Archive for Jason Miceli
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At last!! - http://geroex.com/mars-vs-earth
It's incredible to see one of my life long passions and dreams finally come to life! After many years of designing games and mods on the side, I am thrilled to officially launch Mars vs. Earth to the public. My goal is to obtain some "blind" playtesting and feedback from the BoardGameGeek community, after which I can formally submit this game to publishers.
What's Mars vs. Earth?
 It's 1952. UFO’s have landed on Earth and an elite government agency is the last line of defense between the alien invaders and the human populace. The agency plans missions to battle the invaders and other threats while learning that the aliens can also adopt human form – and they have infiltrated humanity!
Mars vs. Earth is a simple card game, playable by 3 to 10 players in 30 to 45 minutes, that employs a heavily modified "hidden loyalty" system - tip of the hat to the timeless Mafia / Werewolf games for their inspiration!
Additional inspiration comes from two of my favorite games that also use the hidden loyalty system, Battlestar Galactica and The Resistance (each at two ends of the spectrum in terms of complexity and play length) - Mars vs. Earth enjoys a comfortable home in the large gap between these two extremes, while introducing many new mechanics and a wacky theme to increase enjoyment and play value.
Interested in playtesting?
If you would like to join in the battle to save Earth, we would love to invite you to join the playtester's group! We need registered playtesters (we'll add your name to the credits!), session reports, and most importantly playtester feedback and testimonials about how amazingly awesome this game is (or not - we'll take bad feedback too!)!! Just head over to http://geroex.com/mars-vs-earth to review the playtest guidelines and download the components.
We cannot thank you enough, and I look forward to meeting you on the battlefield defending Earth!
Jason, http://geroex.com/mars-vs-earth
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So,
I've mentioned on the Race for the Galaxy forums a few times that I'm not a fan of the massive amount of iconography utilized in the game. That said, I am in love with the game from the perspective of gameplay and theme. We just found in our group that after the second and then third expansion we were less and less interested in playing - it became too much of a chore to keep up on all the new icons.
Ultimately I solved the problem, in a way that is sure to cause some argument amongst die hard fans, but my group is once again enjoying the greatness that is this game. Here's what I did:
 I split the game out into the separate expansions, and assessed each one individually. I quickly concluded that the base game and the 1st expansion, The Gathering Storm, were no-brainers. All of the associated cards and goals went into the newly combined game.
 I spent a lot of time deliberating what to do with the second expansion, Rebels vs Imperium. I loved how the set's cards really seem round out the game, in addition to the added goals. However, I was not a fan of the takeover system. While I love the idea of takeovers, I couldn't help but think this is where/when things started to go south for me and my group. When you look at all the cards in the set, there are only 6 (3 for Rebels and 3 for Imperium) that actually have to do with the takeovers, and those cards have a TON of new icons all over them. In addition, the related slides, counters, and wooden blocks add many extra components and rules to the game. In short, I ripped them all out - we will simply not play with takeovers, and I removed the 6 cards from the deck so we won't ever see all those extra icons.
 Then I moved on to the third expansion, The Brink of War. As with the takeover system, I like the idea of the Prestige system, but not at the expense of the extra icons, rules, counters, etc. Unfortunately, almost the entire set is dependent on the Prestige system, as well as the aforementioned takeover system, and so I concluded that it was really an all or nothing decision - alas, this expansion has been removed from my combined game altogether.
Where does this leave us? I have a great combined game, consisting of the base game, all of expansion 1, and all of expansion 2 minus the 6 takeover cards and related extra components. I am not using expansion 3 at all, and the result is a game that we are all once again comfortable playing. Highly recommended approach for anyone else who experienced what we did, but please don't crucify me for butchering the game! - it's just the approach that worked for us. 
My biggest concern is the newest expansion, Alien Artifacts, which I have yet to take a look at. My suspicion is that it's like the previous expansions in that it requires EACH of the previous expansions in order to be played, which means I am now simply ineligible to enjoy whatever it may add. On the flipside, it may add so many new icons and systems to the game that I really shouldn't care.
In any case, I am thrilled to once again be playing this great game!!
Anyone else had a similar experience? How have you modified the game? Are you using all the expansions, including the newest one? I'd love to hear your experiences.
Enjoy! Jason
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Alright - I have an update for everyone (this is a continuation of part 1 of this blog-post: http://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/6041/whats-your-gateway-ga...).
Played a bunch of games yesterday:
7 Wonders (my first plays)
Dominion
Pandemic (my first plays)
 Battlestar Galactica
 The Resistance
 Buccaneer (my first plays)
7 Wonders was every bit as good as I hoped it would be - a fantastic game that supports larger crowds than average (up to 7 players for now, but soon the Cities expansion will allow for up to 8 in team play). I agree with Kevin (a commenter on a previous post of mine) - it's likely not the best gateway game, but it is a great game to introduce folks to after they've been somewhat roped into the world. It's was fairly easy to get used to, and very fun and strategic gameplay (a la Puerto Rico, Race For The Galaxy, etc.).
Dominion is always a crowd-pleaser, and I think I would still endorse it as a good starting point for new players. Perhaps it's on the tail end of acceptable for this purpose, but it is easy to teach the rules and there are never more than 10 cards out that you need to understand. Perhaps it comes down to a personality / group dynamic thing.
Pandemic was also every bit as good as I expected - it's like Forbidden Island on steroids, though I do not think I would introduce this to a new player - stick with FI for that. However, this is more fun to play than FI - it's got more choices, more intrigue, and more depth. The level of suspense is perhaps equal to FI... both excellent games I would highly recommend!
BSG requires no further explanation - I talk about that more than any other game in my blog. Don't use it as a gateway, plain and simple!
Interestingly, we've been using The Resistance to introduce new players to the scene, and it's worked incredibly well! My father and brother played it on Thanksgiving and really got into it - neither are into any kind of hobby gaming. What's even more interesting is if you're clever about how to do it, that could segue into pulling someone into BSG... eventually. You still need people who are definitely interested in longer gameplay and many rules to understand, but clearly The Resistance is the very heart of what makes BSG good.
Enter Buccaneer!! My friend brought this one over and we played several games - it's a very fun and simple game, and it plays very quick. I put it on par with FI - very fast and easy to get newcomers into, and enough fun and strategy for others to still enjoy. It would absolutely make a great gateway game!!
Gaming rules!!!
Jason
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Having played several simpler games of recent, and simultaneously benefiting from drawing the interest of one of my children, I have a very positive outlook on a few "gateway" games that I'd like to share.
 A friend of mine came by recently with a copy of Forbidden Island - I had never heard of it and I'm always excited to try something new. I was quickly amazed at how enjoyable the game was, despite the clearly simplified rules system and game-play. Everyone who played immediately and naturally fell into a comfort zone, including several of my group's spouses and children (and my own for that matter!). It's a 100% cooperative game, which allows for easy assistance to new players, and it provides a great feel of "are we going to make it?!... if we can just hold out for one more turn I think we'll have it!!" Game-play is under 1/2 hour, and setup is also extremely quick - very accessible game and tons of enjoyment for all.
 After playing a dozen or so games of Forbidden Island with different audiences, I did some searching and learned that Pandemic is essentially the same game, just with a bit more depth of game-play. I have purchased both Pandemic and its expansion, but have yet to play a game - should be this weekend. After reading the rules though, I think I can say it wouldn't serve as quite as good a gateway game, given the additional rules, choices, and game mechanics involved. Of course your mileage may vary - each gaming group is different!
 I'd also like to note that I've been playing a lot of Dominion lately, and I would absolutely classify it as another great gateway game. Many couples in my gaming group are playing it regularly, and the - shall we say "less gaming-inclined" - partners tend to be the ones pushing to play it more. Highly recommended - great game, great strategy, and fairly easy to learn and get into. Games are also nice and short (can play 2 games in one hour usually!).
 Finally, RoboRally and San Juan deserve mention here as well. Both are fairly simple rules-wise (with San Juan probably having the most complex rules of any of the games discussed here, but still simple enough to teach newer players), and both are fast paced and fun. Important to note that San Juan's older brother, Puerto Rico, is absolutely NOT a good gateway game, though it is one of the absolute best strategy games ever created.
Going back many (MANY) years, I reflect on what my gateway games were. Now keep in mind I was already an uber-geek, so when I came across an old copy of Risk I immediately took to the multitude of pieces, the strategic map, etc. - after playing it one or two times I was hooked, despite the 8+ hour game time that game could demand! Risk truly was my first and most profound gateway game (however, I would not recommend Risk as your gateway game of choice!). From there I eventually stumbled upon Nuclear War, and finally Munchkin - indeed, Munchkin could still serve as a decent gateway game for gaming newbies. Warhammer 40k was somewhere in the middle of that timeframe, but given the topic of this blog post there's no reason to talk further about that beast of a game!!
So what was the gateway game that got you into the wonderful world of gaming? What's your gateway game of choice nowadays to draw others in? SPEAK TO ME!!
Peace. Or war... whichever.
Gaming rules!!
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So yesterday was my birthday man-day gaming-day - as always we had an amazing time! We tried out a couple new games yesterday that are well worth quickly reviewing.
First, we began with a standard but thoroughly enjoyable game of Puerto Rico - 5 players as we waited for others to arrive. I'll blog separately about how strongly I feel this game is one of the best *truly* strategic games on the planet. Suffice to say it was a great beginning to an awesome day.
More folks arrived, and something I had hoped would happen did - more people came that were interested in playing than our typical large-scale go-to game, Battlestar Galactica, would support. We had 10 people, with mixed company and gaming skill-levels, and so this was a perfect opportunity to finally try out The Resistance. Thank god we did!! I had already known that this game, as well as its ancestor games Mafia and Werewolf, were essentially stripped down versions of the same form of loyalty system that BSG prides itself on (and I presume BSG's loyalty system was also inspired by Mafia and Werewolf). Well, I must now say I feel that The Resistance succeeds in creating even deeper situations of tension and intrigue than BSG does! Certainly it doesn't have the game depth that BSG boasts, nor the rich theme and atmosphere, but it does create a pure inter-human interaction and dynamic that is extremely fun and memorable. We played about 6 games in a row, and then came back to it again later on for another 3 or 4 games - everyone was loving it! I remain confident that the added human dynamic of a loyalty system based game enables it to transcend straight-forward rules and "calculable" tactics, and provide an immensely rewarding game experience.
With that all said, it is not perfect. We played several games with the plot cards and several without. At first we weren't sure if we really liked the plot cards, but in the end all agreed they were necessary to avoid the game being too predictable, even with the uncertainty of the human element. I read on the forums quite a bit, and it seems like the community is 50/50 in terms of whether the leader gets to see and read the plot cards before handing them out to other players. Again we tried this both ways, and concluded that at least for our group we liked the randomness of simply drawing and handing them out without looking at them first. This also reduced the time it would take for each round to commence. If there was one complaint we had it was that the games can be so short that, especially in a 9 or 10 player game, often was the case that some players never got to play - they were never the leader nor were chosen to be part of a team. Ultimately I don't consider this a huge drawback, since the games are so short that we could just fire up the next game which would more than likely involve new people. Have you run into this issue with your game group, and if so how did you handle it?
We did end up playing a couple great games of BSG after dinner, and as always that was the highlight of the day in terms of gaming depth and enjoyment. Then from 1am to 3am we ended up trying out Quarriors! - this was surprisingly similar to Dominion, just with dice instead of cards. I believe I like Dominion better, but Quarriors! was indeed a fun game to play and I will look forward to trying it out again soon. More on those two games in a later blog.
Thanks for reading, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on The Resistance and loyalty system based games in general!!
Gaming rules!
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Hi all,
So I figured I'd focus my first real blog-post on the mack-daddy of my board game collection, BattleStar Galactica. I wrote earlier that BSG is presently king of my gaming enjoyment, yet I also indicated that the core purpose of this blog is to focus on the more cerebral, strategic, and/or tactical games - so what gives?!
For me, at least in more recent years, I generally gauge a game's overall "goodness" by the feeling it provides before, during, and after play. Let's break it down with this particular game:
 BEFORE: As one of my close friends likes to repeatedly bust me on, I love reading rulebooks! I also tend to enjoy the setup process for a good game, where I know many others would rather play something that's quicker to setup and get into. Of course the overall sense of anticipation to play a particular game plays heavily into the tolerance level for rulebook assimilation and setup time. In the case of Battlestar, there is always a strong sense of intrigue prior to the game - who will be human this game, who are the cylons, what characters will everyone pick, when will the cylons appear, how will the humans struggle this time around, who is Cally going to shoot in the head on the first round, etc.etc. Each game is so vastly different, and the added human dynamic of the hidden loyalty system creates such a sense of mystery and anticipation that I have not seen elsewhere. In short, anytime there's a chance we'll be playing a game of BSG I simply can't wait to get into it - before the game has begun we're already enjoying the experience.
 DURING: For anyone who's played this game it's no secret that the game is truly a rich, unknown story that unfolds before the players in real-time. This is why I classify BSG among the best of the best games, even though it isn't inherently a complex game involving much tactical depth. So while this game lacks in cold hard numbers and the ability to develop deep overarching strategies, it drips of theme, tension, and anxiety. With that said, there is still some room to develop interesting strategies, whether you're on the human or cylon side. This game fosters interpersonal communication, planning, and cooperation that is rarely seen in other games. Essentially, I believe, it combines the best of cooperative games (Forbidden Island, Space Alert), hidden loyalty games (Werewolf, Mafia, The Resistance), and games rich in theme and atmosphere (War of the Ring). Combined with the core game mechanics that create an incredibly bleak outlook for the human side, regardless of how well they may seem to be doing, this game has provided the absolute best gaming moments I've ever experienced, bar none.
 AFTER: Regardless of how late we play, or how many games we've played throughout the day, there is always post-game conversation. How could we have done things differently, what would have happened if that event didn't, OMG you were a cylon from the beginning?!, etc. This conversation can be almost as fun as the game itself, usually accompanied by much smack talking, laughter, and sometimes even tears. So in the same way the game creates the best gaming moments, it also provides for some of the best social moments as well.
For me BSG stands in a league of its own. It's not a tactical game, like RuneWars or War of the Ring, and it's not a highly strategic game, like Puerto Rico or Dominion. In fact, it's really like very few other games out there - the closest I've seen is Arkham Horror, and to me BSG is unquestionably the better game (your mileage may vary), primarily due to the added human dynamic with the hidden loyalties.
So is BSG the king or queen of my gaming collection? As someone who usually leans towards games with strong tactical/strategic depth, I would say it couldn't possibly take the crown, but then I can't ignore the fact that it has brought me more heart pumping anxiety and immense pride upon victory than any other game experience to date. It may not have the depth of some other games I adore, but it spans a far greater breadth of gaming criteria than most, and it excels every step of the way. I am firm in my statement that at this point BSG is by far my favorite board game.
YOUR TURN! What I would love to hear from you all is less about how you may agree or disagree with this particular game's worth, though I would find that interesting as well, but more about what your greatest gaming experience was like and why.
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