Every 100 Games - King of Tokyo

My 3,300 logged game played, was King of Tokyo, a game designed by Richard Garfield the designer of Magic: The Gathering. Below you'll find my thoughts on the game and the recommendations I have for who might enjoy or not enjoy this dice game of monsters destroying one another.

Components
I have the second version of the game, which comes with great big chunky engraved dice. Eight of them to be exact. These dice aren't your monopoly sized polyhedrals (I always wanted to use that word), instead they are the kind of dice that shake the table when you roll them across its surface. Okay, well maybe they don't shake the table, but they are big enough and loud enough when rolled that I actually built a dice tray to roll them in. The game also comes with dozens of cards that make your monsters vary from game to game. The cards are of very good quality. There are also 6 monster cut-outs, including The King and The Kraken (my personal favorite). Finally each player gets their own monster card with score dials and there is a center board that is Tokyo. The art, is absolutely great, with a cartoon style that is very enjoyable.

Game Play
Imagine Yahtzee...but with monsters! That's exactly how I explain this game. Just like in Yahtzee you roll up to three times and try to get the best combo of dice for your purposes. The dice have scoring sides (1s, 2s, & 3s), claws for damaging other monsters, lightning bolts for getting energy (the currency in the game), and hearts to heal your monster. Your goal is to score 20 points before everyone else or damage everyone else so their monsters die! Each time you move into Tokyo you get a point and every turn you start in Tokyo you get 2 points, but there is a downside, which is no healing while in Tokyo! So go in at your own risk. The game usually takes between 15-45 minutes, according to how many players you have in the game.

My Thoughts
King of Tokyo is just an absolute blast! It will without a doubt be in my Top 10 New To Me games from 2012 and I can even see it breaking into my Top 25 Games of All Time. I think the best part of it, I know this sounds weird, is that it is just fun! I know its difficult to say what fun is, but this game is it for me. It plays very quick, has a ton of cards that make each game especially different, since different combos bring different possibilities. There are enough cards that I'm still surprised when a new comes up, even after 20+ plays. Though people keep saying there isn't strategy in the game, I'm not completely sure about that. I do feel better players will win more often than not, I was even able to win something like 6 games in a row there, which I think it came from knowing the game better than my opponents. This isn't extremely deep though like Macao or The Castles of Burgundy or even Kingsburg. It is though more thoughtful than the classic dice game Yahtzee.

Recommendations
This is where I try to recommend or not recommend this game to different type of players, so here we go.
The CCG Player - I've taught this to several friends, who enjoy CCGs, and they've all really enjoyed it. I think there is something about the quick play, the variety the cards provide, and their quick grasp of what the cards do and understanding how to use them.
The Pure Eurogamer - Look elsewhere. King of Tokyo, though it has been popular with much of my group, the few that seem cool on it are the ones that love number crunching and spreadsheet punching with no luck. You'll not find that in King of Tokyo.
The Non-Gamer - I've had great success with this with my family and friends who are not deep into games. I think it has to do with the very familiar Yahtzee feel of the game, which most people know already before you sit down. I also think it has to do with a theme they understand and find intriguing, since many people have watched or are at least aware of the genre of movies this game is based on.
My Wife - For some reason, my wife isn't an absolute huge fan of this game. So if you are her, I'd suggest you not buy it. Instead try before you buy.

*Every 100 Games Series - Back in March of 2006 I began tracking each session of the various board and card games I play. I soon got the idea to write a review on every 100th game I played, one because I like writing reviews, and two because it is interesting to see what game I review next.

Every 100 Games Series - Lost Cities

I've gotten a bit behind on my Every 100 Games Review, but my 3,200th game played was Lost Cities. I first played Lost Cities several years ago, I'm thinking around 2007, when Krista and I were waiting for another game to end so we could get in. Now I own it, so here is the breakdown of the game.

The Stuff
Lost Cities comes with a board, which for game play purposes isn't really required, but it is nice to have. On the board you'll be placing discarded cards of five different colors, numbered 1-10. Each color also has 3 Hand Shake cards which are multipliers for scoring. These cards are nice big tarot sized cards, the art it nice, and everything is of good quality and fits in a small square box. You really can't go to wrong with the stuff.

Game Play
On your turn you play a card and draw a card. That's it. So the game itself if very simple to actually play. When you play a card, you must either play a card to one of the five expeditions (colors) in front of you and the card numbers must always increase, so multipliers must be first, then the 1, 2, 3, 4...okay you get the idea. You can skip numbers, but you can't ever go back below the last one that was played on your expedition. You then draw a card, either from the draw pile or one of the face up discard piles on the board. The round ends when the draw pile is empty. Each player then adds up their points on each expedition, minus the -20 that if started expeditions have, and the player with the most points after 3 rounds wins.

My Thoughts
Well, to say I love Lost Cities wouldn't be truthful, but I can say that I like it. There is plenty of luck in the game, but plenty of strategy as well. A big part of the game, at least in my mind, is playing chicken with your opponent. You try to hold out as long as you can with discarding a card they want, since once they've played a blue 4 you know they cannot play a blue 3. You can also, if you're willing to take a hit yourself, try and get that high valued card in order to stop them from getting it and thus getting negative points for that color expedition.

When I first played this game, I thought it was all right, but my wife really enjoyed the game. A few years went by and when I won a gift certificate to Thoughthammer, I asked her what game she'd like to buy and this was her choice. So she liked it enough to purchase it. Now that we've owned it and played it more, I've found I have gotten better at the game, so it does reward extended play and understanding the game more.

My Recommendations
I'm going to try a new section on these Every 100 Games reviews, the recommendation section. Where I make recommendations on specific types of people to buy and not buy this game.

The Gamer -  I'd say this is a play before you buy title. It's a two player game, it's fast, it doesn't see hardly any play at game days.
The Couple - This is a buy for the couple who wants to play games together. It isn't too mean, it plays quick, and if one of the spouses isn't much of a gamer, it is simple enough. Though the math can get a bit daunting for some people.
The Rummy Player - This is the guy that enjoys 500 rummy and collecting sets. This is the one that will enjoy this game. Numbers don't bother this player and theme doesn't either, so I'd suggest if your mom or dad or cousin enjoys playing rummy with you that they'd also like this game.
The Attacker - If you are looking for confrontation, dice rolling, screams and yells of your vanquished opponent, then this isn't the game for you. Just move along.
The Donkey - Are you kidding me? Donkey's don't play games. This one or another.

Job - Tough to Relate

Yes, this is another post about Job. Not my job, but Job, the guy from the Bible? Lost a bunch of stuff? Kids all died? Yeah, that guy. We've been studying him still at church and so I've been trying to read Job for my personal devotions. I had a huge revelation the other day about him, so I thought I'd write it down.

I can't relate to Job for 37 chapters. I mean, first we see how wealthy the guy is and how "awesome" he is doing. I'm really blessed, don't get me wrong, but in today's terms Job is a Bill Gates, Donald Trump, or some Oil Baron Sheikh who is absolutely filthy rich. I can't relate to that. I mean, I like my job and I take care of my family, but my backyard only has some rabbits (I consider them mine, but that is just because they live under my shed rent free).

Something else I can't relate to, how much of a good man he was. God says, "Yo Sat'n, looksy here at Job and how great 'e is." Apparently, God has a similar accent to Rocky Balboa today. Job is blameless and God uses him as an example to Satan of an upright man, the most upright man at that time. Yeah, not sure I can relate with that either.

Then, probably the biggest thing I can't relate with is all the loss that occurs in Job's life. He loses all his crazy wealth, his health, all his kids, his wife is a complete nag. I can't relate on any of this either. I've never even lost my job (its job this time, not Job), my health has always been good, my wife doesn't nag me on much more than putting the dishes in the dishwasher wrong, and I've never been so despondent that I wished I wasn't born.

Finally, the friends that he had. I can't really relate to them either. When I have had rough times, for instance death of my uncle or my grandpa or little sister, which compared to Job's problems were small instances of pain and not the overwhelming pain he must've been feeling from losing a WHOLE family at one time, my friends have been great. They haven't been coming to me saying, "Adam what'd you do to make your uncle die?!" or "Well, I guess your grandpa got what he deserved, he must've sinned." They were comforting and just supporting. So can't really relate to Job's relationship with his friends.

However, then comes chapter 38, and the relating begins. God begins questioning Job. He asks a lot of tough questions, that make Job feel pretty small. God reminds Job exactly how big Job is in the scheme of things in the universe and he also reminds him that God remembers Job. You see, this is where I relate to Job and likely most of you do too. We're not rich in camels or have had our whole family die, but we are are minuscule compared to God. I've heard it this way, when compared to God's holiness and his power we're similar to worms or ants. To us, there really isn't much of a difference between two worms or ants. The most powerful ant is completely helpless against us. The most well-behaving worm still is a worm to us.

The cool part though is that Job doesn't end after God putting him in his correct place. Even though Job is so insignificant, God still doesn't forget him. This is where I can also relate to Job, because I know God doesn't forget me either. Well, that is my thoughts on jobs, I mean Job's book in the Bible.

Guild of Thieves is Published!

It's true! Yesterday we received the first two copies of the game. The art looked very good, I just noticed a couple rule tweaks that needed to be made to make it clearer and also had to fix the text on the Sword card that had got cut off. I did these things, took a few pictures and posted it on the Game Crafter Website.

If you want to purchase it, you can do so here: Guild of Thieves. The cost is $14.99 plus shipping. Just so you know, this isn't about making money for me, I'll earn a whoppin' 20 cents of store credit per copy purchased. It's been more about the joy of creating something.

If you do purchase it or even just play a copy of it, please rate and review it both on The Game Crafter & BoardGameGeek.com (I'm hoping it'll have an entry in their database soon). Please give it an honest rating on how you like the game. Won't hurt my feelings one way or the other.

Here is a quick How to Play video on the game I did last night:

Finally, I'd like to thank all the people who helped with this game. Here is the list of play testers, it's in the rules, but I really appreciate it so I thought I'd list them again:
Ally Becker, Angie Becker, Andrew Brooks, Nick Carter, Kendra Carter, Katie Daulton, Krista Daulton, Brendan Flood, Abby Funk, Chris Funk, Abigail Johnson, Sean Johnson, Jonathan Kafoure, Annie Montz, Jeremy Montz, David Remiger, Michael Tooley, Rachel Tooley, Randy Tooley, Clint Weis, Meggan Schwirtz & Trevor Schwirtz.

Okay, now I'll get back to blogging about other things than Guild of Thieves.

P.S. There is now a page for Guild of Thieves on BGG: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/127526/guild-of-thieves

Guild of Thieves Update #5

It’s finished. Well, it probably won’t ever be completely finished. I’m sure I’ll have rule tweaks and maybe even expansions, but in my mind Guild of Thieves is finally finished. I feel like I’m a board game designer now. Sure, it is just a web-based published game, but I still feel like I’ve accomplished something; similar to how I’d feel if I build a kitchen table or wrote a book. I’ve created something that I hope others can enjoy and the first to copies on in an USPS truck coming this way. I’ve still got some pictures to take and upload in order to officially make it available to the public, so expect a sales pitch soon.

If you haven’t followed my Guild of Thieves (GoT) updates religiously, you can go back and read them. What are you still reading this for?!....... I imagine though, that you didn’t follow them and that you aren’t going to go back and read them, so instead I’ll go ahead and just give you a brief history. I got the idea for the game in August 2011, so it has been nearly a year now to see it come to fruition. My idea essentially came from two great games I enjoyed playing, so it isn’t ground breaking, but it is different. First is Dominion, a game where you purchase cards that are in stacks on the table in front of you to add them to your deck. Second was Hey! That’s My Fish! a game about penguins moving on hexagon pieces picking the pieces up to score points. I wanted to combine the two, the deck-building of Dominion and the using a pawn to move to a specific space of Hey! That’s My Fish!.

So I came home and put together a prototype out of index cards with just letters on them and zero theme. I then began thinking this might be something, so I decided to look for self-publishing options and found www.thegamecrafter.com which was awesome! I could publish my game, for pretty cheap, if I switched to regular cards instead of hexes (at that time it would’ve cost around $163 per copy of the game for hexes). So I did and around the same time I switched the theme of the game from the Fruit theme (I know, fruit, seriously Adam)  I was working with after my lettered index cards, to the Magical Arabian theme it currently has. I asked Jeremy Montz if he would be interested in doing the art, which he agreed to do, and we were off! It took longer than expected for me to narrow down what cards to put in the base game (I have 3 others that have been play tested and I kept out of the game for one reason or another) and it also took Jeremy a bit longer to come up with the original art and graphic design. Then, to top it off, I switched a card out the last moment and went to text based instead of icon based game play.

So now I’m down to the final steps before it is available for purchase. I’m selling it at cost, because this isn’t a money making venture as much as it is just trying to accomplish something. I’ve got to determine if I want to make a website for Ekka Games, the name of the company I’ve decided to publish GoT through, once the first copies arrive I need to make a YouTube “How to Play” video, and then I’ll be sure to post here on the blog, on Facebook, and Twitter that the Guild of Thieves is available! Then I’m already in the process of working on my next design, which needs a way better name than the current name of City Planner.

The Week of Summer

It felt a bit like I was high school this last week. Krista and the girls went up to Wisconsin to see the family on a last minute trip and I stayed back to work. So I worked hard and played hard. I had a good week, though I missed my girls. Here is a rundown of what I did this week, which reminded me of highschool, since during the summer in high school my weeks looked similar.

Monday

Worked late and then decided to go and watch the Amazing Spider-man with one of the senior guys from the youth group. I stopped by the new game store called Game Time in Castleton, then went over and watched the movie with Chris. Throughout the week, when I had a few minutes, I'd proceed to watch the previous 3 Spider-man movies as well. Which made for some late nights! Here are my quick thoughts in the order of how I liked the movies: Spider-man 2, Spider-man, The Amazing Spider-man, Spider-man 3 (Topher Grace as Venom is just ridiculous).

Tuesday
Worked late again and then went over to grill out with our community group. It's was some good conversation the Hobbit, Dune, and I even was able to eat without feeding the kids. The burgers were absolutely great by being mixed with apple sauce, crackers, and some other things I'm not remembering now. After that I went over to my buddy Dave's house to play some Command and Colors: Ancients. His wife was out of town too and so we took the chance to play games, which we both get to do, but not very often together. I played the Romans and he played the Carthaginians in a battle I cannot remember. I got out to a 5-0 lead, but only ended up winning 7 - 5.

Wednesday
My brother and his fiance took me fishing out near Illinois in a nice little farm pond. After dinner at a Steak place that I guess is somewhat famous for hosting IU, Illinois, and Purdue basketball teams, we got out on the pond. It was some of the best fishing I've had in a while. Both Lindsey and Caleb caught huge bass, while I missed mine. Though I did catch a lot of very nice, maybe even 1lb Crappie. I didn't get home and in bed until 12:45am, which meant 5:45am came early, but it was really worth it! I love fishing and was glad to get to go. Hope I get to go back. Here is a picture:

 

Thursday

Worked last again Thursday, came home and got some business out of the way on the computer and then went to the first game of the softball tourney. We got beat. We got beat 10-7. We hit horrible, with 3 of the innings being a 1-2-3, two of those innings with our top 3 lead off hitters. It didn't make me happy.

Friday

After staying busy all week, I was originally planning on just relaxing by myself Friday night, but instead sent out a text to some buddies for some ad hoc gaming. Both Brendan and Clint responded and so we enjoyed a few games together. First Clint and I played Battle Cry, with the Union getting a victory at Gettysburg - Pickett's Charge. Then Brendan joined us for Ninjato (designed by Indianapolis's very own A.B. West), Hansa Tuetonica (I mopped the floor with them, but they'd never played before and I've played quite a bit), and the King of Tokyo (my current HOT game). They took off around 11:15. I got in bed around midnight.

Saturday

Got up at 6:30 to go and play in our 2nd tourney game of softball. We played on a field we'd never played on before and it is by far the nicest field in the league. This didn't help our hitting though, I went 1 for 3, my only hit coming because nobody covered first when I dribbled the ball down the right field line. Hurt my shoulder, my groin, and got beat 9-3. I've decided I can't manage a team in the playoffs, because thus far my softball teams are 0-4 in play off games and they haven't even been close. With that done at 9:15 or so, I came home and showered, cleaned the dishes for the girls arrival, and then went to play games at the Indy Boardgamers Meet-up. Where I played Trajan (if I owned it this might be my HOT game right now), Eclipse where I scored the highest I've ever scored with the Hydran, and then finished up the day with Train of Thought (a party game I didn't enjoy). I got home about 6:10 and the girls arived about 6:20. We unpacked the stuff from the van and went to get some Yats, which is the perfect way to end the week!

I missed my girls after this week though and I'm really glad they are back! Seriously though, if you knew me at all in high school, you'd know this is what I did during my summers. Though you could substitute golf or basketball in for the softball, and I'd be mowing grass instead of being a desk jockey.

Best Movie Villians

The other day I got into a conversation about Commodus, the Emperor from Gladiator and how much I hated him. Now Joaquin Phoenix, the actor that played Commodus, is hated by me in every movie because of the great job he did as an actor in Gladiator. This got me thinking about the best villains ever in movies. Remember as you are reading this, I’m not a huge horror fan, so none of those bad guys will be on here. I’ll try give you why I think they are a great villain and also perhaps a scene that makes it them the best to hate. In no particular order, here they are:

• Magneto from X-Men (2000), X-2 (2003), X-Men: Last Stand (2006). The Ian McKellan version. This guy is a villain, that in a way you feel sorry for and understand why he feels the way he feels. He is right, in a way, with his mission for equality of the mutants, but then he takes it too far. He ends up becoming exactly what he originally starts out fighting and thus becomes the perfect villain to combat Professor X and X-Men.  My favorite scene of his is in X-2 where the guard, who’d been injected with iron, comes into the all glass holding cell and Magneto senses the extra iron and extracts from the guard’s blood to escape.
• The Joker from Dark Knight Rises (2008). Heath Ledger made this part. The reason he is the villain is because he just doesn’t care about anyone or anything. He doesn’t even really care about himself. He just wants chaos. It is tough to decide my favorite scene with him, there are the times he is discussing how he got his scars or when he burns his pile of money in front of the crooks. Both are really good. However, his “magic trick” scene when he first introduces himself to the criminal underworld is so unexpected and so mean that it has to be his villain moment.
• Commodus from Gladiator (2000). I’ve already mentioned it, but he is a villain that I just hate. He just seems so slimy. Kills his own father, wants to have relations with his own sister, and doesn’t even give Maximus a chance in the arena. The ultimate scene though is when he does kill Marcus Aralias while crying that he never loved him. One of the best acting jobs ever I think.
• Gollum from the Lord of the Rings (2001,2002,2003). We all knew that LotR would make the list somehow. Sauron is the main villain in these movies, but one of his puppets is Gollum. The reason I put Gollum on the list, is like Magneto I feel sorry for him. I see that he was unsuspectingly caught in a web he couldn’t get out of and that despite his decline being his fault, I still want to see the good in him like Frodo. What makes him such a good villain though is that despite all Frodo does for him, he still backstabs him and ignores his “hobbit” side in favor the of the desire for the One Ring! Without a doubt, the best scene of Gollum is in the Two Towers when Smeagol convinces Gollum to go away – though we know he won’t be gone for long.
• Dr. Octavius in Spiderman 2 (2004). Doc Ock almost didn’t make my list, because I’m not a big fan of the baddies turning good right at the last instant. However, in this case I make an exception, because I think he is just a great bad guy. A good man, who combined with the death of his wife and his extra four arms, goes a bit crazy. My favorite scene is when he robs the bank and takes Aunt Em with him up the side of the building.
• Scar from The Lion King (1994). Scar is such a good bad guy…er, I mean, bad lion. He kills his own brother, attempts to kill his nephew, and lets the bad hyenas into the Pride! What I like best about him, is how they made him seem so extremely snooty and above everyone else. Just like you’d imagine a rich prince to be. The best scene with Scar is when Simba comes to see him for the first time in the movie and he tells him about the Elephant Graveyard.
• Lex Luthor from Superman (1978). Gene Hackman plays the perfect Lex Luthor, he is crazy full of himself, a genius with absolutely huge plans, and has complete disdain for the people that work around him. I think it is great how he lays out his plans to the dummies with him, they don’t get it, and it makes him furious. Then he even is willing to kill his girlfriends mom with the nuke. My favorite scene with him has to be where he and Superman have their discussion of what is going to happen with the nukes.
• Harry & Marv from Home Alone (1990). Okay, these guys aren’t exactly what you’d call the most evil villains ever, but I like them! They make being bad funny. They are about as horrible as can be when it comes to thieves, but they really want to beat the kid. My favorite scene is when Marv tries to go in through the basement and steps on the nails. Just laugh out loud funny!
• Owen Davian from Mission: Impossible III (2006). This may be the most controversial addition to this list, but I think he is an excellent bad guy. Being a bad guy is his business. It isn’t about chaos like the Joker or being a genius criminal like Luthor. He just wants to make money and be the best business bad guy ever. My favorite scene is when he first meets Ethan Hunt and says, “You have a wife...girlfriend? Because if you do, I'm gonna find her, whoever she is. I'm gonna hurt her. I'm gonna make her bleed, and cry, and call out your name. And then I'm gonna find you,and kill you right in front of her.” That is a real bad guy and someone you like to hate.

So that is my list, off the top of my head, who'd I miss?