Lords of Vegas & A 10 x 10 Game Challenge Update

Beginning in January I started three board gaming challenges to complete in 2016 for myself:

1. 10 x 10 Challenge - Play 10 Games 10 Times Each
2. 2016 52 Game Challenge - Play 52 Different Games Based on Specific Criteria
3. 1 x 100 Challenge - Play 1 Game 100 Times (Not constrained to complete in 2016)

So here is where the 10 x 10 Challenge stands to date:

1. 7 Wonders Duel = 6 plays
2. Guillotine
3. Lords of Vegas = 1 play
4. Machi Koro
5. Munchkin = 3 plays
6. Pandemic
7. Power Grid = 1 play
8. RoboRally
9. Yedo = 1 play
10. Zombicide

Last night Mark and I kicked off the first plays for two more games on this list Power Grid - which I reported on here - and Lords of Vegas.

Lords of Vegas is a fun game where you are building casinos on the Las Vegas Strip. The game mechanics are pretty simple. You draw a card which tells you which lot you get and which color of casinos pay out. If you have casinos in that color you get more money plus $1 million per parking lot (game term for an empty lot) you own. When your color of casino pays out, you also get victory points. The player with the most victory points when the Game Over card comes up wins.

Dice are used in this game to determine control of a casino. If two players build the same color casino right next to each other on adjoining lots, that is considered one casino and the player with the highest number of dice pips showing gets the victory points when the casino pays out. The non-controlling "partner" can contest this arrangement by challenging the other player to a dice duel by paying $1 million/pip showing. They then roll the dice concerned and whatever the outcome, that is the who controls the hotel. Sometimes control changes. Sometimes it does not.

The pips on the dice also control how much a player is paid for his/her casino when that color pays out. The number of pips showing for that casino (on all of the adjoining lots with that color) x $1 million = the payout. This provides incentive to acquire neighboring lots and build really big casinos.

Another incentive to acquire neighboring lots and build large casinos is the victory point track. It uses a unique mechanism to keep one player from getting a gigantic lead. Every so often the ability to move forward on this track suddenly becomes difficult because you don't move forward one point at a time. for awhile you have to be able to move forward two points at a time - or not at all. Then three points at a time - or not at all. Then four...and then five...and then six. Each lot involved in a casino counts as a victory point. A two lot casino will get you over the two point hump, but not the three point hump.

Another way to get over the victory point humps involves the only expansion to come out for this game. It's called UP! It allows you to add floors to your casinos. Each floor counts as a victory point as well.  Last night when Mark and I were playing, I had a two-lot casino that was five stories tall. That's 10 victory points and gets me over two five-point humps.

I actually won the game last night! I know I sound astounded, but it's very rare for me to win this game, especially when playing against Mark. It was a close game for most of the time. I would pull ahead and then he would pull ahead. However, in the end I made a few moves that shot me into the lead and he was not able to catch up. He did some analysis after the Game Over card came up and figured that even with two more turns, he would not have been able to catch up to me. That really felt good. I don't usually win by that much.

#44/52. A Game That was Originally Published in a Different Language - Power Grid

Yesterday was a game day at the Carmichael, CA Public Library. I had been looking forward to that game day all month. It turns out that I couldn't go. Not because I didn't have the time or had other obligations, but because I have a cold. I didn't think it would be nice of me to share my miserable cold with the rest of the gaming community, so Mark and I stayed away. First we went out to Folsom to check out a board game store we'd heard about but never seen called The Game Getaway (more on that in a different post) where I picked up a copy of Codenames, and then we came home and played a couple of games in the evening.

One of those games was Power Grid. This game was designed and published by Friedemann Friese, a German board game designer. It's German name is Funkenschlag and the game was originally published in German. Friedmann Friese is known for designing games with odd themes. Building and running a power grid certainly sounds like a dry theme, but the game works and is compellingly fun and competitive. In fact, the Meeple League runs tournaments around this game!

In this game players are competing to build the largest and most robust power grid in a particular market. The different markets can affect how the game is played. In some markets some resources are quite scarce while others are abundant. In other markets, the resources market is regulated or rigged.

In the Australia map it is illegal to build a nuclear power plant. On other maps, nuclear is illegal in some parts of the map, but not in others. As the game's popularity took off, the company published more market maps. The current list includes:

• Australia & Indian Subcontinent
• Benelux/Central Europe
• Brazil/Spain & Portugal
• China/Korea
• France/Italy (the only one we don't currently own)
• Germany/United States (the map that comes with the base game)
• Northern Europe/United Kingdom & Ireland
• Québec/Baden-Württemberg 
• Russia/Japan

There are three phases to each turn. First you buy power plants. There are several resources available to power these plants. Coal, oil, garbage, and uranium will all cost you money to purchase in the next phase of the turn. There are also wind powered plants and, later in the game, even more advanced plants that cost nothing to run, but are very expensive to purchase. They become even more expensive because they are purchased at auction and your fellow players can drive up the cost of a plant by bidding on it. A player can have three plants in front of him/her at a time. When you buy a larger or more efficient plant, you discard one of your older or less efficient plants out of the game.

In the second phase of the turn you buy your resources. Coal and oil are always more abundant in the early part of the game. They are, of course, more polluting and the cards depicting the power plants show that in their representations. You are limited to buying only double what your plants need to power your towns. However, this does still allow you to drive up the price of resources for your competition if you are able to snatch up all the cheap coal and oil early in this phase each turn. The refresh rate for resources fluctuates during the game, so some resources that were once abundant can suddenly become quite scarce.

The third phase of the game is building houses in towns. Each town has three areas (usually). In stage one of the game you can only build in the area that cost $10. In stage two you can build in the $15 and in stage three you can build in the $20 area. Except, here's the rub, you cannot build in a $15 or $20 area where you have already built in that city. You have to move on to other cities in the market. So it pays to be the first person to get into a city cheaply and then to spread out from there. Between the cities there are connection costs that also must be paid. After all, you must connect new cities to your existing power grid. Once everyone is done with this, it's time to power everything. Players get paid based on how many of the houses they built that can be powered by the plants that they have. It is possible to have more houses on the board than you have the capacity to power. That's ok. 

The game ends when the number of houses built goal for the game has been reached. This varies based on the number of players. The winner is the player with the most number of POWERED houses. NOT the most houses. If there is a tie, money on hand is the tie breaker. 

Mark and I played a really competitive game last night. It was neck-and-neck until I made a tactical error at the very end. I bid too much for one of the largest power plants and then didn't have enough left to buy resources for my remaining garbage plant. Mark ended up winning the game. It was a very good and fun game however. 

One final note... this play also counts as one of my 10 x 10 plays because I have Power Grid listed as one of the games on that list as well. I've made some pretty good progress on both that list and the 2016 52 Game Challenge. I'll post another Tale of the Tape here soon. 

#27/52. A game you can finish in under 15 minutes - Tsuro

A coworker has been fascinated by my board gaming hobby and has been asking me question after question about it. She seemed flummoxed when I told her about ConQuest Avalon that was held back in November. Since then she has continued to ask me about the types of games that I play so I finally brought one in to play with her at lunch time. The first game was Qwirkle. I wrote about that game here. The game I brought in today was Tsuro: The Game of the Path. This is perhaps the most zen game in my collection.

In this game each player is a dragon flying over the skies of ancient China. Each dragon starts at the edge of the board - where on the edge does not matter. Each player is dealt three tiles with varying paths on them. There is a grid on the board. You choose one tile and lay it on the grid before your dragon piece. Move your dragon to the end of the path before it. Then the next player goes. The object of the game is to avoid running into another dragon and to avoid running off the edge of the board. The last player remaining on the board wins.

Because there are several paths on each tile, planning which direction to lay your tile down can sometimes be a bit tricky. As the board becomes more and more crowded, the potential paths become longer and more complicated. It is even possible that a player can lay down a tile that will move more than one dragon at a time. It is possible for one player to run another player off the edge of the board. However, more often than not, a player will end up maneuvering themselves to the edge of the board to avoid the other dragon(s) and will accidentally run him/herself off the edge of the board. Colliding with another dragon will also knock both of the dragons out of the game.

This is a quick and easy gateway game to teach to just about anyone. I've taught this to non-gamers, young gamers, and my 95 year old Grandma - who subsequently beat me. I bought this game on the recommendation of a FLGS employee and have really enjoyed it ever since.

#22/54. A Game with a Horror Theme - Elder Sign

This is probably the only game that I am going to feel like I "cheated" on, but by the rules of this challenge, this is a legitimate play of this game. On January 25, 2016 I played a game of Elder Sign using the Elder Sign Game Application produced by Fantasy Flight Games - the same company that produces the Elder Sign board game. This is a single player game application of the board game.

Elder Sign is a horror themed board game based on the stories of H.P. Lovecraft. In the regular board game each player plays one or two investigators, each with special abilities or skills, who are investigating strange occurrences happening within the Arkham Museum. Usually, the idea is to stop the disciples of an elder god from Lovecraft lore from calling forth the elder god and thus the end of the world. This was not exactly the case in the scenario I was running the other day.

In this scenario, the group of four investigators is trying to gather enough supplies at the Arkham Museum in order to travel to Alaska to fight an elder god named Ithiqua - a wild and evil being - in order to rescue a colleague who has been looking for evidence of Ithiqua's existence and has apparently been captured. This is a very hard scenario. Once you leave the museum and travel to Alaska, there are a series of challenges to fight through while maintaining your health and sanity levels.

In this particular play-through I managed to get all the way to Ithiqua's cave with three of my four investigators still alive and sane. In the final battle against Ithiqua you have to fight Ithiqua three times without failing in order to defeat him and rescue your colleague. If you fail even once, your colleague goes insane and the character who failed will quite likely die. If he or she does not die, he or she will be very badly wounded. In this case, I was not successful and all four of my investigators died.

This game, and especially this scenario, is a challenge. You roll dice to try to match symbols in order to defeat the challenges. At times you can apply red or yellow dice to give your attempts some extra oomph. At other times the challenges will deprive you of the regular (green) dice you thought you had access to. There is a lot of luck involved in this game and the occult and horror theme makes this game NSFW, but otherwise ok for mixed company.

In Other News...ConQuest SAC is Coming!!!

I am REALLY looking forward to the upcoming local convention - ConQuest Sacramento! It is scheduled for April 1-3, 2016 at the Crown Plaza Hotel here in Sacramento, CA. This is the biggest board game convention that is held here in Sacramento and is going on it's 11th year. This is the first year that this convention is being held at the Crown Plaza Hotel. It moved to this venue because it had outgrown its old venue.

This is my third year attending ConQuest Sac and is my second year running games. I just submitted my games for this year and I am really looking forward to this slate of games.

Friday, April 1st @ 12:00 - 5:00 p.m. - RoboRally: In this game you are a super computer that has grown bored with producing widgets. You've colluded with the other super computers to develop a capture-the-flag contest using the factory robots and factory floor. There are obstacles and dangers, including your opponents and your own short-sitedness that can really mess up the best laid plans.

This game is the game that got me back into board gaming. I love this game but don't get the chance to play it nearly as often as I would like. I used to have the base game and all of the original expansions, but I lost them in a divorce. Now, in order to obtain the expansions I would have to spend hundreds of dollars to purchase them via eBay. I just don't have that kind of money to spend on this game. However, I have found a place where the game board maps have been made available as PDFs. So my plan is to download the images, print them out, and laminate them so that I have them available to play with at this convention.

Friday, April 1st @ 7:00 - 11:00 p.m. - T.I.M.E. Stories: Asylum:  You have just graduated from the T.I.M.E. Agency Academy and are a newly minted agent ready for your first mission. Your group is going back in time to prevent a time-altering catastrophe from occurring. You have a limited amount of time to fulfill your mission before you are drawn back to your home time and you have to report in. If you fail, you will be sent back to start over from the beginning with only your memory of what transpired before to guide you through the second run.

This game is one of the most innovative games to come out in 2015. It's a combination of a choose-your-own-adventure and RPG*-in-a-box. If you have never played an RPG, this is a great introduction. If you have played an RPG, this will seem familiar and will be great fun as a one-shot game. Join me for this gaming experience!

Saturday, April 2nd @ 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. - The Dread Hangover: This RPG is unusual in a few ways...Dread is a RPG that uses the horror genre instead of the fantasy or sci-fi genre. When I play Dread, I always do these games as one-shot events rather than on-going campaigns. The idea is to spend a few hours enjoying a horror genre story that gets your blood pumping as you try to get your character out alive.

Speaking of characters, the Dread characters are generated through questionnaires rather than a series of stats that are generated via rolling dice. Usually the Game Master (GM) will generate a different questionnaire for each person to answer at the start of the gaming event. The character will react to situations based on how the player answered the questions. In the case of this convention, I'm going to answer the questionnaires and generate the characters ahead of time and then pass them out to the people that show up. They will take some time to read through the questions and answers in order to "get to know" the character they are going to play for the evening.

Finally, Dread does not use dice as the randomizer. Instead it uses a Jenga-type tower to create tension and decide hard actions. Don't let your prowess at playing Jenga scare you away from trying this game however. The game is not about the Jenga tower. It's about the story and the tension that builds. Most of the pulls a person does will NOT result in the tower collapsing, but it will start adding to the tension that will build as the structure of the tower becomes more precarious. Join me for this unique type of RPG!

Saturday, April 2nd @ 7:00 - 11:00 p.m. - T.I.M.E. Stories: The Marcy Case: This is the first expansion for T.I.M.E. Stories and is an excellent story to play. You are sent back in time to 1992 small town U.S.A. to rescue young Marcy who has disappeared. You are told that she is important to the future and shown a picture of a young girl. From there everything goes crazy. It doesn't matter if you have or haven't played the base game. This expansion will allow you to join in on the experience and successfully (or not) play through the scenario. It's a great way to spend your evening at the convention!

There is one more expansion coming out at the end of January called "A Prophecy of Dragons." If I am able to get this expansion before ConQuest SAC, I'll sign up to run it on Sunday. However, its release keeps getting pushed back. The original flier that came in the base game box said it would be released in Q4 of 2015. Now the word is that it will be released on January 31st, 2016. I've pre-ordered it from Great Escape Games. We'll see when it comes in...

*RPG = Role Playing Game

#13/52. A Game Set in a Different Country - Yedo (Feudal Japan)

Last Tuesday night was our night for playing games set in foreign countries. In my last post I talked about a game called Istanbul. After we got done with that game I asked our friend, Richard Bright, if he'd ever played Yedo. He said that he had not but would be willing to give it a try. Another gentleman we'd never met before named Scott came over and asked if he could join us. Of course we said yes.

Yedo is a worker placement game where each of the players is acting as the head of a powerful family in the feudal city of Yedo (now Tokyo), Japan. The Shogun of the city has recently died and you want to get in good with the new Shogun so you are trying to earn more prestige (aka victory points) than the other families in the city. You do this by completing missions where you are committing acts of espionage, warfare, or kidnapping in order to earn money and prestige from the Shogun. There are 11 rounds in the game and each round has a specific set of steps. There is also a game mechanic that can mess with the players called The Watchman.

The Watchman goes from city section to city section each round. If your workers are in that city section when The Watchman arrives, they are arrested and removed from the board for that round. That can really mess with your plans. There are also event cards that can mess with your plans as can other players. Richard and I seemed destined to mess up each other's plays from the word "Go!"

Yedo is a beautifully rendered game.
The board is a work of art.

In the last round I really need to be able to place a worker in the Harbor District to complete my last mission. An Event card came up that closed the Harbor District and I was crest fallen. Mark played a card that allowed us to re-open the Harbor District because he needed it open too. I was joyous at that. However, I was the last one to be able to place my worker. Richard decided to take the last available spot in the Harbor District - partly because he needed it too and partly to mess me up. As a result there was nothing I could do to earn enough prestige points and I ended up coming in dead last instead of second place behind Richard. It was a masterful play that he did to protect his first place standing.

Yedo is a beautifully rendered game. The board is a work of art. The components (cards and pieces) are well crafted). The game play is smooth and goes very well. I always look forward to playing this game. In fact, not only is it on my 52 game challenge, but it's also on my 10 x 10 challenge. This play represents the first of 10 times I plan on playing it this year.

#29/52. A Game Set Somewhere You've Always Wanted to Visit - Istanbul (Turkey)

Mark and I went to a Board Game Meet-Up at Denny's in Citrus Heights last Tuesday (01/19/2016) and got to play a game that I've had my eye on for some time, but had never yet played, called Istanbul. Our friend, Richard Bright, brought it. Istanbul is the 2014 winner of the Kennerspiel des Jaris Award - one of the most prestigious board game awards - and after playing it, I can see why.

The board is made up of tiles that represent the City of Istanbul. They include a small market, police station, tea house, large market, gem dealer, and other places you would find in an ancient Middle Eastern city. Each player is a merchant with 4 assistants. You send your assistants out and about the city to acquire goods to sell or to sell your goods and buy gems. The object of the game is to be the first one to purchase a specific number of gems. I believe the number is based on the number of people playing the game.

On first impression I recognized what a beautifully rendered game this was. The board tiles are beautifully drawn and render the theme of the game very well. The gems are, of course, plastic, but they look very sparkly and can almost convince you that they are indeed gems. The merchant and assistant pieces are good solid wooden discs and are easy to handle and move around the board.

Game play was quickly explained and easy to learn. We got into playing and moved along at a decent pace. Very quickly Mark and I realized that this is a game that we are planning to add to our collection. Especially when we learned it can be played by two players. I think that Mark and I got distracted by the game play while Richard kept his eye on the goal of the game. He ended up winning.  Still, we had a good time with this game and I'm looking forward to playing it again very soon.

#28/52. A Game with Antonyms in the Title - The Good, the Bad, and the Munchkin

When I was planning out the games for my 2016 52 Game Challenge and I got to the criteria that specified "A game with antonyms in the title" I was stumped. I could not think of a single game that would qualify. I looked up "list of antonyms" on Google and found this list on Enchanted Learning. I began plugging pairs into the Board Game Geek database to see what came up. For much of the search it was a big fat ZERO, or there were games that were out of print, or games I didn't own, or games I wasn't interested in. Until I came to Good/Bad. The Good, The Bad, and The Munchkin was second on the list and is a game I own!!! Huzzah!!!

The Good, The Bad, and The Munchkin is a stand-alone Munchkin variant that pokes fun at the Old West genre using the Munchkin Theme and rules. For an explanation of how to play Munchkin, please see my earlier post about Star Munchkin.

In this variant there are no races (like Elves, Dwarves, and Halflings). There are only Humans so you only get to choose your class (job). In this game the classes include:

• Indian
• Dude
• Outlaw
• Cowboy
• Cavalry

You are dealing with monsters like the Train Robber (who is a train engine monster), Cactus Jack (who is a cactus monster), and the Paul Bunion (who is a foot-shaped monster), among others. There are traps to deal with which will make you lose gear or base levels, and of course, your "comrades" who are trying to sabotage your progress to Base Level 10 and winning the game. Again, this is a very tongue-in-cheek game and is designed to give the players a laugh while playing.

Mark and I played two games and we each won one game. One of the neat things you can do with this game and Star Munchkin is combine them (you need all of the expansions for Star Munchkin) to play Firefly Munchkin - a space western. Mark and I are planning to do this sometime in the near future. 

#8/52. A Funny Game - Munchkin (Star Munchkin)

For my Board Game Geek 2016 52 Game Challenge, #8 on that list is "A Funny Game." No game to date has made me laugh more and with more people than Munchkin and its variants. In this case, Star Munchkin! Both were developed and published by Steve Jackson Games.

In Munchkin - and it's variants - all of the players are part of an adventure group. A regular Munchkin game is based on Dungeons & Dragons and features creatures from that particular game like:

• Centaurs
• Dwarves
• Elves
• Gnomes
• Halflings
• Humans
• Lizard Guys
• Orcs

You also get to play classes (or jobs) like:

• Bards (Singer/Story Teller)
• Clerics (Priest/Medic)
• Rangers
• Thieves
• Warriors
• Wizards

You go on adventures to fight monsters of various levels and powers in order to gain experience levels, treasures, armor, weapons, allies, and steeds. The purpose of the game is to be the first one in the group to reach Base Level 10 (without equipment points). However, because you are in competition to reach Level 10, you are constantly trying to sabotage each other or working with some of your party to sabotage other members of your party who seem to be having an easy time against the monsters. The whole game is done very tongue-in-cheek and the monsters, weapons, and combinations that can be made cause much hilarity to ensue.

Tonight my husband and I played Star Munchkin - which pokes fun at the Sci-Fi genre using the Munchkin Theme. Instead of playing Dwarves, Elves, and Halflings, you are playing Mutants, Felines, Cyborgs, and Bugs who are employed as Traders, Psychics, Gadgeteers, Bounty Hunters, and Space Rangers. Again, the goal of this card game is to get to Base Level 10 first. 

Each player is dealt four door cards and four treasure cards. The door cards can contain monsters, allies, traps, and races or classes for you to build your character with. The treasure cards contain equipment that can help you to fight the monsters and level-up cards that give you free levels. On your turn you "kick in a door" to see what's in the next room you are exploring. If there is a monster you either fight it or try to run away. If you want to, you can ask your comrades for assistance. Sometimes they will charge you for this help - usually a portion of the treasure you will win from defeating the monster. If you win, you go up 1-2 levels depending on what the monster's card says. You also gain some treasure - again depending on what the monster's card says. Each player puts active cards they are using to fight monsters on the table in front of him/her. Any cards they aren't actively using are kept in his/her hand. There is a hand limit of five cards. Any discards go to the player with the lowest level. 

As my husband and I played Star Munchkin, I was a Feline Star Ranger. Mark ended the game as a Bug Trader (your race and class can change during the game - sometimes multiple times). On the last play of the game I went up against a Level 15 Mutant Elvis (a two-headed Elvis). With my equipment (which gives boosts to your base level) and base level of 8, I was at Level 19 and had this monster beat by 4. Mark threw out a +5 levels card to the monster to keep me from getting the +2 level bonus that defeating this monster would have given me - which would have given me the game. I was losing by 1 now.

I desperately looked over the cards in front of me in an effort to find some sort of solution. My eyes landed on my class card (Star Ranger). Star Rangers can draft any other player into a fight if that player's assistance means the difference between winning and losing the combat. In compensation a Star Ranger has to give their helper either all of the levels OR all of the treasure. The choice is up to the Star Ranger. Mark was a Level 30 with all of his equipment bonuses.  I drafted him to help me and gave him the treasure. I took the levels which boosted my base level to 10 and won me the game! Mark was stunned, but shook my hand for pulling a classic Munchkin move to win the game. We both had a good laugh over it. 

#10/52. A Game with a Mystery or Thriller Theme - T.I.M.E. Stories (Mystery Theme)

The T.I.M.E. Stories base game includes
the "Asylum" module. You do need the base game
to play any of the expansion modules.

NOTE: There are NO SPOILERS in this review!

T.I.M.E. Stories is a new and innovative game that came out in 2015. It's a combination board game, role-playing game, and choose-your-own-adventure story. The game starts with the basic premise that the players are newly minted agents of the Tachyon Insertion in Major Events (T.I.M.E.) Agency - a futuristic organization backed by all world governments and designed to keep the timeline from being changed.

The description of how this is achieved is reminiscent of the sci-fi television series Quantum Leap (1989-1993). Basically, your body stays in your present, but your mind is sent into the mind of a person in the target time and place and you take over the operation of his or her body for a period of time. During your time in the past or alternative timeline you are working to accomplish your mission but you only have a specific amount of "time units" available before you are pulled back to your own body and have to start the mission all over again from scratch.

The base game comes with one story included. It's called "Asylum." You and your team are being sent back in time to the 1920's in a mental asylum to try to stop the opening of a time vortex. That's all I will say about this story. As I said at the top...No Spoilers.

The Marcy Case is Expansion Module #1

The second module (called "The Marcy Case) and other subsequent modules are purchased seperately and are scheduled to be published about once per quarter. They retail for about $20 each but they really deliver on the experience that you and your fellow players get from playing through each one. Each module provides tension, excitement, and brain-bending puzzles that you have to solve. The players get into their roles and really care about successfully completing the mission.

The first time that we played the "Asylum" module back in December, Mark and I were joined by our friends, Jon and Kim. We did not do very well, but we enjoyed the game. We chocked up our poor performance to the fact that it was a new game and we were still learning the rules and how it worked. We'd do better on the next case.

When I got "The Marcy Case" Jon was not interested in playing again, but Kim was so we invited another friend, Frank, to join us and decided to replay "Asylum" to give Frank the whole experience. We also decided that we would let Frank lead the decisions so that we didn't give anything away. As we got into the story, Mark, Kim, and I realized that we didn't remember as much about the story as we thought we would. Suddenly we found that we were guessing about some things and were right in the thick of things with Frank. We did manage to win this game with a decent score. We were elated and eager to start on "The Marcy Case."

A Prophecy of Dragons is Expansion Module #2

"The Marcy Case" sends you back to 1992 small town USA to find a missing girl named Marcy. Of course there is always a twist that you aren't told about by the T.I.M.E. Agency. You'd think they know these things being from the future and all, but I digress. Again, the game comes through! Tension, excitement, fast pacing, and the game does a great job in making you care about completing the missing and rescuing this girl.

The next module (already available) is called "A Prophecy of Dragons". As best as I can tell, this mission will send us to an alternative timeline in the middle ages where magic is real. I can't wait to get a hold of it and get it to the table with Mark, Kim, and Frank!

#7/52. A Game with Nonhuman Characters - Merchant of Venus (Classic Version)

Last Saturday (January 9th, 2016), my husband, Mark, my niece, Nicole, and I went to our FLGS¹, Great Escape Games and Comics, for the 1st Saturday of the Month Meet-Up Game Day. A friend of ours, Dave Mitchell, was involved in another game, but had brought his copy of Merchant of Venus (MoV) and wanted to show off his new game box organizer from Daedalus Productions (see picture below...). This will be added to my copy of MoV!

Merchant of Venus is a great pick-up-and-deliver game, but set-up for this game takes quite a bit of time because there are so many pieces to put in place. The Daedalus box organizer is fantastic because you simply pull part of the organizer out and set it next to the board and that part of the game is ready to go. It easily cuts set-up time in HALF.

Once you get MoV set up it's time to play, but first you need to know the story. The Galactic Civilization has collapsed due to an invasion and war. All of the previously established trade routes have disintegrated. Now it's time to rebuild. Four traders from four different species (Humans, Eeepeep, Qossuth, and Whynom) have been tasked with exploring and rediscovering which civilizations are on which planets and then establish trade routes between them. Of course this is also an opportunity for each of the traders to earn a tidy profit as well. The winning conditions are to earn a specific amount of credits and deeds (for factories and space stations). The amount is based on the number of players. (We played to $2500.) The first person to reach that amount is the winner. If there is a tie, you keep playing until the tie is broken.

MoV uses one of my favorite game mechanics, pick-up-and-delivery. I enjoy the strategic aspect of this type of game. Figuring out what you need, where to get it from, and who needs it most and is willing to pay for it. I find these types of games fun and fascinating. Besides MoV, I enjoy playing Firefly - another game that takes quite a bit of time to set up - which is also a pick-up-and-deliver game.

Nicole and I sat down to play MoV with a gaming acquaintance named Marcus. Marcus had played this game several times before. I had played it once before, and Nicole had never even heard of it but was willing to dive right in. About three-and-a-half hours later...Nicole declared victory! I was stunned and so proud of her! She did a great job in learning this game and then blasting into the lead. Marcus was also great about coaching us along and giving us some strategic tips. All-in-all it was a fun time.

¹ FLGS = Friendly Local Game Store

In Other News...Top 5 Moments of 2015

I had a BAD day today. I had to check my husband, Mark, into the hospital for the 5th time in 3 months - this time for a fever due to an infection - and I'm sitting here at home just really worried about him. I turned on You Tube and watched some videos of one of my favorite Pod Casts - The Dice Tower, a board gaming podcast - and they were talking about their best experiences of 2015. Because today was such a lousy day for me, I started to try to think of the 5 best days for me in 2015 and decided to tell you about them here...

Honorable Mention #1: All of the Friends That Came to Visit or Called/Texted While Mark Was in the Hospital

Mark spent a total of 15 days admitted to various hospitals in October/November 2015. 12 of those were consecutive days. I want to thank everyone who came to visit us/him while we were going through that time. As I'm writing this, Mark is enduring his 6th hospital visit and 5th hospital admission in three months. We couldn't get through this without the support of our friends and family. Thank you all!!!

Honorable Meniton#2: New Year's Eve 2015 with Our Friends

We had a few friends over for some board games, food, booze, and fun on New Year's Eve. We played some of our favorite games and rang in the new year. While we did this several time during the year with this particular group of friends, this event is the freshest in my mind. We had a good time, enjoyed each other's fellowship, and celebrated yet another milestone in each other's lives. I think for all of us it was an important night but for different reasons. 

#5: New Year's Day with Mark

We had had such a lousy 2014 that we were eagerly looking forward to 2015. We had lost our house and had to move - but we liked our new home and community. We were looking forward to the future being brighter. We decided to just stay in that night and celebrate the new year alone together and look forward to the new year instead of back on the crappy year that we had just left. It was a peaceful, quiet, snuggly night. Just us and Shasta, and Roobee. It was the best possible way to ring in 2015.

#4: My Vacation to Santa Cruz with Kim Swenson

I needed a vacation. My friend Kim had just been in a BIG car accident and suffered a concussion - something I had a first-hand understanding of - and she needed a vacation. So we decided to escape together for a girls get-away to my Grandma's cabin just outside of Santa Cruz, CA. We drove down to Santa Cruz and went to The Mystery Spot, and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, had Archery Lessons, played pool at a billiards hall (I'm terrible at that game!), ate at The Crepe Place and The Santa Cruz Diner, and an awsome pizza joint where we got clam pizza (that I can't remember the name of right now), played Firefly in the cabin, and watched The Tudors that she had downloaded. It was a wonderful few days. 

#3: The Day We Adopted Sadie

As you will read in just a bit, the worst day of 2015 was the day that our dog Roobee died in mid-July. We waited a about two weeks and realized that Shasta, our other dog, was suffering from loneliness and was mourning the loss of Roobee. The whole reason that we had adopted Roobee in the first place was as a buddy for Shasta. Shasta is a dog that needs a buddy or she just gets anxious when she's alone. If she has a friend, she relaxes and enjoys herself. Although Mark and I had not nearly "finished" our mourning period for the loss of Roobee (sometimes I think we still haven't "finished"), we knew we needed to set aside our grieving and think of Shasta's needs and get another dog. We called my brother and he was ready with a solution.

Sadie had been adopted as a puppy by a family that wanted a bird hunting dog. Somewhere in the training process, it was discovered that Sadie had absolutely zero interest in birds. After trying and failing to change this, the family brought Sadie back to my brother and asked what could be done. He took her back and gave them another puppy so they could try again. In the meantime he had a one-year-old hunting dog on his hands that had no interest in hunting. He also had a sister who had no interest in hunting that was in need of a new dog. (Ironically, she had come back to David about the time that Roobee had died.) Match made in Heaven. 

We went out immediately upon realizing this and took Sadie straight into our hearts. On the way home we could see that she had abandonment issues and those continued for a few weeks once we got her home. She also had a few clashes with Shasta once they got home. However, I don't believe in "returning" members of the family. A natural parent cannot return a child they gave birth to. Why should an adoptive parent be able to "return" a child or dog they have taken into their home?* As far as I was concerned, no matter what issues Sadie had, she was in her forever home. Our hearts were big enough to overcome the issues. To date she has settled in and become a wonderful member of the family! 

#2: The Day After Christmas Visiting with My Grandma

My Grandma is 95 years old and lives (largely) on her own. She's an important influence in my life. I'll be the first to admit that she and I don't always see eye-to-eye on much, but I love the stuffing out of that woman!!! Mark and I went down to see her on the day after Christmas and we spent the day visiting with her and we even played some board games with her (2 games of Tsuro and 2 games of Qwirkle). On New Year's Eve she fell in her bank and broke her hip and wrist. This is the second time that she has broken her hip and wrist (not the same hip and wrist, but you get the idea). As I'm writing this she's in a skilled nursing facility where she will go through rehabilitation as her hip and wrist heal a bit before going home. 

On the day that Mark and I visited her in her home, she was so happy to see us and was talking about plans to start driving again and how she felt like she was just about back to where she had been before she had broken her hip nearly two years before. She seemed almost chipper. It was really good to see!!! It is a memory that I will cherish in my heart.

#1: How My Friends and Family Came Together to Help Us Through the Worst Day of the Year

On July 13, 2015 the worst day of the year started for Mark and me. We had been dealing for about nine months with our dog, Roobee, having kidney failure. We had been feeding her special food and giving her subcutanious fluid and she had been dealing with all of this pretty well. She tolerated the fluid doses and ate the food (mostly). We relished the days when we could take her to the dog park and just watch her run and run and run. We called her the Roobee Rocket! She wouldn't fetch anything, but she would run laps around the dog park and chase any birds that landed in the park's confines until they took off. (Shasta was always the fetcher dog). 

On July13th, 2015 Roobee let us know that it was her day to go across the Rainbow Bridge to the next life. That was the worst day of 2015 for us because we had to take our BABY to the veterinarian and ask them to release her from her pain and then watch her die. I'm bawling just typing this blog post right now. So why would I say this is one of the best memories of 2015? Roobee dying is THE WORST DAY OF 2015. Hands down. No debate. 

Our friends, family, and co-workers poured out their support for us on that day. The love that we felt on that day was unparalleled. Our friends Kim and Frank spent time with us and Roobee before we had to take Roobee to the vet. Then they accompanied us to the veterinarian for Roobee's last appointment. And then they came with us to bury Roobee. 

My brother, David, offered us a place to bury Roobee on his property. Then he dug her grave, saw her placed nicely into it and personally buried her for us. He then said that when we were ready for a new dog, to come see him and he would take care of us. 

Through Facebook and text messages our friends and family poured out their support for us in our time of loss. They KNEW that our dogs were our babies and that this was as bad for us as if they had lost one of their own children. 

Even the veterinarians followed up with a card that was full of their memories of Roobee and condolences for her passing. She wasn't just a dog to them. She as a patient they couldn't save and that seemed to hurt them too. 

Everyone's love and support made the worst day of the year, my #1 Memory of 2015. Does that make any sense to you? If yes, can you explain it to me?

*This is my opinion for my own circumstances. Everyone has to do what is right for his or her own circumstances. I'm not judging anyone else. I'm just explaining my own reasoning and philosophy where my dogs are concerned. Please don't leave me angry comments over this. I'm not judging you.

Tale of the Tape #1 2016

Here's where the scores for my 2016 Board Game Challenges stand as of January 10, 2016. Not too bad so far!!!

10 x 10 in 2016 Hardcore Challenge

1. 7 Wonders Duel  V
2. Munchkin
3. Machi Koro
4. Pandemic
5. Power Grid
6. Yedo
7. Zombicide
8. Lords of Vegas
9. RoboRally
10. Guillotine

Challenge #2: The 52 Game Challenge

This challenge is designed to get me to play 52 different types of games over 2016. The types are listed below. There are only 50 listed because #32 is a "trilogy". 

1. A game that take 4+ hours to play - Firefly - Played 01/02/2016
2. A classic game - The Game of Life - Played 01/08/2016
3. A game that became a movie - Jumanji
4. A game published this year (2016) - Dr. Who: Time of the Daleks 
5. A game with a number in the title - 7 Wonders 
6. A game designed by someone under 30 - Bohnanza (Uwe Rosenberg was <30 when he designed this game) 
7. A game with nonhuman characters - Merchant of Venus (Classic Version) - Played 01/09/2016 I played the EeepEeep
8. A funny game - Munchkin 
9. A game by a female designer - Qwirkle (Susan McKinley Ross) - Played 01/08/2016
10. A game with a mystery or thriller theme - T.I.M.E. Stories (Mystery Theme)
11. A game with a one-word title - Fluxx - Played 01/08/2016 
12. A game from a "system" - 504 - Played 01/04/2016
13. A game set in a different country - Yedo (Fuedal Japan)
14. A game based on historical events - Axis & Allies (World War II)
15. A popular designer's first game - RoboRally (Richard Garfield)
16. A game from a designer you love that you haven't played yet - King of New York (Richard Garfield)
17. A game a friend recommended - Nefarious - Played 01/05/2016
18. A Spiel des Jahres winning game - Alhambra (2003)
19. A storytelling game - Gloom 
20. A game at the bottom of your to-play list - Forbidden Island 
21. A game your Mom loves - Monopoly 
22. A game with a horror theme - Elder Sign 
23. A game more than 100 years old - Chess (1475 A.D./C.E.)
24. A game based entirely on its cover - Fortune & Glory
25. A game you hate that you've played at least once before - Poo
26. A game named after a person - Justinian
27. A game you can finish in under 15 minutes - Loot Letter (Based on Love Letter)
28. A game with antonyms in the title - The Good, the Bad, and the Munchkin
29. A game set somewhere you've always wanted to visit - Ra (Egypt)
30. A game that came out the year you were born - Alexander the Great (1971) 
31. A game with bad reviews - Phase 10 (Tom Vasel HATES this game)
32. A game trilogy -
    Pandemic
    Pandemic: Contagion - Played 01/08/2016
    Pandemic: Legacy
33. A game from your childhood - The Wizard of Oz Game (1974)
34. A game with triangle-shaped components - Zombicide (Noise Tokens)
35. A game set in the future - Outpost 
36. A game set in a school - Zombie Dice 3 (School Bus) 
37. A game with a color in the title - Red Dragon Inn 
38. A game that made you cry/sad - Dead of Winter
39. A game with magic - Mage Wars Arena 
40. A game illustrated by your favorite artist - Euphoria (Jacqui Davis) 
41. A game by a designer you've never played before - Codenames (Vlaada Chvátil) 
42. A game you own but have never played - Ogre
43. A game that takes place in your hometown (or as close as possible) - Hang Town (Placerville, CA) 
44. A game that was originally published in a different language - Power Grid 
45. A game set during Christmas - Holiday Fluxx
46. A game designed by someone with your same initials - Aye, Dark Overlord! (Chiara Ferlito)
47. A game with 8+ players - One Night Ultimate Werewolf 
48. A game with a controversial theme - Cards Against Humanity
49. A game based on or turned into a TV show - Battlestar Galactica - Played 01/01/2016
50. A game you have trouble getting other people to play - Dixit

Challenge #3: 1 x 100 Challenge

15/100

I am enjoying this game! I have achieved all three victory conditions: Civilian, Scientific, Military. Mark and I enjoy it together. I have played it with my niece, Nicole. Mark has played it with our friend, Frank and enjoyed it. Fifteen down and 85 left to go in the next 355 days!

1st Scientific Victory!!! 7 Wonders Duel

10 x 10 Challenge - Plays 3-5
1 x 100 Challenge - Plays 13 - 15

Tonight I played 7 Wonders Duel with my niece, Nicole. She caught on to this game VERY quickly and kicked my butt in the very first game we played together. I rallied and won our second match-up. In our third game I managed to achieve what, until now, has been the Holy Grail of this game... A SCIENTIFIC VICTORY!!!

That's right! I managed to collect all SEVEN scientific symbols to win instantly. I was so happy that I did a dance down the hall and around the house. My niece just looked at me like I was nuts, but I didn't care. I was so happy!

#32b/52. A Game Trilogy - Pandemic: Contagion

Pandemic: Contagion can be
acquired through Amazon

Another entry in my 2016 52 Game Challenge fell on Friday night!!! One of the categories was to play a game from a trilogy. When I was working on my list and came across this requirement, I was a bit befuddled at first. I mean, what the heck is a game trilogy??? I've heard of games with expansions, but never trilogies. I started looking into games that were serials. I didn't find anything that satisfied that qualification, but I did find a franchise with several stand-alone games in it. Pandemic!

There is Pandemic the base game that has several expansions - additions to the game that can make it better or more complex - where you are trying to stop a world-wide pandemic from spreading and wiping out humanity. This is a cooperative game, which means that the players are working together to beat the game.

Then came Pandemic: Contagion. In this competitive game you are the virus and are trying to spread world wide to wipe out humanity. Whichever virus wipes out the most people wins! Fun and uplifting topic, eh?

The third game in this "trilogy" is Pandemic Legacy: Season 1. I haven't played this game before, but as I understand it each time you play this game you make subtle but permanent changes to the game itself to make the next time you play slightly different. You get to play with this copy of the game 12-24 times before it's "done."

Pandemic: Contagion Game Set-Up

So the game I played on Friday, January 8, 2016 is Pandemic: Contagion. This was our first time playing this game. It was a simple-to-understand and play game. It went fairly quickly - about 45 minutes. You have these little cubes that you place on city cards. You have to pay contagion cards that match the color of the city cards you wish to infect. Additionally, each round there are event cards that get drawn. The event cards usually seem to help the viruses spread, but sometimes they hinder. Every fourth card is a WHO (World Health Organization) card that drastically hinders the virus' ability to spread.

It's important to develop a strategy for spreading your strain early. I was a bit slow in developing my strategy as I was trying to understand the game play and I ended up coming in last. Mark and Nicole seemed to catch on more quickly and scored more quickly. In fact, Mark ended up running away with the victory.

We rated this game a 7.5 on Board Game Geek. I want to play this game some more before I make a final decision on it. I'd like to try some different strategies and play with more of the event cards. Overall though, I'd say it's a fun game and I'd happily play it again!

#2/52. A Classic Game - The Game of Life

The Game of Life ©1985/1991

As part of my 2016 52 Game Challenge one of the categories is "A Classic Game". For this one I chose a game from my childhood that I loved to play; The Game of Life. This is a game where you start out as a single pink or blue peg in a car traveling down the path of life. Your first decision is whether or not to got to college or start a career. Then you get married and go through the rest of your life having experiences and making decisions. You buy a home, get loans, pay them off, pay taxes, pay for day care, car accidents, home disasters, etc. If you have the right kind of insurance, you're safe. If not, you have to pay up.

The Game of Life ©2007

Somehow I wound up with two different versions of this game. After we played the game last night, Mark, Nicole, and I compared the two copies. The game we played was the ©1985/1991 version. It seemed very different from the version I remember from my childhood. There were fewer baby squares for one thing. There were more LIFE squares that gave you money for doing extraordinary things. We opened up the ©2007 version that we have and took a look at it just to compare the two versions. It seemed to be much more like the version that I remember except that it looked a bit more cartoony than I remember.

Nicole asked how old this game was. Mark remember playing it when he was a kid, so we looked it up on Board Game Geek. BGG has it published in 1960. We also found out that it was based on an earlier game called The Checkered Game of Life that was first published in 1860!!! While that doesn't meet the classic definition when compared to games like Chess or Go, I would say that being 156 years old counts as a Classic Board game none-the-less. Don't you?