So today is the start of my weekend of awesome, which concludes Sunday evening with seeing the original Robocop on the big screen again at The Luxe Cinema. Which is a totally awesome way to end my birthday on Sunday.

With today being the last working day before my birthday, I conformed to work place tradition everywhere and took cakes in. I wanted to take in my favourite donuts for everyone Krispy Kreme. Luckily the Wisbech Tesco sold them. But when I arrived at 7am to buy them, their Krispy Kreme donut counter looked like I had been alone with it all night. “Bugger! I’ll have to pop into the March Tesco now and see if they have any in.” I thought. I also thought while I was in Tesco I’d pick up the second Lego Batman comic with it’s exclusive Joker mini figure on the cover, and take a peak at the Lego. So the comic and three of the latest set of mini figures were in my shopping basket.

Luckily at the March store they had by the looks of it not long had a delivery of Krispy Kreme donuts. I also picked up some fruit salad stuff for my vegan friend. Paid the bill, and made my way into work.

Frankly I was excited on the drive in. I was looking forward to having a nice coffee and a donut when I got in. The surprising thing really was the donuts survived untouched to the office.

Do I really have to spell it out that I did indeed have a coffee and donut once I had got to my desk? If I do, then I did, and it was nice, and I liked it. Probably more than Katie Perry did kissing girls.

Glenys (a friend at work who apparently I have been a bad influence on) using the same approach to subtlety that I use, told me to bugger off for five minutes. So I played along. Dale and I went off to get a coffee, and talk until I was allowed back.

Upon return they had done my desk up (see photo below) and got me some pretty cool Star Wars and Marvel stuff. Plus gift certificates for Amazon (I’ll show you what that got me tomorrow when it arrives).

I have to say I was pretty taken aback by the generosity of my friends and colleagues. I’ve been really lucky at my current employer, that I’m working with a great team of people who I am so fortunate that I can call them friends. They certainly have made an old codger like me very happy and welcome.

This will be top spot along with another memory for best work celebration. Sam, Amanda, Usher and Anna, sorry today has drawn with you for the top spot. Thought it would be hard to even come close to that birthday celebration meal we had. But…

So tonight I’m seeing Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2. Then tomorrow is International TableTop Day, so playing games. Then on my actual birthday it’s Robocop. One of my all time favourite films.

Yeah the birthday celebrations have got off to a great start.

Caved and built the cardboard dice tray for Sagrada today. It looks so colourful, and attractive. Just managed to get it into the box (with some force!)

Plus I’m still the Master Artisan.

With the arrival of a new abstract game to my collection called Onitama, it reminded me of the other abstract games I have in my collection.

It’s certainly a genre I enjoy playing. And you could make a reasonable argument that it’s under represented.

Like every other game in my collection the abstract ones don’t get enough love and table time. Plus it doesn’t help that they are usually two player. I have some great two player games and they are harder to get to the table than you think.

I took the text for the above image from the following BGG link here. 

So currently my favourite abstract game in my collection has to be Santorini. It can be taught and learnt in under 5 minutes. Games are quick. With the god powers and the Golden Fleece expansion lots of replayability and variety. Plus it looks stunning. Our game group fell in love with it instantly. It even plays well with three players.

So what’s your favourite abstract game?

I hate seeing happy people post photos of the Kickstarter that I also backed. I’m like “where the feck is my copy?”

Somehow it’s seems like the last two or three Kickstarters I backed that started shipping I’m the last in the queue.

Paranoia the rpg I backed hasn’t even started posting my pledge level yet. Ok that’s like nearly two years behind schedule . But still I wish they would email out more updates instead of forcing me to visit the Kickstarter comments section to glean any news on shipping. 

Sagrada has started to ship. I’m not holding my breathe on this one. The awful Shipnaked are sending this one out from the US. My recent experience with them hasn’t been good. They were slow, behind schedule. And never sent out any shipping notice (which I hear they are once again repeating, or sending them after the stuff is delivered!)

So despite the comments/email updates and lack of shipping notices I sit hopefully (one of the few times in life I’m an optimist) by my front window waiting for the delivery to my Nan next door. 

Well I’m not having it delivered to mine! Nan is in all day. So I won’t miss the delivery and have to go through that dire process all parcel delivery companies have of rearranging delivery or trying to locate their hidden depot for picking up.

But I wait expectantly, hoping the universe will pleasantly surprise me with my Kickstarter somehow defying the laws of package delivery and turn up mysteriously on Nan’s doorstep.

Would I rather they say nothing about shipping and it just turns up? There would still be those annoying happy photos. So I’d know. And we’d be back to me hating these random people on the internet that I’ve never met and don’t know, and waiting for a delivery.

Maybe the answer lies in the bottom of a good mug of coffee.

So I was watching an old Tabletop episode on YouTube and they chose the first player using “who goes first dice”. I thought that’s a thing? So I googled them and found a UK supplier, and somehow they ended up through my letter box this morning.

So “who goes first dice” are designed so that you can’t roll the same number. No ties and rerolls. Sadly they only cater for upto four players. 

This has to be a better way of deciding first player than our usual way. Which tends to be a random player counter dropping from a gap in a closed hand. 

Sometimes we even use the suggested way of selecting the first player by the game designer in the rule book. Although some of these can be rediculous, and I’m sure there just because they are thematic. 

But this got me thinking. I also have a “solution” for the “what shall we play?” problem on game night. A solution that we have never used! That solution being What Game cards. 

Basically everyone selects a game to potentially play, with the last player or host selecting two games. They get put into a separate pile. Then a random what game card is dealt out to each person. Then in ascending order cards are played, when a person plays their card they remove a game from the pile. The game that is left at the end is the game you play. 

But this is usually not too much of an issue. Mainly because before something like FEG@WL we have discussed on the Facebook Event page for it what we will play. Or even discussed it the previous week. Which would explain why we haven’t used these yet.

So how do you decide first player or what game to play?

That headline says it all. I’m gobsmacked. According to the first project update yesterday it funded in 5 minutes.

There are no stretch goals for this project, or Kickstarter exclusives. It’s worth looking at the FAQ for the honest and accurate responses from the publisher about them.

However… “It is time for the start of the community-driven mini campaign!” Which supporters can play using a copy of the game (physical or virtual in Table Top Simulator), and then vote on its direction. 

“So there will be a new scenario every third day of the Kickstarter, starting today, and then a road event in between each of those, giving you a 10-scenario mini campaign over the course of the Kickstarter.”

“I don’t plan on ever releasing these scenarios in any printed form. The PDFs will always exist, but taken out of the context of the Kickstarter, it will just be an extremely linear campaign. The charm is that you as the community will get to decide what happens next, so please come on this journey with me, have a great time, and don’t worry about spoiling yourself, because this story is intended to be experienced now.”

How cool is that? That sure is a cool way to engage with the supporters during the campaign. A very unique one as well. So none of these CMoN cool extra minis stretch goals, just the original game and a handful of extras.

So with no “stretch goal tricks” fuelling it Gloomhaven has blown through the $1 million barrier in under 24 hours. 

That is incredible. Will it keep this up and smash the amount raised by Man Juice’s Rising Sun of $4 million? How close will it get to Kingdom Death Monsters $12 million? There is still 26 days of this campaign left. It will dip, it will slow down. But will it pickup again in the final week?

If the unmet demand for first printing is anything to go by (I saw the number 20,000 somewhere for pre-order, and 2,000 copies going to stores), there is at least 7,000 more potential backers to come. But also now there is a lot of buzz, word of mouth, the gaming forums were buzzing yesterday about the game, so there may now also be even more who want the game yet to pull the trigger and commit. 

This is going to be fun watching and finding out the answers. It should also be a blast playing along with the campaign during the Kickstarter. 

So if you are curious or want to get in on the Gloomhaven experience you can back the project HERE and pre-order your copy.

I’ve kind of spent the weekend doing the gaming equivalent of standing outside the restaurant window looking in, while everyone is inside enjoying themselves.

Or that’s how it feels watching YouTube videos by the likes of Team Covenant for the collectable dice and card game Star Wars Destiny.

Because I’ve come late to the party I’ve missed the first wave of the game. It sold like hot cakes 

All I have at the moment is the Kylo starter. I’ve not played a game yet. Well I can’t play with my friend who would also like to get into the game. He can’t buy a starter. Let alone any boosters. I was extremely lucky that I managed to get the Kylo second hand for the price I did.

But this weekend I’m hoping that the Rey starter I’ve got off eBay is legit. I know the awesome play mat that FFG do, and seen in some of the Team Covenant videos is on its way. But that was optimistic of me. It’s assuming my friend and I can get product to play with. Mind you it’s an awesome mat I can use with other games.

I did via a Facebook group for the game hear that there might be starters and boosters in some lgs in New Zealand! Being on the opposite side of the planet would normally be an obstacle. But luckily I have family down there, and an aunt and uncle on holiday there. So a cunning plan is a foot.

May is meant to be seeing the release of the second set for Destiny, with a one off reprint of the first set hitting June. But expect both to be cleared off the shelves by eager gamers quicker than a plague of locusts hitting a field of crops. Yes FFG have said that these print runs are going to be much larger than the initial one. But… we will see. I’m expecting things to be equally as crazy and hard to get.

I’m so so glad I decided to cave and get into this madness (where is that sarcasm font when you need it?)

Do you think I have a fluxx problem?

Like Love Letter I seem to have amassed one or two editions of Fluxx.

My current favourite is the Adventure Time one, closely followed by the Batman the Animated Series one.

Star Fluxx with its sci-fi tropes at one time was my favourite. But new versions arrived and usurped it. So it sits happily in third spot.

Tied for fourth are Zombie and Cthulhu Fluxx. They haven’t been to the table nearly as often as the higher placed versions.

Which currently leaves Firefly Fluxx as my least favourite version at the moment. I had high hopes for this when it was announced. But playing it, it seemed a tad disappointing. Especially with its lack of creepers. 

I’ve not had a chance to play the Math Fluxx. So can’t say where that fits in the rankings.

I’m pretty sure there will be other editions that get added to the Fluxx collection. 

It is a fun little filler, that goes down well with none gamers. My students love it.

What more can I say about this chaotic game?

This picture says it all…

Managed to get a Kylo starter.

Luckily for my wallet no product in stock at the moment.