I've actually been playing quite a few boardgames since I last wrote, but at the moment I'd rather mention some of the other games I've been playing with family & nongamers (or at least non-regulars).
First was a wargame. I still like them. Quite a lot, actually, as long as they're of the lighter/shorter variety. To me that's the better variety. A year ago I figured out the mid-1980s line of games from publisher Attactix were all small in scope and gameplay, rather like Britain's predecessors to Avalon Hill's Smithsonian series. (One day I've just GOT to do these games justice with an article, website, or at least a geeklist.) I was on a business trip last week, and instead of spending the idle time at the hotel playing BSW I decided to bring one of these wargames along and play it solo. Like a lot of wargames, it plays just fine solo. In terms of game mechanics, I mean. The experience itself is much better with an opponent. But weeks go by as I play boardgames without squeezing in a single wargame, so I need to take these opportunities when I can.
I played Battle for Normandy. The session report ended up almost being a review. Guess I'll post it here later, but I know I'll also send it along to Web-Grognards. When Consimworld went subscription-based I stopped paying what little attention I'd previously paid to the site. Now I'm a subber on the boardwargaming mailing list, but I don't really follow that, either. As for the game itself, I thought it was a very fine light wargame on a compelling battle. Its only trouble is that Axis & Allies:D-Day came out recently and is a little better (more fun) for light wargamers such as myself.
On Saturday we had my friend & boss from work over, along with his wife and kids. While his two girls played with my daughter, my son retreated to his room to video games (more on that later). The adults all played Personal Preference, a party game that's particularly good for couples. You have to guess each others' order of preference for four items from categories such as food, people, activities, etc. It went really well, I thought, giving us much to talk and laugh about. It's the sort of game where you get to learn a little more about each other. I hope we'll have them over again sometime, and then we might try something beyond this sort of "icebreaker" game.
Sam bought a new videogame this weekend, F-Zero GX. This is a quick racing game, one of those that just emphasizes that I'm growing older. I remember my own father's comments about reaction speed when he tried to play Atari 2600 games with me. Now I get to experience that firsthand. :-) I played that with him a little bit, but what we played more together was the videogame I bought: Midway Arcade Treasures. I bought it because I knew it had a game in the collection we could play cooperatively, Gauntlet. That's there, alright, but there are two other coop games that are even better: Rampage and Vindicators. I really love playing coop video games with my kids, and wish there were more of them.
The last family game experience came on Labor Day. I took the kids to Mountasia, a local spot where they've got a decent video arcade, miniature golf, lazertag, etc. These things are kind of pricey for the time you spend, but they're a big hit with the kids. I got to embarass my daughter Molly by trying the Dance Dance Revolution game, and later we all went through the laserdrome. Great fun.
That night Molly and I even got my wife to play the Roller Coaster Tycoon boardgame with us. I really enjoy this, a fine example of mainstream-but-not-dumb boardgame design. It's got auctions and a fixed length game timer built into an event card deck. During setup I spent the time to superglue some of the components together, which really helped. Afterward I broke out the gamer ziplock backs of a couple small sizes to separate the components better for next time.
Kim and I made the leap and bought the home version of DDR because we were desperate for some sort of exercise device (dancing is exercise, right?). We knew we would quickly get bored with a treadmill or the like, and DDR seemed like a good way to go to keep us interested.
The game comes with 6 difficulty settings: beginner, light, standard, heavy, and challenging. Right off I tried the standard and was overwhelmed by a bewildering array of arrows. Switching to light, I still was still like a deer in the headlights. So sadly I retreated to beginning mode and told myself "well, I paid for 5/6 of a game that'll never be used."
However, after taking the "lesson" mode, and then practicing on the "training" mode, and after a few weeks time, I've left the begging stuff behind and now easily pass the light stuff. And amazingly, I'm passing some of the standard stuff now too. I'm even starting to get an ear for Japanese electro-pop (just kidding).
And yep, it's doing its job on the workout front. Normally, exercise is so boring without some sort of game behind it, and DDR makes me want to keep playing it. Now I just need something for my arms. I'm keeping my eyes open for a white-water rafting game connected to a rowing machine. Yeah, that would be boss!
Oh, I just love F-Zero GX. It's the best game I've played on any console, hands down. It's just so close to perfection, when it comes to driving. I used to think Gran Turismo was good, but I'll trade realism to lightning-fast speeds and 90 degree vertical turns any day...
Posted by: Mikko at September 14, 2004 06:10 AM