9/19 Featured Games!

Greetings friends of Friday Night Dice!

This upcoming Friday yet again we will be hosting a game night.

We've had pretty solid streams of attendance over the past few weeks, averaging right around 15 people.  What's really exciting is how many total people we've had walk through our doors.  Without actually adding it up I believe it is somewhere in the ballpark of 50 different people come through our doors!  We're thrilled about that and would love to see that number continue to increase.

Before we get to the featured games, I want to take a moment tell ya'll that we will be hosting a special Halloween Friday Night Dice on Halloween night.  The 31st of October happens to be the 5th Friday of the month, a scheduled meeting time anyway, so that night we'll be playing scary games (well, games with 'scary' themes - Zombicide, Dead of Winter, Betrayal at House on the Hill, etc.) AND we'll be doing it in costume.  I mean, technically you can show up not wearing a costume, but preferably you will be!  We'll be giving out a prize to the best dressed attendee!  Mark your calendars now!!

So the theme for this upcoming FND is a bit unusual but I'm going to roll with it.  We'll be featuring a whole bunch of games that just came in the mail for us!   Not a very specific theme, but a lot of them are either a) recent releases, b) recent re-releases, or c) fresh from Kickstarter so I think people will be excited to try them if they haven't.

So without further adieu, here are the games we'll be playing!

Splendor

Splendor is a game that just came out in 2014 and was nominated for the Spiel de Jahres award (game of the year in Germany - it's pretty much the biggest gaming award).  It didn't win but many thought it should have.  It is a very fun and easy (super easy - like, one page rule book easy).  In the game everyone is some type of Renaissance era trader of gems.  Honestly the theme is so light it's almost an abstract game, but that's okay because the gameplay is very smooth.

CV

CV is most easily compared to King of Tokyo simply because it features the exact same mechanics - roll dice ala Yahtzee.  However, the theme is nothing similar.  In CV you are essentially living out a person's life.  Each turn your roll dice, the symbols of which include Good Luck, Bad Luck, Relationships, Money, Knowledge, and Health.  You keep the ones you want, reroll the rest, then do it again (just like in Yahtzee).  Afterward you get to buy one or two cards based on what you roll and what your other cards provide you.

It's all very thematic.  For instance, in the 'young adult' deck you can buy a Pension Plan for 2 money symbols.  This gives you an event called "Pension" that you can play later, but only once you get to the Old Age deck, and it gives you twice as much money as you put in for a one time use - very thematic.  This game is particularly exciting as it is not yet released in the United States.  I was lucky enough to find somebody selling on Ebay that picked it up from the Essen game fair in Germany.  This is a great time to check out a new hard to find game.

Among the Stars

This game was originally released in 2012 but it only just got printed again by Z-Man games.  However, at the same time Z-Man was reprinting it they were also releasing a campaign on Kickstarter.  It would get shipped to the States a bit later than Z-Man's publication would, but you could pay a similar price and get all of the promos and stretch rewards.  I chose that option and it just came in the mail!

Among the Stars is a drafting game VERY similar to 7 Wonders in play style.  However, the theme is quite different.  You use your cards to build a space station and, unlike 7 Wonders, the physical layout of your cards is very important for further turns and final scoring.  The artwork on the cards is gorgeous and between the base game, the expansion, and the ridiculous amount of promos there are so many cards you'll never have the same station twice.

Ca$h and Guns

Cash and Guns is a fun and light party game where everybody gets to shoot their friends with fake guns.  Not even joking.  Each round the 'boss' (I.E. The Godfather) counts down.  Everyone is holding foam guns.  When he says '3' everybody simultaneously points their gun at a different person, possibly inflicting damage depending on whether or not they just to play a 'click' or a 'bang' card before hand.  All players still in the round at the end of it get a share in the loot.  The player with the most money at the end of the game wins.  This game takes the ending scene in Reservoir Dogs and makes an entire game of it.  It's pretty light but it's also quite fun.  I have the new second edition of the game which looks great.

We may end up featuring one more game as I'm still waiting on Dead of Winter to arrive, but we'll see.  Either way, hopefully you'll join us as we play these and many more!