One of my favorite ways to enjoy Star Wars is through gaming. The Star Wars fandom can be toxic at times, whereas the gaming community is more about bonding over the fandom and playing board games. A card game I used to play, Star Wars: Destiny, is officially being discontinued by Fantasy Flight Games. It’s a shame because this game was fun, but I’m not surprised to hear it’s being discontinued.

I was introduced to Star Wars Destiny in 2016. My friend worked at a game shop while we were in college. She called me and told me to come try out Star Wars: Destiny as the pre-release was happening that day. I was broke thanks to getting my degree, but I borrowed cards from other players to create a deck. I was enthralled with the game mechanics.

However, Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) didn’t do the best at judging how popular this game would be. Our game store ran out of stock immediately. This puts a damper on playing a deck-building game if you can’t buy the cards. It took FFG a long time before stock became available.

In the summer of 2017, I started working at a game shop as a side gig. My store had trouble selling Destiny because of a lack of interest from not finding the cards. By the time FFG got around to getting stock in stores, interest had declined to the point where my store stopped selling Destiny because it wasn’t profitable.

The fact that Destiny has lasted this long in production completely shocks me. If only FFG could have predicted how popular this game would be, I don’t think they would be stopping production of the game.

Recently, I gave away all my Destiny cards to my brother as he still actively plays with friends. I have great memories playing Destiny and being introduced to the Star Wars gaming fandom. The Covert Missions boosters haven’t been released yet, but they will be the last boosters for the game. The Star Wars: Destiny championships will happen on May 1st through May 3rd at Fantasy Flight Game Center in Roseville, MN.

Lastly, if you would like to learn how to play, I have posted a video from FFG’s YouTube channel describing the gameplay. With the discontinuation of the game, I would purchase the product before it becomes unavailable.

I promise this is my last board game haul. Games By Bicycle is mostly known for its 52-card decks used in bridge or solitaire. This company was founded in 1867 and prides itself on being around for 130 years. Besides standard playing cards, they have been creating interesting board games. I was able to demo two of these at Gen Con, although Games by Bicycle sent me a third game I haven’t played yet. Let’s look at the games Games By Bicycle graciously sent to me.

Tattoo Stories

Tattoo Stories is a party game where one player is the customer and the other players are the tattoo artists. The customer describes a tattoo they want, and the artists have to draw the tattoo. The artists have to sell the art to the customer. Whomever gets their art picked the most by the customer wins. This is the game I haven’t had a chance to play, but it reminds me of Pictionary and tattoo art were combined into a board game, it would be Tattoo Stories. This game is recommended for 12+. This is available for purchase on the Games by Bicycle website for $19.99.

It’s Blunderful

This was the first game I tested at Gen Con. It’s Blunderful is a game where players guess how the other players would react in awkward situations. Each card has an awkward situation with three responses listed as A, B, or C. For example, let’s say all the players have to judge how I would respond to an awkward situation. I secretly pick which response (whether it be the response associated with A, B, or C) I feel I’m associated with. The players have to guess which response this would be. Everyone (including myself) reveals the card they believe is the one I picked. If I chose B, this would be the correct answer. If the players also picked “B,” they would win points. The first player to reach 100 points wins the game. This is a great icebreaker game to get to know your coworkers or to play with friends. This game says it’s for 4-8 players, but that’s because there are these score cards to track your points with. If you played with 8+ players, you could use a sheet of paper to track your points. This game is recommended for 17+. It’s Blunderful is available for purchase on the Games by Bicycle website for $24.99

Shuffle Grand Prix

When I played this at Gen Con, I did win against three other players, so I felt extra special. The best way I can describe my experience playing Shuffle Grand Prix is that it’s the card game version of Mario Kart or Crash Bandicoot. There are a variety of teams to play, as each team has its own special abilities. Cards can be played to speed up your own racing team, along with slowing down other players. Imagine these cards as bananas from Mario Kart. The player who travels the furthest by the time the distance card pile is drawn will win the game. This is a great family-friendly game with cute cartoon characters drawn on each of the cards. This game is recommended for 13+. Shuffle Grand Prix is available for purchase on the Games by Bicycle website for $24.99.

This is my last board game haul for a while. I have a HUGE board game backlog now. In fact, towards the end of December, my family and I are having a board game night, and I’m going to bring all of these games to play. I hope to write board game reviews starting in January. Thank you to everyone who read my haul posts, and happy gaming!

This is my second board game unboxing, but this time it’s from Goliath Games. When I secured my Gen Con press badge, I scheduled a time with Goliath Games to test out some of their newest party games. I was impressed with the selection Goliath Games had to offer, and they were kind enough to send me two of the games I played at Gen Con, with an additional game in the box. My plan for these games is to take them to a brewery and play them with my friends. Here are the games Goliath Games sent me.

Virus: The Contagiously Fun Card Game

This is the game I have never played before. An experimental virus has escaped from the lab, and players need to stop this contagious virus. However, a fun twist to the game is being able to infect the organs of other players with this virus. The first player with four healthy organs wins the game. This game can be played with 2-6 players ages 8+. Virus can be purchased through the Goliath Games website, or contact your local game store to see if they can order the game for you.

Side Effects: The Guessing Game With an Extra Dose of Absurdity

I first played this game at Gen Con, and it was hilarious. Imagine combining Charades with drug side effects, and that’s what this game is. All players are participating in a clinical drug study for a new drug. Of course, there will be side effects. This game is played in two-player teams. The first player is the test subject, while the second player is the lab assistant. The first player has to get the second player to guess a word while performing two drug side effects simultaneously. When I played this game, I had to get my partner to guess “Tuesday” while making kissy faces and making goat sounds. For the record, my goat impression was second to none. I did pretty well, as my partner was able to guess four words in a minute and thirty seconds. This is the perfect game to bring to a housewarming party because it’s going to get everyone laughing hysterically. This game requires 4+ players ages 13+. Side Effects can be purchased on Amazon for 24.95.

The Misery Index: Life Events on a Scale from Zero to Miserable.

This game is based on the wildly successful The Misery Index show on TBS. Hosted by Jameela Jamil from The Good Place, this game show forces players to rank events based on how awful the situations are. This is the card game version of this TV show. Each card has a scenario on it with a number from 1-100. One is tame to one hundred being absolutely horrendous. Players have to rank the cards based on how awful the scenario would be. When I was at Gen Con, I had to rank these three events: getting caught masturbating by your mom, drinking a vomit milkshake, or eating worm spaghetti. Players earn points by correctly sorting the events in the correct order of being the most miserable. A couple of the other misery cards include: flat tire, pepper spray in the eyes and smelling like a fart for the rest of your life. Misery Index is for 2+ players ages 14+. The Misery Index can be purchased at Target for $17.99.

I’m thrilled to introduce these games to my friends. Goliath Games is a great game company, and many of these games would be great for friends who aren’t hugely into board games in general. Once I rip open the wrapping on these games, I will be posting my in-depth review of each game. Goliath Games can be found on their website and social media, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 

Since attending Gen Con in August, I have been receiving emails from various game publishers. One email I received was from Kosmos about their new board games. After emailing with Kosmos, they agreed to send me a couple of the games, piquing my interest. The games I was most looking forward to playing include: Adventure Games: Monochrome Inc., Roll for Adventure, and Exit: The Catacombs of Horror.

For those unfamiliar with Kosmos, this company was originally founded in 2001, specializing in improving science education for all ages. In college, I taught science to elementary school kids, and seeing kids excited about science made me happy. Thames & Kosmos has moved into board games to teach kids social skills and stimulate logical and strategic thinking. These games can be for adults, but can also be introduced to kids with parental approval.

The first game I asked for was Adventure Games: Monochrome Inc. This game puts players in the headquarters of Monochrome Inc., a biotech company with hidden secrets to be uncovered. Players have to escape Monochrome by working together and searching for clues. The appeal of the game is that the rules are simple. This would be the perfect game to bring to a brewery with friends. There are also three endings to discover, which increases the likelihood I will replay this game. Market value of Adventure Games: Monochrome Inc. is $20 and can be purchased from the Kosmos website.

The second game is Roll for Adventure. This game is a dice-rolling, cooperative game. Players have to stop the Dark Lord from spreading darkness across the land. Players can either save the empire or allow the empire to succumb to the Dark Lord. This game reminds me of a DnD inspired adventure. This would be perfect for a tired DM who needs a break from writing a session for players. The market value of Roll for Adventure is $35 and can be purchased from the Kosmos website. 

The final game I picked was Exit: The Catacombs of Horror. Kosmos has a new line of board games titled Exit Games, which are inspired by escape rooms. Each “Exit” game has a different story that allows players to experience various outcomes. This game takes place in Paris in the catacombs underneath the city. After the disappearance of a friend, players make their way down into the underground labyrinth. This game is rated as a difficulty of 3.5 / 5. I haven’t had a chance to play this game yet, but I’m intrigued as to how challenging I will find it to be. Market value of Exit: The Catacombs of Horror is $25 and can be purchased from the Kosmos website. 

That’s the end of my Kosmos game haul! I want to thank Kosmos for sending me these games in the first place. Every game they had sounded fascinating, but these three stuck out to me. I would highly recommend pursuing the Kosmos website. Kosmos can be found through their website and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

I started playing the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game approximately two years ago. I became enamored with the setting, the dice rolling, and the challenge of the game. One of my friends messaged me asking if I would be the DM or, in Call of Cthulhu’s terminology, the Keeper, in a session. I was elated to accept the challenge, and I successfully led our group through a campaign. Spoiler alert: all of their characters survived.

Call of Cthulhu is created by Chaosium Inc. They’re pretty well known, as I have seen them tabling at C2E2 and Gen Con this year. To become the keeper, I bought the Call of Cthulhu starter set. It includes three books. The first book is a solo adventure, the second book is the rules, and the third book includes pre-made stories played by a group of players. This set also includes the Call of Cthulhu dice, empty character sheets, and five pre-generated characters.

Before the game started, I was nervous. What if my players got stuck? What if they don’t understand the rules? What if they get bored??? Thankfully, none of these occurrences happened. I did use one of the pre-made stories, but I tweaked it in my own way. This allowed me to be creative, but have a reference in case I got stuck being the keeper.

I underestimated how smart my friends are. My friends discovered there was an entity trapped in a farmhouse and that its main power is to reanimate dead corpses. As my friends stumbled on the farmhouse, they found various animal corpses along with the dead body of a young woman. My fiancé decided he wanted to cut up the body parts and throw them down a well. My other friends agreed, and they spent time cutting up these body parts. They took sanity damage for it, but in the end, this was a smart decision. When it came time for my final boss battle, I couldn’t reanimate the dead creatures or the woman. This made the battle easier for the characters, but life more difficult for me. In the end, my friends were able to conquer the entity.

Ultimately, I plan on playing through the other two pre-created scenarios, so I feel 100% comfortable leading a campaign. If you have ever played the Call of Cthulhu RPG, feel free to leave a comment about how the story went. I would love to hear it.

One of my best friends came to stay with me for the weekend. Whenever we get together, we always end up playing board games. She brought along the board game, Scythe, which I have never played before. I didn’t think I would like this game as it was explained to me as a mixture of Settlers of Catan and Risk. However, once I was able to comprehend the rules, I would definitely play Scythe again.

Scythe is an alternative 1920s engine building game where players will expand their group by farming, building factories and possibly colonizing. I picked Bjorn & Mox because it was the most Minnesotan group to pick from. Bjorn’s special ability is being able to cross rivers. I was able to utilize this ability to access a special reaction token. To win, it’s all about how many points a player accumulates in the game. One reason I was able to get most of my points is because of my popularity. Popularity is underrated and since I didn’t colonize and was nice to people, I gained more points at the end of the game. If I play another game, I would emphasize being popular makes a difference in being able to win.

When I first played the game and my friend was explaining all the rules to me, I was lost. There’s a lot to keep track of as far as turn selection and what resources produce which type of colony. It wasn’t until half way through the game where I finally understood what I was doing with Bjorn. Bjorn didn’t earn me a win, but I feel if I were to use his Buffalo again, I’d have a better chance at winning the game.

Scythe is one of the many board games funded on kickstarter which led to it’s release in August of 2016. Stonemaier Games is based in St. Louis, MO and specializes in creating memorable board games which specialize in entrepreneurial mechanics. Scythe is the only game I have played from Stonemaier Games, but since Scythe’s release, there have been expansions released for the base game. One apparently includes hot air balloons, which I haven’t played yet.

Playing Scythe was fun. I don’t think I will personally purchase my own copy of Scythe because I have two friends who own the base game. Usually I’m not a fan of entrepreneurial type games, but I would make an exception to play Scythe. 

I wasn’t able to attend the Throne of Eldraine pre-release last weekend. My brother was kind enough to snag me a pre-release kit when he played on Saturday. In my pre-release kit was a code for six free Throne of Eldraine boosters on Magic: the Gathering: Arena. This caused me to re-download Arena even though I had already uninstalled it twice from my laptop. I have mixed feelings around Arena which caused me to type this post today.

I first downloaded Arena because of time. I barely have time after work to exercise, cook dinner, do laundry and go to sleep. Playing Magic in person doesn’t fit into my after work routine. I appreciate the convenience of logging into Arena and getting matched with another player in the comfort of my apartment. Completing the daily tasks is motivating due to the reward of extra coins. This in turn can be spent on booster packs. It’s a way where I can earn cards without having to put actual money into the format. That’s about the only positive thing I can say towards Arena. 

It boggles my mind how there isn’t a mobile version of Arena. It would be 1000 times easier for me to get a game of Magic in on my lunch break versus having to pull out my laptop after a long day at work. Many other competitive card games utilize a phone app including Eternal published by Dire Wolf. Many other Magic players would play Arena if it was available as an app. For a well established, gaming company, Wizards of the Coast has been missing the mark in terms of making Arena accessible.

Another mild inconvenience is Arena takes up a bit of memory. I don’t have a gaming laptop, so my memory is precious. Arena has many network patches and updates which causes the game to grow in size. This helps with the realism of the game, but also doesn’t work for me. If Arena was available in a mobile platform, I could play the game on my phone versus my limited capacity on my laptop.

At this moment, Arena is front and center on my home screen. I’m getting enough boosters to build a Throne of Eldraine Black & White Knight deck. I’m hoping to use that deck in standard play if I obtain enough Black & White cards. Arena has kinks to work out, but it has loads of potential to become a legitimate, online gaming experience.

Fall is coming which means trips to the Apple Orchard, pumpkin carving, hanging Halloween decorations and playing scary video games. Besides Fall themed activities, it also means a new Magic: The Gathering block is being released, but this one has me rather intrigued. It’s titled Throne of Eldraine and it’s a story book themed Magic set. Normally, I wouldn’t consider myself a fan of fairy tales, but this seems to intertwine the “lighter” tales with a darker edge. I wanted to preview this set and share my excitement for this set.

Throne of Eldraine is described on Magic: the Gathering’s website as a “storybook land of castles and cauldrons”. Part of my love for the Magic: the Gathering pre-releases is the lore behind each set. There’s a story going on underneath all of the games everyone gets to play. I try to purchase a bundle which consists of boosters, a deck box, plenty of lands and a special booklet containing extra art and story background behind the set. After researching, I found the booklets were discontinued which is a shame because the booklet would be perfect for Throne of Eldraine. No matter what, I intend on purchasing boosters or a pre-release kit for this set.

Throne of Eldraine is open for pre-order for both local game stores and for Magic: the Gathering Arena. The pre-release will happen on Friday September 27th with the actual release being on October 4th. Pre-releases are one of my favorite ways to play Magic because I get to play with the cards early, but also being challenged by having to create a deck without knowing which cards I will pull. I’m getting better at putting decks together, but it’s still a challenge for me. If you’re playing in this pre-release, tell me what you think of some of the new cards in the comments below.

Gen Con is so much more than spending a bunch of money at the exhibitor hall. In between board game purchases, developers host players to demo their games. Three months before Gen Con, you can register for game demos, often these events are free. One of the demos I registered for was a space exploration game titled Lander. As our demo leader Dan stated, it’s loosely inspired by The Settlers of Catan, but in space.

Lander is a space themed strategy game where players take on the role of corporations to complete missions in space. There are three playing styles within the game, but in the demo version, we played the basic simulation. The win condition in the basic simulation is to have seven completed mission stars. In order to complete missions, you need to complete your crew and gain resources. It’s more complex than what it sounds which is where the challenge comes in. I lost the game because I didn’t attach the right characteristics to the right crew members. As a result, I couldn’t complete the mission.

Unlike The Settlers of Catan, Lander puts more focus on negotiation. There’s an hour glass within the game which represents the time you have to successfully negotiate with another player. It’s funny because one of the players in our demo group hates Catan with a passion because of how you can be a jerk in the game, yet they ended up loving this game once we finished.

Immediately, I wanted to purchase this game after I completed it. However, Lander isn’t out yet. It will be an upcoming Kickstarter campaign launching in March of next year. What makes Lander a unique campaign is their #playbeforeyoupledge. Many local game stores will receive a copy of Lander, which allows players who couldn’t attend Gen Con to play Lander and determine if they will back it in March.

Lander is a complex strategy game that needs to be played multiple times. It was more challenging than I had anticipated, which makes it worth replaying. One of my good friends loves The Settlers of Catan, and I want to introduce her to this game. Lander will be on a future Kickstarter campaign, which will launch in March next year. I plan on writing a blog post about this game once it gets closer to the Kickstarter launch. Otherwise, feel free to browse through Lander’s website and check if your local game store will have a copy to play.

My blogging schedule has been irregular lately due to attending Gen Con in Indianapolis last weekend. Gen Con was one of the best conventions I have ever attended and I plan to write about my experience soon. Hopefully, my blog posts will be on a regular schedule since I don’t have any more out-of-town vacations or conventions to go to. I took this Monday off from work because I figured I would need a day to recover from the convention. Besides catching up on housework, I decided to finish playing Heavy Rain, a game I started almost two months ago, but couldn’t find time to finish. Heavy Rain had a mysterious story, but it’s a dated game in terms of graphics and the controls.

Heavy Rain is a psychological thriller launched by game developer Quantic Dream. The game centralizes on four playable characters: Ethan, a father suffering from PTSD, Scott Shelby a PI, Norman Jayden, an FBI agent and Madison, a photojournalist. All of the characters are wrapped up in solving the mystery of the “Origami Killer”. The Origami Killer kidnaps boys and forces the parents to perform trials to see how much they love their kids. If the parents fail their trials, they won’t be able to save their son from drowning in a sewer grate. Various chapters are told by the characters as they uncover little by little the secret to the Origami Killer’s identity.

The story itself is rather creepy. There were a couple chapters with jump scares, but it was far and few in between. I hate playing video games with jump scares because I can’t focus on the game. I wasn’t expecting how the story was going to play out which allowed me to feel surprised by the reveal of the killer’s identity. As the chapters continue, the chance of killing one of the playable characters is high. On my first play-through, one of my characters died as that tends to happen in these types of games.

The number one deterrent for wanting to replay this game is the controls. The controls feel unnatural. To move each of the characters, you have to hold down the right trigger for the entire movement. I would much rather use a joystick to move my character because it’s more seamless with the controller. Another slightly annoying factor with the controls is all the QTE. QTE or Quick Time Events is when a series of buttons comes up in rapid succession meaning the player has to hit the buttons on the controller in response. I don’t mind QTE sequences, but the buttons during some chapters felt really weird. There were times when the QTE was trying to direct me to move my controller in a certain way and I wasn’t comprehending what I was supposed to do. As a result, there were certain QTEs I had to replay more than others and that became obnoxious.

Heavy Rain is one of those games that’s dated, but it inspired countless other games since then. I respect Heavy Rain as being a dramatic and well-made game at the time of its release. I struggle with wanting to replay this game again. I purchased Heavy Rain in a two-pack with Beyond Two Souls. I plan to play Beyond Two Souls despite Heavy Rain’s terrible control settings. It’s worth it to play Heavy Rain as the story is worth experiencing.