Day Gaming

Two player games of 2011

2011-12-13T15:44:00.000-06:00

This year I've played quite a few multiplayer games as two-player:

Ticket to Ride
Carcassonne
Ingenious
Scrabble
Caylus
Caylus Magna Carta

We've lately been playing a really fun single-player Ipad word game as a two-player co-operative. I know, it's cheating to use someone else's brain but this game is really hard. W.E.L.D.E.R. or word welder has you building words like Bookworm but it's so much harder. You switch letter positions to make your plays but you only have so many "swaps" per level. Later you earn other special moves like the ability to transpose any one letter with any other letter on the screen. We've played a hundred or so Words with Friends Games as well. We've also played a few proper two-player games like:

Balloon Cup
Roma (love that game)
Lost Cities
Battle Line
Hive (she hates the bug theme, but it's one of my favorite games)
Ascension (she doesn't like monsters but this is a fantastic game on the Ipad)

Do you want to play an Ios game? My Gamecenter name is AmusedJohn. I need to play some Twilight Struggle or a deeper two-player. What are your recommendations? I know none of these are really new games, but they are new to me and I've been enjoying them.

I know this is a short post. I just wanted to see how Blogger and Google+ are playing together.

Snafu

2011-04-25T14:34:00.001-05:00

We played a four-person word game based on Tichu. It uses the #alphaplayingcards system.

SNAFU, the partnership word game

This game uses Alpha Cards® , http://www.tjgames.com/alphagames.html

If this is your first play, take and A/E card and mark it as the start card.

Setup:

This game is designed for exactly four players. Choose partners any way you like. For example, draw cards and have the two cards nearest the end of the alphabet partner together and the two cards nearest the beginning of the alphabet partner together. Partners sit diagonally across from each other. The score will be recorded by teams, not by individuals. Place two cards aside for now and deal out all remaining cards to players.. The team scoring the least amount of points this round will also score the value of those two cards, even if the score is negative (rare).

Total points possible in a hand is 200, so for quick scoring you can sum the points of one team and the other team will receive 200 minus that total. If one team scores 70, the other team scores 130. If both members on a team manage to get out of cards first, they score 200 points and the other team scores nothing. No calculation is required.

After looking at your cards, choose one card to pass facedown to each other player including your partner. After the pass, the player with the start card has the “lead” and begins play.

Gameplay:

The start player my play the start card individually or in a legal combination. If played individually, the start player may “wish” for another letter to be played. If a player can legitimately play that wished letter, they must do so. They do not

have to play the start card on their first play.

Legal plays:

A Single Card

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A straight, a set of three

or more cards that are sequential in the alphabet. The alphabet does not “wrap” so a set

containing the letter “z” is the highest set possible. A set can be beaten by a set higher in the

alphabet. GHI > BCD. Ignore point values.

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A word of any length.

Proper nouns, abbreviation, foreign words, and words requiring punctuation

are not allowed.

Non-passing players must play a word of the same length as

the word that was lead with a higher total point value.

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Full House

A Full house is a

four-letter word and a three-letter word.

Higher full houses are based only on the point value of the four-letter

word.

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BOMBS

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There are two types of

bombs. Bombs may be played at any time,

even when it is not the players turn.

Bombs beat all combinations except higher bombs

Type 1: 4 or more of the

same letter

Type 2: A straight of

5-length or higher

A bomb of more cards beats

a bomb of fewer cards. A same-letter

bomb of a higher value or later in the alphabet beats a same-letter bomb of

lower value.

A straight-bomb higher in

the alphabet beats a straight-bomb lower in the alphabet.

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Special circumstances: If a player wins a trick by playing a

combination or single card with a value of 10 (J,Q,Z), then that entire trick

must be given to the other team. The

player winning the trick maintains the lead and may choose which player to

receive the cards. This player will

place the cards face down in their score pile.

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An unfulfilled wish must be played if possible. For

example, a player wished for an H. A

previous player played an X. An H was

not played because it was not legal.

The H wish is still in effect and must be played if possible. The wish may be fulfilled when in a combination

like the word “catch” containing the letter H. A wild-card as an H is not required and

does not fulfill the wish.

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An Assist

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A player who has made a snafu bet, covered later, may,

once during the round, play a combination with one card facedown. Their partner takes the facedown card and

replaces it with a card that creates a legitimate play. The letters may be shuffled to form a

legitimate play. This is the only time

“table talk” is allowed. Partners may

discuss rearranging the letters and even say “if you have a U, this would be

a great pass.” If unable to create a legitimate play, the team takes -10 points. If the player was leading the round, they

must lead a new legitimate play. If

they were not lead, they must pass and take their cards back into their hand.

SNAFU

Before playing any cards, a player may make a bet of

SNAFU. This is a 100-point wager that

the player will get rid of all of their cards first. Failing to get rid of all of their cards

first earns negative 100 points. You may

even say Snafu before you pass. This

will signal your partner to pass you something powerful, but it also signals

the other team to pass you cards they think will be difficult for you to play/

Gameplay:

Players may pass at any time except when they have the lead.

A player who has passed may come back in

when gameplay returns to the player.

When all other players have passed, the player who last played wins the

trick. If the trick was won with a J,Q,or

Z play, the trick is given to the opposing team. Otherwise, the trick is placed facedown in

the players score pile and the winning player starts the next lead with any

legitimate play.

Play continues until only one player remains with

cards. The tricks of the last player go

to whoever went out of cards first. The

unplayed cards in the last players hand go to the opposing team.

Scoring.

All cards receive the value on their cards with the

following exceptions:

Vowels are all worth 1 point. Flip your U cards to score them as 1 point,

not two points. *It’s easy to miss this.

?s, Wild cards score -13 points. This is done to offset the power of the card

and so that the checksum will be 200 points.

Don’t forget that the team who scored least also scores the two facedown

cards.

If a partnership goes out 1-2, if they are the first and

second players to get rid of their cards, then they score 200 points and the

opposing team scores 0. There is no need

to sum cards under this circumstance.

Snafu bets are still in play, so also award 100 points or negative

points as warranted.

Gameplay continues until one partnership has earned 500 or

more points. If both teams earn over 500

points, the highest score wins.

2010 gaming

2011-01-01T07:59:00.000-06:00

2010 saw less gaming from me. The whole, "it's time for your to leave" thing with the Ex put a damper on things. Someone in one of my game groups said "we knew it was coming since we haven't seen her in forever." Thanks. You could have let me know. :-)

I did go to Boardgamegeek.Con in Dallas though for the first time in a long time and that was great except for having to work through all the fun stuff and being unprepared and un-registered for the poker tournament and the flea market. As usual, excursions for disc golf and food were great.

Here are some of my favorites from the year:

Best family game:
Forbidden Island. We have really enjoyed this cooperative game this year. This is saying a lot since I usually don't like cooperative games at all. There are not a lot of board games my little video gamers will sit still for, but they both like playing this one with Dad. This game is cheap too, so definitely worth picking up if you haven't. As a bonus, this lead to a play of the Reiner Knizia co-op Lord of the Rings that had been sitting on my shelves for years. It's great that the kids are getting big enough to play and I don't have to play games specifically labelled "kid games." It's not surprise, but my daughter favors cooperative games and my son favors games with lots of theme and toy-like bits.

Best new Word Game:
Word on the Street. This feels like a fun game of Family Feud based on words. Really fun. Apparently this came out in 2009, but I didn't play it then. It was also a big hit with our Word Game Meetup of the Central Texas Boardgames Meetup. In this game, your team shouts out theme-matching words that contain constants on the board. You move the consonants in your word towards you and then off the game. It's very easy to understand and fun to play.

Best "filler game":
I love 7 Wonders. This game goes up to 7 and is quick to play so I'm sure it will be a perennial favorite at meetups. I bought a copy of this hard to find game from Timewellspent and came in dead last the two times I played it and still had a blast. I also liked Innovation a lot despite being heavy on the chaos.

Best strategy game:
Didn't play many. Will have to do better next year. My best strategy games were revisits with old favorites like Princes of the Florence, Traders of Genoa, Hamburgum, and Santiago. I played Ra the Dice Game and thought I'd rather play regular Ra.

Best card game:
Tichu Rules. Obviously this list is my favorites, not necessarily what came out in 2010. I was introduced to Three Dragon Ante this year and that was a lot of fun.

Best video game:
Mass Effect 2. I loved this Sci-Fi shooter that is heavy on dialogue. I also put even more time in the Bioware game Dragonage Origins. I really hated seeing 1 VS 100 go away on Xboxlive. That was a lot of fun.

Best Party Game:
It didn't come out this year, but I really enjoyed Dixit. I played it first at a Boards and Brews Meetup in South Austin and wound up getting the game and playing it several times, mostly at our Word Games and More meetup. I guess Dixit 2, the expansion came out this year and I had to have that too. The most-played party game was an old one from called Family Business. The kids like it and its good short fun at meetups too.

Best device:
Ipad. I never go anywhere without it. It stores my textbooks but having RA, Samurai, Scrabble, Boggle, a Pictionary clone, Small World, and other boardgames always with me is priceless. Since I'm usually alone, having it as a dining companion is really good even if I'm just playing Sudoku or reading a novel. I got it used from a 14 year old off Craigslist who was using the proceeds to invest in his landscaping business. You go, kid.

Best New Gaming Venue:
The Silver Grille Cafe. I'm still reeling from Opal Divine's asking us to pay if we wanted to still play there. The Silver Grille really appreciates our business, it's well lit, there's free wi-fi and outlets at a lot of tables, and I'd be remiss in not mentioning them for this year. Of course, nothing beats Rockin' Tomato in South Austin, but that's too far from me for much gaming.

Unplayed games:
I still haven't learned and bought several board games this year that I didn't play: Carsons City, Endeavor, Dice Town, the expansion to Kingsburg, Canal Mania, and Egizia.

Games for Sale:
Looking around, I'd part with many:
Stonehenge
Dragon Delta
Cuba
Die Macher
Tara Seat of Kings
Dschunke
Metromania
Evergreen
Parthenon
Vikings
IDO
Peace Bowl

That's just a quick glance. If I don't put together something locally, maybe I can sell them at Boardgamegeek.Con next year.

Thanks for reading.

Only public comment about Divorce

2010-07-08T22:26:00.001-05:00

In respect for the soon-to-be ex-wife, this will be my only comment about our upcoming divorce. I'm not convinced our daughter won't find out by reading this. The kids are still in Alabama at Camp Grandma. I know now this was part of the plan.

I'll be moving to an apartment in Cedar Park, TX. soon. It's near Brushy Creek Sports Park, Cat Hollow, and Wilco--three disc golf courses I enjoy.

Where's Gina going to go? As far as I know, she'll stay here. Eventually, when the market is better, we'll liquidate.

Who gets the kids? She does. She's a much better mother than I am a Dad. I'll still be involved with the kids' lives. I did spend a few days planning to move to Costa Rica since most of my work can be done virtually, but I don't want to be that far from the kids. A Full-time maid for $250 a month was tempting though.

Couldn't you work it out? I suggested a marriage restoration course and a trip to a marital therapist but that was all "too little to late, John." "Not even once?" "Not even once"

I'm shocked! No crap! So am I.

Of course the signs were all there. The only time we touch is when we shake hands at church. I haven't been included in family photos or invited to family vacations. She hasn't worn her wedding ring since 2007. She sleeps on the couch. There's no food for me at family meals. She told the census guy she's a single parent. She screens her calls and doesn't answer if it's from me. She'd rather eat oatmeal than go anywhere with me. Yeah, I guess in retrospect the signs were there.

"I'm not going to talk to you because you know the perfect words to say." Gee, I don't even know how to respond to that.

"Some women would like a sober, God-fearing, man with two jobs." "Lucky you. If I run into any I'll send them your way." This is going to be painful.

What about all your games? I've got 53 boxes of them packed up in the living room. That was a stupid purchase. Now at least I'll be able to have friends over to play them. I haven't done that in a couple of years. Oh, and they are all for sale but sealed in random boxes.

Now I know why she was collecting boxes in the garage. New clothes. New haircut. Working out. Going back to school. Going to be a better person. Would have liked to have been around for that.

Are you just separating? No, that's what I asked. This is a final thing. "Go ahead and sign the long lease." Ugh.

Party Time! Yeah, right. Did I mention the two jobs? One is for a Christian college and I signed something that says I abstain from all alcohol now. The next class that comes my way, I'll tell them about the divorce and see if they still want to use me. They should. I've been spending a lot of time on my knees.

How are you doing? I'm getting better. The virtual class this week was much easier than the "I want a divorce. Have a safe trip" class of last week. Stiff upper lip and all that. When I hit the bargaining stage, let's just say I put it all out there. She must really not like me.

How long were you married? 15 years this December. Yeah.

Oh, and please be nice to her. She doesn't need any weirdness in her life. She was married to me for 15 years.

You read all that? Be careful. You may be spending all your time online and not really being with your family. Go hug them.

Golf round for Jul 5 2010

2010-07-05T13:23:00.001-05:00

Golf Round for Jul 5 2010 (Searight)

Score Card

Each entry contains: gross score / net score / side game points

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Front 9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Back 9	Total
black (tee)	275	239	534	216	165	187	244	272	404	2536	270	235	360	265	186	330	311	216	300	2473	5009
par (par)	3	3	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	28	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	27	55
John G	3	3	5	4	2	4	3	3	4	31	3	3	4	3	4	4	3	3	4	31	62
Tony J	3	3	4	3	2	2	3	4	3	27	3	3	5	2	4	2	3	3	3	28	55
Ken Dodge	4	4	6	3	3	2	3	2	4	31	2	3	5	3	3	3	3	4	3	29	60
handicap (handicap)	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?		?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?

Data generated by GolfCard.

www.senygma.com/GolfCard.html

Tichu Scoring

2010-06-27T21:51:00.000-05:00

Nate	John			Wayne	Traci
T		+105	+95
		105	95
T		+180	+20
		285	115
		+200	-100	T
		485	15
T		-100	+200
		385	215
		+90	+10
		475	225
	T	+165	+35
		640	260
		+0	+100
		640	360
		+20	+180	T
		660	540
		+60	+140	T
		720	680
T		+180	+20
		900	700
		+0	+200		T
		900	900
T		+90	+110
		990	1010

Physical Games that should go away

2010-06-19T13:45:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I was running late to meet a gamer for lunch. I didn't have time to go home and grab the Hive game we were going to play. Fortunately, I just downloaded Hive instead. My wife and I played it Friday night on my Iphone 3G while we were waiting for our food at Rio Grande. We decided that playing in the Iphone was no less pleasant than playing with the physical pieces.

That means I should probably sell the following boardgames:
Hive
Ingenious for 2
Blokus for 2

Not that I will. Shipping games is a pain and I've got way too many unplayed mediocre games to worrry about these few. Anyone want an Illiad or Municipium for cheap? It's just fun to see how technology can obsolesce things we take for granted we'll be playing for years.

I almost like Wurdle (A Boggle knockoff) and Scrabble better through the Iphone than through the board game equivalents.

Should I get rid of that digital camera I picked up last year. Sure, it's 5 meg. better than the new Iphone will be, but do I really want to carry a snapshot camera and the Iphone? Maybe for the occasional wide-angle shot.

I enjoy Small World. There's that chance I'll get the Ipad and the app would be better than the board game and certainly more portable. Where's that Ticket to Ride Ipad App? Carcassonne is coming.

Mothers Day Gaming

2010-05-09T21:55:00.001-05:00

I was surprised to see so many people at Opal Divine's Today. There were about 20 of us playing boardgames on Mothers Day. I guess a lot of us have mothers in other states.

Games I played:
A hand of Poison
Shrille Stille
Attika
Yspahan
King's Keep
A couple of Hands of Big 3
A few hands of Tichu

Other games I saw: Ticket to Ride (x2).
Dominion with Alchemy
Kingsburg
Guillotine. This is played almost every meetup.
Rummikub
Small World. This one will be played every time now too.
Caylus. Missed out on that one- a favorite of mine

It was nice to see Marty from Houston as well. He played Caylus, Ticket to Ride, Small World, and Tichu.

Oh, I wasn't sure how many people would show up so I left the games in the car when I went in. Almost everyone brought games! I used to bring way too many games to our meetup. This time I didn't bring any in until I was feeling dicey and went out and grabbed Yspahan and Boomtown.

Influence of Video Games

2010-04-13T13:13:00.000-05:00

Today at the gym, while multi-tasking in the best way , I realized some of the influence of video games:

I was reading science fiction on my Iphone (The Gripping Hand) and listening to metal music while exercising on the elliptical machine at 24 Hour Fitness.. The science fiction was from playing the fantastic Mass Effect 2 on the Xbox 360. The metal was from playing the mediocre (at best) Brutal Legend. I've played about half of that and I'll probably trade it away on Goozex before I finish it.

Oh, and the biggest influence of video games was the gut that sent me to the gym in the first place. ;-)

Gaming Resolutions

2010-01-08T19:24:00.001-06:00

Jumping into the resolutions:
This year I hope to play more Tichu. There were years when I resolved to play less Tichu because I felt forced to play it. Now, I really like it. I even thought about creating a Meetup for it so I can play more. The problem about meetups I've had though is despite having more people to socialize with and game, I usually lose most of the people I played with before the meetup. This happened with both the Earlybirds Disc Golf Group and the Central Texas Boardgames Meetup.

Continue to calculate bang for the buck for games before buying. This means that I probably won't buy boardgames again this year. I spent $45 to buy a video game called Dragon Age and probably played it 80 100 hours. That's a lot of hours but it's what I do instead of watching TV and I got a wireless headset so I can play after the family is asleep. Most boardgames I'm darn lucky to get played. Without a bigger house or place to play regularly, I just won't be putting more dollars into the cardboard. Maybe I can support the hobby in different ways like getting some games for the Iphone. I know I'd play those at least and Knizia has had a few releases lately.

Play more word games. We've got a once a month word games group that's a lot of fun. I stopped going for a while this year mostly to play afternoon disc golf. I always enjoy:Crossword Pyramids, Scrabble Express, Boggle

Played quickly enough, I also enjoy the odd game of Quiddler, Palabra, and Parlay too. I hate Pick Two though because it all comes down to luck at the end of the game, in my opinion. Not for me.

I need to play more Age of Steam. It's the one meaty game, outside of Caylus I guess, that I really enjoy. We played the basic game at a recent meetup and it reminded me how fun this is. Hey, it was also the first time I got to play my copy of Age of Steam. Other people have played it before and I've played other people's before.

1 vs 100. Oh, yeah. I have to play more of this fun trivia game show on Xbox live. I can never beat Jill Jones but I enjoy trying. At least, I think it's Jill. She uses Jeff's avatar so you never know. I do pretty well until I'm asked Radiohead's nth album, or who voiced a character in a video game, who directed a movie, or another entertainment question. I thought I was going to do really good on the episode about toys and gaming. Blokus was the answer to one category but I just wasn't too up on Cranium, Clue, Sorry, and the rest of the games they asked about. I thought I would do well with girls in gaming too but nothing came up about Susan Rozmiarek, Valerie Peters, Buffy Burnet, or anyone else I know. They seemed to be more about Lara Croft.

I hate becoming what I made fun of. Even if I wanted to get back into Bridge, can't do it because it interferes with live night of 1 VS 100. To quote The Breakfast Club, "Hey, it's sorta social. Demented and Sad, but social."

I'd like to get rid of probably mediocre games I've owned but never played. Let's see, glancing at the first shelf I see China Moon, Parthenon, Kings Cribbage, Sonehenge, Mall World, and Desert Bazaar. I don't know how I let the collecting bug bite, but at least it hasn't hit in a couple of years. Games are pretty hard to get rid of. They are bulky and expensive to ship if you find a compatible trip. It's a long way to game events that have flea markets to sell them. OK, maybe I just resolve not to add to the stack.

Ace Pot Nonsense

2009-12-20T15:14:00.000-06:00

We had someone else get confused about ace pots this week. We've been taking in ace pots so that if someone playing with the Earlybirds hits an ace, they get some financial reward as well. So far nobody has hit. Some people are upset that they haven't been paid for the ace they haven't hit. I want to say tell it to the cops if you feel you've been wronged. I'm sure that would be an interesting conversation. "I paid $2 several times and I didn't hit an ace. I got nothing."

If I were running a tournament and we all paid $5 for the ace, we'd have a throw-off at the end if no aces were thrown. That group of people is probably never going to play a round just like that again. Having a club is different and the ace pot builds. We've got some backup, but nothing like the huge backups the big clubs have locally. One club has thousands of dollars from ace pot money. Having funds give options like adding concrete tees, signage, and baskets to courses that need them. Some folks think we should just give all the ace money out despite the fact that no aces have been made. I prefer to track the funding and use it for something special.

Here are some very special things about our club:
It's always free to play. Don't feel like you can hit an ace on the course we are playing? Don't pay.
It's very casual friendly. We play with people of all skill levels.
If you don't get an ace and you are in the ace pot, you qualify for a CTP, a closest to the pin prize. We've given out things like a ton of discs, restaurant coupons, tee shirts, stools, mini discs, and more. Most of those came as donations from me. I signed up for a "disc of the month" program with Prime Discs and put most of those discs up for grabs. Several others in the group have put prizes in. I bought and gave out shirts for our one disc challenge, got business cards with our clubs information on them, and more. None of my CTP donations ever required a debit from club funds, it was just something I wanted to give back.

Meetup has a nice tool for tracking Money. After our rounds I put in an ace pot tally so we know how much we've been taking in each week. This isn't something members see. I think of it like the ledger if we had someone elected treasurer.

Someone accused us (me) of plotting to only go to hard courses so that nobody will hit the ace pot. We've played The Rivery, Cat Hollow, and Cactus Patch. In the old days we even played Wells Branch and The Lutheran Church. We got very little attendance at these "beginner" courses.

I'm usually OK when people leave. Some have done it very well by just not showing up or by removing themselves from the group. It's frustrating when people think they have to post a political treatise on why they are leaving. My general philosophy is Don't go away mad.. just go away. It would have been different if they said "I want to step up and run some contests for prizes at our rounds. Can I have some of the ace fund and I'll buy some prizes." I guess some feel they get better results from a rant but that doesn't play with me.

Games Packed for today

2009-12-13T08:33:00.001-06:00

Hoping to play:
Caylus or Age of Steam
Stoneage
Kingsburg
Hamburgum or Imperial
Tichu.

Actually, I'd be happier just playing Tichu all day but we've got 31 people coming to Planks and I want to mix things up. I'd play some new games if people brought them and they are a) not cooperative and b) not too fiddly and c) not too long. We'll see.

Thoughts on VGA Awards

2009-12-13T08:30:00.001-06:00

Watched the Video Game Awards... well, what I could stomach. Award shows are jokes for the most part and that one was no exception. I realize the only reason why I've gotten into video games is that I haven't had to travel so much this year. I spend entire days teaching classes from a laptop in my living room. Some day we'll all be virtual and I'll be able to look up and see a virtual classroom and their breakout sessions will be more than just conference calls. Video games help me see what that future will be but it seems the future is always farther away than you think. I also was initially attracted to the Xbox because you can play Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne, and (I thought) Lost Cities. I tried Ticket to Ride but it's not the most compelling thing to play on the Xbox. Yucata.de is a better platform for boardgames, even if it is turn based after email notifications.

It seems the game of the year, Uncharted 2, is only on the PS3. I've thought of getting one of those but it feels ridiculous to have all 3 platforms. The Wii just sits there for the most part. Last night the family and I were watching the Star Trek movie again on DVD. I hate that regular DVDs don't take advantage of HDTV. So if you get a blue-ray player, my thoughts are you should spend the extra $100 or so and get the PS3. Then you can also play Uncharted 2, Ratchet and Crank, and a few other exclusives. Just not going to pull the trigger on that one for a while.

I'm already enjoying the Xbox 360. A Netflix movie is streaming as I type this and pack a few games for today's board game meetup. The device itself wasn't expensive and I've bought practically all the games on Craigslist. When you add it all up including the guitars, the drums, the controllers, the third-party wireless headset, you get a reason not to switch. Plus I really enjoy Xbox Live 1 VS 100. I know you don't have to switch but it seems silly to pay for another device that I'd mostly not be playing.

I was hoping Batman Arkham Asylum would get game of the year. Of course, I haven't played Uncharted 2 so I'm not really informed on the decision. I do like Dragon Age: Origins. It didn't take long for the hours I spent on that game to exceed the Modern Warfare Single Player I was playing. Sometimes you just get tired of being shot at.

Dragon Age is a role playing game that reminds me of Ultima 3, Bard's Tale, and the like with a cloth map and "enter the code on page 27, third word" kind of things. I used to play those in college and shortly afterwards. It's a big shift to have me equipping characters with the right armor and spells instead of just running into battle Halo Style.

Bust voice actor: Jack Black. Haven't played Brutal Age and I probably won't. I don't want to listen so much to the heavy metal music. Mark Hammil was so awesome as the Joker that I thought he would get it.

Next purchase will probably be Assassin's Creed 2. I've got so many unfinished games right now I don't need to dive into it soon. Funny, having Netflix streaming movies also gives me a ton of half watched movies in my queue. Sometimes I'll put one one while I work and then when the kids get home I have to turn it off due to mature content. Then I check the queue and it's got movies with watched 75%, 83%, 59%, etc. I guess that's better than having the physical DVD sit around till you send it back.

The Trailers for World Premiere's were also disappointing. Halo Reach didn't show any actual game play, just cut scenes. Spec Ops looks decent as a cover based shooter. That Crackdown 2 looked interesting and fun. I guess it's very expensive to create a new game so developers deliver mostly sequels.

Nice Reaction

2009-12-10T21:00:00.001-06:00

I thought the wife would not be pleased at the new hardware, a Wireless headsets for the 360. She said, "that's one of the best things you've done lately." I guess she didn't want to hear "and now it's time for a bonus question" and "we need to rethink our strategy, let's run it again" over and over.

Shawn is opening his disc golf store on 620 pretty soon. It's going to have a cafe and some couches so you can chill in the disc golf store. I just don't get his "disc golf, and you thought being a vegan was cool" tee shirt.

I'm really looking forward to games at Plank's on Sunday. Caylus, Stoneage, and Age of Steam are all possibilities. I won't go out of my way to play something new but if something cool shows up, that's a possibility too. Then we will finish up with Tichu.

Lately I've been hanging out on 1 VS 100

2009-12-03T22:51:00.001-06:00

I've had an Xbox 360 for a few months now. I've been geeking out on it. My gamer tag is jgravitt - come and join me in a game of trivia if you like. I'm not as good as I used to be. In high school I captained a Science Olympiad team and an Academic Bowl. I'm sure you are not surprised. Give me a buzzer and ask a question and I'd lead you to victory.

These days, maybe not so much. There are a lot of questions about music after the 80's, comic books, television, pop culture, etc. and I'm not really good at that.

I also like Modern Warfare 2. Yes, it's a violent shooter but that's the genre I played way back in the past playing Doom on PCs. I need somebody to help me beat those special operations that are designed for two because they are really hard all by yourself.

I hate Idiots who vandalize disc golf courses

2009-11-26T15:57:00.001-06:00

The penises on all the baskets weren't enough? I can't believe they took a crap in a basket and smeared it.

Sorry for the photo but I can't believe they did that. That' is very high and in the woods not far from a well-used walkway.

The Also Rans were pretty good last weekend

2009-11-26T15:54:00.000-06:00

I would have loved to have played Texas Teams this weekend with the Earlybirds. 360 something disc golfers camping would have been a ton of fun. We did field a team of 9. Vanessa, Judd's wife (who is expecting) played as an amateur woman for us and that's what we needed.

We played some fun disc golf at the Rivery though. 12 was a great number considering the weather and the fact that 9 of us were hanging out in Wimberly.

If I could ever know my schedule in advance, I'd like to return to BGG.Con. It's a great bargain if you live in Dallas and it's not too bad if you live here and have to get a hotel room.

The spending for board games isn't there for me. I'm not allowed to host games any more at home (cause I don't do enough in the house and I'm not nice to the family when guests are here.) Let's say that I guy a game I like like Stoneage for $35 and play it for 5 times. That's not a good investment in entertainment dollars. So many games sit on my shelves unplayed that I don't even want to count the wasted dollars:
Fury of Dracula
Neuroshima Hex
Batavia
Journey to the Center of Earth
Parthenon
La Citta
Die Saulen von Venedig
Factory Fun
League of Six
etc. etc.

I did get to play a couple or word games I like this weekend. I really enjoy Crossword Pyramids. I missed Quiddler by arriving half an hour late but I don't think I'm capable of enjoying a game of 8 or 9 people. We also played Scrabble Express. Scrabble Express is a tiny faster version of Scrabble I enjoy better. It uses a timer, there aren't as many places to play on the board, and you roll letter dice before each play. This cuts way down on Anaylsis Paralysis. I lost Crossword Pyramids by one point (love close games) and had a weak win on Scrabble Express. Scrabble Express only goes to someone gets 200 or more. I went out with a false word that nobody challenged, "munged." Two of the people thought that was safe as in "munged" the data but the IT slang hasn't made it's way into the OSPD. At least I don't think so, I've misplaced my Official Scrabble Players Dictionary.

Austin Ridgeline course

2009-10-18T10:14:00.000-05:00

I got to play Austin Ridgeline, Austin's toughest disc gold course yesterday. This course is "like Brusy Creek Rec Park" on steroids someone said. It's got a ton of great elevation changes and it will get a lot of love when it opens 10/31. It's at a church called Austin Ridgeline Bible Church and it was designed by John Houck who designed most of the best courses in the area.

It looks like Tony is trying to fly off the mountain.

One of the holes plays a lot like ski lift courses. It's down the hill, but it's got a fairly tight fairway lined with trees most of the way down.

Jud says, "congratulations. Houck spent hours designing this course so that people can't use Tomahawks and Thumbers and you still found a way to do it."

This course already has some wrought iron benches by some of the holes, a wooden scout-built bridge over a creek, and amateur tees set up as well as the pro ones on most holes.

Praying on Drugs, near Guitar Hero band name

2009-10-11T08:26:00.001-05:00

I almost called my Guitar Hero Van Halen band "Praying on Drugs" in honor of Brother Steve. Steve was an evangelist on the campus of Georgia Tech when I went to school there. His testimony I heard shouted many times.

"I was on acid at a Van Halen concert when I heard David LeRoth say, "Not even God can save you at a Van Halen concert." I thought, what's he talking about God for? Does he believe he's real? And Jesus? And then I heard Jesus say 'I can too save you at a Van Halen concert."

Steve would shout at girls in shorts for provoking lust, at guys wearing concert shirts for worshipping Satan, and for guys who walked together for being "homO-sex-u-als."

Fight the good fight, Steve. Yes, Jesus can save even at concerts. And if you listen close you might hear him speak.

Rainy Camping Games

2009-10-05T23:17:00.001-05:00

What do you do when it's raining so hard, you don't want to take your crokinole board out of the car?

We played Liar's Dice. I have a Perudo set and a laminated wager board from Bluff on Boardgamegeek.com. This turned out to be a very fun game that you can play under a tarp as the wind and water flow outside. One of the guys wanted to just drink whiskey out of his dice cup but we convinced him to play.

After we got a 6th player, I took out a dice from Pickomino to mark the bets. That meant Pickomino was the next game to hit the table. Fun and another game that can be played when it's moist outside. It always goes on ever so slightly too long, but I think we all enjoyed the game.

Other games played: Cash'N Guns, Transamerica, and (the next day), some Tichu. Ca$h'N Guns has to be played with just the right circumstances. Having a group pointing guns at each other was pretty good in a camping setting, even if I did occasionally find everyone pointing their gun at me.

Registered Blogo for Mac

2009-10-05T16:17:00.000-05:00

Now maybe I'll finally blog again.

We are doing another board game meetup at Plank's on Sunday. Last time saw some great games played. I even played Zombie Fluxx with some new people and I didn't hate it.

There was Age of Steam played, Hacienda, Tichu, a version of Clue based on Harry Potter, Ingenious as a partnership game, Guillotine, Race for the Galaxy as a two-player game, and Diamant. There may have been a few more that I don't remember as well.

I really couldn't have picked a better place than Plank's in Austin. They have a ton of board games around their restaurant. We had to put some reservation signs out to keep non-meetup folks from just grabbing a game and taking it to their table. Also, as we were wrapping up, I noticed another group of gamers meeting at the restaurant as well,

Disc wedge

2009-05-03T08:33:00.001-05:00

My Star FL got wedged in a disc at hole 4 Wilco during the Double R's bag tag challenge. It probably kept it from skipping into the woods. My second shot landed right under the basket.

The Double R had 33 people show up for two rounds, one at Wilco and one at OSP. I did fine at Wilco but my round at OSP was a disaster.

Jimmy won the #1 tag and the money.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Tichu Mistakes

2009-04-25T13:56:00.002-05:00

Last week I made a huge mistake trying to set up a one-two when my partner called Tichu. I played a couple of high combos that went around and then a huge straight saving one card for myself. I figured I'd just pass until my partner went out. Oops! I'd have to lead (and you can't pass on a lead). I grabbed a card off then end of my straight and put it back into my hand.

"Whoa! You can't do that. Not after showing your card to your partner." The opponent on my right made me put my card back on the table. All she'd have to do is pass and we'd have a -100 for my going out first instead of my partner.

Not realizing that, she played a higher straight that exactly covered mine. Whew! My partner made his Tichu and her partner said it was very sporting of her to play a straight covering my mistake.

Well, we still barely lost the game but had fun playing. I still love Tichu.

Early Birds Roost at Red Rocks

2009-03-23T09:35:00.001-05:00

The Red Rocks show was great this weekend! It's the most fun I've ever had playing disc golf. 5 regular Early Birds went and we played with Tyler who used to play with us a lot. It's harder for him to understand our frequent banter since he's deaf. He's a great guy and I'm glad he got third in rec (I think).

Jason, on the left, had his first throw as an open player bang the chains and spit out. He had a great showing in his first open division.

Kyle, second to left, completely creamed our recreational division. He says he'll move up next time he plays. He didn't know he should move up because he hasn't been in a tournament in a couple of years (which he also won in rec.) and he didn't do well the last time our meetup played at Manor.

Matt and I also got to play in the final round for rec. I think I probably got fourth out of 16 but left before the final tallies.

I don't go camping without games. We played Ticket to Ride, Crokinole, and Diamant. That was cool! Glad the guys are open to playing games and Crokinole is an easy sell because it's all about getting a disc into a target.

It's just great to wake up on a disc golf course for a full day of fun.

Games at Water to Wine

2009-03-07T21:52:00.000-06:00

Someone contacted me through our Central Texas Boardgames Meetup about letting us play games in their wine store. I thought it was a pretty good idea so that's what we did.

We had about 23 people show up. I played Crokinole, RA, and Dominion too and I like all of those. We finished up with a game of Wasabi.

Ed and Susan came. They even played a kids game called Animal upon Animal too.

Games played:
Scrabble
Yahtzee
Crokinole
Settlers of Catan
Pandemic
My Word!
RA
Agricola (twice)
Settlers (Germany)
Boggle
Animal Upon Animal

I even got a couple of the ladies behind the bar to play My Word! They seemed to enjoy that. To show our appreciation for the space, I bought a bottle of wine and so did Ed and Susan. I think several other gamers did too.