Gaming Notes: Kittens in a Blender

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Awhile ago, I gave a first look at the new card game, Kittens in a Blender. What an odd concept for a game. You're trying to save your kittens while destroying your opponents' cats. To me, it seemed like a "concept game" that would fall flat when you actually tried to play it.


Well, recently, I got the chance to play it with my friend Sam. I was surprised - it is actually a very fun game.

First, it's easy to set up and, surprisingly, even the top and the bottom of the box is used during game play! The cards are well designed. But the absolute best are the kittens themselves. They're brilliantly illustrated and each one is given a all-too-cute name that makes you want to destroy and/or protect them such as Ham Sandwich and Scratches.

Throughout the game, you place kittens in one of three locations, move kittens around, or blend kittens up. There are other actions cards as well. I was surprised how much strategy there was in deciding when you put your kittens or your opponents kittens into play and when to move them.

I ended up winning. In the end, Sam unwisely switched hands with me when his entire hand was Blend cards.  I giddily blended his entire mewing clowder of cats.

Milkshake, anyone?

Gaming Notes: Magic: The Gathering



Nature Vs Nature???

I recently had a chance to show a 10 year old how to play Magic: the Gathering for the first time. He had two beginner mono-green decks that were identical (he had bought two beginner prebuild decks). "This should be interesting," I said to myself.



I started out basic - explaining the card set up, different types of cards, and the basic turn. The kid caught on pretty quickly. 

We started and I got off to a quick start because I had some low-cost creatures while the kid had some more expensive ones in his hand. I kinda felt bad hitting the kid for 2 every turn but that's how you learn how to play the game, I suppose.

Well, I kinda held back a little bit to let the kid get back into the game. I ended up needlessly sacrificing a regenerating creature and that allowed the kids' forces to overrun my own. 

In the end, the kid won. He was very excited about his new Magic cards and asked me where he could buy more. I felt pretty good about myself. Bringing up future generations of gamers, one at a time. 

Gaming Notes: Monopoly Deal

I've played Monopoly dozens of times. But Elliott recently introduced me to the game Monopoly Deal. First, I liked the double use of "DEAL" in the name. You DEAL cards but you're also trying to make a DEAL. Neat. It's a card game directly based on the board game -  you're still trying to match property sets and get the greatest total value. It's turn based but fast moving.

It was Elliott, my wife, and I playing. Let's just say that Elliott wiped the floor with us. Elliott completely sunk me pretty quickly and then picked my wife apart until he stole the properties he needed to win.

It's a good game that I'd like to play again.

Gaming Notes: Dominion #3

Once again, I was playing Dominion, this time in a three player game with Elliott and my wife.

The Village is one of those utility cards that just works so well in a lot of action card heavy strategies. I created a combo with the Village and Militia. This was a great combo because I was drawing some additional cards with the Village and causing my opponents to discard with the Militia. Along the way, I was raking in the extra coins!

Needless to say, I ended up winning.

Dominion Card Sleeves

So you know I've been playing a LOT of Dominion lately. I just got the game for Christmas and I've played it over 50 times! One of the game functions is to purchase cards that you're adding to your deck. This causes you to shuffle your deck many times in a single game, resulting in quick card wear.

My solution was to purchase some card sleeves. I got 500 Max Protection clear board game sleeves (size 93mm x 62mm) from Comic Store West.

These puppies fit like a glove! I've dealt with a lot of card sleeves that split down the seam or have irregular cuts (sometimes cut larger or smaller than the specs) but every one of these was high quality. I was also worried that they'd be too thick or too slippery but they weren't either of those things! I was really impressed, especially for the price! I got all 500 for less than $10! To me, that's a no-brainer investment to protect my precious Dominion! 

Thanks for the hook-up, Comic Store West!

Gaming Notes: Dominion #2

Dominion or DOMINATION? Both, in this case. My poor wife who I was playing against 1-on-1. For you folks who know a thing or two about Dominion, the card setup included the Witch and Throne Room. I saw the potentially lethal combo and went after it with a few villages thrown in for good measure. What resulted was total annihilation.

At the end, my wife had FOUR points to my thirty-five. Why? Because she had 26 curse cards for a total of NEGATIVE twenty six points! There were quite a few hands where she drew only curses and victory point cards so she just tossed her whole hand away and said, "pass." She did manage to get rid of some of the curses by the end of the game by using the Chapel... at one point, she had ALL of the curses in her deck at the same time!

Here's my wife's negative points:


Why does she play games with me?

Reporting From The Renew Community Church Game Night

I just got back from the RCC game night. I thought it was a lot of fun! The gentlemen from KGS ran the games Fluxx, Axis and Allies Miniatures, Pass the Pigs, Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride, and Word on the Street.

The turnout was light but everyone had a good time. Many of the non-KGS folks who showed up were novice gamers who were trying the games for the first time ever. Word on the Street seemed to be the most popular game of the evening. Here are some pictures from the event:

Brett shows Cindi, Kevin, Ben, and Anna how to play Ticket to Ride.

Ticket to Ride... Did black block green?

Pass the Pigs... not the best angle.

Chris teaches Christi how to play Word on the Street with Brett and Anna.

The early stages of Carcassonne.

Bryan gives Carcassonne a thumb's up while Sam, Cindi, and Kevin look on.

Jarred was quite proud of his high score in this game of Pass the Pigs.

Sam teaches John, Jan, and Lauren how to play Carcassonne.

Oh, how Carcassonne grew...

Bryan lays out the rules of war in Axis and Allies miniatures for Cindi and Kevin while Ben watches.

Dice! Dice! I must conquer!

Michael and Jarred just HAD to rematch after Jarred beat Michael the first time.

Word on the Street played until all of the letters are used. I guess Michael got his revenge.

This was the first time I myself had played Fluxx and Word on the Street. I thought both were good games and I could see adding either or both of them to my gaming collection.

If you think the people above look like they're having a good time, you can check out Renew Community Church in York, PA at http://renewcc.wordpress.com/.

Comic Store West and Keystone Gaming Society both sponsored this event. You can check them out at www.keystonegamingsociety.com and www.comicstorewest.com. A special thank you to both organizations!

Gaming Notes: Dominion

Wow, have I been playing a lot of Dominion lately. I got this game for Christmas and I've probably played 40-50 games since then. The replayability on the game is through the roof due to the card-selection mechanic.

The last time I played was with the guys over at Keystone Gaming Society. Sometimes, I wonder why I torture myself in trying to teach them new games. Granted, often experience is the best teacher when it comes to board games, but KGS seems to want to hurry up and get started without fully understanding the game and then complain about how their lack of understanding limited their enjoyment or success.

We played with the beginner setup. My strategy was to buy very few action cards - at the end of the game I only had five. Instead, I purchased silver and gold when I could. By the time KGS realized I was quickly scarfing up victory points, it was too late.

Nobody likes it when the guy who brought the game wins and KGS voiced their displeasure. I didn't have the heart to tell them that I really took it easy on them.

Online Resource: Game Table Online

If you're a fan of board games or card games, you should check out www.cardtableonline.com. There are many online versions of your favorite games that you can play (in a limited fashion) for free. A few that I like to play include Guillotine, Tsuro, Nuclear War, Robo Rally, and Kill Doctor Lucky but there are many more.

Now, I say you can play them free in a limited fashion. Many of the games only allow you to play for free against AI opponents, not live human opponents. I'm okay with that myself. You can pay to play against human opponents if you feel you want to do that.

Do You Know the Rules of the Game?

I've played the card game Guillotine hundreds of times. HUNDREDS. And then I realized I wasn't following the basic rules of the game.

This started when I found Guillotine available to play free online at http://www.gametableonline.com/. Then I noticed that the game was going a little differently than I expected!

See, Guillotine has three rounds and I always played that when one round (or "Day") ended, the next player continues to start the next day. But that's not actually how the game is played. The player who goes after the player who started the first day starts the second day (and then continuing with the third day). Confused? Here's how it goes: There are twelve nobles in each day. Players A, B, and C are playing. Nobles are collected by players in this order: A, B, C, A, B, C, A, B, C, A, B, C. Now "C" collected the last noble but "A" doesn't go first on the next day - "B" does because "A" started the first day!

WHOA! This COMPLETELY changed my strategy for the game! Because, if I'm player "B" in the above scenario, I KNOW I'm going to start the second day so I want to do everything in my power to end day 1 on my turn. Makes the Scarlet Pimpernel a very useful card indeed!

Likewise, I was misplaying Clerical Error. This card allows you to "collect" a noble from another player's scorepile and then they collect one from yours. What I was missing was the trigger word, "Collect." A lot of nobles have an action that is triggered when they are "collected." So, for example, if you "collect" Robespierre from somebody's scoring pile that action ends the day just like if you collected Robespierre from the noble line.

There were a few other examples of how I THOUGHT I knew the rules but, in fact, I was playing wrong. You can check out the official FAQ for Guillotine at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/217462/offical-guillotine-faq.

I guess it pays to check out erratas, clarifications, rulings, and FAQs when you're playing a game - even a game you think you're very, very familiar with. The shame of it is, for some of the rules, I actually liked the way I was playing better... =)

Guillotine Card Game Review

The Guillotine card game is a lot of fun to play. The concept is simple: You're an executioner during the French Revolution. You want to build your reputation by executing the nobles of the greatest prestige. Beheading people who the common man are sympathetic to (like the Hero of the People), however, will lower your reputation. 

There are two types of cards: Noble cards and action cards. The nobles are lined up in a row of 12 - the order they are to be executed in. Action cards may be played to change the order of the line, to bend the rules of the game, or to give you scoring bonuses. After you've played a few times, however, you start to wish that you could play more than one action card on your turn.

The design of the game is great. The box fits the contents perfectly - they even give you a little cardboard guillotine stand-up. The art on the cards is funny and simple. The card titles often have historical connections and at the same time are meant to make you smile such as the Piss Boy.  Beware - there was a printing of this game in which the "+" signs were replaced with black squares! Could be quite confusing for first time players.

The rules, at first glance, APPEAR to be very simple and straightforward but, unfortunately, many situations arise during gameplay that the text of the rules and the text on the cards is simply insufficient to resolve in a definitive way. This is a big negative when the players at the table simply can't agree how to play the game.

This game, in my opinion, is best played with two players. More than two players does not allow you enough control and the game ends up feeling a little bit too random.

I love this game and have played many, many, many rounds. It's quick, simple, and fun but allows you to use strategy as well. I'd love to see an updated and revised edition with very, very clear rules published both in the rulebook and on the cards. Also, this game is MADE to expansions... waiting... waiting... Until the rules are clarified, I have to rate it....

1LR Rating: 16 out of 20 - It's a Hit!

If an "ultimate revised" edition comes out I'd rate it much higher!