Continued from Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3...
More games played at BGG.con:
Above: Jeff (jridpath), Sean (?), Joseph Dowell. Pandemic was one of two games that I played with Jeff (my husband) during BGG.con -- the other was played while waiting in the registration line. We both enjoyed this game so much that we ended up buying a copy.
Pandemic's rules said that the player to go first was the last person who had been sick -- since Sean (I think his nme was Sean? please correct if I'm wrong) was sick during the convention, he definitely qualified. And we also added a bottle of Purell to our props for the game.
Above: Jonathan (invisiblejon) and Eliot Brown during a game of Caledea: The Epic Strategy Game, a new game designed and self-published by Eliot Brown and Vincent Milosevich.
When Eliot opened up the board and started describing the rules, I was more than a little nervous because it sounded a lot like a wargame, and I'm not crazy about wargames.
I enjoyed the game much more than I expected, however. The two-player game (you can play with more, but Eliot opted to just explain and watch) took about 45 minutes. Players choose from nine unique kingdoms with different playing styles and special powers.
Unfortunately I got so engrossed in the game that I completely forgot that some BGG forum people were getting together that evening for some Arkham Horror. I never was able to find a free game of Arkham Horror after that, so never got to play it. I'll have to look for a local game, or find it at NEXT year's BGG.con.
I got into this game, by the way, because I was playing Pirate Billiards with Eliot and a few others, and Eliot asked if I was interested in playing his game. I mention this to point out again how useful I found this lobby game area in getting into new games with new people.
Above: Playing Medina with Ddubin, Karen and Joe.
I ran into Dave (Ddubin) wandering around the big game room the same time that I was; we were both looking for a new game. He was willing to play any game on my "want to play" list, but none of the games were available in the Game Library at the time. So he picked Medina and set it up on a table while I wandered around the room holding the game box cover above my head.
Mischa saw me and suggested that I should hold two fingers up to indicate that I was looking for two players. Within a few minutes, we found our players: Joe Belanger and Karen.
I enjoyed played Medina but only started grasping the strategies partway through the game -- I want to play this again!
Jeff and I had breakfast with Jason (not sure of his last name or username) one morning and after hearing about the games I was enjoying, he suggested several other games I might like.
This was, by the way, one of the reasons I enjoyed BGG.con so much. The more games I played and the more gamers I talked with, the more I found out about other games. I filled out my BGG.con profile a bit more as a result. :-) I'm still not great at keeping records of all the games I play but I'm going to try doing a better job of rating games, including adjusting ratings as I play games more often.
Anyway, one of the games that Jason suggested was Snow Tails.
Thanks to Lance (Ebonwoulfe), Roger (rbreiten), Andy (truekid) and David (BeyondMonopoly) for playing with me! Especially Lance, who held off playing the game until he knew I had finished playing Werewolf.
Of all the games I played over the weekend, Snow Tails was my favourite. I loved the artwork, concept (each player manages a team of sled dogs), interesting board layout, and the unique movement technique.
We played the easiest track, and now I want to try the more advanced layouts.
Happily, it looks as if Snow Tails is going to be released by Asmodee in the second half of 2009, woohoo!
Speaking of Werewolf, it was fun to watch and participate in some games over the weekend.
Another highlight of BGG.con for me: wandering down at around 9 am one morning (Jeff was still sleeping) and finding people to game with, yay! Whether these people were morning types like me, or had been playing all night and not slept at all (more likely the case, I suspect)...I didn't care. I was just delighted that there were people willing to game in the morning!
Photo above: Playing Reef Encounter with Kevin O'Hare (Bacchus), Terrence (trideau) and Kevin Ellingson (klellingson. I ran into Kevin E. in the lobby while buying my breakfast at the table set up by the hotel, and he asked if I was interested in playing.
Like many other games I played at BGG.con, I only really started grasping the strategies in Reef Encounter partway through the game, but I liked the artwork (and LOVED the cute little shrimp guys) and concept enough that I know that I definitely want to play this again. Kevin O. told me about a site where I can play Reef Encounter online, so I'm going to give that a shot.
Another personal con highlight for me: Meeting Sterling Babcock (Solamar) and his wife Marcia. Great couple, fun to hang out with. Wished we lived closer.
Anyway, they introduced Jeff and me to Taluva, which we both enjoyed. Sterling and Marcia apparently play Taluva as a two-player quite often; I like this idea, and have added it to my "Want To Own" list.
Lothartvni got a photo of me playing Galaxy Trucker with Scott F. (fsnam), Marcia and Sterling, and here's a photo by Fraser as well. Scott came by with Galaxy Trucker in his backpack just as Marcia, Sterling and I realized that we only had the Expansion set, not the basic set. Yay, Scott!
To be continued in my LAST (yes, I can hear you all breathing a sigh of relief) BGG.con report post, coming soon...
Last edited on 2008-11-26 13:09:14 CST (Total Number of Edits: 4)
Posted Wed Nov 26, 2008 1:24 pm
I would make SUCH a horrible poker player, wouldn't I?