Board games Archives - Page 16 of 17 -

Friday link love

By Meeple Lady | April 10, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment

Are you guys all excited for International Table Top Day tomorrow? Woohoo!! There are so many events in the Phoenix area; I’m splitting my time between two events and wish I could do even more. So many games, so little time!

Anyway, it’s that time of the week — Friday link love. Enjoy!

— The Board Game Family asks if Splendor is a splendid family game? Here’s my review on the game.

— Daniel Solis has designed some neato commemorative coins for Tabletop Day.

— GeekDad settles a legal matter and a new day dawns.

— Chris at The Draw Deck talks about which games can fill in that small window of time when there’s a new baby.

— Even Buzzfeed is getting into the spirit of Tabletop Day: 19 board games adults will actually want to play.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

When adding 1 more player is too many

By Meeple Lady | April 10, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment

One of my absolute favorite games to play -- Battlestar Galactica. But only with five players. — One of my favorite games to play — Battlestar Galactica. But we only play it with five players.

All games come with a set number of players. It says so right on the box. But as you game more and more, those numbers often become mere suggestions. Sometimes playing with the max number of players isn’t always a good idea. Sometimes adding another player negatively affects everyone’s gaming experience.

On boardgamegeek.com, when you search for a board game, there’s an entry for each game that says “# of players” and then, “User suggested # of players.” That second entry is key. Just because you can play with seven players doesn’t necessarily mean you should.

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Friday link love

By Meeple Lady | March 27, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment

It’s that time of the week again! Here are the interesting stuff I found for this week.

— Earlier this week, Gen Con threatened to move convention if Gov. Mike Pence signs a religious freedom bill, which he did on Thursday. A similar bill here in Arizona made it to then-Gov. Brewer last year, but she wisely vetoed it. Gen Con has an economic impact of $50 million for the state, but its contract with the Convention Center doesn’t expire until 2020. Ugh.

— After all the controversy with slave cards, Days of Wonder has announced that future editions of Five Tribes will include Fakir cards instead. Here’s my overview on the game.

— Opinionated Gamers review the game [redacted]. They didn’t seem too impressed by it and said the rules were too disorganized. That’s too bad. I kept seeing this game at BGG Con but didn’t have a chance to play it then. I thought the box artwork was intriguing.

— This reddit thread discusses the best and worst ways to shuffle cards. Good to know for board gaming!

— Lastly, haters gonna hate in this thread on BGG: I Hate This Top 100 Game … Tell Me Why I Shouldn’t (Then Contribute Yours! It’s also a good way to see the top 100 games on BGG (where Twilight Struggle is sitting pretty at No. 1).

Have a good weekend, folks!

Games and technology

By Meeple Lady | March 27, 2015 | Comments 1 comment

Can you handle the pressure and save the world against aliens?

I recently played two board games that required digital devices — XCOM: The Board Game and Alchemists. I totally geeked out over playing both of these games for the first time as I’ve never played a game that incorporated such technology. Fancy! I thought both games offered a fresh new dynamic to board gaming.

XCOM is a 4-player cooperative game where you and your friends are defending the world against an alien invasion. The game incorporates an app on the iPad or tablet that streamlines the game and dictates human response to the invasion. The app tracks your play in real time, which can be very nerve-wracking. Talk about making critical decisions under the gun!

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Friday link love

By Meeple Lady | March 20, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment

It’s Friday! You guys are probably just counting down the hours at work, surfing the net and thinking about the weekend. In the meantime, I’ve rounded up some board-game links and other fun things for you all to enjoy.

— An entertaining boardgamegeek.com thread about naming your kids after board games. I love Meeples probably more than the next guy (obviously since it’s part of my alter ego) but that would be an awful baby name. But I must admit, Caylus sounds pretty bad-ass.

— A great list of top 10 cooperative games by Board Game Quest. Eldritch Horror is on the list, which is a great game and a slightly shorter version of Arkham Horror.

— Opinionated Gamers did a review on Istanbul. I had a chance to play this at BGG Con. It has a mechanic that’s similar to Five Tribes in terms of moving around the board and collecting resources.

— The Board Game Family talks about going to SaltCon, which is a gaming convention in Utah.

— Over at The Daily Worker Placement, a review talks about how Diamonds brings a fresh approach to the old trick-taking card-game mechanic. I also love how the website banner looks like a newspaper masthead.

— Lastly, who doesn’t love a board-game birthday cake?? Here’s the thread that accompanies the photo below.

I totally need to learn how to bake, so I can create things like this! — I totally need to learn how to bake, so I can create meeple-shaped and nerdy things like this!

Have a good weekend, everyone! Happy gaming!

Friday link love

By Meeple Lady | March 13, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment

It’s been a great week for me personally as I’ve been picked to be part of Team Geek at this year’s BGG.Con. Woohoo! I will be volunteering my time at the event (I had so much fun last year) and will get a snazzy BGG jersey with my name on it. You can get convention tickets here. It’s selling out quickly!

Anyway, it’s Friday, folks! I’ve rounded up some board-game related links and other fun things for you guys to enjoy.

— The Worst Board Games Ever Invented. The author writes “The worst games, for the most part, have one thing in common: luck.” A distaste for luck is what separates those who play eurogames vs. games such as Monopoly.

— Daniel Solis writes up a quick introduction to typography grids in graphic design, as it pertains to rule books for board games.

— Why many eurogames are inherently single-player games.

— Sixth Tribe Causes Identity Crisis. The meme accompanying this article cracks me up. I wrote about Five Tribes a few months back, and it still bugs me that it’s a four-player game. Why is it not five?! Now it’ll have six tribes!

— The first teaser is out for Alan Tudyk and Nathan Fillion’s web series Con Man, whose IndieGogo campaign launched this week and has already raised over $1.5 million for episodes.

— Table Flips You goes back to 1979 by playing the Star Trek Game.

— You can now play Cards Against Humanity online. We are all terrible, terrible people.

— Lastly, Happy Pi Day tomorrow! Time to make pies and celebrate! I’ll be having some folks over for Arkham Horror and pie-eating.

Incan Gold: A fun, quick push-your-luck game

By Meeple Lady | March 3, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment

Do you continue farther into the temple for more gold? Watch out ... there are hidden dangers within. — Do you continue farther into the temple for more gold? Watch out for hidden dangers within!

This next game has actually gotten a lot of play among all my social circles. Incan Gold is a fun push-your-luck game where you are exploring a temple for gold and treasures. It plays out over five rounds, and the game is about 20 minutes long. The goal is to have the most treasures after five rounds.

The game is easy to learn, and best of all, about the size of a thick book. It’s easy to travel with and can easily fit inside your purse. It’s one of the games in the Bookshelf Series from game publisher Eagle/Gryphon.

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Five Tribes: Dropping meeples in the desert

By Meeple Lady | January 20, 2015 | Comments 1 comment

Hey folks! Let’s talk Five Tribes, a game I just received from Christmas. It’s a 2-4 player game that lasts about 60 mins. I swear though, it really should’ve been a 5-player game since it is called Five Tribes. But I digress. The tribes are actually the different colored meeples in play for the game.

The game is about controlling tiles on the board through bidding for turn order, and then picking up and dropping off meeples. The person with the most victory points at the end wins the game.

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Holiday gaming recap

By Meeple Lady | January 12, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment

I was so happy to get this game from my sister. It comes with a lot of meeples! — I was so happy to get this game from my sister. Plus, it comes with a lot of meeples!

So it’s been a crazy few weeks with the holiday season and then me getting sick. But now I’m back to 100 percent and trying to make up for lost gaming time. I totally get cranky when I don’t game at least twice a week.

First off, I received Five Tribes for Christmas from my sister. Woohoo! Who doesn’t love a giant bag of meeples?!? I plan to write up an overview about it soon. I was lucky enough to travel to my hometown for the holidays, and, of course, I never travel without a board game or two in my luggage.

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Getting into board gaming

By Meeple Lady | December 8, 2014 | Comments 0 Comment

The one game that started it all! — The one game that started it all for me – Ticket to Ride!

A question I get asked frequently is, “How did you get into board gaming?”

It only took one game to get me hooked into a world of serious board gaming. The game was called Ticket to Ride.

It was the first eurogame that I had ever encountered. I received it as a gift for my 30th birthday, and board gaming for me has never been the same since.

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