Apps and boardgames some thoughts

tabletop

I'd been thinking about saying something on the matter of Boardgames and apps, I'd wanted to mull my thoughts over on the subject and present a coherent and thoughtful piece on the subject (which would be a first for me). However after watching last nights Board Game Breakfast (episode 62) where one of the segments was “Barry puts his head on the block” talked about this subject and was pro games using apps. But his argument was shallow, concentrated on one point and missed a major flaw. His presentation was meant to be entertaining. Which some may consider it was but in reality it was a poor segment that didn't really address the issue.

Last year started to see one or two major games come out or announced that relied heavily on the use of an app on your iPad or iPhone (Apparently there are lesser tablets and phones on the market but why you would have them I have no idea). The games were the new XCOM Boardgame that has just come out and Golem Arcana (well they are the ones I know about).

This is a trend that I don't think will go away and will become even more popular I think. For me I'm not interested in games that rely so heavily on an app for game play. Ok to be fair owning one, I'd happily play one if some-one else has forked out for the game.

In the said poor piece I mentioned above in the Board Game Breakfast segment, the main point the guy made was about how it would cut down on components, possibly box size, and set up (potentially) and remembering rules/sequence. I'm not sure it would mean that games become cheaper because of the reduced components etc. Apps don't develop themselves, they have development costs. Then once released they have maintenance costs as bugs have to be fixed when they are uncovered by players (although I'd hope they are minor bugs at this point), making sure the app gets updated so it is compatible with new releases of the os. Then you have porting costs as you port the app to new platforms, and then the support of the app on the new platform.

All that is not cheap, even if the game publisher out sources the work to a third party app developer. Which is going to be the case for most publishers because I'm not sure that they have in house software developers. So this development cost has to be covered. How would the publisher cover these costs? By the only way they can by including them in the cost of the game they sell. It won't be on the App Store because that has to be free. Imagine the uproar you pay £40 for the game, get home then find you have to pay for the app that makes the game playable on top! No the cost of the app will be included in the initial purchase.

Now I have seen a comment or two about how some players already have a problem keeping fellow players out of their phones while playing. And they only see this new development as an extension of that, and helps take players out of being immersed in the theme. I can see that argument, but I'd also side with the segment I don't like very much in saying that the app could also help immerse a player more in the game. Whether it's in the use of atmospheric music, sound effects, dramatic readings of story, all can enhance the experience of players while playing. Look at Zombie 15 and its use of an MP3 track to run the game. It completely gets the player immersed and builds tension while playing.

In the video game world there is a retro scene, where middle aged folks like myself like to relive the games they grew up with by either running their original computers/consoles and playing the tapes/disks/cartridges of the game. Or using emulators and images of the games. However this is all made possible because there is a physical version of the game and they stand alone. In recent years games have as standard come with multiplayer options that require a server to connect users up to be able to play the game. The issue we have for preserving these games for future generations is that when these servers are killed off by the publisher/developer that game or the multiplayer portion the game is dead.

Then there is the issue of moving away from physical media to purely digital. Which then gives the problem of archiving games and running them and making them available. This problem only gets amplified with the app stores and mobile gaming.

Now we all know boardgames go out of print. Sometimes they get reprinted other times they stay out of print. What happens with a boardgame that relies on an app to be playable? Will the publisher keep it going indefinitely? I don't think so as it would be uneconomic to do so. It's why the likes of Nintendo etc shutdown servers for their games for old patforms eventually. You can't play multiplayer over the Internet in Mario Kart on a DS now. Let's face it the resources of Nintendo are greater than probably all the boardgame companies added together. And they find it uneconomic to keep such services going. Then I think it not unreasonable to expect at some point in a games lifetime that the app for it is no longer supported. How long we are looking at I don't know. One, two years after the last printing?

This is my major issue with using apps with boardgames where they are so integral to the game. I like the idea of helper apps, where they help keep track of life or stats, even provide virtual dice. However it doesn't matter if these apps get dropped the game is still very much playable.

But imagine ten years from now, you have friends over that you went to college with. You are all reminiscing about the old days, and the boardgame nights you had. You remember the adventures and narrow escapes. Then some-one says “do you remember what a great time we had playing that XCOM boardgame?” You reply “oh do I, I still have it”. You disappear for a minute or two letting your friends entertain themselves down memory lane. You return with the game. Everyone expresses disbelieve that you still have it. Then a voice suggests “let's play it for old times sake”. You crack out the contents of the box, you all gather round the table excited to be playing the game again. Only you can't as the app is no longer available and the game can't be played without it.

That in a nutshell is my problem with the whole boardgame and app trend. As I said near the start of this post I can't see myself spending my hard earned pennies on this type of boardgame. But I'll more than happily play the game if some-one else has got it.

I think the issue is a complicated one, with implications that seem at the moment in the places I hang out on line to be missed. I hope I have been more balanced here on the subject. I'd love to know your thoughts on this.

 

 

Firehouse Baby

flash point, game night, lego minifigs, new arrivals, tabletop

“Get the firehouse

'Cause she sets my soul afire

Get the firehouse

And the flames keep gettin' higher”

KISS – Firehouse

As part of my expanding lego minifig collection four lego minifig firemen arrived. Luckily these can be picked up relatively cheaply on eBay. So why have I got firemen? The photo above kind of gives it away really. It's mainly to use in playing the game Flash Point instead of the little plastic figures that come with the game (the blue figure in the photos is one of them). And also for when I do posts about the game I'll use them for a little photo shoot to illustrate the post.
I'm not claiming using lego minifigs as replacement game counters as my original idea. I had been thinking about it since getting Imperial Assault ( and ruled out because Star Wars minifigs aren't as cheap as firefighters). However over Christmas I did see a post on the UK Imperial Assault Facebook page where some-one had done exactly that and used Star Wars lego minifigs instead of the provided miniatures. It looked pretty cool.
In fact I'm half tempted to use the scientists I have in Pandemic games also. One thing I'll have to do is get a female minifig head or two to convert one or two of the firefighters into female ones. Why? Well it's the right thing to do, plus there are female characters in the game already. So to be true to the game I think some of the player counters should also be female.
I kind of like the idea of using lego minifigs as game counters. For me it adds an additional fun element to the game. It means I can create personalised minifigs that represent the person playing the game. So it can add that personal touch and be used as a cool memento of the evening (although that could get expensive – unless they bring the minifig back with them for subsequent games). Before I start doing this for my gaming evenings I must find a cheaper supply of minifig parts and accessories. eBay and the sites I use online aren't suitable for this as a long term project. Nice thing is if I can source a cheap supply of parts for my own projects, I can use them also with students in induction weeks (I mentioned this idea in a previous post).
Who would of thought I'd find a cross over between lego minifigs and boardgames. It was pretty dam obvious really.

 

Writing about boardgames

tabletop

Even though it's a youngster compared to other forms of entertainment and art, videogames have a rich vein of writings about them. From the superficial to the indepth. Some of my favourite writings are the indepth ones. They look not at if the game is any good, but they look at the impact of a game, the theme, how the author feels while playing them. Great examples of the sort of writing I like is the really indepth writing of Brendan Keogh in his amazing analysis of Spec Ops:The Line in his book Killing is Harmless: A Critical Reading of Spec Ops:The Line , or the e-magazine Five out of Ten. These writings are not reviews, although I do tend to like the more mature reviews of the kind done in Edge and Games TM magazines.

Then there is another branch of writing about videogames where the author breaks down a game and analyses its design. Which is also interesting to read, especially when they look at a classic game I have fond memories of.

Now boardgames have been around a lot longer than videogames, however I would argue that the current “golden age” has been around a lot less longer than videogames. Which brings me to the current crop of writing about boardgames. In my opinion the writing about boardgames is not as mature as the writing about videogames. There is often the lamenting about videogame writing that where are the equivalent writers that compare to popular writers in the film world. But I feel that writing about videogames is getting there. However I haven't really come across this in boardgames, and feel there is still a long way to go.

Maybe I haven't come across the right blogs yet or authors. If you know of any then please let me know in the comments below. I'd love to be proved wrong. But most of the stuff I have seen are just reviews, that follow a particular formula, introduce game, explain rules/game play, comment on components, likes/dislikes. Not too dissimilar to a videogame review. I think the area of boardgame writing is due disrupting and moving on to include the sort of indepth writing I enjoy.

Will you find that sort of writing here? Maybe. I don't feel I'm upto the task. I'm not as wide read, I can't quote philosophers and apply them. Heck I'm not that deep or self aware as has been pointed out to me over the years. I'm just a simple flawed guy. I will try, just don't expect me to be successful. Possibly I'll get there, but hopefully the journey will be entertaining anyway.

In the meantime I hope others see this call to arms and accept the challenge.

 

 

Project Bad Boys

lego minifigs

“Bad boys, bad boys
What'cha gonna do?
What'cha gonna do when they come for you?
Bad boys, bad boys
What'cha gonna do?
What'cha gonna do when they come for you?”

Earlier today I pushed out via Instagram the above photo accompanied by the lyrics to the chorus to the song Bad Boys. Then during the afternoon I had an idea of doing a series of minifig photos called Bad Boys. In this project I will take various photos of the “bad boy” or villian minifigs that I have. There is a site that sells custom minifigs that do horror movie characters. So the likes of Freddy, Jason Vorhees, Michael Myers, etc. and I've just named the three I'd buy, as they are my favourite horror movie characters. I might try and get some more comic book villians for this project too. I have my favourite The Joker, but I'd like a Bane too.

Naturally as the project goes along I'll post the images on Instagram and at the end do a post on here collecting the images into one coherent collection.

 

New Arrivals, New Arrivals (Jan15)

comic books, lego minifigs, new arrivals, tabletop

The payday splurge has happened!

Boardgames

Last Wednesday I finally found a shop in the UK that had Tiny Epic Kingdoms in stock. Which was very lucky because Friday when I went back to check that I hadn't imagined it and done a pre-order, it was out of stock. When it arrived this morning and I opened it, it did seem slightly unreal that I actually had a copy. Then I had a little epiphany (yeah I know I don't have these moments very often, self awareness, contemplation is over rated), I like the thrill of the chase, the hunt, call it what you like. But the harder a game is for me to get the more I want it! It's a character flaw for sure. But the excitement and euphoria of that moment of finding a copy of the game (especially at the retail price or less) after weeks or months of hunting.
Back in the early nineties I was in London for work, and somehow ended up at the Virgin Megastore and in its comic department. There behind the counter hanging on the wall was the 1977 KISS Marvel Special. This was the first ever dedicated comic book to the group ( their first appearance had been in the Howard the Duck comics), to mark this monumental occasion the group had some of their blood mixed into the ink that the comic was printed with. I'd been after this comic for years. Well I'm a big KISS fan, and a comic book fan, so this was like the perfect comic for me. When I saw it there behind the counter, I knew I had to have it. I just went up to the counter spoke to the member of staff the following words “I'll take the KISS comic please”. I didn't even ask how much it was. The price was irrelevant to me. I handed over my bank card to pay, I don't remember hearing the assistant say a price, I remember signing the authorisation slip (this was way before chip and pin had been introduced), I never looked at the amount, I was focused on the comic. I finally had it, and couldn't wait to get home to read it. I seem to remember from the bank statement that the object of my desire had cost me £40.
Another example of this addiction also involves KISS and comic books but while I was in my final year of my HND at Brighton Polytechnic. As I mentioned above the groups first appearance was in the Howard the Duck comics. I was under the impression that appearance was in issue eight of the comic. So when I bought that comic from I think it was Forbidden Planet if I remember correctly, I was disappointed when I read it back in my room that KISS were not in it. But I knew they were in one of the issues. So I did the only thing I could at the time (remember this was before the internet). I started at issue one of Howard the Duck and bought all the issues in its thirty two issue run. I knew that way I would get the issue I wanted. It turned out their appearance was spread over two issues (I can't remember the issue numbers), but it was the last panel of one issue and the first couple of pages of the following issue. A side affect of this hunt was I became a big Howard the Duck fan (and yes I'm excited about the new comic, and was delighted with his cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy).
It was like this with the game Space Hulk. I'd wanted to get a copy to play with Nath, but it was out of print, copies were going for stupid money on eBay and Amazon. But I kept looking, trying to find a bargain, or to be more honest a reasonable price I could justify. If Games Workshop hadn't done the reprinting last year, I was a month or two away from caving and paying the extortionate prices being asked for the game. Even then the buying of the reprint was a roller coaster of a ride. Games Workshop announced the reprinting at a weekend, and had sold out on their site within hours before I could order a copy. My only hope was if The Rift were going to get any copies. Luckily they were and I was able to get one.
Sometimes I do feel that companies exploit people like me with this character flaw. At least I am aware I have it, and try to not let it rule my life.
The other two games I got Bang the Dice Game and Cash and Guns 2 are both light games for groups. I've not played Bang the Dice Game, but it's had great reviews. Cash and Guns 2 Nath and I got a chance to play this at Eurogamer last September and we really enjoyed it.

Comic Books

I don't think I've spoken about comic books before on here. I tend to buy trade backs these days. I can't afford to relapse. I was an addict.
I owe getting these four to a conversation between a couple of friends on Facebook (thanks Steve and James). They were talking about how good Alex + Ada was, and how the trailes for Ex Machina reminded them of this comic book. So I thought I'd give it a try. You know what Amazon is like with its “others also bought” or “you may like this also”. Well I'd been looking at Sex Criminals and Saga on and off, the reviews were pretty good for both, so I thought I'd give them a go finally. Deadly Class looked interesting too, so that was added to the give it a try list for this time. I'll do a post about these once I've read them.

Lego

Amazon Prime let me down (and they will be paying for that later, usually in the form of extending my Prime membership by a month – it's worth complaining) by not deliverying the first volume of the Minifgure Customisation book. However volume 2 did arrive as the DK Lego Star Wars The Dark Side book. Can you tell why I bought this? Yep the minifigure of the Emporer. I'll let you try and guess the first photo I'm going to do with him is, you will find out soon enough.
So wow an interesting mixed bag of arrivals today. I hope you have liked this post. It kind of ended up slightly different to what I imagined it would when I thought I'd blog about the new arrivals.

 

Fighting Ebola by playing a game!

charity, pandemic, tabletop

Last night was the Pandemic Party in Wisbech at The Entertainment Centre. Eight of us got together to play the game Pandemic by Matt Leacock to raise funds to help fight Ebola. One customer of The Entertainment Centre had kindly donated some cakes for the evening, which were rather nice. The crew at Bossa Studios creators of Surgeon Simulator the game (it's a great fun game available on multiple platforms click here for more details) kindly donated some “injection” pens to help raise funds for the evening.

Only one of us (not me) had played Pandemic before. So the game was setup for an “easy” setting.

For a first time playing I think we did pretty well. Three of the deadly diseases were cured, before we ran out of player cards (one of the three lose conditions). At the end of the game even though we failed to save the planet from being wiped out by deadly disease, we'd had a fun time.

We finished the evening off by playing a quick game of Zombie Dice. Which amazingly I won! Usually and this will surprise those I play Dice Masters with, I roll badly playing Zombie Dice. During my first two goes my rolls were true to form, and I was not scoring. Then I rolled eight brains before sticking. That's the best I've done in one round ever at this game. A couple of players had decided they liked playing Zombie Dice so much that they are planning to get their own copies. I also think they also took a shining to my dice tray and may also be looking at getting one of those too.

It's nice to see people like a game so much that they plan to get their own copy. Zombie Dice isn't a complicated game. It's a press your luck game. But in a group it's great fun to play. I just didn't warn them this is the start of a slippery slope.

The remaining pens from the evening are being sold off in the shop to add to the total of money raised. Which reminds me once I have a final total raised I'll put it up on here.

So a great evening, great company, all in the name of charity a win win situation if you ask me.

 

 

My favourite photo ever

outdoors

This is my favourite picture that I've taken ever. It is from an over night camp Strider and I did back in the Summer of 2010 on Holkham beach. The photo was taken around 4:30 in the morning on my iPhone. It's several pictures stitched together using a panoramic app. Sadly this app did a poor job and gives the photo it's major flaws. However it doesn't distract from the mood that the photo captures. I love the lighting, the primal feel, and captures Strider really well.

 

Lego minifigs

lego minifigs

If you are one of the few people interested in what I do whether on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, then you will be aware of my liking of lego mini figures. Or I'd hope so with the number of photos I share on those social networks. It may have also rared it's ugly head on here as well in the odd photo or two on one or two of the posts.

I'm not one of those big lego fanatic collectors. I just buy figures I like, or think I can use to illustrate a blog post. So we are looking at Lord of the Rings, Superheroes, and Star Wars stuff really. To be honest I only have a small handful of figures. Although I do have certain figures to illustrate certain board games, such as the scientists, doctor etc for Pandemic.

However since Christmas I've come up with a little project involving the lego mini figures. The idea is to get or create mini figures that represents who I am and my interests. A couple were easy, such as the gamer, the computer programmer, the mountaineer, because they already existed as official mini figures. I had to create a blogger. Which I did by buying the individual parts to put together a mini figure to represent me as a blogger (see below).

Next up is to create the following mini figures for this project, a hacktivist, a backpacker, and a lecturer. Now I know they do a backpacker in a lego set that you can buy, and there is also a teacher mini figure. However I'm going to create my own version of these. So I've been trawling the custom lego figure parts sites looking for appropriate bits to make these figures.

Once that stage of the project is complete it has a second stage. I want to put together some custom lego sets to photograph the figures on. So I'm looking to create a blogging desk/workstation, a tabletop gaming table, a wild camping camp site and maybe a classroom!

Here are a couple of the photos I've shared on other social media outlets. This first one is titled “Father and son”.

This next one is using the new Heath Ledger figure I've just got.

I've also found a couple of books about making your own custom mini figures, so payday they will be on their way to me. I'm sure stuff I learn from this will feed into gaming too, and painting miniatures.

In the run up to Christmas there was a teacher thing on Twitter that had teachers on holiday taking photos of lego mini figures doing Christmassy stuff. I forget the blog name now but they had a hashtag #legoholidaychallenge (Here is the blog post I was talking about click here) . It's not something I took part in. But it's something I've been doing on and off since then. The nice thing is I can use the appropriate mini figure of me in different situations.

Now as I've already said I putting together custom figures to represent me. And this idea came from the organisers of Game Camp (which I went to last year), where they had on a previous Game Camp used minifigs as a game/getting to know you activity. Where attendees were given a mini figure and had to swap with others to get the parts to make a mini figure of themselves. One day as an induction exercise I'd like to do this with my students. But in the meantime how cool would it be if these teachers did a similar thing and created minifigs of themselves and used them in the photos?

So maybe not the most exciting “hobby” but certainly a light hearted fun one.

 

Not So Random Stuff About Expansions

pandemic, star realms, tabletop

I've mentioned in a previous post that I like games that have expansions. They expand the game! Add new options, modes of play, more players, new scenarios, etc. Basically add more variety. They aren't necessary on the whole but for the odd game they are to make the game more enjoyable.

New Arrival

Today the Harbour Expansion for Machi Koro arrived. It adds the cards to allow a fifth player, new cards and play modes. I'll do a more indepth look in another post.

In the Harbour Expansion is also a teaser for the next expansion coming out later this year!

A Brief Rant

One game I'm playing a lot of at the moment (admittedly using the iPad app) is Star Realms. There are two main expansions for this deck building game, Gambit and Crisis. But can I buy these in the UK? Nope nowhere has them in stock. Ones I can find are in the US and with postage (and possible import duty) really expensive. The Crisis expansion is made up of four individual themed packs, each costing (if available in the UK £3.95 – yeah back to the $1 = £1 exchange rate). However buying them through eBay means each pack is pushing over £10! The Gambit expansion is roughly £20 for a £10 game. It's rediculous. So why is there such a shortage in the UK? This is making the Marvel Dice Masters Avengers vs X-Men shortage last year look like a small blip. I won't even mention how hard it is to source an official play mat for Star Realms, or how my heart sinks at the thought of how hard it is going to be to get the storage box (with exclusive promo card) and the official card sleeves. Poor supply is such a frustrating thing, and there is no excuse for it in this day and age. I understand that companies can be caught be surprise by being a lot more popular than they thought they would be with a game. But still I think the writing has been on the wall that Star Realms would be a popular game.

A Bit of Gaming News(ish) Or What Matt Leacock Did Next

Later this year a new co-operative game based on Thunderbirds is coming out. The game is design by Matt Leacock and published by Modiphius. Matt is famous for such games as Pandemic, Pandemic the Cure, Forbidden Desert, and Forbidden Island. All great co-operative board games. So the early indications are this should be a great game, great theme, great designer that excels at co-operative games, a theme that is suited to co-operative play.

It does look like Matt has a busy year ahead of him. Matt also has Pandemic Legacy coming out later in the year, which he has been developing with Rob Daviau ( designer of Risk Legacy). And is highly anticipated by Pandemic fans ( that includes me ).
As the image above shows there are plans to have two different boxes with different art work on. There was another game last year (name escapes me at the moment) that was released also with multiple variants of the box art. I'm not sure I like this trend. It reminds me a bit of the comic book industry and how they do this a lot (just look at how many variant covers there are for the new Marvel Star Wars comic issue 1). It strikes me as trying to milk money out of collectors.
Then finally in the first part of this year there is a new expansion for Pandemic coming out called State of Emergency.

So there you have it a brief “look what's just arrived”, a rant venting my frustration, and a “look what I'm excited about coming out later this year”.