The evolving world of Barnes and Noble’s game shelf

Every time I wander into a Barnes and Noble, I like to take a look at their game section. That’s honestly only three or four times a year, so  there always seems to be some changes.

I remember when I first saw Catan at Barnes and Noble and being amazed at seeing it outside of a game store. The store has come a long ways since then.

Back when I first started looking at designer games, there was only one game store that was even vaguely convenient for me to get to. (That was Games Plus in Mount Prospect, IL, in case you’re curious) And they were mostly focused on RPGs and wargames. (Their wall of lead miniatures was a thing of awe for me) When I first went, they had one table of board games. A table of wonder, since my only other options were online or cons.

They had quite a few more board games the last time I was there but the selection you can now find at Barnes and Noble is much larger than the best store I could find fifteen years ago. Although I have also seen game stores this year that had fewer games than Barnes and Noble.

I will say that I feel like I am seeing how board games are breaking further into the mainstream when I see the strategy shelf at Target. I feel like Barnes and Noble is where publishers are testing limits for the market. It has more of a boutique feel.

This time, what surprised me the most was seeing Perplext’s Pack o Game line. While I am a big fan, I was not expecting to those games at a non-game store. I hope this means Perpext is doing well since I’d like to see a third set get developed.

Barnes and Noble isn’t my choice for brick and mortar store but it is always educational.

TAJ is a remarkably complicated Rug of War

TAJ is possibly the most complicated and intricate game of the first series of pack of games. Note that I didn't say it was one of the best games or the deepest game.

A Rug of War, TAJ is about moving oriental rugs about in order to manipulate their prices. Everyone has a secret goal card, letting them know which colors on the rugs will earn them points. 

Like every game in the Pack O Game series, Taj consists of thirty skinny little cards. The whole game looks like a pack of gum, hence the sales pitch. In TAJ's case, the cards come in a bunch of varieties.

There are two voting cards for every player, a regular yea/nay card and a special, one-time override card. There are ten rug cards. Each one shows three colors with a value of one to three for each color. The rugs also have eyes on one end, to mark that they've been appraised. There are ten secret goal cards, showing three colors. One color will be worth x2, one x1, and one x-1. Finally, there is the Taj Mahal card. It is an image of the Taj Mahal long ways on each side with a plus one on different ends.

All 10 of the rug cards are placed in the eyes facing down. The Taj Mahal card is placed above the row, which means it will be above three rugs. When the game ends, only the rugs below the Taj Majal will score points.

On a player's turn, they will propose to switch two rugs. Everyone then vote on whether or not to swap those two rugs. If the yea's win, the rugs swap. If the nays win the vote, there is no swap and the rug farthest from the Taj Mahal is removed from the game. Yes, even if it wasn't one of the two rugs proposed for swapping. No matter what, the rugs that were proposed get rotated so the eyes are on top.

If the vote is unanimous either way, the active player must either move the Taj Mahal one space or flip it over so the plus one is on the other end. As I've already mentioned, every player gets a one time use override card which forces the vote to be unanimous.

When there are either only five rugs left or every rug has been turned so the eye is on top, the game ends. Only the rugs under the Taj Mahal count for scoring and the value for each color is added up with a plus one for whichever rug is under the plus one and of the Taj Mahal. And the high score wins.

With an estimated playing time of ten minutes.

Honestly, TAJ has a number of strikes against it. For one thing, my primary gaming group is my wife and two is clearly TAJ's weakest number of players. For another thing, teaching it could take as long as playing it, which is not desirable in what is intrinsically a travel game.

However, the biggest problem with TAJ is that it is too intricate for its playing time and for what you get out of it. The rules aren't intuitive and the decisions are opaque, particularly in the early game. Which wouldn't be so bad in a longer game where elements have time to develop but it's frustrating in a game this short. Too much of the game is spent taking care of the moving parts.

You know, I'm someone who is always on the lookout for micro games that offer some real depth and legitimate tough decisions. So it feels weird knocking TAJ for being too complex. However, complex doesn't necessarily translate to depth. I feel that both GEM and BUS, also in Pack of Game, offer some real depth to their play time and they are much easier to teach.

I don't dislike TAJ, although it probably sounds like I do. It's just that it hasn't delivered the way that the other games that I've played in the series have. I do hope to keep on playing it and seeing if it has hidden virtues. It is staying in my travel library.

TAJ is a legitimately ambitious and unusual game. It has some interesting ideas. However, I think the sheer number of moving parts overcomes the gameplay. At the same time, I have seen a lot of micro games that try and get away with being so simple they offer no actual choices. TAJ is brave to err on the other side of that equation.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/158916/taj

TKO - a light boxing game that still delivers

TKO was one of the surprises for me in the pack of games. I was interested in trying it out but I had very low expectations for the game. After all, it is basically rock paper scissors with a boxing theme slapped over it.

You get a stable of eight boxers in the game, each one built out of six cards. Every boxer has four meters, for high and low punches and high and low blocks. Every time they successfully pull off a move, they get a point in that meter. Five points in any given meter, you win that round.

Both players get a card that shows the four moves. You secretly pinch one of them and then reveal. Unblock punches earn points and successfully blocking punches earns points.

I have to admit that I'm used to fighting games keeping track of damage, not keeping track of technical points. However, it does work with TKO and it makes successfully blocking just as valid a strategy as punching away.

Each of the fighters starts with one or two points in the meters, giving them an edge up in that particular move. Of course, that also means that you can watch your opponents thinking that you will be going for that move. Makes the bluffing more interesting.

Let's be honest, TKO is a very light, very simple game. Most of the games in the Pack O Game games push the limits of what you can do with the medium. Even FLY, which is even simpler than TKO has an interesting scoring system, particularly for a game about dropping cards. 

Bluffing and rock-paper-scissors? That's been done before. Pico 2, R, Love Letter, Coup, they've all covered this ground and done it very well. Heck, Cosmic Coasters literally uses rock-paper-scissors for science fiction combat back in 2001. TKO isn't breaking any new ground.

But here's the thing. We've had a lot of fun playing TKO. When we've gotten the little one to bed and we are exhausted and half brain dead, TKO is a nice way to blow off some steam and decompress. 

TKO isn't a great game. It's a very light and fluffy game with all the decisions being built around mind games. And I will admit that it suits our circumstances right now. But when we keep on having fun playing a game, that's a big thumb's up for it.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/158917/tko

LIE - a whole lot of fun and laughter in some tiny cards

Out of all the Pack O Game series, LIE was the one that interested me the least. It just looked like a Liar's Dice variant. Plus, I was primarily interested in the series with an eye for two players and it looked particularly weak for two-players.

However, when I had the chance to play it with more players at the Rincon Fundraiser, I took it. And everyone had a blast.

Short version for anyone who wants to stop reading now, Liar's Dice is a lot of fun which makes variants of it a lot of fun too.

Like every game in the series, LIE consist of thirty skinny little cards. On each end of every card, there is a picture of a six-sided die face with every pip appearing ten times throughout the entire deck. Out of all the games the series, LIE is easily the plainest one artwise, looking pretty drab compared to the very artistic SHH. However, it does the trick.

At the start of the game, everyone is dealt out five cards. Each player then decides what die they'll use on each card. The way the cards are designed, if you hold them fan-style, you'll cover up the dice that you're not using.

Now, if you're even vaguely aware of how Liar's Dice works, you know what comes next.

The starting player makes a bid in the form of a number and pip of dice, like four ones or three sixes. They are betting that there is that number of that pip spread throughout everyone's hands.

The next player has a choice. They can either raise the bid or they can call the last players, saying they are a liar. Everyone's hand is revealed in that case and you find out who was right. Whoever was wrong is dealt one less card in the next hand.

When someone is all out of cards, whoever is left with the most cards is the winner. 

In other words, almost exactly like Liar's Dice.

There are a couple of variants that come in the rules, like playing until last man (or woman) standing. The interesting one is having ones be wild UNLESS the opening bid is for ones. For what it's worth, I have seen those variants with regular Liar's Dice as well.

There is no denying that Liar's Dice is a great, fun game. One way or another, it's been around for generations. You can finds versions played all over the globe. It's a classic and it'll be around for generations to come.

And I do think that Liar's Dice is a better game than LIE. Using actual dice creates more interesting odds and situations. Plus, there's no denying that rolling all those dice is exciting and fun. We are taking about a game that started out as a serious gambling game but works great as a party game.

However, what I didn't anticipate is that even though LIE isn't as good as a truly great game has been vindicated  by history and played on every continent except Antarctica (and I might be wrong about Antarctica), LIE is still a very good game. Holding it up to a such high standard turned out to make me not realize that LIE could still be good.

LIE's big twist, of course, is that allows for a measure of hand management. In some ways, that mixes up the way that being a deck of dice flattens the odds. With some groups, it might actually flatten the odds even more but it really does open the doors to some mind games. I even know some folks that might think that makes it better than Liar's Dice but I wouldn't go that far.

Now, I do own a good copy of Liar's Dice with color coordinated cups and dice. And if I know that it was going to get played, I'd pack it. But LIE is not just a game that takes up no room, it's part of a set of games that has become my default travel choice. LIE is a game I can easily have on me.

LIE takes Liar's Dice and makes it even more portable. It adds some control, allowing for interesting choices with the bluffing. Most importantly, it's a really fun game. I'm glad I gave it a real chance and found out that it's a strong part of Pack O Games.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/161383/lie

HUE - the gateway to Pack O Games

HUE is the first game in the Pack O Game series and, in some ways, could be considered the ambassador for the series on a whole.

Every game in the series consists of thirty cards, each one cut to about a third the width of a regular card. That means you get stick-like cards and a deck looks literally like a stick of gum.

HUE is the tile laying member of the family. Every card is divided into three squares and three different colors, although about half the cards have the colors divided the long way, making them skinny lines.

Everyone gets five to six cards, including one with a poison symbol in the middle. Special rainbow cards are set out to start the board and then everyone takes turns placing a card on the board. Cards must share at least one edge with cards already out but they can cover one square of a previously placed card.

Now, here's the good bit. You don't play the last card in your hand. You score with it. For each color on the card, you score points equal the largest area of that color on the board. You score double points for the color in the middle of your scoring card. But any area that has a poison symbol is zeroed out and doesn't count for scoring.

The biggest hurdle HUE has to overcome is that there are a lot of time laying games out there and there are even a lot of pocket-sized ones. The Clever Pipe Game and Aquarius were two of the first games I picked up, before I even started collecting games seriously. It takes a lot to stand out in the pack.

But HUE does have a twist that makes it interesting. Your last card being your scoring card, particularly when you get your whole hand at the start. It gives you an end goal at the very start but also gives you the flexibility to change that goal if you have to.

Mind you, HUE doesn't fire Aquarius or small tile laying games for me. However, the more I play it, the more I enjoy it. It keeps growing on me. I don't think I'd turn down a game (it doesn't hurt that the playtime is so short)

None of the first series of the Pack O Game games reinvent the wheel. They all use tried and true mechanics, with just a couple twists to give them their own flair. By being a part of such a large family of tile-laying games, HUE doesn't stand out as much as some of the others like BUS or TAJ. But it is still a solid, well designed game.

HUE really is a good introduction to Pack O Games. It is easy to teach, even to non-gamers. However, the scoring makes it interesting, even for serious gamers. Honestly, the fact that it comes in such a portable package is just gravy.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/159143/hue

Pack O Games continues to prove itself to me

Whenever I go to a convention or any other gaming event, I always take along some games. Truth to tell, I used to always have a game or three in my courier bag until I converted it to a diaper bag :D

When I went to the April 2016 from fundraiser for Rincon, I just put the plastic case that holds the first series of Pack O Games games in my pocket. (I don't wear a coat or jacket much in Tucson but cargo pants do the same trick as far as pockets are concerned)

And, over the course of the fundraiser, I ended playing three different games from that plastic case.

Which really just proves how the Pack O Games really does look to potential of being a game library that can fit in your pocket. Your cargo pants pocket. :D

While I still need to play SHH and GEM (which some folks have said are two of the best games in the series), I have gotten in a decent number of plays of the other six games.

If I were to strip my judgment of these games of their footprint and portability and playing time, I would say most of them are B+ games. None of them are amazing games that are going to become my new favorite game. However, with the exception of FLY which really isn't in a genre I'm interested in, they are all games I am happy to play.

However, when you take the fact that they are incredibly portable with small footprints and short playing times, that is what really makes these games shine. And accessibility, a virtue I've come to treasure more and more over the years. They are easy games for me to teach but they are still satisfying games to play.

In the post Love Letter world, it's not enough to just be small or quick. Micro games aren't just about being small or filling five to fifteen minutes. They have to be actual good games. 

The Pack O Game games are definitely portable but the fact that they are genuinely good games is what matters. Having a library of good games that I can take anywhere, that is nice.

Kickstarter stretch goals that excite me

As I spent more time on Kickstarter, both doing a lot of lurking and backing some projects, I have grown more critical of stretch goals. Well, at least more careful in my scrutiny of stretch goals.

When I first learned about stretch goals, they were the most amazing thing ever. Bonus goodies are so exciting! 

But, as time went on, some stretch goals felt like pieces of the game that had been shaved off and you needed to make the stretch goals to get the actual whole game. Other times, I'm forced to wonder if it's really just bonus fluff.

So now that I have become at all discerning when it comes to stretch goals, when I find some that are exciting, it's really cool for me. Particularly since I am just backing on the Print and Play level more and more, so most stretch goals don't mean a thing to me.

And, at the moment, I'm backing two projects with stretch goals that excite me. So, of course I have to write about them, even though I've already mentioned them before, to try and drum up more support and achieve more stretch goals :P

The Name of God is a nanno RPG, originally consisting of eight cards. Four cards of rules and four fetish cards. In this case, fetish means a special ritual object, not a kinky obsession. Although it's an indie game that lists Apocalypse World as an inspiration so it could end up both in a game :D

The stretch goals are more fetish cards. Since they are the special action/big mechanic of the game, even one is 20% cooler and We are at nine. 220% cooler? Rainbow Dash's head explodes!

What is actually super cool is how every bonus card is being designed by a different indie designer. I really hope they get to card eleven, since I've gamed with Megan and she's groovy.

Of course, the second series of Pack O Games is what really has me thrilled. It's a series of micro games and every stretch goal is another game! (Mind you, it doesn't hurt that the first set ended up being micro games on a Love Letter level of quality. A bag of junk games ain't anything special)

More than that, this time, every time a new stretch goals is announced, backers get to vote on which of two games it will be. I hope they don't run out of play-tested games!

Now, it is nice how the stretch goals in both projects add big content but what is really cool is how they engage the community. The Name of God is making big use of the indie design community and Pack O Games is giving people choices, at least as long as their supply of designs hold out. Both projects having lots of updates and decent transparency helps too.

Honestly, a good pledge experience has become part of the whole backing a Kickstarter thing for me and these guys are doing a fine job. 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/unplayablegames/the-name-of-god-a-game-of-outcasts-and-urban-weird

http://www.PackOGame2.com

A Kickstarter I'm going to enjoy

One of the most rewarding Kickstarters of 2014 for me was the Pack O Games series. 

Part of the fun was that every stretch goal was a new game in the series and, by the end of the Kickstarter, the number of games had doubled and the last game to get added was the one I was the most excited about. (BUS, by the way. A pick-up-and-deliver game on just thirty cards? I had to see that!)

However, the other thing that was really cool was that we had a lot of fun with the games once they arrived. We haven't played all of them but we have had fun with the ones that we have played. In my opinion, the Pack O Games series has really pushed the bar for the quality of micro games.

So when the second series of Pack O Games was launched, I backed it before I even started looking at what the games were going to be.

Stretch goals or one of those things that can be really exciting in a campaign or you can end up feeling like they added a whole bunch of stuff that you don't really need. Since every goal in this campaign is it's own game, I find that pretty exciting. And, this time, you get to vote on what the next stretch goal will be. That's a great way to engage the backers and keep everyone excited about the campaign.

I really enjoyed the first set in this series and I'm looking forward to what this one brings.

http://www.PackOGame2.com