Where I've Been, What I've Up To and What the Future Holds

Has it really been 2 years since I posted anything?  Well since my last blog I've moved (have more opportunities to game now), traded some games away, which now with the increased opportunities to game, I wish I didn't (at the time I mainly playing games solitaire as the group I hosted pretty much withered away to nothing in 2 years time).  I've also printed and assembled some print and play games and gone the way of online gaming to increase my gaming opportunities even more.  Here in the US and Canada, there's an online firm which rents board games where you keep the games for a minimum of 2 months with prepaid postage both ways ( I currently get 4-6 games every 2 months).  I know my local game store also rents games by (3 and 7  days time frames which is comes out actually costs more).  Oh yea, I actually have a game store fairly close now, before I had to go to the next town or get my games online from Amazon or one of the other numerous game retailers, and there's a game caf'e nearby as well. So everything is coming up roses and I plan on start blogging again.  Here's hoping to see you at the next convention, local meetup or online.  Game on!

Okay, some of you may or may not realize I enjoy pnp (print and play) games.  PNP games are files (some free and some you need to buy, hey game designers need to eat too.) that you print out and assemble into a reasonable looking game, although not they not look professional looking.  Earlier this month I bought an Android phone (okay I'm a little behind the times, previously I had a "dumb" cell phone).  I found several pnp games I know of through BoardGameGeek to have apps for the Android and are pretty decent conversions at that.  Games I'm referring to are 'Jasper and Zot', 'Free Trader', 'Yugoslavia 1941', 'Cheese Chasers', 'Maquis', 'Solo Dungeon Bash', 'Super Delve', 'Escape of the Dead',  and 'Castle Builders' to name a few.  There are a few others I don't have yet.  Of course all of these are available at the Google Play Store with the exception of Super Delve, which I got the link for from the developer over at BoardGameGeek. 

Legacy: Legacy 2.0!

Anyone liking mathematical puzzles should try their hand at Legacy.  In Legacy, a player is trying to get high score by building their Empire, Opus, and Garden.  For full rules go to rules in html.  I know when either I'm bored or have some extra free time I head over to Legacy and play it online.  You can also get a physical copy of the game by going over to the Gamecrafter



Legacy: Legacy 2.0!: You can play Legacy with the 2.0 version of the rules by using the variants on this site.

Canton 2015 International Tabletop Day

     Canton is a fairly good size town, 25.48 sq. miles, with a population of just over 73,000 and has NO gaming stores.  The nearest gaming store is in Massillion, which covers over just over 18 square miles with a population of just over 32,000 and has 1 game store which is 8 miles away.  (Say wha?)  Needless to say Massillion also hosts more gamers than Canton area and I believe I'm 1 out of a handful, if not the only one, who is an event organizer for the Canton area for several Meetup groups, which brings me to the point of this blog.
     I host a monthly meetup at a nice cozy local coffee shop, albeit small for International Tabletop Game Day.  This year I'm fortunate to be able to host International Tabletop Game Day at a local church (okay it's the church I go to) and hoping it will be a big success by bringing in non-gamers and introducing them to the hobby as well as having a large venue for those gamers in Canton/Masillion area.
     Now gamers you gotta love 'em and I suppose to some degree this really doesn't surprise me, but shortly after posting the event at several meetup sites, I get the question if beer is allowed.  I'm not against drinking and having a good time, however the person in question was able to see the event was taking place at a church and was stated in the description to promote the hobby, meaning there might be the chance of non-gamers checking it out as its a public event and not inclusive of the groups themselves.  I had to post to his question, that it would be family friendly (as there might be the off-chance of minors present).  Again, this shouldn't have surprised me but it did.  You just never know what we gamers are capable of sometimes.
     If interested, I have the event posted up at g+ as well.  Go to  Canton 2015 International Tabletop Game Day and hit the yes button if you like to come.

Cannibal Squares and Kickstarter

     Okay I've been backing a lot of Kickstarter projects recently, mostly at the print and play (pnp) levels.  A lot of them have succeeded such as Tiny Epic Galaxies (which I actually backed the Deluxe game which also gives me the pnp files), Lost In The Woods and Brains!...It Will Not Die! (which is the third time being on Kickstarter and had only a $1 goal). 
     I've also pledged on a few that didn't succeed, such as Brains! (Back From The Dead!) and Robots Love Ice Cream.  The one thing I do enjoy about Kickstarter (and don't get me wrong, I want the projects I back, or any project really, to succeed) is it's an 'all or nothing' meaning if a project doesn't get its funding (or at least its goal), backers aren't out the dough they've pledged.
     The latest project I'm baking is Cannibal Squares, a survival horror game where you are on a deserted island trying to get back home while trying to survive the cannibal attacks at night.  Right now as I'm writing this it has $1,282  and has a goal of $10,000 with 22 days remaining.  I hope it makes it, as it sounds interesting, as the cannibal aspect adds a monkey wrench in the game.
     My only complaint is backers want potential goodies (stretch goals) and right now, this project has none.  I've seen projects fail because of this.  I just wish this wish this was partially thought out before putting the game on Kickstarter, as it would attract a lot more potential backers.  Like I said I hope it makes it.

Trades

Although I live in a verily decent size town, sometimes it's hard finding other gamers, so I end up playing more and more games solitaire.  The other day I traded Panzer (Second Edition) for both Red November, which caught my eye at Board Game Geek and Field Commander: Rommel.  I'm eager to dig in to Rommel since it has gotten good reviews.

Check out Ghoulash: The Last Game On Earth - The Card Game on Kick Starter
A game for 2-4 players.  I'm supporting it!

Black Dog Of Doom: NPC Character Names

Perfect for the busy GM/DM





Black Dog Of Doom: NPC Character Names: This page provides a tool that allows you to generate a quick list of Character or NPC names for any Role Playing Game. Keepers/DMs may fi...

The other day I went and signed up at Listia.com, where you bid on items with credits and earn credits by auctioning items of your own, doing surveys, and watching videos.
Three of the auctions were for Monopoly money, 6 of each denomination,which I bid on.  I won 2 of the 3 listed items for a grand total of 12 of each denomination. This will come in handy as I'm starting to acquire supplies for my pnp games and will start assembling them within 2 months.