A New Obsession!!

I never cease to be amazed at how many different game mechanics are out there. Each month or so it seems I find something that is new and exciting that I must try. The current ( and older ) slew of "Euro" games and a handful of "Ameritrash" games never lack a thrill in game play. Games that incorporate mechanics that range from mind bending to quite simple. However, not as simple as flicking little wood discs across a wooden circular playing surface! That's pretty basic in my book! Therefore, I would never have expected to stumble across an "Old school" style game that would totally obsess my thoughts and persuade me to open up my wallet WIDE! This game is Crokinole. I'll leave it to the reader to go to BGG and read the reviews. I couldn't explain it good enough and would probably ramble! Haha! Anyhow, I have finally and fortunately found a gem that thousands of others worldwide have already known about. I guess it's better late than never as they say! The game is of Canadian origin and hit "the scene" in the mid to late 1870's!! In fact, 1876 I believe! No joke! It's not that hard to imagine a game that stands the test of time. Look at Chess, Backgammon and Cribbage to name a few. These games, as well as Crokinole, have been bringing family and friends together through many generations. Which brings me to the reason I happened to find this wonderful game. Recently I was finding myself in search of something unique, but a "classic" group game. Something with some history behind it and a beloved favorite. My search lead me to the obvious choices I mentioned above, but I wanted to find something out of the ordinary ( at least for me ). Now Cribbage and Backgammon are not duds at all! I really enjoy both. However, I've never been too keen on Chess. Anyways, Crokinole seemed to be the game that fit the bill. After months of "research" on BGG and reading favorable reviews I had to try it! Therefore, I decided to buy a fairly cheap priced, used board off eBay. I bought a "cheap" one just in case it fell short of my expectations. Needless to say, it has been played A LOT!! From family to friends, young and old, it has been a solid HIT!! I plan to "upgrade" to a new board as soon as I can afford one! Not to bash my "Plain Jane" board, but it lacks the aesthetic value and quality I desire. On that note, one of my friends ( who is usually a VERY hard sell on new and unusual games I purchase ) is already desiring his own board after one night of play! That friend is Mike and trust me, he has been my biggest nay sayer since I first shown him my new interest a while back! Now, I want to show my other friend Ed, what he is missing! He is being very skeptical ( as was I initially and of course, Mike! ). I can pretty much gauge what his likes and dislikes are in games ( since they follow mine as well ) and I'm confident he will be joining Mike and I soon! "Resistance is futile! " Ed!! Hahaha! All in all, I LOVE the game and hope to get an heirloom game that will be treasured for many, many years to come!

Who'd a thunk it???

This post is dedicated to the ( seemingly ) odd game themes from Europe. For example, who would have thought that games about post offices ( Thurn & Taxis ), power stations ( Power Grid ) and a presidential election ( 1960: The Making of a President ) would FUN for instance?! I had my reservations about these titles and quite a few others in the past and recently. I was not sure that they would be that entertaining, BUT, I was SO wrong! Granted, there have been and still are some VERY odd themed games here in the States. But the "Euro" game designers continually surprise me with the off the wall game themes and innovative game mechanics they churn out each year! I am SO glad I took a chance and bought the games I mentioned above ( and many others! )! WOW! My friends and family enjoy them a great deal! Strange themes aside, I'm just happy to play these fun, entertaining, sometimes thought provoking games! These games keep my imagination alive! So many are content to go day to day and sit in front of the TV ( if it works for you...have at it! ). I personally can't stand ( or sit! ) watching TV all the time! I want the interaction and communication ( even if it's cursing at times! Haha! MIKE! ). Anyways, I would have never come across or even considered buying these game if it hadn't been for BGG! I cannot recommend that site enough! It has everything you need to know in order to make a wise purchase and answer any questions about a game if one ( or more ) should arise. So take a look and take a leap into a whole new world of board games! You won't be disappointed! Unless you don't like to fun? Happy gaming!

The Weekend 11-16 & 11-17 Pt. II

Part II! Mike suggested a game of "Colosseum" and we got down to some good old Roman fun! SUPER close game! He beat me by only one point! Cool game and I like it better with each play!

Next, we played Mike's favorite Richard Borg game, "BattleLore"! Just kidding! It's his least favorite. I'm still puzzled by his attitude towards it. He's explained how he's only miffed about some things and I have to agree with him...to a point. I love the concept of the game and I ALWAYS enjoy it EVERY time I get to play it! Granted, I LOVE it's cousin, "Memoir '44" the most, but it is a great game! The first picture of our game is just before hostilities began. The last picture is when the dust settled and I was victorious! Oh yeah!!

Later today I will be receiving "1960 : The Making of a President" and the German Game of the Year for 2007, "Zooloretto". Check them out on BGG! I looking forward to a good fight for votes with Mike soon! Plus, enjoy an exciting animal collecting game with the kids! See ya!

The Weekend 11-16 & 11-17 Pt. I

Another weekend for the record books! Been gone too long once again. Mike and I got in some good gaming in last weekend! I had just bought "El Grande" and we played it a couple times. First game ended with a tie, but Mike took me by 8 points on the follow up game! You're a turd. Did I ever tell you that? What a game it turned out to be. It can be a bit of a brain burner at times. Actually, it's not hard, but it does leave with some very important decisions to be made. I was also impressed at the fact you're never really out of it. If you're behind for a bit ( like Mike was in our first game ), it's not too much of reach to catch up! Well, you'd really have to bungle it up to screw up your chances.

At the same time I got "El Grande", I got the new expansion for "Infernal Contraption" called "Sabotage". This set of cards are mixed in with the base set and add some "screw your buddy" ( well, even more than before! ) stuff to it! I really like the game all around and have a good time assembling my machine! Mike isn't as keen on the game as I or Ed, but he's strange! Hahaha! We still like him anyways! BTW, this picture is the end game pic! We both did well, but his machine was a bit more efficient than mine. Lucky bastard! Haha!

Next, we broke out "Carcassonne: The City". This is one of my personal favorites of the "Carcassonne" series! Now this game can cause some serious AP at times! Mike slaughtered me at this game Saturday night! Next time pal! The meeples will fly! Once again, this is the finished game picture.

I'll finish up my session report in "The Weekend 11-16 & 11-17 Pt. II". Later!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Once again, I took a little too long to make a new post. I've been having a hard time trying to get in the right frame of mind to sit and type out stuff lately. Oh well, at least I have had some fun in our gaming sessions recently! Mike and I made a trip up to see Ed and Sheila a little while back. We played many games and had a great time! The games varied greatly! Games such as: Caylus, Shogun, Yspahan, Power Grid, Colosseum, Arkham Horror and a surprising favorite of Ed's, Thurn & Taxis: Power and Glory! I know we played other games as well, but damned if I can remember them right now! Geez! I'm losing my mind! Anyhow, I would like to make it up there one more time this year, but who knows? Mike and I dug out Fury of Dracula last weekend ( in honor of Halloween! ) and had a great time with a great game! Sorry Ed, but it is a great game! This coming weekend I will be taking over another spooky favorite of ours, Betrayal at House on the Hill! Other spooky, themed games that I highly recommend are: Fearsome Floors and Last Night on Earth, The Zombie Game.

I've been listening to a lot of progressive music lately! I get on these kicks from time to time. Some of my favorite bands of late are: Ozric Tentacles, Porcupine Tree, Opeth ( older stuff was more Death Metal! ) Riverside, Symphony X , Devin Townsend ( Devin is GREAT! ) and Frank Zappa! I know, I'm not talking about games! But, those who know me know that music is my first passion in this world. Gaming is damn close! Not to mention, they go hand in hand as far as I'm concerned! Kinda like smoking and drinking! Haha! Music and gaming...my drugs of choice!

Time to wrap this one up! I just want to mention games that have caught my eye and I will more than likely OWN soon! Cuba, Felix: The Cat in the Sack and another Carcassonne expansion entitled, Abbey & Mayor. Until next time...keep playing and having fun!

Been away too long!

Well, finally I feel up to making a new post! I just haven't been in the mood to do it recently. A lot has happened since my last post! Whew! Amy's video of our gaming session was fun and in turn has got Mike and I off our duffs to complete a project of ours. This project has been on the back burner for quite some time! We needed this nudge big time. For the time being it must remain a secret! Hehe! Anyhow, we hooked up last night for some gaming! We played one of our favorite 2 player games, Battle Line! That game rocks! Not to mention it's designed by my favorite game designer...Reiner Knizia! I own several of his games and love each one! Some more than others though. But each one is great! I managed to win Battle Line! After a few hands of Magic the Gathering,we moved on to play Thurn & Taxis: Power and Glory. Another personal favorite of mine. The Thurn & Taxis games are not by Knizia BTW. Anyhow, Mike whooped me pretty good on that one! After that we broke out Arkham Horror. Ugh! I'm just not crazy about that game! It's got everything that I like in a game, but it just doesn't feel right with this game. We ended up winning it rather quickly ( this is a rarity! ). I actually semi enjoyed this session of Arkham Horror. It wasn't that bad. To finish the night, we played Formula De. I won that one, but just barely though! It was close! That's it for now! Later!

Blasts from the past and new "blasts"!

Mike and I managed to blow the dust off a few "oldies" and got in some good gaming the previous weekend! We also worked in two of his new games: Colosseum and Anima: The Shadow of Omega. Actually, Colosseum is a 3 to 5 player game, but we pulled it off with just the two of us. Of course, there are facets of the game that we couldn't really experience without the minimum, but it was still COOL!! I really see a lot of potential in this game! Ed, you will enjoy this one for sure! It wasn't as hard to understand as I thought it would. Everything makes sense and the theme is quite cool. As for Anima, it was really fun as well! I'm looking forward to playing it again soon! It just needs more cards though. I could see it getting boring after too many plays. Anyhow, we also played some Memoir '44 ( he whooped me good in the next scenario ), Taj Mahal and Heroscape. Hehehe, Mike's gonna never live this one down Ed! You gotta hear this! He actually forgot to use an elephant card after I withdrew early in a province! He didn't get the resources for that province and I got a good laugh out of it. Not to mention, it cost him the game too! We were only 2 points in difference at the end and his mistake cost him 5 points! Ahhh, good times! Heroscape was a blast too! We played the scenario a little wrong, but it was a great battle nonetheless. We agreed that we need to play Heroscape more often. Well, I'm gonna wrap this one up! Oh, Mike, you need to play that one disc when your woman is over! Give her some "Thug" love bro!! Hahaha! Later!