Katie's Game Goal Update

By Katie

My goal for the year is to play 100 different games and I played half of a half of my goal in a half of a half of a year... Which is a quarter on both of them. So I'm a quarter of the way done! That feels good to me because that means I've played at least a whole bunch of games from trying to get my goal. Goals are good because sometimes you get them and then you feel really really proud of yourself.





I wrote down all the games and so the circled numbers are how much I rate the game. My ratings is how much I like the games, it's just kinda random depending on my mood. Like sometimes I feel like its small or great or weird, you know, so then I give it a number to explain how I feel. It's makes sense to me.

 Thoughts about the first 25 games of the year

       1.    Mastermind Towers: I think mastermind is a really cool game and I
           liked it.

2.     Wits and Wagers Family: I think that its cool because my whole family played it and it has family in the name which is like us, my family.

3.     Connect 4: Connect 4 is a cool game because you try to match 4 in a row and that’s the name. I play this with my friends.

4.     Pictureka Matchureka: I think this is neat because it has 5 games with the same cards, and all the games use them.

5.     Quack Quack: This is kinda complicated because you have to find the right colors. I like complicated games.

6.     Formula De: What I don’t like about this game is it isn’t complicated enough. I like it anyway but ya know, not at least so much.

7.     Uno: I played Uno with my grandma and grandpa and I liked it and I like them.

8.     Frank’s Zoo: I just don’t have anything to say about this game. I don’t remember what I was going to say about it when this came up. I’m easy about forgetting things.

9.     Guess Who Extra: I play this a lot with my friends. I like the funny faces and the aliens and monster boards best, also the robots.

      10.  Polterdice: That one, well… it was… fun I guess,,, but it started getting sort of too easy and kind of boring and apparently we stopped playing it.

      11. Enchanted Forest: I like this because you try to find the right things under the trees. I have to remember things, like if there’s a star and I don’t need it but the next card might be the star so I have to remember where they are.

      12.  Forbidden Island: I really like this one. I keep playing it because its complicated and that makes it interesting. I like working together and helping people, you gotta help each other out of the island because it’s sinking.

13.  Stone Age: I played this with my dad and another time with my whole family. It is a little long, I like long games too but sometimes I really have to quit before its finished.

14.  Squint: Squint isn’t complicated, only I like other things about it. One of them is I like making pictures, and I don’t remember the rest but I know there’s other things I liked.

15.  Froggie Boogie: I like to play this and so does my brother, he likes the frogs. I think my dad likes to play this sort of but my mom yes because she loves games.

16. Crazy 8’s: Nothing to say about this.

17.  Zingo: I like Zingo because I just think its cool!

18.  Amazing Labyrinth: You try to get through the labyrinth and grab the last card out of the pile and get that before anybody else gets their last card. Funny and crazy.

19.  Go Fish: It is mediocre. I don’t know what that means, I just said it. It’s a good thing I think.

20. Castaways of Deadman’s Bay: This is a good game because there is a Jack like my little brother and Kate which my name is Katie but my real name is Kathryn but my parents sometimes call me Kate so that’s really cool.

21.  Memoir ‘44: Super! I’m secretly known as Flash, and also on my team is Super Tulip (which is a new super hero) and Batman and Ironman. We all fight to save people. Memoir 44 is cool because it has fighting in it and you have little army guys and you have to knock the whole other team out to get medals. I’m smart, and you have to be smart to play this game.

22.  Battleship: I think it’s cool and there’s nothing else to say.

      23.  Tsuro: This game is kind of miniature. I want that to mean crazy and a little frustrating in a good way.

      24.  Trans-America: That was trainy. There’s a map of the states.

      25.  Rock-Paper-Scissors: I can’t think fast enough and decide so I have to turn around of close my eyes when we’re counting. It takes me a while to choose what I want to do. I like to play it with my mom, sometimes my dad, but not Jack because he doesn’t know how!

Whew! It was like the longest conversation in the world to talk about that many games. My mom wrote down everything I said and it was kind of like writing the biggest blog post ever. I hope you enjoyed reading it and I hope you like games because that’s what our blog is all about. I love love love love games. Every kind of game that’s complicated, sign me up!

I was going to give my mom a high five for finishing this but my hands were full so I thought about using my nose, against her hand... but then I figured that would hurt so now I'm cracking up! Hahahahaha! Silly me. Bye-bye everybody!



The Workshop: Princess of the Hill!

by Randy

I've decided that I'm going to go in a different direction for this post: I'm going to make a game. Now, it won't be finished at the end of the post, of course. But I expect that this will be a series of posts, hopefully culminating in a playable game! The idea is to share the process that I'm using and get feedback. I have not yet completed a game, so here's to hoping this is my first!

So, the concept: a hex-based tactical combat/area control game. The idea is to bank as many points as you can, doing this by maintaining control of the central hex on the board. Other players (at least one more, probably more) are trying to do the same. You will play cards to do everything in the game, I'm thinking. The game play will be focused on getting your token on the space and staying there, and moving others' pieces around the board (or at least off the space).

I even have a theme: Princess of the Hill! A knock-down, drag-out brawl  between the kingdom's elite offspring. I'll mock up some more pictures soon... that helps me get into the mindset more. I haven't decided whether they're going to be kids or adults.  I feel good about the theme and believe a fun theme is going to help get the creative juices flowing.

So here we go....

Hexes. My idea was a central hex with three or four concentric rings. I think this would be a good representation of our hill. Player tokens will be hexes, as well. As a matter of fact, I think that facing will be relevant, so front vs. back will have a game effect. The idea is that the player controlling the central hex will be in a more precarious place.

Combat. Combat should be simple and fun. Perhaps a rock-paper-scissors style resolution, similar to Yomi. My moves will be Push, Drag or Strike. So, Push beats Strike beats Drag beats Push. We'll get back to resolving same vs. same later... or maybe it just means discarding and choosing again. We'll see. Additionally, there will be special moves. I'm thinking Feint, Suckerpunch, Charge. Maybe also values for attack types. I'm thinking successful Push or Drags will move the defender farther or closer to the Attacker, respectively, and Strike will do damage to hand cards, as in discarding as "damage", but without player elimination. Since the combat is the central part of this game, we're going need to make this tight and refined.

Movement is a necessity, too. I'm considering paying for movement, or perhaps for movement beyond the standard allotment. Payment would be in hand cards (not special movement cards or something), if that gets figured in. I like the idea of being able to rush, but that this would result in you being a little weakened from the effort. With this added, and damage being applied to hand cards, this makes the ebb and flow of the hand size directly correlate to energy of the character.

Speaking of hand size, players need to get cards. My thought on this is that while on the top, you draw one per turn. Each successive ring adds one to your draw value. Without cards, it's tougher to fight and hold onto the prize. Also adds the consideration of stepping down to "rest" and regain a hand.

Scoring... we need a way to win. My thought is that if you end your turn on the middle hex, you can bank one hand card as a victory point. On the middle hex, you're only drawing one per round so you won't be holding it too long, assuming other players are attacking.

The full idea is this: I want to make a game with a fun theme (check!). I want it to be tactical, with somewhat of a resource-management element. I also what it, despite its theme, to be playable as a serious area-control game with serious tactical considerations. I'm of the opinion that my idea here is workable, and that I can bang this into working game. That being said, anyone have any advice to offer? I'm hoping to make this a work-in-progress type thing and spread it over several blog posts. I'll continue to work on this and share my ideas. That way, we can all learn about game design together!

Gaming Goals for 2011

Resolutions and a glimpse at the future...

'Tis the season for reflection, introspection, and looking ahead. In the spirit of the season, we decided to post our gaming goals and hopes for the upcoming year, and outline some games we're hoping to play in the next year. We thought it might give you all some insight into what we are thinking about, and also might help us to have something to be "accountable" to and refer back to as the year progresses. Without further ado, here's our goals for 2011!

Katie's Goals:

1. Play harder and harder games, and learn new ones all the time. Like games that are even harder than Settlers of Catan.

2. Learn to read while I’m playing games, especially hard ones. To play the toughest games you have to be able to read, so I’m practicing

3. Play 100 different games with my family.

Games I’m excited to try out this year:

Monsters Menace America, Mississippi Queen, RoboRally, Runebound

 Jack's Goals:

1. Dice!

2. Cards!

3. Un-hunh! Yep.

4. Robot!

Randy's Goals:

Ah, 2011... what will you hold for me? I don't have a lot of gaming hopes, but I think that they're pretty significant. First, 2010 unfortunately had very few roleplaying sessions for me. One hope for 2011 is to play in either a Pathfinder or D&D 3.5 campaign. Yup, I've been missing it. Pathfinder's Advanced Player's Guide has whetted my appetite for that. Additionally, I would like to in either Burning Wheel, Savage Worlds, Mouse Guard, d20 Modern or Shadowrun campaign. Something different. As for board games, I'm making my goal helping Katie fulfil her goal. 100 different games in a year? That girl has ambition! I'm looking forward to that.

 And I have another goal... getting my own game finished and ready for publication. I've had a card game in the works for a couple years. I made a playtestable copy about three years ago, and I (as well as Angie and Julian) thought it was pretty fun. It just wasn't ready yet. I shelved it to work on another project collaboratively that ultimately didn't get very far, and since then I have pulled it out every now and then to tweak some mechanics, make some drawing for cards or add some text. Now, I'm itching to make it something. I'm not going to expand on it right now, but it's a wild west shootup with a quirky theme. I'll share more later.

Angie's Goals:

1. Have a monthly family-friendly board game night, rotating between families. We've been talking about it for a while (you know who you are!), let’s get it going!

2. Start and maintain a regular weekly family board game night with my kid(s). We decided on Wednesday nights, so I'm excited to see this through and get a regular thing going that we can all look forward to. A mid-week pick-me-up and opportunity for us all to focus on family time and not the hectic nature of our typical everyday life. At least for long enough to get a game or two in.

3. Help Katie reach her goal of playing different 100 games. Does anyone know how to put a counter on our blogger page so we can keep track online?

4. Find a game I can play with Jack, and teach it to him. Any ideas?

5. Keep reading and writing about games (books, articles, blog posts). Figure out a way to actually get people to reply to our blog posts and get more involved… (wink wink nudge!)

On the horizon- What we hope to be playing this year:

New games we would love to play in 2011 (A.K.A. Angie's Wishlists....)

Board/Card Games: 7 Wonders, Sid Meyers Civilization: The Boardgame (the Fantasy Flight Version), Innovation, Puzzle Strike: Bag of Chips, Alien Frontiers, Dominant Species, Earth Reborn,  Yomi: The Complete First Edition

Video Games:  Little Big Planet 2, Mass Effect 3, Dragon Age 2, Pokemon Black/White, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Portal 2,  Paper Mario 3DS, Sly Cooper 4 (no release date, I’m just wishing…)

As a final 2010 bonus...

Angie's 5 Random Board Game “Top 5” Lists for the upcoming year:

1. Games I missed and hope to try: Battleground Fantasy Warfare, Railways of the World Card Game, Summoner Wars, Steam, Dixit

2. Loooong games I want to get played: Le Havre (with new unplayed expansion!), Descent, War of the Ring (and new unplayed expansion!), Twilight Imperium (3^rd Ed), Duel of Ages

3. Games I want to play more of: Galaxy Trucker (don’t own this one, Julian will have help out!), Space Alert, Agricola (and expansions!), Glory to Rome, Through the Ages

4. New-ish (to us) games that need table time: Grind, Mtg: Archenemy, Memoir 44 expansions, Starcraft, Battlestar Galactica

5. Games that might deserve a 2^nd chance: Evo, Keythedral, Torres, At the Gates of Loyang, Nexus Ops

You may here more about these topics and games from us in the future, feel free to ask questions or talk up any of these games or lists. Also, I would love to play these games with YOU, so if you're local and interested, drop me a line!

That's All Folks!

Thanks for reading our blog, we'd love to hear from you. We know you're out there, so post a comment would ya? Share your ideas and opinions, ask questions, suggest topics, or just let us know you're there! Thanks!

Also, check out a personal list of "gaming wishes" for the upcoming year from our fellow gaming blogger Julian at Cool Factor 5. This is another in the series of challenge posts I keep talking about, and I'm always excited to see how differently the same topic list manifests on these two blogs. It's something we're planning to continue into the new year, maybe with some new twists and surprises added in. :)

Happy New Year from our family to yours!

Meet the Gamers

Who are we? We're glad you asked!

Before we get into the games, we thought we'd take a moment to introduce ourselves. We think we have might have some interesting or useful or funny things to say about the games we play. If you think so too, keep reading :)

This is How I Role(play)

My name is Randy, and mine is the power of irreverence. Yes, that's right... you shall know me by the trail of bad puns, witty jabs and my quirky perspective. A mild-mannered tech support engineer by day, I spend many an evening gaming with my wife, daughter and friends. I am most fond of roleplaying games, but more often I find myself playing board games and card games. I rarely play video games, so don't expect to hear much from me on that subject. I'm looking forward to sharing a few glimpses through my lens on the world. 'Til then... keep gamin', playa!

Too Cool for School

I'm Angie. I’m the wife of “that guy”, the mom to 2 amazingly talented kiddos, and the biggest geek I know. Seriously. I’m currently teaching Language Arts at an alternative high school and the boys there tell me pretty regularly that I’m a super gamer geek who is “even geekier than most of their friends”. That’s right, my super power is that I somehow have managed to be a 31 year old adult woman with the geekiness quota of a teenage boy. Woohoo! FTW! I’m uber-1337!

I’m interested in all sorts of games and strive to try just about anything gamey at least once. I’ve got a whole room full of board games, every video game system I know of, and a growing library of books about games and game design. Can you say obsessed? We came up with this idea for a blog when Katie started wanting to write her own game reviews and we couldn’t figure out how to best share these awesome musings with the world. Plus I’ve got about 1,000,002 ideas about game-related things I would like to write about. I’ve been told recently that I’m both loquacious and sesquipedalian (whatever that means) so you can probably expect mine to be a frequent voice on this blog. Game on!

Secretly... the Flash!

Hi, my name is Katie. I’m 5 years old! I’m secretly the Flash but that’s not what this is about. This blog is about games. I like to play board games like Settles of Catan and Zooloretto. I like video games too, especially Toy Story 3 and Dora and Sly Cooper. I’ve been playing games with my family for like 7 years.  Maybe more than 100 times! I’m going to tell you how to play games, what I like best about games, my thoughts about different games, and some of my secret moves. Also, I can run really fast and be like a ninja.  

“But Jack-Jack doesn’t have any powers!”

At almost 2, Jack isn’t old enough to tell us his thoughts about games yet. So far we’ve seen that he likes to dump games on the floor and “play with” the pieces. By “play with”, we mean crush, smash, lose, and otherwise impair the functionality in the hardest-to-clean-up way possible. He also likes to push random buttons on the video game controllers while we are using them, especially during BIG IMPORTANT moments. He loves putting dice in his mouth and drawing in role-playing books with markers. We know he’s going to be a super gamer, we just don’t know in which ways his powers will manifest yet. We’ll keep you updated!

Stay Tuned!

We're not even going to try to predict how often one of us will:

a) think of something to write about
b) actually write it, and
c) get it posted

BUT we are going to try to keep it fresh. We've got a small backlog of posts already written by Katie that we're going to roll out in the next few days. So don't forget to come back!