Quick story: I was driving to work on the morning that my laptop died and was feeling pretty wretched. I was finishing up the latest episode of Boardgame Babylon, and was very surprised to learn that I had won a copy of Homesteaders! It was the high point of my day. Thanks Eric!

My wife asked me yesterday why I hadn’t been blogging as much, and I said that I hadn’t really played anything recently. She reminded me that we had just played Uno the day before. I said, “I can’t blog about Uno!” Well, why not?

I hadn’t thought about Uno until I listed to an episode of the Game Night Guys podcast. I don’t really know what to say about this podcast. For gamers, there’s really nothing that’s going to be of any interest to you; however, for some odd reason, I find these guys very amusing. Anyway, they did an episode on Uno, and I realized that I had played the game incorrectly when I was young. Who knew?

I picked up a copy with an Iron Man 2 theme that came in a nice tin. The Iron Man theme made it an instant hit with my son, and there’s even a special card type unique to the set that allows you to cancel an opponent’s play. I have to say that once we were playing with the correct rules, it’s not a bad game. Remember, Uno is a variant of Crazy Eights, so you are trying to get rid of your cards by playing matching cards the same type or of the same suit. Uno is the same but there are additional cards thrown in that force an opponent to skip their turn or draw cards. I was under the impression that if you couldn’t play a card, you had to draw cards until you could play, but that’s not right! If you cannot play a card or do not wish to play a card, you must draw a single card from the deck. If it is a playable card, you may play it immediately; otherwise, your turn is over. There’s even an actual scoring system where you accumulate points based on the cards that remain in your opponent’s hands. We always just played until someone got rid of all their cards. Oh, and you can’t play a wild draw 4 card unless you have no other legal play. Uno with actual rules? Go figure!

We’ve played it a few times in the last week, and I must admit that it does not suck. Go find that beat up copy in your drawer and actually read the rules. If you can’t find the rules, then you just do a search for them online. I’d toss up a link, but I’m too lazy.

Have fun, everybody.

I had my first game of Thurn and Taxis online last month in a two-player match with Johnson. He defeated me easily, but I learned a little from that experience and I know that I got better with each subsequent play. I even won a couple of games.

I think what I enjoy the most about Thurn and Taxis is how everything is so well balanced. You can’t just focus on a single aspect of the game and hope to do well. You have to make sure you are drawing good cards for yourself and keeping good cards away from your opponent if possible. You have to maximize your use of an adviser each turn. You need to watch how the bonus chips are going to change the score. It’s a very interesting little game, I think.

I think that’s all I’ve got, and you’re lucky I managed even this. I have no idea why it’s so hard to write right now. If I choose a game of the month for August, it will be something retro, published prior to 2000, like Settlers of Catan or Bohnanza.

Happy gaming!

Some expectations we have for ourselves. For example, it’s been much easier for me to write and keep up with three blogs now that I have set up a posting schedule.

Some expectations we have for others. I kind of like it that my family knows that there is an expectation that we will play some games at least once or twice a week. They don’t seem to mind.

Some expectations we have for our endeavors, like this blog, for example. I expect that this blog will continue to be based upon a simple idea: Playing board games can make you a happier person. I don’t have any expectations of how long I will continue to write this blog. I will write it as long as it suits me and I enjoy doing it. I’m toying with the idea of incorporating an occasional podcast as well. I expect that some people will enjoy listening. I expect that some folks may not.

What I think is essential here is this: Our expectations affect our experiences. If I sit down and play a game a game with Dave Arnott, for example, I expect three things: First, I will most likely lose. Second, I will learn a great deal about how to play the game better next time. Finally, I expect that I will have a great time. Having these expectations enhances my experience because I mentally put myself in sort of a start position for both learning and having fun.

I don’t want to ramble, so I’ll return to this another day, but wouldn’t it be great to be able to say to yourself in the morning, “I expect to have a great day”?

I started thinking about this a few months ago, when some friends and I got on a Power Grid kick, playing it five times over the space of a month or so. I hadn’t played it before that, and I totally sucked my first game, but I ended up winning on my fifth game. It was really nice to be able to explore the game and try new strategies over time.

I don’t intend for this feature to be an All About Game X type of project. I just want to look at a good game, play it regularly for a month, gather some feedback, and then put those thoughts out for discussion at the end of the month.

I’ll try and mix up the game selection, so that they are not all short games or all family games, but chances are not good that I will choose Twilight Struggle or something that I know is not going to hit the table more than once in a particular month.

I also have a secret motive for starting this feature, that I will reveal many months from now, when I can say, “I had this plan…” If it doesn’t work out, I will make something up that sounds like it was an impressive plan.

• I’m almost ready to call it quits on my World of Warcraft account. In those few moments of downtime that I have each day, I am very rarely interested in trying to relearn everything I’ve forgotten about WoW, or try and keep up with the latest patch. It’s just not that interesting anymore. I’ve probably played a couple of hours total in the last four months, so unless someone says, “Jeff! You need to join our killer guild and hang out with us!” I will be saving myself some subscription fees each month so I can have more cash for boardgames.
• By the end of the week, I will have my very own copy of Formula D. I like racing games and this one looks fabulous. No, I have never played the game, and yes, that’s a pricey game to purchase without playing it first; however, I have heard nothing but great things from many different sources. I really looking forward to this one. I’ve been picking up filler games and card games for a while now, but this one looks like something big and special.
• I’m getting that itch to redesign my blogs, and that’s always dangerous. I think that this one will end up getting changed the most, so if there is any downtime with the site, that’s why.
• I still haven’t played Dungeons & Dragons, but it will happen. I just need to get everyone together, which is not an easy task right now.
• I will have my own copy of Finito soon. I’m anxious to see how it goes over with my game group.

Things should calm down in a week or so, and I can get some reviews posted.