Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all of you! I hope 2017 brings you all an abundance of happiness and also some new games to play. After Christmas and my birthday I have a few new additions to the collection, which I look forward to playing, and then sharing my experiences of them here. 2016 was the year of discovering deck building and set collection games on a grander scale, so I will continue checking them out whilst experimenting with everything I can get these eager mitts on. 

Tonight I will be punching out and playing my surprise Christmas present: Lords of Waterdeep! I still have a thing for worker placement games, and this one is just so beautiful. Annoyingly I am back to work tomorrow, which means no more staying up until 3am playing games for a while...maybe until Friday.

Have a great week, everyone :)

The Library Pot

It is no secret that I am a boardgames cafe addict. Launching a Kickstarter and going on a mini tour has allowed me to indulge in many a cafe and gaming event. On our many travels to promote the campaign, Glori Eternia, we booked a Demo event at The Library Pot - Richmond's first board games cafe. I had wanted to visit this place as soon as I had heard about it on twitter, and the Kickstarter was a great excuse to take the trip!

We arrived totally drenched from the relentless downpour of rain, but were warmly welcomed by Rob, the owner of the cafe, and promptly seated in a comfortable booth. The Library Pot is a beautiful place, the booths and seating areas are adorned with greenery and glittering little lights. In the corner that houses the boardgames, an impressive shelving unit towers over the customers with a diverse range of games. The friendliness and hands-on attitude from the staff and owners was great, they got involved and actively encouraged people to play, allowing their customer's to enjoy themselves and get stuck into the games. There is a real sense of homeliness and comfort in The Library Pot, it is plain to see that the owners are genuine advocates of tabletop gaming and the aspects of social interaction that come with it.

Before demoing Glori Eternia we played some brief filler games with diners who were new to gaming, and had ventured in The Library Pot after hearing about it's unique appeal. We played Dobble, Pairs and Funny Farm - all very interactive games that really break the ice and let the healthy competition mount up, whilst having a laugh in the process. When it came to demoing Glori Eternia we had a lot of fun with the cafe's regulars, and even got out a funny dice game we made last year called Clench that was a rousing success with the crowd. 

The delicious menu with delectable cooked meals sets The Library Pot apart from a lot of other cafes, with the fusion of contemporary pub classics and some Japanese cuisine, it is almost like a restaurant as well as a boardgames cafe. There are lighter bites to keep hunger sated, as well as the larger and wholly satisfying meals, and most importantly - desserts! Cinnamon rolls with ice cream? Hell yes! I know I am supposed to be talking about the games, but, I cannot help myself. 

In case anyone needed further reason to visit this cafe, did I mention that there is a ball pit downstairs? Yes, you can relive those days of carefree ball pit action, just as I did! We ended up staying there very late, despite it being a weeknight and a long drive back, but it was worth it.

To sum it up, Rob and Emily were perfect hosts; both entertaining and mindful of their guest's needs. The collection of games included the classics and some hidden gems, the food was divine, the ball pit was a riot and the whole evening was unforgettable. If you want a good time in Richmond and fancy trying out some games whilst munching on some fine food then go and visit The Library Pot. I know I will be going back there very soon!

Marisa xx                 

Hail to the JunKing, baby!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, you can find some really great games on Kickstarter if you browse through now and again. Last year I backed lots of games, and one of the favourites of the bunch is JunKing. Now, as much as I love finding gems and other precious artefacts in a game, I find hoarding the tatty junk in this game just as rewarding! Playing as one of the scavenger imps that roam around the junk yard means you get to rummage through the piles of interesting and unsavoury trash to deck yourselves up in the finest of rubbish. The object of the game is to raise your social standing, and to find the precious crown to be the crowned The JunKing!

The game itself is fairly simple, players take it in turns to draw cards from the 'junkpile', place a card from their hand in play and then choose one action - either activating an ability on a card in use or activating their character's ability; whichever will help them get the edge over their opponent. After triggering your character's ability, you turn it face down so it is sleeping. All that rummaging and hoarding is tiring work! You can re-activate them again using an action in a future turn. The game ends when the crown is drawn, and the winner is the one with the most points. 

All of the junk cards are worth points. There are three different varieties of junkcards; Mounts, Helms and Devices. Mount cards are placed underneath the character, Helm cards are placed on top like an insane hat, and devices are placed either side of the character. Some of the Mounts and Helms are deemed 'Stackable', which allows you to lay multiple items in play. If the card is not stackable, then you can only have one out at a time, but can discard it to your hoard in exchange for a new card. Your hoard is important, because it is where you build up your points. Each card in your hoard is worth one point at the end of the game. Each junk card on your imp is worth points, and the sought-after crown is worth 10 points! There are some devices that give you five points if the crown has been drawn by another player, which makes the game more exciting and unpredictable. 

To rock the game up a bit more there are event cards slipped in amongst the junkpile. If one is drawn then the unlucky player who drew it must take a card from the Event Deck and suffer the consequences. Don't panic, as they are not too harsh. It is usually the case of losing a card in play or everyone gets to take an additional card except the person who drew the event, that kind of thing.

The artwork is brilliant, the cards radiate a mixture of cuteness, humour and a little bit of ick. I do love them, but I would deeply sanitise myself if I came into contact with any of the devices in real life!

The little subtle (and not so subtle) references to pop culture hidden on the cards are great. The Junk Spirit Finder and the Assorted Hat are probably my favourites. Oh, and the puns! The flavour text on the Assorted Hat reads 'I just saw something Slitherin' out of there' and it did have me giggling. There is also a set of expansion cards that I have not yet tried, but they look fun.

JunKing is for 2-6 players, and it suggests from ages 14+, but I think children younger than 14 could grasp it. Plus, I have not come across anything censored yet in all the seven games I've played. This is a thoroughly enjoyable and light gaming experience, there are loads of cards so there is more re-playability and lots of laughs involved.              

    

Thanks for reading, have a good weekend :)
Marisa xx

Shinies!

This weekend I got creative and made some fun little dice trophies. We are always having mini tournaments amongst ourselves and friends, so I thought making trophies would be a nice way to celebrate the winner and excite the others. Plus, they look pretty snazzy!

Armed with some old dice, some super glue, bottle caps and a gold spray can I knocked these up in the communal garden of my flat. From afar, it probably looked like I was hastily tagging a particular patch of grass, but I was very careful and not a blade of grass was tainted with gold - just my fingertips. 

It was really easy to do, and I think it has inspired a few others on instagram to make some too. So far, two of my little trophies have been claimed, and I am already making more. As it is quite dark outside, I may have to reserve the spraying until tomorrow. Does anyone else make extra little incentives for tournaments or friendly competitions?

Have a great night!

Marisa xx 

Relic Hunters

Sometimes I get the urge to plan themed boardgame sessions, which is usually influenced by watching a certain film or by significant factors in my surroundings. Last month, watching California Man and hearing the background noise of Farcry Primal on the X-Box inspired me to get out a few (loosely) prehistoric themed games such as Stone Age and Dino Hunt Dice. This week I was reading about a new exhibit at the British Museum and it spurred me to set up an evening of treasure and relic hunting games; Temple Run: Danger Chase, Lost Cities and Forbidden Desert.

An evening of hunting for and procuring precious artefacts ensued. We would be risking our lives ransacking temples, and still be home in time for dinner. The very frantic Temple Run: Danger Chase was first on the table. The game starts after you have already entered the sacred temple and ransacked it, probably making a mess and a lot of noise. You have taken the Golden Idol and are now being pursued by the freaky demon monkey creature! The object of the game is to outlast your opponent through a series of dice rolls against the clock, the dice dictate how far you will move and how far the demon monkey will move after you. The board lengthens to allow continuous play, and the game will go on for as long as you can stay ahead of the freaky creature chasing you. Oh, relentless demon monkey, just let me take this idol - it belongs in a museum!

Lost Cities is a two player card game where hand management and set collecting come into play. Both players are launching expeditions to discover the lost and forgotten cities of the past. So, we are not just searching for treasure or relics here, we are searching for entire cities! Cities that will, undoubtedly, contain treasure and relics. The locations are represented by different coloured cards, each with number values 2 -10, and with special investment cards that can increase your success or penalise you if the expedition does not go as planned! Players take it in turns to either lay an expedition card in ascending order or discard one, then take one from the draw pile. When the draw pile runs out the game ends and the maths confusion begins for me. Being terrible at maths, I rely on calculators or my opponent's brain to do the scoring. The creator of the game, Reiner Knizia, is a doctor of Mathematics, and he uses this skill well to create amazing balanced games. 

Forbidden Desert was one of my birthday presents that I have already mentioned here. The cooperative game for adventurers searching the sun-scorched desert for a legendary flying machine, rumoured to be buried under the ruins of a forgotten city. Working against the clock and events such as sandstorms, an ever-changing board and lack of water you must move and flip over the tiles to uncover the lost machine parts, and do so before you are buried in the sand or die of thirst. This game is fast-paced and fun, it really set the theme of the treasure hunting evening and was a good one to end on, especially as we were victorious! We found that legendary flying machine and flew it the heck out of there. 

The treasure and relic hunting evening was a success, even though we did not leave the room we felt as frazzled and elated as two adventurers who had escaped nasty booby traps or some freaky demons. This weekend I have been watching a string of Arnold Schwarzenegger films, so perhaps they will inspire me to theme another evening. What games would you associate Arnie with?

Thanks for reading, have a good week!

Marisa xx                   

International Tabletop Day

I hope you all had a fantastic time celebrating International Tabletop Day! It is pretty good that we have a day dedicated to the fun of games and spreading the love of tabletop games, and hopefully it has attracted more people over to the crusade of tabletop gaming. 

This year I was unable to go to any events celebrating tabletop games, so we crafted our own marathon of games at home! It was quite a feat; sixteen different games, with some meaty games on the list too and a few that I had never played before. Here is the list of tabletop abundance: 

1. Boggle 

2. Blood Bowl Team Manager 

3. Shogun

4. Tokaido

5. Letters To Santa

6. Mit 3 Dabei

7. Brawl

8. Lost Cities

9. Eight Minute Empire

10. 7 Wonders Duel

11. Raptor

12. Bling Bling Gemstone

13. Zombie Dice

14. Pairs

15. Ticket To Ride: The Emerald City     

16, Noir

Most of the games played were old favourites or ones that had not been played in a while, but Blood Bowl Team Manager and Shogun were new games to me. They had been on my playlist for a while and International Tabletop Day seemed like the perfect occasion to give them a go. I thoroughly enjoyed both of these games, they looked daunting at first but the mechanics were fairly easy to grasp and, like most games, a deeper understanding of the strategy comes through with longer plays. Shogun really did remind me of a lengthier and more strategic Eight Minute Empire, which is one of my favourite games, so that went down very well. I do enjoy a bit of area control and resource management. Blood Bowl Team Manager is a great hand management and dice rolling game with a fun theme, I look forward to playing this a lot more and writing about it in the future. 

Officially, in the United Kingdom, International Tabletop Day is over. But in my home, it will never be over - bring on more games!

Have a great day

Marisa xx  

Dark Souls at Salute

Last weekend I attended Salute 2016 with Marquee Models, as part of their boardgames demo team. I helped demo Zombicide Black Plague all day, but I did manage to sneak away from the table to make a few small purchases and try out Dark Souls.

The boardgame has been created by Steamforged Games Ltd, who have been working with Bandai Namco Entertainment to emulate the experience of the popular video game. I have not played the video game before, I am more of a Cake Mania or Katamari kind of a girl. The people around me playing the demo had played before, though, and they agreed that the boardgame captured the essence of the video game well, especially in the form of combat and the brutally hard nature of the game.

We played a quick demo of the game, jumping in at the deep end and confronting an end of level boss character; the dancer. It is a cooperative game (which is good as you need the back-up!) where you embark upon a perilous a dungeon exploration. Players take it in turn to move and attack. Each action you make depletes your stamina, which is shown on a nifty character card. You use a dry wipe pen to mark off the actions taken and to mark off your health when you are attacked. The stamina is on the left side of the card, and the health is on the right, but if they are all crossed off then you die! Luckily you can replenish health by drinking from your limited Estus Flask or replenish stamina by resting, so timing is a key element for survival.

The boss character we fought was controlled by a small deck of cards, all showing the boss's attack, movement, damage and where she will be vulnerable to attacks. These cards are reset once used up, and recycled, remaining in the same sequence so it is easier to predict the boss's actions. When the health was down to halfway on the boss things got crazy, an extra powerful card was added to the deck and it was shuffled to mess things up! I died fairly soon after that, and had to run back to my demo table before they sent out a search party. 

The kickstarter campaign for Dark Souls is launching today, you can check it out here.

Thanks for reading!

Marisa xx