dude!
I realize there are drawbacks, and I can certainly understand why someone might prefer wooden parts; the colors are more distinct and easy to check at a glance, and minis definitely add to the cost of a game. Not every game needs minis—in Carcassonne, for example, it would be pointless to have minis instead of meeples (which are sort of like wooden minis anyway; they have such personality!) Ascending Empires, while we love starship minis, just wouldn't work—the disks are needed for flicking. Fortunately, detailed stickers fill in some of the flavor so we're not stuck with plain colorized cylinders.
But you know what? Last Night on Earth would just not be the same without the minis. The crowds of zombies help the story and enhance the flavor. Battlestar Galactica's Viper and Raider minis may not be entirely necessary, but the ship designs are visually distinct and again, it adds to that Galactica feel. Twilight Imperium just wouldn't have the same feel if you have different sizes or shapes of cubies to represent the different types of ships in your fleet.
And over time, I think the cost difference between meeples and minis will shrink. As the board game hobby overall grows, more and more games will be purchased, and games will get bigger print runs. Bigger print runs means smaller cost per game—and the costly part of detailed minis is creating the original mold. Heck, even wooden tokens are getting more detailed and unique, with animeeples, vegemeeples, fruitimeeples—all sorts of meeples coming in various shapes and sizes. Woohoo! I love this stuff!
@Farmerlenny says:
@Futurewolfie only gets it half right (which is half more than normal, by the way) when he says I will hate on minis. I don't hate on minis. Minis are kind of cool...when they aren't used as a mask for shoddy game design. That I don't like most games that include minis isn't a judgment on minis themselves but on a certain type of theme-rich gameplay that ignores the more important aspects of game design: decisions, downtime, and a preference for simplicity over convolution.
To me, cubes are serviceable, and most of the time that's enough. I opted not to upgrade my copy of Agricola, being perfectly content with discs and cubes. I don't need sheep that look like sheep. I make my living by reading: I can imagine a story overlaying drab bits if I want to. But most of the time, my games don't need the extra layer. What's the story in Ticket to Ride? I don't care. The decisions are interesting enough that I'm not thinking about it. If I want a good story, I'll read a book. I play games for different reasons. I'm so boring that I came this close to not applying the included stickers in my copy of Belfort. But then I realized that @Futurewolfie cares about such things, and since he is the person I'm most likely to play it with...
All of this being said, however, I am not immune to the draw of fancy components when they are paired with a good game. Show me a beautiful game (with beautiful mechanics to match), and I will likely be putty in your hand. I'm sure this is nine-tenths of the reason I purchased Troyes, and one-half the reason I haven't traded away Fresco. It was also what kept me on the fence about El Grande and what keeps Stone Age hitting the table again and again. I have a soft spot for beautiful games and components, whether made of wood, plastic, marble, or glass.
But I'm also plenty happy with my original Director's Cut edition of Kill Doctor Lucky, which I taped together myself.
The idea of minis excites many gamers, but some just wish the parts were simpler and the games were cheaper. So, fellow gamerites, what do you think? What is your preferred style of game component?
@Futurewolfie says:
I know that @Farmerlenny will probably hate on the minis, but honestly, I love 'em. I love theme and flavor in games, and detailed plastic minis just add a whole lot to that. Starships in Twilight Imperium? Awesome! Knights in Shadows over Camelot? Sweet! Zombies and heroes in Last Night on Earth? Dude!
I realize there are drawbacks, and I can certainly understand why someone might prefer wooden parts; the colors are more distinct and easy to check at a glance, and minis definitely add to the cost of a game. Not every game needs minis—in Carcassonne, for example, it would be pointless to have minis instead of meeples (which are sort of like wooden minis anyway; they have such personality!) Ascending Empires, while we love starship minis, just wouldn't work—the disks are needed for flicking. Fortunately, detailed stickers fill in some of the flavor so we're not stuck with plain colorized cylinders.
But you know what? Last Night on Earth would just not be the same without the minis. The crowds of zombies help the story and enhance the flavor. Battlestar Galactica's Viper and Raider minis may not be entirely necessary, but the ship designs are visually distinct and again, it adds to that Galactica feel. Twilight Imperium just wouldn't have the same feel if you have different sizes or shapes of cubies to represent the different types of ships in your fleet.
And over time, I think the cost difference between meeples and minis will shrink. As the board game hobby overall grows, more and more games will be purchased, and games will get bigger print runs. Bigger print runs means smaller cost per game—and the costly part of detailed minis is creating the original mold. Heck, even wooden tokens are getting more detailed and unique, with animeeples, vegemeeples, fruitimeeples—all sorts of meeples coming in various shapes and sizes. Woohoo! I love this stuff!
@Farmerlenny says:
@Futurewolfie only gets it half right (which is half more than normal, by the way) when he says I will hate on minis. I don't hate on minis. Minis are kind of cool...when they aren't used as a mask for shoddy game design. That I don't like most games that include minis isn't a judgment on minis themselves but on a certain type of theme-rich gameplay that ignores the more important aspects of game design: decisions, downtime, and a preference for simplicity over convolution.
To me, cubes are serviceable, and most of the time that's enough. I opted not to upgrade my copy of Agricola, being perfectly content with discs and cubes. I don't need sheep that look like sheep. I make my living by reading: I can imagine a story overlaying drab bits if I want to. But most of the time, my games don't need the extra layer. What's the story in Ticket to Ride? I don't care. The decisions are interesting enough that I'm not thinking about it. If I want a good story, I'll read a book. I play games for different reasons. I'm so boring that I came this close to not applying the included stickers in my copy of Belfort. But then I realized that @Futurewolfie cares about such things, and since he is the person I'm most likely to play it with...
All of this being said, however, I am not immune to the draw of fancy components when they are paired with a good game. Show me a beautiful game (with beautiful mechanics to match), and I will likely be putty in your hand. I'm sure this is nine-tenths of the reason I purchased Troyes, and one-half the reason I haven't traded away Fresco. It was also what kept me on the fence about El Grande and what keeps Stone Age hitting the table again and again. I have a soft spot for beautiful games and components, whether made of wood, plastic, marble, or glass.
But I'm also plenty happy with my original Director's Cut edition of Kill Doctor Lucky, which I taped together myself.
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