Weekend gaming extravaganza
Oct. 20th, 2014 07:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spacealien_vampI took a day of annual leave to give myself a lovely four-day weekend. I packed it full of as much gaming as possible.
On Thursday, I spent most of the day watching TV and working on a craft project. I signed up for a holiday envelope exchange on BGG, and as my gift I designed and crocheted a set of meeple coasters in the major board game player colors. (I'll be adding a fifth in black so it can be used for Lords of Waterdeep.)
One of the library books I checked out a while back had a recipe for making Arborio rice in a pressure cooker to save time. I decided to give it a try, with some sauteed mushrooms, onions, and Parmesan for added flavor. It came out quite well. I had it for supper with a bit of spiced apple wine and figs from my tree drizzled with virgin honey from my cousin's hive.
Most of Friday was dedicated to cleaning the house--mainly scrubbing all the pots and pans that don't fit in the dishwasher and had been stacked up to wash "later." By the afternoon, I was finally able to see the surface of my dining table again. I also spent some time with the washing machine repairman. He didn't find anything wrong with the gasket that would cause a leak. He said he thought the problem was that some lint or hair had gotten stuck to the inside of the door and broke the seal between the door and the gasket, allowing water through. Either that, or the magnet on the bottom of the door had not been fully extended and therefore hadn't helped hold the door completely closed. He said that as long as I keep the inner surface of the door clean and check that the magnet is extended before closing the door, I shouldn't have any more problems. I did a couple loads of bedsheets after he left, and the advice seemed to do the trick.
A few of my Kickstarter games and online game orders have begun arriving. I should get a lot more in the next couple of months.
In the evening, I went next door for a pizza and game night with the neighbors. They invited a bunch of their friends, so we ended up enjoying a 7-person game of Citadels. (They added a house rule wherein whoever chooses the King role also has the power to command other players to drink...)
I finished more cleaning on Saturday morning before![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mangaroo came over for a visit. We had some bean/potato soup and freshly baked apple cinnamon bread for lunch and played a couple of games. There was also talk of manga and devious plans for forcing wednesday_10_00 to come back to California so we could try some games with a higher player count.
I did a little garden upkeep on Sunday, though not nearly as much as it really needs. The peas are starting to show signs of something nibbling on them, but by now I think most of them are large enough to handle the damage. I picked a bunch of cherry tomatoes, which I took with me to share at a gaming meetup at a house in Redwood City. (It was a huge house in an impressive neighborhood. I suspect it's probably worth about two million.) The tomatoes went over very well, and I got to try out Dixit.
Now I just have to try keeping my house clean for a week for the guests that will be coming over next weekend. We'll see how that goes.
On Thursday, I spent most of the day watching TV and working on a craft project. I signed up for a holiday envelope exchange on BGG, and as my gift I designed and crocheted a set of meeple coasters in the major board game player colors. (I'll be adding a fifth in black so it can be used for Lords of Waterdeep.)
One of the library books I checked out a while back had a recipe for making Arborio rice in a pressure cooker to save time. I decided to give it a try, with some sauteed mushrooms, onions, and Parmesan for added flavor. It came out quite well. I had it for supper with a bit of spiced apple wine and figs from my tree drizzled with virgin honey from my cousin's hive.
Most of Friday was dedicated to cleaning the house--mainly scrubbing all the pots and pans that don't fit in the dishwasher and had been stacked up to wash "later." By the afternoon, I was finally able to see the surface of my dining table again. I also spent some time with the washing machine repairman. He didn't find anything wrong with the gasket that would cause a leak. He said he thought the problem was that some lint or hair had gotten stuck to the inside of the door and broke the seal between the door and the gasket, allowing water through. Either that, or the magnet on the bottom of the door had not been fully extended and therefore hadn't helped hold the door completely closed. He said that as long as I keep the inner surface of the door clean and check that the magnet is extended before closing the door, I shouldn't have any more problems. I did a couple loads of bedsheets after he left, and the advice seemed to do the trick.
A few of my Kickstarter games and online game orders have begun arriving. I should get a lot more in the next couple of months.
In the evening, I went next door for a pizza and game night with the neighbors. They invited a bunch of their friends, so we ended up enjoying a 7-person game of Citadels. (They added a house rule wherein whoever chooses the King role also has the power to command other players to drink...)
I finished more cleaning on Saturday morning before
mangaroo came over for a visit. We had some bean/potato soup and freshly baked apple cinnamon bread for lunch and played a couple of games. There was also talk of manga and devious plans for forcing wednesday_10_00 to come back to California so we could try some games with a higher player count.I did a little garden upkeep on Sunday, though not nearly as much as it really needs. The peas are starting to show signs of something nibbling on them, but by now I think most of them are large enough to handle the damage. I picked a bunch of cherry tomatoes, which I took with me to share at a gaming meetup at a house in Redwood City. (It was a huge house in an impressive neighborhood. I suspect it's probably worth about two million.) The tomatoes went over very well, and I got to try out Dixit.
Now I just have to try keeping my house clean for a week for the guests that will be coming over next weekend. We'll see how that goes.
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no subject
Date: 2014-10-20 02:59 pm (UTC)Aw, jealous! I really want to play this with you guys.
freshly baked apple cinnamon bread
This. Was. Awesome. Thank you for a great day, including the manga storytime. I found G-Defend 45 sitting next to my bed, unread.
no subject
Date: 2014-10-20 06:05 pm (UTC)The rabbit player pieces are adorable. The game itself is okay, but I can see it running into problems with replayability if you always play it with the same people. Even just one time around, people were having trouble coming up with appropriate hints. Trying to think up different hints for the exact same set of cards every time would make the game drag.
Speaking of replayability, this bit of news was posted on the Rio Grande Games website:
"We are also planning a additions to the Dominion and Race for the Galaxy families of games for 2015. We will provide further information on these games in early 2015."
Edit: Some people on BGG have jokingly suggested Dominion: The Dice Game. I sincerely hope it doesn't turn out to be that, but considering they just came out with Roll for the Galaxy... ~_~
Edit 2: Rio Grande has posted on the Dominion forum officially announcing that it will be another Dominion expansion.
no subject
Date: 2014-10-22 02:37 am (UTC)My impression (from TableTop?) was that the hints were supposed to be evocative -- but incredibly brief -- stories. Like you might say "The prince's heart shattered" and then the cards on the table would display a heart in a wine glass, a broken heart-shaped locket, a young man standing dejected on a balcony, and a broken mirror reflecting a young woman.
I can see where replaying frequently might lead to repetition, but I'm not particularly concerned with that since I only see the three of you once a year at best. My problem is that once a year isn't enough for me to invest in a game. I really need a game rental option.
no subject
Date: 2014-10-22 03:38 am (UTC)Right. But when you're staring at your hand of six cards and trying to come up with something poetic and vague (but not TOO vague), it's not very easy. Then once you come up with the perfect hint for a card...the next time you draw that card in your hand, it will be even more difficult to come up with something equally good yet different.
We reshuffled the deck and started drawing repeats around the final 20% of the game, so I got a little taste of what it would be like after multiple games. The family that owned it had only bought it a week ago, and they were already saying they needed to get an expansion to have more cards for variety.
no subject
Date: 2014-10-21 12:24 pm (UTC)Forgot to say:
They added a house rule wherein whoever chooses the King role also has the power to command other players to drink...
This sounds like a hilarious and fun house rule.
I would love to come for a visit, but I'm not sure it's going to be financially viable in the near future. I'll have to see how the next couple of months shake out--coming out of summer half-time always leaves me feeling totally broke, and that's compounded by all my other financial worries right now (paying off car, paying for school, wanting to go to Japan...).
no subject
Date: 2014-10-21 01:31 pm (UTC)A Japan trip definitely trumps a California trip.
no subject
Date: 2014-10-21 01:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-10-21 03:44 pm (UTC)If that's the case, then we should probably discuss what days we want to be there so you know what days you want to book your flight. I have to put in my leave request in January anyway.
I will have Sunday/Monday off all through the holiday season next year. I could leave as early as December 20. (Actually, if JAL keeps the outbound flight time at midnight, I could leave midnight on the 19th.) A return flight on January 5th would likely be the lowest price.
Edit: A new thread or email chain would probably be better to keep a discussion easy to locate later.
no subject
Date: 2014-10-21 03:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-10-21 03:22 pm (UTC)Ha! That would probably significant improve that game.
Sounds like a great four day weekend all around. Must have meant lots of entries for your BGG log!
no subject
Date: 2014-10-21 03:47 pm (UTC)Every one is a step in the right direction. ^_^
no subject
Date: 2014-11-01 01:09 pm (UTC)It sounds like a wonderful weekend.