8/15 Featured Games (and 8/1 Recap)

Hello FNDers!!

First and foremost I would like to point out that GCOM website's calendar is still incorrect.  They have not updated it based on our switch to the first and third and fifth Fridays of each month (I don't have direct control over the calendar).  Our next session is August 15th followed by August 29th followed by the first Friday in September.  Please be advised to disregard where the "Annapolis" meeting site is on that calendar.

Additionally I want to say a quick apology for the blogs slightly less speedy updating over the past month or so.  My wife and I are both teachers on summer break and so we take full advantage.  Thus we are not home much and when we are things are busy.  As school begins again next week you will see this updated much more frequently and efficiently.

On a related note we have an FND coming up on Friday and I still haven't done the 8/1 recap.  On the first of the month we had over a dozen people show up for games.  I wasn't there personally but word on the street is that many a game were played.  This includes King of Tokyo, 7 Wonders, Lords of Waterdeep, Quarriors, and Smash Up.

Also, before I get into the upcoming featured games, I want to take a moment and talk about an awesome gaming experience I had over the past week!  I'm fortunate enough to be able to attend the World Boardgaming Championships in Lancaster, PA with one of my best friends every summer and last week we got to go.  There are tournaments out the wazoo and open gaming 24/7 for a solid week.  It's a great time and always occurs in the first week or so of August so mark your calendars for next year if you have never heard of it.  It's only a couple hours north of Balitmore and is extremely affordable.

Because of the WBCs I got to play a few new games, some of which I'm anxious to feature this FND.  So, without further adieu.......

The theme of our featured games this weekend is BLUFFING.

Bluffing is a 'category' on Boardgamegeek that has a good number of interesting games, some of which get some pretty regular play time in our group so I'll be leaving them off this featured list (I.E. Battlestar Galactica).

Group Game of the Night:  Werewolf

If you've been gaming for any length of time you may have played Werewolf.  It's very popular, particularly at conventions like the WBCs as it thrives on huge groups.  There are plenty of people who are not a fan because of the player elimination, which is perfectly reasonable. As such, we will aim to begin a group game of Werewolf at 10:00 PM.  That way if it goes fast we can do two games.  If not and it looks like it's going to drag out then the eliminated players can go home without risk of missing other games.

Werewolf is a game where players are all given secret roles.  You are either a werewolf or a villager.  If you've played Mafia it is very similar.  All players close their eyes and then the werewolves open them, acknowledge one another, and point to a villager to eat.  That player is eliminated and then the banter occurs.  The villagers have to determine which person they will lynch in response to the murder of the night.  A lot of this part is deducing (sometimes through wild accusations) which players are in fact werewolves.  Of course, it is very likely throughout the course of the game that they will lynch a handful of villagers.  A small price to pay for ultimately getting the wolves.  You only win if you survive till the end and everyone on the other side is dead.  Quite, quite fun.

Other Featured Games:


Dixit:

Dixit is essentially a party game, but one that requires a lot more thinking and creativity than most.  If you've ever played Balderdash its quite similar.  Everyone has a hand full of unique and interesting cards with illustrations.  One person is the 'storyteller' and describes a card in his hand.  Everyone else then submits a card that could have matched that description as well.  The cards are shuffled and revealed and everyone (except the storyteller) says which they think is the correct one.  The catch here is the storyteller only gets points if at least one person guesses the correct one, but not everybody.  He must be vague and clever enough that its not obvious, but not so vague that nobody has any idea.

This game won the Spiel de Jahres (German Game of the Year) award a few years a
go and is well worthy of that praise.

Love Letter

Love Letter is a filler game (meaning its very short) that revolves around deck of roughly twenty cards.  There are eight different 'characters' in the deck, each of which has a different number of copies.  On your turn you will have one card in your hand.  You will then draw another card, discarding one of the two cards now in your hand.  Whatever the card you discard says to do, you do.  There are many ways to get eliminated or cause others to get eliminated
and a lot of the game is bluffing about what you're holding while deducing what others are holding.  A full game takes less than thirty minutes and a single round usually less than five.

Cosmic Encounter

This is an absolutely wonderful game that we are yet to play at FND and it is time that changed. Everybody takes control of an alien race and is trying to conquer five colonies on other players' planets.  Essentially each turn all you do is draw a card to determine who you're attacking, then each player simultaneously plays a numbered card from their hand.  The highest number wins.  It sounds ridiculously simple (and it pretty much is) but the real fun comes from all of the different alien races.  Each one lets you break the rules in some capacity and there are over 90 to choose from in the set we own.  No two games are the same.

Letters From Whitechapel

This is the modern Clue.  I will never play that game again now that we own Letters from Whitechapel because it so vastly outstrips it in every way.  One person plays as Jack the Ripper.  The others are the London police trying to track him down.  Using deduction and logic they systematically track him as he makes his way from murder scene to hideout over the course of four different murders.  It is a very tense game where both sides feel pressure.  Jack feels the pressure of outrunning the police and the police are worried that any second Jack will declare himself home safe and thus end the round.  We've only owned this game for a month but have played it eight times in that span.  That says a lot about its quality.

Twilight Struggle

Twilight Struggle has been #1 on Boardgamegeek's list for as long as I've been involved in the hobby.  It is on my top 3 list of my favorite games of all-time.  It is a masterful simulation of the Cold War conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union.  As such, bluffing, intrigue, secrecy, and espionage play huge roles in this game.  This is only 2-player and I only own one copy of the game but I am very happy to teach two people interested as it is best if two newbies play against each other.

All of these games will be available to play and learn this upcoming Friday.  Invite as many friends as you have!