Ever since Love Letter became a smash hit, game designers and publishers have been cranking out micro games at a brisk pace. HUE, as part of the Pack O Game series of titles, is one of the smallest yet. Featuring only 30 cards in a box the size of a Juicy Fruit pack of gum, this little game can easily fit in your pocket for gaming on the go. Form factor is great, but who cares about its size if the game isn’t good. Does HUE deliver beyond the gimmick of its size?
board games
Breaking Down In Third Person’s 2015 Website Stats
Part of my job in real life is to analyze website data. Pouring through the numbers, I gather insights and make recommendations on how our clients should proceed. When it comes to this site, I peek at the numbers daily, though the amount of analysis that can be done though the wordpress.com suite of analytics has been pretty limited.
Recently, they rolled out the ability to export post data into CSV files. I did that, added an assortment of metatags, and start splicing up the numbers into interesting chucks. Let’s take a peek together at what’s happening under the hood of In Third Person!
Board Game Night Playlist: Games for Couples
Steff and I have been playing board games together for a very long time. We both fell in love with the hobby at the same Dominion game night. Flashing back to the very beginning of our relationship, we played Scrabble on our first date. Board gaming has been a part of our relationship since its inception and I don’t think that’s going away any time soon. This edition of the Board Game Night playlist is devised of games for couples to play together. With Valentine’s Day on the horizon, now might be a better time than ever to be ready with a board game or two. Try these the next time you’re gaming with the one you love!
Stuff vs. Space
Growing up, the concept of space didn’t really factor into my way of living. With my parent’s house as a repository, I bought what I wanted and held onto things for way longer than I probably should have. For instance, I stored a collection of a few dozen basketball shoes in my closet, hundreds of video games in the basement, and virtually all of my school work dating back to grade 6 under my bed. You know, in case I needed to refer to my school work someday in the real world.
Today, I’m challenged with a very different dilemma. While I don’t collect sneakers or homework anymore, they’ve been replaced with a large stash of comic books, board games and Amiibo figures. The video games are still here, albeit split in half as part of the “Great Divorce” my brother and I had when I moved out. Finally, my parent’s house has been replaced with Steff and I’s small condo. The stuff I have versus the space I have are at odds with each other and something has to give.
Gamewright Announces Sushi Go Party!
The makers of the hit game Sushi Go! have announced the upcoming release of Sushi Go Party! This super-sized sequel mixes things up by allowing players to customize each game with a set of over 20 different types of sushi cards. Also, this new game supports 2-8 players, versus the 2-5 of the original.
I like Sushi Go!, so the name alone was enough to catch my attention. While I do have a bit of concern that choosing what sushi is in each game could take away from the original’s light and quick appeal, but support for player counts as high as eight is a huge plus. Might be wishful thinking, but I hope the game also has a better two-player solution, as two players in the original game wasn’t that great. Will certainly be keeping an eye out on this one, which should be out at some point later this year!
Early Impressions of Pandemic Legacy
Classic Pandemic is a co-operative board game where players team up in an effort to cure four deadly diseases before they wipe out the human race. No pressure, right? In the moment, it’s one of the most intense board games on the market. However, as soon as the game is over, the slate is wiped clean and you can start again as if nothing ever happened.
This is where Pandemic Legacy differs from its predecessor. Taking heavy influence from Risk Legacy, events that take place in each game leave a lasting impact on subsequent plays until you hit the final stage of the campaign. If you thought that the original game was stressful, wait until you play this version where the rules constantly change, characters can die and entire cities can be wiped off of the map forever.
The Value of Consumable Board Games
The vast majority of board games have been designed with infinite replayability in mind. Once the experience is over, simply reset the components and start again. However, Risk Legacy introduced a consumable element to the game, as it followed a story with a finite end. As you played, you wrote on the board, put stickers everywhere and tore up cards until the game you’re left with is one that’s very different from the one you started with.
The concept found new life in 2015 with games like T.I.M.E Stories and Pandemic Legacy. The first game is one that is stellar, though this full-priced game is over in about six hours with no further replay value. As for the latter, it’s a wildly popular successor to an already huge game. The love for it has been so great that it dethroned the five-year champ Twilight Struggle from the #1 slot on Board Game Geek’s list of best board games.
With consumable games on the rise, there’s been a growing debate on the merits of these styles of games. Would you buy a game knowing that it won’t last forever like the other games in your collection?
T.I.M.E Stories Added to the List of Awesome Board Games You Should Play
Days removed from playing and completing T.I.M.E Stories, my mind is still buzzing from what transpired. Essentially, it’s an adventure video game that’s been expertly translated to the tabletop. As a member of what is basically the time police, you travel to a 1920s asylum to foil someone’s plot of breaking the space time continuum.
Deeply engaging and exciting from end-to-end, my experience with this game is quite possibly the best I’ve ever had with a board game. With The Marcy Case expansion already out and more on the way, T.I.M.E Stories is bound to stay top of mind for quite a while. I can’t recommend this one enough.
Check out the full list of Awesome Board Games You Should Play!
My Problem With Cards Against Humanity
Cards Against Humanity stormed into my life in a big way years ago. I was the first in my social group to have a copy, so for a good few weeks, it was a game that was played all the time. Then one day not long after that, it just stopped.
I bought a number of expansions and supported many of their holiday campaigns, but the magic that first came with the game disappeared and never came back. What happened?
Board Games At Work, Part 2
Early last year, I tried to start a weekly board game night at work with a few coworkers. There was a lot of interest from many coworkers, which led me to believe that this idea had a chance. Once work was over, the plan was to stick around and and play a few games in the lunch room. The first night was great, but it quickly dissolved due to lack of attendance. While I would have loved to have played more board games with my coworkers, it was clear that this wasn’t going to work out as envisioned.
Today, gaming is happening at the office again. This time, it’s different.
In Third Person 