January 28
Today was the day that we had to present our final games. It was interesting and exciting to see what people have made and come up with. The game that I ended up playing was a spin off of Settlers, and it was fun. It was a race to see who could get to the middle first to start "colonizing" the ore in the middle.
The class as a whole though, was really fun. I never knew of so many games before. I was always stuck playing Settlers or Monopoly or big long games like them. But coming into the class I was excited to play new games and just talk to poeple and see how others react when playing games. It was fun and exciting to learn such new games. I would highly recommend this class to anyone. I never really felt like I was going to class during Interim. People would always laugh when I told them what I was taking, and I just looked at them and asked what they were taking and laughed at them for actually having to do work and study and read books. I would take this class all over again and use my knowledge of games to try and branch out, and try new games even more.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
January 24
Today in class we played the game warewolf. It is a game similiar to Mafia. I have never played either version before, so it was really fun and interesting to learn it. The first game was fun to learn because we did a smaller scale version of it instead of the whole class. It was interesting to see how the game changed once we included the whole class together. The rules were easy to understand once you learned the game and remembered how to play. I would definitely play the game again, because it was fun. Next time though we would need a better narrator to make sure the game feels fresh and exciting of how people died.
Today in class we played the game warewolf. It is a game similiar to Mafia. I have never played either version before, so it was really fun and interesting to learn it. The first game was fun to learn because we did a smaller scale version of it instead of the whole class. It was interesting to see how the game changed once we included the whole class together. The rules were easy to understand once you learned the game and remembered how to play. I would definitely play the game again, because it was fun. Next time though we would need a better narrator to make sure the game feels fresh and exciting of how people died.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
January 23
Today in class I learned Stone Age. The game was really fun, and at the end of it, I did options that I wouldn't have done, but I wanted to prolong the game. In the game you had workers who got you resources that you could spend on either more workers, tools to help gather resources, or buy victory points in various ways. At the end of each persons turn you had to pay food for your workers to survive. If you didn't have enough food, you would then have to pay 10 victory points and next round you would need to get more food. The game was a blast, and Seth did a great job explaining it to us. We all seemed to pick it up quite fast and it made the game more enjoyable.
We then worked on our group game, and we put more details and actually made better cards regarding our game. We need to test our game again, but we are planning on doing that tomorrow or sometime this weekend before next week.
Today in class I learned Stone Age. The game was really fun, and at the end of it, I did options that I wouldn't have done, but I wanted to prolong the game. In the game you had workers who got you resources that you could spend on either more workers, tools to help gather resources, or buy victory points in various ways. At the end of each persons turn you had to pay food for your workers to survive. If you didn't have enough food, you would then have to pay 10 victory points and next round you would need to get more food. The game was a blast, and Seth did a great job explaining it to us. We all seemed to pick it up quite fast and it made the game more enjoyable.
We then worked on our group game, and we put more details and actually made better cards regarding our game. We need to test our game again, but we are planning on doing that tomorrow or sometime this weekend before next week.
Late blog post. Unfortunately I missed the memo about completing the self-assessment form, so hopefully I am able to do that now. I think that during the first teaching, I tried hard to explain what was happening, and try to get all the different scenarios out, so they could see what was happening. I tried to show different options of what they could do when it was their turn, and I think that is why I was kind of happy I didn't play even though it did get boring just watching. Next time, I will explain just as much, but when we play, I can also show different options while we play. Show different things of what I was doing in a way to help them learn the game. I don't think my approach to gaming has changed because I like learning a game, and after awhile of playing it and getting to know it better going to teach it to someone else so they can repeat the cycle. I think that after the first game, the other students playing understood what they were doing. I believe they enjoyed it. Everyone was engaged and I cannot remember them playing on their phones or looking around. They mostly tried to help everyone play the piece that they had drawn. Some rules I neglected because they didn't come into play until the end. Maybe I should have stated those rules sooner and maybe they would have changed how they played. I tried to share as much strategy as I could to try and help them learn the game better.
January 22
Today in class, I taught my game. I taught Alhambra. The game went smoothly once my group had an idea of what they were doing. The only problem we had, is you are only allowed to rearrange your board/city on your turn, and we had one player who decided to try different combinations of his city. He actually put his city back everytime, but we sometimes had to help him put it back to the original city.
The second half of the class, I learned the game Shadows over Camelot. The game went kinda smooth after we figured out what we were doing, but the person teaching it struggled very hard teaching it. It almost seemed like he had a hard time figuring out what to do. It was bad, that I was actually trying to lose the game, so we could leave or more particular so I could leave. That was probably bad sportmaship on my part, but I could not stand sitting there. The game though once we knew what we were doing went smoother. We still had troubles, but it wasn't as bad as when he was first trying to teach us.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
January 21
Today in class, I was part of a group that learned the game San Juan. San Juan is a card game to where you build buildings which gives victory points to win. The game was fun once you learned what cards were good and not good or how some cards have special abilities that allow you pick up more cards or allow you to use less cards to build the new buildings. Those were a little confusing to pick up and understand, but once you got the hang of it, San Juan was a fun game to play. The group I played with, was a great group to play with. We all picked up the game super fast and we all had a good laugh while we were playing.
After we finished our game, we had time to continue designing our final game. Our group's game is coming along and we played it for the first time yesterday. We have some things we have to work out, but our game is coming along.
Today in class, I was part of a group that learned the game San Juan. San Juan is a card game to where you build buildings which gives victory points to win. The game was fun once you learned what cards were good and not good or how some cards have special abilities that allow you pick up more cards or allow you to use less cards to build the new buildings. Those were a little confusing to pick up and understand, but once you got the hang of it, San Juan was a fun game to play. The group I played with, was a great group to play with. We all picked up the game super fast and we all had a good laugh while we were playing.
After we finished our game, we had time to continue designing our final game. Our group's game is coming along and we played it for the first time yesterday. We have some things we have to work out, but our game is coming along.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
January 20
Today in class we played cooperative games. The game that I played for the entire time was legendary. Legendary is a game that I previously played before and had great amounts of fun playing. It is a card game to where you build a deck of cards over time to defeat hentchmen and the mastermind. There are ways to lose, and obviously ways to win. We ended up winning both times we played today. We had to work with each other in order to win, but then it is a competetion to see who ends up with the most victory points at the end of the game. It is a great game and I will definitely play it again.
Today in class we played cooperative games. The game that I played for the entire time was legendary. Legendary is a game that I previously played before and had great amounts of fun playing. It is a card game to where you build a deck of cards over time to defeat hentchmen and the mastermind. There are ways to lose, and obviously ways to win. We ended up winning both times we played today. We had to work with each other in order to win, but then it is a competetion to see who ends up with the most victory points at the end of the game. It is a great game and I will definitely play it again.
Monday, January 20, 2014
January 17
Today in class, we had a tournament in the card game that we learned Thursday. It was fun, but the rules were a little confusing still. We knew the rules better than we did on Thursday. Me and my partner lost all 3 games we played, but that was because the cards were not on our side. We just couldn't get the cards we needed so we could win. After we lost all three times, we played pandemic. I played it previously, but setting the game up this time was a little harder because we didn't have an expert with us. We were able to win which was nice and it allowed the other two people who didn't know how to play, learn how to play. Pandemic is a fun game to play especially when you have players who know what they are doing, and they can win.
After we finished our game, we had a speaker come in and talk to us about the importance of board games and how over time they have expanded and grew. He was an interesting speaker showing how board games grew for a task and something to do, to something major and dealing with community and getting to know people through the active participant of playing a board game.
Today in class, we had a tournament in the card game that we learned Thursday. It was fun, but the rules were a little confusing still. We knew the rules better than we did on Thursday. Me and my partner lost all 3 games we played, but that was because the cards were not on our side. We just couldn't get the cards we needed so we could win. After we lost all three times, we played pandemic. I played it previously, but setting the game up this time was a little harder because we didn't have an expert with us. We were able to win which was nice and it allowed the other two people who didn't know how to play, learn how to play. Pandemic is a fun game to play especially when you have players who know what they are doing, and they can win.
After we finished our game, we had a speaker come in and talk to us about the importance of board games and how over time they have expanded and grew. He was an interesting speaker showing how board games grew for a task and something to do, to something major and dealing with community and getting to know people through the active participant of playing a board game.
Friday, January 17, 2014
January 16
Today in class, I started out learning the game Pandemic. Pandemic is a cooperative game and I had a blast playing it. You work with the people you are playing with in order to eliminate diseases before they spread causing an epidemic. Too many epidemics or too many infection in one city causes the disease to spread around the world expanding the pandemic in the world. There are a total of 4 players playing at one time, but there 5 roles. The roles will guide you in what your special ability is, whether you can move a player around, cure diseases easier, or give away cards easier. You can win by eliminating all the diseases or just by finding the cures for the diseases. But there are different ways to lose as well. The game makes you work with the ones you are playing with in order to win. The rules were a little confusing in the beginning, but like all the games before once you start playing them it got easier. I would definitely play the game again.
The second game we played in class was a card game and I cannot recall the name. The game was very confusing on how to clear the board, get points, and the added rules into the game made it a little worse. It was also kind of just thrown up and we more or less had to figure out how to play, but that caused the game to be more confusing. I think it would have been easier to have them teach the game and have everyone watch around, so we knew how and then had them roam around answering questions. Once we understood the rules though, the game was fun. But there were different ways to score points and the point was to get to 40 points. Was a fun game to play, but if it was shown off possibly a different way to eliminate some confusion that would have helped. I like card games so this game was fun to play.
Today in class, I started out learning the game Pandemic. Pandemic is a cooperative game and I had a blast playing it. You work with the people you are playing with in order to eliminate diseases before they spread causing an epidemic. Too many epidemics or too many infection in one city causes the disease to spread around the world expanding the pandemic in the world. There are a total of 4 players playing at one time, but there 5 roles. The roles will guide you in what your special ability is, whether you can move a player around, cure diseases easier, or give away cards easier. You can win by eliminating all the diseases or just by finding the cures for the diseases. But there are different ways to lose as well. The game makes you work with the ones you are playing with in order to win. The rules were a little confusing in the beginning, but like all the games before once you start playing them it got easier. I would definitely play the game again.
The second game we played in class was a card game and I cannot recall the name. The game was very confusing on how to clear the board, get points, and the added rules into the game made it a little worse. It was also kind of just thrown up and we more or less had to figure out how to play, but that caused the game to be more confusing. I think it would have been easier to have them teach the game and have everyone watch around, so we knew how and then had them roam around answering questions. Once we understood the rules though, the game was fun. But there were different ways to score points and the point was to get to 40 points. Was a fun game to play, but if it was shown off possibly a different way to eliminate some confusion that would have helped. I like card games so this game was fun to play.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
January 15
Today I taught my game Carcassonne, and it went well. It was kinda hard to explain it in beginning, but once they started playing they understood it and it started to have fun. The final scoring at the end, has always been confusing and this time without actually playing seemed to make more sense to me about the final scoring.
The second game that was taught to me was 7 Wonders. That game was confusing from the very beginning and it never really made sense. It confused me what I had to do at each turn, and the whole pass the cards to the adjacent player. It was very confusing and I didn't understand any of the game. I had more fun teaching and watching my game than I did playing the game I was supposed to play.
Today I taught my game Carcassonne, and it went well. It was kinda hard to explain it in beginning, but once they started playing they understood it and it started to have fun. The final scoring at the end, has always been confusing and this time without actually playing seemed to make more sense to me about the final scoring.
The second game that was taught to me was 7 Wonders. That game was confusing from the very beginning and it never really made sense. It confused me what I had to do at each turn, and the whole pass the cards to the adjacent player. It was very confusing and I didn't understand any of the game. I had more fun teaching and watching my game than I did playing the game I was supposed to play.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
January 14
Just a quick note regarding yesterdays post. I put the wrong date at the top of the blog, but I hope that isn't a problem.
Today in class, we had the first round of games being taught to us. In class I learned the game, Alhambra. I probably misspelled the game name, but that game was incredibly fun. It is a game to where to build a little city, but then you have resources that you can pick up, instead of purchasing more tiles for your city. Once the rules were taught to our group, it seemed a little overwhelming, but once we started playing they came to you quickly and it was an easy game to pick up. The game took more strategy than I thought it would, because you are not only purchasing stuff for youself, but you have to be aware of what the other players are playing and buying. The game though, was a blast and I would definitely play it again.
The second game taught to me was Legendary. It is a card stacking game dealing with super heroes. You can buy superheroes and some of them have special attributes that will allow you to do more actions. After you gather enough superheroes you are able to start attacking the "henchmen" and in effect getting victory points. The game sounded super confusing when he started to explain it, but as we started playing it started making more and more sense. I think the game would be fun to play again, if I had a group who knew what they were doing, and would be willing to help. Once you learned the rules and how to play quicker the game can be fun, but you have to be willing to dedicate time to playing it. The game is a competition to see who will win, but you can also work together in some instances to help everyone out or you can hurt everyone.
Just a quick note regarding yesterdays post. I put the wrong date at the top of the blog, but I hope that isn't a problem.
Today in class, we had the first round of games being taught to us. In class I learned the game, Alhambra. I probably misspelled the game name, but that game was incredibly fun. It is a game to where to build a little city, but then you have resources that you can pick up, instead of purchasing more tiles for your city. Once the rules were taught to our group, it seemed a little overwhelming, but once we started playing they came to you quickly and it was an easy game to pick up. The game took more strategy than I thought it would, because you are not only purchasing stuff for youself, but you have to be aware of what the other players are playing and buying. The game though, was a blast and I would definitely play it again.
The second game taught to me was Legendary. It is a card stacking game dealing with super heroes. You can buy superheroes and some of them have special attributes that will allow you to do more actions. After you gather enough superheroes you are able to start attacking the "henchmen" and in effect getting victory points. The game sounded super confusing when he started to explain it, but as we started playing it started making more and more sense. I think the game would be fun to play again, if I had a group who knew what they were doing, and would be willing to help. Once you learned the rules and how to play quicker the game can be fun, but you have to be willing to dedicate time to playing it. The game is a competition to see who will win, but you can also work together in some instances to help everyone out or you can hurt everyone.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
January 11
Today in class, we had two speakers come in and talk to us about board games and some of their processes they use. Throughout the whole presentation, I learned two very different things. One in a broad generalality, that if you want to do something, start doing it, but don't quit your day job over it. Something can be fun, but you need to be able to apply it to your daily life, and make a living out of it. The second thing that I learned was in regard to our final project of making a game. We should focus on a theme of a game, and then from there go and try and make a game out of it. Usually doing some sort of spin off of a game or two and trying to incorporate the two of them into one unique game. Those were the two biggest things that I learned out of the presentation.
After the lecture had finished, we were able to play a game designed by Phil (I believe). I do not remember the name of the game we played, but it was teaching kids how to color coordinate, and identify figures, and matching them together. The game was fun, but you could clearly see that the game was designed for a younger audience. With 6 players playing at the same time, we ran out of cards and the game ended sooner we thought it would. When it wasn't really your turn it was easier to lose track of what was going on and look at your phone or get distracted talking to someone. When we were playing for points it really became a competetion to get the most points and find the spots that would work the best.
After his game, I got taught a game called Carcassonne. The game was really fun, and kept my attention the entire time. It is a tile game, and while laying the tiles down, you could get points and eventually win the game. The rules were easy to follow, but when it came to the points aspect of it, I was confused, but that I will learn later on. This game focuses more on a community aspect, trying to work together, but at the same time allowing yourself to win and get ahead. Because of this game experience in class, I am actually going to take it home tomorrow night, and learn how to play it better so I can teach it to my classmates. I loved this game because it was short, simple, and really anyone can play it. I had a ton of fun playing it.
Today in class, we had two speakers come in and talk to us about board games and some of their processes they use. Throughout the whole presentation, I learned two very different things. One in a broad generalality, that if you want to do something, start doing it, but don't quit your day job over it. Something can be fun, but you need to be able to apply it to your daily life, and make a living out of it. The second thing that I learned was in regard to our final project of making a game. We should focus on a theme of a game, and then from there go and try and make a game out of it. Usually doing some sort of spin off of a game or two and trying to incorporate the two of them into one unique game. Those were the two biggest things that I learned out of the presentation.
After the lecture had finished, we were able to play a game designed by Phil (I believe). I do not remember the name of the game we played, but it was teaching kids how to color coordinate, and identify figures, and matching them together. The game was fun, but you could clearly see that the game was designed for a younger audience. With 6 players playing at the same time, we ran out of cards and the game ended sooner we thought it would. When it wasn't really your turn it was easier to lose track of what was going on and look at your phone or get distracted talking to someone. When we were playing for points it really became a competetion to get the most points and find the spots that would work the best.
After his game, I got taught a game called Carcassonne. The game was really fun, and kept my attention the entire time. It is a tile game, and while laying the tiles down, you could get points and eventually win the game. The rules were easy to follow, but when it came to the points aspect of it, I was confused, but that I will learn later on. This game focuses more on a community aspect, trying to work together, but at the same time allowing yourself to win and get ahead. Because of this game experience in class, I am actually going to take it home tomorrow night, and learn how to play it better so I can teach it to my classmates. I loved this game because it was short, simple, and really anyone can play it. I had a ton of fun playing it.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
January 10 Class
Today in class, we played the game Settlers of Catan. Throughout the class period, we played 2 full games, and we started playing with teams and then we played just a traditional game. The team version of the game was a little interesting, and the rules were different. In the team version, each player played as their own person, but worked together for points, and teams could do blind trades as well as normal trading with other players. In the game mechanics though, it seemed like because of the blind trades, it eliminated the need for normal trading. Teams did not want to help out the other team. In the actual game, each player would try and focus/specialize in one or two areas, and the other person would specialize in a different area to help the team. During the game play, it was a competition and trying to get your team to win. You would do anything to get the enemy team in a position to where they wouldn't be able to do anything. For our class period on Monday meeting with the game maker, my question is, How do you, the game designer, come up with the original idea for a board game?
Today in class, we played the game Settlers of Catan. Throughout the class period, we played 2 full games, and we started playing with teams and then we played just a traditional game. The team version of the game was a little interesting, and the rules were different. In the team version, each player played as their own person, but worked together for points, and teams could do blind trades as well as normal trading with other players. In the game mechanics though, it seemed like because of the blind trades, it eliminated the need for normal trading. Teams did not want to help out the other team. In the actual game, each player would try and focus/specialize in one or two areas, and the other person would specialize in a different area to help the team. During the game play, it was a competition and trying to get your team to win. You would do anything to get the enemy team in a position to where they wouldn't be able to do anything. For our class period on Monday meeting with the game maker, my question is, How do you, the game designer, come up with the original idea for a board game?
Thursday, January 9, 2014
January 9
Today was the first day of class, and we played three games in class today. We played Perudo, Apples to Apples, and Pictures and Propositions. I have only played Apples to Apples before, so playing these other games was a new experience. Perudo was by far my favorite of the day, having to base your bet off of what everyone else had in their cups. It was a game of semi strategy, and I love strategy games so it was a treat. The rules in the beginning were a little confusing, but once we started playing it made more sense. I thought that game was the best to play as a group because everyone had fun trying to bluff and lie to the other people at the table. Pictures and Propositions was fun once it got to the end, and we were able to see how our initial sentence turned into something that most of us expected it to go. The game was simple and was fun, except when it was frustrating when you didn't know how to draw or how to interpret what the drawing we had before us was. Apples to Apples is a classic and everyone has fun. The only thing that was hard about that game, is you need to know everyone really well so you can get obscure answers and it shall be funny. It was still funny sometimes, but not as much as what it could have been if I was playing with my own friends. Still always fun as it always is. As Curt said in class, these games are good for ice breaker games, and I think they do that adequately well. The group that we had the entire time had some good laughs.
Today was the first day of class, and we played three games in class today. We played Perudo, Apples to Apples, and Pictures and Propositions. I have only played Apples to Apples before, so playing these other games was a new experience. Perudo was by far my favorite of the day, having to base your bet off of what everyone else had in their cups. It was a game of semi strategy, and I love strategy games so it was a treat. The rules in the beginning were a little confusing, but once we started playing it made more sense. I thought that game was the best to play as a group because everyone had fun trying to bluff and lie to the other people at the table. Pictures and Propositions was fun once it got to the end, and we were able to see how our initial sentence turned into something that most of us expected it to go. The game was simple and was fun, except when it was frustrating when you didn't know how to draw or how to interpret what the drawing we had before us was. Apples to Apples is a classic and everyone has fun. The only thing that was hard about that game, is you need to know everyone really well so you can get obscure answers and it shall be funny. It was still funny sometimes, but not as much as what it could have been if I was playing with my own friends. Still always fun as it always is. As Curt said in class, these games are good for ice breaker games, and I think they do that adequately well. The group that we had the entire time had some good laughs.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)