Let's have some fun!

by Angie

Games are fun. Sometime in life you have to do things that are not inherently so fun. Here’s an idea: let’s take an aspect of our lives that we HAVE to do, but aren’t excited about and see if we can make it into a game. I do this with my kids all the time; we turn tasks like gathering dirty clothes, picking up toys, and getting dressed into fun little games that get them excited, motivated, or just playful about these activities as opposed to uncooperative, sullen, or grumpy. Games do that... they engage us, reward us, and generally make things more fun.

I was insprired to write about this when I recently came across an explanation of an online game that was designed specifically to make real-world tasks more appealing. Chore Wars is an interesting-looking multiplayer chore management game.  We haven't played it yet, but from what I can tell it's a game world in which you take on specific real life household tasks to gain experience and level up your in-game character. This can be used to make undesirable jobs exciting and motivate yourself (or kids, or whoever) to actually clear out the cobwebs in the corner of the ceiling…literally. You can pretend you are facing off against a giant spider hoard while swinging the broom, and then log the exp afterwards. Or if you are more of the competitive type, you can show up your roommate by gaining more exp and gold than her! Or offer prizes to motivate a spouse to accomplish the items on the honey-do list that have been hanging out for waaaay too long. The idea is to have fun, receive recogntion for the hard work you do, and reward yourself for a job well done.

We’re getting ready to launch a Chore Wars account for our household because.. why not? We have to clean up after our whirlwind children (and ourselves!), so why not add elements of motivation, reward, and fun to the equation? After we try it out we'll let you know what we think... and if Chore Wars sounds fun, give it a try and tell us how it worked (or didn't work) for you! If Chore Wars doesn't get you excited, there are lots of other ways you can incorporate playing a game into your daily routine. It doesn’t have to involve complicated rules or computer programs or bits to be effective. Fun, fun, fun is the main point here.

So here’s my challenge to you… come up with (or discover) a game you can play with your family, friends, coworkers, roommates, or by yourself that makes some aspect of your life a little more enjoyable, and post what you did in the comments to inspire others! Let’s get a big group-think on and see if we can’t find small ways (or big ones) to turn those frowns upside down!

The good ol' RPG days...

by Angie
My first Dungeon Master

I was first introduced to Dungeons and Dragons as an imaginative 5 (6 maybe?) year old by my ultra cool Uncle Rob. I think he was babysitting my cousin and I and I guess decided it would be fun to take us on an adventure. We were enraptured. We had the attention of a grown-up, fistfuls of dice, and got to use our imaginations. Win! Our games were really just interactive sotrytelling, and complex rules were not a part of it, but that is what made it so amazing for our young little minds. For years after we begged and begged Uncle Rob to play D&D with us at every opportunity, always wanting to "pick up where we left off". As we grew, our experiences deepened. More rules, more devious dungeons, cooler treasures. We got caught in an endless paradox due to a misuse of a Wand of Wishing. We went to "dinner" at Castle Ravenloft and met with Count Straud and his minions. We explored, we mapped out vast dungeons, we fought, we laughed, and we cried. We begged and pleaded and bargained for more more more.

The making of a lifelong gamer

And then came the books! Rob started giving me my own D&D books. "Old" hand-me-downs as new editions came out were amazing and new to me. I would read and read and imagine all the worlds we'd "seen", and all the worlds still out there to explore. I would ponder over the maps and treasures and dream of grand adventures. A few years later, I had the good fortune to find myself living in the same town as my "favortie DM EVER" and he let me read all his books. Even the new ones! We started a little routine where we would walk down to the bookstore together and pick up the new Gazeteers as they came out. Gazeteers were supplements for the world of Greyhawk that were coming out in the late 80's-early 90's, and each one would be dedicated to a specific culture and region of that world. I remember excitedly looking at maps and pictures and talking about the history and culture of the various peoples of the world. The Elves of Alfhiem, The Grand Duchy of Karamekios, The Five Shires, Northern Reaches, Principalities of Glantri, The Dwarves of Rockhome... and many more. I think there were maybe 14 in all? Anyhow, this world came alive on the pages, and each new Gazeteer would bring hours of enjoyment and oodles of inspiration just in the reading of it. The thing I particularly liked about them was the focus on world-building, maps, and culture. Each one attempted to bring to light a unique region and it's people, and this felt like I was peeking into a living, vibrant world. In my opinion, they succeeded in a way in which very few since have.

Bring it back!

What I would like to see brought back into modern gaming is the wonder of exploring a new world through the pages of an ongoing world supplement. Give me rich histories, detailed cultures, more maps than I know what to do with, cities full of interesting and unique characters. Each Gazeteer was like a piece of the world, and that sense of discovery and intrigue of each new one was one of the prime influences on the development of my own worlds and style as I grew up and learned to "play by the rules". It seems like to me that many game supplements now are focused so heavily on the rules and character builds and new player options and less on revealing a world bit by bit. The campaign settings I've read over the past 10 years or so seem to try to give so much and come in with such little depth. I'm sure some people love that, they have all thier own ideas of how to populate the world and it's denizens and don't want detailed in-depth cultures. For me though, I love it when a game product is focused on one thing; some great examples I can think of are Freeport, City of Adventure and Sharn, City of Towers, but those aren't ongoing series' that round out a world, those are supplements focused on exploring a single city. Althought they do that well, what I'd really like to see brought back into modern roleplaying games is an ongoing detailed, rich world that I can look forward to the next installment of. Something I could spend hours looking over maps and discussing histories of fantastic peoples. I really loved that experience of discovering a world with my Uncle Rob, (thanks for all the memories!) and can't wait to pass along those experiences to my own children. Although I've since taught many younger relatives how to play D&D and various off-shoots, I'm really looking forward to exploring new worlds with my own kids, and would love to have a series as detailed and diverse as the Gazeteers were 'back in the day' to discover with them.

This post is part of an ongoing series of shared topics between our blog and Cool Factor 5, so pop on over and see what roleplaying game feature Julian would like to see brought back into games. And as always, feel free to leave a comment, share your experiences, ask questions, or just chat us up. We love you readers, share your thoughts with us!!!

Biggest Gaming Disappointment

Tonight I was working on a challenge post. We had decided that our topic was to be our biggest gaming disappointments and I had grabbed a boardgame off the shelf that I felt fit the tab. My wife, wise soul that she is, said, "That game? I thought you would have picked 4th Edition D&D." And the wheels started turning, and the game whisked back to the shelf. So, why would Dungeons and dragon 4th Edition be my biggest gaming disappointment? Let me tell you...

Flashback: I pick up the 3rd Edition D&D Player's Handbook. I had been on a bit of a hiatus from roleplaying games after moving to Oregon to finish college. I played 2nd Edition extensively in high school, and after moving away for college, I played sporadically when it came up. I even started a short-lived but fun campaign as the Dungeon Master. I decided to pop into my FLGS (Friendly Local Game Store) and check this out. I was not disappointed.

When I opened that book, I felt I had in my hands the ability to create any type of character I could imagine. Where earlier editions had fairly rigid archetypes, the customizability of character creation in 3rd Ed. was excellent. Skills, feats, generous multiclassing... I loved it. In short order, I found the university's gaming club, where I met other roleplayers... including Julian, the guy at Cool Factor 5 you hear about so much. And, indirectly, I also met my wife through the club via a listserve... to (surprise, surprise!) play D&D 3E. But I digress. Back to 3rd Edition....

Another gem of D&D 3rd Edition was the Open Gaming License (OGL). The basic system of D&D, called the D20 system, was open source. This means that third party publishers could create adventures, supplements, campaign worlds, etc., based on this system. And they did. Lots. This really opened the field for a lot of innovation, and great product lines rose from this. It was a great thing to experience. And it lasted for several years. And then 4th Edition D&D was announced.

At first, I was pretty thrilled by the announcement. I was pretty happy with the direction of the product line thus far, and was excited to see where they would take it. After all, they'd really made it shine, they're just going to do more of the same, right? Wrong.

I started being skeptical when Wizards of the Coast started giving previews. I just didn't feel behind what they were doing, but I still kept reservedly optimistic.But each subsequent preview made it really seem that something was not going right, in my opinion. And then it was released. I'll admit, I went to my FLGS to pick it up at midnight. Yup, I'm a geek and not ashamed to admit it!

So, I'm not going to review 4th Ed. I'll just say that I was unimpressed by character creation, and the fact that every character class pretty much does the same thing with slightly different window dressing. It wasn't ever, "What's YOUR cool power?", it was always "What's your 3d6 + ability modifier power?". Basically, they're all the same. At least it seems like that to me. Feats are also stripped of all flavor. And the archetypes and pretty rigid, backsliding to 2nd Edition. Among other things. All in all, it seems like a pen-and-paper MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game), probably by intention.

Another point of note was the Gaming System License (GSL) for 4th Edition. Whereas the OGL was very permissive and encouraged third parties, the GSL did everything it could to say that Wizard of the Coast could terminate your rights to publish 4th Edition-compatible material at their whim. It is very restrictive, though there are quite a few third party publishers who do use it. I'm not impressed with it, though. And, as I understand, the GSL itself exists only because a lot of people pushed Hasbro (Wizards' parent company) really hard.

So... yeah. This post isn't really about bashing 4th edition, Wizards of the Coast or Hasbro. I just wanted to convey my disappointment about the system, as compared with my previous experiences. I have played 4th Edition a bit, and enjoyed it; it's just not what I want to spend my small amount of roleplaying time playing. I've chosen to look to the Pathfinder line by Paizo Publishing as my RPG of  preference. To put credit where credit is due, Pathfinder is based on the 3rd edition OGL. I recommend checking this system out if you haven't already.

Do you have a big gaming disappointment? Misery loves company! Share it with us! And also, check out what Julian has to say at Cool Factor 5!

Game Changer: Heavy Rain (Spoiler Free)

Introducing Game Changers! This is a new segment we’re trying out in which we talk about games that have changed the way we think about games. The idea is to highlight some innovative, thought-provoking, idea-generating, interest-renewing, fascinating, or unique games that have in some way had a big impact for us.  

How far would YOU go...?

Heavy Rain is a story-driven video game for the PlayStation 3 that has you taking on the roles of four characters that are trying to investigate a serial killer. Just thinking about this game makes my heart race a little even now, and it’s been almost a year since I’ve played it. The game has a gripping emotional storyline that exemplifies the tagline “How far would you go to save someone you love?” It’s a resonant theme, and one that challenged me to really consider my own strength of will. Would I be strong enough to do what I’m asking my characters to? Could I save him?

Heavy Rain is not for the faint of heart, it pushes you to think past your typical video game choices and really get into the lives of these characters. No matter what you do there is a story and an ending, not a “game over” screen. Think about that for a minute… if a character dies the story goes on without them, and you know that it’s your choices and actions that decided their fate. If they ALL die, there is still an ending. It’s an awesome feat of interactive storytelling to make such a thing possible, and it’s heavy. I found myself wanting to try to make things go differently sometimes, but it was the type of regrets you have in real life rather than those gamey moments where you just want to back up to your last save. The story in Heavy Rain bought me into its world enough to live with my mistakes. It was a solid 10-12 hours of gameplay that I don’t think I will ever forget, and after 1000’s of hours of entirely forgettable games this “short” game really delivered on experience, impact, and insight. 

This game changed my opinion about what makes a character feel real and important. I always thought that player created characters were an essential component to an immersive role-playing experience, but the characters in Heavy Rain feel more personal and three-dimensional to me than any characters I’ve made over the years in video game worlds. I got to step into the lives of those people, make the hard choices, and live with the consequences of my actions.

Heavy Rain changed the way I look at how games can deliver an experience and engage the player in a story while creating a sense of ownership in the characters.  It is not the perfect game, and it’s certainly not for everyone, but all I can remember when I think back on it is that overwhelming feeling of being "wowed". For me, playing Heavy Rain was like all the best parts of a good book, an impactful movie, and a deep role-playing game experience wrapped up in one tidy package.

Your Turn!

What games have changed how you think about gaming? Have an opinion or insight about this post you'd like to share? We'd love to hear from you, and we think we've made commenting a little easier... so let's talk it up folks!



Cooperative Board Games

Us Versus... Them? It?

Cooperative board games are an interesting genre. The basic idea in a nutshell is that everyone works together to defeat "the board". Usually this amounts to a series of increasing challenges that are randomly thrown at you in an attempt to simulate artificial intelligence. The team of players figures out a way to overcome these challenges and either easily wins or is swamped with another wave of even bigger problems. This formula often amounts to some fun tension, provided you have the right crowd of folks, and that some players aren't way more familiar with the game than others. The problems arise when you have an over-bearing player (or players) who wants to tell everyone exactly what to do, or someone who has figured out "the solution" (ie the optimal way to play in order to beat the board) and either intentionally or inadvertently takes away the mystery and challenge of figuring it all out. Or when the game just sucks, which happens sometimes. As you've probably guessed by now, this isn't exactly my favorite type of game to play. I'm not a hater, but I'm not a fangirl either. I'll play a cooperative game with friends here and there and have a good time with it, and after thinking it through and trying to decide on a favortie I've realized I think the genre has come a long way and is heading in a good direction.

Rising Stars

There are a few cooperative games that I think do a better job of creating fun and interesting problems than others. Some of the genre favorites such as Pandemic really don't hit that sweet spot for me of a game I want to rush back and play again and again. I enjoy Arkham Horror for it's theme, depth, character options, and interesting story, but it can be such a long (and sometimes tedious) endeavor that I don't play it very often. There are 3 cooperative games that really stand out to me as heading in "the right direction"; not perfect games, but something I'd be interested in playing and seeing more of in the future.

Betrayal at House on the Hill is a fun, story-driven, cooperative horror game in which you play explorers adventuring around in an old haunted house. You all stumble around discovering rooms, finding equipment, and stirring up trouble until suddenly "the haunt" begins and one of the players becomes the traitor. The traitor then gets some special rules and everyone else continues to work together to do whatever heroic action is required by the scenario. This game usually takes about 45 minutes to an hour, is different every time, and has a fun level of interaction and intrigue. The traitor mechanic usually allows for a thinking opponent which keeps things challenging and unpredictable in a way that most cooperative AI's can't. I have many fond memories of this game, and while it was long out of print (and very expensive) there is a new edition out and it looks like it's only $20 on Amazon right now! That would have easily made my top 5 games under $25 if I had seen it. (It might be a holiday sale, so don't quote me if you're reading this on a day other than the one I'm writing it on)

Ghost Stories is one of my favorite cooperative board games right now, and I think it has some staying power. This game sets up the players as taoist monks working to exorcise the ghosts plaguing thier villiage. With the help of the villagers, the monks fight off the hoards and hoards of vicious ghosts until a final showdown with the incarnation of Wu-Fen. This game provides a good level of tension and strategy, and has players working together to solve problems and use special powers in a way that makes it feel like teamwork and individual strategy are both important, while remaining accessible to family gamers. I think the only downfall of this game is that sometime you just get buried in ghosts you can't defeat. such is life as a Taoist monk I guess. Or maybe that's the whole "random heaping of problems" complaint I have of games in this genre. Overall though, this game is a strong showing and one i would highly recommned trying out.

Finally, the "winner" for the day, Space Alert. I have not gotten to play this game as much as I would like to, despite it's relatively short playing time (20-30 minutes per game, but you'll never play just once!). It's complicated. It's hard to learn. It's HARD. The main reason I haven't played it much is because I feel like I would need to get a team of friends together, TRAIN them on how to play through a series of drills (provided in the book of course!), and then we would need to learn to work together and strategize in order to be successful at this game. And that's exactly the reason it's the winner. It manages to take the idea of a cooperative game a rachet everything up a notch. It's problem solving and teamwork and stress and awesome and it makes my brain hurt. It all happens so fast and more and more keeps happening that you have to react to and all your careful plans fall apart if someone isn't in the right spot at the right time to power up the shield or refill the battery from the reactor core or do whatever thing that is needed to make the plan all work. I've stood there time and time again punching a button to shoot a laser at an oncoming enemy ship only to discover my teammate who was supposed to be powering my gun station instead sent the power to the shield. Or got lost. D'oh. Who was supposed to be taking care of these battlebots? Aren't you out in a fighter drone? Who is on shields? Batteries!?! Miscommunication! Stress! Tension! Teamwork! Blowing stuff up in space! Yes, this is the direction I would like to see cooperative games go in; games that make us think and actually work together and learn to be a team while having a blast. Literally. Haha.

In retrospect...

I guess I like cooperative games more than I thought. Anyone wanna team up?


Challenge Link:

Check out Cool Factor 5 for more thoughts on cooperative games from one of the only crew members to ever survive a Space Alert mission with me.

Top 5 Games Under $25

Drum roll please!

Here ya go, a list of my top 5 games that cost under $25. Well, at least the top 5 I can think of right now. 

Disclaimer: Subject to change based on my whims and memory capacity, and in no particular order. :)

1. Mmmmm.... brains! And flower power! Plants vs. Zombies!

You live in a house and zombies want to eat your brains. Use sunshine to grow various species of plants to defend yourself. Unlock new plants as you go and discover fun challenges along the way such as lawn bowling. All while holding off the teeming hordes of zombies from getting through your lawn, your pool, and your roof. Yay!

This game is available for everything from the computer to the xbox360 to the Nintendo DS to the iPhone (my personal favorite) and ranging in price from $2.99 for the iPhone to $20(ish) for console versions. I love tapping all over the screen, grabbing sunshine, building up my plant army, collecting coins, and watching those pesky zombies eat the dust. Plants Vs. Zombies is a fresh, fun take on tower defense style games, and the art, humor, and replayability of the game makes it well worth checking out.


2. THIS is how we roll....





Roll Through the Agesis one of the Gryphon Games line of "Bookshelf Games". There are some awesome components in this game, especially for the $20-25 price point! We're talking wooden peg boards, wooden dice, and a scoring pad so thick I doubt we'll ever run out.
 















This game plays somewhat like Yahtzee, with a civilization building theme to it. It's definitely more complex, with lots of different options on how to improve your civilization. There are some good choices to be made, and a number of different strategies to try out. As with any dice game, there is an element of luck that can sway things and keep you on your toes even when you have a solid grasp on the basics. We've had a lot of fun playing this game, and it's a favorite for pick up and go matches at coffee houses or for a light, quick-playing strategy fix.

As an added bonus, there's a free expansion online here, and you can print out updated score sheets that include all the new stuff. The expansion adds some really interesting strategy and a little more depth than the base game, and keeps the whole package fresh and challenging.

This game is also available as an iPhone app, and we've played it on my phone when we are lounging around, on trips, and even out camping. The solitaire version is fun enough to justify the app purchase, but it's also pretty awesome to just pull it out and pass around when you don't have your game shelf handy :)

3. RPG, stick-style! "An Adventurer is You!"

If you haven't checked out Kingdom of Loathing, and you like rpg's and/or rpg-based humor, then you definitely should give it a spin. Kingdom of Loathing is a web-based game, and best of all it's FREE to play. It takes a little getting into to see some of the best humor, but this game will probably make you laugh out loud at least twice. You only get a limited number of turns per day, and whenever I play it I always want to go back for more. I've been playing it off and on for years, and often lately when I see Randy sitting at the computer laughing it's because of this game.

4. The inner flame burns the brightest

Burning Wheel RPG is an incredible value. For $25 you get the game system book and a character guide full of rich options for a deep fantasy world. Many RPG systems will cost you $30-40 just for a player's guide, but this set includes enough to get you playing for a good long time. My tiny disclaimer is that we haven't actually played a campaign with this system yet, but it's been a very inspiring read and we've had a lot of fun discussing the system, making characters, and implementing elements into other games we play. I fully intend to run or play a Burning Wheel campaign at some point, because I love the emphasis on story, fresh take on character creation, and intricate systems for things such as social debates and elaborate combat.

5. The simplest thing





A deck of cards is an amazing value because it comes with an infinite way to play. You probably already know a dozen games, and so do your friends. You can use them to play solitaire games by yourself, gamble to your hearts content with poker and blackjack, or engage in elaborate games that take a lifetime to master, such as Bridge. In between is my favorite card realm, social games such as 99, Oh Hell, Hearts, and Spades that most often amounts to an awesome evening of fun gameplay. I grew up playing cards with my family, and love pulling out a deck from time to time and saying "What are we playing tonight?". I recommend checking out a nice set of Copag or KEM plastic playing cards if you are looking for a nice gift or want to invest in a set of cards that will last forever. My mom and grandma both have double-deck sets of these cards and playing with them is top-notch. The next time I buy a deck of cards it will definitely be one of these sets. They will run you between $15-20 bucks, which may seem expensive for "just cards", but they don't wear out, warp, bend, and eventually sag  like other cards do with heavy wear. Plus they just feel so NICE to shuffle. Ahh...

Challenge Link:

Check out another take on this topic at Cool Factor 5, and be sure to tell us what games YOU love for under $25. We know commenting on this blog can be a bit of a pain, but we'd love to hear from you and appreciate the effort!

Tweaking the System: Magic: The Gathering, Campaign-style

Hello again! Today's topic is the next in the series of challenges we are doing with our friend who does the Cool Factor 5 blog. Make sure that after you read this, you check him out. The link follows the post. Today's topic is a way we play a game that varies from the way the rules state.



Magic: The Gathering. Every gamer you know has an opinion on it. Love it or hate, it's probably the most profitable game out there and has a strong following that should ensure its persistence for years to come. But my first impression of the game wasn't great.

A skeptical start

I first encountered Magic as a teenager. A friend had a couple decks and we played a few games. It was interesting, the art was fun, but it really didn't capture my imagination. A few years later when I was managing a coffee shop, a couple fellow employees decided to try it out. There was a comic shop down the hall and we decided to each grab a starter deck, and then only expand when we all decided to pick up a booster to keep it fair. By this time, I had already written the game off as a "rich kid wins" game, but was willing to play around to pass an hour every now and then on slow nights. It was okay... I'm not sure we played more than a few times before getting bored.

So... the early experiences weren't stellar, and I made it a point to avoid the game. The people I knew who played spent a lot of cash on it, and that never seemed like a great idea. And so a decade passed.

A new beginning

Recently, my wife got hooked on the XBox 360 game Magic: Duels of the Planeswalkers. One thing led to another and pretty soon she harassed me into picking up a couple premade decks and play. Grumbling, I eventually conceded and tried it out. She and I have played fairly regularly for the last year now. This past year, we decided that since we mostly just played each other, we could come up with an ongoing game with some persistent elements that carried over from game to game... sort of a campaign.


Campaigning, Planeswalker-style!

For those of you unfamiliar with Magic, the premise is that you are planeswalking wizards fighting for supremacy. You win by either attacking your opponent and depleting his hit points (the basic game starts you with 20) or depleting their deck (referred to as your spellbook). Decks are usually 60 cards and assembled with cards that (ideally) synergize with one another. Our variant had us starting out as novice planeswalkers. We started with 10 hit points, a hand size of 5 (instead of 7) and had a pool of 90 random cards to assemble our decks. As we played, we both gained random cards and had the option to spend cards to increase hand size, hit point total and gain other benefits that extended beyond the present match. The mechanic we used was that we spent rare cards to gain these benefits. I'm not going to exhaustively go through the exact mechanical details, but we loved this format. In particular, it helped me learn more about the art of building decks.


Anyway... I hope this encourages you to look at the games you currently own and try something new. Angie and I had a blast with this, and I expect we may try a new campaign at some point in the future. What are some variants and house rules you have tried or would like to try for games you like? Tell us! And visit Cool Factor 5 to see what he's trying. And to give credit where credit is due, that guy gave us some ideas for how to structure our campaign. Thanks, Julian!