2.21: Review: God Dice

Another game review, can it be?  This week I review God Dice, a quick dice game, great for when you're short on time and don't want to play Willow.

One of the benefits of going to conventions is the opportunity to view and try games one might not otherwise have found.  By walking up and down the many aisles, I've stumbled upon many a small publishers with only one or two games in their catalog.  Every year there is some sleeper hit hidden among the crowd of larger publishers, such as the game I'm reviewing today. 

God Dice was designed by Rick Maxey and published by Maxveld Games in 2008; it supports 2-4 players, and takes 30 minutes to an hour to play.  The game comes with 12 character cards, 9 attack dice, 2 "God Dice," a set of rules, and some counters.  This game is dice geared combat, so if you're not a fan of dice games or games with heavy randomness, you probably won't be interested in this one.  If, however, you enjoy a quick combat game and trash-talk, pick this one up. 

"There are better games?" Really?

Apparently I missed announcing this blog's one-year birthaversary, which was the 24th of June.  So, uh, Happy Birthaversary, Lucioman's Boardgaming Blog; maybe we'll get you a real name instead of this lazy nonsense.  

Extra post this week because I've been slacking.  I'm considering changing the schedule up, but we'll keep it the same for now, and I also realized I need to review some actual GAMES on this blog, so we'll definitely see more of those in the near future. 

My cousin Randy visited on the weekend and asked me attempted to goad me into playing a boardgame I wasn't interested in playing.  He told me it's a great game; I told him it took too long to set up (an issue, as they had limited time to visit), was one-sided, and there are better games to play.  Admittedly, the last point may not have been entirely fair, but I was also watching my two toddlers, who require a certain level of attention.  One of them does have the middle name "Danger," after all.

My cousin's retort:  "So we'll never play this game again."  I was taken aback.  First, Randy was on the verge of breaking Rule #6--then again, Randy's basically always on the verge of breaking Rule #6, but I love him--he's my cousin, but may as well be a brother.  Second, it isn't a bad game, but I was confused by my own statement, "There are better games."  Third, if I really believed that, shouldn't I trade the game away?

2.20: Dominion!

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend.  We spent time with friends and family, went to the beach, set some explosives on fire, and played 1000 boardgames.  Or ten.  Biggest hit of the weekend, Dominion; I personally got in three plays of the game, but it hit the table far more than that.  We also played a 4+ hour game of Shogun, in which I took second; Danny, despite having no money and no income on the last turn, was able to hold onto his empire and take the win.  

An interesting piece of information--last year I played a total of 105 games (not different games, total games played).  As of today, I've played 86 games this year--looks like I'm on track to beat last year by 50%.


Dominion was designed by Donald X. Vaccarino and published in the US by Rio Grande Games in 2008.  Since then it has won a number of awards, including the Spiel des Jahres in 2009.  A number of standalone games which can be combined with the original have been released since, as well as a number of expansion cards.  It is a card game with a first-of-its-kind mechanic--everyone starts with the same 10 cards, and during the course of the game you purchase cards for your deck, which provide you with additional abilities on future turns.

2.19: Game Room Rules - Rule #7

Jackie got me Dominion for Father's Week.  A friend played this when it was in its late prototype stage, and spoke positively of it, and since its release I've heard a vast number of positive comments, though the game does seem polarizing--people either like it a lot or not at all.  I really like this game, despite the fact that I can't win a game when my wife plays.  

Until last night!  Ha, take that, Jackie! 

Rule #1:  Have fun.
Rule #2:  Let your opponent(s) have fun.
Rule #3:  Play appropriately.
Rule #4:  Remember, it's just a game.
Rule #5: Take care of my crap/other people's crap.
Rule #6:  D.B.A.  Don't be an Ass.

Rule #7:  Take your turn, already!