Gen Con - in list form
Thanks again to Darren and Hannah who made my trip to Gen Con possible, and thanks to Brian for snagging the hotel room. Pictures (from Gen Con, ACen, and my grad party) should be posted in the near future.
Games Played
1) Agricola (twice)- Technically, I played this with Darren and Hannah on Wednesday night. A neat farming game that reminds me of a mix between Puerto Rico and Pillars of the Earth. I won the first game.
2) Okko (demo) - A feudal Japan miniatures fighting game. Simple and fun, but nothing spectacular.
3) Story Cards (demo) - This was a neat RPG system where the characters and setting can be created on the fly using cards, charts, and readings. I'd recommend it for people who like role playing who often have nothing put together for a session.
4) In the Year of the Dragon (twice) - I seemed to like this better than others. A game where the players play against each other as well as the board calamities.
5) Amyitis - A fairly bland game involving the building of the Hanging Gardens. The only positive thing about the game was that it distracted Hannah enough for Darren to put his engagement plans into fruition (yay!)
6) Monsterocalypse! (demo) - A really fun miniatures game with well-crafted pieces and a nice monster fighting mechanic. The players play a giant monster with a small army of little monsters with the goal of powering up the big monster by destroying buildings en route to a big monster showdown. Very campy fun in the spirit of Monsters Menace America.
7) Stone Age - A nominee for this year's Spiel des Jahres. Neat game with many different options for victory. Players gather resources and tools, build, feed their people, and mate their people to grow their village.
8) Pirates of the Caribbean: Pirate's Dice - A variation of Liar's Dice. Out of several games, I won two.
9) Jungle Speed - An awesome card game. It's a variation of Egyptian Ratscrew where players grab a wooden totem instead of slapping the deck.
10) Notre Dame - You gotta love a game that has a rat meter.
Games Bought
1) D&D 4th Edition stuff - Dungeon Master's Guide, Monsters Manual, two adventures, and tons o' minatures.
2) Assassins - Old Avalon Hill game that I won in the auction for $3.
3) Civilization - The out of print AH version, not the atrocious board game based on the Sid Meier games. Considering I have yet to see a copy on eBay for less than $100, getting a copy in good edition for $55 was a steal.
4) Power Grid - I won this at the Spiel-a-Thon raffle. Can't argue with getting a $45 game for $4 in raffle tickets.
5) Jungle Speed - Great game, good for non-serious gamers, and portable enough to take to Korea. For $20, this was a no-brainer.
People I Ran Into
1) Darren, Hannah, Brian, and Peter - Well, these were my hotel roommates, so I guess that counts as more than running into.
2) Helen and Chris - accompanied us for many games and meals
3) Stuart, Angela, and Co. - met at various places
4) Bill - complete with beard accessory
5) Vered, Scott, and Co. - hung out with during the costume parade
6) Sonchezz - one of the people I met at the ISU Anime Club
Games Played
1) Agricola (twice)- Technically, I played this with Darren and Hannah on Wednesday night. A neat farming game that reminds me of a mix between Puerto Rico and Pillars of the Earth. I won the first game.
2) Okko (demo) - A feudal Japan miniatures fighting game. Simple and fun, but nothing spectacular.
3) Story Cards (demo) - This was a neat RPG system where the characters and setting can be created on the fly using cards, charts, and readings. I'd recommend it for people who like role playing who often have nothing put together for a session.
4) In the Year of the Dragon (twice) - I seemed to like this better than others. A game where the players play against each other as well as the board calamities.
5) Amyitis - A fairly bland game involving the building of the Hanging Gardens. The only positive thing about the game was that it distracted Hannah enough for Darren to put his engagement plans into fruition (yay!)
6) Monsterocalypse! (demo) - A really fun miniatures game with well-crafted pieces and a nice monster fighting mechanic. The players play a giant monster with a small army of little monsters with the goal of powering up the big monster by destroying buildings en route to a big monster showdown. Very campy fun in the spirit of Monsters Menace America.
7) Stone Age - A nominee for this year's Spiel des Jahres. Neat game with many different options for victory. Players gather resources and tools, build, feed their people, and mate their people to grow their village.
8) Pirates of the Caribbean: Pirate's Dice - A variation of Liar's Dice. Out of several games, I won two.
9) Jungle Speed - An awesome card game. It's a variation of Egyptian Ratscrew where players grab a wooden totem instead of slapping the deck.
10) Notre Dame - You gotta love a game that has a rat meter.
Games Bought
1) D&D 4th Edition stuff - Dungeon Master's Guide, Monsters Manual, two adventures, and tons o' minatures.
2) Assassins - Old Avalon Hill game that I won in the auction for $3.
3) Civilization - The out of print AH version, not the atrocious board game based on the Sid Meier games. Considering I have yet to see a copy on eBay for less than $100, getting a copy in good edition for $55 was a steal.
4) Power Grid - I won this at the Spiel-a-Thon raffle. Can't argue with getting a $45 game for $4 in raffle tickets.
5) Jungle Speed - Great game, good for non-serious gamers, and portable enough to take to Korea. For $20, this was a no-brainer.
People I Ran Into
1) Darren, Hannah, Brian, and Peter - Well, these were my hotel roommates, so I guess that counts as more than running into.
2) Helen and Chris - accompanied us for many games and meals
3) Stuart, Angela, and Co. - met at various places
4) Bill - complete with beard accessory
5) Vered, Scott, and Co. - hung out with during the costume parade
6) Sonchezz - one of the people I met at the ISU Anime Club