Sometimes You Just Need to Accept the Help That’s Offered

 Carja's Corner  No Responses »
May 092016
 

Hello. Hi. Hey there. Greetings. Hiya. Pick your favorite greeting and let us move on to the blogginess.

So this group of students designed this game as a school project and decided to host a game day at the local community centre to finance printing a professional copy of it to present to different game companies. This event was held on Saturday and of course, where’s there’s gaming, there’s me. La Crique O Jeux had a contest to win a free pass and it turns out I won. I missed the crucial post to actually claim the prize though. All in all it was a good thing since this was supposed to be a fundraiser. As it turns out, this was for the best.

The game day started at 11 and I got there a little late. I passed by Fab’s house on my way down and saw him working in his backyard so I stopped by to chat for a bit. When I left it was already 11:15 and I was worried I was going to find the place too packed. No need to worry it turned out. I was the first one there. I talked with the organizers and learned more about their plans. We also talked about the games I’d brought as a couple, Sheriff of Nottingham and On Her Majesty’s Service, piqued some interest. As no one else had arrived yet, one of the kids sat in for a game of On Her Majesty’s Service with me (I lost).

There was a hot dog sale being run to raise more funds so I went to get myself some lunch. That’s when I ran into a friend from work, Dan, and his son. And that’s where the guest count stopped. It turns out nobody else came. At least we had each other to play games with. I lost another game of On Her Majesty’s Service, won big in Age of War and  I finally got to try out my copy of Welcome to the Dungeon and also discovered Labyrinth, which is a nice little family game. Not bad at all.

We bought some raffle tickets for the prizes that were available. And they were really good prizes too. I asked the organizers if they were sure they wanted to raffle them all off since the turnout was so slim. Surely they could keep them and wait for a better turnout another time. They assured me that it was okay to participate since they were all donations anyway that hadn’t cost them anything. I walked away with three new games (and an expansion to one of them), a Firefly ornament and a keychain.  And that’s with us not even entering every raffle that was available. There were other nice prizes available, but I kept to only the things I knew I’d appreciate. I was leaving with a lot more than I’d arrived with, which was great…only I was riding Speedy that day.

Dan offered to bring some of my stuff in his car, but I thought I had everything covered. With some creative packing, I managed to get everything I’d brought plus my prizes in the bags I’d brought and one plastic grocery bag. I turned him down and made my way to my bike. I got on and slid one of the bag handles over…and it promptly tore open. Curse my stupid pride for not accepting the help I was offered! I made my way awkwardly back to the centre and asked for some more plastic grocery bags and fortunately everything held until I was able to get back to Fab’s place. I didn’t see myself biking up the hill with all those bags so I asked if I could leave them there and pick them up later. Whew!

So that’s my story for this week. Have a good seven and we’ll do this all again next Monday. Carja V.

 

 

What Did YOU Play On International Tabletop Day?

 Carja's Corner  No Responses »
May 022016
 

Hey there! Hi there! Ho there!

In case you missed it, Saturday was International Tabletop Day. I hope you all a little gaming in over the weekend. I did. And on the right day even though it wasn’t planned that way.

Normally, I have game time with my mom on Fridays. However, I was in training all last week and I didn’t think I would be up for any brain activity on Friday evening so I asked to push our gaming to Saturday. That worked out quite nicely. We got in a couple of our usual games: Dark Gothic and Lords of Waterdeep, but also a couple of new ones.

The Hare and the Tortoise is in the same series as the Three Little Pigs game I talked about last time. In this one, players are assigned one card (two in a 2-player game) showing one of five participants in the race, the hare, the tortoise, the wolf, the fox and the sheep. That’s the animal they want to win the race. They also choose one animal as a secondary bet (tertiary bet in a 2-player game) though they may choose to double down on a racer. These cards remain hidden until the end of the game, though clever players may be able to deduce which animal the other player(s) have based on card play. During a round, players will take turns playing between 1 and 4 cards of the same animal. When either 8 cards have been played or there are 4 cards of the same animal on the table, the round ends and the racers move depending on the number of cards played for them. The cleverness is in how each animal moves.

As long as at least one hare card has been played, the hare will move two spaces…UNLESS he’s in the lead and four hare cards have been played. Then he shows his overconfidence and takes a nap, moving NO spaces.

The tortoise always move one space, even if no tortoise cards have been played. The exception is if four tortoise cards have been played, then he moves two spaces. Slow and steady wins the race.

As long as least one wolf card has been played, the wolf will move the number of wolf cards minus 1 to a minimum of 1. If one of the special “howler” wolf cards have been played, the wolf moves the same way BUT all the other animals are scared by his howl and move NO spaces.

The fox moves a number of spaces equal to the number of fox cards played.

The sheep moves a number of spaces equal to the number of sheep cards played + 1 BUT the sheep MUST stop when he reaches a stream to take a drink.

So each round players must try to play cards that will most advantage the racers they’re betting on while trying to limit the number of spaces the other racers can move. At the end, players receive a number of points based on where their racers finished. First place earns 5 points for each bet, second gets 3 points while third place gets 2 points. In a 2-player game, the most points a player can get is 13 (5 + 5 if they doubled down on the animal who went on to win the race + 3 if their other bet was on the animal who finished second). In a 3 to 5 player game, the maximum score is 10 points (doubling down on the eventual winner).

It’s a simple game with a surprising amount of strategy/tactics. If you’ve bet on the tortoise, you’re better off holding on to your tortoise cards until you have four in hand since he’ll still move one space even if you don’t play any. Though you may incite other players to play more of THEIR tortoise cards if you play one. If the sheep is close to a stream, it’s a good time to dump those sheep cards you’re stuck with since he has to stop for a drink. You’ll want to hold on to a howler card until other players have committed a lot of cards to other racers, but then you run the risk of not being able to play it in time. Conversely, if a howler card has been played, you’ll want to dump cards for the racers you don’t care about and save the cards for your racers for the next turn. All in all the game plays quickly and is fun. The downside is the cost. The Tale and Games series looks great, but at double the price of what a game of its ilk should cost…though you can probably find them cheaper online.

The other new game was Speedy Words, which I discovered while playing at La Crique o Jeux. Each turn a player flips over the top card of the deck to reveal three letters (one orange, one green and one blue). The first player to name a word that starts with the letter whose colour matches the category shown on the back of the next card of the deck wins the card that was flipped. At the end of the game, the player who’s won the most cards wins. Again, it’s a really simple game that plays well with multiple players.

In site news, I’ve started the new series of mash-ups AND a new storyline for the Funnies. I (again) didn’t draw a Bandit Baby strip. It seems like the closer I get to finishing the story, the less motivated I am to draw it. I think I’m going to take a little break before starting a new Friday feature to replace Bandit Baby when it concludes. Two Funnies and a mash-up is about all I can handle right now.

That’s it for this week! Have a good seven and we’ll do this all again next Monday. Carja V.

 

 

The Week That Was

 Carja's Corner  No Responses »
Apr 252016
 

Hello Joe (and non-Joe-type persons)!

I finished the D&D mash-ups over the weekend. I thought I still had another one left to go, but no. Nektara will close things out. Any guesses on what class she’ll be?

I’m in training at work this week for a workload that our section will be handling from now on. Week-long trainings are a bear. Lotsa theory to go through. I’m trying to keep myself as involved as possible, which is unusual for me. I normally tend to just listen. As a technical advisor, I’m trying to think of questions that will help the others in the group assimilate the material we’re learning. It also helps keep me awake. 😉

I tried two new games this week: Augustus and Three Little Pigs. Three Little Pigs is a dice-based family game where you try to roll the appropriate symbols to build a house of straw, wood or bricks. If the wolf comes out, you blow on the spinner (or just give the spinner a flick of the finger) and make an opponent lose house cards depending on where the spinner lands. For example, if I pick an opponent’s house that has cards for wood and brick and the spinner lands on brick, they lose the brick card(s). It’s a cute little game based on one of my favorite fairy tales, so that’s another win.

Augustus has its similarities to bingo. The town crier picks a token from the bag and each player can place a legion meeple on one of their cards based on the symbol depicted on the token. If you fill up all the symbols on an objective card, you claim that card and all associated rewards. One of the twists is you only have a certain number of legion meeples so you’ll have to choose which card to prioritize. There are different bonus rewards for those who complete certain objectives and the timing for completing those objectives can be important. It’s not a particularly deep game, but it’s fun.

This is the last week our gaming group is scheduled to get together. There’s an unrelated game day set for May 7th and then it’ll be down to family and friend sessions until the fall. I’ll miss the mid-week gaming opportunities.

That’s all for this week. Have a good seven and we’ll do this all again next Monday. Carja V.

It’s Starting to Look Like Spring

 Carja's Corner  No Responses »
Apr 182016
 

Hey there folks. How goes?

After a little more snow, the weather finally took a turn for the warmer late last week. A lot of snow has melted (my front yard, what little there is of it) is clear and the back yard is getting there. I checked the bike path at work today and it’s starting to look good as well. Everything should be on track for a May start date. Assuming of course, I get my bike tuned up by then. A new bike shop has opened up a few blocks away from me. I need to check them out.

Last Monday, we got the message that our game night would have to be cancelled. Sadness reigned. Then on Wednesday I got a Facebook message. The people I normally go to game night with, wanted to know if I’d be interested in a mini game night with them since we’d missed out on Tuesday. Wednesday is a drawing night, so I had to say no. Well what about Thursday? they asked. Okay, they were serious about getting some gaming in. I said that would work for me and so Thursday we gamed and fun was had. And I’m not just guessing here. I know fun was had because on Friday I got another message inviting me back on Saturday for a full day of gaming. My schedule was free so I accepted and thus the Three Days of Gaming were had. Good times.

No new games this week but I justed kickstarted Rail Raiders Infinite. It’s a sci-fi western train heist game with dice-rolling as the central mechanic. The miniatures look amazing and the price was surprisingly low so I jumped in. They look to be adding some Firefly-inspired characters if the stretch goals are reached. Firefly minis? Double score! The game is projected for an October ship date so I have plenty of time to go.

I think that about covers it for this week. Until next time, have a great seven and we’ll do this all again next Monday. Carja V.

 

Whereupon I Reflect on Vehicles That Rhyme With Quick

 Carja's Corner  No Responses »
Apr 112016
 

There’ve been a few things lately that have made me think about how time seems to sneak by sometimes.

It’s already April. In some respects I feel as though the year is still just starting.

I’m almost finished my set of Dungeons & Dragons mash-ups. I forgot I’d already drawn six of them before this weekend. With the rogue done, I only have two left.

The season at the Cric o Jeux is winding down. It’s been a lot of fun going out every Tuesday to play board games.

I’m approaching my 500th Funnies strip. That’s a lot of strips. The Love Letter storyline is over. I got five months of material out of the idea “Cyran has a crush on Chae”. The next storyline should start somewhere in May.

I bought a new game last Thursday. Big surprise, I know. It’s called Age of War. I’d seen Sam Healy talk about it on the Dice Tower a while back and thought it sounded interesting. I forgot about it for a while until I stumbled upon it at my local game store, Chez Guy. It turns out it’s a retheme of a game that served as a direct inspiration for Elder Sign. On your turn you roll seven dice and choose a castle to conquer. Each castle has a number of tasks which are completed by rolling the prerequisite number of symbols on the dice. The dice used to complete a task are put on the castle card and the rest are rolled again to try to complete one of the other tasks on the card. If after rolling you cannot (or do not want to) complete a task, you lose one die and roll again. This continues until you either complete all the tasks on the card (thus conquering the castle) or you no longer have enough dice to complete any of the remaining tasks. Play goes on to the next player who begins the same process. The game continues until there are no unclaimed castles left. When choosing a castle to conquer you can choose an unclaimed castle or go after a castle another player has already conquered (an extra task is added in this case). Each castle also belongs to a clan and if you manage to conquer all the castles that belong to the same clan, those castles are flipped over and can no longer be conquered by other players. The game plays rather quickly and is entirely luck-based. If dice-rolling games aren’t your bag, then I would recommend staying away from this one. I like rolling dice however and enjoyed it as a filler game.

That’s all for this week. Until next time, have a good seven and we’ll do this all again next Monday! Carja V.

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