Afternoon of Dice Tower 2015

Lunch was a long affair as first I had lunch with my son Petey, then I sat with my wife while she had lunch. 

First, I returned to visit the publisher I played with last night. It was the debut of a game that hadn't even arrived at the convention yet.

You can see that Dawn: Rise of the Occulites has some great bits. However, I probably won't play it again.

The game is at card-drafting game and you trying to get your little tribe of alien creatures across a primitive world. Along with cards drafting, there's also dice rolling. I happened to suck at both during the game, but that's not why I was disappointed.

I was disappointed for a number of reasons. 

these little creatures are supposed to carry gems around, and there's no slot on them to carry the gems.

When someone starts losing, as I did, the game still takes a long time to play out. There's no chance for a come from behind victory as there was with Clockwork Wars.

The card system was confusing. There must be a way to simplify this.

Again, the game has great bits, but I prefer a game that is not a slog. Especially $225 worth of slog. I'll pass.

The next game was lots of fun, and it hasn't even been Kickstartered yet. 

Adventure In is a simple yet fun -- and certainly fast -- card game that is designed to be played in the time while you're waiting for your D&D game to get organized. 15 to 20 minutes of fun, battling monsters with the weapons and items you draw from the deck or "buy" at the Inn. The designer, Ken, gave me a fast and furious intro to it. I am definitely checking out the Kickstarter.

Then I played a great card game. 

Everyone takes a turn passing out cards. If you bust 13 you're out. Meanwhile, you decide which of the other players you hate the least as you hand out cards and they rack up points. Highly recommended for kids of all ages.

I also checked out a game that looks complex, challenging and engrossing.

Wow. Not a casual game, obviously, but very cool.

And now to the raffle.