So my plan is to travel to the Birmingham area on the Thursday and get to whatever accommodation or campsite I’ve booked. Have a relaxed, chill evening.
Then the day of the expo itself have a relaxed not so early start to the day. If I was traveling on the day of the expo (which I have done before) I’d be having to get up damn early. It most definitely wouldn’t be as relaxed a start as traveling across the day before.
I’m still waiting for Nathan to get back to me about coming along.
On the Fenland Gamers front I’ve created the event for the expo with those club members there on the Saturday to have a group picture taken. It’s bit of a club tradition.
But next week I’ll be booking my accommodation for the expo.
Last night three very good friends joined me in playing some games at our usual location of the Wisbech St Mary Sports and Social Club.
Earlier in the day I had started a six bean chili of my own creation. My chilli paste I used was a combination of ancho, pasilla, guajillo, and kashmiri chillis. All mild chillis. I’m going for taste over heat. So I want that chilli warmth that you get after having a mouthful but not so much that it hides any flavour.
The night before the beans (a combination of haricot, butter, pinto, black turtle, cannellini, and kidney beans) were soaked in a water that had salt and baking powder dissolved in it.
The peppers I used in my “Mexican” mirapoix were Tesco Finest sweet ramiro peppers. Plus I added a can of La Costena Chipotles Peppers In Adobo Sauce, some chopped up Tesco vine ripened tomatoes I had that needed using up, and finally some whole chestnut mushrooms.
This concoction was then put in a low oven for four hours or more. I took it out just before I left. I finished it off with the juice of one lime.
I took a little of the chili with me to get a second opinion or two.
That’s how much I was happy with the results of this “experiment”. Folks don’t get to try my cooking unless I’m happy with it. I’m not a confident cook and rarely share my efforts with others.
I’m very much a seat of pants cook. No two times I cook something will be the same. I vary some element or two.
Chili and soup are great for riffing!
I think for me and maybe to the horror of Texans and a lot of folks I like bean chili over a meat based one. My six bean chili is vegan!
Gavin and Diego liked the chili. Although Diego did say it was sweet. Marcin “liked” it, however he said it was spicy! He doesn’t do spicy. There was a big clue that it’s a chili!
Our first game of the evening was Wyrmspan. Like Apiary, and Expeditions, or any new game, this was just another play in the new game tour of players trying it.
I’m not complaining as I get to play a game I enjoy playing.
For the first time ever in a game we had a three way draw for first place. Diego, Marcin, and myself all got exactly the same number of points! Sadly the tie breaker of number of dragons on display gave Diego the victory.
After Gavin left we had time to play Can’t Stop.
This has become a favourite “filler” game. It’s light, very quick to teach, and fun.
Unlike Wyrmspan where Diego won on a technicality this was a clear win for him. Due mainly to Marcin and myself being unable to stop!
This was a great evening. Much banter and laughs. So great to see Gavin again. This sort of evening just sums up what gaming for me is.
The holiday request has gone in at work for the expo dates (Fri 31 May – 2 Jun) plus a couple days after to give mum time to recover.
My trips away are always draining for mum. Apparently the two attack chihuahuas (the deadly breed) Nico and Loki can be little sods, and play her up something rotten.
So I need to factor this in for any trip away that is not a day trip.
I’ve also asked Nathan if he wants to come. He needs to check dates as it might clash with dog sitting duties for his mum.
So hopefully next week I’ll be sharing that I have the time off, Nathan is going, and hotels are booked.
Happy Mario Day everyone! And to all the mums out there happy Mother’s Day.
This year Mario Day and Mother’s Day in the UK coincide.
A double celebration.
That’s why as I write this post I’m watching the Super Mario Bros movie.
Mum has got the perfunctory card. But I did get her a cake (photo to be shared on social media later) and a bunch of tulips.
Plus from mum and me some daffodils to put next to nans ashes. They were her favourites.
Oh and mum gets to spend even more time with her favourite two little masters of mayhem as I’m working this evening until 2am. So I’m going to get stories of how they kept her awake all night tomorrow.
Happy Mario and Mother’s Day…
It would appear once more I am leaving the booking of accommodation for UKGE to the last minute.
I can’t book the days off until the start of April!
At which point I need to sort something out booking wise. But any affordable rooms will be long gone. Even if it was earlier there seems to be less and less affordable rooms each year. Are the hotels etc finally catching on to the popularity of the expo, and exploiting that new knowledge?
I am toying with the idea of camping instead of a hotel. It’s been years now since I’ve spent a night under canvas.
I know in previous years some attendees of the expo have used a camp site. And it does just fall into the affordable price range.
Camping at UKGE was added to my bucket list for the expo of things to do years ago when I first heard of this being a thing.
Plus it would give me an excuse to update some of my equipment. I am tempted by the Kelly Kettle for instance. There are three versions! Even though my initial use would be for camping I’d want to be able to use it on backpacking trips also. So out of the three available “models” I’d go with the Trek version.
I already have an army surplus 100% wool blanket in the car, along with a poncho liner. Yes to be totally honest these have been recent additions. Which is the start of a sleep system idea I have. I think these would work well with the backpacking quilt I have. Obviously not the lightest of systems but definitely warmer and more flexible. Plus as a car camping system as it initially would be used the weight side would not matter. Nor would the fact it is more bulky.
But this conversation should be for another post if I decide to go this route for UKGE.
Having raised the topic of camping and backpacking on what is now essentially a boardgaming blog. I have given mum notice that later in the year I will be returning to the hills for one or two trips. Which means on one or two of future posts this blog will return back to its roots.
Yes although the posts are no longer on this blog (they are archived on a backup) this blog started life back in 2008 as an outdoors/backpacking blog!
But life events meant I have had to take an extended break from doing that sort of thing. Over a decade now. I really do love backpacking and hiking in the remote areas of the UK. And I think it’s about time I rekindled that love of being outdoors.
The aim is to get a couple of weekend trips to the hills in over the summer. It will be a while before I’m back to applying for the TGOC. Which I really do want to take part in again. But being a carer puts restrictions on how long I can be away. Three days is the limit at the moment. Two weeks is out of the question.
As some of you know I have reached an age where in the UK if I have a personal pension I can start taking it. I’m at least a decade away from being able to take the state pension. Well currently. The UK Government like to keep moving the goal posts so it gets further and further away.
But what this means is that I have as an option the possibility of taking a short career break of about 5 months.
Which is an idea I’m mulling over.
It would allow me to get some stuff sorted for mum. Do the afore mentioned backpacking trips and spend a bit more time with Nathan. Maybe even volunteer sometime to a charity.
I never thought I’d be able to do something like this. So now I know it’s an option I think it needs exploring and looking into the feasibility.
Basically this is an anthology of short essays by the likes of Ian Livingstone, John Kovalic, Reiner Knizia, Geoff Steve Jackson, James Wallis, and many others. In which they write about how boardgames have impacted their life in one way or another.
I only got to listen to the first three or so essays on my drive over to Bury St Edmunds for a training course. But I liked what I listened to enough to think I should be sharing my story with the world.
Obviously the following words will not be so eloquent or inspirational as those in the book.
My childhood was the Seventies. Between such cool toys as Ricochet Racers, Evil Knievel action figures with stunt bikes, Six Million Dollar Man action figures, Action Man, Airfix kits, to name a few. We played the odd boardgame. The ones I remember (and owned) are Frustration, obviously Monopoly and Cluedo. As a little one Snakes and Ladders.
Our family did get caught up in the whole Trivia Pursuit craze when it first came out. I remember being good at the entertainment questions. What general knowledge did a kid have other than pop culture?
I loved Connect 4, still have my travel edition from back then. I was a machine at the game! My brother owned Downfall, which I enjoyed beating him at.
We also had Mastermind, Chinese Chequers, Solitaire (did I really play a solo game back then?). Every kid knew how to play chequers and chess. And our family was no different.
I only have ever played the “classic” Mouse Trap once in my life, and that was a cousins copy.
Pubs were a more social thing back then. Darts, dominoes, crib were played regularly by locals. I definitely played dominoes in the pub with Nan or others as a kid.
My teenage years were the Eighties. Less boardgames more video games. Which isn’t a surprise as like many the home computer boom was my start of a life long passion and the start of a career. However the digital route did bring me to ttrpgs such as D&D and MERP when I went to Brighton Poly. I played Trumps aka Knockout Whist a lot with my dad’s Aunt Joan when I used to visit her, and also during tutorials at secondary school. Top Trumps was also a thing, and I did own a few packs that I played with friends.
Plus I did have what would be considered a hobby game these days in the shape of the Judge Dredd board game that was released in the mid eighties. It was a no brainer purchase for me being a Judge Dredd fan.
To cut a long story short it wasn’t until I moved back to my home town in 2010 that I got into modern boardgames.
I was introduced to them by a friend who I worked with. Possibly the first one I purchased was the D&D Castle Ravenloft dungeon crawl.
It wasn’t long after that I bought more. My purchases were initially aimed at games I thought I could play with Nathan when I visited him. Until this point all I was for Nathan was a more random NPC when playing FIFA or Call of Duty. Both games I only played when I visited him. I was much more into played rpgs or RTS style games.
For me modern boardgames were and still are a way for me and Nathan to spend quality time together.
We both love playing them. Nathan has his favourites and a small collection.
It means so much for me that we share this time together, and that Nathan enjoys playing the games.
We started off the afternoon playing a two player game of Dune Imperium Uprising with the House Haggle deck as the third player. Ok technically it was the Dire Wolf app replacing the deck but still it was the digital version of those cards.
This was a strange game. For starters I never bought my third agent. Something I always do as early as possible! I just wasn’t getting much solari in this game.
The game also went the full 10 rounds. Neither Diego or myself were close to triggering the end of the game. And until the last combat it was looking like the run away winner was going to be the AI!
The last combat was a power play by myself. And was crucial to me coming from behind and seizing victory. With a worm in the combat if I won I was going to be able to claim my rewards twice. That meant victory was worth 4 victory points for me.
During that final round I was the clear leader with the committed forces to that final battle. But Diego had intrigue cards he could play. There was the potential to turn the tide of war in his favour.
But that fear was for nought. When it came to resolving the combat Diego had no tricks to play to steal the victory.
I had my 4 points and shot up to 9 points and the lead.
Did Diego have end of game intrigue cards then? Sadly for him nope. My last gasp power play was enough to snatch victory.
We followed up Dune Imperium Uprising with learning to play the dice game Dandelions.
This is an unusual game in my collection. It is very specific on the number of players it supports. Dandelions only plays two or three players.
Dandelions plays very fast. We played three games in less than 40 minutes.
I think Dandelions appears deceptively simple. Roll your dice, select one to use, move that number of spaces, put dice on card you finish on. Doesn’t sound very complicated. However that glosses over the area control element, where to move opponents dice to, etc.
So yes the basic game play may be extremely simple. However although not TI4 level of decision making, there are some deeper decisions to make.
I love the dry erase score sheet. That’s a very nice touch.
The fact that we played three games back to back should tell you all you need to know. This is another small box game that makes it easy to just leave in the game bag ready to play at a club night.
Our final game of the afternoon was Senso Battle for Japan.
I like trick taking games. My teenage years were spent playing knock out whist. Having one of my grand parents run a pub for part of my childhood, and two pubs (now long closed and turned into rental properties) literally next to my nans. Where many a time was spent with nan and locals playing pub games like dominoes. So the old traditional pub games are in my dna so to speak.
Thinking about it maybe my years playing knock out whist, and Top Trumps is why I like card games like MtG. That competitive duel.
Anyway Senso adds in an area control mechanic to this trick taking game.
The art on the cards is gorgeous and thematic. Setup is the same no matter the player count. Which is nice. The only thing that changes based on player count is the number of cards dealt each round after the first.
I like how the number of tricks you win each round determines your action that you take after all the cards have been played. As the rounds progress the number cards in your opening hand goes up, and the more tricks to be won. This opens up the possibility of being able to do more powerful actions.
As a two player game I thought it worked well. I get the feeling at higher player counts it gets a lot more cut throat. Not only on taking tricks, but on the area control part.
Definitely a game I need to try with more players.
I am enjoying these Sunday afternoon gaming sessions. Hopefully lots more to come.
New stuff on the way or arrived
So yes it wouldn’t be a just after payday week without some new stuff on the way.
First up are the three latest promo packs for Rolling Realms, Wyrmspan, Obsession, and Crusaders. I can’t wait for Rolling Realms Redux with the larger box. To say there is a storage issue currently if you have all the promo packs, or a large proportion of them, is an understatement.
Next I pulled the trigger on the second expansion for Parks called Wildlife. This is described as the “more” expansion. So more cards for the various decks. Plus a “minor” game play addition that I’ll go over once it arrives and gets to the table.
Finally I bought three roll and write print and plays! I forget which YouTube video I watched that put me onto these. But I bought Voyages, Waypoints, and Aquamarine from Postmark Games. They were dirt cheap at £4 each. I just need to print out four copies of each and laminate them (so I don’t have to keep printing and wasting ink) before I get them to the table.
I couldn’t help quoting Klopp after Liverpool won their sixth Champions League title for the title of this blog post. It just seemed apt.
February saw some gaming. Not much though. Even less than January.
In total six board games made it to the table.
I was glad to get three of them to the table with a higher player count than my initial plays of them. They did not disappoint.
Getting Zombie Dice back to the table was cool. I really do need to leave this in the game bag, along with Sea Salt and Paper. Two nice little filler games for a club night.
With my upgraded dice cups for Liars Dice I need a better storage solution that would allow it with the neoprene mat for tracking bids to also be in the bag.
But as the search for that elusive bag continues I’m grateful that I got some gaming done this month.
Sadly I won’t be able to play any games tomorrow and record some rare plays for that once every four years opportunity.
But that just sums up my new normal. Hopefully Sunday will keep being a thing gaming wise, and with a bit of luck Tuesday will be a thing too.
This afternoon gaming with Jeff, Charlene, and Annabelle (Charlene’s daughter) was such fun.
We started off playing Wyrmspan.
A second play of the latest game from the Stonemaier Games stable. I’m loving it. I love how I can do combos in the game. On one turn I was able to combo it so I played two cave cards from the trade row for free. A couple turns later in the same round I got three dragons out for free on one action.
At this point I didn’t care if I won or lost. I’d done a couple of cool things. I’d got that MtG feel.
In the end I didn’t win. I came last by a massive single point. The lore books will show that Jeff was the dragon lord.
We followed up Wyrmspan with a game of Can’t Stop. This was so much fun at the full player count. Lots of going bust. Lots of banter. Lots of fake sympathy when some-one went bust on their turn. It was a hoot.
And amidst all this banter and laughter Jeff claimed the win.
Our final game of the afternoon was Sea Salt and Paper. I’d only played this two players previously. But I really liked it at the higher player count. This will be staying in the game bag I think as a nice little filler game. Oh Jeff won getting the clean sweep of wins for the afternoon.
After a busy week it was great to have an afternoon gaming with my friends. Plus Liverpool won their first trophy of the season. An amazing day.
The third and possibly for the time being final What if …? Episode of A Double Double ‘n Dice podcast.
In this episode Jocelyn and Kim ponder what the state of Dice Masters would be if there were no one creating content for the game.
Spoiler alert! There is no mention of me in this episode. I know very disappointing. I should write better posts, or leave comments in places that get read.
So what are my poorly conceived and constructed views on this?
I think I agree with the main premise of this episode that without content creators creating content there would be no Dice Masters.
For the record I don’t see myself as a content creator. I write the odd post about the game once in a blue moon.
Well we would have had the initial sets, but then it would have gone the way of Magic: The Gathering – Arena of the Planeswalkers (although that was poorly supported by Wizkids from the start).
I would argue that we are getting fewer and fewer content creators for the game. And those that do create new content do so less and less frequently. I think Jocelyn and Kim are the only ones creating stuff on a regular basis. Every two weeks is amazing.
The way I see it we need Wizkids to announce and release new stuff that will reinvigorate the current crop of content creators, and attract new creators.
A newly energised content creator base creating new content helps promote the game attracting new players, etc etc.
I think what these three podcasts have highlighted for me is how fragile the current state of the game is. It feels we are at a crucial moment in the life of the game. We are waiting for Wizkids to make a decision (assuming they haven’t made it) and announce it to the world.
I’ve enjoyed these three episodes of A Double Double ‘n Dice I hope they follow them up with an episode on the feed back they have had.
One of the criticisms by some reviewers about games from Stonemaier Games is that they are unbalanced, not play tested enough.
But how fair a criticism is this?
For this post I’m going to look at Tapestry. Which is a game that has this accusation made against it. And recently had a pack of rebalanced civilisation mats released. I may also use the odd game from their catalog to illustrate a point.
Before I go any further I need to give a disclaimer of some sort. Firstly I have no idea how many play testers, how much play testing was done, or what the play test process is at Stonemaier games. And I’ve made no attempt to find out. I’m also not a mathematician or statistician. So there are likely major flaws in my maths and logic. Please feel free to correct me in the comments. For this post I’m going to ignore solo play testing because I don’t play solo, and I don’t want to look up the solo rules. Oh and I have been accused of being a bit of a Stonemaier Games fanboy.
In Tapestry and it’s three expansions we have 41 civilization mats broken down as follows:
Tapestry – 16 civilization mats
Plans & Ploys – 10 civilization mats
Arts & Architecture – 5 civilization mats
Fantasies & Futures – 10 civilization mats
So to look at how feasible and reasonable it is to play test Tapestry and its expansions I will be working out the number of combinations of civilization mats. For this exercise the order doesn’t matter. Hence combinations instead of permutations.
To work out the number of possible combinations of civilization mats I’m using the following Binomial coefficients formula:
Where n is the set size or in our case number of civilization cards, and r is size of sets we are choosing, aka player count for us.
What follows is the number of combinations for Tapestry and its expansions based on player count.
As expected it’s going to be a lot easier to play test all the combinations once at the lower player counts than the higher ones.
But you need to repeatedly play these combinations to make sure that what would appear to be an unbalanced civilization mat is in fact that, and not just appearing to be so due to other factors.
I would argue that at the higher player counts (4 and 5) it’s unreasonable to expect all the combinations to be play tested. Just from a time and number of play testers basis. Let alone any monetary factor. I’m almost tempted to add in 3 players with the expansions to this statement as well.
So how would you even attempt to spot unbalanced or as some like to call them broken or over powered civilization mats?
You could use feedback from the lower player counts to focus in on particular civilization mats. However this over looks the fact that certain civilization mats might be better against others at lower player counts, but when played in higher player counts actually weaker or on par with others. Or that certain civilization mats are better at higher player counts but poor at lower counts.
Plus in all of this we aren’t even factoring in the random elements of the game such as tapestry cards.
In reality play testing will not just focus on one player count but be a mixture of all of them.
I think the big take away from this is it’s just not possible to play test every combination at all player counts. Just on the base game approximately 8000 games that would need playing to do it once.
There has to be a certain point where you say “we’ve tested as much as we can”. Or the game would never get released or be so expensive to cover the increased testing costs it won’t make any money.
It’s only once the game gets out in the wild and in the hands of lots of players that things start to come to light. I do like that Stonemaier capture play data and feedback this into the design and provide updates to the games.
I can see a follow up argument that some of the civilization mats were obviously unbalanced, just too powerful. That I don’t have a response to. I’d need more info about the companies testing and feedback.
What are your thoughts on the feasibility of testing a game?
Elwes, R. (2010) Mathematics 1001: absolutely everything that matters in mathematics. London: Quercus.
