GNOIF: The Awakening, has come and gone and I think everybody had fun, so I’m going to call it an unqualified success.
We put out a selection of games, from left to right: Fluxx, Caesar and Cleopatra, Lost Cities, Mr. Jack, The Gardens of Alhambra, Forbidden Island, Ticket to Ride, Dominion, and Agricola. The games to the right are the more complex games, the quicker and simpler games are to the left.
Note that there’s also some text on the cards– each game got a short description to help everyone decide what they wanted to play. (The dice were keeping the cards from blowing away. It was a windy and hot day, and we had the windows open.) I’m not sure if anyone read the cards.
What we played: Fluxx, Lost Cities, The Gardens of Alhambra, Forbidden Island, and Dominion.
What we learned: Next time I’ll show people the more complicated games *before* the beverages begin to add up.
Thanks to everyone who played!
Next up — GNOIF: GNOIF from the Crypt!
Thanks to D for the cool shirts celebrating the inaugural GNOIF:
Game Night Of Indeterminate Frequency T Shirt. Ignore the wrinkles.
A1. GNOIF is the Game Night Of Indeterminate Frequency. The schedule will likely be to do a GNOIF at least quarterly. Basically, GNOIF will happen on periodic weekend nights where Something Else didn’t get in the way.
Q2. What do I bring?
A2. BYOB and snacky food (please don’t bring anything messy and/or sticky, to avoid collateral damage to the games). Make a point to eat before you come. This will allow us to focus on the games, and to avoid the logistics of ordering/paying for food. The thought is that if you eat around 4-5 pm you can live off snacks and beverages the rest of the night. Feel free to bring that game you’re amped about, but don’t count on it getting played unless someone else gets excited about it too.
Q3. What will we play?
A3. If we break games into three groups based upon how “involved” they are:
Little (or Light) Games: 5 minutes to learn, less than 40 minutes to play.
Medium Games: Around 10 minutes to learn, about an hour to play.
Big (or Heavy) Games: 10+ minutes to learn, 90+ minutes to play.
We’ll be providing something like 2-3 light games, 3-4 medium games, and a heavy game or two. Note that we will *not* be playing anything from the Fred Meyer Wall Of Games. You know what I’m talking about. The focus will lean towards newer and more innovative games. Stuff we haven’t already played a million times.
My suggestion is to let people collectively decide what they want to play. I would encourage everyone to limit the number of people per game to 3-4 players. Limiting the number of players will make the games go *much* faster, decreasing downtime between turns (yawn) and allowing everyone to try multiple games in a night if they want to. There should be plenty of time for at least two playthroughs of the games.
Of course, if 4-5 people want to hole up all night with a complicated game that’s fine too.
————
Other stuff:
The plan right now is to give each GNOIF a title that sounds like a movie, starting with –
GNOIF: The Awakening
Expect to see writeups/post mortems posted on this website.
That’s about it, try to show up early/on time if you want to maximize your gaming!
The premise of Angry Birds is simple: Use the slingshot to launch birds and attack structures that are hiding pigs. The object on each level is to “pop” all of the pigs before running out of birds.
Different birds do different things: some split into pieces, some explode upon impact, and so on. Each offers a different twist on demolition strategy.
I purchased this as a $3.99 download for the PSP, and I’ve gotten way more mileage out this title than most games I’ve spent actual money on. It’s sort of a spiritual successor to Artillery for the Apple 2e — I’ve been looking like a game like that for ages.
Blue Birds causing mayhem!
Download it for your favorite platform, it’s hours of addictive fun!
Angry Bird!
In closing, isn’t the resemblance uncanny between the Angry Bird, and:
EA Sports, in conjunction with ESPN is letting the fans pick the cover of Madden ’12. Each team has one player listed and the voting is taking place in a bracket format. There are some guys on there who you would expect and some really questionable selections. I have no idea what criteria they used to pick the players, but here are the selection that make me scratch my head:
Pats: Danny Woodhead. Seriously? On a team with Wes Welker and Tom Brady, you pick the RB who had 4 good games in his career and will probably disappear quicker than he appeared? Heck, Bill Belichek would have been a better selection than Woodhead.
This guy might grace the cover of Madden '12. Seriously.
Broncos: Tim Tebow. Yes, he has the pedigree but he started 3 games, completed 50% of his passes and looks like he will have a better NFL career as a RB than a QB (hint to Jack Locker). Granted, the only other guy I could name on the Broncos is Brandon Lloyd, but still, Tebow? Don’t see it.
Panthers: Jordan Gross. Raise your hand if you have any idea who Jordan Gross is. I had to look him up – he is a right tackle. You know you are in trouble when you are resorting to an offensive lineman as your Madden cover choice. The Panthers are bad, but why not Charles Johnson, Steve Smith, or the sentimental favorite, 41 year old kicker John Kasay.
I say, we start an online campaign to get Jordan Gross on the cover, you know, just because.
Dolphins: Jake Long. Another O-Lineman? Really? Why? Could it get any worse than this? YES:
Seahawks: The 12th Man. WTF? They couldn’t even pick a player? I know that the Seahawks don’t exactly have household names on the roster, but how unimaginative is this? You might as well put me on the cover at that point.
Given the Madden Curse, I think this is going to turn into a screw your rival process where a good number of fans are going to vote for the guy on their rivals team or vote against their own favorite player. Besides, if by some miracle the 12th man ended up on the cover of Madden, does that mean that every Seahawks fan would end up injured in some bizarre way causing them to miss the rest of the season?
I finally got around to setting up Cheap Seat Eats on Facebook. Find us and become our friend, if you really can stand the humiliation of being seen hanging out with us.
Update – I just realized – this is post #200 for Cheap Seat Eats. Wow, we have written a bunch of stuff.
Munchkin - Kill the monsters. Steal the treasure. Stab your buddy.
Title: Munchkin
Game Type: Lightweight Card Game
Number of Players: 2-6. Best with 3-5.
Complexity of Rules: Low
Time to Play: 45-90 minutes. Longer with 6 players who are operating at less than 100% functionality. Sometimes much longer. Believe me.
The Concept: Munkin is a silly, spoofy, screw-your-neighbor card game. Here’s an excerpt from the publisher’s description:
This award-winning card game, designed by Steve Jackson, captures the essence of the dungeon experience… with none of that stupid roleplaying stuff. You and your friends compete to kill monsters and grab magic items. And what magic items! Don the Horny Helmet and the Boots of Butt-Kicking. Wield the Staff of Napalm… or maybe the Chainsaw of Bloody Dismemberment. Start by slaughtering the Potted Plant and the Drooling Slime, and work your way up to the Plutonium Dragon…
Curse: Chicken on your head!
The original version of Munchkin has a D&D theme to it. Later editions include spy/(James Bondish) spoofs, superhero spoofs, sci-fi/(Star Trek) spoofs, and horror/Cthulu spoofs. In the original edition the idea is pretty straightforward: The players take turns opening dungeon doors. Behind each door there’s a monster that could be anywhere from easy to impossible to defeat. At that point the player may choose either to fight the monster, ask other players for help fighting it, or run away. The other players may either respond to the request for help, or tell the first player something like “Sure, I’ll help, but it will cost you one of the two treasures you’d get when we win.” Alternately the other players may decide to help the monster instead!
Everyone starts at level 1. Each time a player defeats a monster they go up a level and they get phat loot, which helps the player defeat bigger nasties. The first player to level 10 wins.
Maul Rat!
Why I like it: The screw-your-neighbor element is fun. It’s a good game that isn’t too “serious.”
This Recommendation is dedicated to the guy who always threatens to help the monsters, unless we’d rather give him the treasure we would earn by defeating the monster. You know who you are.
In Portland and wondering what to do? All three of these places are near the train station and within walking distance of each other.
Courtesy of the Ground Kontrol website. My pictures didn’t come out. (Too dark, go figure.)
Ground Kontrol: It’s an awesome arcade, straight out of the 80’s. The games are a who’s who and what’s what of old-school arcade staples. See this link for pics and info (they have tons of pinball too.) The grand re-opening was on Febuary 17. Hard liquor and food are now available!
The vids:
1943 (in “Trigger Zone” cabinet)
Galaga
Smash TV
720°
Gauntlet: Dark Legacy
Soul Calibur II
Alien Vs. Predator
Golden Tee ’99
Splat! <- NEW!
Area 51 (in “Area 51/Maximum Force” cabinet)
Gorf
Stargate <- NEW!
Area 51: Site 4
House Of The Dead
Star Wars (Atari, 1983)
Arkanoid (in “Multicade” cabinet)
Joust (also in “Multi-Williams” cabinet)
Street Fighter III: Third Strike
Asteroids
Mappy (in “Namco Classics” cabinet)
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Bad Dudes Vs. Dragon Ninja (in “Street Justice” cabinet)
Mario Bros.
Strikers 1945 (in “Trigger Zone” cabinet)
Battle Garegga (in “Trigger Zone” cabinet)
Marvel Vs. Capcom 2
Sunset Riders
Battlezone
Maximum Force (in “Area 51/Maximum Force” cabinet)
Super Street Fighter II: Turbo
Big Buck Hunter
Millipede (in “Multicade” cabinet)
Street Fighter III: Third Strike
Bubble Bobble
Missile Command
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
BurgerTime
Moon Patrol <- NEW!
Tekken Tag Tournament
Bubbles <- NEW!
Mortal Kombat II
Tempest
Bust-A-Move Again (Tetris Multi-Game #2)
Mr. Driller 2 (in downstairs “Tetris Multi-Game” cabinet)
Tetris
Centipede (also in “Multicade” cabinet)
Ms. Pac-Man (fast)
Toobin’
Championship Sprint
NBA Jam
Track ‘n’ Field
Cruis’n Exotica x 2
NFL Blitz ’99
TRON
Crystal Castles (in “Multicade” cabinet)
Ninja Gaiden (in “Street Justice” cabinet)
Two Crude (in “Street Justice” cabinet)
Dance Dance Revolution Extreme
Pac-Man (fast) (also in “Namco Classics” cabinet)
Vampire Savior
Defender <- NEW!
Paperboy
Virtua Cop 2
Dig Dug (also in “Namco Classics” cabinet)
Punch-Out!!
World Class Bowling Deluxe
Discs of TRON
Q*Bert
X-Men (6 Players)
Donkey Kong
Raiden II
Xevious (in “Namco Classics” cabinet)
Double Dragon II: The Revenge
Rally-X (in “Namco Classics” cabinet)
Dr. Mario
Rampage World Tour
Dragon Blaze (in “Trigger Zone” cabinet)
Robotron: 2084 (also in “Williams Multi-Game” cabinet)
Final Fight (in “Street Justice” cabinet)
San Francisco Rush: 2049
Frogger
The Simpsons
Galaga
Sinistar <- NEW!
House of Louie: Just a few blocks from Ground Kontrol, House of Louie serves excellent Dim Sum at reasonable prices.
Deschutes Brewery: Ok food. Good service. Great beer.
Fun piece about the history of Strat-O-Matic here.
My 1979 math teacher introduced our class to Strat-O-Matic, I think using the flimsy math underpinnings of the game as justification.
If only Griese had *this* good of a season!
My 1979 Strat-O-Matic football team:
Quarterback- Bob Griese
Running Back- Archie Griffin
Full Back- Horace King
Tight End- Henry Childs
Split End- Alfred Jenkins
Flanker- Lynn Swann (or maybe he was the Split End, and Jenkins was the Flanker)
Special Teams- Raiders (Featuring Ray Guy)
Defense- Patriots
The teacher suggested we draft a quarterback first, followed by defense. I went along with the suggestion, as I think most of the kids did. Drafting at the end of the first round left me a 34 year-old Bob Griese at quarterback. I then drafted the defense — New England was absolutely league average, but was the best available. I then drafted all of my pass-catchers, followed by snapping up punter extraordinaire Ray Guy.
Q: What was I missing? A: Any semblance of a running game. Archie Griffin was a two-time Heisman trophy winner who never exceeded 700 yards in his seven year pro career. This was a bad thing, since a big part of Strat-O-Matic football was (and is) correctly guessing whether your opponent intends to run or pass on the next play.
For my passing game though — I had a decrepit dink and dunk quarterback throwing to a trio of deep threat wide receivers:
Lynn Swann: 19.7 yards per catch, good for 4th in the NFL.
Alfred Jenkins: 17.2 yards per catch. (20th)
Henry Childs: 16.6 yards per catch. (As a Tight End(!), 27th in the league.)
Swann was a couple of years removed from the Pro Bowl. Jenkins would be a Pro Bowler the following two seasons. It was Childs’ lone Pro Bowl season.
What’d all that add up to? Old QB + No RBs + Great WRs + Average Defense = a 5-4-1 record. I made it into the playoffs as a Wild Card and lost in the NFC Championship game by throwing the ball all over the place.
My buddy won the league in part because he had the Steel Curtain defense and an actual running game. It didn’t hurt that I traded (read: gave) him Lynn Swann right before the Super Bowl — I’d just used Swann to terrorize his opponent in the previous game, I’d gotten behind early and spent most of the game throwing bombs to Swann.
The cool part was that the teacher gave my buddy the cards after the season, as a prize for winning the Super Bowl. Good times.
The Concept: It’s a zombie B-movie! Players play either the zombies or the heroes in one of a number of scenarios provided with the game.
The heroes are all drawn from horror movie archetypes such as The Sheriff, The Jock, or the Farmer’s Daugther. Both the heroes (by searching in the buildings) and the zombies get access to cards that represent items and events that mess with the other side. (See the Chainsaw, below right, for an example of a hero card.)
The heroes’ focus is to survive the zombie horde long enough to accomplish the scenario objective, such as “Find Two Cannisters Of Vaccine”, or, “Save The Townsfolk.”
Why I Like It:
1. The game board is modular and randomly assembled, so each game evolves a little differently.
2. The heroes win or lose as a group, so teamwork is needed to defeat the zombie player.
3. Flying Frog Productions (the publisher) did a great job with the artwork and capturing the feel of being in a B-Movie Horror. (These guys are local. They’re based in Kirkland.)
4. It’s a fairly lightweight game that is easy to learn and plays reasonably briskly.
5. The rulebook is well put-together and well worded.
6. Shotguns, Chainsaws, and Zombies — how can you go wrong?
Things Go Wrong For Father Joseph. (He's in the grey.) -photo by jon_a_ross-
We put out a selection of games, from left to right: Fluxx, Caesar and Cleopatra, Lost Cities, Mr. Jack, The Gardens of Alhambra, Forbidden Island, Ticket to Ride, Dominion, and Agricola. The games to the right are the more complex games, the quicker and simpler games are to the left.
FlatbreadGarden 