I just posted that I played a lot of games at Lunacon. What did I play?
The short answer: none of the games I’d intended to play! I most wanted to play Arkham Horror, but the guy who was supposed to organize the sessions did not show up. A pity, since I’ve played the game a couple of times so far and each time screwed up the rules. I also mis-timed attending any of the Munchkin games.
All my game experiences were unexpected. So much the better!
I played a couple of games of Oz Fluxx, the newest member of Looney Labs’ line of Fluxx games. I purchased a copy of the Oz Fluxx Demo Kit, so if you play the game with me you’re entitled to a free bonus gift! I saw a couple of upcoming upcoming Fluxx games: Cthulhu Fluxx and Board Game Fluxx, but I did not get a chance to play them. Afterwards, fired up on Fluxx mania, I purchased too many Fluxx variants: Star Fluxx, Zombie Fluxx, Pirate Fluxx, and Monty Python Fluxx.
I played not just one, but two board games based on Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books: Discworld: Ankh-Morpork and Guards! Guards!. Both games are fun, with lots of political maneuvering and intrigue against your fellow players as you seek to accomplish your goals. Even though the setting and many of the characters are similar in the both games, they have a very different feel. Of the two, Guards! Guards! is definitely the more complex game; if your head begins to spin when a game gets more complex than Monopoly, Discworld: Ankh-Morpork is a better choice.
Of all the games I played at Lunacon this year, Kingsburg was the best. Like the Discworld games in the previous paragraph, it’s a game that involves influence and intrigue against your fellow players. The game setting is different, more closely resembling the structure of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire (though none of the names or characters are used). The game design is clever, using a dice mechanic that I haven’t seen elsewhere. Unlike most of the other games I played at Lunacon, the time span is definitely limited: You defend the realm against five years of invasions, all the while trying to improve your standing in the eyes of royal court. If I were to purchase a new game for a regular game night, this one would be it.
I rounded off my gaming experience with a few rounds of The Werewolves of Miller’s Hollow, a social game with very little strategy. It has the feature that it can be played with a large number players; we played with 8-12 at Lunacon, and I’ve been in bigger sessions at previous cons. It’s a fun and addictive game; the hardest part was convincing myself that it was getting late and I had to leave. In a way, if I never returned to Lunacon again, this is the game I’d miss the most.
