Figured I would share a few of my impressions of going to my first game convention.
I missed last years Tennessee Game Days unfortunately/fortunately (there was a fairly epic flood that weekend which closed roads, stranded people, totaled cars and flooded the Opryland closing it for the better part of a year), but it started me thinking about going this year. It managed to correspond with a weekend we didn't have anything going on, and my parents could watch our son during the day on Friday so I made plans to attend within the last few weeks.
Nashville is about a two hour drive north. I carpooled up with my friend Clay (BGG: Snoweel) another local gamer, both of us were staying with friends in the area so it made for a very affordable con (only $30 at the door for all three days).
We left here around 9 am on Friday, arriving there around 11:30. We registered and I met up with my friend Jason (BGG: Kain Rising). We decided to grab lunch before starting and ran to Big River Brewing Company down the street - good food and excellent in house brewed root beer.
We were back around 12:30. We were not really sure how to handle things so we just grabbed my copy of Thunderstone(organized for the epic variation), plopped down at a table and started playing. People would mill around and chat with us occasionally and we took in the lay of the land. Jason managed to beat me by a few VPs, but it was a good game. From there we had to try out the official Crokinole board of the TNGameDays - very nice. It made me want a nicer board (and I got my revenge on Jason since I have played Croke before ).
When we were done we started checking out the library. We met up with Brad (BGG: ???) who was up for a game. After much debate we figured Ra would be good for three. Brad ran through the rules refreshing me and teaching Jason. Enjoyable game, but the learning curve on the tiles for new players is tough (after playing we discovered the PnP player mats in the box - D'oh!).
Next on the table was Kingsburg which Jason and I had played before, but Brad hadn't so we taught him. I caught him playing it later in the con so he must have enjoyed it. If I recall his impressions he was at first leery of the dice, but two turns in said "this is not a dice game." The copy was pimped with plastic dice which was a nice addition so I might have to buy some for mine (at the very least keep an eye out for Perudo while thrifting).
From there we met up with a few more people and played Medici with 6. I think it was mostly first timers. Interesting game that I think will go over well with my Friday night group - need to track down which version has the best graphics.
Oh and for the record I believe Brad trounced everyone at all of the games mentioned above.
It was about Dinner time so a group of people got together and walked a few blocks to Puckett's Grocery and Restaurant on the recommendation of some other people in the hotel. Turned out to be excellent - I highly recommend the patty melt if you are in the Nashville area. Sufficiently fueled we headed back to the con just in time for the Wits & Wagers Tournament.
Clay asked if Jason and I wanted to team up. We didn't have the right answer half of the time, but I need to take Clay to Vegas for his wagering skills. They actually had to give us an IoU card for part of our "winnings" during the game - which made us fairly secure in our position. We lost a bundle on the last question but still had enough left over to pull out a win - so we all walked away with a copy of the home version. Thanks to North Star Games for sponsoring the event!
After that we milled around a bit - I had traded a ton in the Math Trade so I asked around for random usernames. We decided since we wanted to get there early for the Flea Market the next morning (and had a bit of a drive) we would call it an early night and left at about 10:30.
The flea market was worth waking up for - I ended up buying 7 games, most of them from the same guy. In retrospect after buying the first and checking it out I should have bought any I was even remotely interested. Many were the German versions, cheap, immaculate condition and pimped. For example the Jet Set I bought had the expansion and the cards were even double sleeved.
TNGameDays has game "tours" going throughout the convention that involve several games with a theme taught by an experienced player and they hover around to answer questions making sure everything was going right. We had signed up for the "Cult of the New" tour (along with everyone else there apparently). While we were milling around after the flea market we were asked if we had signed up for it and if we wanted to start early since the roster was packed - we happily obliged to get the days games started.
Our tour partners for the day were a couple who had come over from Atlanta (names escaping me at the moment unfortunately). We started off with London. I hadn't heard much about it before other than it was a card based Martin Wallace game. It took a little bit of explanation, but wasn't too difficult at all. Don't remember the final score - I know I didn't win but I ended up with the least poverty - that has to count for something. I liked it, but probably wouldn't get played at home so it isn't on my "MUST BUY NOW" list, but at least it's on my someday/maybe. Jason was not a fan of it and the ATL couple enjoyed it - so 3 out of 4 thumbs up.
EDIT:Was just listening to a podcast and realized we played it slightly wrong - we were running the entire city whenever we took that action - that would make a big difference I think. Also it is three days later and I'm still thinking about it so I must have enjoyed it more than I thought at the time - so I've ordered it.
Next up was 7 Wonders at the front desk. I had played it previously several months ago, but only one time. Jason knew nothing about it and the ATL couple played it the day before. The guy teaching did an excellent job. Everyone enjoyed it greatly and I'm chomping at the bit to get my own copy even more (been trying for months - WHERE ARE YOU REPRINT!).
The final game on the tour was Cargo Noir - all copies were in use when we were done so we quick ran down the street to grab some McD's for lunch and run back. So Cargo Noir has been getting some "Meh" press around it since it's introduction - we discussed that previously but tried to go in with open minds. The rules were VERY easy though we did make one mistake with the Syndicate cards we found out that gave us a bit too much money (we were wondering why we were running out of chips). At it's heart it is a very simple set collecting game - very gateway. The components are beautiful, but I'm still not sure how I feel about the game. Since there is no scarcity among the cards or any value differences there was (at least to me on the initial play) no reason to make any big bets on the ports when you can get a guaranteed number of cards from the black market.
The overall impression was positive - we all enjoyed it. It just seems like it is one or two little tweaks from making it a very good game. I'm a little tempted to get it because it is would be a good introduction to auction mechanics to new gamers, but it would quickly be replaced by games like Ra or Medici.
After that we stretched our legs a bit and I tracked down a few more Math Traders. Jason and I sat down and played a quick game of his copy of Sator Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas which drew some attention. It is a fun little game - I need my own copy of it.
There was a group playing Piratenbillard which looks VERY fun - it is now on my want list.
Jason left shortly after. I met up with Clay and one of my Math Trade recipients, Amy (BGG: ShutterbugTN) for a game of Loopin' Louie (which she just got from me in the trade). It attracted a ton of people - who were all amazed (don't you people read BGG ). The library copy was checked out within a few minutes.
The three of us then broke out Tigris & Euphrates at Clay's suggestion. We hadn't played it before - Clay did a quick run through and I brought up the UFBRT review on my iPad while he finished setting up. I think I finally got the hang of it by the end of the game. Enjoyable, but I can see where AP could be a problem.
We followed that up with a quick game of Ingenious and I showed Amy how to play a round of Jaipur (though my brain wasn't working at this point - T&E must have short circuited something).
Then Clay and I packed up and left the con at about 8:30 to drive back to Huntsville making it back right around 11.
So to wrap everything up - a good time was had by all. Looking at it on screen I realize it was a very Knizia couple of days.
I learned a lot of new games, got to see a bunch of others in play and added enough to my collection via the Math Trade and Flea Market to keep me busy for a while.
A big thanks to everyone who put it on and the sponsors!
First off this weeks cookie had an outbreak... of delicious:
This week we had a total of 6 adults - so a good number. Started to split things into 3&3 (girls and guys) but one of the newer ladies was wanting to learn something new. So we split 4 and 2.
The "mom" group of 2 played Rummikub while keeping an eye on the kids in the living room. We have a small dining area beside our kitchen which is beside a sunken living room - so it provides both a good vantage point, but a little separation since it is up a few steps.
The rest of us decided to try out a new game to all of us - Lords of Vegas. I had watched all the videos and glanced over the rulebook so I thought I had a good grasp on it. I put the "glover" explanation video on the iPad and played it for them while I set things up.
That worked quite well. It took a few turns for things to click but everyone was enjoying it by the end. I think I like it a good bit - a little luck, a little strategy, a little puzzle-y, and a little trading. We didn't really use trading effectively the first time but I can see where it will add a lot to future games.
We did mess up one fairly major rule unfortunately - when double checking the turn order I read the first part of the paragraph aloud where it mentioned something to the effect of: In this part of your turn take the following actions in order to manage your casinos...
Reading it I put the emphasis as "following actions in order to manage..." and stopped there saying oh so you have to do the actions on the card in that order. So we did that for the whole game - even commenting a couple of times how it is a little strange that you would gamble at the end of your turn and have to wait a turn to use the money.
Turns out that the second half of the paragraph mentions, VERY CLEARLY AND VERBOSELY, that you can take the actions in any order and as many times as you want (other than those limited to 1x per turn). D'oh! Oh well everyone still enjoyed it and talked about playing it again next time - I've sent an email to everyone clarifying it.
One more note about LoV, or for any game that uses paper money for that matter, use poker chips instead (preferably in a chip carousel). It is so much easier to grab chips quickly without having to check to make sure bills are stuck together.
After LoV wrapped up our kids were in bed so we were able to re-merge the 2 groups for a few full games of Cash and Guns - introducing it to a couple of people who missed it last week. It is a perfect "no brain left" wrap up to an evening. A few people were tired so things ended shortly after that.
Lessons learned: 1) Always solo a game first to work out the best way to explain it. 2) Videos work well to get things kicked off in a new game.
I've thought for a while that a video explaining the basics of how to play - without any review about the game itself - would be an excellent way to kick things off. Start video, set game up, answer any questions and play. I've actually experimented with doing them myself in the past with this one:
I think that concept worked so well tonight (despite the one rule flub) that I'm going to try and make a few more.
So next week will be the first cancelled game night of 2011 - for good reason however - I'll be attending my first game convention at TN Game Days in Nashville.
When the blogs appeared I had great aspirations of going back and recapping the start of my weekly game night going over how it came to be, what we played every week, how many came, and so forth. Of course I've been putting it off so I'm just going to jump in with two feet.
A little backstory to catch up to tonight. I've been deep into the board game scene since discovering it a couple of years ago. I've gotten a few friends hooked and have had random game nights here and there over the last year.
On New Years Eve we had a party and I decided to make a game night out of it. A good time was had by all - so it got me to thinking why not just issue an open invitation to our friends that Friday nights are game nights. Feel free to come if you want to/don't have anything better to do - come early and bring a brown bag dinner or right on time just for games.
Sure enough - if you invite them, they will come. So every Friday night of 2011 has been a game night. Crowds have ranged from 4 to 14, but sure enough every Friday games have gotten played.
Another bonus was it convinced my wife to let me turn the front room into a dedicated game room. Now we have 3 tables readily accessible for games.
Since the majority of attendees are non-gamers I've been trying to do the following:
* Start Slow - No jumping into Agricola. We started with tried and true gateway or simple to explain games. Bohnanza, Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne, Citadels and the like
* Repeat, Repeat, Repeat - Every week we've been trying to play at least one game that has been played before. Everyone doesn't like to learn a new game every time
* Talk about the games - I've been trying to get several genres of games with different mechanics to the table. At the end I ask what people liked about the games and what they didn't like - I then mull that over to help pick future games.
That brings us up to tonight - we had a very light turnout because several wives are at a retreat and a couple of people were sick, so we had a grand total of 4 (+4 kids playing in the living room).
We started things off with The Settlers of Catan - one hadn't played it before but she took to it fairly quickly. It was a tight game coming down to the wire with the Largest Army card deciding the victor.
I received Ca$h 'n Gun$ this week via trade and was itching to try it out. Sure enough it lived up to it's reputation - very fun. I'm sure it will be even better with the full compliment of 6 and will get back to the table very soon.
Then Bohnanza - everyone had played it before and it was fun as always. FYI I find it is a good gateway to Catan to get people used to active trading.
Finally we finished out the evening with a few rounds of FITS since everyone was winding down brain wise.
Things have been going very well I believe and with a slow ramp up of games to introduce people to the different concepts that are common in many games (Role selection, trading, set collecting) I think it won't be too long till I'll be able to pull out anything and be playing in short order.
Oh and one last thing - snack wise I've been making something every week and I think I'm getting close to perfecting the "mall cookie." Of course I've had to theme them for games - so here is tonights TTR cookie:
).
). The library copy was checked out within a few minutes.
