So I did wind up skipping NerdNYC Recess this time around and went to UnPub 2 in Delaware instead. Actually wound up having an awesome time. My one concern was that the whole event is for unpublished game designs, so there was a high risk of encountering weirdos with horrible games they've been trying to push on people for years. Everyone was normal and the games were fun. Risk paid off!
My one game recommendation is to keep an eye out for Swinging Jivecat Voodoo Lounge. It's an upcoming release from Clever Mojo Games, a very young company that started out with Alien Frontiers.
The game is definitely an abstract, with a very odd theme tacked on, but it's got some funky charm and I really liked how it played. It's primarily about placing dudes on a map to reach valuable spaces, but you have to do some crafty hand management to collect cards that match (or add up to) numbered spaces in order to move there. There's some additional complexity built on top of that, but you get the gist. I want to play again. Should be on Kickstarter in the summer.
What the recap doesn't capture is that the Newscaster is essentially Deus Ex Machina. At any time he can break in with a newsflash and make shit happen, like a sudden drought or cold snap or whatever. Best part was that in order to get the exploding die, I had to incorporate the guest star, William Shatner. "And now, to Bill Shatner for the weather."
Bumping this thread because the most recent Recess has been announced. It's not until June 30th, but I also wanted to let my fellow NYC forumites know of a design competition I have proposed. Suggest me a setting, no matter how absurd, and (if it's popular), I may be forced to run it. You may even get a breakfast or bag of Doritos out of participating!
Bumping this thread because the most recent Recess has been announced. It's not until June 30th, but I also wanted to let my fellow NYC forumites know of a design competition I have proposed. Suggest me a setting, no matter how absurd, and (if it's popular), I may be forced to run it. You may even get a breakfast or bag of Doritos out of participating!
I may run either a board game or a light RPG like Inspectres.
I haven't been impressed with how ultra fast-and-loose the RPGs tend to be at these events, so I'm going to run a simpler game but play it by the book.
Since Recess is so far away, is anyone doing any other boardgame-y things in NYC soon?Rym, you mentioned a boardgame night, but are you referring to NerdNYC ones or something else?
Well there is always the NerdNYC main calendar, for their board game nights outside of Recess.
Speaking of faraway gaming events. Dexcon is happening the first weekend in July. It's about an hour away from NYC, but now that I've moved, it's only 15 minutes from my house. I am not a fan of these sorts of hotel cons, and I haven't been to Dexcon since 1998, but I don't think I'll be able to pass up the convenience factor there.
I may run either a board game or a light RPG like Inspectres.
I haven't been impressed with how ultra fast-and-loose the RPGs tend to be at these events, so I'm going to run a simpler game but play it by the book.
If nothing else, you should totally do some Beantown-ing during the intermission.
...Or run it as a full event, possibly even as a guerrilla thing after all the tables fill up. After all, you can play the game with any number of players, why not organize something special and occupy all the latecomers/dejected and discarded souls?
So, looks like July's Recess is cancelled, but they're promoting something called Dexcon in NJ, on July 4-8th. Anyone have any opinion on this con? I've never heard of them, but it looks like they're doing a lot of RPG and boardgame-y stuff. Might be interesting, though it is about an hour away.
I've never been to DexCon. What I have heard about it is that it is not my style. There are usually lots of indie RPG people there, like Luke Crane and such. But what I've heard is that it's the old style sign up and register for each game kind of deal. It's more an old school scary old fat guy with beard kind of deal than a PAX kind of deal.
That's all based on hearsay, though. Why not go and report back?
Yeah, it seems like it could be hit or miss. I'm going to go on Saturday, July 7th and check it out. At worst, I'll sit around inviting unsuspecting people over to play Cards Against Humanity.
EDIT: By the by, if anyone wants to join me, weekend pre-reg with NerdNYC's discount is $35.
I have been to Dexcon: in 1997. It was definitely a pre-scheduled, old fat bearded guy type of con. I had fun, but that's because it was all I knew up to that point.
Have not been back since, but I will absolutely be there almost the entire weekend for one simple reason: my new house is less than 15 minutes from the con. I've heard it's gotten better over the years but I don't know how much to believe. The format hasn't changed, but given the boost in board gaming popularity since 1997, I can believe that the audience is skewing younger. I'm going to see firsthand.
I know it won't be as good as PAX. Those are unreasonable expectations. My plan is to just go and play as many board games as possible.
Comments
My one game recommendation is to keep an eye out for Swinging Jivecat Voodoo Lounge. It's an upcoming release from Clever Mojo Games, a very young company that started out with Alien Frontiers.
The game is definitely an abstract, with a very odd theme tacked on, but it's got some funky charm and I really liked how it played. It's primarily about placing dudes on a map to reach valuable spaces, but you have to do some crafty hand management to collect cards that match (or add up to) numbered spaces in order to move there. There's some additional complexity built on top of that, but you get the gist. I want to play again. Should be on Kickstarter in the summer.
What the recap doesn't capture is that the Newscaster is essentially Deus Ex Machina. At any time he can break in with a newsflash and make shit happen, like a sudden drought or cold snap or whatever. Best part was that in order to get the exploding die, I had to incorporate the guest star, William Shatner. "And now, to Bill Shatner for the weather."
I haven't been impressed with how ultra fast-and-loose the RPGs tend to be at these events, so I'm going to run a simpler game but play it by the book.
Speaking of faraway gaming events. Dexcon is happening the first weekend in July. It's about an hour away from NYC, but now that I've moved, it's only 15 minutes from my house. I am not a fan of these sorts of hotel cons, and I haven't been to Dexcon since 1998, but I don't think I'll be able to pass up the convenience factor there.
...Or run it as a full event, possibly even as a guerrilla thing after all the tables fill up. After all, you can play the game with any number of players, why not organize something special and occupy all the latecomers/dejected and discarded souls?
That's all based on hearsay, though. Why not go and report back?
EDIT: By the by, if anyone wants to join me, weekend pre-reg with NerdNYC's discount is $35.
Have not been back since, but I will absolutely be there almost the entire weekend for one simple reason: my new house is less than 15 minutes from the con. I've heard it's gotten better over the years but I don't know how much to believe. The format hasn't changed, but given the boost in board gaming popularity since 1997, I can believe that the audience is skewing younger. I'm going to see firsthand.
I know it won't be as good as PAX. Those are unreasonable expectations. My plan is to just go and play as many board games as possible.