My first two reactions to online conventions

From what I can tell, in-person conventions across the board have been canceled for the year. Some, like GenCon and Pax are going to be free, online experiences instead.

While I fully support this, I don’t know how interested I am in attending a virtual convention. I already play games online, shop for games online and watch videos and vlogs about gaming online. I’m not sure how an online convention would be really different than what I already do on a regular basis.

That said, I still remember when I first found out about BSW (a site where you could play mostly European board games. It’s still around but I’m pretty sure it’s not nearly as big as it was back when dinosaurs roamed the earth when I first discovered it. Virtual gaming has come a long, long way.) I felt like I was at a convention while sitting in front of my computer and that was _amazing_

And in 2017, I discovered GenCan’t, the virtual convention for those who couldn’t make it to GenCon. It was a scrappy little event that felt like more like a movement than an event. The 2017 design contest alone forever changed how I look at Roll and Write games and dragged me even deeper into the world Print and Play. 

Both BSW and GenCan’t changed gaming for me. Both were fantastic experiences for me.

There is definitely a real effect of being part of something that isn’t just me and three other people playing Carcassonne online but something that involves a community that stretches around the world. My first, gut reaction forgot that.

I don’t know how much or if at all I’ll participate in online conventions but I have realized that I shouldn’t rule them out.

Milestones in my PnP life

There have been times when I feel like 2018 was when I started making PnP games but that’s balderdash. I’ve dabbled with print and play for many years. 

However, going through my notes, I can see how, since moving to Tucson, my interest in PnP really picked up. Yes, 2018 was something of a watershed year but I can see how that interest snowballed and what games and publishers were definite milestones.

Tiny Epic Defenders was a major one. Making the demo version during the Kickstarter was a big step for me as a crafter. Amusingly, it also convinced me to not back the game :D

The next major step for me was Button Shy games. Their pocket line of games gave me a wide variety of micro games to explore. They are easy enough to craft and enough of them are genuinely good enough to make them worth making.

Seriously, Button Shy opened a lot of doors for me, both in games to explore and ways of looking at both micro games and print and play games.

The last major milestone that really shook up my ideas and views was the 2017 GenCan’t Roll and Write Contest. I binged on Roll and Writes like I never had before and the best of them made me really reassess Roll and Writes as a genre. And the GenCan’t contest was also when my interest in solitaire gaming went beyond a mild interest and really snowballed.

Make no mistake. 2018 was a big year. I got a lot more serious and, more importantly, a lot more organized about print and play. It’s been a huge year for Print and Play for me but it didn’t come out of nowhere.

2017: the first year I went to GenCan't

Another GenCon has come and gone and, as had been the case since I moved to the other side of the country, I didn't go. This year, however, I found out about GenCan't so I got to celebrate the weekend anyway.

(Incidentally, almost all of my friends who went to GenCon for shopping and open gaming have stopped going. It has become too crowded for them. So I just heard from my friends who went for business reasons and for the spectacle. So I got a much happier description of the con :D)

As I've mentioned about seven times in this blog, I found out about GenCan't through the Roll and Write contest. Which has been a lot of fun. There are some games in that library I could see being published and doing well. I probably won't play them all but I definitely try some more.

However, I have gotten to have some other fun with GenCan't, participating in one of the MegaKaruba games and the unofficial Knizia Decathlon tournament.

Many years ago, I swear I read how Alan Moon ran a game of Take It Easy with over a hundred players at a convention. Now, of course, I can't find a citation of that event. However, I love the idea that   number of boards limits the number of players who can play a 'bingo with strategy' game. So MegaKaruba was something I really dug.

Of course, while it is a game I've thought of picking up, I don't actually own a copy. So I made a set of pieces with pencil, straight edge, glue, card stock and a paper cutter. I used matching pairs of dice for the explorers (one pip) and temples (counting down from five to two as the values decreased)

This was my first experience with Karuba and it was a crazy, silly way to try out the game, the moves live-streamed so that folks around the world could play the same game. I don't know how many folks outside the US played (or how many folks played period) but it was a fun time. Memorable introduction.

On the other hand, between being someone who is a Knizia fan and has had in interest in PnP, I'm no stranger to Reiner Knizia's Decathlon. However ever, this was the first time I played competitively, instead of solitaire. That definitely added some excitement to the game. Plus, I somehow won the tournament. Honestly, it gave me a whole new appreciation for the game.

Yes, going to GenCon would have been a bigger, possibly overwhelming experience. GenCan't can't compare to that. However, I got access to a library of PnP games that are fun and will probably push me to finally making a binder of solitaire games. I got to try out a new game and play with a bunch of people and even win a tournament.

Most importantly, I got to participate. I wasn't able to make it to the biggest convention of the year (or the one fighting with Essen for that title)  but I was still able to be a part of the weekend. And that felt really good.

Drawing a line across London

GenCan't Roll and Write Library: Holmes and Watson: Adventures in the Fog

The theme of Holmes and Watson was what made me decide to to try this game out next. I do love me some Sherlock Holmes and I view him as one of the great serial characters who can be done well with a variety of interpretations.

Of course, the theme's only role is to give the designer a reason to use a Victorian map of London. The game is really about drawing a path across the board, connecting  symbols. 

Like many of the games in this library, the game consists of a board, along with a writing tool and some dice that you have to supply yourself. Print out the board and you're ready.

The board shows a map of London with a matrix of dots and symbols on the streets. Like the Crayon Train games, H&W is dot-to-dot with strategy. In a nutshell, you are drawing a line across the streets of London, trying to pass through the different symbols to collect sets. You have to stick to the streets and you can never double back.

The active player rolls n+1 dice (n being the number of players, don'tcha know) and there's then a dice draft. Not an amazing level of player interaction but at least there is some. The dice actions are draw a segment, draw two segments, draw segments to reach a fingerprint, draw segments to reach a magnifying glass, and draw segments to reach an eye. Sixes are special and nasty. Those are Moriarty and force you to cross out three symbols on your path.

When someone solves their ninth mystery/completes their ninth set, the game ends. Points are based on the different kinds of sets and most points wins.

H&W feels like it could use at least one more draft. The black-and-white version of the board has references to cards, which clearly no longer a part of the game. There is also a purse mechanic that lets you collect coins to turn into symbols that's easy to figure out (good use of iconography) but isn't mentioned in the rules.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this is an adaptation of a non-PnP game that the designer is working on.

All that said, I had fun with H&W. It isn't brilliant and it isn't innovative but it's simple and it works. And, let's be clear. Balanced and clean play, particularly in a game that lasts ten minutes, is strong. The theme is non-existent but the map, which could have been totally abstract, is nice to look at.

In fact, if I make a solitaire binder, which is on my list of things to do in August, H&W will be in it. It is a game I will reach for if I feel like some quick solitaire.

A hungry, hungry caterpillar game for all ages

GenCan't Roll and Write Library - Canterpillar Feast 

Okay. Let me get this out of the way. Canterpillar Feast uses the strategic bingo mechanic of Take It Easy. Everyone has their own player board and everyone gets the same options.

That's not a bad thing. It's a family of games that I really like and one that I have been able to use with a wide variety of groups.

In Canterpillar Feast, you are hungry, hungry caterpillars munching on leaves. Every one has a branch with ten leaves on it, numbered two to six and eight to twelve. Each leaf has nine empty boxes on it and a ladybug. The tree that the branch is on has nine knot holes.

You'll take turns being the active player. The active player rolls four dice and then chooses one to discard. Everyone then chooses two of the dice to add together. That's the leaf that you'll be eating this turn and the number on the last die is the number of boxes you'll be filling in.

Here's the kicker. You have to fill in that number of boxes. If you'd go over, you can't use that combination of dice. And if you can't fill in any boxes (and, as the game goes on, that will happen), you fill in a knot hole. When someone fills in their last knot hole, the game's over.

In addition, if you're the first person to complete a particular leaf, you get to circle the ladybug on that leaf. The farther on the edge of the bell curve, the more spots they have. The two and the twelve have six spots and six and eight have two.

When the game's over, you get ten points for every completed leaf, points equal to the number of spots on your circled ladybugs, and negative points equal to the number of empty boxes on your leaves. Whoever has the most points, wins.

I played Canterpillar Feast as a solitaire game, which is how I'll probably test drive all the games I try in the GenCan't library. And I think that is probably the weakest way to play the game.

Playing by myself, I was able to optimize every roll. Someone else choosing which die to discard would definitely add tension. Same thing about actually having to compete for ladybugs. On top of that, the game ending when anyone fills in all their knot holes also keeps things tense.

In general, having played a lot of games like Canterpillar Feast, I would call it a solid game, not brilliant but not disappointing. One thing that gives it an edge is that it's free and easy PnP. 

However, the biggest takeaway for me is actually the theme. The theme takes an abstract number and odds cruncher and turns into a cute game with a kid-engaging theme. It's gone on the large stack of potential games when our toddler gets a little older and I've already shared with friends with older kids.

Dipping my toe in the GenCan't library

GenCan't Roll and Write Library - Pippi and the Murmuring Desert

Pippi and the Murmuring Desert ended up being the first game I tried out in the GenCan't Roll and Write Library. Laziness played a part in that decision, since the whole thing is just one page and doesn't require any colored dice. It also looks like one of the simplest games in the library.

Unfortunately, I also had a feeling it wouldn't be that good a game. 

In Pippi and the Murmuring Desert, you are traveling through a desert, trying to reach a medicine woman in a mountain valley and then take the medicine to your papa on the other side. 

Each turn consists of surveying the nearby landscape, thus creating the map, and then moving.

There is an additional feature that you also only have so much water. Every time you don't move, you drink some of your water. Your pawn is actually a die and that's how you keep track of your water. I've seen that done before but I still like it. It is a simple but effective way of tracking.

So here's where the problem comes in. On your travel turn, you wrote two dice and consult the chart. That shows you what two directions you are allowed travel. But, in the best of circumstances, there is an obvious choice. If you roll doubles, you don't have a choice. And, what felt like all to often, both directions could end blocked and you really had no choice.

 

So I ultimately ended up making no actual choices and was forced to do what the dice told me to. That's a major problem in my book.

Sorry, Craig Froehle, the game has some fundamental problems.

Interestingly enough, I did have some fun playing the game. That's because it really, really reminded me of the first scenario in the old and much criticized Avalon Hill game Outdoor Survival. 

Contrary to popular myth, most of the scenarios in Outdoor Survival actually give you a measure of control and agency. However, the initial, lost in the woods without a map or compass basically consists of wandering around the woods, waiting to die of starvation or thirst or horrible accidents. In multi-player games, the winner is whoever dies last.

It's been years since I last played Outdoor Survival and I've actually gotten rid of my copy so I doubt I'll play it again. But it was a gaming experience that i will probably never forget. 

Pippi and the Murmuring Desert is actually a lot more survivable than Outdoor Survival (the board is a fraction of the size) but wandering lost in the desert while running out of water did remind me of the older game. Frankly, being able to relive that experience with one sheet of paper and three dice is all I need.  

I discover GenCan't, the unconvention

From a couple different sources, including Cheapass Games newsletter, I came across GenCan't, the blog for all the folks who are _not_ going to GenCon. I have heard of Virtual Conventions but this is the first time I've seen an Unconvention.

GenCan't includes different contests and and articles and even a few game days at game stores that aren't in Indianapolis. But what really led me there was this year's Roll and Write contest, which gave me access to over thirty Roll and Write PnP games.

Which, frankly, is quite the bonanza. 

Really, when you think about it, if you are going to have a PnP contest where the games are accessible for the largest audience, this is the way to do it. No construction, just print and add dice and pencils. And it looks like the designers really explored a lot of different ideas and mechanics.

As of my writing this, they are still adding games to their library, presumably as the designers give the site permission. And we haven't even gotten the actual winner yet. Fun!

While the Roll-and-Write library is my biggest interest in GenCan't, the whole idea of it is neat. Let's face it, a lot of us can't go to GenCon. The site creates a fun sense of solidarity, one that is even international.

http://www.gencant.com/