Dead Man's Draw

The last few days have been a frenzy of driving around, preparing for the coming month and playing as many new games as possible in order to complete the 200 different games in one month challenge. The list is getting rather extensive now, even with the occasional interruption of a few cheeky games of Imperial Settlers and the like, I believe we have played 174 different games and there are still some days left to complete it - it shall be done! Hitting Draughts, Thirsty Meeples and Marquee Models in the past few weeks was fantastic, as I have discovered so many new games through this.

In order to play 200 different games in one month, whilst maintaining work and a home has been a challenge in itself. It has been made easier, though, by great little filler games, Such as Dead Man's Draw. This piratical push your luck card game is published by Mayday Games and was originally released as a digital game by Stardock. It is all about plundering bountiful loot, without going bust and losing it all; a game about taking risks and reaping rewards. 

Players take it in turn to draw cards from the deck. You keep flipping over cards to reveal the loot, or peril, and lay them in a row by the deck if they are safe. Some cards make you immediately go bust, causing you to lose all the cards you just drew. On your turn, you can bank as many cards as you wish, providing you have not gone bust. You stop flipping cards and declare you have stopped, taking the cards you drew and keeping them face-up in front of you. How do you go bust, you ask? If you pick up a card that you have already revealed in that suit then you go bust! If you draw the Kraken card then that forces you to draw two more cards - which puts the rest of the cards you just drew at stake! Luckily, if you draw the Anchor card then that saves you a little, as it allows you to keep all the cards you just drew before it, even if you go bust afterwards. 

Much like a pirate, you are making a gamble with your treasure if you get too greedy, and you are doing dastardly deeds to try and come out on top. The Cannon card allows you to destroy an opponent's banked card, and the Sword lets you steal a card from your opponent. You may additionally use cards to combine abilities in order to source more or destroy more cards. The game ends when the deck is depleted, and whoever has the most points after totalling up their card values wins the game.

There is a simpler version and a more advanced one, but as we were on a time limit with stacks of games to play in the cafe we stuck to this version.   

Dead Man's Draw is a fun, fast-paced card game with beautiful illustrations and fine quality cards. It is simple to play, yet still involves some careful strategic thinking. In my endeavour to play as many games as I can, I have come across numerous pirate-themed card games and board games, and this game (along with Cartagena) is one of the best I have encountered so far.

Thanks for reading

Marisa xx

200 Games in One Month!

On a whim, I have set a personal goal of playing 200 different games this month. It is quite a feat, even though my household holds around 150 games. The collection includes a wide array of tabletop games, from brief and fast-paced games like Brawl and Button Men to more lengthy and heavier games such as Shogun and Zombicide. We are in the tenth day of the month and I have played eighty different games so far, that leaves 21 days to cram in 120 more games. This is achievable! On top of the challenge, I have still been playing my favourite games multiple times. Although they do not count as part of the 200, a girl can't limit herself.  

Visiting Draughts, Marquee Models and friend's houses for board gaming sessions has given me a plethora of new games to discover and indulge in. The games that have had the biggest impact on me so far have been Imperial Settlers and Mysterium. I raved about Imperial Settlers in my last blog post, since then it has been purchased and played profusely. I think I may be a bit obsessed. 

Mysterium's Box and Imperial Settlers in play.

Mysterium is a unique game, it is a co-operative game of deduction with a murder mystery and paranormal theme. One player acts as the silent ghost, using illustrated cards to help the other players who are acting as mediums. The cards allow the mediums to decipher who killed the ghost hundreds of years ago, how they killed them and discover the location of where the slaughter took place. The mediums may converse together and analyse the cards, it is a rather social game! To play this we gathered around a table like we were present for am actual seance, all we needed was the ambience of a darkened room with flickering candles and the wind howling outside. But, alas, it was the morning and a very fine sunny day with sunlight streaming in, and the only howling was my stomach as I had eaten an inadequate breakfast.  

Get Lucky, Hare and Tortise, Drakon (1st Edition) and Fast Flowing Forest Fellas:
Four of the games I have played so far today.

The 200 Games challenge is allowing me to access more games, break out of my comfort zone and learn lots of new strategies. I recommend setting yourselves a challenge such as this, blitz through your own collection, dust the cobwebs off of that ancient game you have lurking in the cabinet and give it some play!

Thanks for reading. If you would like to catch up on my crazy challenge more then follow me on Twitter https://twitter.com/tabletopstop

Marisa xx

New Games!

I purchased three new games from Marquee Models this week; Agent Hunter, Fluxx and Hanabi. I am looking forward to playing these, especially Hanabi as it is a cooperative game and I rather enjoy those. Holding a new game and unwrapping the packaging is almost like opening a Christmas present.

I have a sneaking suspicion that even more new games will enter the collection next week, as I have a few game related events lined up! Keep your eyes peeled for updates :)

Have a good night

Marisa xx  

Board Games night at Marquee Models

This week I went to Marquee Models for my first board gaming night in the store, and had such a good evening! There were lots of new and friendly faces there and stacks of new games to try out, as well as a few old favourites perched on the table. I ended up playing Sentinels of the Multiverse, Skull, The Resistance, Werewolf, Breakneck Blitz and King of Tokyo. It was an interesting mix of playing co-operative games, bluffing, sabotaging, negotiating and a dice rolling game to end with. There was so much going on I could turn this post into an essay, but instead I will just write about a selection of the games I played.

I have played Skull before many times, and it is one of my favourite bluffing games. The coasters are beautifully designed and the game is really simple, yet effective. In your hand you have three flower cards and one skull. Each player lays a card face-down on the table, then each player in turn adds one more card face-down. On your turn you have the option of adding a card to your pile or you can say that you bet you can turn over a certain number of cards without revealing a skull. Other players may then challenge you, saying that they can turn over even more cards without revealing a skull, or they can Pass. This is when things get exciting and tense, as you must turn over your own cards first then choose someone else you think may have just laid flowers. The challenger could be serious or they could be baiting you, leading you into a trap because they know you have laid a skull and were bluffing.

This game is really fun and perhaps requires a straight face when challenging. Many a time I have laid a skull in my pile and have tried to bluff it, but ended up having to reveal my own skull because no one challenged me!

Werewolf was a crazy game. We had fourteen people huddled around a long table with suspicions growing already from past betrayals in bluffing and deduction games. The moderator handed out the cards and I was one of the werewolves! I knew this would end badly for me, all the villagers would sniff me out quickly as I am terrible at acting innocent when I know I am the blood thirsty killer. Although, I am also terrible at acting innocent when I truly am innocent, I suppose I just have a guilty-looking face. 

During the game, everyone shuts their eyes and the moderator tells the werewolves to open their eyes and choose someone to eat. Then when everyone opens their eyes they are told who is dead and they discuss who they suspect is the wolf, then vote on whether to run after them or not with pitch forks to kill them off! This game makes me imagine how a small medieval farming town would act if it were plagued by a werewolf, and how paranoia and fear would fester making everyone suspicious of their neighbour. A few innocent villagers were killed in our game before the werewolves were revealed. I was the first werewolf to be discovered; typical. I need to work on my poker face.

King of Tokyo is a fighting dice game, with a Japanese movie/TV monster theme. Think of Godzilla or Gamera smashing up a city, then turning on each other! You play as giant mutant monsters or robots who are destroying Tokyo and beating up each other to become King of Tokyo. On your turn, you roll six dice up to three times and can choose to either hit your opponent/s, take health points, take victory points or take energy cubes that you can save up and buy energy cards with them. I do not know how I pulled it off but I managed to win the second round with just one health point left! Naturally, I had to take photographic evidence of this.

So, Board gaming nights are a great thing and a good way to try out new games. It is also nice to meet people with a passion for games. People bring their own games to introduce to others, to share the experience and to pass on the joy. I shall be returning to Marquee Models for more mayhem next month.

Thanks for reading!

Marisa xx