Sunday, November 12, 2006

At BGG.Con... Day 2

Day 1 ended really late so I decided to sleep in yesterday and have a slow start. I didn't get to the con til about 2.30pm. As always, the place was packed and there were alot of people playing. First thing I did was to approach the registration table to see if anyone turned my free game in (the one I left behind yesterday). The nice people there weren't able to give me an answer, but was referred to the game library. And I was able to find my game!! That's totally awesome!!

I stopped by the vendor area early to check out what was available. Decision Games brought a whole bunch of Lighting games, which I might pick up. And I went over to the Asmodee table, which was being hosted by Ad Astra Games. I picked up Illiad and Ave Caesar there. I also managed to get a quick demo of Honor Harrington: Saganami Island Tactical Simulator, which I remember John was interested in. And there was quite a pile of that new Star Trek fleet game... Can't quite remember the name now.

I joined in a game of The Sceptre of Zavandor because someone was willing to work through the rules AND there was an english version of the game that I must have missed yesterday. And Derk was teaching the game so I guess that was some form of endorsement. But I'm none too keen on the game, and I feel it's a little long for what it is. I'd probably give it another shot (doubtful) but I probably wouldn't buy it myself.

The game lasted a lot longer than I thought it would and it was dinner time when I was finished. So I went to dinner to the Trinity Hall, an Irish pub 2 train stops away. The food was really quite decent, and I'm glad I took the time to get out of the convention centre for a little while.

I returned late in the evening, and started a game of Ave Caesar. And I really enjoyed it. It seemed like a really simple game (and it is!) but there's quite alot of interaction between players as each action impacts on others'. Plus we had a really fun group to play with, which was another plus.

I also tried another new game... To Court The King, and I must say that I like this game very much. It's quite a dice fest, but there are multiple mechanics that allow you to manage the luck factor. And for such a simple game, there's quite alot of thinking in it.

I also bought a set of Shocking Roulette.

And for the absolute highlight of the evening... Thoughthammer sponsored 2 midnight lucky draws on Thursday and Friday night. I was out of luck on Thursday, when the number 401 was called, and my number being 402. That was just the guy in front of me in the queue for registration!! And last night, 400 was called... and I was feeling lame. C'mon!!

And then... after multiple numbers were called... 402 was called out!! Yes!! I scored a free copy of Pitchcar + Expansion!! Woooot!! Awesome!!

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