The Plucky Plank: One of the BLOB's is a spy. (04/27/13)

After a few months absence, I finally got to back to B.L.O.B. Familiar faces greeted me as I entered the house and it was nice to be back. After a bit of catching up, the friendliness came to an end as I sat down to the first game of the day. I also forgot to recharge my camera, so I used other peoples photos found on Boardgamegeek.com.


The Resistance (BGG Link)

Game Summary
Players are dealt cards secretly that inform them on whether they are members of the Resistance or Imperial spies. Once the spies are revealed to each other, the game play over 5 missions. A leader puts together a team and everyone votes on the team. If the majority likes the team, then play proceeds to the mission. If the majority dislikes the team, then a new leader picks a new team. If ever the teams are voted down 5 times on the same mission, the Imperial spies win the mission.
All the members on a mission are given two cards, pass and fail. As a member of the Resistance, you will only play the pass card. Spies on the other hand can and should play both. The first team, Resistance or Imperials, to have 3 successful missions wins the game.

Photo by 1awesomeguy

What I Think
Resistance is paranoia in a card box. Ferreting out the spies is the whole game and seasoned players/liars do very well at this game. You need to pay attention to how the other players vote but that isn't always a guarantee you will find the spies. Maybe with more plays the resistance does better but as of this time, I have never played a game where the spies didn't win. Truthfully they have the advantage with only needing one fail vote and crafty spies can pass the blame on to another player. 

I like the distrust this game breeds in players and if you play multiple times with the same players, that distrust carries over and a spy from the last game can be branded a spy though he/she is a resistance player this time. The game can suffer if the people playing aren't willing to role-play the parts and be a flop.

Scores

Game 1 - 6 players; Spies win
Game 2 - 8 players; Spies win
Game 3 - 8 players; Spies win


Say Anything (BGG Link)

Game Summary
A simple game of questions, opinions, betting and awarding points. A player gets the Select-O-Matic 5000 and asks a question such as "What is the most overrated band of all-time?" or "If you could have a "BIG" anything, what would it be?" The players write their answers on a dry erase board (keep it clean, this is a family game) and when done place the boards in the center of the table. The questioner then secretly pics their favorite on the Select-O-Matic 5000 and once selected the players place their two tokens on the answers.

• One point is awarded to the person who wrote the answer the questioner picked.
• One point is awarded to each player for their tokens on the correct answer.
• One point to the questioner for each token on the answer he picked (max 3).

After points are awarded, the Select-O-Matic rotates to the player on the left and so on until the game ends after a predetermined number of rounds. The player with the most points at the end wins.

Photo by Endersgame

What I Think

Say Anything is similar to Apples to Apples but instead of random cards that don't always fit, the players get to decide their answers which can lead to some fun times. The answers you provide can be tailor-made to the player that is the questioner of the turn but it doesn't mean it is the one that will be selected and maybe shouldn't be picked. I did find that with a group of strangers, the game can be harder. By that I mean, answers you think are good can be something the other players never heard or can be offensive to them. The question card is also loaded with 5 questions, so you can steer the question into more generalized questions if people don't know each other well.

Say Anything is a great game. I have never played in a game where laughter wasn't present or someone didn't have fun. It is accessible to everyone of any age or social environment. I plan on getting a copy for this holiday season.

Score

Game 1 - Sam and Mike tied for the win.

Impossible Machine (BGG Link)

Game Summary

Impossible Machine is a card game where each player gets a deck of 35 cards. Each turn a player can play up to three cards into the machine either at the beginning, middle or end. The only stipulation is the symbols on the cards have to match for a legal play. Once a catalyst card is played, three cards start getting flipped over on the beginning of the next players turn. Once all the cards of the machine are face-down, players score points for each of their face-down cards. Repeat for three total machines and the player with the most points wins.

Photo by StormKnight

What I Think

The art on the cards reminds me of the elaborate traps from Loony Toons and when a long row of cards is displayed, it is fun to look at what the contraption will do. Like in the picture above, a bowling ball hits a ball on a string which knocks over dominoes that knock an apple off its pedestal and move a marble down a ramp. Once that novelty wears off, the game is a bit lacking. I had turns where little matched and you can take a turn to draw a new hand, but that will put you behind in the scoring. Since it is a light game, scoring shouldn't matter and you do have three machines to score.

The game can also be a bit cut throat due to eraser cards, which allow you too remove players cards and put yours in its place. Also if a catalyst card comes too soon the machine could be all flipped and done by the time your next turn rolls around. I find Impossible Machine to be a quick/light game with some interesting decisions but ultimately it is just luck of the draw and should be played in that intended fashion.

Score

Game 1 - Alicia 12, Chris 12, Kearn 9, Mike 11 

Eminent Domain (BGG Link)

Game Summary

A card game based on role selection available on five cards. Warfare, Colonize, Research, Survey and Produce/Trade are the roles available and provide you a different ability depending if you are the leader, the player playing the role or a follower. Planets are worth various victory points and are colonized or attacked by you to flip the card and make in part of your civilization. The player with the best civilization aka victory points wins.

Photo by Kmichaelis

What I Think

I believe I have mentioned Eminent Domain in a previous post but here is what I think again. My favorite part of Eminent Domain is the multiple ways you can win. I have seen people win by just collecting tons of planets or focusing on research and collecting the big cards or by simply producing and trading goods. I enjoy trying each of these strategies based on what other players are doing. I would have liked a little variety in the planet pictures but that is a minor quibble on my part. It is a great game and I am eager for the release of the expansion later this year.

Score

Game 1 - Mike 21, Jason 26, Chris 23, Kearn 23

Milestones (BGG Link)

Game Summary

Players build roads, marketplaces and houses together through the use of goods procured by your personal workers. As the players build further into the wilds, the players try to optimize their placements so as they do not set up the next player. Once a predetermined score is reached based on players, the game ends and whomever has the most points wins.

Photo by Olavf

What I Think

I initially purchased this as a game to play with my wife. After several months on the shelf I decided it needed to be played. The game offers you some interesting choices on how you want to score points. Although you have to be careful not to setup the next player by leaving them some high scoring areas. I found that a player who gets him production engine running faster can get ahead and be hard to catch. I liked the options of choosing workers and where to place them on your personal board. It was also difficult to decide which workers to "sacrifice" to the king each time a player reaches the castle. I could also see this game suffering from a samey feel after multiple plays. I found it enjoyable and I wouldn't mind playing it time to time.

Score

Game 1 - Kearn 34, Chris 55, Mike 72

Dusting off the Disks: Two Disney films with mice but no Mickey

This last Sunday it was rainy and a perfect day to cuddle under blankets and watch some films. My wife loves animated films and I went and grabbed a few off the shelf we haven't seen in a while. Both films feature animated mice but not the high pitched overall wearing mouse named Mickey.

The Great Mouse Detective (IMDB)

Dawson, Olivia and Basil

1986, Disney released a film about a mouse named Basil (voiced by  
Barrie Ingham) as a rodent version of Sherlock Holmes. Dr. Dawson (voiced by Val Bettin), aka Dr. Watson, helps a young girl, Olivia, whose toy maker father has been kidnapped by the vile Professor Ratigan (voiced by Vincent Price). Using the toy makers named Flaversham skills, Ratigan blackmails him into building a robotic queen to replace the mouse queen and put Ratigan in power.


One of the reasons I enjoy this film is due to the lack of musical numbers. There are only three songs and one of them is integral to elaborate death trap Ratigan constructs for Basil. The overall plot of the film is a fun mystery as we follow Basil and Dawson through the underbelly of London circa 1897. It is a bit of a darker film and I could see some younger children scared by the bat Fidget or Ratigan. Death is also prominent throughout the film, especially with Felicia, Ratigan's cat. She eats a minion of Ratigan and almost digests Fidget the bat as well. The climax of the film takes place on Big Ben and ends very similar to Professor Moriarty and Holmes ending in "The Adventure of the Final Problem" by Sir Conan Doyle. As a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, I enjoy this lighter fare from Disney and this disk will stay in the collection.

Trailer

The Rescuers Down Under (IMDB)

Miss Bianca and Bernard

Sticking with the mouse theme, we jumped into our second feature from Disney in 1990. The Rescuers Down Under is the sequel to the Rescuers featuring Miss Bianca (voiced by Eva Gabor) and Bernard (voiced by Bob Newhart). This time they head to Australia to help a boy named Cody (Voiced by Adam Ryen). He has been captured by the poacher McLeach (voiced by George C. Scott) because he wants the location of the rare Golden Eagle female and her eggs. Wilbur (voiced by John Candy is the albatross that flies them this time and provides the comedy for the film.

This film has two rarities from other Disney films. 

• First, it is only one of three Walt Disney Animation Studio films to have a sequel, Winnie the Pooh and Fantasia are the others. 
• Second, it is the second Walt Disney Animation Studio film to have no musical numbers. The first film was the Black Cauldron.

I always enjoyed the original Rescuers and the sequel is just more of the same. The film is very adventurous and has some thrilling moments and a great cast of supporting characters. I always remember the opening sequence when Cody rides the great eagle from the theater because on the big screen I felt like I was riding with him. Disney's pallet of colors used in animating Australia is lush and vivid and I want to go there. The Rescuers Down Under will be staying on my shelf.

Dusting off the Disks: Clue the Movie "It's not just a game anymore"

I was watching Psych last week and the entire 100th episode was a spoof of Clue the movie. It motivated me to watch this murder comedy and give me my first DVD to review for my dusting off article. The purpose of these posts is to get me to re-watch the DVDs on my shelf collecting dust. If it is a film enjoy and will watch again and again, it can stay on the shelf. If not, it needs to find a new home with someone who does enjoy the film.

Clue (IMDB)

A 1985 film from Paramount, Clue is murder/mystery comedy with a great cast of comedic actors. The film is based on the old Parker Brothers board game by the same name. When originally released to theaters, it had three different possible endings and depending where you saw the film determined the ending you saw. It wasn't until the VHS release that all the possible endings were shown together. The DVD has the option of a random ending or all three shown in succession.

The plot of the film is these 6 guests are invited to a dinner party in a secluded mansion. Each person is given a pseudonym to protect their true identity. They are greeted by Wadsworth the butler played by Tim Curry and Yvette the buxom maid played by Collen Camp.

• Professor Plum played by Christopher Lloyd
• Mrs. Peacock played by Eileen Brennan
• Mrs. White played by Madeline Khan (one of my personal favorite actresses)
• Miss Scarlet played by Lesley Ann Warren
• Colonel Mustard played by Martin Mull
• Mr. Green played by Micheal McKean

The final guest is Mr. Boddy played by Lee Ving, who is blackmailing all of them. Over the course of the night, 6 different murders occur using the weapons gifted to the guests by Mr. Boddy. The group finds themselves in a web of murder, lies and hilarity.

The Original Trailer

I find the humor in the movie to be subtle at times but in other scenes blatant. There is a nice mix of physical and cerebral humor throughout the entire film and it still makes me laugh. The cast, in my opinion, is perfect with each actor working so well together with impeccable timing. Each ending is unique but I prefer the group ending the best and if you have time watch all three. Clue will be staying on my shelf.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the movie.

Wadsworth: You see? Like the Mounties, we always get our man.

Mr. Green: Mrs. Peacock was a man?

[Colonel Mustard slaps Mr. Green, who turns to get slapped by Wadsworth]

The Motorist: Where is it?

Wadsworth: What? The body?

The Motorist: The phone. What body?

Wadsworth: There's no body. Nobody. There's-there's nobody in the study.

Miss Scarlet: Maybe there is life after death.

Mrs. White: Life after death is as improbable as sex after marriage!

Wadsworth: You *were* jealous that your husband was schtupping Yvette. That's why you killed him, too!

Mrs. White: Yes. Yes, I did it. I killed Yvette. I hated her, so much...

[stammers]

Mrs. White: it-it- the f - it -flam - flames. Flames, on the side of my face, breathing-breathl- heaving breaths. Heaving breaths... Heathing...

Update for my followers

Life has been interfering with getting any new posts out from me. My new job, which is second shift, interferes with me writing and playing games to write about. In fact, Christmas was the last time I got any decent time of game playing. I have been reading and watching movies or television. So I thought why not write about some other things than just board games.

My new job currently is through a temp agency and they placed me at a local business called Magnus Integer. We manufacture car interior parts such as headliners and doors. It consists of me pulling cloth tight over pins and then pushing a button to lower the bonding machine. The job is mind-numbing and boring. I am so desperate for work and money, I had to settle for this job. Kids, go to college and get a career and not a job like me. The only benefit I can see to this job is with the set hours everyday, I can go back to school and take classes towards something I would rather do for the remainder of my working days.

So to keep my writing chops in tune, I was thinking of some new subjects and ideas to write about. Tell me what you think. The bold words below are titles I am thinking of naming my different posts. Some of these exist but by titling them, I can make it easier to link them on the side.

New Ideas for the blog.
Dusting off the disks – A look back at movies in my DVD collection and if they should stay or go.
Turn the page – A look at books and comics I am reading with my thoughts.
The list – I’ll pick a subject or a suggested subject and make a list of my ten favorite.
Plucky Plank – A recap of board games gatherings and my thoughts of games played.

I plan to implement these soon and to put a new post up at least once a week.

The Plucky Plank: BLOB gets Legendary

This month’s recap of the BLOB is going to be different. I am going to try a new layout with a section on brief overview of game play and not a regurgitation of the rules. There are multiple places online to find the rules. The main focus is going to be about my thoughts of the game. My opinion of the game is based off my initial play, so if you are looking for more analysis into the games, I am not the best choice. I think most of us can decide if a game is fun after one play and if the investment of time into further plays is something you want to do. I also will not be recapping the moves during the game because I can’t remember what I did during the game and don’t take notes beyond final scores.

One of my favorite people to play games with is leaving soon. As a “Snowbird” he likes to hibernate in Florida for the cold Michigan winters. Have fun fishing in the tropical sun Tom and see you in the spring. I also ate way too many sweets this time but it is so hard to resist all the colorful Christmas cookies and cupcakes.

Legendary: a Marvel Deck Building Game BGG Link

Starting Cards

Game summary
Using a starting deck consisting of SHIELD Agents and Troops, players recruit Heroes to strengthen their decks to attack villains and ultimately defeat the Mastermind behind the whole scheme. Defeat the Mastermind 4 times successfully and the player with the most Victory Points wins. However if the Mastermind’s scheme is successful, then all the players lose.

What I think
I ended up playing it 3 times and with 3 and 4 players. So you can imagine if I played it that much, I enjoyed the game. I got excited drafting heroes into my deck and the “abilities” of the heroes made sense for the character. For instance, Iron Man helps draw cards which makes sense because it is information gathering or calling for reinforcements as the leader. The Superheroes were the draw to the game for me. I liked immersing myself into the theme and got frustrated when the Mastermind would win. So like most cooperative games, I wanted to play it again to try and win. The game really is cooperative only when the heroes lose otherwise the player with the most victory points wins.

The villains can be a bit annoying early in the game as you watch the Villains march across the board because your deck isn't strong enough to attack. This can put you behind with certain scenarios where the game wins if a certain number of Villains or Bystanders are in the escaped area. Since the deck is random, you may get Henchmen, which are easier, or Villains that are just too powerful.

The Heroes can also frustrate you because again of the randomness of the draw deck, certain Heroes are absent and you could purchasing a card just in the hopes of getting something better to the market. It kind of reminded me of Ascension and was one of the reasons I disliked Ascension but at least the Villains and Heroes are separate decks and you always seem to be able to do something each turn. The icons and artwork are great and easy to understand. The Icons are easy to distinguish and become very intuitive after a few turns.

Mid game vs the Red Skull

To me, Legendary plays like every other deck builder out there. Draw a hand, play cards, discard and draw a new hand. It also suffers from what I call “unbalanced turns”. What I mean is one player can cycle through his entire deck for a 5 minute turn and the remaining players can complete their turns in under a minute. I am sure a few of you are saying “What is wrong with that?” and to that I say it disconnects me from the game and makes the game drag on too long. It was one of the reasons I ended up never playing Dominion again or at least not with competitive players.

I thought Legendary was fun and I got sucked into the Superhero theme. I cheered as we defeated the Mastermind and was the first one ready to retry when we failed. Although, Legendary doesn’t bring anything new to the deck building genre but the theme is lacking in board games and is welcome by me.

Scores
Game 1: Tom-20, Kearn-10, Joe-11, Chris-15 vs. Red Skull
Game 2: All Players lose vs. Dr. Doom
Game 3: Tom-30, Kearn-10, Scott-28 vs. Dr. Doom

Alien Frontiers BGG Link

New Factions

Game summary
For those unfamiliar with Alien Frontiers, the game uses dice as ships which you dock at different stations on the board to earn resources, expand your fleet (more dice) and colonize the planet. There are also Artifacts (cards) which give you abilities to manipulate your die or other players dice. The game ends when a player places their last colony on the planet. The player with the most victory points wins. A player scored 1 VP for each colony on a territory, 1 VP per territory you control (majority of the colonies on a territory), 1 VP for controlling the territory with the Positron Field and 1 VP each for possessing Alien City or Alien Monument card.

What I think
Alien Frontiers is still one of my favorite games and the Faction expansion adds some nice new powers and choices for the players to use each game. If you want to use a neighbor’s faction, you end up paying the resources to the owner of the faction. You really have to weigh if it will be more beneficial to you to use the faction. We choose randomly so in our game, one faction was more valuable and used more often so that might be a drawback. I also didn’t use the new Agenda cards so I can’t comment on them at this time. I think it is a must buy for fans of the game.

Scores
Game 1: Chris-4, Joe-10, Kearn-3

Loopin’ Louie BGG Link

Louie is coming for your chickens!

Game summary
A simple game, each player has a chicken coop with three chicken disks. Louie flies around the board and knocks the chickens down. You can prevent this by using your paddle to make Louie jump over your chickens. The last player left with chickens wins.

What I think
Loopin’ Louie is easily one of the most silly, addictive and entertaining games I have ever played. It is such a simple game that causes laughter and rowdy good times with children and adults (especially with some adult everages).

Scores
4 plays and everyone won once.

Tahiti BGG Link

Island tiles

Game summary
The goal of the game is to collect crops and fish from the neighboring islands in your canoe and return them to the home island. For each full set of crops or favorite foods (secret tiles handed out during the set-up) collected earn points at the game end. The game is divided into two phases, the first is the Exploration phase and the second is the Depletion phase.

Player Board

What I think
The game is a simple and leisurely game of grabbing cubes from one location and returning them to the home island. The toughest decisions in the game were cube placement and what islands to place the depletion tiles on because both would directly affect your opponents. I liked the reef as it made you choose between the most direct paths but you could risk the loss of a good or to take the longer path. I enjoyed the quality game pieces and beautiful Polynesian art. The game was a bit basic for me and I think it could get stale after multiple plays, but I could easily see its charm for families or new gamers.

Scores
Game 1: Liam-15, Kearn-21, Eric-25, Chris-24

Schotten Rennen (Scots Race in German) BGG Link

On your Mark........

Game summary
This loosely themed racing game with dice and luck in Scotland has you rolling dice each turn. If your roll is equal to or higher than the printed number on the tile, you progress forward. If the roll is lower, you can use a risk token to role the yellow die and add the result to your total. If it is higher, you continue on. If it still is lower, you go all the way back to the start. At any time you can stop and pass the dice locking you into the current tile. The first player to cross the finish line wins.

Neck and Neck to the end!

What I think
The game is a total dice chucking, press your luck and mock your fellow player’s bad dice rolls kind of game. Also heading back to start didn’t put you out of the race. I went back several times and caught up quickly. It fit the bill for the type of game we wanted to play at the time and I enjoy these types of games. Sometimes you just want some light fun and laughs. Kilts are optional.

Scores
Game 1: Winner – Ken; Losers- Liam, Eric, Kearn

Trajan BGG Link

Game summary
This is a very simplistic summary to a deep and strategic game supposedly set in ancient Rome. Players move cubes around an action tray which allows them to take actions on matching areas on the main board. The player with the most points at the end wins the game.

What I think
Trajan is a complex game with many options to score points. Some options of where to go at certain points in the game are obvious but it can create some long thinking moments if you want to maximize your points each turn. I noticed the most contested areas in out game were the shipping area and the senate. Getting in earlier than the other players to use a boat and score on the more profitable side is a huge plus and the disappointed look on their face is a nice bonus. By influencing the senate you choose first and dictated who got what bonus tile for the end of game scoring.

My favorite part of the game was the use of the personal action tray. I enjoyed planning out my turns by moving cubes of certain colors to each area to help me move them later in an upcoming turn or to match Trajan tiles next to the cup. Each turn I contemplated this to avoid clumping to many cubes in one cup, because each cube you move moves the game clock and that brings the demands of the people. If you can’t meet the demands you end up losing points.

Action Tray

I like a good theme and this game has none. As I said above, supposedly sent in ancient Rome, but at no point did I feel I was influencing the people of Rome. In my mind was moving this cube two spaces gives me the military option and the ability to grab the 10 victory point area. The game can also drag out if you or the other players contemplate your move too long but I find that to be a problem with many games that offer multiple choices each turn.

I am a theme junkie and criticize games often for being too dull and theme less. Games that feel like number crunching/ spreadsheet tasks and you try to eliminate all least productive options and maximize your points. There are those elements in Trajan but the personal action tray just squashed that voice in my head. I admit that sometimes I judge games too quickly and I would have missed out on a fantastic game. I want to play this again.

Score
Game 1: Tom-111, Kearn-115, Chris-112, Scott-95

The Plucky Plank: Hulk X-90 SMASH!! or how to program your robot to fall in a hole. - 11/10/12

Greetings and salutations my loyal readers. I am sorry about the lateness of this report but job searching and family medical problems held it up. I am so grateful to have a distraction like board games at times to keep me sane. Enough of Debbie Downer, lets look at the games played last month by me and my fellow B.L.O.B. members.

Roborally
I arrived in time to join 7 others for a massive game of Roborally. I was handed a nicely painted mini and laughed at my green robot with purple highlights. His name is Hulk X-90 and I just couldn't resist saying "Hulk Smash!".

So what happens is each turn you are dealt a certain number of cards each turn. These cards are what you use to program your robot. The cards have arrows that show straight,right,left or backward and you place them face down on your robot card to show your planned movement. This brings about one of the funny parts of the game as you watch everyone twist and turn their bodies or hands to make sure they are turning their robot the right direction. After everyone is done, players flip their cards over and based on the number in the upper corner determines the player turn order.

The organized chaos now begins. Robots start to move and if another robot is in your way, you push it in the direction you are moving. You more than likely just messed up your opponents plans and they will curse your name. There are plenty of hazards on the board from fire to pits. There are also conveyor belts that move and twist your robots or walls that impede your movement. The goal is to get your robots to the various flags on the board. They are numbered and you have to stop on each flag in order. If at any point you die, falling down the pit or by driving off the board, you can restart at the last flag you touched. Sort of like a re-spawn point in video games. After all movement is resolved, you get to fire a laser and any robot in your line of sight takes a point of damage. Damage is bad because at a certain point it forces you to keep a direction card locked in your program area. This means that every round until you repair you are stuck going a certain direction.

We were playing with 8 people and the game began to drag and certain players interest waned looking at what other games were about to start. We also dropped the race from 4 flags to 2 since several players dropped out. What did I think? I like deciding my path for my robot and hoping no one else interferes with my plans. I like the elements on the board, like flame throwers, that also need to be part of your plans. Now I also felt the game was starting to drag on as only two of us had gotten to the first flag after an hour. The game can also be hard for some people spatially as they get lefts and rights confused because of the robots orientation. That said, I would like to play this again, maybe with less people and on a tighter map.

Play time with rules: 2 hours 35 minutes
Final Scores: 2 Flags-Joe;1 Flag-Mary,Chris,Kearn;0 Flags-Mike,T,Blade,Sam

Stock Car Championship Racing Card Game
This is a game I can't believe I played. If you know me, you know I hate NASCAR and that people consider it a sport. I don't want to start a rant so I will discuss the game. The game has a predetermined number of laps and a deck that simulates the track. Players use cards to pass, block, draft or challenge the other racers. I chose the Tide car because I wanted a clean win.

So a typical turn goes like this. You flip the top card of the track deck over and a lap count is on the card. There also can be hazards too. From the cards in your hand, you have to discard cards that add up to be equal or greater than the lap count. If you can't, you are considered out of gas. After that we determine player order. It is based on the speed rating shown on the top of the card in your discard pile. Action cards let you try to pass other cars either inside or outside. The car you are passing can attempt to block you. Once everyone goes new cars are drawn and you start all over again until the lap count is met.

We were playing a pimped out version with the Hot Wheels and I personally liked it better than generic cards. This game didn't do much to improve my opinion of stock car racing but it was a bit more fun than I thought it would be. The game is random due to the cars and some of the high lap counts can leave you short of Action cards useful to you during your turn. Also shorter races don't leave you to much time to advance very far. It was a fun distraction but I don't know if I would play it again.

Play time with rules: 45 minutes
Final Placement: 1st Chris, 2nd Tom, 3rd Rhonda, 4th Joe, 5th Kearn, 6th Mike

The New Era

Are you looking for a game that captures the feel of Mad Max, then you might want to try New Era. In New Era you each play a faction, set on supremacy of the new world. You do this by gaining control of locations you discover or by influencing your rival factions locations. The game starts each round with a draft of face-up cards. Each person ends up drafting 2 cards and then 1 card off the top of the deck. You have some options available to you but nothing too brain burning.

Production comes next which gives you resources, workers, cards or victory points to use in the Action phase which is next. There are a lot of actions to choose from such as develop locations, take faction actions, trade cards or get workers. You keep preforming one action until you have to pass. Once passed, your locations are closed to the other players, which is a nice way to protect your buildings from being conquered or other players workers. After everyone passes, you check to see if anyone has reached 33 points (we totally missed this phase) if they do the game ends. If not proceed to the cleanup phase, basically get rid of anything unused and pass the first player token to the left.

I really enjoyed this game and after a round of play grasped the game. You have to plan ahead with your locations to help you get more resources each turn. Using neighbors locations is key to help when you can't get the card yourself. The number 3 is everywhere in this game. You can't have more than 3 of anything on or under a card and only 3 places for your location cards. The symbols in the game aren't overwhelming and become intuitive but can be a turnoff to certain players. I am tired of all the card based games but I found plenty to enjoy here. New Era is a solid game that I would play again anytime.

Play time with rules: 1 hour 30 minutes
Final Scores: Tom-64,Mike-25,Rhonda-46,Kearn-55

I also want to say congratulations to Rhonda and Mike who recently got engaged. You could always catch the two of them chatting, giving each other back rubs or holding hands. It's cute and I wish them the best.

The Plucky Plank: I-con what? Not I-con, it's U-Con.

U-con originally started at the University of Michigan in the student union building from 1988 - 2010. I personally didn't care for the union building, the multiple floors and poorly labeled rooms gave everything a disjointed feeling. I believe the amount of attendants also forced then to find a new location. The last two years, the convention has been in two different hotels, the Metropolitan of Romulus Mi in 2011 and the Marriott of Ypsilanti in 2012.

Now before I go into the games I played, I want to make a few critiques about the convention this year. First, I didn't like the poorly labeled and laid out convention. As you entered the lobby, there were no signs to direct you where to go, only the front desk for sign up. Second, ill informed employees/volunteers of the convention. When asked questions about the location of the board gaming area, I was directed upstairs and also to the left of the front desk. There wasn't any board gaming on the second floor, only role-playing and miniatures. Third and final, was once I found the board game room, there were no open tables for free gaming. We ended up taking over a table with an event that had passed and had nothing left for the day we were there. These are all fixable but I had to vent about them none the less.

Greeting you as you entered the center was a huge balloon dragon created by Tim Thurmond, The Balloon Sculptor. As you can see, this massive dragon winds its way up the staircase. On the landing above, Tim was blowing more balloons and making what I assume were swords for a few children.

It was also great to see so many familiar faces from my local gaming groups. Especially since it allowed me to capture a picture of Skaboy (his nom de plume) dressed as a french maid for the costume contest. I will post the picture for all to see and sorry Dave, you have no say. Muhahahaha!

Rapa Nui
One of my other favorite areas of U-con is the free gaming area. Tom brings a stack of the latest and greatest games for all to try. I dragged my friends along and we started the day off with Rapa Nui. The interesting part of this card game is the four stacks of cards. Each turn you must remove a card from the piles but the revealed card underneath scores. For instance if a goods card is revealed then any player with the same good in front of them would gather the good. If it is a priest or a statue, the player is awarded points instead. The other optional task on your turn is to play a card from your hand. The card has costs to play but if you can play multiple copies it allows you to take more than one card for the turn. The game continues until the stack of cards is depleted.

This game falls into the light category as your options each turn are simple. You also can't plan to far ahead each turn since you don't know what cards will be available. Although it does become obvious what cards will be taken by the other players. In our game, the other players stopped taking the cards above the priest card. I was the only player with priests in play and it benefited me greatly. Other cards avoided during play would have benefited the player following the current player. Such as if I take the woodsman, it would leave a rapa nui for the next player.



It is a shame this game is only available in German because it would be a nice family game. I would also like to try it with two since it might become more strategic.

Play time with rules: 45 minutes
Final Scores: Chad-21,Gregg-28,Kearn-46,Christian-35

Seasons
Seasons has the feel of a collectible card game with drafting and could easily be my new addiction. I really enjoy the subtle nuances of the game. Players start with drafting cards by taking one and passing the hand to the player on the left. There is a preset hands recommend for new players but honestly anyone who played games like Seven Wonders or Magic the Gathering can pick this up easily. This draft probably is one of the longer moments of the game as players read the text and decide on which cards to keep. With repeated play, I can see this going faster.

The seasons have these great chunky dice (Photo Courtesy of cnidius) that are rolled and each player drafts a die. The symbols become second nature as you play, the symbols represent energy, extra cards and crystals. The different seasons have different colored dice and during certain seasons some of the energies are not available on the dice, so plan accordingly. After 3 years pass, the game is over and the player with the most crystals wins. After several plays and a few online plays, I really like the flow of Seasons. I could see this game sticking around and with a few expansions.

Play time with rules: 60 minutes
Final Scores: Brian-85,Gregg-106,Kearn-159,Christian-165

Vinhos
At this point, I wanted to play a heavy game and Vinhos fit the bill. Vinhos at first glance is an overwhelming game and then a half hour of rules. Tom did a great job explaining everything but after some point I just want to play and figure things out. As you do play, you see the beauty in the layout of the board.

As you can see the board has a square that you move your pawn to and take the respective action. It varies from buying a winery, exporting wine, selling wine or going to the bank or banco. Then you also have to prepare for the wine show where it pays to show a good wine. The complexity of the game eventually unfolds and becomes easier to understand. I found myself scoring better each turn and planning ahead to maximize my points. Now there were a few areas I neglected like the exporting area, which would have helped my overall score but to me that will be the joy of more plays. I also enjoyed that the theme fit the game and it is a theme I haven't played before. The game is a bit solitary as most of your interaction comes in the wine show but I was okay with that. I want to also thank my friends for playing this with me and slogging through this lengthy game.

Play time with rules: 3 hours 20 minutes
Final Scores: Tom-70,Gregg-49,Kearn-55,Christian-76

Smash Up
My brain needed a cool off and I suggested my other new favorite, Smash Up. I enjoy how different this game plays every time just by having different combos each game. I drafted the tricksters and ninjas, Christian had pirates and zombies, Gregg went with wizards and dinosaurs and finally Tom had aliens and robots. My goal this game was to be annoying with the tricksters and sneak a few points from the ninjas.

I would have gotten away with it to if not for those resurrecting zombies. I would do my best to put them in his hand but a turn later they were back. Everyone seemed to enjoy the game but we didn't get to finish because the hall had to be closed for the night. I look forward to the new factions but even without them, Smash Up has plenty of replays in the base set.

Play time with rules: 35 minutes
Sort of Final Scores: Tom-9,Gregg-11,Kearn-12,Christian-14



Livingstone
At this point it was after midnight and the crowd started to thin out. My two friends called it a night but Dave (sans costume) was not about to let me go. He said we had to play a game together. Somehow we managed to get 5 people despite the Werewolf competition. Nikki suggested a game of Livingstone and gave us a quick overview. The game is just about having the majority of tents in a row to score endgame points. The other part of the game was digging for stones. The plastic pieces are nice a chunky with a good heft to them. Just avoid the white stone.

Two other game pieces to explain are the cards and treasure chests. The cards allow you to break rules and place more tents or score more points for your gems. Treasure chests are where you deposit money for the queen. You must give money because at the games end, the player with the least automatically lose. It's pretty harsh and Suzette suffered a crushing loss because of her lack of donations. Livingstone is an okay game and falls more into the family game category. I wouldn't say no to another play but I wouldn't suggest it myself.

Play time with rules: 40 minutes
Final Scores: It was late and I forgot to write them down.

That concludes my day at U-Con and despite a few problems, it is a nice local convention. I doubt I would ever go more than one day but the day price is reasonable and you can play a variety of games. So if you ever find yourself in Michigan around late October, come and join us.