Carcassonne, Not Just Another French Town

This has been a fun weekend in gaming. On Saturday, we were invited to Tom Leisure's birthday party that included dinner and gaming. Tammy and I played two games; Bang and Carcassonne. Tammy enjoyed both games, and had wished that we played Bang again as she was just understanding the strategy when she was shot & killed. I was the Sheriff, and the deputy and I won the game by defeating all of the outlaws. When we got home, Tammy grabbed my Ipad, and I went to sleep while she played ?? how many games of Carcassonne. This afternoon, she played Ian and he beat her 120/80 points. Suffice to say I got out the game, added the river expansion, and we played two more games of Carcassonne. Hunter and Ian each got the victories. It made for a fun evening, as we enjoyed the Survivor final and a hot meal with fresh baked bread!!

Fresco

I played two back to back game of Fresco this past Sunday. We played the basic game first and then with all three expansion. I like the ability to assign my workers/painters but I did not enjoy the card expansion as it just became a victory point grab. It really derailed the them for me. While it was fun, the replay value is suspect. On a separate note, Carcassone on the IPad is very fun. I found that it captures the board game very well.

My secret Santa struck again as another package arrived yesterday. I got a copy of 7 Wonders! Thank you secret Santa.

The 6th Annual White Dragon Con Has Come & Gone

The 6th Annual While Dragon con was another successful day of board gaming. It is hard to believe that it has come and gone already. 16 like minded board game enthusiast gathered at my home last Friday. As in the previous 5 years, El Grande hit the table. My only goals for the day was to play Dominion with Eric Carter and learn my new game Fresco. Every thing else was just icing on the cake.

You might be asking yourself what is the White Dragon con (or not?) Six years ago, on the way home from Gen Con Indy, Pat, Andy, Ryan, and myself decided that we needed a day of gaming in the winter to help us scratch our competitive itch until the next Gen Con. So the White Dragon con was born. It is loosely based around mine and Pat’s birthdays.

I had a great time playing Dominion with Eric, Andy, and Josh. Dominion is such a fun card game that is always refreshing to play as no two games are ever alike. In the game, you are building a deck of cards that allow you to purchase victory points along the way. However do many victory point cards get in the way of your card deck functioning. The game foundation includes coin cards, victory point cards, and action cards. To begin each game, you select 10 action card piles that you use purchase as you build your deck. Given that there are over 100 action cards to choose from, the card combinations are huge! Playing with Eric was a real treat as he is a professional artist, and his art is featured in the game. I don’t know about you, but playing a game with the designer and/or artist is a real bonus for me. As I have shared in previous posts, board and table top games are creative works of art. Playing with the artist is so very humbling for me as I so admire their creative endeavor and inspiration. I am sure that it was a seed planted in me by both of my parents as my mother was an artist for Hallmark cards, and my father was an interior decorator. Thus enjoying the arts is a very important family value in the Endres home.

Fresco is a double whammy for me. Not only is is a very elegant beautiful board game, but in the game your are playing an artist who is working with a crew to restore a fresco in a Renaissance church. In the game you have to manage your crew, buy paint, mix colors, and impress the local Bishop. After a first play, I am eager to get it to the table again.

A third unexpected treat was watching my wife play 10 Day Across Asia. It was the first time she has played a game at the White Dragon con.

I would like to close by thanking my secret Santas for some wonderful early Christmas gifts including Gosu, and Fresco. I hope my secret Santa targets enjoy the games that I sent them.