Tag Archives: #tabletopgaming

Dice Rolling & Deck Building; Star Wars Destiny

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My tabletop gaming consists of cooperative gameplay, but not deck-building games. I dislike the complexity of deck-building games. When I play Magic the Gathering some of the cards are difficult to understand and it leaves me feeling frustrated. A couple weeks ago my friend invited me to the Star Wars Destiny card game release at my local game store. I cannot recommend this card game enough and I had a blast playing multiple games in a row with friends. This weekend I am teaching my brother how to play this game because I am trying to get as many people introduced to Star Wars Destiny as possible.

[Image shows 6 dice, three dice in 2 rows. Below the dice is a card deck. The top card says "Darth Vader / Dark Apprentice. This card features a young Anakin Skywalker before he becomes Darth Vader]

Star Wars Destiny offers two starter decks: Rey or Kylo Ren. I wasn’t able to buy either of these because my game store ran out of starter decks. I bought a bunch of booster packs and a couple of people gave me cards to help me build a deck, but it does help to buy a starter deck first. I pulled Anakin Skywalker and he is super powerful in this game so I ended up building a Sith deck.

Star Wars Destiny allows players to roll dice to simulate attacks with characters and activate special abilities. When I roll Anakin’s die, I have a couple outcomes including a lightsaber attack, his special ability, and a blank. If I don’t like the roll, I can discard a card out of my hand to re-roll all my dice. I have essentially one action per turn so if I choose to tap Anakin to roll his dice, that’s the end of my turn. On my next turn, I could play a card or use one of the dice on my opponent.

It sounds confusing, but once you play a few rounds you catch on pretty quick. There was one game where I kept rolling Anakin’s ability 5 or 6 times in a row and I ended up winning that game. I also heard that Star Wars Destiny will include Rogue One characters and I will hopefully have that pre-ordered because Jyn Erso is one of my favorite Star Wars characters. I’d love to build a deck around her.

Star Wars Destiny is probably my favorite tabletop game I have played this year. Local game stores should have more information about this game if you’re interested in getting started. Otherwise, you can find more information about Star Wars Destiny here: Fantasy Flight Games/Star Wars Destiny.

The Tabletop Gamer Tag

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I found this tag from a blog I follow, It’s More Than Just Gaming. I have been playing more board games recently, so I thought it would be fun to complete this tag.

Favorite Type of Table Top Game

Cooperative is my favorite. I like being able to pick a character and go through the game together. Some great cooperative games include Arkham Horror, Pandemic, and Letters from White Chapel. 

Favorite Game

[Picture shows two people. My boyfriend on the left and my brother on the right. My brother is showing my boyfriend how to play a board game. There's a board out in front of us with several pawns on the board. There are rules off to the left on the table]
Left to right: The boyfriend and my brother playing Arkham Horror. My 21st B-Day Summer 2015

Arkham Horror is my all-time favorite board game. I have mentioned this game every chance I get, but I love it that much. This picture that I posted above is of my boyfriend and my brother playing this game on our screened-in porch. This was one of my favorite memories from that summer.

What game have you played the most?

Without a question Arkham Horror. 

What game do you want to add to your shelf?

[Image shows two card decks. One has "Mr. Grumpers" which features a cat on it similar to Grumpy Cat. The right deck says "Secret Agent" and has two women seated next to a man in a tuxedo"
Smash Up at River Quest

Smash Up is a game I definitely should purchase for my own collection. I love the cat deck obviously, but I also need the expansions too. It’s easy to learn and goes by quick. Arkham Horror can take 5-6 hours which I am not always in the mood for.

Favorite Game to Share with Non-Gamers?

[Image is a board of the board game Shadow Hunters. It shows a swirl pattern where the pawns are moving towards the middle. There are three piles on the board "discard, hermit and black discard"

Shadow Hunters is a great game for beginners. This game also goes by pretty quick and it’s easier to learn too.

Well-Known Game you haven’t played?

I still have yet to play Munchkin! 

Show off your Game Shelf!

Unfortunately, I don’t have a game shelf. My room at my house at the moment is so small that my games are piled in the most random places. Instead of showing off my shelf, I’m going to show off some board game pictures I took. I tend to take a lot of pictures while playing board games because I like to upload them to my blog and it reminds me of memories while playing the game.

[Image is of a card from the board game shadow hunters. The name of the woman on the card is Ellen and she is listed as a hunter. Ellen has a long braid down her back.]

Playing Shadow Hunters at my uncle’s house. My brother owns this game so it wouldn’t appear on my gaming shelf. This is a hunter card and she tries to hunt the demons and other such creatures. Isn’t the artwork super pretty though?

[Image shows plastic cats in orange, white and black laying on a table]

Here Kitty Kitty is another quick game about collecting cats. At the end of the game, you earn points based on what type of kitties you collect or what cards you have at the end of the game. It was a fun random night of gaming at River Quest. 

[Image shows a board game placed on stone. It shows a board with the deck "Eve The Illusionist" on it]

My last photo is from playing Red Dragon Inn 2 outside. Me, the boyfriend and my friend played this game outdoors.

I linked the tag at the beginning paragraph, so feel free to complete it if you’re interested!

Shadow Hunters; Hunted or Be Hunted

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This post marks my return to tabletop gaming. Two weeks ago, my brother & I drove to my uncle’s house for a Magic the Gathering draft and game night. Besides the amazing sweet corn and grilled chicken I ate, we played Shadow Hunters. This was my first time playing because I had never heard of this game prior to my brother pulling it out of his briefcase. The game itself is easy to learn, and fast-paced with excellent character art on each of the cards.

Shadow Hunters 2.jpg

Shadow Hunters are all about the skill of negotiation and guesswork. Players are assigned one character out of three classes: Shadows, Hunters, and Neutrals. Shadows are supernatural creatures on the prowl in the evening. Hunters are humans trained to kill the Shadows. Neutrals are just humans in the town who have their own agenda. Nobody knows which class you’re in which is all a part of the fun. For shadows to win the game, they have to kill the hunters. Hunters, therefore, have to kill the shadows. The neutrals though are interesting. My uncle had a character that was neutral that would only win the game if he died first. So just because you know someone is neutral, doesn’t mean you know what’s going on.

Shadow Hunters 3.jpg

This game is definitely a party game. I wish we had more than 4 people playing, best case scenario would be 8. It’s harder to deduce who everyone is so it makes the game go on longer. At one point I thought my brother was a shadow so I attacked him. Turns out I was wrong and he was on my side the entire time. . . oops.

Shadow Hunters.jpg

Can we just take a second and admire the art on this card? Two games in a row I got dealt, Ellen. She looks so sweet and innocent, yet I’m sure she can deal serious damage. The art itself takes inspiration from Japanese culture and manga which is something I have started to dabble in lately.

Shadow Hunters is a game I want to own for myself in the future. It’s perfect for any anime or manga fan or for a general tabletop gamer.

Board Game Bucket List

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I used to believe that gaming meant only using a console, handheld, or using a PC. This summer, when I stayed in Winona, I discovered a cute little gaming store called River Quest.

**Edit: 12/10/2017 I found out River Quest was closing!  Sad Day 😦 **

My roommate got a job working there, so I was in the store at least once a week or every other week. I got to know the owner, who is one of the coolest guys in the Winona area. I was opened up to a world of a different type of gaming.

I’m creating a Bucket List of Board Games that I haven’t played yet, but I intend to. I will sticky this to the front page of the Gaming Section and I plan to update it as I play new games. Also, I hope to post a review on some of these board games especially the ones with the strikeout through the name. In the meantime, enjoy my bucket list! Also, feel free to comment with various board games that I can add to the list.

Here is my Board Game Bucket List:

  1. Exploding Kittens Card Game
  2. Munchkin *any version*
  3. Star Wars Destiny
  4. Ticket To Ride
  5. Monsters & Other Childish Things
  6. Red Dragon Inn
  7. Arkham Horror/Eldrich Horror
  8. Star Wars X-Wing
  9. Red Dragon Inn 4
  10. Pandemic
  11. Love Letter *card game*
  12. Smash Up
  13. Bang *card game*
  14. Red7
  15. Sentinels of the Multiverse
  16. Letters from White Chapel
  17. Here Kitty Kitty 
  18. Stone Age
  19. Agricola
  20. Betrayal at House on the Hill
  21. Seasons
  22. Takenoko
  23. Code Names
  24. Shadow Hunters 
  25. Dixit
  26. Doctor Who Time of the Daleks
  27. Fury of Dracula
  28. Dead of Winter
  29. Hogwarts Deck Building Game

Link to my Board Game Reviews: