Play2Relax

Game Stores

March 10th, 2010

I’ve been thinking about game stores lately. Yesterday, I was driving through Bakersfield on my way from Fresno to UCLA, and it made me think of the hobby store where I used to buy games as a kid. Back in the 70’s, there weren’t a lot of stores solely dedicated to gaming, certainly not in a smaller town like Bakersfield. If you wanted to buy an Avalon Hill game or an RPG, then you usually had to go to your local hobby store.

I wish I could remember the name of the hobby shop where I used to get my games back then, maybe some of my old Bakersfield friends will help me out on this one. It was a small store out in Oildale, which at the time was still very rural, with lots of open fields and dirt roads. I think the store specialized in ceramics, but there was a very small area over to right as you entered that was dedicated to games. There was a large wooden rack that held everything from Dungeon & Dragons modules to historical miniature gaming magazines. I seem to recall that there was a display case with a lot of those smaller scale historical miniatures for war games. Maybe that was something that interested the owner and he or she just decided to make it a part of the business? Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in gameguythinks | 3 Comments »

TransEuropa

March 5th, 2010

I’ve been pretty bummed out lately because I haven’t been able to play too many games, but early Wednesday evening I managed to talk my daughter into playing a game with me. It wasn’t hard to do. My daughter is awesome and is always great about playing games. Yay Hailey!

I grabbed TransEuropa, a network building game where players choose five cards that correspond to five different cities across Europe and attempt to be the first to connect all of their cities with tracks.

TransEuropa will play from two to six players, although I’ve never played with more than four. The entry for TransEuropa on Board Game Geek suggests that the game is best with five or six.

TransEuropa was designed by Franz-Benno Delonge and first published in 2005. The recommended age is eight and older, which is about right, but I think you could go a bit younger with some kids.

TransEuropa plays pretty quickly and the rules are extremely simple, which is exactly why I chose this particular game. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Reviews | No Comments »

Patrician

March 1st, 2010

This month’s Game of the Month is Patrician, designed by Michael Schacht, and published domestically in 2007 by Mayfair Games.

Patrician is an area control game with a medieval theme for two to five players. The game has a suggested player age of ten and up and lists a playing time of 50 minutes. It retails for $35, at your local game store, but you should be able to find it for $28 or less from an online retailer.

In Patrician, the players take on the role of master builders who create magnificent towers for wealthy patrician families throughout Italy. If you can take credit for building the most floors of the tallest tower in a particular city when all construction is completed, then you claim the greatest reward.

Patrician features a double-sided game board. One side for games with two to four players and the other for five player games. The board shows ten cities with two spaces in each city where towers are to be built. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Game of the Month | 3 Comments »