In case you guys haven't heard, the next round of semi-annual Barnes & Noble clearance started yesterday, and this time there are a lot of games in the mix. Most notably, Eclipse is $50.
I've had some huge bargain days during B&N clearance. They go 50% off, wait a few weeks, then 75% off what's left, 2 more weeks or so, then everything is $2 or it gets thrown out. A friend of mine is a backroom manager and tips me off when the drop days get scheduled, so I've hit a few B&Ns at opening on $2 and made a killing. Sometimes genuinely good games (Fresco and Dominion for $2 come to mind), other times, mediocre games that I've had no problem selling or trading for profit.
I was informed that the creator of Viva Java is going to make an appearance at 7th Dimension game in the upcoming weeks to promote that and the Viva Java dice game. Since I do not have the newsletter open I can not give exact dates at the moment.
I played VivaJava Dice at UnPub3 and came away thinking it def had potential to be a fun little Yahtzee-variant. I wish I remembered anything about the actual game or why I liked it.
I played VivaJava Dice at UnPub3 and came away thinking it def had potential to be a fun little Yahtzee-variant. I wish I remembered anything about the actual game or why I liked it.
I sadly was unable to demo that game there, but can not wait until they do UnPub 4 (preferably in a location closer to where things can be done).
RftG is a good game, but it definitely doesn't deserve to be in the final four. At least it beat Twilight Struggle, but seriously. If Puerto Rico had bee in that corner of the bracket...
All the rules are there in a few paragraphs. It's a few steps removed from the chip-taking game, but it's pretty fast and the interesting part of the game is in the hidden information and bluffing. I'm going to give this a play over the weekend, since all you need is a pile of coins and some playing cards.
Games Keep needs to do more stuff on non-Saturday days. Saturday is when I spend time with my friends, even though Games Keep is right around the corner.
Games Keep needs to do more stuff on non-Saturday days. Saturday is when I spend time with my friends, even though Games Keep is right around the corner.
They have open Gaming on Friday nights....just saying :P
So last weekend I bought a copy of Alhambra Family Box. Which comes with the additional Granada game and 4 expansions. Finally got to play Alhambra last night with my Dad, Nephew and Niece. Got 1st place then it was Niece, Nephew and Dad. Everybody seem to enjoy it quite a bit. Then we played Granada tonight and it was Niece in 1st place this time then my Nephew, Dad, and I was dead last. I screwed up on my placement. Forgot about the the rule were a person has to be able to walk to each tile from the starting tile. I placed a tile with a moat that could not be walked to. Nephew did the same thing. Dad had a placement issue also but we caught it in time. Niece played her placement smart from the get go. The scoring on Granada is also a little more tricky. In Alhambra you have a set score for having the most of a building type. In Granada the score is determine by all the players building of that type. So you could ending up helping another player with their score if you're not careful. Double side building tiles was a nice added mechanic to Granada also. The buildings for Granada as a whole seem to be also more expensive. Going try out the the workers hut expansion tomorrow.
They have open Gaming on Friday nights....just saying :P
I actually did this and it was pretty good. I found someone to play Netrunner with, at least. Then got stuck in a 3 hour game of Mage Wars while I wistfully watched people playing Puerto Rico one table over.
They have open Gaming on Friday nights....just saying :P
I actually did this and it was pretty good. I found someone to play Netrunner with, at least. Then got stuck in a 3 hour game of Mage Wars while I wistfully watched people playing Puerto Rico one table over.
El Carabineros - The follow up to El Grande which is the most complicated simple game you will ever play. The box is the same size as El Grande but can easily fit into the cheapest card holder winning the award for most excessive packaging used for a tile game. Yes it has nothing to do with El Grande but it is a solid game.
Lancaster - The follow up to Glen More, this is much more my speed, multiple paths to victory, voting game to see which rules are set, territory bidding in turn,a very nice game.
Chicken Caesar - For the amount of puns that will take place while playing this game, it is actually better then you would expect. A game that I wouldn't own myself but could see playing again.
Comments
I've had some huge bargain days during B&N clearance. They go 50% off, wait a few weeks, then 75% off what's left, 2 more weeks or so, then everything is $2 or it gets thrown out. A friend of mine is a backroom manager and tips me off when the drop days get scheduled, so I've hit a few B&Ns at opening on $2 and made a killing. Sometimes genuinely good games (Fresco and Dominion for $2 come to mind), other times, mediocre games that I've had no problem selling or trading for profit.
*picks up the phone and calls his buddies wife who is a B&N Manager*
All the rules are there in a few paragraphs. It's a few steps removed from the chip-taking game, but it's pretty fast and the interesting part of the game is in the hidden information and bluffing. I'm going to give this a play over the weekend, since all you need is a pile of coins and some playing cards.
Then we played Granada tonight and it was Niece in 1st place this time then my Nephew, Dad, and I was dead last. I screwed up on my placement. Forgot about the the rule were a person has to be able to walk to each tile from the starting tile. I placed a tile with a moat that could not be walked to. Nephew did the same thing. Dad had a placement issue also but we caught it in time. Niece played her placement smart from the get go. The scoring on Granada is also a little more tricky. In Alhambra you have a set score for having the most of a building type. In Granada the score is determine by all the players building of that type. So you could ending up helping another player with their score if you're not careful. Double side building tiles was a nice added mechanic to Granada also. The buildings for Granada as a whole seem to be also more expensive.
Going try out the the workers hut expansion tomorrow.
El Carabineros - The follow up to El Grande which is the most complicated simple game you will ever play. The box is the same size as El Grande but can easily fit into the cheapest card holder winning the award for most excessive packaging used for a tile game. Yes it has nothing to do with El Grande but it is a solid game.
Lancaster - The follow up to Glen More, this is much more my speed, multiple paths to victory, voting game to see which rules are set, territory bidding in turn,a very nice game.
Chicken Caesar - For the amount of puns that will take place while playing this game, it is actually better then you would expect. A game that I wouldn't own myself but could see playing again.