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Sub Terra II: Inferno’s Edge – choose your own path.

November 7, 2019

by admin Uncategorized

Part One
 
From the makers of Sub Terra comes an adventure like no other…
Well, actually it’s a bit like Indiana Jones – if instead of triggering a large rolling rock, Indie had unleashed a terrifying torrent of red hot lava. Between 1 and 6 intrepid cavers will adventure through underground tunnels, dodging hazards, outrunning guardians and working together to ‘liberate’ the ancient artefact – no doubt they will put it safely in a museum where it can be ‘properly appreciated’. 
 
In true Indiana Jones style as soon as you lift the artefact even a fraction, it all starts to go wrong – the volcano shudders and one wrong step now will see you fleeing for your lives ahead of lava which cascades through the pathways obliterating everything in its path.
 
The name of the game is misleading – it sounds like a sequel but it isn’t, which is just as well as ‘sequels suck’ (remember Randy Meeks in Scream?). 
 
Now then – for your own path: 
I’ve played Sub Terra – go to Part 3 
I haven’t played Sub Terra – go to Part 2 
But, is it a sequel though – go to Part 4 

Part 2
 
It doesn’t matter at all that you haven’t played Sub Terra. This is a stand alone game – the mechanics of the game are reasonably quick to get to grips with even if you haven’t tried this kind of game before. The instruction book is clear and helpful. 
 
To begin with you must choose your adventurer. The characters offer a very pleasing range of ages, genders and ethnicity and to be honest that in itself is a selling point for me. In a household of three females and two males I get seriously fed up of having to be an old man because all the female characters have gone. There are 10 to choose from – a pleasing number for a 6 player game. This straightaway gives you a number of replays with varying combinations of special abilities. Each character has two abilities such as healing, protecting others, sniping enemies, blowing up walls, rerolling dice. Some of the abilities last all game and some have limited use.
 
On your turn you take two actions which combine revealing tiles, moving through the tunnels, healing, picking up items, attacking enemies and digging your way out through collapsed tunnels. If, after you have taken your actions you decide to take another action you can, but it will cost you a health point. 
 
Then comes the hazard phase- roll the die to learn your fate. There are many hazards that can befall you in the tunnels from spike traps to poison arrows that can fire over an alarming distance, cave ins, red hot lava to unsure footing which can also cost you health. And then there’s the Guardians. The Guardians have been appointed to guard the treasure – they are not on board with your museum plans. At the end of each round they advance towards the nearest explorer and if you roll the dice badly they will kill you. They’ve been down there years though and between you and me, I don’t think they’re as sprightly as they used to be. Sometimes they reach your tile but are too knackered to attack until the next turn giving you time to counter attack while they lean on the wall, panting. 
 
Each round you count down towards the eruption of the volcano. But once you lift the artefact from its place everything intensifies. Instead of rolling one hazard die you now roll two, and if the volcano tracker still has spaces left you count down twice as fast. You have to reveal all the tiles and collect three keys in order to reveal and pick up the treasure and then still escape so timing is everything.
 
Once the volcano tracker is on zero, as soon as someone rolls hazard dice for lava, the volcano erupts. If you haven’t already grabbed the treasure, it’s game over. If you are in possession of the artefact, you need to run! Every time someone carelessly rolls lava you must flip over all tiles that are adjacent to lava. Yes ALL adjacent tiles – it cascades. And the worst thing is that the opening tiles are four tiles in one! It’s alright though, if you’re lost to the fiery fury of the caverns you still get to roll the dice so you can still intensify everyone else’s misery. After all – just because you’re dead shouldn’t mean you get overlooked.
 
The game looks gorgeous too – there are nice touches like the trace of the disintegrated bridge on the flip side of the tile. Last time I checked kickstarter there was talk of ultraviolet touches.
 
Go to The Conclusion

Part 3
 
Randy Meeks resident film critic in Scream postulated that successful sequels must stick to 3 rules: 
“1. the body count is always bigger
2. the death scenes are always much more elaborate – more blood, more gore…
3. never, ever, under any circumstances, assume the killer is dead”
 
Inferno’s Edge definitely delivers on the intensifying of the death scenes. As well as the cave-ins we survived in Sub Terra, now we have to face spiked traps and spring loaded spears which fire an impressive distance. The cowardly reveal won’t save you here. You might as well explore – leaping fearlessly into the unknown.
 
So far our body count has been bigger. The lava surges at an alarming rate spilling over onto other tiles. You’ll never be more glad you chose the Rogue with their bonus sprint action!
 
As for rule 3, while the horrors of version 1 can leap out at you at any point, the lava and the cave ins even destroys their equivalent here. So it doesn’t deliver the full horror of the constantly resurrecting killer but to be fair it’s just as well – you’ve got enough on trying to run faster than lava. 
 
Despite this compelling evidence it isn’t really a sequel as such. The game does have many of the same basic mechanisms making it quick to learn. It is still co-operative and you are still trying to escape a cave system while fleeing from some of the same kinds of hazards. If you enjoyed Sub Terra then you will certainly enjoy this twist on it. It is different enough and fleeing the oncoming lava is both thrilling and infuriating!
 
On your turn you can still take two basic actions – for instance for one action you can reveal a tile which just involves placing it down or you could explore where you reveal a tile and immediately step onto it. 
 
There are keys that you need to collect on certain tiles – without those you can not retrieve the treasure so there is a clear time pressure evident. Every round you count down to the eruption of the volcano and as soon as you grab the treasure, this intensifies. 
 
One of the most important things for me is that true to form the diversity of the characters is bang on. I had hoped to see the same characters pursuing new adventures but there are 10 different new characters with a variety of genders, ages and races so you should never be in a position where all the female characters have gone. This has happened to me more times than I care to mention. It makes me so happy to see representative characters as standard. Each of the characters has two special abilities – some of the standards are there like health, protecting others, digging through rubble, sprinting. But there are new ones too: bonus reveal actions, re-rolling dice a limited number of times and my favourite – sniping. You can now take out a guardian that is in your line of sight but up to three tiles away. 

And now: 
I didn’t like Sub Terra / there are elements of Sub Terra that I really didn’t like – go to Part 4 
How is it different? – go to Part 5 

Part 4 
 
If you didn’t enjoy Sub Terra I would still urge you to give this a go. It genuinely is different enough and not just because we have different characters with some different abilities to choose from. This is not a sequel, rather it is a stand alone game with some mechanical and stylistic similarities to the original game. 
 But, how is it different? – go to Part 5 

Part 5
 
From the outset, you have a different purpose. Whereas in Sub Terra it was all about escaping, in Inferno’s Edge you must first venture under the volcano to retrieve the treasure and then you must escape. Double the game but it isn’t twice the length, it just packs a lot of action in. 
 
You can still exert yourself to get an extra action but whereas before you rolled to see if you lost a life, this time you just pay for the action with a health point. And if you run out of health points you no longer just lie around and wait for someone to rescue you – once per turn you can crawl painstakingly either towards the exit or the rest of your party. 
 
The cards from Sub Terra are replaced with hazard dice. Pre volcano eruption each player rolls a hazard die at the end of their go, triggering hazards. A new hazard – stumbling – has been added, this costs you a health point. Post volcano eruption you must roll both dice – you really don’t want to stumble now. There’s something satisfyingly tactile and tense about the dice roll that I don’t get from turning cards over. 
 
In Inferno’s Edge it is Guardians rather than horrors that pursue you through the darkness. As well as activating twice at the end of the round, Guardians, who guard the treasure and want to stop you getting your mitts on it, can either move towards the nearest player or spawn depending on your die roll. They move in such a way that sometimes you get a stay of execution – a guardian will have exhausted themselves getting to you and waits for the next turn to launch an attack. I like to imagine them leaning on a wall, panting whilst breathlessly ranting about treasure and certain death. You can also destroy guardians by attacking them and rolling 4 or more as long as you do it before they get their breath back. 
 
You get the same high quality components and the same style of artwork which I really like but this time the pathways are very clear – especially when you flip to the lava side of the tiles. I know this was a concern raised about the Sub Terra tiles.

The Conclusion.
 
Inferno’s Edge is a gripping game. I love the characters and their abilities; the fast flowing lava and the challenge. Each game is different as you are still at the mercy of the randomly generated path and the random hazards. But the balance of abilities that you choose gives you enough strategic power over the game to let you believe that if it wasn’t for that one decision (usually made by someone else, I hasten to be add) you’d be attending a special preview night at a museum somewhere in London where people marvelled at your tales of bravery and derring do. While, in the wings some guardians wait to strike and take back what is rightfully theirs in what could well be the sequel…. just as soon as they’ve got their breath back…
 
Live now on Kickstarter

 You can play this now at a Cards or Die event. 

FlickFleet: The Uprising

September 3, 2019

by admin Uncategorized

Before we get on to the nitty gritty details of the game there are some things I need to tell you. When I moved in with my partner I had 150 board games, me and my partner had lots of books. They all lived happily together, nestled on the book shelves. As my games collection expanded, our book collection underwent several culls. Now that I have amassed more than 350 games there is not only the issue of space but also of time. 
 
New games arrive, the shelves groan and my family look forward to evenings of me bumbling through rule books and games so that people who come to my events receive seamless teaching because I’ve worked out all the lumps, bumps and confusion on them. They get to play the games where half way through I say ‘Oh no, you can’t do that’ or the game suddenly and unpredictably ends just before they make their killer move.
 
When I’m out at events leaving them to a peaceful board games evening when they can play familiar games, I have an uncanny knack of taking with me the exact games they were planning to play. Good to know me and my games can still annoy them even when I’m not there!
 
So you can understand why, when I have a pile of new games occupying the shelf my partner’s books used to live on and I want to learn one – sometimes the response is less than favourable. And so it was with FlickFleet. The shiny box arrived with all the lovely handcrafted pieces. I set it up and played it a few times on my own and while that was fun I didn’t feel confident teaching it at all. I just couldn’t entice anyone into playing with me until Saturday, when finally Mark caved in…
 
After playing one game of FlickFleet with me mis-teaching bits and re-reading the rule book (which by the way is excellent – thorough and clear) Mark said this:
‘Next month I’m going to spend my war hammer budget on my own copy of this so I can play it if you take it to events’. 
To fully appreciate this endorsement the only other thing you need to know is that my partner’s plastic crack addiction is advanced. This accolade despite the mis-teaching and sudden ending!
 
To be clear, I am thoroughly enjoying FlickFleet. It’s beautifully crafted and tactile which I like and the mechanic – flicking the dice at other crafts but also needing to roll certain numbers when you flick – is loads of fun. For Mark it was the theme that really captured him. While I was lining up my shots he was visualising the collapse of empires. As I learnt the rules he illuminated them with scenes from various Sci-Fi films. At points I had no idea what the film was but he was gesticulating and painting the scene so passionately I didn’t have the heart to say. 
 
And then there’s our playmat. My current playmat/ tablecloth/ backdrop for top quality games photography has been the subject of some derision and I have long maintained it is perfect for every occasion. Encouraged by his new favourite game my partner has treated us to a space themed background – a thrifty alternative to playmats he bought some black oilcloth and sprayed it lightly with silver. (I knew those war hammer paints would come in handy for something). Behold… a stellar backdrop!

Why we love it so.
 
At its core FlickFleet is a dexterity game. This means it can be frustrating – one flick can destroy an enemy while a seemingly identical flick sees you spinning off the table and into deep space. I think playing it on the same surface while we all got used to it would have given it more predictability which would have been good for my son. He was initially very keen on the game but after playing it on a different surface each time he became disheartened. There are various scenarios in the instruction book and one I found both fun and useful was the target practice one. Each of you competes to avoid articles and be the first to destroy three fighter wings. This was loads of fun and allowed me plenty of practice to hone my technique. There are a good number of scenarios in the instruction book but you can go rogue and just battle by using the strength scores in the book. Or, you can mix and match. There’s really endless flexibility with this game. I enjoy dexterity challenges and I want an element of unpredictability in my games – as Picasso once said ‘If you know exactly what you are going to do, what’s the good in doing it?’
 
But it isn’t just dexterity, there is loads of strategy to weigh up too. From your choice of fighters at the beginning – do you choose one massive ship or lots of small ones? Should you play defence or just attack with all guns blazing? Do you deploy three less accurate lasers or one catastrophic nuke? The choice of dice here is genius – the lasers are represented by a D10 which is literally less accurate when you flick it while the nukes are a good old cuboid D6. All of the types of ships move differently too so some are easier to move but then quicker to blow up. So from the moment you start setting up the game you are already playing strategically. 
 
Each turn you have two actions, you can move, shoot, call on reinforcements, generate new shields or do vital repairs. But all of these choices are reliant on parts of the ship working properly. Blow up the engine and your opponent is stuck, blow up the shield generator and it’s much harder to fix the shields. So every turn, you are making decisions and trade offs based on the position and condition of your ship and that of your opponent. 
 
So to summarise: it looks gorgeous, feels lovely, challenges you in both strategy and dexterity, has finally made me acknowledge that Cath Kidston fabrics are not the best backdrop for all occasions and inspired a war hammer addict to save their pocket money for something completely unrelated. FlickFleet is nothing short of miraculous.

Live on Kickstarter NOW!
 
If you’d like to play FlickFleet with any or all of the expansions come along to a Cards or Die event. You can subscribe to the newsletter below to make sure you never miss any events.

Mental Health, Board Games and Me

July 22, 2019

by admin Uncategorized

Every month Lisa Bourne of Time to Change Leeds, holds a board gaming meet up at Abbey House Museum. It is one of a range of events that she runs to raise awareness of mental health and also tackle social isolation. I go every month and now co-host the event, supplementing the museum’s selection of games with some of my fun, unusual ones as well as helping to publicise the event. It is not a formal group by any means, there is no need to book or reserve a place, it’s just an opportunity to meet in a safe environment and chat – or not – whatever you need. And that’s where the games start to come into their own. 
 
Playing games gives the group a focus which is not them. There is no sitting round, awkwardly avoiding eye contact and waiting for someone to share something, there is no pressure at all. Often we play a game and chat just happens, sometimes around the game itself and sometimes about our lives, our experiences, what’s going on for us. There are no experts there, just other people who have experienced or are still experiencing mental health difficulties. I am happy to talk quite openly about my difficulties and I understand that, that’s me, not everyone talks as much as me. To misquote a saying I heard about Autism recently ‘Once you’ve met one person with mental health difficulties, you’ve met one person with mental health difficulties.’ Whether we talk or not, we are still connecting and sharing a fun experience.
 
When I’m struggling with my own mental health I can often manage a game of something. Depending what mood I’m in, I will usually choose a game I’m familiar with that absorbs my attention either because of theme or strategic demands but that is not too challenging. When I’m feeling rubbish, the last thing I need is a game which is too difficult and reinforces my feelings of inadequacy. That is quite a delicate balance and entirely personal. So, for the games we always have a selection of games we are all familiar with which may trigger feelings of nostalgia maybe memories of simpler times as well as newer games which are light-hearted and fun. Last time, we played Hide the Pickle and we laughed. That has got to be good for you. Right?

When I went for therapy around the time of my breakdown, one of the first things I remember the counsellor suggesting was that I should do fun things which brought me joy. This sounded more insane than I felt. ‘Joy?’ I thought, ‘fun?’ – neither of those emotions were featuring in my life much at that point. They seemed like distant memories – the sort of thing other people did. The ability to play without reservation is something we seem to lose around the time we start secondary school; we become obsessed with ‘being more grown up’ ‘being sensible’, not indulging in ‘stupid’ or ‘childish’ pass times. As a fully grown adult I beseech you to do stupid, childish things, have fun, play games. Games are not just for children – there’s a reason those Haba, MB and Spear’s games say aged 4 – 99 on the box. The ability to throw off the shackles of adulthood and enjoy a game is not necessarily an easy movement of mindset but definitely worth the effort.
 
The right board game will encourage you to immerse yourself and forget about the real world, giving you control over your actions and outcomes on a small scale. That can be challenging when my mental health is poor as my concentration can be wobbly so I’m not talking about a 3 hour game of Risk. Even short games can be pleasantly absorbing.
 
I have maintained for a long time that board games are good for your mental health. This theory goes beyond – ‘they’re good for me therefore they’ll be good for you’. And don’t get me wrong I am in no way suggesting that I have ditched my medication and just play board games while choirs of angels sing ‘allelujah, she’s healed’ above me. In fact, I have recently increased my medication because …well… life… 
 
While I’m sharing, I can also tell you that I’m trying to get into a meditation habit using Headspace and doing regular NLT with Becky Antrobus. It is amazing and by the end of the session I feel clarity and so much calm, again – as part of a wider treatment plan – I would recommend finding out more about it. But above all – I am taking my medication. Just as for a broken limb I would take painkillers as well as doing physio to build up the muscles. Only a sadist would suggest you ditch the painkillers and hit the gym. And I’m not that cruel – not even to myself. 
 
So here is a brief run down of some of the games we’ve played and why they’ve been great for us. I can only really comment on my personal choices and those of the people who’ve attended. I’m definitely open to suggestions and I’m more than happy to play pretty much anything. (I won’t have games that are offensive).

Kodama
In this game you grow beautiful, sprawling trees and attract kodama (tree spirits) to your tree. There are creatures, flowers and clouds that adorn the cards and gain you points. It is competitive but it is such a gorgeous game that it’s easy to become absorbed in your own actions and forget what others are doing. There are also layers of difficulty you can add as you become more familiar with it.
 
Are you dumber than a box of rocks?
I should warn you, it turns out most people are. This is a quirky trivia game where you play together against the rocks! The answer to each question is 0,1 or 2 so there is always the possibility that you could have an intelligent guess! The challenge is to reach agreement and of course outwit the rocks. 
 
Stupid Deaths
This is not one of mine. A regular at the meet ups brought it along for us to try and it is very entertaining. The aim of the game is to outrun death by correctly deducing whether the stupid death on the card is true or false. As you can imagine, even with such a morbid subject there are lots of laughs in this one. 
 
Love Letter
Love Letter is another pretty one – I do like my games to be visually appealing. I also added little heart gems to score with replacing the little wooden cubes it came with. The game involves a lot of deduction which I can happily immerse myself in. You only have two cards in your hand and you must play one of those so decision making isn’t protracted but it can be the difference between the safe delivery of your love letter to the princess and you being cast out of court for ever. (Well until we start a new round…)
 
Jenga, Pass the Pigs, Battleship
Classic games that need no introduction – these are just three of our favourites at the meet ups. They are not involved or complex enough to make conversation difficult and often reminiscing is a good conversation starter anyway. 
 
Wordopolis, Fletter Fuse
I love word games and unfortunately don’t get to play them so much at home as my passion for them is not shared! Lisa and I love a word game and so I was pleased when some of our regular visitors embraced them too. These are two differently paced games – in Wordopolis you create a grid (a bit like a word search) and carefully place letters to create new words. Although it is made for playing competitively, we have played this together – patiently studying the grid and slowly mulling over alternatives. Fletter fuse is much faster paced – you turn over cards and make words from the upturned letters. The longer you wait to claim a word, the more letters there are available meaning you can experiment with different strategies and test your vocabulary. You know it’s gone badly wrong when you finish the game, tot up your score and grab a fresh cuppa… and when you come back your worthy opponent is still adding their score up. Despite being completely eviscerated, I’d still play again. 
 
Hide the Pickle
Last meet up we played this. It’s a silly one where you swap, steal and bluff to try to be the player that has the pickle when the game ends. The cards are very entertaining with brilliant illustrations and comical flavour text. 
 
These are just some of the games that we have played – it doesn’t really matter what we play, it matters that we get together. Board games provide fun, low key socialising and absorb you, allowing you to escape into other worlds, other parts of your mind. Go on, try it – ‘you have nothing to lose but your chains.’ (Marx).
 
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I definitely absolutely wrote my blog…

July 7, 2019

by admin Uncategorized

I was sure it was in my bag but now I’ve emptied my bag out and it definitely isn’t there. Maybe the dog ate it… again….
 
Aiming to do a fortnightly blog is usually fine, but some weeks life just gets in the way… here’s what’s been occupying me for the last couple of weeks.
 
I don’t usually open with my most exciting news because then, why would you read on? But, I can not contain my excitement about this…. Last weekend I learnt that there is such a thing as a 6 hole, hole punch. Then (the excitement mounts) I bought one! So this week more time than I care to mention has been spent punching holes in things and adding them to my filofax. I am now the most well organised person in the entire world. 

One of the things that is taking up some of my time lately is the addition of days off to my schedule. I often struggle with my mental health and the two things I struggle with most are eating properly and managing my time – I am trying to train my brain to accept that both of these activities are good uses of anybody’s time. My days off over the past couple of weeks were filled with art – specifically the Yorkshire Sculpture International. Art soothes my soul and a good wander round the Sculpture Park in all that fresh air is a balm for my mental head stuff. Even the Damian Hirst Sculptures reminded me of games – Operation and the new one by Weird Giraffe Games, Big Easy Busking. I backed this on Kickstarter as I love Stellar Leap and Fire in the Library and it has obviously had an impact on me already.

I’ve been working hard on the other days, spreading the good news about board gaming and bringing people together with games. I’m hopeful that having days off will mean I’m more energetic and more productive on the days that I do work. What with days off AND a six hole, hole punch I could… dare I say it… take over the world. Don’t worry the only terrifying element of my benevolent dictatorship will be the level of organisation, there’ll be lots of fun activities too. 
 
Last Thursday was my regular last Thursday of the month at The Cardigan Arms. It was my first night in their function room upstairs which is huge with great big games sized tables. Unfortunately it was also the first day of summer in Leeds so we had less people than usual but people still had fun playing Deep Sea Adventure, Ticket to Ride London, Cobra Paw and Honshu among others.

Fridays I have been delivering sessions at an Autism Specialist school in Leeds. Playing board games uses and develops so many useful skills – while we are focusing on social skills and communication, we are of course planning, strategising, dealing with changing goals and circumstances which force us to rethink our plans.
 
In the first session we played Chicken Time Warp just to allow me to get to know the group with something fun and not too challenging. The group found it very entertaining and the session flew by. With support, they coped well with the elimination of players. The game gives you two chances not to be out – the first time you pick a ‘You Dead’ card, you are frozen in time, but then if ‘Time Slips Away’ as well then you are not only dead but erased from existence -deader than a very dead thing that’s been dead a long time. This allows for you to be rescued and they were keen to rescue each other which was lovely and boded well for the co-operative games I had planned. 
 
Week 2 was Forest of Fate, a co-operative choose your own adventure – we managed to navigate the Forest safely by using our special abilities at apt times. The game involved the players judging and agreeing on which skill would be most effective in each scenario, then agreeing which of them would risk themselves and face the challenge. We took turn reading the cards and the story. One of the kids telling another not to worry when he stumbled over a word he was reading with ‘It’s ok, we all make mistakes, take your time’ reminded me why I loved teaching so much. 
 
This Friday we played Forbidden Island, another co-operative game where you have to collect treasure and escape the island. A difficulty some children (and adults) have with this game is that not everyone gets the glory of collecting the treasure – some of us have to do the less glamorous tasks like shoring up sinking parts of the island. Working co-operatively can be difficult but we made sure that everyone had an equal voice in the decisions and that those not getting the treasure felt just as valued in the process. In the end we won – just. Luckily someone had made the decision to save the Helicopter Lift cards that allowed us to escape the island seconds before it sank into the sea.

First Wednesday has been the Cards or Die board games night at The Abbey Inn for the last couple of years. This Wednesday the weather was glorious so we were able to play games outdoors which was lovely until the midges descended and then we darted indoors. We had 28 people playing a whole variety of games like Qwordie the quiz and word game from Big Potato, Snaggit the new one from Yay games as well as Takenoko and Forest of Fate (again!). I was pleased that a couple of people came down on their own and joined in games with others. I’m always keen for people to feel welcome as I know how hard it can be to turn up somewhere on your own.
 
Thursday afternoon I took the board games to a senior citizens group in Leeds. I had around 30 people playing all sorts of games and everyone tried out something new. We played Are you dumber than a box of rocks? a quirky quiz game, Logo Game, Fletter Fuse a fast paced word making game, Boggle, Colour Brain, Snaggit and Speedy Words.

This image is from a previous booking at a Senior Citizen’s Group. 
 
I love my job (which is what happens when you make your own job up), I love meeting different people with different stories and experiences and board games are the perfect way to spark those stories and bring people together. 
 
If you want to find out more about any of the games mentioned please get in touch or better still come and see us at one of our public events. Make sure you subscribe to the newsletter so you never miss an event.

UK Games Expo: A Haul of Memories.

June 8, 2019

by admin Uncategorized

As the ‘games haul’ posts insinuate their way on to your various social media feeds, making you wonder if you missed out on the next big thing, and the moaners moan about the size or the temperature or something; I’m bringing you something a bit different.
It’s hard not to get drawn into these threads. Negativity begets negativity and our brains are still hardwired to focus on the negative. But we must resist. Our happiness depends upon it – adjust the focus or use a different lens entirely. There is a place for negative feedback and it is vital for any event to receive it in order to grow and improve. I still carry that teacher mantra though – public praise, private ‘suggestions of areas to improve’! Sure by Sunday morning, I thought I’d been there a week and Eldritch Rach thought it was evening. And yes it was hot. And it was brillliant.
 

Even the most negative of incidents was promptly dealt with and the offender expelled from Expo. I’m not going to go into this here- it has been covered elsewhere and carries too many triggers to open up here. Suffice to say that as an individual the UK Expo response to this makes me feel safer there. 
 
Board games without people are just lifeless boxes filled with meaningless chits and worthless tokens. It is the people that breathe life into them, that make them funny or tense or moving. It is the fabulous people of Expo and the time spent uniting with fellow nerds that I want to focus on. 
 
The Expo started for me with the Press Show. I chatted to lots of people, finally met Angela and Dan who I’ve chatted to online for years and booked in to play a demo of Arkosa – the new one from the creators of Gobblin Goblins. The thing that I enjoyed most about the press show was the enthusiasm of the games creators – I love chatting to people who have passion and belief. It’s infectious. In particular I remember meeting the folks from Pet Evil which is soon to be on Kickstarter; marvelling at the research that went into Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell the board game of English magic published by Osprey Games; playing a pattern making game with my eyes shut while two complete strangers gave me directions and talking penguin puns with Team Custard Kraken the makers of Penguin Brawl. 
 
After that I caught up with Emma from Emmerse Studios and Amelia – Quirk Expert! We drank wine and played ‘Bilder’ a game in which you use the different shaped blocks to build or re-enact the thing on your card while idiots shout things at you which are very obviously wrong. They then draw a card and build something obscure while you make astute and intelligent guesses about the content of their card. That’s how I remember it anyway.

Lots of games by StuffbyBez: Yogi, Kitty Cataclysm and the Wibbell++ system of games.

I spent some time at Expo demoing games for both Bez and Wren Games. One of the heart warming things about teaching games was how easy it was to get strangers playing together. They sat, enjoyed a game, compared experiences, swapped stories and recommendations and then disappeared back into the crowd. These were quick games so often we didn’t hang out for long but I loved sharing some time with people and watching them learn. One of the things I miss about teaching is that interaction when you open something new up to a person and place it in their hands; to witness that sense of wonder, fun and freedom to explore is a miraculous thing. 
 

Assembly and Sensor Ghosts by Wren Games

Most of the booths there are demoing games. I could quite happily spend the days playing different games without spending anything above the ticket price. As much as I love teaching, I love learning. Letting someone who is passionate teach you is a joy. I visited Yay games and played Ominoes and then Snaggit. Snaggit is a new one – a fun twist on observational/ grab it games that requires some imagination. I managed to Snag a copy (!) and I know it will be a sure fire hit at events. I also hung out on the Wotan bus for a while, setting the world to rights with Lawrence and watching and learning some games. There were loads of people playing Brexit but I couldn’t bring myself to join in with that. One of the most entertaining games to watch and indeed play is Ramasjang – a chaotic card game where players add to the basic rule set by making each other do accents, noises, physical actions, whatever they think of. I also learnt the much calmer Castle Build. Over on Redwell Games I was taught Six Gun Showdown which was loads of sharp shooting fun too. If I wasn’t working, I would have made more use of the Board Games Library and the open gaming spaces. Plus there are loads of events and seminars to take advantage of.
 
A crack collective of indie game developers, artists, reviewers and generally lovely and supportive types got together at the Gaming Rules podcast to explain our existence. Today, using a sobriquet still frowned on by Janice they survive as board gamers of fortune. If you have a games related problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find us….maybe you can tweet #TeamTrevor. It was great fun to catch up with the Team Trevor folks in real life, especially as it was the Crafting Jones’ birthday so we could have cocktails! Any excuse!

Pictures by Emma May of Emmerse Studios

I also attended the Gaming Rules/ Paul Grogan top tips for teaching games seminar. It was fascinating to hear ideas about different approaches to teaching as well as, through audience participation, people’s experiences of different teaching methods. The drip feed approach that Paul advocates resonated with me and I definitely already use elements of it. It’s sparked my curiosity and desire to find out more. Of course other non-gaming-rules events were also available! I missed Jollyboat and The Dark Room which are both awesome. And the only tannoy message I deciphered all weekend was the announcement of the Happy Salmon tournament which I can only imagine was hilarious.

The absolute best bits of UK Games Expo have revolved around hanging out with people: whether it was finally meeting the lovely Katie Aidley in real life; playing Arkosa and thoroughly enjoying the well crafted flavour text and a good game; putting faces to names and avatars or drinking cocktails in the Sky Bar on Sally’s birthday – it was an absolute blast and I can’t wait to do it all again. 

I did add games to the Cards or Die collection – some kindly donated, some purchased. Come along and try them out at one of our events. But that’s not my abiding memory of UKGE – it won’t reduce to a pile of cardboard, that is really just a vehicle. My memories and the reason I’ll be back next year is to connect with lots of slightly crazy, passionate, nerdy, kind, gorgeous individuals through gaming. If you want to get involved in that vibe, join us at a Cards or Die event soon – check out our events page for more details or subscribe using the form below so you don’t miss a thing. 

Sensor Ghosts, Assembly Re-Sequence & Override and how Wren Games are trying to kill me in outer

May 26, 2019

by admin Uncategorized

I don’t want to say anything negative about Janice from Wren Games, I’m the last person to cast aspersions. She seems lovely – kind, warm, smiley. But I get the distinct impression she is trying to kill me. 
 
Every time I triumph in Assembly – meticulously locking bays in to place, resolving glitches, fixing malfunctions, outwitting the computer then sailing away to victory in my luxury space ship – she adds new challenges. As if I didn’t have enough to contend with creeping about hoping the computer won’t notice me, first there were glitches and now she has added robots. If you thought Assembly was infinitely replayable before (as I did) it’s even more so now. Which makes it…. I don’t know? What’s bigger than infinite? Really bloody addictive, that’s what.
 
When I reviewed Assembly I had, had only limited success in terms of winning the game but I knew that I loved it. I played Re-Sequence and Override at Airecon and actually won. My elation was soon quashed by seemingly sweet natured Janice who proclaimed ‘It must be too easy – I’ll adjust it’. Any delusions about my own genius have been swiftly disassembled. I keep losing now. 

That’s the key word though isn’t it – ‘keep’. I keep playing. Throughout Assembly, its expansions and the new game Sensor Ghosts you feel that success is just at your fingertips. If only you’d turned left, or played that card first or ignored your idiot co-pilot… things could have been so different. And it’s the knowledge that you can eventually succeed that keeps you locked into these brilliant puzzle games. I love the amount of layers that there are. You finish one iteration of the game and there’s another waiting for you, slightly tricksier than the last. 
 
There are elements of the expansion which make it appear easier – I can choose which token to deploy (from the two visible stacks). I can play one or more platform hold cards to skip over those bays as though they are locked. And yet… it still has me beaten. It’s like I’ve been lured in with the modifications that give the illusion of choice and control only to remember the power of that dratted computer.
 
The idea of being able to play Assembly with 3 or 4 players is incredibly exciting too. I’m equally happy playing solo or with another player – both versions of the game are well balanced, challenging and fun. I’ll definitely be trying out the higher player count versions at UK Games Expo and I’ll let you know how I get on.
 
Sensor Ghosts

Good news – you do not need to have played Assembly to enjoy dying in a meteor storm. Even though in terms of the story it follows on, the game is unique and definitely a puzzle worth tackling independent of Assembly. Having said that if you like Sensor Ghosts you’ll certainly enjoy Assembly (and vice versa).
 
Sensor Ghosts picks up the story where Assembly left off (assuming you escaped). You settle back to enjoy the luxurious journey back to earth, regretting only not fitting the bum warmers and massage attachments to the seats. But what’s this? A message from Earth – probably a news clip of them celebrating your heroism and letting you know they’ve put the kettle on and ironed the bunting. In fact Earth are refusing to let you land unless you collect a sample of the virus from the middle of a meteor storm so they can work on a vaccine. Ungrateful sods. You pause your immersion in the game – flip over the box – there it is – that logo – that beautiful diminutive song bird the wren – hell bent on your destruction. 
 
The board in Sensor Ghosts is ever changing and has a randomised layout. You need to balance keeping your shields charged with peeking ahead to see what’s coming as well as planning how you will navigate. There are so many unseen threats in the meteor storm and of course your sensors are playing up, you start to become convinced that your computer might actually be Hal when all along you had prayed it was Holly – inept but not murderous! I like the fact that you can play three cards and choose an action to complete which simultaneously frees you up and sees the card deck dwindle. 

Changing direction offers a neat challenge where if you play cards in a sensible sequence you should be able to change course smoothly but if not you have to spend extra navigation cards to enable you to turn. When you are out of Navigation Cards you are out of luck.
 
Memory cubes are included so that you can choose to mark cards in the field – maybe the best ones or ones to avoid. Either way you must use them wisely as there are only three. Brilliant – enough to give you the illusion that you have help but not enough to let you rely on them. Another example of the perfect balance in this game.

Once you have safely navigated the meteor storm, collected a sample (not just one of the bits of rock that are floating out there and look a lot like the samples!) you can try again, adding in the Escape Pod variant and using the disruption deck. I’ll be honest with you – I’ve played many times and not won yet. Once, I got tantalisingly close to earth – I could just make out the outline of the coast of dear old Blighty when bam! A meteroid hit me. And the Escape Pod? In a move that reminded me of the many times I have sacrificed whole countries in Pandemic, I left them to fend for themselves from turn two. Then forgot they had ever existed. Don’t ever let me be in charge in an apocalypse survival situation. 
 
Although this is only a preview copy so there may be some adjustments in the final copy ,I really like the colours and the space age art work on the counters, cards and box. Even the font is suitably sci fi! The game features the same chunky counters that you find in Assembly which are pleasingly tactile. 

I had waited with baited breath for Sensor Ghosts to arrive. You probably know how much love I have for Assembly so I was concerned I might be underwhelmed. I was not. This is another brilliant game and the fact that it comes with Assembly add ons is a real bonus. It is already a regular on my table both solo and two player.
 
I got some feedback on the game at my most recent event. It was a very positive response but my favourite interaction by far was this:
Me: What impression do you get just by looking at the box?
Him: It looks like you’d die
Me: It’s by Wren Games – they did Assembly.
Him: Oh right we’ll definitely die then. We definitely want to try it!
 
And because no blog would be complete without at least one photo on the chintzy table cloth – here it is….

I’ll be working with Wren Games (providing she hasn’t actually killed me) next weekend at UK Games Expo. Come and see what all the fuss is about at Stand 2-624.
 
As always you can try any of the games in my blog at my events. Subscribe to the newsletter below so that you don’t miss a thing. 

Kitty Cataclysm, Wibbell++ and why it’s good to get a parcel from Bez.

May 12, 2019

by admin Uncategorized

If you’re familiar with the just a card campaign you’ll have heard that every time someone supports an independent business the owner does a happy dance. I imagine that when the last copies of Wibbell Plus Plus and Kitty Cataclysm were posted that Bez of Stuff By Bez did at least one happy dance. If you’ve ever received a package from Bez you’ll know that it’s a thing of joy and if you haven’t, what are you waiting for? Treat yourself. 
My most recent parcel arrived in a trademark envelope festooned with fabulous red drawings, a little comic and a cat which I have enjoyed colouring in. It is now on the wall in my study reminding me to take it easy sometimes. 

But it’s not just about the packaging. Inside there was a copy of Kitty Cataclysm and a copy of Wibbell Plus Plus – two small box card games which both offer something unique. In fact Wibbell Plus Plus is a whole system of games while Kitty Cataclysm is a punny chaotic cat game!
 
Kitty Cataclysm
 
Plays: 2-5
Age: 10+
Duration: 2-10 minutes. 
 
In Kitty Cataclysm players compete for meowney. In fact, the game is littered with cat puns. I’m here all week…The game ends when a player is ready to start their turn but has no cards in their paws. At that point you count up your meowney and determine who is the fattest cat.
 
It’s fast paced and fun. Each card has clear instructions which makes the game quick and easy to access. When you play the card into your kitty you simply do whatever the card says. You can make others get rid of cards, lose cards deliberately yourself, steal cards, donate cards, give cards away, draw extra and various combinations of those actions. So you can prolong the game and try to amass more meowney or you can try to end the game if you think you are ahead. You can look through your own kitty but you can’t touch anyone else’s. So this decision is always a bit risky plus you might try to end the game while someone else is hell bent on prolonging it! I like that element of it. 
 
I also really like the sudden ending. There is no playing on until you get a winner. Everyone plays then everyone stops. No-one is aimlessly twiddling their thumbs waiting for it to be over. For me that’s a winning mechanic. 
 
The inventive puns are paired with fabulous drawings. The cats’ facial expressions are brilliant – accurately encapsulating all cat emotions from irritation, through slyness to smugness. I think that’s all of them isn’t it? 
 
Quick to learn, fun and portable. It’s a perfect addition to your bag. As always if you fancy trying before you buy you can play it at any Cards or Die event.

Wibbell Plus Plus
 
Plays: 1+
Age: 8+ 
Duration: 5 to 45 minutes

Wibbell Plus Plus isn’t a game – it’s a whole games system. To date there are more than 20 brilliant and diverse games listed on the website that you play with these cards. The games are in different stages of completeness – some are established core games (the instructions for 6 core games come in the box) others are more experimental. The whole purpose of the games system is to encourage this experimental approach. Every 1st August Bez will announce a new featured ‘core’ game. We, the players, are encouraged to submit game ideas in whatever stage they are at.
 
The existing games are fun and varied. Grabell is a fast paced pattern or letter matching game which requires no spelling or word based ability. Faybell is a storytelling game where you work together to craft a tale, using the cards to determine elements you should include. Helpfully the instructions come with a list of useful words for awkward letters. Phrasell is a game which uses the cards as prompts for phrases about a predetermined topic – this can be as silly as you want and often is! Coupell requires you to make words with the cards, swapping them around to make sure that everyone’s scores are perfectly balanced by the end. In Wibbell players compete to be the first to shout out a word which uses all the required cards, the more you win, the more cards you have to include. 
 
One of my favourites from the many games listed on the website is Many a Mickel Makes a Muckel. The rules for this solo game are not included in the box. You are trying to create high scoring words by trying to place each new card you turn over in one of the three words you are working on. Discarded cards count as negatives and reduce your overall score. The card list included in the box and the numbers on the cards which indicate how many of that letter are in the deck are invaluable aids in this game. 
 
By far the most exciting element of this games system is the organic element of it. One of the things which I think gaming allows is for adults to access that free and creative part of them which is so often locked away sometime during adolescence when we begin to feel we should pursue ‘worthwhile’, ‘serious’ things in our free time. Here is a box of beautifully lettered cards with a gorgeous finish -you can play existing games or you can just play around with them. You have not only permission but in fact an invitation to play without rules and make your own up. The creation of games is intrinsically playful. When children open games they just play with a joyful disregard for rules. Someone recently told me that her children used to love Carcassonne – they just made pictures with the tiles and played with the meeples. As adults it’s hard not to intervene – ‘you’re doing that wrong’ ‘it’s not meant to be used like that’. It’s a game. They are playing with it. That’s it’s use right there. 
 
One of the great things about the retro games in my collection is that it takes you back to a time when you just enjoyed stuff, when the floor really was lava and you had to negotiate the living room without touching it. As we get older we get caught up in doing things the right way, in getting it right, in following the rules. Wibbell plus plus is so exciting because it offers a route straight back to limitless play and experimentation. Use the cards as a springboard for your own freedom and creativity. So play the games, get creative or just spell out your name… you know… whichever!
 
Try out some of Bez’s games at one of Cards or Die’s events.

Bears and Bees, Covering your Assets and Skull King.

April 28, 2019

by admin Uncategorized

Grandpa Beck’s card games have a homely family feel to them from the text, to the illustrations to the games themselves. They have a statement on their instructions which resonates loudly with me:
‘Your stories about enjoying time together as a family while playing our games motivate us to continue to produce fun & exciting products that will bring you and those you love, together.’
This encapsulates what makes Cards or Die tick. I know I keep banging on about it, but games are not just for children; children do not have a monopoly on fun. Sometimes as adults we get caught up in the daily grind of life, forgetting that we are allowed to play, to escape, to immerse ourselves in silliness or fantasy. Family for me is a wide circle comprising actual birthright family, Morris family, board gaming family and various others who I’ve adopted or who’ve adopted me along the way. Play is such a valuable way of connecting with people of all ages and all your families – however wide you draw your circle; escaping the drudge and pressures of adult life. Whether you haven’t played games for years or you play all the time, these three family classics are an excellent starting place. 
 
After all this fluffy, hippy niceness it bears mentioning that all three of these games have a strong ‘be a dick to others’ element. Which just goes to show you should never, no matter what they say or do, turn your back on your family. They will take you down. Remorselessly.
 
The Bears and The Bees.
2-5 players
8+
30mins
When you get three new games it can be hard to choose which one to open first but as I had a Winnie The Pooh themed event that week it was an easy decision: The Bears and The Bees of course. The photos below are from the first week – we played it at home, we played it in the pub, we played it in the theatre, we played it in a cafe… we do so like Bears and Bees. 

It’s beautiful and stylish with pretty colours and flowers, a cute looking bear cub and buzzy bees. But don’t be fooled – those bears have teeth and the bees will sting you. 
 All you have to do is get rid of all your cards by matching colours on the hexes. Match more sides to win bonus plays which help you get rid of all your cards. Play flowers and bees to make other people pick cards up. 
 We played it at our board games and dinner event at Mrs Smith’s Cafe, Harrogate. It started off gently enough as the family took turns encircling the Queen Bee with honey and bright hues. Then the siblings started attacking each other with bees, forcing each other to pick up more and more cards. Meanwhile, Mum made the most of this – dividing and conquering, almost securing victory. But at the last moment sibling loyalty won out, destroying Mum in a concerted effort. 
 
There’s a lesson somewhere in here but as I look at my adoring and adorable offspring, I decide that the lesson is – aren’t siblings lovely. Yeah. Let’s go with that.
 
Cover Your A$$ets.
4-6 players
7+
30 mins
Cover Your A$$ets is a fast paced is a fast paced, card collecting, card stealing game. There are no alliances to be forged here – each player is trying to collect and hang on to the most rich stuff. I like games like this – unpredictable and different every time. Sometimes you might win by playing a strategic wild card (worth $25 or $50 thousand) plus a load of low value cards. Other times you need to burn that stamp collection and save the jewels. 

You can only ever steal the top set of someone’s cards by playing a copy of the card you want to steal. They can block your steal by playing a further copy of that card. All of these are then added to the stack increasing its value. So even failed steals increase the value of your assets. You watch the pile of loot grow, clutching your matching card only to watch the stash covered before it gets to your turn. Do you trash that card and go for something else? Or, do you hope that someone else steals the top treasure letting you have another go? 
 
It’s dynamic, fast paced and ever changing with lots of capacity to be a complete dick to various members of your family. 
 
King of the cut throats however, is Skull King…
 
Skull King.
2-6 players
8+ 
30mins

A little more complex to master than the other two, it is a game of trick taking and betting. The game lasts 10 rounds gradually building in difficulty which is a neat feature making it very accessible. You look at your cards and then bet on how many tricks you believe you can take. You win tricks by playing a higher value card of the same suit on top of the previous players’ card. There are also cards which act as trumps, overpowering other suits as well as Escape Cards which allow you to deliberately lose the trick. Remember you are balancing winning tricks with making accurate predictions so this card can be very valuable. 
 
It comes with a score sheet which is set out in a really helpful way allowing you to easily keep track of bids and scoring. This also helps you to learn the game. 
 
As the rounds progress, you get a bigger and bigger hand making accurate prediction increasingly difficult. It also comes with an expansion pack. We’re still getting to grips with the base game but it’s great to know that once we’re used to the cards we can throw in some mermaids and a Kraken. The loot cards in particular add an interesting extra layer as they allow for alliances. 
 
It is a fun game with two but it’s even more fun with six. Literally the more, the funner. It’s definitely more of a thinky game than Cover Your A$$ets but faster play than The Bears and The Bees. 
My advice? Play all three, then you’ve covered everything!
 
If you want to try them out, join us at one of our events – subscribe to the newsletter using the link below to make sure you don’t miss out. 

One bad day that overshadows everything.

April 14, 2019

by admin Uncategorized

The last two weeks have been crazy. My mental health has been erratic and thoroughly rubbish. Last Sunday I could not collect my thoughts to write a blog post at all. I tried to review a game but couldn’t convince myself that my opinion was worth setting down on paper. I’m not telling you this to get sympathy, I’m just letting you know how it was and how it sometimes is. But I’m here this week, having a crack at it! 
As soon as I start writing I become aware of how many more positives there are than negatives but that requires me to allow myself to write, to give myself a break. I am also acutely aware of how self indulgent my writing is. But please note that I am not apologising. For once I have written a whole blog post about myself without an apology – although I am giving you an opt out – don’t feel compelled to read it all. Just skim it or look at the pictures they’re quite nice. 

April 1st
It started off positively enough with me drawing a winner out of a hat. I ran a competition through March to increase subscribers to my website. By subscribing you could win a copy of Quirk! Hallows kindly donated to me by Emmerse Studios. It’s always nice to be able to share games with people and I love a good giveaway – whichever end of it I’m on. Plus it was lovely to reflect on the increase in subscribers – I decided to improve that and I achieved it. 
 
April 2nd
This was World Autism Day. In some sort of evil genius move, the local authority fixed it so that my children had different holidays. This required me to get an autistic child into school despite his sibling and step sibling languishing at home. Thanks Leeds. This was not a fun part of the week. He did amazingly well and we got into school every day but it was not fun. Sometimes the effort to get into school exhausts us both and this week was no exception. 
In my exhausted state I decided that I would apply for DLA – I realise that the amount of hours I work is limited by the time I spend caring for my son. I am not complaining, I choose to look after him and am happy to organise work around that commitment. The form is soul destroying, you are bound to write down all the difficult parts, all the times when we don’t manage, when I fail to support him enough, when I fail to get him into school; my fears and worries for his future; the challenges that we can’t overcome. It was in this cheery state of mind that I tackled my accounts….
 
When I say I’m bad at maths it doesn’t really cover my feelings about it. In fact Maths makes me panic and feel inept so what better activity to undertake straight after the DLA application. The business has been going two years so it is no surprise that doing my accounts didn’t result in me googling off shore accounts or penthouses.
 
Tuesday succeeded in turning the volume right up on that internal voice that despises me so much. And once she found her voice I could not stop her, could not get her back in her box. One of the awful things about my mental health is that sometimes I can see it coming, like a herd of bison on the dusty horizon but I can’t avoid it. I just wait… paralysed by my own fear and self hatred until it stampedes over me. 
 
Wednesday 3rd April
Today I forgot to take the car in for the service it was booked in for. Again. 
Now ‘normally’ this would be ok. Just a mistake. Easily done in my hectic life. But today with ‘her’ fully awake and vocal, it was an unforgivable error. 
 
Wednesday night I had the Abbey Inn, games night. My longest standing booking, it’s always a pleasure to catch up with people at this. Board games are so perfect when I feel like this. It’s a distraction but most importantly it’s a way of connecting with others without the need for actual conversation if I don’t feel up to it. In fact, you usually do end up chatting to people but it just removes the pressure to do so and that is so valuable. My son often comes to this one too and I’m always really proud of him as he mixes with people, plays games and sometimes chats too. Half way through a week at school when ‘everyone else’ was off it was a good break for him. 

Games arrived.

An amazing thing that happened was two separate games companies sent me games to share at events. The validation of strangers is always worth more to ‘her’ than my own reassurances. So receiving these and the communications I have with other companies that value what I do and believe in me were invaluable to me during this – I want to say rubbish week but now that she’s a bit quieter I can catch myself and see that it was a couple of tough things in an otherwise really positive week.

Saturday 6th April
One thing I did do was try to cancel my Yorkshire Choice Awards tickets because I felt so utterly wretched the thought of mixing with strangers was horrific. In the end I went along and I was so glad I had. I was listed as a finalist – top 4 out of 58 nominees in the Best Independent Business category. All of this was down to public vote and I am so grateful to everyone that voted and supported me. I was absolutely over the moon. My feelings were all over the place all week and to end on such a high was completely unexpected. 
 

This week has been just as crazy with bookings every day and only one day off. Next week I am planning some down time in so I can reflect and get myself level again. I need to make sure that inner voice is firmly back in her box. It’s too exhausting when she’s set free. 
 
Here are some pictures from last week’s bookings – you can see why I’m ready for some days off! 
Sunday – family board gaming at The Boo, Rossendale
Monday – Time Together, Harrogate
Tuesday – Time to Change Board Games at The Abbey House Museum
Wednesday – Board Games night at The Brewhouse Yeadon
Thursday – HOPS – Hawksworth Older People’s Support Group
Friday – Family Board Games at Keepers Coffee and Kitchen, Cookridge

Check out Cards or Die’s up to date events list here.
 

Hanging out at The Old Hellfire Club

March 31, 2019

by admin Uncategorized

The Old Hellfire Club
Plays: 2-6
Time: 45- 60mins
Age: 14+
Created by Jamie Frew

What did you do this weekend? I hung out at the Old Hellfire Club with some old braggarts I know. We quaffed gin and they tried to impress me with their tales of derring do. They’re a bunch of penniless reprobates who aren’t to be trusted, constantly interrupting one another with increasingly implausible claims. Honestly, nothing much impresses me anymore… not since that time I cheated death and still made it home in time for tea…
 
So begins the Old Hellfire Club. A card game with a fun, original twist. Players assume the character of a penniless Victorian sot making outrageous claims using the cards in their hand. When you strip it back the mechanic is simple: – 
play cards of the same suit as an opponent but with a lower value to prevent them from scoring bonuses 
play cards valued 7 or more to score bonus pennies if, that is no-one challenges you 
you can also play patrons to get bonuses or force others to discard cards 
collect or steal benefactors if you play the highest value of a suit 
collect the most cards of a suit to be awarded further bonuses 
The player with the most pennies wins. 

But enough about mechanics, top up your gin and draw closer. I intend to tell you about the time I cheated death but still got back in time for tea. I had been suffering from l’ennui for some time so decided to treat myself to some new clothing to lift my spirits. Alas it turned out that the clothing I had purchased was both flammable and poisonous – a near miss with a gas lamp had left me singed and vengeful. I had acquired my dapper suit from non other than David Livingstone – lately back from a sojourn abroad (he did tell me where he’d been but I forget now – he does prattle at length). I resolved to seek my revenge so I took the seditious writings Karl Marx had lent to me and I planted them in Livingstone’s offices along with the near fatal outfit, put in an anonymous call to the metropolitan scuffers and streaked home in time for tea.

Even if you are not a fan of acting or story telling this is still a great game where you can employ strategies and tactics to outwit your opponents. However, I would urge you to give the story telling a try. Assuming characters and telling stories as good as these is a joy – the prompts are all there on the cards to help you. And if you’re looking for inspiration you can play along @oldhellfire over on the Twitter.

One of the things that first drew me to the game was the creator’s twitter feed. I have backed games with entertaining descriptions and well crafted pitches before and been let down by a lack of flavour text so I was so pleased when the cards and rules surpassed my expectations. The game is saturated in its theme and that is both the beauty and genius of it. If your motive is whimsy for instance you are ‘driven by playfulness, fancy or foolish caprice. Like a cat to geography.’ 
 
The artwork on the game is fabulous too. A mixture of chocolate box art and period paintings that match the theme perfectly. Often belying the text underneath they add to the humour of the game. Flammable clothing for instance shows children warming themselves by the fire, a wholesome scene if you ignore the text!
 
The patrons are a fair mix of males and females – all suitably austere portraits. Apart from one of the women who looks quite playful – it must be the massive hat she is wearing that has put her in such a mood! With the notable exception of Mary Seacole I was disappointed that there are no people of colour represented on the cards. I am always a fan of diversity in games even if it is at the cost of historical accuracy. 

The game comes to Kickstarter on the 9th April. One of the stretch goals will be metal coins to keep count of your victorious brags and early backers will receive a monocle. They have also worked closely with Meeple Like Us to create an accessible deck which is really good to see. 
 
The combinations of perils, motives, crimes, places, weapons, people and objects are endlessly entertaining and varied. Added to that the suggested list of 21 possible story threads and the varying order in which cards will be played and you have hours of entertainment here in this one little pack of cards. There are no limits to the tales you can weave and embellish. Pop this velveteen pouch of delights in your bag, set your imagination free and prove yourself the most daring member of this infamous club. 

In the meantime come and see us at one of out events and you can try it out.
Check out their Twitter or Facebook

Posts in category: Uncategorized

Sub Terra II: Inferno’s Edge – choose your own path.

FlickFleet: The Uprising

Mental Health, Board Games and Me

I definitely absolutely wrote my blog…

UK Games Expo: A Haul of Memories.

Sensor Ghosts, Assembly Re-Sequence & Override and how Wren Games are trying to kill me in outer

Kitty Cataclysm, Wibbell++ and why it’s good to get a parcel from Bez.

Bears and Bees, Covering your Assets and Skull King.

One bad day that overshadows everything.

Hanging out at The Old Hellfire Club

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