Archive for michael oliver
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Michael Oliver
United States
Aurora
Illinois
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Michael here,
So as Heather and I continue to work on getting a weekly board game group going we have come up with the group name and we wanted to get everyone's opinion.
We have decided to call the group BGAME. Board Game Addicts Memorable Entertainment.
What do you think?
I realize this is probably the least important aspect of getting a group up and running but it has been fun.
I am thinking that we will hold the group every Friday night starting at 7pm at our church builiding. There will not be any overhead and lots of space to have tables and open areas. We could even divide up into seperate rooms if we wanted.
There may be some Fridays that the church building will be in use, but for the most part it should be free and clear.
I was also able to get added to the meetup group Chicago Game Lovers as an assistant orginizer so that I can add the gaming group to their calender.
I am thinking about starting a website up to post video reviews and information on the gaming group. I'm not sure if I can afford to do this right now but I have noticed that a lot of other gaming groups seem to utilize websites.
I'm not sure if I have everything covered that I should yet, but I would love feedback from all of you and any reccomondations that you can provide.
Thanks!
Feel free to visit our blogspot at http://boardgameaddicts.blogspot.com/
Sat Jun 25, 2011 11:13 pm
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Michael Oliver
United States
Aurora
Illinois
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I am going to deviate a little from my usual board game post to talk a about outdoor games.
I don't know about you, but my wife and I have never really been exposed to outdoor games.
With it being summer and the weather nice enough to be outside we were finally given the oppotunity to learn some.
Living in Las Vegas for most of my life has not been condusive to outdoor gaming.
If you are outside in Vegas you are usually driving somewhere or getting into the pool.
I feel that outdoor games are more popular in regions of the country that are usually cooler than 100 degress out, although I could be wrong?
So,
My wife and I were taught how to play Ladder Ball and Corn Hole or Bean Bag Toss.
Both, being quite similar in their scoring and play method.
For those who do not know, both games utilize throwing as the main mechanic. Eye-Hand coordination is important.
Each team is given the oppotunity to throw either a bean bag or a rope, with balls connected to the end, depending on whether you are playing Corn Hole or Ladder Ball. You gain points depending on how the object lands. Your team wants to reach 21 points first without going over. If you go over you lose points equal to the amount over 21. For example, if your team has 19 points and you score 3, you would then have a score of 18.
Although having good eye-hand coordination is important in these games I found them to be entertaining and simple. I feel that they are great party/picnic type games.
Great for when you have family over that have children who are not condusive to board gaming.
I found both of these to be enjoyable and thus spurred my interest in posting about them. My main interest is in knowing form you,
What other outdoor games are their that my wife an I have not been introduced to?
For more gaming fun visit our blog: http://boardgameaddicts.blogspot.com/
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Michael Oliver
United States
Aurora
Illinois
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My wife laughs at me sometimes
Well, she laughs at me for many reasons, but she laughs at me sometimes about my nightime reading.
I love to read.
Some of my favorite authors are Brandon Mull, Terry Brooks, David Mccullough, Christopher Paolini, and many, many others. As you can see I love to read science fiction, non-fiction, and youth novels.
So far not really a reason to be laughed at.
So...my dirty little secret.... I love to read through board game rule books at night when I am going to bed.
I do not think that this is weird. I'm guessing that a lot of gamers do this when going to bed?
I love reading rulebooks. I find it fun and interesting. Plus, I'm a slow learner and it helps me to read through a rulebook a couple of times before the first gameplay.
My wife does not agree with me.
She is fine with reading through a rulebook and learning gameplay but she does not find it a fun and joyful thing to do.
For me, it is interesting to learn of game mechanics and play. I love to find out what makes this game different from the last. I know that this can be found out by playing the game, but I do not get to play games every night so I read rulebooks 
What are some of your favorite genres, autors, and things to read?
FOR MORE BOARD GAME FUN FOLLOW US ON OUR BLOG: http://boardgameaddicts.blogspot.com/
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Michael Oliver
United States
Aurora
Illinois
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Michael here...
You can also view this post on my blogspot http://boardgameaddicts.blogspot.com/
I love to play board games. I am lucky to have a wife that also enjoys playing. Im not sure if she is quite as passionate as I am but nonetheless, she is willing to try any game
Throughout my gaming experiences I have tried to learn what draws new gamers further into the board gaming world. Depending on the games that they have alreay played, and what they say they like, I might start them out with a party game like Time's Up or Dixit. Sometimes I will go straight to a board game like Ticket To Ride or Stone Age. These games have simple mechanics and usually draw people in.
I find that sometimes I get stuck having to force my friends to play other games. At this point I usually try games like Dominion or Smallworld. Each being fun and, I think, easy to learn. Friends will either like these games or will want to go back to what they are more comfortable with.
Today I made the mistake of introducing some "Newby" friends to Munchkin and it did not go over very well. 
We were not through the first round before I had mutiple "I don't want to play" and "I don't get it" statements.
Then the "I don't want to curse you, that's mean". LOL!
To say the least we made it one round before I stopped the game due to the lack of enthusiasm. This set of friends have played; Dominion, Pitchcar, Stone Age, and Time's Up. I do not think that they were fully prepared for the backstabbing nature of Munchkin nor the crazy nuance of the game.
Sometimes I find it difficult to know what is the best way to get friends into the gaming fold. Is there one? Are there those that no matter what I do they will not go beyond Ticket to Ride or Time's Up?
How do I help my friends understand that there is a whole world of fun games out there?
The funny thing is that they say they love games. I really believe they love party games, but I would not say they are board game lovers.
To say the least I really do appreciate the times that they have played different games with us. I just want more! Lol!
Please... advice from fellow gamers.
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Michael Oliver
United States
Aurora
Illinois
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Hey its Michael...
You can also view this post on my blogspot http://boardgameaddicts.blogspot.com/
For those of you who love Zombie themes, you may want to give Munchkin Zombies a try. Im sure Munchkin fans are loving this stand alone and expansion version of Munchkin by Steve Jackson games.
Munckin comes in many shapes and sizes, from the classic to super hero and vampires. The basis of the game is wild and crazy monster killing. In the Zombies version each player is playing a zombie that is killing Human "Monsters"!
For those of you who are new to the Munckin world, gameplay is as follows;
Every player starts as a regular Zombie at level 1. The goal being to reach level 10, which can be done through defeating monsters or discarding "Go Up a Level" cards.
Each turn you will;
First, lie down any item cards that will give you bonus power along with any special ability cards that you can play. You will then draw a card face up from the "Door Deck" which could result in taking on a monster.
If you turn over a monster then combine your bonus power, special abilities, and current Level. In order to defeat the Monster, this total must be more than the level of the monster written on the card. If you can defeat the monster then you go up a level and collect Treasure, which gives you more special abilities and bonuses.
If the face up "Door" card is not a monster then you can keep that card and then draw a face down "Door" card to be placed into your hand.
Warning: If you cannot have fun backstabbing or being backstabbed, you may not like this game.
What you just read is a torn down example of how to play the game. You will find that the reasaon Munckin has such a loyal fan base is the player interaction.
Munchkin is built around the idea that you help your fellow Zombies kill mosters and survive while it serves your needs. Then, in the end you backstab your friends and keep them from reaching Level 10.
This is done numerous ways:
Among them would be playing curse cards, mulitplying monsters that the player is attacking, and/or increasing the Monsters strength. It is a lot of fun having your fellow Munchkin Zombies believe that they are going to win only to lose to the Monster and have to take the consequence.
We have played numerous versions of the Munchkin games and I really like the Zombie theme. I find it fun and entertaining. Of course it has the whitty artwork and captions, but it is just fun to have a Zombie theme.
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Michael Oliver
United States
Aurora
Illinois
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Hello All,
My wife posted a review of Citadels on our blog, http://boardgameaddicts.blogspot.com/ , and so I thought I would share it with my BGG family.
It's Heather,
I wanted to give a quick review of one of my favorite games.
Citadels is one of my top 5 favorite games! It can play 2-8 players, but is more exciting with at least 4. Its 10" x 4" box makes it seem less superior than other games, but the constant change of characters each round gives it excitement. Each player is the leader of a city and seeks to increase its prosperity by building new districts.
Citadels is broken up into rounds. Each round consists of 4 steps.
The 1st step: Take the 8 basic character cards and remove a certain number depending on how many people are playing. This makes it challenging to get the character you need each round.
The 2nd step: The player who holds the crown always picks their character 1st. So if you want to pick 1st, you need to pick the King. Then play continues clockwise. There are 8 basic characters and 10 bonus characters. The basic characters are assassin, thief, magician, King, bishop, merchant, architect, and warlord. Each character allows you to do something different.
Examples: the assassin can kill someone for that round, the thief can steal $ from one character each round, and the architect lets you build up to 3 districts.
The 3rd step: each player takes their turn. Each character takes their turn in order of the character's number. Example: Assassin is #1. They call out a character or its number to kill them that round. On your turn, you can take an action and build a district. For your action you either take 2 gold or draw 2 district cards and pick one to keep. To build a district you need money. If you don't have money, you don't build. The cost of each district equals its point value for the end of the game.
The 4th step: end of round. Everyone returns their characters to the pile, they are shuffled and a new round begins.
Once someone has built their 8th district, the game ends. Players count their points and the one with the most points wins!
This is one of my favorite games because it is easy to learn and teach, but it still has a ton of variety and keeps my interest. I like how you can be a different character each round but it is not guarenteed that the character you want will always be available.
Everyone that we have played with seems to like this game. Gamers and non-gamers alike.
Mon Jun 20, 2011 11:00 am
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Michael Oliver
United States
Aurora
Illinois
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Hey its Michael again,
My wife and I decided to introduce our good friend to Dominion during one of our gaming nights the other week. To view some of our exciting pictures feel free to visit our blogspot http://boardgameaddicts.blogspot.com/
Pictured above you will find our good friend Kristin after her first experience with Dominion. To give you a little background about Krisitn;
To give you a little background about Krisitn;
Kristin loves to play Party games. If you allow her to choose the game, I would guess that 9 times out of 10 she is going to choose to play either CoMotion: The Competitive Game of Communicative Gestures or Time's Up!. She is really good at both of these games and usually wins. 
I think that both games are a lot of fun but I like a little more variety than that.
Now, Kristin may disagree with me, but I think that board game art and titles scare her. For example, when we presented Dominion to Kristin, and I asked her what she thought, she said it looks a little "weird" LOL!!
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Dominion, the box looks like this;
To give Kristin credit, Heather does make the box look less "weird"
Krisitin, being a good sport, decided that she would give it a try.
Before I proceed, here is a summary of Dominion:
Dominion is a deck builing game meant for 2-4 players. In Dominion you act as a monarch who has an immense desire to build the greatest kingdom "Dominion," but you are not the only one. Along with you every other player is a monarch with the same desires.
You have an gameplay area occupied by cards that you can buy and add to your deck. All of which can be obtained during a players turn.
A player starts their turn by drawing 5 cards from their predetermined deck of 10 cards. With these 5 cards the person plays an action card, then purchases new cards from the piles on the table, and then discards the rest of their hand into a discard pile. After the draw pile runs out the player shuffles their discard pile and that then becomes their new draw pile, thus builiding the size of their deck.
The point of the game being to collect the most victory points in your deck before the game ends.
Getting back to Kristin's new experience. She caught on fast and was enjoying this new game. I digress again... I would recommend that when teaching this to a new player, to play open handed for the first couple of rounds until everyone is on board. Then once everyone feels comfortable I would recommend stating out loud what actions you are taking and what you are buying. I have found that this method of teaching works well for this game.
I think that Kristin was saddened to find that at the end of the game she did not have the most victory points in her deck but she said it was "Fun"!!
Thanks for being a good sport Krisitn
Sun Jun 19, 2011 11:00 am
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Michael Oliver
United States
Aurora
Illinois
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Hello all,
Heather and I have been wanting to start a Board Gaming Group for a long time now. I would like to see if anyone can give us some advice on best practices?
We were thinking of starting with one or two nights a month. We would advertise using Facebook, BGG, and word of mouth.
Our Church will let us use the multi-purpise room to host the group, which will not have any overhead and there are plenty of tables and chairs that we can use.
I am thinking of a Friday/Saturday night or Saturday day but I am not positive yet what would work best. All gamers would be welcome. The area is big enough that it could comfortably fit 15 or more large tables. It would also be bring your own snacks and drinks. Although I feel that most snacks are not a gamers best friend. 
So...
What recommendations can everyone give me for getting this going?
Feel free to post here or on our Blogspot http://boardgameaddicts.blogspot.com/
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Michael Oliver
United States
Aurora
Illinois
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In 2008 my wife and I bought our first home in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was a beautiful home in Mountains Edge, which is in the southwest part of the valley. We qualified for the first home-buyer credit when we filed our 2008 taxes and so we took it.
When we took the new home buyer money we also agreed to stay in the house for 3 years.
Well... I was transferred to Chicago at the end of last year. Only 2.5 yeas after buying the house. OOPS!
We received a letter from the IRS recently that stated the obvious. We owe the IRS a Lot of money. I called and tried to explain that i was transferred for work and it was not really an option to stay in Las Vegas, But the IRS did not care. To be fair I did sign off agreeing to stay in the home for 3 years. Stupid me
What to do? Hmmmmm.....
Sale some of my game collection?
NO!
So...
I have a 2001 Toyota Tacoma. It is hard for me to say if it is more of a need or a convenience. My Wife has a 2007 Subaru Forester, which drives great. We could sale the truck and go down to one car. I would prefer not, but the cash that we could gain from the Truck sale would take care of the IRS.
Solution:
Truck SOLD
I figure I would rather hassle with the inconvenience of being a one car household than sale any games!
Now the hard part. Use the money to pay off the IRS without buying any more games.
FOR MORE FUN VISIT OUR BLOG: http://boardgameaddicts.blogspot.com/
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Michael Oliver
United States
Aurora
Illinois
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Michael again...
I was recently transferred to Chicago for work. My wife and I grew up in Las Vegas.
Indianapolis is really far away from Las Vegas but really close to Chicago
Thus, my first ever trip to Gen Con Indy was Born...
To say the least I am excited.
I want to go for all four days but my work schedule will not allow for it this year. So I have booked Friday night and Saturday night at the Econolodge in Indianapolis.
Distance from Gen Con Indy: Approx. 5 Miles
Nightly price: 39.95
Dogs accepted: Yes (for an extra fee of $10)
Is that cheap: Yes!!!
Is Tippy excited: About as excited as she gets!
Heather and I plan to drive down to Indy early Friday morning so that we can get in a good 2 1/2 days worth. We both have our 4 day badges purchased and we have started to look into the listed events.
Im not sure for my first Gen Con Indy experience what I want to do. I do know that I want to get as much experience in as possible. I was wondering if any would be able to comment for me their reccomondations for a first timer...
For more fun take a look at our blog http://boardgameaddicts.blogspot.com/
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