Hi Again
Hi again, sorry I've been away. I feel very awkward making this next confession. I have barely played a game since I had to stay home from work. On Wednesday it was like every Wednesday. I played more games since they were online and it was a blast. After that night I knew I could get through this epidemic. I have been playing our Switch a lot lately. I'm a messy person I start a project but don't want to put stuff away but keep items together and then there are piles where I need a tool for more than one project so now it is 2 projects in one pile. During this time I have cleaned up a couple places and almost have found the correct homes for all of the items. Basically I'm being my best 50's housewife. It is bringing me joy once things are organized but you aren't here to read about that let's get to some gaming.
How lucky are all of us gamers. We can skip cabin fever and go on trips all around the world and even try to remember them without leaving our homes. Last week I learned a whole lot about tabletop apps and websites. So far my 2 favorites are Yucata.de and Boardgame Area. They both are free and have the rules already programmed so when I accidentally do an illegal move it will tell me I can't do it. I've also downloaded some tabletop game apps on the phone and am learning them so I can play with friends as well. Our TTC downloaded a chat app and were able to talk and it was like we were all right there together. Our next step is to try and do a video chat and play.
We taught a new gamer and one of our friends "Can't Stop." I really love this one. It is a good game for families. You are pressing your luck, weighing your chances and a bit of addition. In this game you have an octagon board, different colored cones and 3 white cones. There are 11 rows across the board numbered 2-12. Everyone on their turn takes as many chances to roll 4 dice but the catch is that you have to add 2 of the dice together. The sum of the 2 dice are where you place the white cone. The sum of the other 2 is your other number you place a white cone on. You keep going until you stop or you bust. You bust when you roll and cannot make one of the numbers your white cones are on. If you stop you replace the white cones with your color cones. The game ends when someone has claimed 3 columns by landing on the top number. I'm bad at it because I can't stop though I luckily held my own last week. It is hard to stop and that is why it's called "Can't Stop."
After Can't Stop we played "7 Wonders" more friends had shown up online. We had a full game which was exciting and we played twice. I really like this game and am always willing to play. I was in a Zack sandwich both games and that was interesting until one of the Zack's went full military and so I had to do some myself so that I could win against the other Zack and not loose too many points. I thought I was doing well but I was so focused on my side of the table I didn't see the far off land of my friend who won killin' it. I forgot how he won but I recall seeing some blue scoring cards and his pyramids having straight points. My new trend is playing more drafting games like "Hadara" and "It's A Wonderful World." I like "7 Wonders" especially because we get to add more friends to one game and I like that you have to pay attention to your neighbors. I know I didn't win because I kept cards I didn't need but wanted to keep from others so my wonder was basically very defensive as opposed to focusing on what would be the most efficient for my wonder. Oh well maybe next time.
After this a good portion of the group took either a quick break or signed off the site so a few of us played a quick game of "Coloretto" and it was so cute. It was taught to a few of us and was super cute I could not explain it well but we were all chameleons who were trying to collect multiple of the same color cards since the points were exponential. On your turn you either flip a card onto a row or you take a whole row. I don't quite remember all the details in scoring but I won! I remember that I definitely took a couple of rows that had different colors because the positive points towards the end outweighed the negative points from taking a color you don't want or 2. It was cute and I kinda want to add it to my collection or even get it as a game for new gamers. It is easy and fun and honestly who wouldn't love picking good colors for your chameleon self to change into.
The last game of the night was"Puerto Rico." This game is such a good standard and a beast of a game so I'll give y'all a brief overview. When we lived in NYC we used to play this game all the time. You choose roles and take the action of said role with a special bonus and the everyone else gets to follow your role without the bonus. There is only 1 role that doesn't not let anyone else follow and that is prospector you just take a coin. It is a resource management so you are busy choosing to buy crops to plant in your fields, building buildings to enhance your crops, finding workers for both your buildings and your crops to selling off your goods. Our group kept having to throw away crops after they were shipped off to whomever purchased it because when you ship your crops away for points each ship can carry only 1 type of crop and once those ships have sailed unless you have a special building you get hosed. It was a good night building up our islands. If you have played "San Juan" that is basically the card version of this.
Last Wednesday night playing games virtually with most of my TTC was great and reviving. I definitely recommend searching for fun ways to reach out to your loved ones while we are stuck inside and play a game whether you are video chatting with a board or joining any of the tabletop services online. I felt truly Blessed after that night.
On a side note, I'm super proud of one of my baby sisters. She and her boyfriend went to a boardgaming store and purchased a boardgame to add to their small collection in preparation for the quarantine.
I don't know how to end this so just keep playing games y'all!
How lucky are all of us gamers. We can skip cabin fever and go on trips all around the world and even try to remember them without leaving our homes. Last week I learned a whole lot about tabletop apps and websites. So far my 2 favorites are Yucata.de and Boardgame Area. They both are free and have the rules already programmed so when I accidentally do an illegal move it will tell me I can't do it. I've also downloaded some tabletop game apps on the phone and am learning them so I can play with friends as well. Our TTC downloaded a chat app and were able to talk and it was like we were all right there together. Our next step is to try and do a video chat and play.
We taught a new gamer and one of our friends "Can't Stop." I really love this one. It is a good game for families. You are pressing your luck, weighing your chances and a bit of addition. In this game you have an octagon board, different colored cones and 3 white cones. There are 11 rows across the board numbered 2-12. Everyone on their turn takes as many chances to roll 4 dice but the catch is that you have to add 2 of the dice together. The sum of the 2 dice are where you place the white cone. The sum of the other 2 is your other number you place a white cone on. You keep going until you stop or you bust. You bust when you roll and cannot make one of the numbers your white cones are on. If you stop you replace the white cones with your color cones. The game ends when someone has claimed 3 columns by landing on the top number. I'm bad at it because I can't stop though I luckily held my own last week. It is hard to stop and that is why it's called "Can't Stop."
After Can't Stop we played "7 Wonders" more friends had shown up online. We had a full game which was exciting and we played twice. I really like this game and am always willing to play. I was in a Zack sandwich both games and that was interesting until one of the Zack's went full military and so I had to do some myself so that I could win against the other Zack and not loose too many points. I thought I was doing well but I was so focused on my side of the table I didn't see the far off land of my friend who won killin' it. I forgot how he won but I recall seeing some blue scoring cards and his pyramids having straight points. My new trend is playing more drafting games like "Hadara" and "It's A Wonderful World." I like "7 Wonders" especially because we get to add more friends to one game and I like that you have to pay attention to your neighbors. I know I didn't win because I kept cards I didn't need but wanted to keep from others so my wonder was basically very defensive as opposed to focusing on what would be the most efficient for my wonder. Oh well maybe next time.
After this a good portion of the group took either a quick break or signed off the site so a few of us played a quick game of "Coloretto" and it was so cute. It was taught to a few of us and was super cute I could not explain it well but we were all chameleons who were trying to collect multiple of the same color cards since the points were exponential. On your turn you either flip a card onto a row or you take a whole row. I don't quite remember all the details in scoring but I won! I remember that I definitely took a couple of rows that had different colors because the positive points towards the end outweighed the negative points from taking a color you don't want or 2. It was cute and I kinda want to add it to my collection or even get it as a game for new gamers. It is easy and fun and honestly who wouldn't love picking good colors for your chameleon self to change into.
The last game of the night was"Puerto Rico." This game is such a good standard and a beast of a game so I'll give y'all a brief overview. When we lived in NYC we used to play this game all the time. You choose roles and take the action of said role with a special bonus and the everyone else gets to follow your role without the bonus. There is only 1 role that doesn't not let anyone else follow and that is prospector you just take a coin. It is a resource management so you are busy choosing to buy crops to plant in your fields, building buildings to enhance your crops, finding workers for both your buildings and your crops to selling off your goods. Our group kept having to throw away crops after they were shipped off to whomever purchased it because when you ship your crops away for points each ship can carry only 1 type of crop and once those ships have sailed unless you have a special building you get hosed. It was a good night building up our islands. If you have played "San Juan" that is basically the card version of this.
Last Wednesday night playing games virtually with most of my TTC was great and reviving. I definitely recommend searching for fun ways to reach out to your loved ones while we are stuck inside and play a game whether you are video chatting with a board or joining any of the tabletop services online. I felt truly Blessed after that night.
On a side note, I'm super proud of one of my baby sisters. She and her boyfriend went to a boardgaming store and purchased a boardgame to add to their small collection in preparation for the quarantine.
I don't know how to end this so just keep playing games y'all!
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