Windycon in review (plus some games)

[dagibbs]

Well, I just spent a weekend at Windycon, in metro-Chicago area. I've not been to a Windycon in something around a decade, so knew very few people here -- mostly people I knew from Detroit-area conventions, with a couple from Wiscon. Maybe 10-15 in total.

I had a pretty good time. The party scene is fairly vibrant, and the con still had people up and doing something 7am Saturday morning and 5am Sunday morning. (One of them was me. :) Also, surprise Heather Dale concert on Friday -- though it started late because it was after opening ceremonies which started late and ran later. *sigh* And, if I think my travel schedule is heavy -- theirs: OMFG!

I tasted a variety of quite nice Scotches, and managed to eliminate a few from my purchasing choices. For example, the I prefer the Bowmore 12yo to the 15yo, and the Oban 14yo to the Oban 18yo. Both are moderately intense Scotches, where the extra years seem to mellow and smooth them out too much -- losing some of the roughness, but too much of the character that makes them interesting in the younger ones. (I found the same of the Aberlour 15yo. The 10yo is too young and rough, the 12yo is very nice, the 15yo is little to no improvement on the 12yo -- but likely quite a bit more expensive, so not worth it.)

I also gamed a fair bit. Somehow, I find I tend to enjoy gaming more with the gamers that show up at an SF convention than at an actual gaming convention. I'm not sure why. I played:

Zar - kind of a crazy-8s variant, but with card-matching simultaneous play elements and a scoring method that makes it a lot more fun. A good late-night at con game.

Alien Frontiers - an interesting dice for placement in locations game, where the randomness isn't too great. Played it 2-player, and from that I think it would be more interesting 3 or 4-player. But, it was enough to get a feel for the game, and to determine that I like it. Possible future purchase.

Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer (just "Ascension" most of the time) - Another game jumping on the deck-building bandwagon. A little bit more chaotic than Dominion, playable, but not exciting.

Charon Inc. - an area control/influence to gain resource to build buildings for VPs game. Fun, and fairly quick. I quite enjoyed it, and I picked up a copy.

Comments

[zeyr.livejournal.com]

Alien Frontiers does work pretty well 4 player. CKD brought it to one of our gaming days this summer and we enjoyed it.

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

Cool, thanks for the info.

[aedifica]

Ascension has a really good iPad version out. I still prefer Dominion as a game, but Ascension works when I want something to play on the iPad (usually against the AI, but sometimes against ckd).

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

Oddly, I find against-the-computer versions of most boardgames almost entirely uninteresting. I find the social aspects to be an important part of the enjoyment of the game -- so even PvP on computer tends to be less of an interest to me. (There are some exceptions -- I still play a lot of Go online against other people. I've also played and enjoyed online bridge.)

[aedifica]

I like building things (like long stretches of track in Ticket To Ride, or decks that do what I want them to in Dominion and Ascension). The social aspect can be just as good, but it isn't always necessary.

In Ascension I've started challenging myself with things like "do not touch any of the top three cards" (mystic, cultist, and whatever the other one is) when I'm playing against the easier AI.

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

I think it is Warrior. (2 point attack, 1 VP, cost 2.) I found for Ascension, it is harder to build things based on a strategy -- it is far more tactical than, say, Dominion -- where you can look at the cards in the particular game and plan based on them. With Ascension, you look at what is up this turn, and buy what looks best of what you can afford. Sure, you can bias things -- if certain cards you have mean certain things are useful, you may focus that way -- but it is far more "what is in front of me this turn" than "what is my plan for this layout".

I'll play computer games upon occasion - but they tend to be computer games, rather than computer version of boardgames. Usually classic turn-based strategy ones (Master of Magic, Master of Orion, MOO 2, etc.)