11/21 Featured Games

Hi everybody!

Tomorrow (November 21st) FND will be hosting its regularly scheduled game night!
We will be featuring (per my beautiful wife's suggestion) games that involves ANIMALS!
What could be more fun, right?  I mean, look at those two cutiepies to the right.  Okay, so in most of the games you'll end up turning them into lambchops and bacon, but they're cute while they last, right?

Anyways, the games we'll be playing are a fleet of highly regarded games that haven't seen much table-time at FND yet so I'm quite excited.  Let's look at 'em!

Agricola/Caverna

Both of these games, Agircola and Caverna, are by very highly regarded designer Uwe Rosenburg.  In Agricola you're normal 14th century peasants trying to raise a farm.  In Caverna you're dwarf adventurers.... trying to raise a farm.  Caverna is essentially Agricola's sequal and they're quite similar.  Personally I like them both a great deal and I've heard good reasons for preferring either over the other.  Either way, these are some of the best games the hobby has to offer - both are in BGG's top 10 with Agricola taking the top spot for a spell a few years back (it has since been dethroned).

In these games you're trying to successfully raise a farm - it sounds boring, but it's quite fun as there are tons of things to do and never quite enough time to do them.  Most importantly for our theme's sake, part of this means raising a whole host of animals!  Doggies, sheepies, piggies, cowies, donkeyies.... Yeah, you end up eating them sometimes, but sometimes you don't!  Yay!

Evolution

Evolution is a brand new release by North Star Games and involves players guiding the evolution of various species and trying to come out with the most flourishing animals.  You develop different
traits, making hunters, herbivores, scavengers, and all sorts of different creatures.  North Star did a wonderful job with the components and I own the Kickstarter version so I have some different cards and fancier player board AND a fancy plastic brontosaurus so what more could you want?

Dungeon Petz

Dungeon Petz has been featured before but is yet to actually be played.  It is a rather amusingly themed game where players are taking control of a pet store.  The pet stores don't have puppies and kittens, however... They raise monsters and creatures used by the villains who run dungeons.  So you m
ay be raising a dragon or a gollum or any other kind of creature with more eyes than legs.  For being such a light-hearted theme it's actually a somewhat complex game but it is great fun.  I've really enjoyed it each time I've played and not just because there are cubes that represent animal poop, though admittedly that's part of it.

Takenoko

Takenoko is a very light game that is great for new gamers or people who want something not super heavy.  In it you are simply a bamboo farmer trying to please the Japanese Emperor.  There's a big painted panda trying to eat your bamboo.  He's cute.  He's panda-y.  Its nothing super complex but the art is absolutely gorgeous and it is a pretty fun little game.

Robinson Crusoe

This one somewhat loosely involves animals, but its an AMAZING game and we're still yet to play it at FND so I'm sticking it on here more out of stubborness than anything else.  Players are stranded on an island (where they have to eat animals and not be eaten by animals - see that loose connection to the theme?) where they must survive.  It's a coop
erative game that is brilliantly thematic and, again, one of the best board games in existance. 

I think that's all of the animal games we'll be bringing, but others are certainly welcome to bring some - particularly games like Dominant Species, Zooloretto, and more.

11/7 Featured Games

Hello everyone!

This past Friday we had a great time on Halloween playing some spooky themed games.  We played Dead of Winter, Fearful Floors, Werewolf, and Shadow Hunters - as well as some other not so spooky games like Splendor and The Resistance: Avalon.  We had a great time and are excited that this upcoming Friday on November 7 we will be having our next event.

What are the featured games of this upcoming session?  They are games based on Movies, TV shows and/or Books!

Now, a lot of games could fit this genre and most of them are bad.  Thankfully in the era of modern board games we have a plethora of great games that use popular licenses whereas not too long ago this would have been a series of "Star Wars Trivial Pursuit" and "Lord of the Rings Monopoly."  While I'm sure there are folks who love those kinds of games (and there's nothing wrong with that), this upcoming Friday we'll be playing some with a bit more substance.

Sooooo let's see what they are!

Robinson Crusoe: Adventure on the Cursed Island


I think we've featured this game at least two or three times thus far and are yet to actually get a game of it in. I'm hoping that changes as this is one of the best cooperatives games available.  It is based on the theme of surviving on a stranded island and features scenarios that are taken from Robinson Crusoe as well as the Swiss Family Robinson.  I haven't read either book so I'm not sure how similar the game is to the books, but the game itself is one of my favorites.  It is moderately complex and is a very challenging game - a group of newbies will probably lose their first game.  Seriously, if you haven't played this yet - you should.

War of the Ring/The Battle of Five Armies

I couldn't have this theme and not feature my favorite game and its new cousin.  War of the Ring has been out for some time and is based off of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (to be clear, the books - NOT the movies).  It is beautiful and very much captures the essence of those novels - which is a great deal of why I love it.  It is not a game that is looking to make a few extra bucks by slapping a picture of Orlando Bloom on the cover - it is made by people who love Tolkien's work and put it into game form.  Recently Ares Games released a new game in the same design called The Battle of Five Armies, which recreates the final conflict in The Hobbit.  I got this on release but haven't played it yet - the goal is to know it for Friday.  Battle of Five Armies is strictly 2-player and War of the Ring is best with 2 but can technically hold 4.  Again, I'd love to teach this to some folks!

A Game of Thrones: 2nd Edition

Obviously, this game is based on novels by George R.R. Martin in his A Song of Fire and Ice.  I have not read the books and know little about the HBO series so a lot of the theme as it relates to the book is lost on me, however this game is very highly regarded.  I just received it in a trade and haven't played it myself to give a genuine opinion, but it looks awesome - it is all about political maneuvering matched with strategic wits.  Back-stabbing? Check.  Armies? Check.  It has gorgeous components and the map looks great.  This should be a lot of fun, especially if we can get the full 6 people to play.

Battlestar Galactica

Again, we've featured this before at FND and I think it is probably one of our group's favorites - it's certainly one of mine.  Now in our collection we have both the Pegasus Expansion and the Exodus Expansion.  If we play this I am hoping we will do so with 5-6 players as well as a variant ending - whether it be using the New Caprica variant found in the Exodus expansion or the Ionian Nebula variant found in the exodus expansion.  If you haven't played it before, in my opinion this game is still the quintessential
semi-cooperative game.  Everyone's on a team - except the hidden Cylon traitor.  This game perfectly captures the spirit of the television show and couples it with very strong mechanics.

Star Wars: X-Wing

And finally we have our only one actually based off a specific movie and not a book that goes with it - Star Wars: X-Wing.  Now, in a few months we will probably have a specific Star Wars day when Star Wars: Imperial Assault and Star Wars: Armada get released because they both look amazing and I simply cannot resist the temptation to give Fantasy Flight more of my money.  X-Wing is currently out with many many expansions.  It's technically two players but one can play with more by splitting up ships in each fleet.  This is a tactical minis game where players control different ships from the Star Wars universe.  I have the base game (with an x-wing and two ties), the tie bomber, a-wing, and Millenium Falcon expansions.  This allows for a pretty fun mashing of ships and some cool scenarios.

Given the theme of the week it's not surprising to find a lot of "Amerithrash" styled games in the lineup.  If that's not your cup of tea we'll have the normal library out and available as well.

We at FND are hoping to see everyone out to play these awesome games!  Bring some friends and we'll see you Friday!

HALLOWEEN FND!

Hello friends of FND!

This upcoming Friday - Halloween! - we will be having our special evening of Halloween gaming!

Costumes are encouraged (but not required)!  There will be a prize for the person with the best costume.  There will be snacks and pop - feel free to bring some or donate a couple of bucks (but absolutely do not feel obligated to do so).  Most importantly, we will be playing a lot of spooky themed games!!

Below are some of the creepy games that we will be playing!

Ultimate Werewolf

It wouldn't be a Halloween FND without playing some Werewolf.  We'll try to coordinate this so that everyone gets to play and so it's at a time before people start leaving - we'd like this to be a good sized group of people playing.  Werewolf is a classic social deduction game where some players are werewolves, some are villagers.  The werewolves want to eat the villagers, the villagers want to lynch the werewolves.  Great game.  Great fun.

Rampage

Rampage is a mostly silly game but it fits the theme reasonably well because it has awesome monsters!  In Rampage (now known as Terror of Meeple City because they apparently originally broke copyright laws with the title Rampage) players are monsters destroying a city.  You win by eating the most 'meeples' and destroying the most stuff. It is a dexterity game similar(ish) to Jenga but with way more fun involved.

Zombicide

Okay so originally I was going to feature as our big Zombie game of the night but then another game came out that is simply way better which I'll get to in a moment.  Nonetheless, Zombicide is the best straight-up 'let's go roll some dice and kill zombies' game.  I actually don't know how to play it yet but I'll try and learn it quickly before tonight in case anybody really wants to learn it.  It's exactly what you expect- shotguns, dice rolling, and TONS of plastic zombies trying to eat your brains.

Betrayal at House on the Hill

This is probably the most 'horror' filled game I know of.  Other games like Eldritch/Arkham Horror would probably be close (though we don't have them) but this one is straight up cheesy horror film in a box.  If you're a fan of Will Wheaton's Tabletop series on Youtube, go check out his video of Betrayal as it is quite amusing.  In this game everyone takes the roll of a person exploring a haunted house - it starts out purely cooperative until a random event triggers the actual scenario, at which point one player turns on the rest trying to kill them - perhaps he's trying to send them all to hell or he just wants to eat them limb by limb.  Either way it is entertaining fun.  Especially on Halloween.  This one will definitely be happening.

Dead of Winter: A Crossroads Game

We've actually played this a few times over the past two sessions but I can't not feature it on horror night.  Dead of Winter came out this past month and is absolutely (in my opinion at least) the best game of the year.  It has zombies in it but it's a game that isn't just about zombies!  There's social deduction (sometimes there's a traitor), it's cooperative, it's theme is greatly developed in the mechanics... This game is great.  Everyone who has played it has very much enjoyed it.  Again, this one I suspect will definitely be happening.

If you have any other horror game (Elritch Horror, Fury of Dracula, etc.) feel free to bring them!  Normally I'm pretty chill about non-featured games being played, but tonight in particularly we're going to try and keep it Halloween-esque with these games of horror and death and fun!

Hope to see everyone out there!!

10/17 Featured Games and 10/3 Recap

Greeting Friends of FND!

This past Friday we had a great session!  A dozen people showed up to play dice games and dice games we did play!

To start, Beth, Drew, John, Laura, and Amy played a game of Dead of Winter.  Dead of Winter is a new release by Plaid Hat Games that has been all the rage in the gaming community.  These five players greatly enjoyed it and all of them ended up winning except for John.  DoW is a semi-cooperative game where everyone is trying to achieve a common goal in addition to their individual - the common goal was achieved, however poor John didn't achieve his individual goal.

While this was happening Tish taught Formula-De to a whole slow of people - David, Dana, David (2), and Dan (wow I didn't realize how many D's were at that table - it must have been extremely confusing).  From what I saw they were having a good time racing and Tish ended up winning.

After these were finished a group played Caverna while waiting and another played Splendor.  Once all of the games concluded we got in a couple of games of Werewolf!  It was a great night and we're excited for the upcoming one!

Feature Games - BGG Top 15

This next Friday (10/17) we will be featuring games straight off Boardgamegeek's top 15.  If you're not familiar with boardgamegeek.com, it is pretty much the only board gaming website.  It has a very intricate metric for ranking games - based off of the average vote and some how combined with the number of votes.  In other words if one person ranks a game as 10/10  and that's the only vote, it's not #1.  Generally speaking one shouldn't just look at the ranking system and assume that the #1 game on their is the best game for all scenarios, however, the games in the top 15 didn't get there by mistake - they're superb.

Not only that, but a lot of them by happenstance have not been played much in our gaming group... In fact, only three of them have.  Now nearly all of the games in BGG's top 15 are 'gamers' games.'  In other words, they're not exactly ones you'd teach people who really love Scrabble, so of course we'll still have some lighter fare.  We also don't own (or GCOM doesn't own) all of the games in the top 15 so we'll really only be featuring about a dozen of them.

This is a really good chance for you to learn some of these if you haven't played them before as they're all worth your while - plus you can have them taught to you rather than slaving over a rulebook (especially with some of the more complex ones).

With that said, in ascending order from 15-1, here are the ridiculous amount of games we'll be featuring:

#15 - War of the Ring

Ironically #15 is my personal favorite game.  War of the Ring is a 2 player game (it says 2-4, but it lies - it's two player) that recounts the epic struggles of the Lord of the Rings.  It is absolutely beautiful and it truly grasps the essence of Tolkien's work.  As a huge Tolkien fan this game is the best I've ever played.  I absolutely love it.  It's pretty heavy and again, is really just for two players.  It's pretty good to learn with a fellow noob so if two people wanna try it, this is a great chance.

#14 - Brass

Unfortunately we don't own Brass, nor does GCOM.  It involves trains and stuff....

#13 - Robinson Crusoe: Adventure on the Cursed Island

This is the highest rated cooperative game on the geek and with good reason - it absolutely oozes theme.  This is my second favorite co-op and it is also one of my top 10 favorite games.  It's a challenge - you and your fellow players are survivors of a shipwreck and you have to achieve some type of scenario in addition to simply surviving.  This game can be somewhat unforgiving but its still great fun.

#12 - Le Havre

Le Havre is the first of three games by Uwe Rosenburg on the top 15.  They're all somewhat similar.  This one involves you constructing buildings at a shipping wharf and exchanging goods to earn the most points.  It's arguably the least stressful of his games as generally there are a lot of options available.  It's the one I know least of his games but I'll still be able to teach it if anyone is interested!

#11 - Castles of Burgundy

This lovely game by Stefan Feld is actually my wife's #1 favorite game.  In it everyone is a lord over an estate in the 13th century and you are trying to optimize your turns to have the wealthiest manor.  It's a pretty pasted-on theme but the gameplay is very elegant (I hate myself a bit for saying that, but it's true) .  It's a great game and isn't super complex once you learn to differentiated the three nearly identical shades of green that are used for different pieces in the game.  Also in German its called Die Burgen von Burgund which is just super fun to say.

#10 - Power Grid

Ironically I had to learn this classic game this week so I could teach it next Friday despite how well loved it is.  This is truly one of the modern classics of boardgaming and if you haven't played it you really ought to.  It is at its heart an auction game, but there is a lot more going on than that.  Players are manipulating pieces on a map, resources, turn order, and efficient actions all to end up with the most money.  It's a bit heady at first and may bog down a bit with a bunch of noobies, but once you play a round or two it makes perfect sense.

#9 - Mage Knight

Mage Knight has been in our collection for a while and doesn't hit the table often - mostly because it can run very long if people are prone to  analysis paralysis.  I can safely say, however, that no gam
e in my collection is quite like Mage Knight.  It is a very thinky game based around deck-building and adventuring.  Everyone starts with nearly identical decks of spells and uses them to move about a board, attacking, recruiting, pillaging, and learning.  The goal is to end the game with the most 'fame' (basically experience points).  The artwork is beautiful as well.

#8 - Eclipse

Eclipse was the most popular game ever for about 6 months in 2012 or 2011 (I forget) and then it kind of lost its buzz.  It was very highly rated as a game seamlessly combining more European mechanics like resource management and more American mechanics like combat and dice rolling.  We played the mess out of this thing when it first game out and we don't play it as much now, but it's still a great 4X space game that really should be tried if you haven't.   We do have the Rise of the Ancients expansion with this.

#7 - Caverna

This is my favorite of the three Uwe games on the list and also the most recent to come out.  Caverna is essentially Agricola 2.0 (which we'll get to shortly).  In it you are a Dwarf Cavefarmer trying to make your way in the world.  Through a series of farming, livestock-herding, mining, building, and adventuring you want to be the person with the most points.  There are an absolutely absurd amount of actions available to you and many many avenues to victory.  There are are also more wooden pieces in this box than any other game I own - I could basically go bowling with this thing it weighs so much.  This is one of my absolute favorite games and is well worth your time.

#6 - Android: Netrunner

Unfortunately we don't own Android.  It's an LCG (Living Card Game) that involves some cyber-punk cardplay.   That's all I know.

#5 -  Puerto Rico

My best guess is that if Puerto Rico came out today, it might not make the top 15 - it'd still easily be in the top 50 because it's a great game, but it's position in the top 5 of BGG (and for some time it was #1) is almost more of a homage to it's status as a game.  This game came out quite some time ago and was a smash hit.  It is really one of the quintessential Euro games. It is all about shopping, resource management, creating infrastructure, etc.  It's a very good game despite having somewhat simple components.

#4 - Agricola

The final and most important Uwe game is Agricola.  Agricola has also enjoyed some time as the #1 game on BGG and for good reason - it's really freaking good.  It is a pretty cut-throat worker placement game where players take the roles of farmers in the 14th century.  Life wasn't easy back then.  Your goal is to have the most productive farm by the end of the game.  Each game is different as players are dealt a hand of occupation cards and improvement cards that can be played throughout the game.  Despite being somewhat stressful, it is a superb game and one of the best the hobby as to offer.

#3 - Terra Mystica

I actually haven't played Terra Mystica yet nor do I own it.  It was hugely popular in 2012 but we haven't got around to it.  This is the last game we don't' own or have on loan from GCOM - 12/15 isn't bad!

#2 - Through the Ages: The Story of Civilization

This game by Vlaada Chvatil (also the designer of Mage Knight) is essentially Sid Meyer's Civ III in a box.  We've featured it before at FND and it is truly a great game.  Personally I prefer playing online (at boardgaming-online.com) as the game can be a bit fidly in person, but nonetheless it is very fun.  Like in Civ III, each player takes control of a civilization and works their way from antiquity to modern times, trying to earn the most culture by the end of the game.  You focus on infrastructure, population, happiness, military might, technology, and all of the other great things that make civilization games fun.

#1 - Twilight Struggle

The #1 game on BGG since I've really been into the hobby has been Twilight Struggle.  It is produced by GMT and is one of my personal favorite games.  This two-player war game (well... Kind of a war game) has players recreating the Cold War conflict between the USA and the USSR.  It has intrigue, deception, and tension out the wazoo.  It really feels like the Cold War as your playing it.  The historical theme is vivid and very educational.  I'm very anxious to teach this to two new players at FND as it really is best to learn with somebody else whose learning.  The game is driven by a deck of cards and knowing what's coming gives you a huge advantage - thus learning with somebody as clueless as yourself is really the way to go.  Seriously, if you haven't played this and you play games let me teach you it this next Friday.

Conclusion

Well that's the absurd number of games we're featuring this week!  Obviously we aren't going to play them all, but hopefully those are the ones we'll be choosing from!!  I very much enjoy teaching games and these are some of the best ones the hobby has to offer so hopefully folks who haven't played them will be anxious to learn.  Especially since we have so many potential games, it'd be lovely if people put comments below or emailed me requests - that way we avoid the Canadian stand-off where nobody wants to decide what to play on behalf of everybody else.

Invite friends and family!  We look forward to seeing you next Friday!!

10/3 Featured Games and 9/22 Recap

Hello FNDers!

Two Fridays ago we had our most recent session and had a strong crowd out.  We had fifteen people come out - which has been right around our average over the late summer and early fall meetings.  We're hoping to see that increase as we push forward!

At our last session we played several games with the focus being on some new releases.  To start, a large group of people played Fluxx, which was won by a newcomer named Rich.  During this, I taught Splendor to Brian and Annmarie (Beth also played) and ended up winning.  Later in the evening we played Splendor twice more with Laura and Dana and Laura won both games.  I take that to mean I taught it well ;-)

Finally, a game of Ca$h and Gun$ was played which was won by Beth - largely due to the entire table teaming up on me the first three rounds!  Lords of Waterdeep was also played and was won by Amy.

We had a great time and we expect the next session to be just as fun.

The featured games for next week will be Dice Games!

Everyone likes getting to chuck some dice so let's see what we'll be playing:

King of Tokyo:

I don't think we could have a 'dice' day and not mention King of Tokyo.  It's basically Yahtzee with mega monsters.  The game's easy - you roll dice, you beat up your friends, you yell 'rahr,' and you call it a day.  It's pretty much all you need in a 30 minute dice game.

Castles of Burgundy

On the exact opposite end of the spectrum is Castles of Burgundy, by designer Stephan Feld.  Where King of Tokyo is based around pure amusement, Castles of Burgundy is based around very fluid mechanics.  It is the definition of a Euro game - string together efficient actions and come out on top with the most points.  Each turn you roll dice to determine what actions are available to you and then you utilize them in the best way possible.

Despite sounding a bit dry, this game is superb.  It's currently #11 on BGG for good reason.  Also, fun fact, it is my wife's #1 favorite game.  (We have the English version, I just think the name of the German version is fun to say).



Alien Frontiers

Alien Frontiers has been featured before and we're gonna add it on here simply because of how well it fits the theme.  Like Castles, you roll dice to determine what actions are actually available to you and then try to make the most of it.  In this case the game is set in space involves an area of control mechanism on a galactic colony.  It actually is a pretty tense game as you battle for control of the different areas of land and is quite fun.

Kingsburg

Kingsburg is actually pretty similar to Castles of Burgundy or Alien Frontiers in the sense that, again, you are rolling dice to determine what actions are available to you.  Despite the seemingly identical mechanic, all three actually play quite differently - it's just hard to describe them more uniquely without being too long winded.  In this one you are using the dice to influence various advisers, gaining resources and using them to build buildings in your medieval fantasy town.  At the end of each year the town will be attacked by some sort of fantasy creature and so you need to be sure to have enough defenses to survive the onslaught.  This is a splendid game and has been enjoyed every time it's hit the table.

Dead of Winter: A Crossroads Game

And finally the game I am personally most excited about - Dead of Winter.  This game just came out - as in I preordered it and it just arrived yesterday.  In it each player takes on the roll of a survivor in a colony during the zombie Apocalypse.  Sounds pretty typical, right?  Trust me - I'm not a big fan of games that just revolve around zombies.  This one's different.  There are zombies in the game but that's the the whole point.  The game itself is a semi-cooperative survival game.  There is a objective decided upon at the beginning of the game and everybody has a certain number of rounds to complete the objective.  Additionally, everybody is given a secret personal objective they they must complete.  If the main objective is completed but your personal is not, you lose.  The catch?  It's possible (but not guaranteed) that a player's personal objective is actually to sabotage the rest of the group.

Players can be exiled at which point they receive a new objective - which could be anything from 'reconciliation' to 'retribution.'  The game is very much driven by the deception and tenseness of a possible traitor, but along with this is constant dice rolling.  Every turn you roll dice to determine your actions and, to go along with most of the things you do, you roll the ever dreaded exposure dice, which can instantly kill off some of your characters.  This is quite possibly going to be the most popular game of the year and this will be a great chance for you to try it out!

So come on out to Friday Night Dice this upcoming Friday and play these and many more games with us!  Bring some friends!\

We hope to see you there!

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!

9/5 Featured Games

Greetings Gamers!

After last Friday's FND session we have a very fast turn around for the next one!  We had about 15 people show up for our bonus '5th Friday of the month' session that coincided with Labor Day and we had a great time.  We played Lords of Waterdeep, Letters From Whitechapel, and Werewolf, amongst other things. 

Our next session is going to be on this upcoming Friday, September 5th, at 6:30 PM.  As always we look forward to having our regulars back to game with us as well as any number of newcomers.

In particular we think this will be an exciting Friday Night Dice as the theme of the games is Humor!

Now, an important distinction should be made.  I was contemplating making it "Party Game" week but that would limit us.  Blessedly there are a number of games by modern designers that are more contemplative than simply "Party Games" but still involve a good deal of lightness and humor!  Some of these will certainly be party games, but there will be a few strategy games with extra amusing themes or deliberate attempts at humor.

So, to the featured games.....

Say Anything!

Say Anything is a lot like Apples to Apples, but instead of having a hand of cards from which to choose, you have a small whiteboard and are given the ability to 'say anything.'  One person chooses a question  ("What would my dream job be? What am I most afraid of?") and everyone writes down the answer they think will most likely please the player choosing the question.  After everyone has submitted their answers players 'bet' on which answer they think will be chosen.  The player reveals his secretly chosen answer and points are distributed.  It's a lot of fun!

Telestrations

Telestrations is a very popular game and has hit the table a fair amount at Friday Night Dice - laregely in part because it is the hardest I have ever laughed playing board games, and I've played a lot of them!  This game combines the telphone game and pictionary in a hysterical way.  Each player gets a word and writes it down on their flipbook, passing it clockwise.  The next player draws that original word, and again passes the flipbook.  The subsequent player writes what they think has been drawn.  The next player draws that, then the next player guesses that... It results in the complete annihilation of whatever the original word was.  At the end all of the players 'show and tell' their flipbook to the ensuing laughter.  We have the Party Edition and so this can play up to 12 people.  I expect us to get a full 12-player game going.

Faces

This is an old game that friends of ours from college will be bringing.  It is out of print and so this is a nice chance to play it.  The game is a lot like Apples to Apples in that players are playing cards that they think most appropriately match a description, however this time they are playing amusing pictures of old timey people and animals.  It is quite amusing and is a very light and easy party game.


Smash Up!

This is a good gateway game built around deck-building.  Each player has two decks they mash together, each representing a different fantasy race.  You might be Ninja Dinosaurs, or Cthulu Pirates, or Zombie Bears.  Either way it is pretty zaney and results in a lot of amusing situations.  It is definitely more of a strategy game than a party game, but is very light-hearted.

Tales of the Arabian Nights

This game is almost more of an activity than a game, but it is still great fun and possibly the most unique game I own.  In it, players take control of different figures from the classic book from which the game gets its name - Sinbad, Aladin, etc..   The game itself is essentially a choose-your-own-adventure game in which players receive a small scenario and decide how to respond.  Perhaps an angry beggar approaches you - do you punch him or give him money?  Perhaps you give him money and he turns out to be an enchantress who ropes you into a devilish plot where punhing him would have spared your life.  It's pretty zaney and a fun time.

Bang!

Bang is a deception/card game in which players get various roles.  One is the sheriff (which is public).  Some are deputies whose job is to protect the sheriff. Some are bandits whose job is to kill the sheriff.  One is a renegade whose goal is to be the last person alive.  The theme is that of a Spaghetti Western and throughout the game you play cards that fit this theme well.

Dungeon Petz

This is the most complicated game on this list.  This is a pretty meaty euro-game despite the seemingly cute theme.  Each player is the owner of a pet store - however these aren't ordinary pet stores, they sell monsters for dungeon lords and raise them for curious exhibitions.  Each monster is unique and as you raise them and train them for various purposes you grow quite attached.  It is a very fun game, albeit thinky, and has a quirky and amusing theme.

Ultimate Werewolf

Okay so we've featured Werewolf three sessions in a row now but each time we've had people leave giving us a group of only 8 people.  This isn't terrible as that's still a fun number, but the gang at FND wants to play a bigger game of Werewolf.  Given that most of these games are shorter we are going to play them until 8:00 PM, at which point we are going to do a massive group game of Werewolf - hopefully with 15-20 people.  So be prepared for a delightful time!

That is all of the games!  Bring friends, bring families!  This is a great one for newbies to game as we're featuring a lot of lighter ones.

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