Board Game Review:Ghost Stories

Today is the day when I review another board game. For this outing, we'll look at a fun little co-operative board game. The name of this game is Ghost Stories, but don't be fooled by that name: it has nothing to do with sitting around a campfire trying to scare your friends. Instead, players are taking on the role of Taoist monks trying to defend a village that is being besieged by demons. It's hard, and it's maddening, and it's oh so much fun. But let's do this properly: I'll start, as always, with the numbers.

Strategy: 4
Randomness: 3
Complexity: 3
Humour: None
Attractiveness: Pretty
Average Length of Gameplay: 1 hour

An Overview of the Original World of Darkness (part 1)

In 1991, Mark Rein•Hagen's game Vampire: The Masquerade was released. This game took the roleplaying community by storm, and soon was one of the most prominent RPGs in the hobby. It was the first of five games planned by Rein•hagen, who intended to release a game about werewolves next, followed by one about wizards, one about faeries, and one about ghosts.

The order and specifics changed a bit; the game about wizards came to be known as Mage: The Ascension, the one about ghosts was named Wraith: The Oblivion and was moved up to be released before the one about faeries, and that final one came to be known as Changeling: The Dreaming. But all five of those games were released:

• Vampire: The Masquerade (1st edition 1991; 2nd edition 1992)
• Werewolf: The Apocalypse (1st edition 1992; 2nd edition 1994)
• Mage: The Ascension (1st edition 1993; 2nd edition 1995)
• Wraith: The Oblivion (1st edition 1994; 2nd edition 1996)
• Changeling: The Dreaming (1st edition 1995; 2nd edition 1997)

Large Group Games

The Dork Spouse and I haven't had a board game night at our house in several months now (with the exception of that dinner party the Dork Spouse hosted some weeks ago as a thank you to some people who helped her out at a big event). There are many reasons for this; we're super busy with other things; we're currently on Smart Hours for the summer which makes timing difficult, many of the people we invited often don't show up, etc). But one thing that always bothered me about Board Game Night when it did happen was that, on those few occasions in which more than a couple of people showed up, there are not very many games that accommodate a large number of players.

In our current inventory, the following games are the only ones that permit more than six players:

• Bananagrams (2 or more)
• Cards Against Humanity (2 or more)
• Citadels (2 to 8)
• Gloom (2 to 7, if you don't mind slow game play)
• Tsuro (2 to 8)
• Uno (2 to 10)
• Pictionary (3 to 16)
• Slap .45 (3 to 7)
• Superfight! (3 to 10)
• Winter Tales (3 to 7)
• Apples to Apples (4 to 10)
• The Resistance (and Avalon) (5 to 10)
• Guesstures (4 or more)
• Werewolves of Miller's Hollow (8 to 18)

Board Game Review: Coup

Here we go with another example of a misnomer: Coup is not actually a board game, but a card game. No matter, though; I shall review this amazing fun and easy (and very quick!) game. Prepare for political upheaval: we're going into the world of The Resistance again to take a look at a truly enjoyable game called Coup.

As always, we start with the numbers:

Strategy: 3
Randomness: 2
Complexity: 2
Humour: None
Attractiveness: Pretty
Average Length of Game Play: 15 minutes

How much is enough?

I've been feeling lately like I don't get to play enough board games. This is a strange feeling for me to have, because most Tuesdays, I go the the local board game club, and every other Friday, I go to my friend's house to play board games. I even get in a third session on some weeks, when we have special events, like when the Dork Spouse planned a special board game night as a reward for some people who helped her out at a recent event, or the Dork Spouse and I go to the local Board Game Cafe for kicks.

But I keep thinking about some of the games I have in my collection (51 distinct titles, not counting expansions or classic games like Chess or Backgammon), and how long it's been since I've been able to play some of them (it's been years since I've played Settlers of Catan, and I've owned Winter Tales for two and a half years now, and still haven't ever played it once). I also find myself thinking about how much I enjoy playing certain games with certain people (there's a young woman I know with whom it is very rewarding to play The Resistance: Avalon).

Remember, of course, that games are an important part of my social life, because they serve as a framework for me, around which I can build my social interactions. Sometimes, in fact, I feel as if games are the most meaningful social contact I am capable of having. When I lack that interaction, it can feel as if I'm not getting enough social contact.

Road Trip to GenCon!

As most of you know by now, I've been writing for PinkFae for several months. This wonderfully progressive gaming site is in the process of becoming even more respectable and noteworthy, as the director intends to apply for non-profit status. To that end, I've been given the title of 'senior writer,' as well as a stack of business cards (which I've been passing out like candy, sheerly for the novelty of it). In fact, the director wants me to go to GenCon.

I applied for a press pass under the PinkFae banner, and was issued one. And last week, a friend and I booked a hotel together. Since the Dork Wife will not be attending (she is, after all, not as obsessed with gaming as I, and she looked into other attractions in the Indianapolis area, and decided that she was not interested in doing anything else there whilst I was at the convention), I needed to find someone to go with me so that I'm not making the 12 hour drive alone.

At any rate, the hotel has been booked and paid for, so this is something that is going to happen.

Board Game Review: Firefly: The Game

As promised, this week is another board game review. Since I haven't yet (for some reason), I'm going to cover the great board game based on a great series: Firefly: The Game. We start, as always, with the ratings:

Strategy: 2
Randomness: 4
Complexity: 4
Humour: Derivative
Attractiveness: Pretty
Average Length of Game Play: 2 ½ hours