Origins Report
I owe you guys some serious updates. So, I'm going to try to go in reverse order.
The Origins Game Faire was last weekend. We had a fantastic turnout for Fellowship of the White Star. We design our games for tables of five and we scheduled six to nine tables per day (except the zero day when we only scheduled four for the people who wanted to play while the con was still getting set up and not yet officially open.) We had between nine and eleven tables per day with six to seven players per table.
We had a lot of brand new players. One gentleman was talked into playing by his daughter and her friends. He came back at least three more times during the weekend to play other events.
We had some great events and better players. The Interactive (Live Action) went off well. I was worried about that one because I didn't feel completely prepared, even though I was far more prepared than I was last year.
I, personally, ran 10 tables (out of 4 scheduled.) And, the guys were nice and let me play on Saturday when I'm sure they could have used me.
I played four games, all of them crayon rail games.
First, I played Martian Rails. This was a lot of fun. I was worried about it because of the small map. But, it was very well designed and simple to navigate. After playing it, I went and bought it.
Then, I played China Rails. Also a lot of fun, but I didn't do very well. I came in last place. I was so unlucky. Either that, or the other guys were incredibly lucky. I knew by the 5th turn or so that I had no chance.
Third, I played Russian Rails. I really like this map. It has a lot of additional aspects, such as national borders and "The Fall of Communism" which changes many cards. Unfortunately, I was playing with some people who were not really paying attention. One guy was sleeping between turns. And, the other was either staring off into space or texting (I'm assuming his staring was him thinking about the text conversation.) The other guys quit part way through.
Lastly, I got to play the new version of Euro Rails. I wanted to play it before I bought it, because I had heard mixed reviews. Personally, I really like the changes. The cards are clearer to understand. The addition of the English Channel is interesting. And, the new cards shift the game balance significantly. Unfortunately, they did not shift the balance enough for me to win. I was stuck in GB traveling from ferry to ferry for most of the game. And, so didn't make enough money to catch up to the people who could just run on their track. The sad thing was that I did the biggest payout trip on every card for the entire game, and still came in last place. That isn't a lack of skill, my friends. It is a lack of good cards.
I tried to play a game of Ticket To Ride. I also wish I had bought that instead of Martian Rails. MR is the better game, IMHO, but TTR is harder to find. Maybe I can find a copy at Gen Con in Aug.
Anyway, I got there about 3-5 minutes late to play TTR and they had already started. They had a full table as well. And, I didn't feel too badly as it meant I got to play Russian Rails. But, I noticed that they were playing incorrectly. I don't know if it was a variant, or if they were just doing it wrong.
The way the game works is that on every turn you have two choices: draw cards or build track. You use the cards to build the track. For example, you need 5 black cards to build a 5 segment track on a black connection. So, you have to collect the cards until you have enough to build. And, sometimes you want to hold onto your cards rather than build for strategy. If you get the 5 black cards and discover that you also need 7 for another connection, you might want to keep going for the other two, or you might want to lock in what you can.
These guys were playing differently. Instead of laying down their track when they turn in their cards, they were placing one segment at a time after turning in the cards. So, that 5 segment track not only took time to gather the necessary cards, but it also took five turns of stagnation while the others continued to play.
I'm not sure how that would really affect the game balance, though. The other players would have the same problem when they played cards.
Aside from playing, I got to run a lot of events. Trying to remember:
I ran two tables of Below The Belt, a very political event where the players need to find out how different people and organizations are connected and what their overall goal is.
I ran two tables of Rook, a mystery where the players need to determine who of two other people is trustworthy and who is not.
I ran one table of Canadian Romance, an investigative event where the players are asked to shadow a suspicious man and must decide whether to help him or not when he runs into trouble.
I ran one table of Great Train Robbery, a combat event where the players need to plan and execute a train robbery. This one is very much an example of, "What is says on the tin."
I ran two tables of Agrarian Way, an investigative event where the players need to discover the cause of strange deaths and prevent it from continuing.
I ran a table of An American Werewolf in Bolton, an investigative event where players are asked to find and eliminate a werewolf.
I ran a table of Automatic, an investigative event where players are asked to determine the validity of a person's demonstration of automatic writing.
And, the interactive.
Again, I had a lot of fun, but it was exhausting. I was up and ready to go at 7 AM (all but one morning, and Sassey was very nice and waited for me to finish getting ready) and got home around or after midnight every night.
One down side is that I managed to forget my medication at least once every day. If I remembered to put the pill box in my pocket, then I fell asleep without taking my evening dose when I got home. So, come Monday I wasn't feeling horrible, but not great either.
And, on Monday I had a follow up with my arthritis doctor. She scolded me and gave me some new medication. She is hoping that the stronger med will mean that I don't have to take the 4-pills a day one, but just the new one three times a week.
I had a great weekend, and am looking forward to Gen Con. Just have to get my next event finished, playtested, and edited first.
Theno
The Origins Game Faire was last weekend. We had a fantastic turnout for Fellowship of the White Star. We design our games for tables of five and we scheduled six to nine tables per day (except the zero day when we only scheduled four for the people who wanted to play while the con was still getting set up and not yet officially open.) We had between nine and eleven tables per day with six to seven players per table.
We had a lot of brand new players. One gentleman was talked into playing by his daughter and her friends. He came back at least three more times during the weekend to play other events.
We had some great events and better players. The Interactive (Live Action) went off well. I was worried about that one because I didn't feel completely prepared, even though I was far more prepared than I was last year.
I, personally, ran 10 tables (out of 4 scheduled.) And, the guys were nice and let me play on Saturday when I'm sure they could have used me.
I played four games, all of them crayon rail games.
First, I played Martian Rails. This was a lot of fun. I was worried about it because of the small map. But, it was very well designed and simple to navigate. After playing it, I went and bought it.
Then, I played China Rails. Also a lot of fun, but I didn't do very well. I came in last place. I was so unlucky. Either that, or the other guys were incredibly lucky. I knew by the 5th turn or so that I had no chance.
Third, I played Russian Rails. I really like this map. It has a lot of additional aspects, such as national borders and "The Fall of Communism" which changes many cards. Unfortunately, I was playing with some people who were not really paying attention. One guy was sleeping between turns. And, the other was either staring off into space or texting (I'm assuming his staring was him thinking about the text conversation.) The other guys quit part way through.
Lastly, I got to play the new version of Euro Rails. I wanted to play it before I bought it, because I had heard mixed reviews. Personally, I really like the changes. The cards are clearer to understand. The addition of the English Channel is interesting. And, the new cards shift the game balance significantly. Unfortunately, they did not shift the balance enough for me to win. I was stuck in GB traveling from ferry to ferry for most of the game. And, so didn't make enough money to catch up to the people who could just run on their track. The sad thing was that I did the biggest payout trip on every card for the entire game, and still came in last place. That isn't a lack of skill, my friends. It is a lack of good cards.
I tried to play a game of Ticket To Ride. I also wish I had bought that instead of Martian Rails. MR is the better game, IMHO, but TTR is harder to find. Maybe I can find a copy at Gen Con in Aug.
Anyway, I got there about 3-5 minutes late to play TTR and they had already started. They had a full table as well. And, I didn't feel too badly as it meant I got to play Russian Rails. But, I noticed that they were playing incorrectly. I don't know if it was a variant, or if they were just doing it wrong.
The way the game works is that on every turn you have two choices: draw cards or build track. You use the cards to build the track. For example, you need 5 black cards to build a 5 segment track on a black connection. So, you have to collect the cards until you have enough to build. And, sometimes you want to hold onto your cards rather than build for strategy. If you get the 5 black cards and discover that you also need 7 for another connection, you might want to keep going for the other two, or you might want to lock in what you can.
These guys were playing differently. Instead of laying down their track when they turn in their cards, they were placing one segment at a time after turning in the cards. So, that 5 segment track not only took time to gather the necessary cards, but it also took five turns of stagnation while the others continued to play.
I'm not sure how that would really affect the game balance, though. The other players would have the same problem when they played cards.
Aside from playing, I got to run a lot of events. Trying to remember:
I ran two tables of Below The Belt, a very political event where the players need to find out how different people and organizations are connected and what their overall goal is.
I ran two tables of Rook, a mystery where the players need to determine who of two other people is trustworthy and who is not.
I ran one table of Canadian Romance, an investigative event where the players are asked to shadow a suspicious man and must decide whether to help him or not when he runs into trouble.
I ran one table of Great Train Robbery, a combat event where the players need to plan and execute a train robbery. This one is very much an example of, "What is says on the tin."
I ran two tables of Agrarian Way, an investigative event where the players need to discover the cause of strange deaths and prevent it from continuing.
I ran a table of An American Werewolf in Bolton, an investigative event where players are asked to find and eliminate a werewolf.
I ran a table of Automatic, an investigative event where players are asked to determine the validity of a person's demonstration of automatic writing.
And, the interactive.
Again, I had a lot of fun, but it was exhausting. I was up and ready to go at 7 AM (all but one morning, and Sassey was very nice and waited for me to finish getting ready) and got home around or after midnight every night.
One down side is that I managed to forget my medication at least once every day. If I remembered to put the pill box in my pocket, then I fell asleep without taking my evening dose when I got home. So, come Monday I wasn't feeling horrible, but not great either.
And, on Monday I had a follow up with my arthritis doctor. She scolded me and gave me some new medication. She is hoping that the stronger med will mean that I don't have to take the 4-pills a day one, but just the new one three times a week.
I had a great weekend, and am looking forward to Gen Con. Just have to get my next event finished, playtested, and edited first.
Theno