Sorry, Fathead.
Inside my package of sliced turkey breast was a small plastic wrapped insert. After wiping off enough turkey grease to open the package, it was a tiny little sweepstakes card for merchandise from a company called “Fathead”. I opened it up to play, and sure enough, I didn’t win. But since this message was printed just above the company logo, it ended up saying, “Sorry, you are not a winner, Fathead.” I found this pretty entertaining, and feel this message needs to be slipped into more food products.
I have now crossed the 100 board game mark*. It is an awesome thing to realize we could play a board game every night and not repeat ourselves for well over three months. It is probably time to stop paying money for board games now, although I am still always looking to acquire good board games through trade and serendipity.
But what is a good board game? Well, why not read my most recent feature article about a fellow who wrote the book (well, a book) on game design. Basically, a good board game has good mechanics, and I tend to favor “German-style” games (aka “Eurogames”).
My computer was down for a few days earlier this week, but it’s back up now, and I’ve got a new episode of News In Rap for you. You can get lots of news, and impromptu rhyming, all in 10 minutes or so. What’s not to like?
Oh, you don’t like news or rhyming? I have a sweepstakes card for you…
*By which I mean, my collection has surpassed 100 board games. I would not want to cross 100 Board Game Mark, who sounds like a Dick Tracy villain.
Tags: Fathead, gaming, Loser, rap, sweepstakes
November 15th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
How many years did it take you to reach that number? That’s pretty impressive, especially considering you’ve probably tried to trim that collection of the less liked games already.
I find myself half in both camps – I like themes and interaction between players, so many Euro’s fail me in that regard. But too many Ameri-styled games are too heavily lucked based. And I can’t always spend 6 hours playing them.
November 17th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Oddly, it happened pretty much all this year. I loved playing games my friends had, but they always seemed too expensive. Then I discovered online discount game retailers. And then I discovered that I could trade my old collection of rare Magic cards for store credit. And then I discovered that I don’t have as many shelves as I thought.
I prefer Euros with theme to abstracts, and tend to like some player interaction in my games for sure. But I don’t mind more subtle interactions instead of direct conflict sometimes. As for Ameri-style games, my general rule of thumb is that the amount of luck/randomness should decrease as the length of the game increases.
Cribbage has a large degree of luck, but it’s fast, so that’s fine. Last weekend I played a friend’s copy of “Samurai Swords” (an Ameri-War-game), and it took four hours, and victory went to the player who rolled higher numbers on the dice. (That played happened to be me, but it still doesn’t make me want to leap back into the game).
November 17th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Have I mentioned to you “Things We Think About Games” by Will Hindmarch and Jeff Tidball? Findable on Amazon. Good book. Jeff is a friend of mine, who thinks very smart things about games. The two of them share the blog “gameplaywright.” Anyway, something you may enjoy.
smiles – b