1/16 Featured Games

Hello Everybody!


This upcoming Friday (in two days!) will be our regularly scheduled FND.  Attendance has been great over the past few months and we expect that to continue as we push forward through this cold January!!  If you're not busy Friday night, come play some games in our lovely (and warm) facilities and Bridge Church!

Also, mark your calendars as January has five Fridays which means we will be having a bonus FND on the fifth Friday of the month!


This upcoming Friday we will be featuring games that involve BOATS.  Boats, Boats, Boats!

I (Lee N.) will not be there this upcoming Friday so our good friends Tish and Laura will be bringing and teaching all of these lovely aquatic games!

Tsuro of the Seas

I have never played Tsuro or its sequel (of the sea), however, I see them all of the time at game stores so I've always presumed they are solid abstract games.  Tsuro of the Sea has some nice artwork that features boats, so even though it is an abstract game (meaning the theme doesn't necessarily influence the mechanics), it still fits this theme quite nicely.  Again, I've never played, so I'm not sure how it works, but according to BGG:  The basic game play of Tsuro of the Seas resembles that of Tom McMurchie's Tsuro: Players each have a ship that they want to sail — that is, keep on the game board — as long as possible. Whoever stays on the board the longest wins the game.

Hansa

Hansa is another game I've never played - in fact I'd never heard of it until Tish mentioned it (which is impressive - I'm pretty nerdy and have heard of most games).  Hansa is a neat Euro-game that has players taking the role of Hanseatic Merchants trying to buy and sell goods, establish trading posts, and do other Euro-y things along the coasts of Scandinavia. 



Settlers of Catan: Seafarers


Settlers of Catan was my gateway game and I personally own every expansion (except the newest).  Tish will be bringing her copy of Catan with the Seaside expansion.  While at this point in my life I generally avoid Catan, there is a certain degree of nostalgia when I think of it.  We played the heck out of Catan back in the day and Seafarers was always our favorite expansion.  If you've never played Settlers before then you should because its arguably the most important board game of the past twenty years (its that old).  Trading, bidding, rolling 7's.  It'll all be there.

Pirate's Cove

Pirate's Cove is produced by Days of Wonder.  Days of Wonder is probably the company that produces the most consistently good games of anybody out there. They don't make a lot of 'em per year, but when they do, they're great. Ticket to Ride, Memoir 44, Shadows Over Camelot, Five Tribes - all superb Days of Wonder games.  Pirate's Cove never really picked up the sames team as those other games, but it has gorgeous components and by all accounts is quite fun.  You're pirates.  You do piratey things. I've never played it, soo that's all I've got to offer as far as specifics, other than a complimentary arrrrr.




Niagara

Our next game has actually won the Spiel de Jahres award and did so back in 2005.  I've never played Niagara, but generally speaking games that win the Spiel are quite good.  According to BGG, here's what you do:

Niagara is set in the not particularly safe world of rushing waterfalls. In the late 18th Century, the Shawnee and Iroquois Indians pointed white Desperadoes, Mercenaries and Adventurers in the direction of hidden caches of valuable jewels, in the hopes of turning them against one another and away from their territorial expansion ambitions. Players play as some of those Adventurers.

The first player to be able to claim ownership of five jewels is the winner. But the chase after the riches has some snags. The speed of the river is always changing, since the speed depends on the decisions of the players and the changeable weather. And once a canoe goes over the falls, it's a hefty investment to replace it. And there are also the Desperadoes to contend with, who aren't above trying to plunder the riches from Adventurers returning home. Niagara is distinguished by an innovative movement mechanic as well as a beautiful three-dimensional rendering of the waterfall setting.

Dominion: Seaside

Dominion is a very famous Deckbuilding game that has roughly six thousand expansions.  The one we will be specifically featuring this Friday is the Seaside expansion which has several boat and port related cards.  In this game, everyone starts with the same ten cards and as the game progresses you add cards to your deck to try and create the most efficient engine of cards.  It plays fast, is immensely replayable because each game has different cards, and overall is a very good game.  It also is a Spiel de Jahres winner (I think).

Well, that's all of our featured games!  We hope to see you out at FND this upcoming Friday.  Bring some friends and have fun!

1/2 Featured Games

Hello current and prospective FNDers!

First and foremost, Happy Belated Holidays and Happy New Years!  Hopefully if you're reading this you had a blessed season and are continuing to do so.

In the midst of this busy time, we have one more thing to add to your list - our upcoming session on Friday, January 2nd, 2015 at 6:30 PM!  What better way to start of the new year than with some board and card games?!  I sure cannot think of one!

This upcoming session we will be featuring Games We Got For Christmas!  By "we" I don't just mean Beth and I, though those are the ones I'll be writing about, but rather everyone who comes!  So bring your new games and let's give 'em a go.  Or, if you want to play some games you've owned for a while, that's fine to.

Here are some of the featured!

Concept

Concept is a game I absolutely love - it is one of my favorite party games.  It is essentially 20-questions with pictures instead of verbal clues.  Well... Kind of.  On your turn, you get a word or phrase (anything as easy as Polar Bear to as difficult as "It is what it is").  On the table is a large board with many pictures, each a simple clip-art style image depicting some kind of 'concept.'  Using pawns of various types, you must get your team to guess your word.  If you got Polar Bear, for example, you could use a pawn to indicate it is a white animal.  If they still didn't get it, you could further indicate it is cold.  It requires a surprising amount of logical AND creativ
e thinking, which is why I love it so much - it really uses both sides of the brain.

No Thanks!

No Thanks! is a quick and light card game.  We'll probably play this between games at some point.  On your turn you either take the current card (which has a numeric value of either 3-35) or pass on it.  If you pass, you must put a chip on it.  If you're out of chips, you have to take it.  The catch is, you don't want points, so you never want cards.  But you have to take some.  When you take a card, you also get the chips that are on it - so maybe that 26 is rough, but it has 10 chips on it so it's not as bad.  Finally, if you have cards that make 'sets' of sequential numbers, only the lowest is counted.  So where as having 33 and 35 would net you 68 points (enough to give you last place almost certainly), having 33, 34, and 35 give you only 33 points.  It's fun and easy but still allows for interesting decisions, which is exactly what I look for in a card game.

Snake Oil

This was the Christmas of party games for us as we also got a fun one called Snake Oil.  This game is similar to Apples to Apples (or another game that comes in a Black Brick that shall go unnamed) in the sense that on a player's turn all other players are trying to win your vote.  In this one, on your turn you draw a card telling you what kind of  customer you are - you might be a cheerleader, or a homeless guy, or a pirate.  Then, from their hand of six cards, each other player combines two words to make a type of item.  This could be Joy Closets, or Stalker Vests, or Urine Bombs - and then they have to try and convince the consumer why their product is the one they want.  It is hilarious.

Imperial Settlers

This is the one I am most excited about.  This game just recently came out and is by the same designer as Robinson Crusoe - one of my personal favorites.  This is a civilization building game and it feels like it.  You are building an infrastructure based on cards that you put into play - some allow you to take worker-placement style actions, some give you production each round, some give you one-time scoring bonuses.  By the end, you want to be the civilization with the most points.  It is a very popular new game and is supposed to be quite excellent.

Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game

This game I've had for a while, but I received the Rebel Aces expansion for Christmas, which features a fancy new A-Wing and a fancy new B-Wing.  Last time we did this with like six players - probably a bit too much - but still had a good time.  We have enough ships where we can definitely do teams of two.

The Ancient World

This last one didn't actually come for Christmas, it just happened to arrive via Kickstarter around the same time.  This is a worker-placement game with the most beautiful artwork I think I've ever seen in a game - it is truly stunning.  The game itself seems quite enjoyable as well and it is about the same complexity level as Lords of Waterdeep.

So those are the games that WE got - feel free to post in the comments what you all got and bring 'em along to play!  Hope to see everyone out this Friday!!

12/19 Featured Games

Hello Friends of FND!

This upcoming Friday (one week from the day this is being posted) is our next FND Session!

The past two sessions have been exceptional - over the course of them we've had five new people show up and have averaged around 16 people per night.  It's been great.

This upcoming FND is particularly exciting because it is our final one of 2014!  Our gaming group is approaching our one year anniversary in a few months, having started in Spring of 2014, and it's great to see how the group has grown.  Our first session had around six people.  Now we average fifteen and have had well over fifty total different people show up.  We look forward to seeing that growth continue!

As this is the final gaming night of 2014, we will be celebrating all of FND's favorite games of 2014!  Now the GCOM webpage has a system for ranking our most 'popular' games based on the amount of times they've been played, but I'm not strictly going to use that so much as the simple eye-test for what people seem to really enjoy and also play a lot.  Of course you are more than welcome to bring games not on this list and play them :-)  Our featured games are always just an outline, not a strict set of rules!

Splendor:

We've played this SO much over the past three months.  It's not my favorite game of 2014, mainly because personally its a bit abstract and light for my tastes, but it is highly enjoyable and is many people's top game of 2014.  It was the runner-up for the Spiel de Jahres (the German Game of the year award) and many thought it should have won.  In this game you either are taking gems or buying things with gems on your turn.  The things you buy make it easier to buy subsequent things.  They also give you points.  You want the most points.  Sound simple?  It is.  And it's very fun!

Lords of Waterdeep:


Lords of Waterdeep is probably the #1 most played game at FND.  It is a very intro-level worker placement game but it is great fun.  In this game you are different factions in the D&D universe competing for the most prestige in town (aka points).  You recruit different people (warriors, rogues, mages) to go on stereotypical fantasy quests.  Who ever has the most points at the end wins.  This is a great gateway game doesn't take too long provided everyone is efficient with their turns.

Battlestar Galactica:

The first night we played this at FND was somewhat of a revelation.  Nobody had played it before and it was such a great time - there was in-character banter, accusations, and monologues.  It was exactly what you wanted a game of BSG to be.  Since then we've played a few more times and it's always been great.  I've also picked up the Exodus and the Pegasus expansions since our first time and am anxious to implement some of those components.  I think we're going to try and start with this game so that we definitely can finish with time to spare.

Telestrations:

Everyone loves Telestrations (or mostly everyone). You draw, you guess, you repeat.  Laughter ensues.  This game is the 'telephone game' with drawing.  If you're good at drawing it's fun.  If you're bad at drawing it's a riot.  Some of the hardest moments of laughter in my life were while playing this game and most of the top levels of hilarity at FND have occurred while flipping through Telestration's flipbooks.

Kingsburg:

Kingsburg hasn't hit the table a ton at FND, but each time it has everyone has walked away enjoying it.  And that's also true in my experience outside of FND.  So maybe this one is a bit of stretch, but when thinking of 'games people seemed to enjoy more than others' this one was near the top of the list.  In Kingsburg you are rolling dice, placing them, and taking resources.  It sounds simple (and it is) but it's a good deal of fun.


Dead of Winter: A Crossroads Game

I almost didn't put this one on here because it is so similar to BSG but I've had SO many people say they've thoroughly enjoyed this game, myself included.  This is one of the best games (in my opinion, THE best game) of 2014.  It, like BSG, is a semi-cooperative game in which everyone is trying to survive the zombie apocalypse.  However, somebody might be a traitor.  Everything you do is highly thematic and the game itself is such a delight to play.  It is also very hard to find in the USA right now so if you come just to play a copy, I'm totally fine with that!

Ultimate Werewolf

How could I not list this?  We play it at least once a month.  People request it.  It's great fun.  People get lynched and eaten.  If we're going to feature FND's favorite games of 2014, then this had to be on the list.  Hopefully we'll have a large crowd and can get a 15+ player game of this going.

There are so many more games that we played in 2014 and very rarely did it seem like people had a bad time playing.  Again, these games aren't the only ones allowed to be played, so feel free to bring your own and join in the fun!  If this is your first time coming, we're glad we go to see you at least once in 2014!!

Many blessings and hopefully we'll see you all Friday!

12/5 Featured Games

Hey guys and gals!
This past Friday we had an awesome night of gaming.  We played a few games with animals (as our theme indicated) and a few games without.  We got in a game of Smash Up, Lords of Waterdeep, Caverna, Robinson Crusoe, and Splendor.  I'm pretty sure an excellent time was had by all thirteen people, including our two newcomers Kevin and Clayton.

Next Friday marks an exciting day for us at FND.  It will be my wife's first day back since the birth of our son, Grady!  As such, since I'm in charge of this blog and the featured games, I'm going to be a bit selfish and have our next session's theme be "Games that Beth loves!"  I told her this recently and she responded "But then I won't be able to choose what to play!"  That's an excellent problem, my dear.

So, without further jibber jabbering, here's the games:

Splendor

Splendor is super popular right now in the gaming community and our game group is no different.  I think FND has had it played each session for the past three or four sessions.  My BGG list of games played had Ticket to Ride easily at the top for the year 2014.  In two months of owning Splendor it has soared above it, due largely to Beth's unfailing love for it.  It is a very easy game.  You take gems.  You buy things with gems.  Those things let you buy more things.  You get points.  You win.  It takes like 20 minutes but its pretty fun.


Carcassone

Carcassone is a classic tile laying game.  It's kind of like Dominoes but fun.  You get points based on how you place your meeples and the tiles each turn, creating cities and fields and roads and farms.  It's really simple and is really fun.  We have the Big Box so we have a boatload of expansions and can play up to six (I think, maybe seven).


Castles of Burgundy

Castles of Burgundy by good old Stefan Feld is a very highly regarded game by Beth and most gamers.  It is very 'elegant' for lack of a better word - on each turn you roll two dice and those basically decide your options you can take.  You're 14th century nobleman in France building up your land.  Honestly the theme is pretty lightly involved, but it is a very enjoyable game of taking efficient actions and building your estate.

Trajan

While we're listing Stefan Feld games, Beth also very much enjoys his game called Trajan.  Trajan takes the mechanisms found in Mancala and turns it into a way of taking actions.  Each turn you move little pieces around your roundel just like in mancala at whichever one you end on that's the action you take.  Now, I suspect when Five Tribes arrives at our house hold (the newest game by Days of Wonder) Trajan will go down a bit as it uses a similar mechanic in a bit lighter of a way, but nonetheless right now Beth really enjoys Trajan.


Ticket to Ride

Beth, like every other human being, enjoys Ticket to Ride - particularly on our fancy 10th Anniversary Edition.  Trains.  Tickets.  Pretty maps.  I don't think I need to explain Ticket to Ride much more than that.

Escape: Curse of the Temple

We literally just got this game, however we played it three times in a row just the two of us the first night - which is impressive because we don't play a lot of games two player.  This game occurs in real time (exactly 10 minutes long) and you are trying to escape a temple (picture Indiana Jones) before it caves in on you.  You are frantically rolling dice as fast as you can in order to get the necessary symbols to secure the required number of power gems needed to escape.  Curses can come up that prevent you from talking, make you lose dice that fall on the floor, and all sorts of other crazy things.  It is super fun and fast and frantic.


Kingsburg

Kingsburg is a dice rolling game somewhat similar to Castles of Burgundy.  You use your dice to influence various advisers, thus getting resources, which you can use to build up your little empires defenses and infrastructure.  It's really simple and it is really enjoyable - I don't think anyone's ever played it with me and not had a good time.  Beth, of course, enjoys it too.

Ultimate Werewolf

And finally we couldn't have a game night dedicated to what Beth enjoys without it also including a chance for her to lie and betray all of her friends.  So we'll play werewolf at some point.  If you're new and have never played, essentially you lie to your friends about whether you're a werewolf or a villager and try to get them killed.  It's fun.

So, those are all of the games we'll be playing next Friday!  I hope to see everybody out!  Even though they're games Beth enjoys, I think overall they're games the majority of FND enjoys, too.  I will update this again if I a 'reminded' of any games I forgot :-)

Blessings!

7/18 Featured Games

Greetings friends!!

This upcoming Friday, July 18th, marks the first Friday Night Dice under the new schedule.  Again, we are now meeting on the 1st and 3rd Friday of every month, so after this our next meetings will be on August 1st and August 15.

Anyways, as I've been saying we as a leadership for this group have been ecstatic about the consistency of our meeting group.  Over the past few months our lowest attendance has been 16 and every other has been 18 or 19.  We're more than ready break into the 20's so invite all the friends you can!  Should be a beautiful evening of gaming.

With all of that in mind, let's get to our featured games!

Featured Games:  Civilization Building

Civ-Building games are generally diverse and are a pretty popular genre of game.  They take their roots in computer games that focus on building your civilization from meager means to flowing, technological empires.  Some focus more on warfare, some on economics, some on trade and development, and some encompass them all.  This genre very much lends itself to long, complex games, but there are plenty of shorter, easier ones to get into as well.

Light Game:  7 Wonders

7 Wonders is a very rudimentary Civilization building game.  The theme is based around building a civ through ages of ancient times while at the same time trying to build one of the wonders of the ancient world.  The theme is somewhat pasted on, but it is still a very fun game based around a card drafting mechanic.  Its pretty simple and is a good game for novices.  It also plays as many as 8 with the expansion.

Light Game:  Smallworld

This is one of the simplest games we own.  If you've played Risk and enjoyed it then this is a good step into more modern games.  Each player is a different fantasy race (hobbits, giants, zombies, etc.) and also gets a special attribute (flying, tunneling, etc.).  You're trying to earn your race the most points by taking over the most land in the realm on your turn.  Eventually, though, your race will probably extend too far and further conquest will not be viable.  At that point you can go into decline, choose a new race, and start the conquest again!  Its a light game and is pretty enjoyable.

Medium Game:  Suburbia

Technically Suburbia is a city-building game which is really slightly different from civ-building but its a great game so we'll get over it.  If you've ever played and enjoyed Sim City then you have to play Suburbia.  Its very similar - you're mayor of a town and you're managing your reputation and economy in order to attract the most people to your town.  The theme is VERY strong and it is one of my personal favorites.  I also have the Suburbia, Inc. expansion if we get a game of veterans playing.

Medium:  T'Zolkin:  The Mayan Calendar

This game was the bees-knees back in 2012 - easily one of the most popular games of that year.  It also fit well with the whole doomsday business.  This game has little to do with that and much more to do with building an economic and technological structure as the leader of a tribe of Mayans.  While doing this you are trying to please one of their three gods and end the game with the most points.  On the board are multiple gears that all spin each other, causing different actions to become available to your workers and advancing the game clock.  I recently played this for the first time and its very enjoyable.  The basic rules are pretty straightforward, but there are a lot of options which adds some complexity. 

Advanced:  Through the Ages: The Story of Civilization

I'm not going to lie, I'm extremely excited to hopefully get a game of this going.  Through the Ages has been in the top 3 of Boardgamegeek for as long as I've been into board games.  At various times in held the #1 spot.  Designed by Vlaada Chvatil, who has made many games in the top 100, it is quite simply Sid Meier's Civ 3 put into board game form.  It's a pretty heavy game but moves fluidly once you get all of the rules down. It can get bogged down big time if people are distracted or taking longer than necessary on their turn but we should easily be able to get a game in if we start early enough - in theory it should take 2-3 hours.  It only fits 2-4 players so if you're interested shoot me an email or post in the comments to save a seat!

Of course other games will be available including our usual slew of party games so regardless of whether these peek your interest, come on out and play some games with us!!!

Memorial Day Board-B-Que Recap

Greetings FNDers!

This past weekend, as many of you know, FND hosted a Memorial Day Board-B-Que.  Attendance staggered in slowly over the first couple of hours but by the end of the day we had 15 people show up!  Not too bad for a bonus event on a holiday.

Those present were Lee (myself), Beth, Brian, Annmarie, Jill, Dave, Evie, Lanna, Lily, John, Dan, Lee T., Don, Judy, and David.

Over the course of the afternoon/evening we got a lot of games in and also ate some food hot off the grill!  If you're reading this now I will be uploading pictures as soon as I get home this evening from the event.  For now just imagine pictures of devilishly handsome and intelligent people playing board games.

To start Lee (me), Jill, Evie, Lonna, and Lee T. played a game of King of Tokyo.  Evie was a bit aggressive and got her monster killed in round 2.   Lanna dealt the final blow to Lee T. not too far along, leaving the rest of us to fight it out for supremacy.  The body count stayed at 2 and I won the game by achieving 20 victory points, largely by accumulating cards that gave me points for subsequent purchases as well as discounts to subsequent purchases - a powerful combo! 

After this we split up a bit.  Brian, Annmarie, Jill, and Beth played a game of Smash Up!  I didn't write down what everyone was, but I believe Beth was time-travelling ninjas, Jill was trickster something or another.whatevers that Jill was playing will have something to say about that next time.
.. Oh well, they were all amusing things.  From what I understand the game was quite close and despite it being Jill's first game, it was a tie ball game right until the last turn, where Annemarie deviously handed the game to her boyfriend on her turn giving him the victory.  I suspect the Trickster

While that occurred, Dave and I played Memoir 44!  It was both of our first time playing so we did the recommended starting scenario - Pegasus Bridge.  It features the Allied forces trying to capture two bridges from the Nazis and historically was one of the first battles of D-Day.  Fortunately for the real-life Allies they did not have me in charge, as in our retelling the Axis won the contest, collecting 5 victory medals to my 4.  Dave had a magically good unit of infantry burrowed in behind sand bags that I simply could not defeat due to some pretty poor dice rolling on my part.  Nonetheless, Dave won the game fair and square and be both came away really enjoying the easy mechanics and historical theme of Memoir 44.

A third game popped up during this - Dan, John, and Lee T. played 7 Wonders.  Lee T. ended up pulling out the victory, though I believe all of the scores were within seven points of each other.

After all of this it was time to start cooking I passed on the game of Lords of Waterdeep that began with Brian, John, Dan, and Lee T. and opted to play some Telestrations with everyone else.  We had a great time playing Telestrations - it's hard not to.  Unfortunately the Waterdeep game did not get finished as some of them had to leave early.

Food was then eaten with joy and delight.

After we finished up eating we still had more time to game!

A 5-player game of Ticket to Ride broke out between Beth, Don, Lee T., David, and myself.  I ended up pulling out the victory in this one, due in large part to some extraordinarily lucky ticket draws on the last turn.  I realized I would probably come in 2nd or 3rd if I didn't take a gamble and ended up drawing three tickets I'd already completed on the final turn of the game!  Otherwise, my lovely wife would have won.

While this was happening Jill taught Evie and Lonna Castles of Burgundy.  Jill won pretty handily but the girls did well for their first time!

Finally, Beth, Lee T., David, and I closed out the game with a game of Hanabi, which is a fun and easy cooperative card game.  Beth and I just picked it up so it was only our second time playing.  For our first game we did pretty well, netting 21 points (out of 25 possible) and scoring in the second highest victory line!  We really enjoyed the new game and were pretty pleased with the purchase, especially since it was a meager 8 dollars.

As you can see we played a LOT of games!  It was a great day and we saw the consistent numbers continue, which was particularly exciting because we half of the group were people at their first or second FND event. 

If you couldn't make it out, hopefully you'll be joining us this upcoming Friday (5/30) for our next FND regular session.

Blessings!

Memorial Day Board-B-Que Games

Greetings FNDers and Friends!

As has been made known on a couple of posts via this blog, this upcoming Monday - Memorial Day (5/26) we are hosting an all-day gaming event with cook-out.  The full details are on a previous post, but know that it'll be occurring at Bridge Church (our usual spot) from 1 PM - 8PM.

As I've mentioned previously, the goal here is to play games that involve some type of conflict in honor of the holiday.  We are extremely grateful to the men and women, regardless of how long ago, that have served and sacrificed and very real ways so that on Monday we can enjoy simulating games of conflict while snacking on grilled meat and cold beverages.  It is so we could enjoy days like that those men and women gave everything and it is not lightly that we enjoy them.

As such we will begin at 1 PM simply by lifting up a prayer of thanks and remembrance for those who have given their lives.  If you're not comfortable with that you by no means have to join in with praying and can simply join in by being thankful and remembering.  That won't take long but we think it is important to begin the festivities with remembering the holiday itself.

After that we will have a whole array of games awaiting us!  While we'll have the normal array of games out, again, we'd like to see people stepping maybe a tad out of their comfort zone and play some games that you normally wouldn't.  Of course, if you'd rather play something that has nothing to do with conflict we won't stop you!  We're just happy to have you bless us with your presence.

Here are the games that we'll be playing and their target audience/complexity:

Party Game:  King of Tokyo (If you're the type that normally likes The Game of Life and Group Solitaire, then this game is for you.)

Okay... Calling this a "Conflict/War Game" is really a bit of stretch, at least in terms of involving Memorial Day... There aren't any people really involved, unless you count the citizens of Tokyo that are running in fear from all of the stereotypical monsters involved in its demise.

Nonetheless this is a game where you are trying to be the biggest and baddest monster and claim Tokyo for yourself.  Each player takes control of one of six available monsters, each of which mimic (while carefully avoiding copyright infringement) monsters from some of the best (by which I mean worst, by which I mean best) old movies available.  This includes "The King," "Gigazuar," and "The Kraken," amongst others. 

The game is played almost exactly like Yahtzee, but instead of just getting sets of numbers, you're using the symbols on the nice to punch other monsters in the face, heal yourself, or buy super cool power ups.  It is very easy.  We've taught this to ten year olds and they've gotten it and loved it their first turn. 

If you're somebody who is a bit overwhelmed by any kind of strategy game then this is probably the best place you could start as it is just pure fun.

Light Game: Small World
(If you prefer games like Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan, or Dominion, then this game is for you.)

Smallworld is a game that tips its hat a bit to Risk, but is about 50,000,000 times more fun and only takes around 80 minutes to play.

Each player will assume the role of a generic mythology-esque race:  I.E. halflings, dwarfs, giants, wizards, skeletons, etc..  In addition, they will get a bonus attribute that essentially acts as an adjective to the race.  So instead of just being giants, you might be Flying Giants.  Or Seafaring Skeletons.  Or Spirit Halflings.  Yup, Ghost Hobbits.  I could stop there...

Basically you're vying for control of the map.  One of the key elements of the game is being able to go into 'decline.'  Essentially this means you abandon your current race and pick a completely new one at an opportune time. 

Small World is a staple of the lightweight game and really is above and beyond any other conflict games that could go into this category.

This game is really not any more difficult than Ticket to Ride and in my opinion is way more fun than Settlers of Catan. 

Light Game:  Cosmic Encounter

Cosmic Encounter is another light game that involves heavy player interaction and just a whole mess of fun.

Every player stars as a specific alien race and controls five home planets.  Their goal is to get foreign colonies on five of any of their opponents planets.  This involves a lot of player interraction and table talk, focusing around very straightforward mechanics.  The super fun part is each alien race.  In the base game and the one expansion I own there are aroudn 90 available aliens, each of which lets you do anything from making minor tweaks to rules to inventing completely new ones.   They're all unique and all quite fun.

This is also a game where multiple people can win and endings are almost always memorable.  One game I played with a group of friends involved one of the players getting a rather annoying alien power.  He proceeded to use this power in the most obnoxious ways possible.  As a result, the rest of the group decided to team up and win together - so we did!  It was a four person victory with one loser, ha!  Quite enjoyable.

Again, this one is quite simple and a great one to play with 4-6 players.

This game, like Small World, is not much tougher than a Dominiion or Settlers, so if that's your comfort zone, check this out!

Light-Medium Game:  Memoir 44

Ah, finally a game that actually involves war between humans on Earth and in some way simulates real events!  The company Days of Wonder is most known for its game Ticket to Ride, however second behind that is either Small World (shown above) or its World War 2 simulator Memoir 44.

Memoir 44 is one of the most accessible miniatures games there is.  Players take the side of either the Axis or the Allied forces and play out any one of a number of short scenario battles - i.e. the Landing at Omaha Beach.

Play is very straightforward and very simple - Days of Wonder really shines with accessibility in their games.  If you've never played any kind of war or conflict game that simulates real life events this is a very fun one to start out. 

This game plays just 2-players so bring a buddy who you want to learn it with and somebody at FND will be thrilled to teach you!

If you want to try an easy and short conflict simulation then this is absolutely the place to start.  Plus it doesn't take long so if you don't like it, then you still have 7 hours to play other games!

Medium-Heavy Game:  Twilight Struggle

It would not be a proper War Game day if we did not include a spot for Twilight Struggle.

I really got into the hobby of boardgaming in 2010 and since then not a day has passed where Twilight Struggle has not worn the crown of #1 game on Boardgamegeek.  Let me tell you, it is for good reason.  While my personal favorite game award will go to the one I discuss next, Twilight Struggle is top 3 for me.

It is a simiulation of the conflict of the Cold War between the United States of America and the United Soviet Socialist Republic.  It is produced by GMT Games which means the key word used to describe the components is 'functional.'  GMT doesn't specialize in fun action figures or flashy colors so don't expect that - at the same time, don't let the less-than-flashy chits make you think this game isn't loads of fun.

The mechanics of it are relatively easy - each player has a hand of cards (each of which is unique) and throughout the game they are strategically using those card to influence different countries in the world.  Because of the way scoring and the cards work, there is a deep sense of distrust, intrigue, and paranoia that develops.  I learned a good deal about various events of the Cold War from this game and the simulation is spot on. 

Knowing the cards in this game gives a HUGE advantage so it would be best to play this 2-player product with a fellow newbie.  Lucky for you, Brian and I are the only two people who are familiar with the game so you're almost guaranteed to be playing somebody on equal footing.  It's a bit heavier and will probably take 2-3 hours, but it could take less if somebody wins early.

Seriously.  If you consider yourself a gamer and you haven't played this, then getting in for a game should be at the top of your list.  It is that darned good. 

Medium-Heavy:  War of the Rings

Like I said previously, one of the unique opportunities of this event is the ability to learn and play some 2-player games that don't get much face time at normal FND events.  This is one of them.  It is also worth noting this is my favorite game of all time.

When it comes to games based on Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, you will hardly find a pickier person than myself.  I have great contempt for games that paste on the LotR theme (particularly the movies) just because it'll earn them some extra cap.  I played the Lord of the Rings: Deckbuilding Game recently and absolutely loathed it.  Terrible game. 

War of the Ring, however, is brilliant.  Tolkien's writings (it is based on the books, not the movies) shines through the entire.  It genuinely FEELS like Tolkien.  Even better it does a superb job of playing the "what if?" game.  In the game you can answer questions like "What if Gandalf hadn't fallen in Moria?"  "What if Aragorn stayed with the ring in Mordor?"  "What if Boromir left the fellowship immediately to aid the war in Gondor?"

The most recent game I played (we also used the expansion Lords of MIddle-Earth) began with Merry departing the fellowship early because of fervent pursuit from Nazguls.  This forced him to go back to Rivindell where he joined a batallion of Elves.  Meanwhile, the Balrog escaped Moria and threatened to burn Rivendell to the ground.  Merry fought and defeated the Balrog but gave his own life in the process.  It was the most epic moment in recent War of the Rings memory.  And it is moments like that why I absolutely LOVE this game.  It is currently the only 10/10 on my BGG collection.

Medium-Heavy:  Wilderness War

Wilderness War is another production by GMT.  It is the third of the two-player games we'll be showcasing at the Board-B-Que.  We don't necessarily expect all three to be played (though we hope they will be) but we we like to give options, particularly for people interested in learning some 2-player games.

Wilderness Wars is a simulation of the French-Indian War.  Like Twilight Struggle, it is a Card-Driven Game and features the manipulation of events and operation points to achieve victory.  To be honest, Wilderness is a recent purchase and I'm still only midway through digesting the rules, but I'll have them down by Monday in order to fully teach the game.

This is one of the highest rated War Games and is as popular as it is because of how accessible it is.  I personally picked it up because I find colonial history to be one of the most interesting and this puts you smack-dab in the center.  One side controls the French and the other the British, trying to win full control over the colonies of the New World. 

There are various scenarios so the time of this can be pretty decent with the shorter one only taking a couple of hours.

Heavy War Game:  A Distant Plain

Our final game that I want to feature on the blog is the heaviest we will do:  A Distant Plain, again by GTM Games.   I recent posted my first official game review on boardgamegeek and it was of this game so if you want the full write-up, check it out.

A Distant Plain is a four-player game and it is the newest installment of GMT's "COIN Series."  All three COIN games depict simulations of various Counterinsurgency struggles.  A Distant Plain details the 21st century conflict in Afghanistan.

The four sides of the conflict are the U.S./U.K. Coalition, the Afghan Government, the Taliban, and the Warlords.  The cool part about this game is that all four factions play totally asymmetrically, which is why I'm labeling this as heavy.  The general flow of the game is actually very simple, it's just keeping track of all of the options that is tough.  I have played this game and have a good understanding of it and am aiming to teach this to four people and just stand and help out.

I think this is VERY accessible to people who have played their share of medium games and am very much hoping to get a full game of this going - in fact I'd say that is the priority for Monday as far as these deeper war-games go.


Concusion:

The big thing here is to not be daunted by games a notch above where you're used to playing.  FND leaders will be there to teach ALL of these games.  I'm a teacher by profession and enjoy doing so and can all but guarantee you will come away understanding and enjoying them.  In particular do not let the big heavy ones scare you!!  They look VERY intimidating but I carefully selected ones that are accessible for a reason.

Ticket to Ride is a delightful game, but it's not the only one!

As I've mentioned before please RSVP via my email (lee.a.nicholas@gmail.com) or by commenting on this blog as we will be grilling up some munchies for all present (for FREE)!

Also if you have any questions or really want to sign up for a specific game, say so in the comments and you'll get a seat reserved at one of the games being played.

Looking forward to seeing you all there!!

Memorial Day Board-B-Que Full Details

Greetings Gamers!

Memorial Day is fast approaching and we at FND wanted to get out the full details for the Board-B-Que.

Where:  Bridge Church.  We will attempt to use the Cafe and front patio area for grilling.

When:  Monday, May 26th at 1:00 PM.  This is Memorial Day.  It will go to around 8:00 PM.

Who:  Any and all people! 

Food:  We will be providing free food and beverages for dinner around 5:30 PM.  We'll be grilling up burgers, dogs, and brats as part of this event.  Donations are welcome but not expected by any means.  They can go toward Friday Night Dice, not its leaders.

Purpose:  This is just an extra gaming day on a day people have off.  We're going to try to play conflict and war games but we'll have the usual library available and any games are welcome.  Conflict and war games can be a bit overwhelming at first so I encourage you to try some of them out even if it's a tad out of your comfort zone!  We will be including some very light and fun ones as well as some much heavier.  Listed below are some of the games we will be playing or have available to play.

Games:

Very Light/Introductary Games:  King of Tokyo, Small World, Hey That's My Fish!


Light Games:  Cosmic Encounter, Galaxy Trucker, 7 Wonders, Pandemic, Kingsburg

Medium-Heavy Games:  Defenders of the Realm, Alien Frontiers, Eclipse, Runewars, War of the Ring, Twilight Struggle, Twilight Imperium Third Edition

Actual War Games:  Paths of Glory, Wilderness Wars, A Distant Plain, Here I Stand

We at FND would really like to see this be a day where new games are learned.  In particular there are a number of 2-player games that we would love to teach that don't see much tabletime at normal FND events.

Sign Up!

First and foremost please RSVP if you are coming to this event, either in the comment section of this post or via email to Lee.A.Nicholas@gmail.com.  In addition, please let me know if you're are interested in playing any of the aforementioned games.  Some of them, particularly the heavier ones, take a good deal of set up and time can be saved and appropriated depending on interested.

If there any questions, comments, or concerns, post them in the comment section of this post!

Blessings!