Learning New Games, one card at a time.

Since it was the weekend, it was a pretty lazy day for Michelle and me. We went gaming with the Gnome Games group although it was at a different spot since there was a convention this weekend, so the gaming took place at a nearby taproom.

Going to Gnome Games pretty much every Saturday for the past several months has helped introduce me to a variety of tabletop games. (This included today when Michelle taught me Carcassonne, which was quite simple to pick up.) So, I wanted to make a list of some of the games (that are new to me) that have stood out for being fun, yet challenging experiences.

1. Power Grid. One of the reasons this game stands out is that it was the first game I played with the group I now regularly meet up with each week. Power Grid is a resource management game where you acquire power plants to power cities. You then use that money to buy more powerful plants and expand your network to a larger region of the country. There are a number of different maps for various countries & regions, but I've only played the US map.

2. Hanabi. If you're looking for a test in memory and communication, this is the one for you. Hanabi is a cooperative card game where the entire group is lighting off fireworks in various colors. However, the twist is that you can see everyone else's cards, but you can't actually see your own. So, the gameplay is focused around giving limited clues to other players while trying to deduce your own cards from the clues you receive. You really get the sense of accomplishment when you finish a color, but I decided needed a change in game after finishing.

3. Lords of Waterdeep. Set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons, you must amass adventurers in order to complete quests. I was a little hesitant when I saw how stylized it was, but it just works. One thing I really appreciate about this game is the preset time limit. You only have a certain number of moves for the entire game, so you really have to make each move count. Unfortunately, a bad opening hand (a lot of quests that require a large investment of resources) can bite you in the butt from time to time.

4. Smash Up. This card game is basically a nerd's "Who would win in a fight?" argument brought to life!... in a game! At the beginning of the game, every player takes two themed decks of cards and appropriately smashes them together into one mixture. You then use that deck to control areas and win points. The fun comes from the decks ranging in themes like Wizards, Zombies, Robots, Bear Cavalry, Steampunk, and Pretty Princesses. Oh, and definitely Pirates and Ninjas too, if you wanted to live out that argument from the early years of the Internet.

5. Boss Monster. I was not expecting to have three games on the list be card games, but hey, it works. Boss Monster has you take the role of a boss in a SNES-era dungeon, 16-bit graphics and all. You make rooms to hurt heroes, which also attract heroes to investigate and potentially kill you. Everyone works on their own dungeon, but you try to attract the low-level heroes for easy points, while steering the real heavy hitters to other players.

So yeah, I hadn't heard about any of these games before moving to Green Bay, so it's nice that I can learn more games rather than just sticking with what I know. There are plenty of others that I have learned as well, but there are clearly some that I like better than others.

In terms of holidays, today is pretty varied, similar to yesterday. It is Memory Day, so thinking back to playing other games harkens back to that, I suppose. It's also Corn Dog Day, Poetry Day, and National Renewable Energy Day, although I didn't connect with those ones as strongly. Maybe next time.

DFTBA