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!!

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!

8/1 Featured Games

Hello Gamers!

This upcoming Friday we at FND will be hosting another game session.  It will begin at the normal time of 6:30 PM at Bridge Church.  The full details are on the right hand side of the blog in the info section.

First I want to put my BGG library link on this page as I will not be present at this upcoming FND.  If anybody wants to play a game we own then please let me know and I'll be sure to leave it at the church for ya'll.  I plan on dropping off a handful of them but if there's any specific requests please be sure to let me know.

http://boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/Nicholee

If you're newer to the gaming hobby and haven't visited Boardgamegeek yet spend some time there and check it out.  It's the premier gaming website and is definitely worth making an account.

Anyways, this Friday the theme of the featured games will be Dungeon Crawls.  Dungeon Crawl is a colloquial term for games that generally have players playing as various heroes or characters in some type of personal setting.  Usually this involves a dungeon as in fantasy games (think Skyrim or Dungeons and Dragons) but sometimes it can be others scenarios - surviving Zombies, that type of thing.  We have a handful of these games in our members' personal libraries.

Dungeons and Dragons: Castle Ravenloft

Castle Ravenloft is one of three D&D Board games to be released by Wizards of the Coast, each of which can basically be combined to play large scenarios.  Each players is a traditional fantasy archetype - mage, warrior, rogue - and the team groups together to complete the selected scenario.  Each scenario is different and unique, which is pretty neat.  Throughout the game you will be drawing even cards, fighting monsters, and possibly teaming up to defeat a boss.  You also work as a team making this a cooperative game.

Descent: Journeys in the Dark 2nd Edition

Descent is one of the best dungeon crawls to be released.  The follow-up second edition is even better than the original - creating a very streamlined and fluid gaming experience.  It plays best as a campaign but each scenario from the campaigns (I own a few expansions so there are no less than forty) can be played as an individual session.  Like Castle Ravenloft everybody (except one players) takes control of a unique fantasy archetype, but in Descent they get a subsequent subclass making everybody more individualized.  One player plays as the Overlord, the evil mastermind behind the bad guys the heroes are trying to destroy.  It is a terrifically fun game and one that won't disappoint new players.

Lords of Waterdeep

Okay this game is actually not a dungeon crawl but is rather a Euro-styled worker placement game (pretty much the exact opposite of dungeon games).  However it is based in the D&D universe so it fits really nicely with this theme and is a very popular and easy-to-learn game.  Each players takes control of one of the controlling factions in a fantasy city.  Essentially that players is trying to gain the most power in the city by hiring various adventurers to go complete different quests (the kinds of quest you'd expect in Skyrim).  It's a very straightforward game and is, like I've already stated, quite excellent.

In addition to these games, as I said before we'll have others available as well as any from my personal library that have been requested.

Please invite your friends out to FND this upcoming Friday!!!  We look forward to seeing you all!

7/18 Recap

Greetings Friends of FND!

This most recent session on July 18th was another very successful gaming session!

We had fourteen people present, one of which was new.  Lee, Beth, Brian, Annmarie, Amy, Drew, Helen, Dave, Dana, David, John, Amber, Heather, and Tim (our new guy) were all present!  Fourteen is actually the lowest we've had in a few months but if that was our average (it's not) it would still be one of the highest (possibly the highest) averages of all GCOM locations.  Technically speaking it is our average attendance, but that's including the first few sessions where there were only a handful of us getting it started.  Our more accurate average is right around 16.

The theme of the week was Civilization building games and we definitely played some.

To start while waiting for newcomers there were two games going.  One was a friendly game of Uno (I'm guessing anyone reading this knows how to play Uno).  The other was Smash Up.  The big thing to come out of that was that Brian, who owns the game, finally suffered his first defeat - at the hands of Helen.

After this we segued into two groups of games.  The first table was quite large and played 7 Wonders.  Only about half of the group knew the game so Beth taught everybody.  Apparently she did a good job because after winning the first, Dana won the next two games and she was one of the newbies.  They played three straight games of 7 Wonders so apparently they enjoyed it!

While this was going on I (Lee N.) taught Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization to Tim, Drew, and Heather.  This is definitely the most complex game we've done at FND to this point and these three learned it quite impressively. We ended up calling it at the end of the Age II with me on top, but for it being the first game while I have played it a handful of times, it was pretty competitive.  They seemed to get it very well and everyone had a good time.

They finished 7 Wonders with a little time left so they finished the night with Telestrations while we finished up Through the Ages.  This was actually the smallest quantity of games in recent memory at FND but we still got a solid five different games in.

The next session is August 1 (this upcoming Friday) and the featured games should be posted within the next 24 hours.  I will be out of town for this upcoming Friday but am very okay with leaving some of my games at the church for others to use.  Below is a link to my BGG Collection.  If there's anything you really want to play Friday please leave a comment and I'll be sure to have it at the church.

http://boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/Nicholee

Many 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!!!

6/13 Featured Games with Prizes and Food!

Greetings!

As mentioned in the recap of our previous session, Friday Night Dice continues to grow on a weekly (or biweekly) basis.  We had a new record of eighteen last Friday including five newcomers!  This is very exciting for us at FND and we want to make the trend continue.  No, that's not true.  The past few weeks the record has been broken by increments of one.  We don't just want nineteen people to show up on Friday - we want at least thirty.  That's where you come in!

If you are reading this and have never come out to FND, what are you waiting for??  We had a couple drive over an hour last time to come out and game with us.  We gamed hard for the full five hours of the session so even if you're late or have to leave early, don't let that stop you from coming out.  This next session will be an exceptional time to come out as we will have prizes and food!  Seriously, what more could you want?

So if you've never been, get out here for your first time!  If you have been, come back - and invite literally every single person you know that would be even remotely interested in hanging out and playing some games.  Use the key words food and prizes.  That does wonders for the 5th graders I teach and I've found adults aren't too different in that regard.

Food!

Normally we encourage folk to eat dinner before-hand, but for this upcoming session FND is going to treat ya'll to some pizza.  We'll order a few sheet pizzas to arrive at 7:00 PM (late dinner I know but that way we can get some games started and eat while we play) as well as have some chips and pop available.  If you are willing to bring pop or chips or salad or brownies or anything along those lines please email me or drop a line in the comments.  We will also have a small jar for donations to FND, though that is 100% optional and in no way expected of you.  All we ask is you use napkins so as not to get any of the games greasy (most of which are personal property) .

Prizes!

This upcoming FND is going to be cooperative game night!   As such, we think it appropriate that we have a team-based competition for the prizes.

Of all of the featured games, the easiest to teach, learn, and play is Hanabi.  Hanabi is a cooperative game for 2-5 players and is purely a card game.  The key thing to Hanabi is you cannot look at your own hand of cards.  Rather, you are holding them facing everyone else at the table.  Through deduction and cleverly timed hints from your team you all have to play cards in the correct order by suits.  It is very fun, very easy, yet still quite challenging.  This is a game that everybody can play.  I would teach this to any non-gamer (and plan to)!

At the end of the game you get points for how many cards you managed to get into play with 25 being a perfect game.  Now I haven't owned the game for long but our high score is 21 and that was with people who really knew what they were doing so I don't expect anyone to tie at a perfect 25.  However, whichever team gets the highest score will each be given a copy of Hanabi to take home.  If two teams tie with a high score we'll go to which of them got more complete sets.  If they're still tied we'll flip a coin or fight to the death, one of the two.

We will let you guys pick your 'teams' for this so feel free to plan that before hand or just find a group there - however we will be trying to make sure everyone is in groups of 4 to make it an even playing field.  If we need to three is okay but we're only buying four copies of Hanabi so no teams of five.  Everyone will only be allowed to play one game of Hanabi (at least in terms of competing for the prizes - if you want to play again after for fun, great)!

Just a head's up, to help facilitate the number of game of Hanabi that will inevitably occur, some of the 'prizes' will be opened and used for the event but then be given to their new owner.

Hanabi itself only takes ~30 minutes to play so let's go to the other featured games for cooperative night!

FEATURED GAMES - COOPERATIVE VERSION!
As already stated we are hoping for huge numbers this upcoming session and so we are going to prepare for it with more featured games than normal.  As stated earlier in the post, this 6/13 session will be Cooperative Game night.  Cooperative games are ones in which everybody plays on the same team and win or lose as a group.   We have a slew of them to choose from ranging from very easy to some pretty meaty ones.  Here are a look at the co-ops that will be available.  Unlike last session with scheduled games, we will be have all of these games out for open use the entire night.  We will still bring some competitive games, but only to support us on the off-chance that we don't have enough games for the people present.  We'd really like to see co-ops played this week.  We will also have multiple copies of some of the games available but if you own any of these please bring them as well!

If you see a game you'd really like to try and want to reserve a spot, say so in the comments and we'll make sure you get a seat at one of them.

Hanabi (very easy)

Hanabi has already been described in the 'prize' section of this post, so please check there.  But again, this is a ridiculously simple game that everyone should play.

Forbidden Island (very easy)

Forbidden Island is a cooperative game where you are stuck on an island that is slowly sinking.  Essentially you are drawing and collecting sets of cards to be used to collect artifacts which will eventually allow you to return to your helicopter and escape.  At the same time you are using your resources and time to prevent the different sections of the island from sinking too soon lest you loose the game.  This game is very similar to another featured game, Pandemic, but is much easier. This is very much a light, family-esque game, so if you're newish to gaming, this is an excellent one to start with that is also very fun for veteran gamers.

Elder Sign (very easy - easy)

Edler Sign is another very simple game  that features a heavy dice rolling mechanic.  It is set in the Lovecraft universe (of which I know nothing about) and involves you preventing big bad cthlulu things from invading the world.  It plays kind of like King of Tokyo in the sense that you're rolling and rerolling dice.  You move through a mansion, solve different room tiles, and ultimately try to complete the objective before time expires and the monsters murder humanity.  No pressure!  Despite the somewhat dark theme, this is one of the easiest co-ops and if that theme sounds like it's up your alley, this may be a good game to try.


Pandemic (easy)

Pandemic stands in a class of its own in cooperative games - at least to an extent.  It is consistently ranked as one of the best cooperatives while also being very accessible.  It is one of the most popular cooperative games out right now if not the most popular.  A lot of other games borrow from Pandemic's mechanics, including Forbidden Island (mentioned previously and has the same designer) and Defenders of the Realm (soon to be mentioned).

In Pandemic each player takes a different 'role' (scientist, dispatcher, medic) and are tasked with the mission of defending the world from a deadly outbreak.  By moving around the board (a map of the world) you are trying to prevent the four different diseases from consuming the planet while at the same collecting sets of cards to submit as 'cures' for the various diseases.  If too many cubes are on the board, the players lose.  If the players draw deck runs out, they lose.  If there are too many outbreaks, they lose.  The players only w
in by curing all four diseases.

We will have multiple copies of Pandemic, including one copy of the expansion On the Brink.  This is a great game for people of any level of gaming and if you haven't tried it definitely give it a go.

Defenders of the Realm (easy-medium)

As mentioned, Defenders of the Realm is very similar to Pandemic in a lot of ways, though in many ways it is quite different.  Defenders is a game set in a fantasy world with some truly nice artwork and graphic design.  In it you take the role of various heroes (paladins, dwarfs, ranger, sorcerer, etc.) and are trying to defend the land and, most importantly, Monarch City, from the onslaught of four different evil races - orcs, demons, undead, and dragons, each of which is supported by a general.

To win the game you must defeat all four generals, done by attacking them with sets of card collection.  If you played Pandemic, learning the rules of Defenders is very simple as they play similarly, though Defenders has a much higher luck element as to fight the monsters you have to roll dice.  Because of the extra bit of luck this game has some truly exciting moments.  I remember vividly times where the entire game hinged on one dice roll and the genuine shouts of excitement that occurred when the dice went our way.

Ghost Stories (easy-medium)

Ghost Stories is different from the first three games mentioned to a good degree.  In it, people take control of Taoist monks that are trying to protect the city from an evil sorcerer guy and his ghost minions as he tries to haunt the village.  It is essentially a game where you are surviving onslaughts of bad guys while trying to defeat the big boss.  There are, like in many co-ops, several ways to lose and only one way to win.

Ghost Stories, though I have not played it personally yet, is well reviewed and should provide some entertaining moments but without lasting terribly long.

Battlestar Galactica (Medium)

Battlestar Galactica is a cooperative game that is (obviously) based on the famous television series.  While this game is very much enjoyable by people who are not fans of the show, people who are fans will get an even deeper level of enjoyment as they recognize themes, characters, and moments from the show.

Essentially the point of the game is to have the Galactica travel a set distance from the starting point in space and make a final jump.  Of course, throughout the game the Cylons are trying to prevent that from happening.  If you're not familiar with the show, Cylons are the bad guys - robots that want to kill all of the humans.  Further, as in the show, some of them look just like humans.  In fact, some of them are the players.   Before the game everyone is secretly given a card to show their allegiance.  Most will be human, but some will in fact be Cylons secretly trying to thwart the humans' plans.  Even more exciting is that midway through the game allegiance cards will again be handed out, meaning its possible for somebody that was human at the start to realize they were a Cylon (again, this is very much like the show).

This element of being mostly cooperative is what Battlestar Galactica thrives on and it very much captures the paranoia that permeates the show.  You will find yourself analyzing every players move, particularly if they do something that is somewhat less than optimal - because obviously he must be a Cylon!!

I am VERY excited to teach this one so whether or not you watch the show, try to hop in on this!

Robins Crusoe: Adventure on the Cursed Island (Medium)

And finally the one I am most excited for: Robinson Crusoe.  This game was one of the most highly rated games of 2013 and in many people's opinion the best game of 2013.  We just played this for the first time this past week and it was one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences I have ever had and I own a lot of games and have played a lot more.  This is easily in my top 10, probably top 5 games of all time and I've played well over a hundred games at this point.  I. Love. This. Game.

It is set in the world of Robinson Crusoe and comes with six different (very different - feels like you're playing a different game different) scenarios.  The ones we tried was essentially 'try to survive and get rescued.'  The mechanics of the game are worker placement and the general flow of the game is pretty straightforward.  How you win or lose is very easy.  If any of your team dies, you lose.  If you get to the end of the game rounds and haven't completed the scenario objective, you lose.  You win by not dying and completing the objective in the time limit.  The rest of the game though is very meaty with a lot of moving parts.  It's a bit overwhelming at first but after a round it all makes sense.

This is in large part because everything is thematic.  Throughout the game you talk like you're actually on the island.  "I will go scavenge some food from us over on that side of the island while you two work on building a better roof for our shelter because we know the rainy seasons coming."  It is amazing.  I will be sorely disappointed if we don't a game of this in and fully plan on teaching it to four players and just helping out so everyone gets the rules.  If you like games and haven't played this one, sign up now because it is one you don't want to miss.

Conclusion

This is going to be an awesome session for Friday Night Dice.  Lots of great games and hopefully even more people than we've ever seen.  Bring some friends!  Bring yourself!