Be Excellent To Each Other

Played Stationfall for the first time last night with Zeppo and some of his buddies. It was everyone's first time playing. Took ages to set up, but it's actually a really straightforward and quick game to get to grips with, but it'll take a long time to master because there's a lot that goes on in each game.

I can barely remember all of the rules and stuff so I won't try and summarise them, but it's a pretty unique game (at least, as far as games I've played go!) and I'd recommend it. Our game ended a very funny way, the possibilities for back-stabbing, emergent behaviour and Fucking GazChap Up (tm) are immense.

Sounds like my kind of thing.

Looot : Vikings on tour!



In Loooot, everyone plays vikings doing what vikings do best: pillage!

There's a central map of some unsuspecting island, full of rich pickings, and each player has a board representing their own fjord. A game of Looooot involves grabbing resources and buildings to place on your fjord for points.

You start with 13 vikings, and on your turn you land a viking, either from a longship or adjacent to another one. Over time, long hordes of vikings fan out across the map, and skilful placement can block opponents or help. Capturing houses just needs one viking next to it, towers require a chain from one tower to another, and to storm a castle you need a mob of four. You then have the option to take a longship.

You place these ill-gotten goods on your fjord in particular patterns to score points and earn bonuses. There are three set spaces requiring certain items around them to score, but the meat of the game is taking longships and meeting their criteria. Of course, once you've placed something on the board it's fixed for the rest of the game so it's very easy to trap yourself early on if you don't pay attention.

It's really easy to explain and understand, and very satisfying when you get just the right combination of items on your board to score big combos. It's also visually delightful to see the long lines of vikings encroach across the board.

I first started playing Loooooot on BGA and was impressed by the mechanics. The online version suffers due to the limitations of a screen - you want to be watching the main board and also checking your own, something that's much easier in the real world. Also, online you don't get that look of anguish as you place a viking in that sweet spot your opponent was coveting.

Looooooot is quite possibly my favourite game since Heat, and one I'm always eager to get to a table.

Watch out Stenson, the vikings are coming!

The Guardian's discovered Codenames:



Giphy "really?":
https://media2.giphy.com/media/oKdjMdWXl9ys8/giphy-loop.mp4

Codenames with just two players? Unless it's that Duet version, that doesn't seem very playable!

//edit: Oh, they mention the Duet version later on, but that quote is way before then.

Played several games of Captain Sonar last night. Most were new to game so it was fun to introduce it and think I nailed the teach. I'm probably a bit too pleased with myself by starting off with "it's the near future, not much has changed but we live underwater" but one person laughed.

Live is the only way to play I think. It's not as daunting as it appears but really makes the game an event. It also means the first mate has a key role in keeping the captain informed of system activation, and the engineer aware of what not to break. In turn-by-turn, the role becomes nothing more than colouring in.

I'd have laughed.

I was playing a tense game of Heat yesterday and as it entered its final rounds I realised to my horror I was going to spin my car out at a critical corner.

I had just about reconciled myself to finishing last as my turn came round when I suddenly realised I could make the corner!

Playing my cards triumphantly, I moved my car over the line then instinctively did a victory air punch.

Unfortunately I was looking over the board at time and rather than hitting the air landed quite the punch on my face, just below my eye!

Ouch.

Question, boardgame people! Any suggestions for a game that I could introduce to a non-boardgamy adult and two young teenagers ( 12 & 15), along with myself? Nothing too cutesy themed, yet also I'd rather not have to deliver a 30 min lecture on what exactly the Seven Years War was, and why exactly it is we're playing a board game about it. Thanks all!

Ticket to Ride (Europe or US) is always a great place to start as it's easy to explain but full of interesting decisions

Heat - play cards, move cars, try not to crash. The box comes with expansions to bring out when you're ready but the basic rules are enough to create a compelling game.

Colt Express - train robbery in the old west. Set up your move and watch others ruin it! Also has a 3D train.

Takeneko is wonderful, stands up to playing many times, and is easy to get the hang of quickly.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Asmodee-TAK01- ... _AUTOMATED

Thank you both! They all look very cool, I shall investigate further

I'd add King of Tokyo to that list. It has cool monsters.

Sheriff of Nottingham is also fun, and quite cheap.

For those seeking good news from North America, today I learned that there's a board game shop in Canada called "Wood for Sheep"

Finally played Alice is Missing.

It's a one-shot TTRPG set in small town California where the characters try to find their friend Alice, who has gone missing.

The twist, however, is that after the character creation phase, once the 90 minute soundtrack starts you don't talk to the other players. Instead, the entire game takes place in a Whatsapp group*. To build on the immersion, you even change your contacts list so the characters' names appear in the group chat, and you can also do private chats. The narrative conceit is that everyone can't be together, thus the chat.

At set time intervals people turn over plot cards that advance the story which they have to incorporate into the story somehow. These are pretty open so we didn't feel like we were being pushed in a particular direction.

After 90 minutes, the game ends with people sending one final message and then over the music we play the voicemail messages to Alice we each privately created in character during the set-up. Given our knowledge of how the story panned out, these carried a surprising emotional punch!

Although I'm still pretty new to role-playing, I found it really easy to get into my character by being forced to write rather than speak. The occasional pauses in the group chat whilst one of us was thinking just felt like the standard stop-start-stop of group messaging. Having the soundtrack playing and everyone silently on their phones made for a tense atmosphere.

At the end of the game, we just sat in silence for a few minutes processing what had happened before discussing where we thought the story went, the various character arcs and plot strands, some of which took place in private messages, and how we found the experience.

It plays up to five but there were just three of us due to illness. Even with that number we had a good blend of characters and dynamics but I'm keen to see how more players changes things up.

I've sometimes mentioned how playing the first Pandemic Legacy was one of the most memorable gaming experiences I've had. Playing Alice is Missing for the first time is another. We really felt the pressure in the final few minutes as we got closer to finding Alice** and our resolution, whilst happier was it could be, was still pretty bleak.

The one downside is that I now have a group chat and three private chats that, now I've restored my friends' names, will look pretty dodgy to anyone who didn't realise it was part of a game....

* Other messaging services are available
** "Who the - " - nope, we've been close friends for years