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Archive for B K
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B K
United States
Cincinnati
Ohio
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Well, actually there were 11 games that round out the Top 10... seeing that 5 games tied with 14x plays. Half of the games were new (*) to me and our gaming friends this year. Let's take a look...
33x - Hive*
31x - Race for the Galaxy (incl. The Gathering Storm* expansion plays)
23x - Ticket to Ride
20x - Bananagrams*
19x - Bohnanza
Apparently I like abstract games. I didn't realize that. Actually I don't have an issue with abstract games, I was more taken by surprise to see that Hive (one of my favorites) actually was the most played game this year. I bought it right before our family Alaskan cruise so we'd have something to play on the ship. That is likely the timeframe of most of these plays. Bananagrams was a game we picked up in one of the ports, and likewise the bulk of its plays were on the ship as well.
By the way, I won't turn down a quick game of Hive if any of my friends want to learn, I'd be glad to teach you. 
Race for the Galaxy surged late in the year after I introduced my wife to the game and she liked it! Now that I finally get it (!) we can usually play 3 games in an hour as opposed to the first few when sadly it took the guys and I 1-2 hrs to get through a game. 
Ticket to Ride and Bohnanza were family favorites and the typically the game of choice this past year for introducing people to games beyond Monopoly. TtR was also our first game to exceed 50+ plays. We got the first map collection expansion, Ticket to Ride Map Collection: Volume 1 - Team Asia & Legendary Asia, for Christmas which will keep the game fresh.
16x - Rivals of Catan (missed picture day  )
14x - Citadels*
14x - Forbidden Island
14x - Memoir '44 (incl. Eastern Front expansion)
14x - Railways of the World* (7x Eastern US, 4x Mex, 3x England/Wales)
14x - Space Alert*
Rivals of Catan is a great value buy. It allows a Settlers of Catan experience with only 2p. We played all of the various "era decks" included in the game and now almost exclusively play the "Dual of the Princes" scenario where all eras are included. Nice game, at a great price for what you get. I am still impressed how they translated the board game into a card game with this one.
Along similar lines, Citadels and Forbidden Island are also in that "great value" category where I feel you get a lot of great game for a very reasonable price.
Memoir '44, a WWII miniature game for 2p, plays in a very reasonable timeframe and usually allows each player to play both the Axis and the Allies side of a scenario in an hour (excluding setup). It was my main birthday present in 2010 and is one of my top 5 favorite games. Like Hive, I'll play anytime. 
This year for my birthday I hosted a 40th birthday bash with some close friends playing a few new games I got. Railways of the World (which includes maps for Eastern US as well as Mexico) and Space Alert were two of those games. Both went on to see enough plays to round out the year's Top 10 list.
I liked RotW so much I bought the England & Wales map expansions and got the Western U.S. expansion for Christmas. I foresee some coast-to-coast games in 2012!
Honorable Mention:
11x - Power Grid
It would only be fair to mention Power Grid as one of the Top 10 games of the year as it was a big hit with me and nearly everyone introduced to the game at our monthly Game Nights this year. RotW and Power Grid are always two top picks for the guys come Game Night.
 Keep playing...
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B K
United States
Cincinnati
Ohio
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We hosted our last monthly Game Night of 2011 on New Year's Eve. We rang in the New Year with a full house of 33 people (adults and kids) starting at 2:00 until 12:30 (a la 2012) for our biggest turn out all year.
Games like Bohnanza, Power Grid, Railways of the World that proved to be previous Game Night favorites were brought out on four tables throughout the night. Some new games that people brought that showed up under the Christmas tree also saw some introductions to the group like Agricola and Dominion. The climax of the night, the Big Event, however was the much anticipated unveiling to the group of Eclipse!
I was receiving emails and text messages from folks reserving spots at the table for this one days before our planned gathering. But I'm getting a little ahead of the story...
Obviously Eclipse has been the talk of the Gaming World. I did not order this Pre-Pub still being a bit green and naive to this hobby thinking I would just order one when it arrived at stores. When the email notice that the game had sold out before it even cleared (North America) customs, my hopes of getting it for Christmas were shattered.
I did see a couple of copies appear on Boards & Bits one night and asked my wife what she thought of me ordering it after we had already bought a bunch of games for Christmas. It was an enthusiastic "NO! We already spent a lot of money on games this year." Well, I was resolved to wait for the second printing.
Come Christmas morning I was excited for all the games I did get. Then a few days later while opening gifts at my parents' house with my extended family, lo and behold my eyes saw as I tore away the wrapping paper... Eclipse! I sent a flurry of text messages... Game on, boys! Eclipse is on the schedule!!
A lot has already been said about this game. My first thoughts were lots of beautiful pieces! I studied the Rule Book for 1.5 hrs on the car ride home and another 2-3 hrs pouring over a simulated 2p game with my brother-in-law the night before New Year's Eve in preparation to teach the game at Game Night.
Wow! It was work digesting all that is Eclipse, but I new it would prove to be rewarding. I've been watching all the Rule questions on the Geek these past few weeks, and I have to say that it appears many people are getting this and out of their excitement breaking it out and running with it while not investing their time digesting the Rule Book. It is very well written and understandable, IF you put in the time to learn it first.
The other noticeable thing in the preparation as well as being watched by a crowd of anxious people Setup involves some significant time. People immediately started brainstorming ways to streamline the setup process. There are also some promising setup and storage ideas on the Geek worth investigating.
I spent about 10-15 mins giving a group of 10 people the basics of the game play, layout, and pieces. Then we walked through a 6p game by having everyone perform the same actions to further explain and understand the game. First an Explore, then an Upgrade, and in a few cases even a Research action. After the first instructional round I felt I was going to be attacked if I didn't release the hounds!
We continued on by letting players (and in some cases 2p teams) start making their own decisions and engaging the larger group in discussion or instruction as needed when faced with new decisions, rules, etc. We had our first combat in about round 5 which then started a flurry of activity to build ships and players rushing to get into a battle of their own.
As people had to leave partners or observers eagerly jumped in. When it was all said and done, we managed to only get through 7 rounds before we had to break up the party. But, the hottest game in the galaxy had gripped the attention of a group of gaming friends that we introduced to this wonderful hobby over the course of this year; and the stage is set for some epic gaming in 2012!
(Happy New Year!) Keep playing...
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B K
United States
Cincinnati
Ohio
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In my last blog post I shared what games from all the Essen discussions influenced my Christmas Wish List. With Christmas and now December here and gone let me just say, "It was a great December of Gaming!"
I played more games this past month than any month prior. I had a bunch of vacation time I needed to use or lose. So I also had more "free time" to catch up on things around the house and play games during breaks with my wife and kids. It also inspired some blog topics. I'll start with the games we developed heated, in-house rivalries over.
(21x) It all started with our anniversary getaway where I introduced my wife to Race for the Galaxy. Surprisingly she liked it! Her winning 5 of the first 7 games certainly helped the cause. This led to a string of days where we played as many games as possible, going back and forth. Eventually we upgraded to the advanced 2-player rules (i.e. play two phase cards each) and included the goal tiles from The Gathering Storm expansion. A rivalry game in our household was born.
(3x) Speaking of rivalries, The Rivals for Catan has been just such a game for us over the past year which saw some play time in December. Over the course of the year the rivalry has played through the various era card sets, and December saw two plays of the Dual of Princes variant with all eras represented in the draw stacks. I am considering adding the new expansion Age of Darkness expansion in 2012.
(12x) While I was out doing some last minute Christmas shopping I performed my ritual of walking down the department store game isle just to see what surprises might exist. I was pleasantly surprised to find Qwirkle on sale and I couldn't resist. I did receive a minor chewing when I got home over it, but that was quickly mended by all the fun we had playing this award winner. Some friends of ours went out and got the same deal after I told them about it. In our first dozen plays I'm averaging 258 pts and 12 qwirkles per game (diluted a bit with a few 3p games vs 2p games).
Among the games I received for Christmas a couple received play time that I'll briefly mention here (I'll save more in a separate blog about New Years Eve Game Night).
(6x) First up was Saint Petersburg. There was nothing exciting about this game to attract me to including it on my Christmas Wish List other than it was highly rated and sounded like a decent game that could be played with 2-4p in a relatively short time. During Christmas it was difficult to find anyone willing to play any games, until my wife took pity on me and offered to play something, so we opened this one and proceeded to create another game to contend and go back in forth as to who would be king/queen of Saint Petersburg in our gaming rivalry... the battle still rages.
(2x) My parents gave me Gears of War which I included primarily to have a new solo option in my collection--and the miniatures don't hurt the cause. I had no previous exposure to the video game it is derived from, so I had lots of reading of the Rule Book and Cards to navigate through the first game, at a snails pace. I was terminated by the time I reached half way through the map. However, the second play a day or so later proved more successful and quicker as I completed my first solo mission. I see more solo plays (and if I'm lucky group plays) in 2012 of this one.
(2x) The last game I wanted to share about is Kingsburg. I played this one over the summer and felt this would be one my girls would like. I got it for Christmas and introduced the family to it and I was right. They loved it! This has the potential to be the family favorite in 2012! It might even set the stage for Alien Frontiers or Troyes on next year's Christmas Wishlist.
Other games to see some table time prior to New Years Eve included Agricola (3x), Killer Bunnies (1x), Hive (2x), and a scenario of Memoir '44 Eastern Front (2x), Bohnanza (1x), Citadels (1x), and Puerto Rico (1x).
Keep playing (and stay tuned for at least a couple more reflective blog posts about 2011 yet to come)...
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B K
United States
Cincinnati
Ohio
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Essen always seems to stir gamers with excitement. This is the first year I've really paid more attention. I need to send family the annual Christmas List. In years past it included a number of different categories but in the end I always seem to get books. I currently have a back log of reading to catch up on, so this year it will be all games!
So from afar I watched to see what people were buying and talking about at Essen before finalizing my list. I enjoyed watching BGG interviews (albeit over my constantly interrupted DSL connection) for some last minute ideas.
Here are some random thoughts that I invite others to comment on...
One of the primary games I was interested in following was Panic Station. It sounded interesting and sold out very quickly, however initial reviews have not been kind. Now, I don't know whether I want to keep it on my list or delete it. Keep or remove... why?
In looking at numerous posts of what people bought and it seems like Drum Roll and Flash Point: Fire Rescue were two popular choices. The circus theme doesn't appeal to me upon first impressions, but the second one looks like a potential replacement for Panic Station on my list. 1) What's the appeal of DR? 2) Anyone buy or try both (PS and FP) and have an opinion?
The other hot pick which I knew nothing about was Eclipse. This one sounds and looks interesting for when the guys get together. Is this worth adding to the mix?
When playing with the family it usually means lighter fare. One of our favorites is Ticket to Ride so after reading about the initial takes on Ticket to Ride Map Collection: Volume 1 - Team Asia & Legendary Asia I will be adding it and Ticket to Ride Map Collection: Volume 2 - India & Switzerland to the list this year.
Wilderness was all the BUZZ... so I'm interested in hearing why all the excitement. Anyone want to enlighten me?
Lastly, I added Power Grid: The Robots to add to the mix when there are few players available. I wonder if you can play more than one robot?
Keep playing...
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B K
United States
Cincinnati
Ohio
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This past Friday night we held our third monthly game night where we have been introducing our friends to new games and getting some great hang out time together at the same time.
Most of us got together on a weekly basis for years, but life over the past year slowly dissolved that regularity to where we rarely shared any quality time together. Hosting a monthly game night opened the door for us to get together around some game tables and catch up while the kids played Wii or jumped in on a game as well.
My youngest and I got an early start to the evening by getting in some 2-player games of Bohnanza (2x) and Tobago. Once everyone arrived we split up and some played Bohnanza while I played a 3-player game of Power Grid. In the end I managed to pull off a win by $1 (Elektro). Some of the families had to leave. One of my old college roommates was able to hang around a little and we played a quick 2-player game of Ticket to Ride.
The next morning, my girls and I drove to the west side of town to Yottaquest (a great FLGS in Cincinnati) who were celebrating their 7-year anniversary with free donuts, free hot dogs, door prizes, and a by 2 get one free sale.
The selection is always great here (the short fall of 2 of the 3 FLGS on the east side). I was like a kid in a candy store! My main goal was to pick up Hive, but apparently every copy was bought up within the first 30 mins the store opened leaving me empty handed there.
I had a short list of games I would entertain buying after looking at them a bit closer. I ended up (1.5 hrs later, so my oldest reminds me) getting Citadels, Race for the Galaxy: The Gathering Storm, and Railways of England and Wales for me. I picked up Pocket Battles: Orcs vs. Elves for my nephew's birthday and a bunch of 9-pocket sheets for my wife (for her extreme couponing kick). During our browsing, my youngest won a copy of Maccabees as a door prize. Which was exciting for us.
After the kids had a couple of donuts and I ate a hot dog we headed home (and found gas for $3.68/gal... a deal compared to prices lately). I have never been to a gaming convention (yet!) but this was turning out to be a pretty exciting "gaming weekend" for me. Nice.
My wife and I played a game of The Rivals for Catan until my oldest finished a movie after which we played another game of Bohnanza before bed.
I had a checklist of things I had to get done before Monday, and I came very close to figuring out how the solo game of RftG: the Gathering Storm worked but in the end I didn't successfully complete a game. I tried. But it turned out to be a great gaming weekend.
Sunday ended with a gaming friend calling to set up a double date for Monday night to cook out and play some games. Keep them doggies rollin' <whip>. Can you say game week???
Keep playing...
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B K
United States
Cincinnati
Ohio
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It has been a very busy week since fully enjoying a full day of gaming in celebration of my 40th birthday last Saturday. I felt it necessary after posting a "Prologue" that I should post a few closing thoughts about BillCon 2011.
I posted session reports for each of our games including some pictures for details of the actual day:
> Space Alert - 3 simulations
> Power Grid
> Railways of the World #1
> Railways of the World #2
> Lord of the Rings
As I think back over the day I am astonished that 13 hours could go by so fast! Not only that, but you would think we would have played more games than we did??? Wow.
I'm sure if all of us were more familiar with these games we may have been a bit quicker and gotten more games in, but I'm not complaining, we all had a great time. I suppose its just the realization of how much time learning a new game can take, i.e. growing pains.
The encouraging thought is after getting into gaming myself only a little over a year ago, I am starting to feel some momentum. Half of the guys I invited to spend the day with me are not gamers... they were there to encourage me and were willing to play a game or two in order to accomplish that. But every one of them said they wish they could have stayed longer, or I wish I didn't have to leave, or that we could play all night... I take that as a promising sign for future gaming!
A thought that continues to stick with me about the games we played is how much I really enjoyed Railways of the World. In fact every one who played it is still talking about it. I think it has become my favorite game, right out of the box!
One last thought in closing is that I'd like to do this again next year Possibly opening it up to others as more of a gaming day, rather then specific games with specific time slots and players predetermined. I'll give that some thought...
(That's all for now,) keep playing...
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B K
United States
Cincinnati
Ohio
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This is my first blog post. I am not likely to think up any interesting GeekLists; I may write an occasional session report; and I'm too new and often too late to write a game review that hasn't been captured already from a number of creative angles by the time I get around to playing it... so why not a blog when I feel prompted to share something that is on my mind from my gaming experience!?
For a brief introduction, I've been an active participant on BGG now for over a year and still enjoying the newness of the hobby. Last year I mentioned to my wife it would be kind of fun for the family to go to Origins or GenCon for the weekend as my 40th birthday gift. Unfortunately, tt turned out that neither date works with our busy schedule. Therefore, I came up with the idea of inviting a few of my friends who I have been trying to introduce to some of the exciting games I've been accummulating to an all-day game day. Thus, BillCon 2011 was born...
Maybe too grand for such a humble gathering, but its a start perhaps to an annual tradition. Needless to say, I'm excited! It occurs tomorrow!
My oldest daughter created a t-shirt for me that has an army guy (inspired by my favorite game, Memoir '44) charging a meeple with a spear framed with the slogan, "Are you ready to win!? BillCon 2011" on the front. Very sweet. She even made an extra for a door prize for one of the guys attending.
I picked the following games for our time of food and fun:
* Space Alert, Power Grid, Railways of the World and Lord of the Rings.
I will take some pictures and write some sessions reports from the day and post them later this weekend. Railways of the World will be a first for all of us, as I'm getting it for my birthday tonight and will read up to teach and facilitate tomorrow. ;-)
Keep playing...
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