PinkFae Archive #32: Board Game Review: Oceanos

This week is another PinkFae Archive. It is the fourth of the articles I wrote about Gen Con 49, which took place in August 2016. This article is a board game review of one of the new games that was debuting at that Gen Con. It was originally published on 5 September 2016.

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One of the great things about attending Gen Con was getting to play new releases, or preview games that were about to be released. Oceanos is one of those games. It's a new release from Iello, the company that publishes the King of Tokyo line. In this game, players control whimsical submarines exploring the depths of the ocean to collect animals for their aquariums. You also gain points for other items, such as treasure chests and coral reefs.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start at the beginning, by looking at the numbers for Oceanos.

Gamer Jargon

Recently, as I was writing an article, I found myself using the term FLGS. It occurred to me that not everyone will know what that means, so I decided to spell it out. And then I decided, as this blog is meant to be welcoming to everyone, there might be some people who need to know, for one reason or another, what many of the terms that are frequently used in gaming circles actually mean.

So I decided to create a glossary. This entry is going to be a list of terms used in tabletop gaming, either board games or roleplaying games, that are commonly understood by serious gamers, but perhaps not so well known to new gamers or people who are not as deep into gaming culture.

I imagine this will not be an exhaustive list. I expect I will add to it occasionally. If there's anything I've missed that you think I need to add, please let me know in the comments, and I will get it in the list as soon as I can.

Board Game Review: Churrascaria

A friend of mine, David Thomas, is one of the founding members of Absurdist Productions. This company recently produced, as a result of a successful Kickstarter campaign, a game called Churrascaria. That word, pronounced CHEW-huh-scar-EE-uh, refers to a Brazilian Steakhouse. This game is about diners eating at a churrascaria, earning points for gorging on meat and losing points for eating sides and desserts.

Bear with me, I'll expound on that in a moment.

But much to my surprise, I recently realised that I have not yet written a review of that game! So, in order to rectify that error, I shall review it now. Starting, as we always start, with the numbers.

PinkFae Archive #31: Crossplay: A New Adventure in Geekdom

This week's entry is another PinkFae archive. The article is another entry in my series that I wrote on Gen Con 49 in 2016. It was a fascinating look at an interesting phenomenon in the geek community: crossplay and gender bending cosplay. It was originally published on 27 August 2016.

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Gender identity is a hot topic at the moment. With issues like the current assault on the rights of transgender individuals in Texas, the nature of gender is at the forefront of socio-political discourse at the moment. This points to a current major trend in modern culture, with gender at the centre of that trend. Many people still firmly believe that sex and gender are binaries, and equivalent binaries at that. However, others realise that sex and gender are spectra which do not always correspond to one another. One of the more fascinating phenomena resulting from this is the concept of crossplay.

Board Game Review: Antidote

Every Friday, I head over to my friend Zeb's house to play games with him, John, and (if I'm lucky) Zeb's wife Jenna. A few weeks ago, as we were sitting around the table deciding what we wanted to play that night, I asked about a game that was on the table near John. It was called Antidote. John was amazed that he had never played that game with me, and so they immediately set out to teach me how to play. Now I shall review it for you.

It was an interesting game, in large part because a kindergartener and a first grader ended up playing with us. The suggested ages on the box say 13+, but a six- and a seven-year-old were able to grasp the basics of play and do reasonably well.

Anyway. Enough of that. Let's get on with it!