Brown-Bag Games

Especially now with a new baby in the house, most of my gaming takes place over my lunch hour at work. There's a pool of around six of us to draw from where I work, and usually somewhere between three and six of us are interested over any given lunch hour when a game is proposed.

All of this lunchtime gaming has got me thinking about my favorite lunchtime games, as well as what I value in a lunchtime game. See my thoughts below!

Black Market Pier Pressure (a review of Santiago De Cuba)

[Editors note: The following is a Nemesis Review, featuring opinions from our in-house eurogamer, @Farmerlenny, and his deadly enemy the thematic space-loving @Futurewolfie.  Make sure to read both opinions to get a better overall picture of the game!]

A good lunch game is hard to find. A game that easily lands itself within an hour time frame often lacks the depth of longer, more satisfying gaming experiences, and games that go beyond the bounds of a lunch hour might force some players to sit out or work after hours to make up the time.

Enter Santiago de Cuba, a lunchtime Euro of black-market goods, supply and demand, and shipping. But the question is, is this a boat you want to be on? Find out below!

FDQ: What Is Your Greatest Find?

One man's trash is another man's treasure. Well, really, often one man's trash is another man's trash. But occasionally, out in the wilds of thrift stores, we can find the holy grail. Which brings us to today's question: What is your greatest gaming find? (Alternatively, what game is a "find" that most other gamers don't know about?) Answer in the comments!

@FarmerLenny answers:
I haven't had much luck at thrift stores with regard to games. (I did once find a first edition copy of 1984 at a library book sale for fifty cents. But I digress...) I did find Ulcers there, a game that isn't very good but has a fantastic theme. I've tinkered with it over the years, and my wife, sister, and I enjoy playing it.

As for an undervalued game, Midgard takes the prize for me. When I saw it for $7.99 on Tanga, I thought it must be bad; why else would a $40-$50 game be so cheap on a deal site? But my brother-in-law loaned it to me, and I've really come to value this game of Vikings dying gloriously. Is it the best game out there? No, but it's certainly worthy of more attention than it's gotten.

@Futurewolfie answers:
I do spend a lot of time, when I visit thrift stores or Half-Priced Books, looking at the game section.  You just never know when you might discover something someone gave away who didn't know what they had.  Unfortunately, the core group of gamers that plays the good stuff is too thrifty to give their goodies away, thanks to BGG trades, so I really haven't discovered anything good.  I've seen a few games that look quite horrific, or ridiculously insane - or yet another entry in a long line of collectible Star Trek board games.  I actually own a couple of those because my family members nab them for me for some reason.  And I'm not exactly sure how an "INTERACTIVE VCR GAME" could possibly play differently each time. 

Also unfortunately, I'm not super great at finding undiscovered treasures.  Pretty much for the most part I find games because other people have pointed them out, and I get a lot of ideas from @FarmerLenny.  Awkward.  If there's one game I own that hasn't been talked about all that much, it's Olympos.  That game is awesome.

My Year in Games

Apparently I played a lot of 7 Wonders this year...

I'm something of an archivist and always have been. I enjoy documenting and tracking both collections and the things I do. For several years I've kept a logbook of every book I've read throughout the year. Around April 2011, I began tracking my board game plays on Board Game Geek. Since that time, here are my "nickels and dimes," games I've played 5+ and 10+ times:

Valhalla Is a Place on Earth (a review of Midgard)

 [Editors note: The following is a Nemesis Review, featuring opinions from our in-house eurogamer, @Farmerlenny, and his deadly enemy the thematic space-loving @Futurewolfie.  Make sure to read both opinions to get a better overall picture of the game!]

A game about Vikings dying gloriously in battle? Sounds like an odd yet interesting premise. And with elements of card drafting, area control, and even a little set collection, Midgard delivers on that interesting premise thematically and strategically, all in a game that lasts under an hour. What did we think about it? Take a look!

Who Teaches the Teacher?

There's a scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where Indiana Jones is brought face-to-face with the person who has manipulated both Indy and his father in order to find the holy grail: Walter Donovan. Indy is surprised by this, as Donovan seemed so friendly and forthright before. And for good measure, Donovan had told him at the beginning of the movie, "Don't trust anybody." Surely he didn't mean to include himself in that?

Betrayal by the sage who initiated one's adventure is a well-worn trope and, if the number of movies it appears in is any indication, makes for great cinema. It does not, however, make for great board gaming. And, unfortunately, for those of us who teach board games, it can sometimes give us an unfair advantage.

Gaming Weekends and First Impressions

Living as I do on the edge of civilization (or at least far away from the rest of my kin), I try to spend my birthday among family, and this year was no exception. I traveled to the exotic land of Nebraska to spend the weekend with my sister and brother-in-law, and true to Nebraska's landscape, there wasn't much to do except game. All told we fit in eleven plays of eight unique games (three of them mine, two already reviewed—El Grande and Eminent Domain—and our 7 Wonders review coming this week), four of which were first-time plays for me. I also got to try a new game I got for my birthday and attended open gaming at my local gamestore this past Saturday (I went with friends, so I didn't chicken out this time). Needless to say, this would be considered gaming overload for most, but I took it in stride, and now I'll give you my first impressions of all the new games I played.

(First plays of Midgard, Glen More, Puerto Rico, Resident Evil Deck-Building Game, Ra, and Stone Age)