Feeling Better, Games, Comics, Angel

[shannon_a]

Feeling a fair amount better today. Only slight fatigue, no particularly noticeable weird aches and pains. (Mostly) Non-painful throat. I think all the zinc I've been taking has done its job, and that I was (probably am) just fighting off a cold. But I'll keep taking the zinc for at least the rest of today. Kimberly picked it up for me in the only non-disgusting flavor, menthol, so it's a bit less of a travail than usual.

Having folks over to play Puerto Rico tonight: my boss from work; a friend of his that I've never met; and a couple of regulars from my gaming group. I've been looking forward to it quite a bit because I continue to hear such good things about the game.

Last night I got a couple of games for review in the mail: Pirate's Cove, which I've been hearing great things about and is beautifully done up by Days of Wonder; and a pile of Cheapass Games' more strategic offerings. Always good to have more grist for the review mill and to slowly expand my understanding of board game design. I'm really thinking about how to expand my articles on board game design into a book, especially since I feel even more grounded on the subject than when I started writing those articles 10 months ago.

After UPS' very late arrival Kimberly & I went out to the comic book store to spend a bit more of our refinancing booty. I've now spent about two-thirds of my monies. I got an absolutely beautiful collection of Love & Rockets stories called Palomar (almost all of which I've never read), the eighth volume of Warren Ellis' Transmetropolitan (finally catching me up), and some non-notable super-hero comics by Brian Michael Bendis and Judd Winick.

Next up with my monies: clothes. How exciting.

After our return from comics (and dinner) Kimberly and I sat down to watch the newest Angel. Although it had some funny bits, it was overall yet another disappointment. I've said before that if Angel had to change its format & intelligence level in order to appeal to a wide enough audience to stay in production, I was happier to see less interesting episodes than none at all. But now, I'm starting to wonder. It's starting to feel like a waste of my time every Wednesday night. Hopefully it'll pick up soon ...

Comments

Board Game Design

[dougo.livejournal.com]

You should check out the Game Design Wiki. It started out wanting to be a collection of design patterns for board game design, but not many patterns have actually been written up yet so it's more a collection of "good ideas", including links to other game design essays. It also seems to have branched out into computer game design recently. Unfortunately it's a little difficult to navigate but there's some good stuff buried there. It's also a Wiki, which means you can add (links to) your own essays or otherwise contribute to the content.

There's also a board game design Yahoo Group, although that tends to focus a little too often on the production issues of making a game. There's also the Board Game Designers Forum which I've never really gotten around to exploring because I generally don't like web-only discussion groups.

Sorry if you already knew about these...

Re: Board Game Design

[shannon_a]

I appreciate the pointers. They're probably some places to visit after I have thoughts and outlines more together, sometime next year I'd expect.

[seidl.livejournal.com]

I hope you like some of the cheap ass games. We haven't been as impressed with some of the newer/more complex ones, but the older card based ones (Lord of the Fries for example) are just staples for us.

And I've been disappointed by Angel as well so far. I just don't see where its going. Its like the character's show up, do some stuff, and go home. Very little passion or energy. And, maybe its me, but you rarely see that many of the cast in the same place at the same time. I don't have as much a feeling that they're a group that works together now. Its more like they've all become the employees at the firm that they are, and are no longer a team. Its still early in the season though, and I can hope that Joss pulls some kind of metaplot out of the air to keep things moving forward. Nothing as tight as last season's Angel, but hopefully at least something to keep the sense of forward progress in the story.

[shannon_a]

They're mostly their hip pocket games, which look short and strategic. I asked for them because I thought I'd like them, and I prefer to review games I like.

Kimberly commented on that same issue in Angel, that we rarely see the characters together anymore. Dawson's Creek did the same thing in its last couple of seasons. I think it's just death for an ensemble show.

[dougo.livejournal.com]

So far I like all the Hip Pocket games, although Safari Jack seems kind of weak. I haven't played any of them more than 3 times, though, so I don't know how much staying power they have.

I also like One False Step For Mankind, but it's not short. It's definitely more strategic than the other (non-Hip Pocket) Cheapass games I've played (which admittedly is only a handful).

[shannon_a]

They also tossed _One False Step for Mankind_ into the package because of its strategic play.