by A.J. Coltrane

GNOIF #23 recap — GNOIF:  It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s a Zepplin?! (Steampunk and Transportation themes.)

Games That Got Played:  Fluxx (Firefly), Forbidden Island, Get Dr. Lucky, Lost Cities, Rocketville, Steampunk Rally, Ticket To Ride Europe.

Games That Didn’t Get Played:  Catan (Starship), Galaxy Trucker, Hanabi, Infernal Contraption, Pirate’s Cove, Power Grid, RoboRally, Ticket to Ride Card Game.

Really, the theme was based around our newest game – Steampunk Rally. A brief description from BoardGameGeek:

Using a unique dice-placement mechanism, players take on the roles of famous inventors from the turn of the last century like Nikola Tesla and Marie Curie, constructing fantastical contraptions that make use of steam, heat and electricity in an attempt to win a no-holds-barred race through the Swiss alps.

Contraptions like so:

The red dice represent “heat”, the blue dice are “steam”, and the yellow dice are “electricity”. The purpose of the Contraption is to generate resources, exchange one resource for another, and to convert the end product into (fast) forward motion through the Alps. It’s probably my new favorite game and should receive a “Recommended Game” post soon. (The metal cogs don’t come with the game. Those were a gift from SeattleAuthor. They’re way more fun to look at and handle than the cardboard pieces that do come with the game.)

Fluxx was played — I won one game entirely by accident. (I was getting a beverage when I won.) Rocketville went over well with a group that was mostly new to it.

Lost Cities was played — the winner was the person who didn’t try to start four expeditions. (I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anyone win when attempting more than three. To quote a 2010 post:  Players must use caution — initiating an expedition has a steep price, and a “money-sink”  venture can end the chances of winning.)

Get Dr. Lucky had the usual screw-your-neighbor finish. I didn’t see who won the Ticket To Ride Europe, though it occupied a good-sized group for a couple of hours.

Next up will be the Horror/Zombie/Vampire night around Halloween. Games will include Last Night On Earth (B-movie style horror game), Zombie Fluxx, Betrayal At The House On The Hill, Bang! (A Spaghetti Western, though there’s plenty of death in that game), Guillotine (Off with their heads!), Deadfellas (undead mobsters), Ultimate Werewolf (peasants getting killed by werewolves), and a handful of others.

Thanks to everyone who played!

by A.J. Coltrane

GNOIF #22 recap — GNOIF’s Three Hour Tour (Games about water, islands, and pirates.)

Games That Got Played:  Avalon – Resistance, Dominion (Seaside), Pandemic, Pirate’s Cove, Pirate Fluxx, Forbidden Island, Ultimate Werewolf.

Games That Didn’t Get Played:  Amerigo, Carcassonne, Forbidden Desert, Island Port.

I enjoy teaching new people Fluxx for the first time. It’s quick to learn, and players always have fun once they wrap their heads around the idea that the rules change almost every turn. It’s a goofy game, but planning still gets rewarded sometimes.

Fittingly, the forces of failure were everywhere — we managed to lose at least one game each of Forbidden Island and Pandemic. The evil team won two out of three games of Avalon. The werewolves won two out of three games of Ultimate Werewolf.

Thanks to everyone who played!

Those Poor People….

Galaxy Quest: A must-see movie if you haven’t already watched it.

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In other news, we just passed 1 million sp*m, thank goodness for filters.

by A.J. Coltrane

GNOIF #21 recap — GNOIF Throws Together A Posse (A fairly random cross-section of games.)

Games That Got Played:  Dark Gothic, Forbidden Island, Letters To Santa, Seven Wonders.

Games That Didn’t Get Played:  Castle Panic, Poo, RoboRally, Small World, Ticket To Ride Card Game, Tiny Epic Kingdoms.

#21 — GNOIF is old enough to drink(!) Last minute invites meant that lots of people already had plans. Turnout was small, which was ok. We got in some good gameplay.

Dark Gothic is the “new thing” — it’s a deck building “colonial horror” themed game. Each player starts with a slightly different deck and a different hero ability. That adds some welcome asymmetry to a genre that can get a little static in terms of strategy. The object is for the players to sort of work together to defeat evil villains before too many “bad things” happen. There’s still one winner.. so players cooperate, but not too hard. The game is by the same studio that does Last Night On Earth, and the “photo” artwork is excellent. It’s one of my new favorites. BoardGameGeek page is here.

I enjoyed Seven Wonders as well. My “Recommended Game” summary is here.

Thanks to the few intrepid folks who showed, and thanks to everyone who brought awesome beer and food.