Gaming in Pearland

Melissa and I are fortunate to have a baby who behaves well enough, typically, for us to host a game day. We hosted a short day a few weekends back for just a couple of friends, but are going for our first “official” game day on Saturday. The Halloween Game Bonanza will be kicking off at 6:00 pm on Saturday and will feature a number of Halloween related games. I am refreshing my mind on the rules for Betrayal at House on the Hill, Zombies!!, Gloom, Doom: The Boardgame, Army of Darkness the Card Game, and maybe some others (not sure yet).

I used Onfolio, my bookmark/web manager, to create a page of information, links and rules for the games to be played. I am hoping that this idea of a themed night, with themed games will be popular. I am hoping that this Saturday turns into a monthly gathering to play games.

I thought I would focus this post on themes, and some of the ideas I would like to see for game nights (or in some cases game days). These themes are built from games I own or will likely buy pretty soon.

Video game in a box
My circle of friends at work has played video games together for a long time. I think we started with Age of Empires and have progressed through a number of RTS and FPS games, most recently playing HALO. One of the advantages of working in the IT department, and controlling the phone switch, is that we have always been able to setup a conference bridge and all chat while we played. Sort of like a WAN party (as opposed to a LAN party). Anyway…

When I first started talking up board games with the same group, I talked about Doom and Age of Mythology the board game versions. People always say..”They made a board game…from a video game?” What a great theme for people who really enjoy video games, and what a great way to get people un-glued from there PC’s and XBOX’s. My game collection currently has Doom: The Boardgame & Age of Mythology. I am considering purchasing Railroad Tycoon & World of Warcraft when they come out. That would be four different games, and I think would make an interesting afternoon of game play. Would work best for 4 people.

Mega Miniatures
I really like miniatures games. I started what I consider my time as a hobby gamer playing Warhammer. I don’t play much Warhammer any more, but i still love miniatures. The recent influx of really nice miniatures based board games has me very excited. War of the Ring seems to be the big player in the arena, and its really a tie between Fantasy Flight Games and Eagle Games for who puts out the best “Mega Miniatures” games. These games often have a war game type of play to them, and to that end are often a bit longer to complete. I think the games of this type also play well only with a particular type of gamer. I think an interesting day of gaming might be made up of a game of Conquest of the Empire, War of the Ring, Memoir 44, and Risk 2210AD. Age of Mythology could also work well here, as could Doom…but we have already assigned them to a day. Lots of little bits to move around the table. A couple of these games work best with 2…and perhaps this game day would be best left for a time when only 2 are available. Helps to keep the turns moving. I am certain I will be purchasing the new FFG title Descent, which is a fantasy version of Doom.

CHEAP!
Ah Cheapass games. Killing Dr. Lucky, throwing paper dice, and passing a brain. There is really quite a variety of games from Cheapass, some of which are interesting enough to play. The whole concept of Cheapass games appeals to me since I have a big plastic container filled with little bits from various games (I actually have all of the pieces to the original Conquest of the Empire) that work well with the Cheapass method. I think a fun day could be had playing The Big Idea, US Patent #1, Unexploded Cow, Lightspeed, Diceland, and perhaps a few other light cards games. If the time and interest was there I think that Kill Dr. Lucky can be fun. These games, with the exception of Dr. Lucky, tend to be pretty quick. I think you can play most in around an hour, and much faster for Lightspeed and Diceland.

If you have not seen Diceland, and many have not, it is like a miniatures game crossed with a dexterity game using paper dice. You assemble the dice before play. Each die is 8 sided, with each side representing a different strength of the character the dice represents. During the game you throw the dice onto the play surface trying to get a clear shot at your opponents dice. Each die has different special abilities which allow you to attack, throw extra dice, or perform other actions. The game is pretty simple to get the hang of, and is quite a bit of fun. I think the dexterity aspect lends to the over all feel of the game as you try to get your dice on the table in just the right spot. There are a couple of different Diceland sets. The original is a fanatasy set where your dice represent individual people, there are 2 sets of space ships, and a set based on the Steve Jackson game Orge. Its cheap, obviously, and a fun little game to pick up. Storage of the assembled dice is a bit of a pain however.

It really would be great fun to put together a few themed game days and see how they go. I will be sure to post here if they happen, and I will be certain to post our thoughts on this weeks game day.

What are your favorite games in these three themes?