To Alcohol! The cause of… and solution to… all of life’s problems. Generally speaking the idea of getting your friends black out drunk and making them lose all of their money isn’t going to earn you the accolades you think you deserve. Although if you are able to do this in board game form, you still won’t earn any accolades, but at least you can go home knowing you are a winner and with the fleeting thought that maybe drawing penises or their faces with permanent marker wasn’t such a good idea (It was). Continue reading →
As I’ve been working through the backlog of Gamerstable podcasts, a recent episode on maps in gaming really got me thinking of their importance and impact on me. While I am definitely no cartographer, I think that, when given enough time, motivation, and printer ink, I can churn out some decent gaming maps. Not only do I try to make the maps aesthetically appealing, I definitely make a concentrated effort to provide a utilitarian tool for my players as well.
This picture hurts me, on the inside. Where my feelings should be.
So after a 9 hour workday and a 3 hour drive home I sit at my computer without a single topic rattling around in my head. With this in mind, I have decided to take the easy way out and post another list of things I like. This time it shall be fun rules light board/card games. Woohoo! (woohoos not included) Continue reading →
These days, everyone has a smartphone. You’ve got one. Your mom has one. Hell, even the 2nd graders down the street have one, and they probably know more about how to operate it than the techs at Apple do. That being said, one of the greatest features of smartphone and tablet technology is the plethora of Apps being developed by everyday geeks faster than you can switch from an Android to an iPhone* (*contract restrictions may apply). Join us this week as we discuss some of our favorite Apps. Whether it’s useful time wasters (aka games), infinite knowledge at our finger tips, or the ability to stay organized at work, at the gaming table, or in the daily grind of life in general, we’re not really sure how we used to function without them. So, make sure your battery is charged, the touch screen is polished up, and your notepad app is open and ready as we discuss it all on this weeks new episode of Monkey in the Cage.
On March 13th Journey is set to be released on the Playstation Network. I have been eagerly awaiting Journey since it was first announced back in 2010 and my luck and getting in to the closed beta last year only increased my want for this game. In Journey you play as what I can only assume is a desert nomad, that wanders the desert making your scarf grow bigger so you can accomplish puzzles. I know this sounds strange, but from the three levels I was able to play, it is quite fun and the art and music are absolutely beautiful.
One of the unique aspects of Journey that I was unable to experience was the multiplayer. The entire game allows for multiplayer at any point, but it is in a very limited capacity. When you encounter another player the game does not allow for communication beyond what you are able to express through your characters movements, there is no VoIP or text messages. Working together with this stranger allows both characters to move faster, jump further, and access new places of the map, but you are in no way required to have a “group” to enjoy or even complete the game.
Journey was created by thatgamecompany, one of the most unique developers working today. They also created flOw, a game where you start as a single celled organism and eat your way up the food chain, and the ever popular with the ladies, Flower. Flower is one of the few games that can just enrapture even a non-gamer. It has such simple controls and the art so beautifully done that it is hard not to stare at the screen as a trail of petals floats by.
While thatgamecompany may not make the most action packed games and many times I need to be in the mood to play one of there games, I still count anything they produce as a day one buy.
About a year ago when randomly stumbling on the internets, I came across a post about a group trying to increase interest in board gaming. They were asking people to board game in public and were calling it the Play in Public campaign. The original post seems to have been taken offline, but there are still remnants of the campaign online, including a wordpress blog named pipcampaign.
Now the reason I bring up this nearly dead campaign now is that I finally decided to give it a go and bring a group of my board games with me out to a local market that has tables set up for people to eat and listen to the always terrible cover band. It was here, surrounded by aging bikers that I decided I would attempt my first public play with Forbidden Island.
Forbidden Island is a fairly light and fluffy game as is, but for some reason playing outside with some sammiches (yes, sammiches) and cheese, it made the experience that much more enjoyable. Maybe it was playing in the sun for once that gave it that extra shot of vitamin D (aka death to pasties).
Sadly we were only able to get through one game even though I had brought a bag full of them. The wind started to kick up and throw our cards everywhere. It was fun while it lasted and is something I would definitely do again. Maybe next time I will hit a bar and play a few rounds of Munchkin. I would suggest everyone give playing in public a try, it can add a new element of enjoyment to the game and who knows, maybe you will meet a few new people and introduce them to a new board game.
