Guys, I’m totally having BGG Con withdrawal!! I had such a fabulous time, and I just want to spend another 5 glorious days of just board gaming. This past BGG Con was my third one I’ve attended. I think back to how I went to BGG Con for the first time in 2014 ALL BY MYSELF and didn’t know a single soul, to how busy I was this year gaming and hanging out with people. I feel eternally grateful for finding great friends who are obsessed about this hobby as I am.
I remember telling local friends three years ago what I was going to do, and they were like, you’re going on vacation by yourself and doing what for how many days?!? Turns out, it was one of the best things I’ve ever did, as it allowed me to jump straight into the deep end of the hobby. And I can’t wait to see where this hobby takes me.
BGG Con 2016 came and went, and it was a blast! It still blows my mind that five days can go by so quickly! And I can’t wait to do it all again next year.
I’m planning to do two posts on BGG Con. In this post, I’m going to write about all the games that I played. The next post will be about gaming with friends and the overall con experience, and, most importantly, which board games I came home with. My board-game play total for the convention: 23. And away we go!
Two weeks ago, my friend @idontknowrules purchased this game Leaving Earth, which sounded like a game theme he and I were randomly talking about a few weeks before that. He still isn’t quite sure how he ran across the BGG listing for it, but we’re so glad he did. The guys and I have played the game twice this week. And we can’t get enough of it. My other friend even printed out a copy of the rules so he could make his own notes!
My friends and I decided to host a second-annual Friendship Con last week, and I had so much fun. It was nice seeing friends who moved away from Phoenix and those friends I haven’t seen since last year’s event.
We played a lot of games, though sadly we didn’t get through all the games on our uber ambitious list. There were a couple sleepless nights for me (I am so not a morning person, and, not gonna lie, it was rough getting somewhere by 8:30 a.m.), but in the end, I got some good gaming in with fun folks!
One fewer board game is off my Shelf of Shame. For those unaware, the Shelf of Shame is what we call board games that have never been played and have been sitting on your shelves forever. Sad little games, hoping that one day they’ll get picked up and put on table.
As you guys know, I’m a huge fan of the Cthulhu/H.P. Lovecraft universe. One of my gaming groups and I try to play Arkham Horror about once every other month. These are the guys I’ve dubbed affectionately as the Arkham Guys. So when Pandemic re-themed its game in that world, I was totally excited.
I’m pretty indifferent to the original Pandemic game, but I do recognize its place in being a great gateway game to get more people into the hobby. And I did a Pandemic Legacy campaign earlier this year, which was a fun experience. And funny enough, my friends who I played Pandemic Legacy with got me Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu for my birthday this year. Woohoo!
My lovely friends got me some gift cards for my birthday, and naturally, I spent a chunk of them on new board games. The conversations mostly went like this — friend tells me that he/she wants to get me a board game but didn’t know which one I already had, so he/she opted for gift cards. Yay!
It’s been a chaotic few weeks (personally and professionally), and I haven’t been able to purchase any new games recently either, hence the lack of posts. But I have done some gaming (not as much as I would like) and here are a few exciting new games I’ve gotten a chance to play recently.
It was great to get in some substantial gaming this past Friday and Saturday, as my weekly board gaming has been hit or miss because of cancellations and busy schedules. I didn’t actually play any games on Sunday, as I took the time to do some errands and watch Netflix’s Stranger Things. I seriously binge-watched all 8 episodes in one day. IT’S THAT GOOD!
I try not to buy too many 2-player games as it’s hard to get them on table, but when I first played Onitama, I couldn’t resist. Besides being gorgeously designed with an Asian theme, this game is compact, easy to learn and quick to play — all perfect elements to fill the time when waiting for others to join your game night.
Onitama comes in this cool rectangular box that’s about the size of a large wine bottle.
Onitama plays about 15 minutes and comes elegantly packed into this long rectangular box. Inside, the game comes with a rolled-up mat, 10 player pieces (a Master Pawn and 4 Pawns for each player) and cards for game play. My friend asked if I had purchased this game because of the player mat, and that may or may not have factored into purchasing this game …
Everything nicely fits inside. I pulled out the mat so you can see the components underneath.
The goal of this game is to capture your opponent’s Master Pawn or move your own Master Pawn all the way to the other side of the mat into the center space. The game has a chess feel to it, planning your moves to avoid being captured.
This is the setup for Onitama. You have to capture his Master Pawn or get your Master Pawn into the center spot on your opponent’s side.
Each person starts with their pieces on their side of the mat and 2 playing cards. A third playing card sits in the middle between them. On your turn, a player picks a movement and attack action based on one of the cards in front of them. Each card has an abstract design on a grid in which one pawn (Master or regular) can move. This grid represents the spaces on the mat. Upon taking an action on a card, the card moves to the middle and that player receives the card previously in that middle spot.
So each game has a total of 5 moves you can do. The cards just trade hands, and you can see what options your opponent has for this round and next. When you land in a space where an opponent has a pawn, that pawn is immediately captured and removed from the game. Also, you can never make a move that would cause you to fall of the board or into a space you already occupy.
These are some of the 16 move cards the game comes with. The black square is your pawn, and you can only move it to one of the color squares on the card.
And that’s the entire game. I love how each game is different, as the game comes with 16 move cards. There is also strategy involved in planning your moves out, while trying to avoid giving your opponent a move card that will hurt you. The components are sturdy, beautiful and perfect for those small pockets of down time, whether it’s just the two of you or you guys are waiting for others to join you.
