Comments for

Comment on Awful Green by thegamebistro

thegamebistro — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:36:23 +0000

Yay! I’m glad to hear you are playing it! Go Green!

Comment on Awful Green by Tiffany

Tiffany — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 05:31:51 +0000

Hey Kevin,

I love the game. I even got Mom addicted to it. Dad and I have played nearly six times in four days and Mom twice. The new rules make this game so much more awesome!!!

Thanks again for the great birthday present!

Comment on Really? by Kevin

Kevin — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 17:02:25 +0000

Aye-yaye-yaye! Really Really Really? Man, o man, I am totally losing it. My recollection was that we would play cards on to the pre-printed spaces, and the player claiming that row would get both the card and the pre-printed effect.

We played properly last night at least! I was hazy on the rules as I hadn’t played recently. I used your lovely player aid which was great btw.

My copy of the game has rather badly warped. The board has a definite “roll” to it, and even the map tiles are visibly warped. Even so, I love this 1st edition. I’m sure the more professional 2nd edition is fine, but I am glad to have this earler version.

Comment on Really? by Rob Derrick

Rob Derrick — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 07:07:52 +0000

Really really?

You taught it to me in my and I believe your first play. I have now played it several more times, and unless my memory is completely shot (and it is possible), you taught it right that time and I’ve played it that way ever since. How were you playing it? Making those space optional, or ??? I really like this game!

Comment on The Weather Outside is Frightful… by Rob Derrick

Rob Derrick — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:02:55 +0000

I am reading all of your bistronomies. They are a brilliant welcome diversion from the daily grind.

– I have too many games. I know this because for several weeks I’ve been packing them into boxes and this weekend I moved them to another house, where there is by no stretch of the imagination enough room for them. This produces in me an exquisite psychic pain.

– But, that means that I can play the game of weather games too:

I own:

–> weather in the title:
A Few Acres of Snow: Yes, as wonderful as you note

Fimbulvetr: Winter of Winters: games design rarely gets any simpler than this

Ice Flow: based on true story about a man trying to walk around the world!

Mermaid Rain: teenage mermaids trying to win the favor of Justin Bieber by recovering treasures from the sea.

–> weather in the mechanics or theme:
Kayanak: you poke holes in (paper) ice with a stick, then fish (with a magnet on a string and stick) for (ball bearing) fist. With a little touch of weather control thrown in.

The Swarm: based on a best-selling German SF book, soon to be a major motion picture (maybe), you get to throw hurricane storms at your opponents.

Evo: the changing weather patterns of primordial earth keep your nascent dinosaurs hopping up-n-down through ecological zones.

Mush, and Snow Tails: Two dog sledding games!

Comment on Awful Green by Kevin

Kevin — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 04:16:26 +0000

Okay, I ordered. I got the new edition of Awful Green as the intended gift. I also ordered Great Fire of London and… 1830.

I have no restraint…

Comment on God’s Playground by thegamebistro

thegamebistro — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 19:22:10 +0000

Thanks William. I’m definitely up for trying Dominant Species again. A lot of friends seem genuinely excited about it, and I would like to give it a few tries before making a firm opinion.

God’s Playground is a confusing game. Only after 6 plays do I feel like I have a handle on the special cases. But now, I feel I understand the game enough to strategize around how things will play out. In the past I merely rode the game out. Now I have a glimmer on what I might ought to be doing to maximize my score!

Comment on God’s Playground by William

William — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 01:54:17 +0000

The one time I played God’s Playground, we had to keep the rule book open the entire game – even with experienced players who’d all read the rules in advance! I think it’s more of an experience game than a gamer’s game, even with all the complexity. That said, we did enjoy it.

I think Dominant Species is easier to grasp (the rules for GP are really a collection of special cases and exceptions!), but it can still be hard to make sense of in your first game!

Comment on Ratings, yawn… by Paul

Paul — Sat, 28 May 2011 22:43:29 +0000

Many of us probably do this, but I consciously, and unconsciously, rate on a bell curve as well. I’m loath to bestow Personal Endorsements. Even if I loved a game, when asked for a rating, I’ll compare it to my all-time favorites, and because it’s often a first play, there’s no way it can share space with those games yet. So, it might very well be a game perfectly suited to me, but only time will be the proof. Similarly, I can’t bring myself to declare a game Poor after just one or two plays, even it really is a game I’ll avoid unless I’m out voted, because I’ll give just about any game a second chance. Especially in the groups I play, if one person is interested in a game, then it must have some redeeming feature I’m missing. I suppose this probably really boils down to the cult of the new. I love to play games over and over again, to become properly familiar with them, to explore their possibilities (or discard them, if it becomes obvious there’s not much to explore), and sometimes I feel like my time with any one title is too fleeting. Of course, I’ll be the first to admit I’m a hypocrite, because I can’t help but be drawn to new, cool looking games! By the way, has anyone here played Troyes yet…

Comment on It’s a 10, except when… by Kevin Whitmore

Kevin Whitmore — Thu, 26 May 2011 16:00:57 +0000

Alex, are you down to 100 games? I have considered purging further, but it would start to hurt. I could probably trim another 50 games, but the ones I would trim are likely not very marketable. One filter I apply, is if I should encounter the game in question at a thrift store, “Would I buy it?”. If yes, I really ought not to purge it.