Dean
1601
There are a bunch of Qt3’ers around Boston who try to get together once a month. We try to call it D&D, but there’s an ADD contingent who always wants to try out the next big game/campaign setting/thing with shiny bits.
So if everyone can’t get together on any of the weekends of a month, a smaller contingent will get together for boardgames. We spent most of the summer playing Starcraft (the boardgame) this way.
Oh, and every October I have a morning until we can’t stand it anymore boardgame day. I make pancakes and in the evening we order out from a local BBQ place. We call it DeanCon.
BTW, Jason, I don’t think that Death Rally (is that what it was called?) was too long in general, I think it was one track tile longer than it took for the food to get there. That was some powerful BBQ waiting for us, and I already knew I was nowhere near winning.
Most of my gaming is with Reldan and his coworkers, and that was a connection made through Qt3. Other than that, I’ve met some quality people through what qualifies as my friendly local game store (A guy who gets you your orders from the back of his minivan), and they basically have an email list where on Monday or so of each week everyone who can participate on the weekend says something so it can be coordinated (eg my house is free on saturday and I’d like to give x a try, if anyone is up for that). Once you hit a critical mass like they have, it’s easy to game whenever you want without it feeling like an obligation.
So I guess I’d say use the gaming society or FLGS as a way to choose individuals or smaller groups you’d like to game with again, and then strike up a conversation and get organized. I expect had I not been so lucky I’d have to be pretty ruthless about filtering.
Mrenda
1603
That’s the thing, we have groups to play with, just not the location to play the games. There’s a couple of older people from the gaming society looking for mature gaming. And there’s a couple of people who have co-workers and the likes who want to game. The problem is the gaming store has one table and is downright unfriendly, no-one goes there. No-one wants to be spending the €20+ per person a bar expects for a nights usage. The local christian group with a hall needs us to pay for the staff to keep it open. And houses are either full of kids, or small and packed with non-gaming roommates. It’s probably a bit futile asking where people game here, because we all know our local scene and city well. It’d just be nice to have somewhere to go and not be bound to people. And we can’t use the University society because some people simply don’t want to hang around with 18 year olds.
Still, three of us are getting together this evening in a local pub to play the Essen haul. Habemus Papam and Age of Wonders looks to be on the cards. I shall report back.
Ah, brutal. Yes, there are benefits to living in a less-expensive-real-estate area.
Eric_P
1605
Do your local libraries have meeting rooms you and sign up to use?
Mrenda
1606
Not at the hours we’d be wanting to play. One of the guys involved with this already runs Saturday morning gaming for 9-14 year olds, so we’ve been through it with the places. My post was mainly desperation, we’ve been trying the options and have come up with nothing. Well nothing that doesn’t involve putting down cash up front, which we’re not willing to do, and we’re not willing to take advantage of the places we do drink in because it wouldn’t be fair on them.
A guy from BGG just posted a 30 minute HD review of the upcoming Civilization: The Board Game. The first part covers the components and the second part covers gameplay. Gotta say, it looks amazing and I’m more excited than ever to get my hands on it.
All of Jeremy Salinas’ Components Breakdown videos are very well done and informative.
I have my qt3 guild badge :)
I added Dungeon Twister 2: Prison to my CoolStuffInc wish list, since it looks like a perfect 2-player strategy with my favorite theme. I’m surprised I hadn’t heard of it.
We need a google map set-up where we can see everyone who wants to game and come up with some sort of triangulation system to determine meeting locations.
Today I got to play Chicago Express for the first time, and I loved it. The layers to profit in the game combined with the auction mechanic (and the strange half-coop aspect of sharing a company with another player) feels like a very modern take on Acquire, except that I think the stock/company money aspect is probably one of the more interesting twists I’ve seen in the optimization genre. It adds a lot of uncertainty, but it doesn’t feel like uncertainty that neutralizes good strategy, just a level that keeps it interesting for all players.
Fluxx was boring, and I ended up wanting to play the card that would let another player win but decided it would be wrong not to play to win. It didn’t last much longer, so I’m glad I stuck with it, but that’s probably the first filler game I’ve wanted to walk out on.
Cartagena is still fantastic, and I think it’s going to join Citadels and Tichu in my newbie/travel home boardgame pack. I like that moment when the idea of it being a game about moving backwards more than moving forwards clicks, and I think the option to play with open or secret hands and upcoming cards adds a lot of modularity depending on how many variables you want other players to have to take into account.
EDIT: also, I opened my new copy of Claustrophobia, and holy shit. It’s probably the most thoughtfully designed title I’ve cracked open in a long time, including the manual. It’s firmly Ameritrash but with that sort of brilliant design twist (the way dice are used and future moves cancelled, for instance) that brings to mind the way that more refined Euros have you interacting with your pieces. I’m very excited about this, especially when I realized that it includes both set scenario levels and “explore as you go” levels like Ravenloft.
dogbert
1615
I’ve been playing the iPhone version a bunch & love it too. Love the share/auction mechanic like you say, and there’s whole layers of strategy I haven’t mastered - the whole “null auction” mechanic, balancing when to invest/when not etc.
The AI does okay in 3/4/5 player games, but it’s a whole different game two player - /way/ more cut throat & competitive. One mistake against the AI & you’re done.
Lorini
1616
Baltimore & Ohio is finally in wide release so if you want something heavier than CE, I’d highly recommend it.
Yeah, that one was a surprise for me, too. The coopetition thing is a pretty nifty mechanic.
Fluxx was boring, and I ended up wanting to play the card that would let another player win but decided it would be wrong not to play to win. It didn’t last much longer, so I’m glad I stuck with it, but that’s probably the first filler game I’ve wanted to walk out on.
Fluxx is the worst “game” in the history of gaming. Not only is it completely broken and stupid in a way that makes it unplayable as a real game, but since it’s so non-interactive and asocial, it’s not even good for times when everyone is tipsy and tired and wants something light to play as they sit around chatting and drinking.
So I went to a game meetup thing yesterday for the first time ever, which was fun. Ended up mostly playing Touch of Evil, which is good, but not my favoritest game ever – but I did start off by playing a game of Ascension. It was… okay? It seems very Thunderstone-y; it plays cleaner and quicker, but somehow less thematically rich. I think if you have either one of these games, you don’t really need the other.
I think the weight on this one is just right, but I’ll look into it. Thanks.
That may well be the case. To add insult to injury, it was Monty Python Fluxx, which is probably the worst use of theme I’ve seen in a game yet.
peterb
1619
Fluxx is clearly intended to be played while stoned. I do not speak from personal experience, but it’s pretty obvious.
Lorini
1620
If you ever saw the designer, you would agree with this. He was at the last con in LA and he looked very hippie-like.
