Category Archives: The Barley
Monday Brews 9-8-14
Welcome to September. Schools have begun. Temperatures are moderating. Seasonal board game groups (like mine) are getting back together. The hot summer months are in the rear view mirror and the best board gaming months of the year are in front of us!
But today is Monday, so it’s time to cover the Boards & Barley that I’ve enjoyed lately (last two weeks)…
The Barley:
BARLEY SPOTLIGHT: Southern Tier Pumking
Whoa… the pumpkin is strong with this one. It’s almost like you are drinking pure pumpkin. Okay, it’s not THAT strong. But this is an Imperial Pumpkin Ale. If you are desiring a brew with a lot of spice that instantly makes you feel like it’s Autumn, then don’t hesitate to try Southern Tier’s Pumking.
- Modelo Especial – I had this at my wife’s work outing.
- Capital Oktoberfest
- Samuel Adams Harvest Saison
- Leinenkugel’s Original
- Samuel Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale
- Leinenkugel’s Oktoberfest
- Lakefront Extended Play (India Style Session Ale)
- Vintage Polotmavy Incorrect (Czech Style Half Dark Amber Lager)
The Boards:
BOARDS SPOTLIGHT: Five Tribes
I can’t wait to play this again. I played twice and I am in awe of the replayability. This game is very enjoyable. The decisions are awesome, yet limiting. Other player moves mess with your strategy. The artwork of the Djinns is awesome. The components are fantastic. I simply can’t wait to play this again.
- Sushi Go
- Skyline
- Astro Regatta (Prototype)
- Cranium Balloon Lagoon
- Uno Moo
- Courtier
Designer’s Corner:
Due to my play of Coutier I am happy to report that another game design, Conclave, is now completely dead. I no longer have any need or desire to continue working on that design. Courtier isn’t exactly what I had in mind with Conclave, but it’s close enough that the games are too similar for me to bother with that design anymore.
I now have a new goal. Since I’ll be attending Protospiel-Madison (October 24th-26th) I decided that it’s time to get after my designs and really start putting them together. So my goal is to have three games ready for testing. The two you have heard me speak of are The Grand Illusion and Armada Galactica. One that I haven’t written about tentatively has the name Night at the Museum, which obviously will have to change. I’ve been making extensive notes about all three.
Currently The Grand Illusion is ready for prototyping. Armada Galactica is nearly ready for prototyping. Night at the Museum needs more work before I’ll mock it up. But all three should be ready in time for Protospiel-Madison.
I may also work on an expansion for something 🙂
There you go! What Boards & Barley have you been enjoying? Anything new that was more awesome than expected?
Monday Brews: 8-18-14
It exists! And it’s awesome!
Gen Con 2014 is over and it was awesome! Why? Because I got to hang out with great friends of mine and because I got to hold, unwrap, punch, and play a production copy of Scoville! Special thanks are due to Jeremy, Adam, Ben, Mark and Mike for making Gen Con 2014 a memorable one.
If you are new to this blog, Scoville is my first published game design. It is published by Tasty Minstrel Games and should be available later this year, so put it on your Christmas lists! You can go pre-order it from your favorite local game store or the online game outlets.
So with Gen Con in the books, and with recently quitting on Brooklyn Bridge I feel refreshed and ready to move on to some exciting new designs. I have one that I’m keeping a secret, one that will occasionally mention, and The Grand Illusion, which I am openly designing and blogging about on this site.
But enough about that. Let’s check out the Boards & Barley that I’ve enjoyed over the past two weeks.
The Barley:
An excellent complement to Optimator!
BARLEY SPOTLIGHT: Spaten Optimator
Why such a standard brew for the spotlight? Because it was enjoyed at the Rathskellar in Indianapolis with my friends. This has become a tradition for us. On Friday night we went to the Rathskellar and enjoyed beer, cigars, and a fantastic live band. Plus, attending the Rathskellar is a great way to escape the geek world of Gen Con for a few hours. We had a great time and I enjoyed a delicious 32 ounce Optimator! The picture on the right shows the appetizers we ordered (Sausage platter, Brat balls, Jalapeno poppers, and Chicken Cordon Bleu rolls).
- Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy
- Atwater Decadent Dark Chocolate Ale
- Capital Dark Voyage Black IPA
- Next Door Luminous IPA
- O’so English Mild
- Rock Bottom Honey Ale
- Flat 12 Hinchtown Hammerdown Golden Ale
- Sam Adams Boston Lager
- Thr3e Wisemen Rocky Ripple Pale Ale
The Boards:
BOARDS SPOTLIGHT: Scoville
How could it not be Scoville? I love the game even after over 100 plays. I love how a 2p play at Gen Con provided a situation that really tested me. The decisions are so interesting. The play changes from game to game with different players. As the fields grow from round to round there are more and more choices, so the game naturally ramps up. I love this game so much and I was so excited to crack open a new copy and get it to the table. Here are a few pictures to show how it looks. If you like how the peppers look, click on the picture and thumb it up on BoardGameGeek.com.
6 Player Scoville ready to go!
The amazing peppers! (Click to go to BGG and thumb the pic!)
6 Player game in progress.
Here are the games I played prior to Gen Con:
- The Little Prince
- Morels
- 20th Century
- Splendor
- Unpublished Prototype (It was really intriguing – Currently being evaluated by Moon Yeti Games)
Our Samurai Spirits were crushed in defeat!
And here are the games I played at or after Gen Con:
- Legends of the American Frontier (Set up and played one round)
- Island Fortress
- Scoville x2
- Camel Up
- Penny Press
- Mutiny
- Love Letter
- Fast Track
- Weykick
- Word on the Street
- Neighborhoods (Prototype by Ben Rosset and Matthew O’Malley)
- Istanbul
- Amerigo
- Blueprints
- Samurai Spirit x2
- Lost Legacy (Starship and Flying Garden)
- Pengoloo
There was nothing on the Gen Con Preview that I felt was a “must-buy” this year but there were a few that I was interested in. The one I was most interested in was Instabul, which I bought.Here is a picture of the modular board:
5 Player game in progress.
In Istanbul each player also has a small player board of their own. The goal in the game is collect rubies. To do so you will need to manage your resources and money as well as utilize your location placement of your merchant and their assistants. It was an excellent game and well worthy of the Kennerspiel des Jahres award.
Surprise Hit #1: Camel Up
Camel Up was awesome. We played with 7 players at the Z-Man booth and we loved it. It won the Spiel des Jahres and when you play it you can understand why. I picked up a copy because it was fun, interactive, and plays up to 8 players!
Surprise Hit #2: Samurai Spirit
I am not normally a fan of cooperative games but this one had so much awesomeness that I can’t wait to play it again. It was a struggle. We lost badly. In fact, the first time we attempted the game we died after the first (of 3) rounds. There are some very interesting choices and some really cool combinations that can be done in the game. It was a lot of fun.
And here is a picture of my Gen Con 2014 haul. Several of these games came from the math trade, some were freebies. Missing from the picture are the King of Tokyo promo cards and the Tokaido promo cards and Eriku character promo.
I’m looking forward to playing all these!
Overall it was a great Gen Con. I’ll be writing another post this week about one specific experience from the convention. It was great to meet so many awesome people, especially those I follow on Twitter that I had never met in real life. I’m already looking ahead to Gen Con 2015 (partially because it is unlikely I’ll attend GrandCon, BGG.con or Origins before then).
Monday Brews 7-28-14
There are only a few Mondays left before Gen Con! Aside from game design and development it was a decent week. My mother-in-law fixed out bathroom ceiling. My softball team won the championship (back-to-back seasons)! And I was inspired by a Euro game.
So let’s get right to the coverage of the Boards & Barley I enjoyed last week.
The Barley:
Dark, smooth, tasty… and potent!
BARLEY SPOTLIGHT:
Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron
I had this too late in the evening to fully enjoy a 12%abv brew. However, I am looking forward to trying another one. This was one potent little beast with a woodsy character that made me wish I were sitting in a nice chair by a fireplace smoking a pipe. The inside of Bilbo Baggins’ home would suffice. Ultimately this beast was an enjoyable beer and I recommend you try it if you get a chance.
- Capital Dark Voyage Black IPA
- Capital Ghost Ship White IPA
- New Belgium Blue Paddle
- Vintage Brewing Scaredy Cat Oatmeal Stout
- Paulaner
The Boards:
Four player render.
BOARDS SPOTLIGHT: Attika
Sometimes I am shocked by the simplicity of classic Euro games. In Attika you have two options on your turn: Draw buildings or Build buildings. Two choices. That’s it. How can you possibly make a compelling game from two choices? You make it compelling by adding tension, making it a race, limiting players options, and by adding a little bit of randomness so that not every game is identical. This game is so simple yet possesses an elegance that makes me jealous as a game designer. It’s not the greatest game ever made, but there is just something about it. It makes me want to start a game design by only giving players two options. It’s similar to games like Ticket to Ride where players only have three choices on their turn (play trains, draw train cards, draw route cards). That simplicity builds throughout the game and it makes for a pretty outstanding experience.
Designer’s Corner:
Such an old version. It’s way better now.
As Gen Con approaches I find it is once again crunch time to prepare a game for demoing/playtesting. Last year I failed miserably to have Conclave ready to go. Though Conclave only had two or three real playtests so it didn’t deserve table time anyway. But I have found that I am still making some major changes to Brooklyn Bridge.
One issue is that it takes way too long. This has always been the case. One reason for that was because players would have to build the towers first, then they could work on the cable. Having this linear progression through the game combined with the mechanic for obtaining cable bundles caused a huge halt in the action and really killed the dynamic of the game.
So I am changing how it works. Now the cable will be an important aspect from the start of the game. Players will have to choose whether to contribute to the cable (long-term points) or contribute to the bridge (short-term points). Adding in a cable mechanic that forces players’ strategy from the start of the game should not only allow for quicker gameplay but also add a layer of decision space to the game.
Another change I made was to drop mortar from the game. Previously when players wanted to contribute to the bridge they would have to have one mortar per brick they were building. The result was that since players had to spend turns gaining bricks and other turns gaining mortar, the game slowed down. Now without mortar in the game it will be more of a fast-paced race where players will have more competition for building the bridge.
The final change I am looking forward to trying is that I dropped private scoring in favor of public scoring. I had created about 12 private scoring cards. These were horribly unbalanced and ultimately didn’t drive players’ strategy as much as I had hoped. So now I am converting the scoring conditions to a more Euro approach. This is accomplished by having some cards that are “Accomplishments” and having some cards that are endgame scoring conditions. For example, if players build 3 bricks in any one section of a tower they can take one of the scoring tokens for that accomplishment card. Then the scoring token is placed face down by their player mat and will be added to their score at the end of the game. This is pretty standard Euro fair and I think it will work quite well in this situation.
I’m excited about the current state of the game but I know I have a lot of work ahead of me. Many more playtests are required for this game before I’ll be happy with it, but progress is certainly being made!
So what Boards & Barley have you been enjoying? How are your game designs coming along?
Monday Brews 7-21-14
Welcome back to Boards & Barley. I’m so glad you’re here. Today we’ve got a standard Monday Brews article but I’ve got some good stuff in the pipe for this week. I’ll have an article about game design regarding when/how to chip away at your game. I’ll also have a Grand Illusion article. And I’m hoping to have one other article for you all on Friday. Not sure of the content yet, but I have a few ideas. It’s about time that I started making this blog rock again, don’t you think??
As a reminder, I want to point you to my article about the new board game publishing company that several friends and I are starting: “It’s Time for a Mutiny!” The company is called Moon Yeti and we are going to be giving away about 100 copies of a sweet microgame called Mutiny at Gen Con. Will you be there?
Now, let’s get on to the Boards & Barley!
The Barley:
You and me goin’ fishin’ in the dark!
BARLEY SPOTLIGHT: Capital Brewery, Fishin’ in the Dark Imperial Schwarzbier
This was a quite enjoyable beer from Capital Brewery. They are located in Middleton, WI and have branched out a bunch since the previous brewmaster left to start Wisconsin Brewing. Capital are brewing some really cool beers. This one seems a fine addition to their lineup.
- New Glarus Spotted Cow
- Boddington’s (I know it’s “brand” beer but at least it is enjoyable!)
- Southern Tier Live Pale Ale
- Shock Top Honeycrisp Apple Wheat (never again!)
The Boards:
Lovely artwork, enjoyable game.
BOARDS SPOTLIGHT: Steam Park
This game is pretty legit. The theme is cool and unique. The gameplay is tight. And in the end you find yourself with your own little theme park. That’s pretty sweet.
The game lasts 6 rounds. Each round players roll 6 dice (over and over again) until they get the results they want. Then in turn order (based on who stopped rolling first, second, third, etc.) players will resolve their dice. The dice allow for building rides or stations, finding visitors, cleaning your park, or fulfilling bonus cards.
There is a good amount of forethought necessary when trying to optimize your dice. And there is also a bunch of different ways you could try to win. Players win by having the most money. If your park is too dirty at the end, you will lose money.
Overall I felt the game was a lot of fun. It’s a game I definitely want to play at least one more time.
- For Sale
- Tikal
- Ticket to Ride (with Dice)
There you go. I made no game design progress last week, which was extremely disappointing as I am really hoping to get Brooklyn Bridge to a better state prior to Gen Con. It will be a big focus for me this week and I try to hone the design and infuse more fun, more interesting decisions, and more long-game strategy.
What Boards & Barley have you been enjoying?
Monday Brews – 7-14-14
First things first: Today is July 14th… Gen Con starts August 14th. That means we are 1 month away from Gen Con! Woo Hoo!
Now let’s get to the bi-weekly Boards & Barley that I have enjoyed. As usual we’ll start with the Barley.
The Barley:
Clean and friendly with some delicious beer!
BARLEY SPOTLIGHT:
Next Door Hammerhead IPA
As one of my goals for the year I am “adventuring” out of my beer comfort zones and into more varieties of beer. IPAs are one of those varieties that I previously would never have chosen. But I am now embracing them.
In the past I have typically stayed away from hoppy beers. But this beer was actually very drinkable and enjoyable. The hop level wasn’t too strong and it seemed to provide just the right about of character. If you are ever in the Madison area I recommend stopping by Next Door Brewing!
- Oskar Blues Old Chub Nitro Scotch Ale
- New Belgium Fat Tire
- Summit Summer Ale
- Young’s Double Chocolate Stout
- Potosi Cave Ale
- Next Door Egon’s Revenge (Gose)
- Next Door Rockets Red Ale
- Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale
- Leinenkugel’s Red
- Leinenkugel’s Original
The Boards:
Simple and elegant artwork and gameplay!
BOARDS SPOTLIGHT: Sushi Go
I played this at Next Door Brewing and I really enjoyed it. It is quick, has beautiful and simple artwork, and the gameplay is elegant.
Sushi Go has a card drafting mechanic similar to the game 7 Wonders. Ultimately, Sushi Go is like 7 Wonders Lite. Take a card, pass the rest, then play the card. The cards present different scoring opportunities. Some have you build a set to score. Some score straight away. Some score at the end of the game. The design is so smooth and simple that it is easy to see why people enjoy this game.
Designer’s Corner:
With Gen Con one month away it’s really crunch time in terms of the designs I want to show. Brooklyn Bridge is really at the forefront and will be where I place the most effort over the next few weeks. It’s at the point where some of the cards need some tweaking, but ultimately it just needs to be played more.
I would also like to see if I can prototype The Grand Illusion and get in some preliminary playtests, even if it means the first time it gets played is at Gen Con.
Boards and Barley 