Board Games; What's Not to Love

As we celebrate Valentines Day this week, I thought I would doodle about my love of board games. No matter what my wife thinks, it is a love that pales in comparison to my love of my wife and our three sons (Tammy & I will celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary this October).

Oh my lovely board games, let me count the ways..... It would be too easy to blog on my most favorite game that I love, or a grail that I hope to find this coming year. It is true, I love the art of the game, and the creative energy that releases as a game is brought to the table. I love the tension, the table talk, and the meta game between opponents. I love the companionship, and wonderful friends that I have made over the years. What I truly love the most are my cherished memories. Just this last month I have played over 20 games of Ticket to Ride with my wife. Just after my surgery in January, Paul and Pat came over to check on me while soundly defeating me in Agricola and Tzolkin. Even this past Sunday was a wonderful time as I taught Alien Frontiers to my friends Brady, Kat, and Dawson. Here are a few of my most loved gaming memories.

As my gaming interests grew, I was introduced to Risk while visiting a new boy who had moved into my school in 8th grade (197) Jim. I remember during a snow day, my mother drove me over to Jim’s house, where we played Risk for hours. He had a wonderful game collection that included Axis & Allies, and Broadsides. Eventually, I got my own copy of Risk, and I spent even more hours adding additional territories and expansion.

While playing cards and dominoes was a regular part of the Endres family tradition, each summer I would spent several weeks with my grandmother Endres in Wichita. During that visit, I would beg and plead to spend the night with my great uncle Walter. After dinner, he would set up the dominoes on his kitchen table. While playing, he would tune in a radio station on his world band radio. While I don’t remember many of the games outcomes, it was always a wonderful time.

My dad was the original card shark. He loved all types of card games. He kept a deck of cards on the first floor, his bedroom, and in all of his suit cases. During quiet times, I can still hear him shuffling the cards and dealing a hand of solitaire. Eventually, he taught me how to play Kings on the Corner. He was notorious for hold cards that he could play, or that would benefit me in any way.

My dad was a very hard worker, and my mother and I spent many evenings waiting for him to come home. When my mother’s chores/tasks were finished, she loved to play Scrabble. My mother was a very smart individual. Before marrying, she was an artist with Hallmark Cards. She insisted that we play without using the dictionary. It was her opinion that if you could not spell or think of a word, using a dictionary was cheating. I still have our scoring sheets in my childhood copy of Scrabble. A great treasure indeed!

I have taken all three of my sons to GenCon in Indy. Granted, when they go, it is a very different experience than when I go with just my buddies. I purposely pick games that I think they will enjoy. The requirements are that they must be easy to learn and teach. During Ryan (10) and Hunter’s (8) first GenCon, I convinced my wife to let me take Ryan to a late night game of Zombies by Twilight Creations. Ryan is so bright, that within a few turns, it was clear that he just might beat a table full of adult men. Subsequently, a few opponents also realized this, and began to plot against Ryan. As they cornered him (cutting off his path to win the game) I drew a card which allowed me to switch player token positions. I switched my token with Ryan’s, thus allowing him a clear path to victory. Several of the other players were annoyed with me as I “kingmade” Ryan. Ryan had no idea as he was proudly sporting a new Zombie t-shirt.

A truly break through game appeared in 1993 at the Origins Game Fair called Magic the Gathering. I was captivated (my wife would say addicted.) Eventually I stopped buying and playing the cards as it became overwhelming to keep up with the onslaught of new cards, game mechanics, and evolving rules. While I no longer follow Magic, I kept a dozen or so very playable decks. My very dear friend, Rob was introduced to Magic much later, and it became a bond between us. Several times a year, we have gotten together and found time to play game after game. We have played in restaurants, on-line, in an airport, and at our homes. His rats have attacked my slivers who attacked his goblins who were being attacked by my elves. While I am not nor plan to renew my addiction to MtG, I hope to play endless games in the future with Rob. I hate his rat deck!

While coming home from GenCon in 2005, Paul, Andy, Ryan and myself decided to host a winter gaming party (that celebrates mine and Pat’s birthdays.) Thus White Dragon Con was born. While not a huge event, we have had 20 or so gamers attend the past several years. The gaming swag is a pair of specially designed dice. During White Dragon in 2007, my father joined us and was enthralled with a dexterity game call Crokinole. It was my father’s last White Dragon Con.

Almost every game session with my youngest son Ian is a cherished memory. This winter I set up and taught Ian and two of his buddies how to play Angry Birds Star Wars. As the Death Star crumbled, they all cheered. Ian has been to three GenCons and all of them have provided wonderful times. During his second Gencon he sank two pirate ships with his British Lego Man-O-War. Last year he played King of Tokyo with the game designer Dr. Richard Garfield who is well known for designing Magic the Gathering. It was such a memorable experience for him that he re-themed the game into The King of Bunker Hill for his most recent Revolutionary War school project.

 

The cherished memories is what I love the most!!

Check out these League of Extraordinary Blogs;
Monster Cafe http://monstercafesaltillo.blogspot.mx/2013/02/league-assignment-love.html
The Lair of the Dark Horde http://dorkhorde.blogspot.com/2013/02/leage-of-extraordinary-bloggers-post-i.html
Fortune and Glory Days http://fortuneandglorydays.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-league-has-spoken-things-you-love.html

“Hot Collectibles of Tomorrow: A Board Game"

Are board games collectible? YES Do they have value? FINANCIAL - Few, SENTIMENTAL - Yes

I own around 1000 board games, and I consider them a collection. However, many of the games have little $$ value or are consider the next HOT collectible. Many if not most games are produced in large print runs. For simplistic means, lets divide games into two categories; Euro and Ameritrash.

Euro games are games that typically focus on game play and mechanics. Some examples include Settlers of Catan, and Ticket to Ride (both available at Target.) Whereas Ameritrash games are rich in theme and less focused on mechanics. Risk, Stratego, Operation, and Monopoly are standard Ameritrash games. Fans of these games are often over heard stating that Euro games have bland pasted on themes. I am a fan of both types of games as they scratch different itches.

My collection of board games has crested 1000 games. Many of them have sentimental value, but a few have financial value. My collection has grown and developed based on likes and "grails." Grails are games that I may have played as a child, or capture my imagination. One of my favorite games from 2011 was Puppet Wars. The theme is waring puppets who can cast magical spells. It is a very creative miniatures game that has a rich story line. Currently I have two grails that I hope to find this year; the Mad Magazine Card game, and the Hogans Heroes board game. As I write this blog, a copy of Hogan's Heroes is listed on eBay for $349! Plus while not in my collection, Hasbro published a new version of Operation: Star Wars R2D2.  How cool is that!

Despite these random thoughts, there is one company that is publishing one hot sought after game each year. The company is Splotter Spellen. Splotter is a small Dutch board game publisher, founded in 1997. They pride themselves in making deep, complicated strategy games. Their games offer a variety in unusual mechanics, and are printed in very small print runs thus making the games highly sought after and expensive. Their 2012 offering is a game called The Great Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is a game about building a trade based civilization in ancient Africa. It has player interaction including variable player powers, auctioning/bidding, and point to point movement. Boardgamegeek.com "Clever use of turn-order manipulation, economic development in an almost close environment, scarce natural resource use and logistical optimization to deliver goods from craftsmen to monuments: You only get one action per turn, so be smart!"

While I have not played Zimbabwe, it is most definitely on my to do list. However, I am lucky to have played and own "Indonesia (2005,) and Antiquity (2004.). Very collectible.....

Check out these "collectible" posts;
http://coolandcollected.com/
http://fortuneandglorydays.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-league-has-spoken-collectibles-of.html

 

 

Pirates of the Spanish Main (POSM); The game that walked the plank.

Why do some games die and vanish while other games just keep on keeping on? In the case of POSM, it was (in my honest opinion) a brilliant game that did a wonderful job of capturing the theme. However, from the beginning, it's fan base consistently complained that the producers (Wizkids) did not adequately support the game other than releasing product. Was this lack of support the plank that the game finally took?

POSM was introduced in 2004 as the world’s first constructible strategy game. It was then followed by 12 expansions that included Nemo-ish submarines, Chinese Junks, and Viking long boats. The game was sold in collectible pack that boasted a complete game in every pack including two ships, an island, treasure, a crew member, and a tiny six sided die. As each ship takes damage, you would remove a mast thus reducing the offensive capability. Even though the 12 expansions added unlimited depth, the game fell through the cracks as Topps sold Wizkids in 2008.

An interesting comparison (not by theme) is Netrunner by Wizards of the Coast. The game was published in 1996 and then vanished..... But not really. The game remained so popular that eventually Fantasy Flight games re-released Netrunner this past fall. The game lacked the product support, and retained a strong aftermarket value whereas POSM can e found for penny's on the dollar. While neither game is at all similar in play, it challenges the argument that POSM died because of lack of support.

By now you might be asking what is the definition of support given the 12 expansions. I suppose miniature player standards it would include story, plot, scenarios, and campaigns.....

Check out these links of toy and gaming blogs;

Cool and Collected
http://coolandcollected.com/category/the-league/

The Dork Horde
http://dorkhorde.blogspot.com/?m=1   

Goodwill Hunting 4 Geeks
http://goodwillhunting4geeks.blogspot.com/?m=1 

The Man Who Stares at Games
http://adambobomb.blogspot.com/?m=1 

 

Mr. Angry Eyes!

I'm a sucker for almost anything Star Wars. I immediately fell in love with the Star Wars Angry Bird toys that were released in the fourth quarter of 2012. While in Florida earlier this month to watch my oldest son run the Disney marathon, I stumbled across Darth Mash & Mashter Yoda. These wonderful toys are a cross over between Mr. Potato Head and Star Wars characters.

Who doesn't love Mr. Potato Head. The toy was invented and developed by George Lerner in 1949, and first manufactured and distributed by Hasbro in 1952. I have vague memories of attaching toy features to real potatoes. If your a fan of anything Mr. Potato then the Down Town Disney toy store would be nirvana for you. Aside from a large selection of Mr. Potato sets, you can build your own kit for $19.99. The only posted rule I could find was that the lid of the box "had to close." I guess if you wanted to, you could fill your box with only arms, and legs.

"May the Spud be with you!"

My blog - Achievements in Gaming; http://rgendres.blogspot.com/

Check out this link of toy & gaming blogs.

http://coolandcollected.com/category/the-league/

It's Good to be the King!

Did you ever play King of the Hill as a child? I remember playing it while on Boy Scout camp outs. Eventually it became the younger scouts versus a the older boys. "Take out their legs" was the most heard war cry. I even remember an indoor game or two with my cousins (on my mother's side) on their couch despises my aunt's taunts, King of the Couch.

Just before this past Christmas I found a very nice 1964 copy of King of the Hill by Schaper. The game is a simple "roll & move" game laced with traps. Imagine Shuts & Ladders without the ladders. In addition it does not use dice but a simple yet innovative "tilt-scorer." If your a fan of the Price is Right, the "tilt-scorer" resembles the plenko game.

Another new variant of the king of the hill theme is King of Tokyo. This games combines a dice mechanic, and a Godzilla theme. In the photo, Ian is playing the game designer, Richard Garfield at Gencon 2012. The goal is to knock out the other monsters using your claw attack or special sci-fy weapons.

"It's good to be the king" is a classic line in a Mel Brooks movie. Can you remember which movie?

49 going on 50 or am I?

I love to make pit stops at flea markets and antique malls. While the prices are hit and miss (mostly miss,) reliving a childhood memory is priceless. I had completely forgot about this toy until I recently found one at a local antique mall. Having been born in 1963, space travel was a part of my childhood. I remember gathering around the television with my parents or during school at Somerset Elementary. I never grew tired of watching a liftoff or landing. Each one was special in their own way. Tragedies included. As a social worker, I have found ways to translate those lessons into my work with children and families. Take offs and landings are critical for mission success as well as healing hurt families. If I close my eyes a can remember my launches. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...... Blast off.

2012: A Great Year in Gaming But A Disappointing Year for Blogging

While I did a poor job of blogging this past year, gaming was wonderful. I played so many wonderful games. It's hard to decide which one was the best or my favorite. I recorded 302 plays that spanned 85 different games.  Aside from game play, I added many wonderful games to my collection including Merchants of Venus, Antiquity, Alien Frontiers, Castles of Burgundy,  Tzolkin and several hard to find Sackson games.

Speaking of Sackson games, my Sackson fan fest during Gencon was great fun.  I have already decided to host a third event. 

My big game hunt continued to peak during 2012.  I found so many wonderful vintage games.  I completed my collection of Man From U.N.C.L.E. games that were produced in 1965 and 1966.  Plus I found a game from my childhood, Merry Milkman 1955.  As my collection continues to swell, I am considering cutting back the big game hunt, limiting my game purchases to 10 games, and culling my collection.  However my real resolve is to return to writing....  Time will tell.