Our latest Card Game: Gloom

Gloom is a gothic card game that reminds me of the Lemony Snicket books, Edward Gorey's The Gashlycrumb Tinies or the Adams Family, the objective is to make up miserable things to happen to your characters, and the one with most miserable wins. The object of the game, in fact, is to make your characters as miserable as you possibly can. Each player has a family, a group of misfit characters that they then play event cards on.

The really interesting thing about Gloom is the story-telling aspect of game play. When you play an event card such as "Terrified by Topiary," or “Was Mauled by Manatee,” you may explain how this event occurs. Each character develops as more and more event cards are placed on it, so the character’s life story becomes increasingly unfortunate and, well, abnormal. Your opponents then can cheer up your characters with happy occasions. The card are clear so you can see your characters and any effects that have been played on them. Rodney and David really love coming up with their stories. Sometimes they even became a little too long and had nothing to do with their cards. But it was good for them to play a game the really gets them thinking about what they are doing and get the creative juices going.

The game is for 8 and up and takes about an hour to play. You can play it simple or with the more complex effects on the cards, so adults will love it to.

Munchkin

The Game we have all been playing lately as a family is Munchkin. Munchkin is a card game designed by Steve Jackson that "simulates" (well, sorta') a fantasy-themed RPG (oh, ok, D&D) in a simple, card-based game that's chock full o' silliness. Everyone begins the game as a 1st level Human with NO Class (heh-heh) and via cards, they acquire Classes, Items, Armor, Potions and more that they use to combat hideous monsters The object of the game is to reach Level 10 and levels are acquired via the slaying of monsters and the selling of acquired treasure (1,000 Gold Pieces equals 1 Level). Very silly and a lot of fun!

Munchkin Cthulhu is a the version of the game we have been playing in the Munchkin line, this version lampoons H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos and the horror gaming that surrounds it. The boy’s really love it. Some times they just can’t stop laughing.

Star Wars PocketModel TCG

My newest game is Star Wars PocketModel TCG. I had the opportunity to play it a couple of time now, once with my nephew and once with the guys in my gaming group. The 1st time I played it(with Charlie) I really didn’t get all the rules. So as a result I was not sure if I liked the game or not. The rule book is not very well put together, so I missed a few rules. The second time I played the game (with the guys) I had figured out all the rules and the game work out much better. And I really like the game. Play it in a group has much more dynamics to it then the just one on one.

The game has aspects of both miniatures and collectible and trading genres. It is similar to WizKids game Pirates of the Spanish Main, referring to the mechanics of creating game pieces from components that punch out of styrene cards. The game derives its content from all six Star Wars movies. Also there are the cards that give your miniatures bonuses or change the game play. You win the game in two ways; one you eliminate all of your opponents ships, or destroy all 3 of their objective cards. The coolest thing is when your ship takes damage you add little damage plumes to the ship.

All and all, I give the game 8 out of 10 stars. I will have to play it a few more times to really work out the ins and outs.

Geek time with Charlie

My nephew Charlie and niece Zoe are in Flint for two weeks. My brother was only here for a few days of their visit, he left today. I plan to spend as much time with them as possible. Maybe we will get up there a couple of times each week. My plans are to geek out with Charlie and to take Zoe to the Art museum.

Today before and after dinner I taught Charlie how to play dreamblade. He won one of the three games we played. We try to play my new game Star Wars PocketModel Trading Card Game, but only had a little bit of time. So we only when over the rules and looked over the ships. It looks like a fun game. (I'll do a write on the game later)

This next two weeks Amy is also off from work. I’m hopping to use this time to get some work done on the bathroom. My dad and I didn’t get much done last week. We both were very busy last week. We also wanted to spend time with Tom wile he was here.

My Daylilies are Starting to bloom!!

My newest board game: Gloria Mundi

I resonantly bought a new board game, called Gloria Mundi. I had been saving change for a few months to by it. This is the best way for me to save money. I love play board games and love getting new ones. I think collecting board games is now my new hobby.

Gloria Mundi is a board game for 2-6 players set during the fall of Rome. You're a Roman statesman struggling to survive in this era of cultural decline and political chaos. While foreign invaders and domestic incompetents devour the last resources of the Empire, you'll try to build your career out of the rubble. You start in Rome, and the Visigoth starts on the outskirts of a spiral board. Each turn, you play and purchase cards that produce resources and give you special effects, as well as allowing you to move further out from the doomed Eternal City. Then the Visigoth moves toward Rome, destroying your cards... unless you spend your precious resources to bribe him. When the Visigoth reaches Rome, or a player reaches the outskirts of the empire, the game is over and the player who has fled the furthest from Rome wins.

I play board games with a group of guys every Monday night (we also have a beer or two). We played my new game tonight. We had to play the game a few times to get the mechanics. We had mixed revues of the game. Most of us really liked it and others didn’t. I have mix felling about the game. I would like to play it a few more times with the same number of people or less.

Carcassonne

Many of you may already know I love to play board games. I meet up with a group of guys every Monday to play our board games. I did a blog on Settlers of Catan Back in August of last year; witch was my obsession at the time. Later I stared playing Dreamblade witch is a Miniature based game that has some of the same mechanics as chess. Now the new came I like to play is Carcassonne.

Carcassonne is a heavily fortified French medieval town in the south of France. Carcassonne the board game is a tile-based German-style board game for two to six players. The game board is a medieval landscape built by the players as the game progresses. The game starts with a single terrain tile face up and 71 others shuffled face down for the players to draw from. On each turn a player draws a new terrain tile and places it adjacent to tiles that are already facing up. The new tile must be placed in a way that extends features on the tiles it, (roads must connect to roads, fields to fields, and city walls to city walls.)

After placing the new tile, the placing player may opt to station a follower piece on that tile. The follower can only be placed on the just-placed tile, and must be placed in a specific feature. A follower claims ownership of one terrain feature—road, field, city, or cloister—and may not be placed on a feature already claimed by another player's follower. However, it is possible for terrain features to become shared after the further placement of tiles. For example, two field tiles which each have a follower can become connected into a single field by another terrain tile.

The game ends when the last tile has been placed. At that time all features (including fields) score points for the players with the most followers in them. The player with the most points wins the game.

The game has a few expansions that change the way the came is played in subtle ways. I bought the Carcassonne Big Box; witch combines the base set, The River, Inns and Cathedrals, Traders and Builders, The Princess and the Dragon and The Tower.

The best part of the game is that it is simple enough from Rodney and David (who are both 6) to play yet complex enough for adults to enjoy as well.