How much is enough?

I've been feeling lately like I don't get to play enough board games. This is a strange feeling for me to have, because most Tuesdays, I go the the local board game club, and every other Friday, I go to my friend's house to play board games. I even get in a third session on some weeks, when we have special events, like when the Dork Spouse planned a special board game night as a reward for some people who helped her out at a recent event, or the Dork Spouse and I go to the local Board Game Cafe for kicks.

But I keep thinking about some of the games I have in my collection (51 distinct titles, not counting expansions or classic games like Chess or Backgammon), and how long it's been since I've been able to play some of them (it's been years since I've played Settlers of Catan, and I've owned Winter Tales for two and a half years now, and still haven't ever played it once). I also find myself thinking about how much I enjoy playing certain games with certain people (there's a young woman I know with whom it is very rewarding to play The Resistance: Avalon).

Remember, of course, that games are an important part of my social life, because they serve as a framework for me, around which I can build my social interactions. Sometimes, in fact, I feel as if games are the most meaningful social contact I am capable of having. When I lack that interaction, it can feel as if I'm not getting enough social contact.

Road Trip to GenCon!

As most of you know by now, I've been writing for PinkFae for several months. This wonderfully progressive gaming site is in the process of becoming even more respectable and noteworthy, as the director intends to apply for non-profit status. To that end, I've been given the title of 'senior writer,' as well as a stack of business cards (which I've been passing out like candy, sheerly for the novelty of it). In fact, the director wants me to go to GenCon.

I applied for a press pass under the PinkFae banner, and was issued one. And last week, a friend and I booked a hotel together. Since the Dork Wife will not be attending (she is, after all, not as obsessed with gaming as I, and she looked into other attractions in the Indianapolis area, and decided that she was not interested in doing anything else there whilst I was at the convention), I needed to find someone to go with me so that I'm not making the 12 hour drive alone.

At any rate, the hotel has been booked and paid for, so this is something that is going to happen.

Board Game Review: Firefly: The Game

As promised, this week is another board game review. Since I haven't yet (for some reason), I'm going to cover the great board game based on a great series: Firefly: The Game. We start, as always, with the ratings:

Strategy: 2
Randomness: 4
Complexity: 4
Humour: Derivative
Attractiveness: Pretty
Average Length of Game Play: 2 ½ hours

Can card games be humorous?

Ok, the past month has been beyond insane. I spent several weekends working on my celtic folk music duo, and one weekend lying in bed for nearly two days straight because I was so ill. Then, this past weekend, I sat down to write a new entry for this blog... and came up completely blank. No matter how I tried, no matter what I looked at on boardgamegeek.com, no matter who I talked to, I had no ideas. So this entry is a couple days late. But I finally have an idea, so I'm going to run with it.

Obviously, the title is a little tongue in cheek. Of course card games can be humorous. But what I'm talking about here is the tendency of games to be card-text-heavy, which can slow the game incredibly.

Let me explain.