These are a few of my favorite things

I was trying to think of what I could do for my first real entry here. Some of what is coming is too new for me to put down into words yet, so I thought I would try something a little lighter.

So let's talk about something that I like, something that brings me real joy, in both participating and the things it has brought into my life.

Let's talk about boardgames.

Now some of you may think, "Oh great, a topic for geeks.". And you would be right. It is a geeky thing, in the same sense that Wikipedia defines a geek:

The word geek is a slang term originally used to describe eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast or a person obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit, with a general pejorative meaning of a "peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, esp[ecially] one who is perceived to be overly intellectual".

and by that definition, I will happily accept both the term, and it's description. And the fine art of boardgaming, once passing the gateway games (which I will describe later), does lend itself to people of a certain intellectual character. Definitely some of the people who I have met while boardgaming are smart people, and also have become some of my dearest friends.


Before I get into the meat of this post, let me take a minute to break down board games into their various categories. The first category are the simple games that you played both as a kid and even into adult and family life. The ones I am talking about are Monopoly, Othello, Checkers, and the like. These were the fun kids games you played and enjoyed, and some of these are fun even today (I can guarantee you if you get a copy of "Things In A Box", which I classify in this category, you will have a blast.


The next step up are what I like to call the "gateway" games. These are the games that are a little more complicated than the first category, and include some different and interesting mechanics, but are still accessible to most people. The most well known games in this category are:

• The Settlers of Catan
• Ticket to Ride
• Carcassone

These, and others like them, are starting to show up everywhere......heck you can even buy them at Indigo. They have real strategy in them, and are yet a lot of fun and accessible to young and old; easy to learn yet deep in their gameplay so that you will play them over and over. Once you pass these by, you now get into the realm of games that I typically play in.

The deep strategy games.

At first I wanted to call them hardcore games, but I didn't like the term because they can still be played by most people. Typically they are not known at all, and most have very strange game mechanics that most people will not have seen. They are a heck of a lot of fun though, if you are interested in seeing some of them, Wil Wheaton (yes, the Star Trek Wil Wheaton) has an online show called TableTop, in each webisode he plays through a game with some friends and people he knows and explains most of how it is played. You can find it at http://geekandsundry.com/shows/tabletop/ and you should check it out, it is funny and fun.

But let's circle back to the title of my post, which are a few of MY favorite things, meaning games. I thought I would throw out three of the games that I enjoy the most, these are certainly not all of them, but ones that I think that you can play over and over again and still enjoy. In no particular order, they are:

1. The Lords Of Waterdeep

This is a Dungeons and Dragons themed game with players taking a role as one of the lords of the city, each searching for power and control of Waterdeep. To do this, you recruit agents of the city (priests, thieves, mages, and warriors) and send them on quests in the city, to obtain victory points and other wealth.

This game falls under the category of a "worker placement" game, meaning that each player has a collection of agents, or workers, and that they place them on the board in turn to obtain the various things that you need to advance. There are a number of the deep strategy games that leverage this mechanic, as it causes you to have to think not only about WHAT you want to do in a turn, but also WHEN. Wait too long and someone else might use the space you need, frustrating your plans....use it too early and you might miss out on something else you could have done, and there are always many things to do and many paths to victory.

What I like about this game is that it is fairly easy to pick up, but has enough variety that you can play it a hundred times and never play the same game twice. Once you have played this enough, there is an expansion for the game (The Scoundrels of Skullport) that adds more spaces, more quests, and more challenges to become the master of Waterdeep. The D&D theme allows for many geeky references, which my STC friends and I use often (Let's save STC for another time...)

If you are interested in this game, you can pick it up at Indigo, as well as the expansion. Definitely worth it in my opinion.

2. Roborally

Oh Robobally, you have been the cause of so much hilarity and frustration at the same time. This game was originally published in 1994, and went out of print only to be picked up and reprinted by Avalon Hill in 2005. This game is a race, with each of you playing a clever little robot trying to make it to each of the flags in order, with the last being the finish line.

Ah.......but things aren't quite as easy as they seem. Not only do you have other robots on the field also trying to race you to the flags, they have lasers! And the board has conveyor belts! And rotating gears! And laser fields! And pits! AUUUGGGGHHHHHH

Anyway, Roborally is a game where you get dealt a hand of up to 9 movement cards, which you secretly select 5 of to use as your robots actions. Once everyone is done, you all turn them over, one at a time, and do what the movements say. Here is where it gets tricky though, you could have thought you were moving forward 2 to safety, but someone beside you pushed you first and now you are on a conveyor belt, and now who knows where you end up. Also, each robot has a laser that fires after everyone has moved, and if you are hit, you take a point of damage. Each point of damage means one less movement card to choose from next turn, and if you get damaged enough, some of your moves get locked in place.

Fear not though, there are repair stations that you can land on to remove that damage, and even get upgrades for your robot that help you get to your goal, And if things get bad, you can always power down and heal all of your damage (even though people can shoot you while you are recharging). Even if you die, don't worry! You get three lives, so you get to race again.

This game is crazy fun....every person I have introduced it to loves it almost right away. Even my young nephew who was 9 when he first played it loves it, and doesn't have a problem with how you play it. There are 8 different boards, and many setups for the race....you can use one of the 15 setups they have made or make your own. I have even created a version of football where two teams of players try and get a flag (or the ball) over the other teams start line. And for the truly crazy, we play it where you only have a limited time to choose your moves (it comes with a little sand timer, think it is 20 or 30 seconds, once you play it you will realize how little time it is).

All in all, something for everyone, and a great game. Last but not least:

3. Terra Mystica

This game is one in the very deep strategy category. You play one of a group of races that tries to build and dominate the land, growing your small settlements into cities, tradehouses, temples and the like. In the end, the one with the most victory points after 6 rounds is declared the winner.

I was intrigued by this game when I saw it at FallCon in Calgary, and after playing it for the first time, I was hooked. It is a deep strategy/management game, where you want to provide just enough benefits to others while keeping you on top. The player boards are very busy, lots to do on each of them (here is a sample, don't let it blow your mind):

The variety of winning strategies used by the different races makes this one of those "never the same game twice" variety, and you have to be very flexible in your plans in order to succeed. Not a game for the faint of heart, but an awesome one nonetheless.


I think I have gone on long enough, I could probably talk about a dozen more, but I will leave it at three for now. Hopefully you find something that you like in there, and get some friends together to try one of them out. The best part of playing these is getting together and trash talking, grumbling, and generally have a good time with some people. And you know who you are.......

Until next time, have fun STC.

Xereos