For the past few years, I have been getting into the board game hobby. I love playing these hobby games like Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne, Chicago Express, Dominion, and more. They have become one of my biggest passions and time consumers, but it was not until today that I truly reached the level of board game geek. I have been edging closer and closer to this level of devotion to the hobby, but today I crossed over.
Today, I pre-ordered a board game, called American Rails, that is being designed by a small independent publisher. It is this gentleman's first game, and it is limited to 60 copies. I have never bought a game that has been published in such a small quantity. Usually, I buy games made by the well respected and established companies like Rio Grande Games, Fantasy Flight, and Z Man Games. However, I have been following the development of this game for about a month now, and I am really excited by it! When I found out pre-orders were today, I made sure to get my copy. Now I will own the first edition of what I hope and believe is going to be a very exciting and popular game.
By buying from what is basically a one man operation, I am supporting this man's devotion to a dream of his. It is my support of this small independent game that makes me feel like I have crossed into the realm of true board game geekery. Normally, I would just buy a game from a store either in person or online, but this time I am supporting a brand new publisher and developer. It makes me feel even more part of the community.
Of course this purchase was only part of my push over the edge. As for my second move, well I am seriously contemplating desiging my own board games.
For the past couple of months, I have been fiddling with the idea of this one game, but I have not done much with it. On Sunday, I brainstormed an idea for a second game, and this one I have actually started writing notes down about it. I have almost two pages of material, and I am going to start creating a prototype copy to play sometime early next year. I am really excited by the idea. As my creative wheels were turning for this game, I began developing ideas for a third game. Before long, I will probably be creating a list of game ideas. Who knows where this will lead, but it excites me.
After helping one man follow his dreams by buying his game, I began to think about my own ideas for games. I doubt I will ever create a true classic, but maybe I will one day publish my own game. Hopefully, some people besides me will get enjoyment out of it. Following this path makes no doubt about it, I am a board game geek.
Showing posts with label Board Games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Board Games. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Some Geeky Obersvations
While watching some tv shows lately, I have been making some incredibly geeky observations. Stuff like references to other elements of geek culture and attention to detail. Here are a few of them.
- While watching an episode of The X-Files, I noticed that Mulder resides at apartment number 42. How appropripate. The man who seeks the truth resides at the address which happens to be the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything.
- With the series finale behind me, I began watching Battlestar Galactica with Liza. Now I knew the ship got dirtier as the series went on, but I did not realize how much until this viewing of the miniseries. The ship and its interior such as the CIC is immaculate at the start of the series. Talk about an attention to detail. It is just further testament to the pain staking level of continuity the staff was prepared for.
- Recently, I have become hooked on the show The IT Crowd. One of my favorite elements of the show is the geeky clutter in the background of the office. Particularly, I love the board games which include Ticket to Ride. My girlfriend laughed at me because I was disappointed that they are missing from the first series. I'll try to pinpoint the exact episode they appear and try to identify the exact games.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Chicago Express: A Review
Since I was a kid, I have loved trains, and I love board games. Therefore, it is logical to assume that I would highly enjoy train games. Unfortunately, up until now, my experience has been limited to TransAmerica and Ticket to Ride. Although light games, I love both of them and count TransAmerica as one of my favorites, but I have craved something more in depth.
Thus around my birthday, I set out to fix this dilemma with a purchase of a heavier train game. At the time I was debating among Age of Steam, Steam, and Chicago Express. During this time I was following the Age of Steam vs Steam drama and was unsure of which to get, so I settled on Chicago Express. Mostly because it was what my local game store had. I do not regret this decision; it is quickly becoming one of my favorite board games.
In Chicago Express, players assume the roles of investors and funnel capital into five seperate rail companies in the hopes of making the most money from dividends. The game features a beautiful map and money and stocks on what I would consider fancy paper. It is a visually appealing game.
One of the unique aspects of Chicago Express is that players aren't a single company. Instead, players all have control over a certain company. Well, as long as they have stock in it. This mechanic encourages a high level of player interaction which is why I love the game so much. You are constantly working with the other players to benefit yourself without benefiting them as much. Sometimes it is fun to use your one share of a stock to run a company into the ground, but for the most part, everyone seems to work together.
When the game begins, there is an initial stock auction for the four primary companies. The last company does not appear until later in the game. After a share has been distributed for each company, the game begins.
During the game, players get to choose from one of three actions: auction, develop, or expand. With the first auction, the player names one of the companies and offers a stock in it. Each company has a limited number of shares and a mininum bid. This bid is based off the income level of the company divided by the number of shares out including the one being auctioned. This formula is also how one calculates the dividends from these stocks.
The second action is developing hexes on the board. Developing allows a player to increase the income level of a company by developing cities or mountains. Forrests are a way to pump more cash into the company.
Finally, players can try to expand the network of the rail company. With this action, players use the capital in the railroad to grow and increas the income level by going to various cities. In another great mechanic, players have to use the money of the company to expand instead of their own. Players money is completely seperate from the companies.
All three of these actions can only be chosen a limited number of times. There are little guages on the board to show the progress of the actions. When the indicator is in the red, players are unable to choose that action unti they are reset. After two guages are in the red, the game pauses for a dividend phase.
During the dividend phase, players recieve revenue from the stocks they own. The amount paid out is calculated the same way the mininum share price is calculated. In both instances, the numbers are rounded up. It helps a little to be decent with math. At the end of the dividends, the guages are reset and play resumes. The game continues until one of several end conditions are met. Usually three or more companies being out of stock or trains to expand with.
In Chicago Express, resources are extremely limited. Each company has a set number of shares and trains. Therefore, players have to constantly struggle with how to expand. If they are too slow to expand, it may be more costly later. Then they will need more capital. To do so involves auctioning more shares which lowers the amount of revenue you might receive because more people become involved in the company of. The entire time playing I sit on the edge of my seat watching everything unfold and trying to plan what to do.
As of right now, I really only have two problems with this game: the box and the length. As for the former, the box is much too big for the game. It looks gigantic, but in reality, it really is not. I would say it is more similiar to Ticket to Ride, but it could have been in a smaller box.
With the length, I feel like the game ends too soon! It can be played in about 45-75 minutes which is actually a huge plus for the game as well. I am just always disappointed when the game ends because I feel like things are really starting to heat up and get super interesting. However, if the game went on much longer, it would probably drag some. Oh well. The positives of this game greatly out weigh the negatives.
Chicago Express is a wonderfully delightful game. It has great components, a decent play time, and with only three actions to choose from, a lovely simplicity. However, it has enough tough decision making to make it highly strategic, involving, and addictive. Without a doubt, Chicago Express is one of my new favorite games.
Thus around my birthday, I set out to fix this dilemma with a purchase of a heavier train game. At the time I was debating among Age of Steam, Steam, and Chicago Express. During this time I was following the Age of Steam vs Steam drama and was unsure of which to get, so I settled on Chicago Express. Mostly because it was what my local game store had. I do not regret this decision; it is quickly becoming one of my favorite board games.
In Chicago Express, players assume the roles of investors and funnel capital into five seperate rail companies in the hopes of making the most money from dividends. The game features a beautiful map and money and stocks on what I would consider fancy paper. It is a visually appealing game.
One of the unique aspects of Chicago Express is that players aren't a single company. Instead, players all have control over a certain company. Well, as long as they have stock in it. This mechanic encourages a high level of player interaction which is why I love the game so much. You are constantly working with the other players to benefit yourself without benefiting them as much. Sometimes it is fun to use your one share of a stock to run a company into the ground, but for the most part, everyone seems to work together.
When the game begins, there is an initial stock auction for the four primary companies. The last company does not appear until later in the game. After a share has been distributed for each company, the game begins.
During the game, players get to choose from one of three actions: auction, develop, or expand. With the first auction, the player names one of the companies and offers a stock in it. Each company has a limited number of shares and a mininum bid. This bid is based off the income level of the company divided by the number of shares out including the one being auctioned. This formula is also how one calculates the dividends from these stocks.
The second action is developing hexes on the board. Developing allows a player to increase the income level of a company by developing cities or mountains. Forrests are a way to pump more cash into the company.
Finally, players can try to expand the network of the rail company. With this action, players use the capital in the railroad to grow and increas the income level by going to various cities. In another great mechanic, players have to use the money of the company to expand instead of their own. Players money is completely seperate from the companies.
All three of these actions can only be chosen a limited number of times. There are little guages on the board to show the progress of the actions. When the indicator is in the red, players are unable to choose that action unti they are reset. After two guages are in the red, the game pauses for a dividend phase.
During the dividend phase, players recieve revenue from the stocks they own. The amount paid out is calculated the same way the mininum share price is calculated. In both instances, the numbers are rounded up. It helps a little to be decent with math. At the end of the dividends, the guages are reset and play resumes. The game continues until one of several end conditions are met. Usually three or more companies being out of stock or trains to expand with.
In Chicago Express, resources are extremely limited. Each company has a set number of shares and trains. Therefore, players have to constantly struggle with how to expand. If they are too slow to expand, it may be more costly later. Then they will need more capital. To do so involves auctioning more shares which lowers the amount of revenue you might receive because more people become involved in the company of. The entire time playing I sit on the edge of my seat watching everything unfold and trying to plan what to do.
As of right now, I really only have two problems with this game: the box and the length. As for the former, the box is much too big for the game. It looks gigantic, but in reality, it really is not. I would say it is more similiar to Ticket to Ride, but it could have been in a smaller box.
With the length, I feel like the game ends too soon! It can be played in about 45-75 minutes which is actually a huge plus for the game as well. I am just always disappointed when the game ends because I feel like things are really starting to heat up and get super interesting. However, if the game went on much longer, it would probably drag some. Oh well. The positives of this game greatly out weigh the negatives.
Chicago Express is a wonderfully delightful game. It has great components, a decent play time, and with only three actions to choose from, a lovely simplicity. However, it has enough tough decision making to make it highly strategic, involving, and addictive. Without a doubt, Chicago Express is one of my new favorite games.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
She Only Calls Me on Sundays
Well, Week of Wally is officially here. We kicked the festivities off with an extra long game night with some fried chicken from KFC. However, first, we should talk about Saturday. Or maybe I should talk about Friday.
On Friday, I tried to get more applications done for jobs. I managed to get two finished, but I never got anymore work made on them. My current job kept taking precedence. I tried to manage some of the filing that had been piling up, but the Ondine computer finally decided to begin its final death throes. About a week or two ago, it began to literally fall apart with keys going missing. As of Friday, it started locking up, and then it started popping up with virus and ad ware warnings. Most of them were those anti-adware adware programs.
Anyway, it was quickly becoming futile to use, so I called Housing. They told me to call Ross. He would not be able to have us a replacement until Monday, and he told me to call Housing back. Housing decided to loan us their laptop for the weekend. Of course, we weren't set up to use StarRez on it, so I had to figure that out. Luckily, it worked before I left. Unfortunately, I got no other work done managing that crisis.
Now, I thought I might get some of the work done on Saturday because I was asked to come in. Normally, I don't work Saturdays, but it was a move out weeekend, and they wanted the help. Plus, I could use the money. Before going to work, I had the most amazing breakfast at the Blue Pig Cafe.
I have passed this cafe multiple times on Division, and recently, I read about it in the Willamette Week. Since I had to be up early on a Saturday, I finally decided to try it, and I do not regret it. I got the chicken fried steak platter, and it came with eggs, potatoes, and a giant biscuit. It was so good and filling; I was unable to finish it all. So good.
As for work on Saturday, it was fairly quiet and slow until the final ten minutes when we had a line of people checking out. Of course, I did not get any of the work I wanted finished because it was just steady enough during the day to keep me out front. Plus, I had fun talking to everyone working that day.
That evening I came home to eat a bite and watch some Arrested Development like I did on Friday night. Of course, I had some gin & tonics on Friday, but Saturday I had been asked to go out too. Thus I did not drink with dinner. Anyway, I met up with some friends at Paccinis for Salazar's 21st birthday. I had a Tom Collins and a gin & tonic. For some reason, I am really enjoying gin drinks lately. Well, the party group left to go do some expensive stuff I did not want to do, so Alex, Kim, Robin and I stayed in to play a board game. The choice for the night : Chicago Express.
Chicago Express was one of the three games I bought myself for my birthday. (The other two being Brass and Race for the Galaxy.) After one play, I think this game could quickly become one of my favorites. It is relatively simple, but there is a lot of strategy to it. The game has no luck, and your decisions carry a lot of weight. The other players seem to enjoy it too. I want to buy more train games now. For those curious, Alex won the game.
On Sunday, I got to sleep in just a little bit, and I made more progress on season three of Arrested Development. However, it was time to start Week of Wally, so I got nothing productive done at home. I needed to be on campus around 2 PM for an Extra Special Game Night!
As soon as I got there, we had like six people show up: Robin, Alex, Brookes, Louisa, Derek, and myself. To begin, we played everybody's favorite TransAmerica. This game is easily in my top 5 just because of how simple and fun it is. Great intro game. From there, Eric!, Mark, Alex, and I played Brass for the first time. The game is long, complex, but fun. While we being industrial revolution tycoons, other people played Rock Band. In the end, Eric! won Brass. I think next time we play it will be different. However, I think we all liked it.
After that game, we took a break to go buy some fried chicken. We bought a lot... and all but one of the biscuits KFC had. I love fried chicken... a lot. It is so delicious.
Once everyone had eaten, we gave Chicago Express another go. This time Robin won. I don't think the game works as well with six players, but I still really like it. I kind of want to play it again next week, but that would violate my ban on playing the same game two weeks in a row rule. Oh well.
We ended the night with Betrayal at the House on the Hill. Unfortunately, I had to be the priest instead of the little boy. (Those two kids are just so balanced! Seriously, they're the best characters in the game.) At least, we had a new haunt. Robin was the traitor, and he was an invisible killer. I got killed first, so I joined some people playing Rock Band. I am not even sure who won the game actually.
Special thanks to everyone who came out to the Extra Special Game Night and the first night of Week of Wally. We had Eric!, Louisa, Brookes, Derek, Mark, Kim, Robin, Alex, Debo, Nachel, Jason W., Kyle, Omar, Cody, Ashley, Brett, Jazlynn, Salazar, a random FYE resident, and I am probably forgetting someone. Anyway, I despereately need to go to bed now. It will be time for work before you know it.
On Friday, I tried to get more applications done for jobs. I managed to get two finished, but I never got anymore work made on them. My current job kept taking precedence. I tried to manage some of the filing that had been piling up, but the Ondine computer finally decided to begin its final death throes. About a week or two ago, it began to literally fall apart with keys going missing. As of Friday, it started locking up, and then it started popping up with virus and ad ware warnings. Most of them were those anti-adware adware programs.
Anyway, it was quickly becoming futile to use, so I called Housing. They told me to call Ross. He would not be able to have us a replacement until Monday, and he told me to call Housing back. Housing decided to loan us their laptop for the weekend. Of course, we weren't set up to use StarRez on it, so I had to figure that out. Luckily, it worked before I left. Unfortunately, I got no other work done managing that crisis.
Now, I thought I might get some of the work done on Saturday because I was asked to come in. Normally, I don't work Saturdays, but it was a move out weeekend, and they wanted the help. Plus, I could use the money. Before going to work, I had the most amazing breakfast at the Blue Pig Cafe.
I have passed this cafe multiple times on Division, and recently, I read about it in the Willamette Week. Since I had to be up early on a Saturday, I finally decided to try it, and I do not regret it. I got the chicken fried steak platter, and it came with eggs, potatoes, and a giant biscuit. It was so good and filling; I was unable to finish it all. So good.
As for work on Saturday, it was fairly quiet and slow until the final ten minutes when we had a line of people checking out. Of course, I did not get any of the work I wanted finished because it was just steady enough during the day to keep me out front. Plus, I had fun talking to everyone working that day.
That evening I came home to eat a bite and watch some Arrested Development like I did on Friday night. Of course, I had some gin & tonics on Friday, but Saturday I had been asked to go out too. Thus I did not drink with dinner. Anyway, I met up with some friends at Paccinis for Salazar's 21st birthday. I had a Tom Collins and a gin & tonic. For some reason, I am really enjoying gin drinks lately. Well, the party group left to go do some expensive stuff I did not want to do, so Alex, Kim, Robin and I stayed in to play a board game. The choice for the night : Chicago Express.
Chicago Express was one of the three games I bought myself for my birthday. (The other two being Brass and Race for the Galaxy.) After one play, I think this game could quickly become one of my favorites. It is relatively simple, but there is a lot of strategy to it. The game has no luck, and your decisions carry a lot of weight. The other players seem to enjoy it too. I want to buy more train games now. For those curious, Alex won the game.
On Sunday, I got to sleep in just a little bit, and I made more progress on season three of Arrested Development. However, it was time to start Week of Wally, so I got nothing productive done at home. I needed to be on campus around 2 PM for an Extra Special Game Night!
As soon as I got there, we had like six people show up: Robin, Alex, Brookes, Louisa, Derek, and myself. To begin, we played everybody's favorite TransAmerica. This game is easily in my top 5 just because of how simple and fun it is. Great intro game. From there, Eric!, Mark, Alex, and I played Brass for the first time. The game is long, complex, but fun. While we being industrial revolution tycoons, other people played Rock Band. In the end, Eric! won Brass. I think next time we play it will be different. However, I think we all liked it.
After that game, we took a break to go buy some fried chicken. We bought a lot... and all but one of the biscuits KFC had. I love fried chicken... a lot. It is so delicious.
Once everyone had eaten, we gave Chicago Express another go. This time Robin won. I don't think the game works as well with six players, but I still really like it. I kind of want to play it again next week, but that would violate my ban on playing the same game two weeks in a row rule. Oh well.
We ended the night with Betrayal at the House on the Hill. Unfortunately, I had to be the priest instead of the little boy. (Those two kids are just so balanced! Seriously, they're the best characters in the game.) At least, we had a new haunt. Robin was the traitor, and he was an invisible killer. I got killed first, so I joined some people playing Rock Band. I am not even sure who won the game actually.
Special thanks to everyone who came out to the Extra Special Game Night and the first night of Week of Wally. We had Eric!, Louisa, Brookes, Derek, Mark, Kim, Robin, Alex, Debo, Nachel, Jason W., Kyle, Omar, Cody, Ashley, Brett, Jazlynn, Salazar, a random FYE resident, and I am probably forgetting someone. Anyway, I despereately need to go to bed now. It will be time for work before you know it.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Whoa! It's Wednesday.
Why has it been so cold lately? Like I know the high has been reasonable, but the windchill is unacceptable. It has been freezing at the desk, and the walk to and from campus is almost unbearable.
All in all the day at the desk was uneventful. I tried to read more of Go Down, Moses, but I mostly looked up games on Board Game Geek. Before leaving for work, I ordered A Touch of Evil, the Supernatural Game, so I read about it some. Plus, with my birthday approaching, I decided I need to continue the tradition of buying myself boardgames for my birthday. Currently, I am in the mood for something meatier. It needs a longer game time and some strong mechanics. At the moment, I am looking at Age of Steam, Steam, or Brass. Interestingly, the first two are almost the same game. It is a matter of deciding which is a better fit for me, but the former is winning because it has already been released.
As I mentioned, the desk was fairly uneventful, except for the final hour. In that sixty minutes, I worked alone, and I swear. In that amount of time, I did more work than had been done at the desk all day. It was outrageous!
After work, I tried to call various family members on my way to Pub Quiz. Out of the seven family members I called, only three answered. However, one person called me back while I was talking to someone else. I am trying even harder to execute my decision to remain in better contact with my cousins. I know we all want to stay close, but someone has to actually make the effort. As most of you know, I tend to make myself the person that makes the bigger effort. However, in this case, it is much more worth it.
Speaking of Pub Quiz, it was good fun for the most part. We lost, but I enjoyed it. At one point, I was worried if anyone else was going to show up, but we had the true The Good, The Bad, and The Wally tonight. Unfortunately, we missed being in the top 5 by three points. It was rough. I think we are going to try to go tomorrow night.
I don't know what else to say. Therefore, I am going to end here. So long!
All in all the day at the desk was uneventful. I tried to read more of Go Down, Moses, but I mostly looked up games on Board Game Geek. Before leaving for work, I ordered A Touch of Evil, the Supernatural Game, so I read about it some. Plus, with my birthday approaching, I decided I need to continue the tradition of buying myself boardgames for my birthday. Currently, I am in the mood for something meatier. It needs a longer game time and some strong mechanics. At the moment, I am looking at Age of Steam, Steam, or Brass. Interestingly, the first two are almost the same game. It is a matter of deciding which is a better fit for me, but the former is winning because it has already been released.
As I mentioned, the desk was fairly uneventful, except for the final hour. In that sixty minutes, I worked alone, and I swear. In that amount of time, I did more work than had been done at the desk all day. It was outrageous!
After work, I tried to call various family members on my way to Pub Quiz. Out of the seven family members I called, only three answered. However, one person called me back while I was talking to someone else. I am trying even harder to execute my decision to remain in better contact with my cousins. I know we all want to stay close, but someone has to actually make the effort. As most of you know, I tend to make myself the person that makes the bigger effort. However, in this case, it is much more worth it.
Speaking of Pub Quiz, it was good fun for the most part. We lost, but I enjoyed it. At one point, I was worried if anyone else was going to show up, but we had the true The Good, The Bad, and The Wally tonight. Unfortunately, we missed being in the top 5 by three points. It was rough. I think we are going to try to go tomorrow night.
I don't know what else to say. Therefore, I am going to end here. So long!
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