A little birdie told me I don't post enough on this blog. The same little birdie receives more hits on her blog than I do. So even though I am in fact working on a full post for a new game we recently played, here's a quick post to pass the time...
Boardgames are awesome. So are pandas. You know this to be true, because I have told you.
It is on the internet now, so you must believe it.
Parrots are also awesome. And it turns out they enjoy boardgames too!
The talented Mr. Chaucer and his wooden meeple friends.
Chaucer is a nifty guy, as evidenced in someone else's blog. (I feel obligated to plug said blog, because it seems a majority of my meager number of hits are linked from there...)
He is being particularly well behaved here, balancing that meeple on his head long enough for a picture. Unlike the day before, where I was trying to make some very difficult game related decisions and he kept trying to bite me. Maybe he just wanted to play too...
By the way, the big red guy next to the green guy is a colossal meeple from meeplesource.com.
In a cage match between the Chaucermeeple, Colossal Meeple, and Pandameeple, who would win?
I promise a full boardgame post is coming soon. I'm working on it now. There are vegetables and rubies and puppies and dwarves in this game. You are looking forward to it, I imagine.
I would never call myself "crafty." That would be like calling asparagus "delicious" or curling "boring" (I don't care what you say, asparagus is gross and curling is the best olympic sport, hands down. Don't argue with me).
But even I can throw something nifty together every now and then.
Behold! Meeple lamp!!!
This is Mozzie. He's a teddy bear. And a heavy drinker.
No, no that's not the right picture. My apologies for the bear. I'm a bit ashamed of his behavior.
Ahem...
Behold! Meeple lamp!!!
Let there be light!
It was really easy to make. Just a mason jar, lamp kit and lots of meeples.
Approximately 237 meeples. Roughly. Yes.
I got 250 of the little wooden fellas for $55 from meeplesource.com. Maybe that's a lot of money, but look how adorable they are in all their multicolored glory! Worth it.
Mound o' meeples.
I bought the mason jar at the mason jar store (or maybe Target) and the lamp shade at the fancy hat store (or maybe Target).
Moonshine container and party hat.
Finally, I found this jar lamp kit on amazon. The lamp-y portion just screws over the top of a quart mason jar.
The jar has its own party hat. Plug it in, it gets a little buzzed.
Some assembly was required, but me and the bear were up for the challenge.
Now, I know what you are thinking. "Robster, that is the greatest thing I have ever seen! Except for that picture of a manatee hugging a shark."
"But those meeples were so expensive! Why did you make such an expensive lamp?!"
Ok, first, the lamp is awesome and stop judging me.
Second, it is, in fact, not a lamp at all. As a board gamer, I need extra meeples (in case I lose 250 of them over the course of everyday play). And I need a place to store them.
This, my friends, is a glass meeple storage device with a lighthouse on top.
So that lost meeples can find their way home from sea in the dark.
Despite what your parents told you, new board games do not come from the stork. That would be ridiculous. Board games and babies couldn't possibly come from the same place.
No, the answer is not so simple. The process of picking out, buying and prepping a new board game for play is more complex than that. Here's how it works.
Step 1: The Board Game Itch
You haven't bought a new game in a while. You are a collector, always looking to add to your collection. And there's that empty space on your shelf. And that paycheck is burning a hole in your pocket. And you start to develop a little twitch. And then...and then...!!!! And then your self control is gone!
This is the board game itch. It's like having an army of spiders crawling along your back. Spiders
made of poison ivy. Poison ivy spiders that eat your money. But you
love them.
And it was meant to be scratched. Just like a cookie was meant to be nommed.
When it strikes, you need to find a new game to buy. The place to start looking is boardgamegeek.com. If you've read my other posts, you'll see several links to this site already, and there will be more to come. Look at their game list where you can find pretty much every game ever made listed in order of user ratings. The top 100 are a good place to start looking for a new game. Unless you are like me and have a gaming group that already owns most of those. But the site is huge, and you can spend hours searching through the game list and forums to find just the right one.
For my latest search, I looked at games by designer. Our group has been playing a lot of Stefan Feld games lately and enjoying them very much. I stumbled upon one game that looked intriguing.
Luna: A game with a moon on the box.
The box was pretty. I won't go into game details here. I just wanted to show you the box with the white haired witchy woman with the glowy stick.
So the game looked interesting, the box looked interesting, and the game designer is known for putting out some gems.
But it also appeared to be out of print in the US.
This happens a lot. Designer board games are only printed in limited quantities. Sometimes they get reprinted after the first sellout. Sometimes they don't. And it's terrifying to think that you will never own a great game because it is not available anywhere.
But sometimes you get lucky and can find that one, single online store that has a couple copies left in stock and is not selling them for ridiculously inflated prices. So you buy it...
Step 2: Buy another one
Because you are already paying for shipping. Duh.
I bought this one too, another Feld game that was just published last year.
I like boxes with puppies on the cover.
Step 3: Wait
Wait for it...
Step 4: Ask and you shall receive
I ordered these games from an online store called Game Surplus. The information section on their website has this amusing little tidbit:
"we further minimize our shipping costs down by
reusing boxes and shipping materials (in clean, good condition ) whenever
possible. So, don't be surprised if a box of 'Pop Tarts'
shows up at your door."
I got super excited about the pop tarts. Or something better.
I was actually a little disappointed with the box I got.
Sorry to say it, but this box is boring.
It's not a bad box. It is in one piece, made of sturdy cardboard, holds things well, does everything a good little box should do. Sadly, though, it isn't pop tarts or gopher repellent.
There is some interesting graffiti inside though...
What strange markings...
And inside there were board games and some appreciation! So I was very happy.
YOU'RE WELCOME!
Needless to say this place is awesome and I will probably order from them again in the future.
Step 5: Punch and Package
In my opinion, the best part of a new game isn't that fresh new cardboard smell. It's the piece punching. It's just so much fun! Look...
Pre-punching:
Mid-punch:
Post-punching:
Awww...why's the fun gone?
Wasn't that exciting?! The answer is yes. It's the best.
And then you wish you had more games so you could punch more.
And now with all those tasty little cardboard bits, you have to put them somewhere. It's great when the games come with their own little baggies.
A cacophony of wood and plastic.
Of course, you can trick out your game further with nicer storage options. And putting card protector sleeves on all cards is a must. Hey, you just spent $50 on a game. Protect your investment!
Put the cardies in the sleevies. And the bits in the boat.
It's time to get down to business. First order of business: there will be no pandas this week. I know that's disappointing, but the pandas need their rest too.
No, this time I am talking about a board game, which I promised this blog was about. And I keep my promises.
Today's game is Macao. (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/55670/macao) The box calls it "An exciting strategy game for clever captains and wise governors." That's a very narrow audience for a game, but luckily I fit the bill.
The Captain Morgan pose is a nice touch. Clever, Captain!
The basic idea of the game is that you are in the port city of Macao, and you are trying to earn prestige (which is a fancy way of saying "points") by, well, doing stuff there.
This 'stuff' mostly involves building up the city, shipping goods in your little wooden boat meeples and giving away gold.
BOAT MEEPLES!!!!
The city, where you buy stuff and build stuff.
Over the course of the game, you get cards that you can activate by playing cubes of the same colors as those given on the card. Once you do this, the cards can do cool stuff. Like give you points or move your boat meeple, or get you more cubes.
Every turn you roll very very pretty colored wooden dice, and the numbers and colors of the dice you choose (you get to choose 2, good things come in pairs) tell you how many cubes you get of each color AND also how many turns away until you get to use them. This means you can take less cubes and use them sooner or more cubes if you are willing to wait to use them. It's a neat game mechanic, really.
The pretty colored wooden dice and a couple of cards. Fine craftsmanship, indeed.
You keep track of which turn you can use your cubes by a sweet spinny wheel. It's got an arrow that points to "use these this turn." Which works well, until you get too excited and spin it too many times or too fast and fling your cubes everywhere. It's unfortunate, because as a clever captain or wise governor, getting overexcited is part of the job description.
The spinny wheel has things neat and organized for the moment.
About Cubes: Wooden cubes are a staple of a lot of board games. They are a 3D object bounded by 6 square faces, a regular hexahedron, if you will. Usually quite small. They are high in fiber. Sometimes the cubes have meaning within the game's theme. Sometimes they are just cubes that do stuff. I don't know which is the case in this game, because I didn't read the rules.
Trying to get the number and colors of cubes you need all in the same place for a single turn to actually do stuff requires thinking several moves ahead, and some luck. Sometimes you feel absolutely paralyzed on a turn when you can't do anything you want. Then you look up from your miserable pile of paper and wood and everyone else has a look on their face that says they are in the exact same boat [meeple].
The most terrifying part of this game comes when you do something bad. Like have too many unplayed cards or have zero cubes to play on a turn. Then you get punished. Seriously, this thing is called a 'punishment marker.'
Consider yourself punished.
This thing is worth negative 3 points. Look at that glaring red "-3." But the worst part is that the rules specifically call this a "punishment". That word makes me feel like a puppy who just did something bad.
You looked at the Corgi puppies? You're back now? No, go ahead, look at some more Corgi puppies! Take your time. I understand.
Welcome back! So here's our game that we played the other day. A Tuesday I believe. As good a day as any. The beginning:
The empty canvas.
I like to ship rice. I shipped all 3 rice (rices?) and got lots of points. I like rice. The chop sticks always give me trouble though.
My OCD is bothered by that middle one being upside down...
End of game:
So much stuff! Looks cool, right?
Games tend to look super busy and super awesome at the end. I believe this one is no exception. Look at all the stuff!
See that orange token ahead of everyone on the point track? That would be mine :)
This is what it looks like when I win.
By the way, I'm told I over-exaggerate how often I lose. Maybe so, but if I convince myself that I never win, it makes winning that much more exciting.
That's the game. It plays pretty quick, only about an hour. And even though it is REALLY hard to do what you want, that keeps things interesting. I like this game. In part because I won. But mostly because the dice are pretty.
So there you have it. I talked about a board game, as promised. Like I said, I keep my promises.
Board games are like movies. So many pieces have to come together for them to work.
Like movies, board games start with a theme. These span all sorts of things: fantasy themes, space exploration themes, historical themes, panda themes (I swear the last one is a real thing. I'll show you sometime). The game then plays out a story around that theme, with some resolution at the end with some people winning and some losing and everyone full of snacks. Not unlike a movie.
I almost never win.
There are a number of other key elements involved in the film-making world and the board-gaming world. Here is a bit about how our group makes the magic happen...
The Players:
Or the actors, if you will. Except we don't make nearly as much money.
Our group is small. Typically only the three of us. But three is a magic number. Yes it is. (+1 to Schoolhouse Rock).
This is Bic. She wins our games fairly regularly. At my expense. While playing Candy Crush at the same time.
Copy and Paste is awesome...
She told me to use this picture of her, because penguins are black and white just like pandas! She gets me so well.
While we're here, penguins definitely make my top 5 favorite animals list. Which means I need to go to this penguin bar in Japan. http://www.buzzfeed.com/robinedds/meanwhile-in-tokyo-a-bar-where-you-can-watch-penguins-while. There are so many important things I still need to do in my life...
Anyways, Bic is an aviculturist. It means she likes birds. She has two parrots. And a blog about them, which you should check out. She will be pleased.
Bic only has two birdies, but sometimes a wild one will appear!
This is Jake. Also hangin' with the birdies.
A Hypnosis-Dream Eater combo might extract some winning game strategies from that mind...
Jake is my board game arch enemy. He wins a large majority of the games we play. He is a strategic genius. If there were an emoticon for "jealous bitter face," it might go here.
Jake is always up to play games. Which is awesome, because it means I get to play more games.
I like yo-yo's. We'll save that for another day.
I don't win a lot of board games. But I love playing them with my board-game-buddies (see above). It's the journey, not the destination that matters. But I sure wish I won more. Because everybody knows that the journey is better if there is something AWESOME at the end. Like treasure.
Enough with the people. People are nothing without their stuff.
The Equipment:
Here's the stuff. I realize the movie analogy starts to fall apart here. Movie makers use cameras and special lighting and technology. Board games use cardboard. And sometimes plastic. And I'm lucky if the lightbulbs in my game room are not burnt out.
And I've never had a nice camera in my life. Which is sad, because with a nicer camera I could post even nicer pictures with Pokemon edited into them.
Here's what I got.
The collection.
Now that I look closer at this picture, I realize just how few games I have. I need more. So many more.
Jake actually has a much bigger collection than I do. One more reason to be jealous.
The bookshelf is from Kmart. I don't buy things from Kmart, because I don't understand what the K stands for (atomic symbol for potassium? I wonder if they sell bananas. Even though I would never buy a banana from there ever). But it was cheap and it looks nice, so I made an exception.
On Location:
Finally, every movie needs a... place...thing...
We live in the Midwest. Right around here...
New Zealand!!!
A bit more zoomed in..
It's just a table. Deal with it.
I recently converted this room into a game room. Before it was basically a room to throw stuff that I didn't want to look at. Now it has a nice big table and a shelf full of games (BUT NOT ENOUGH GAMES!). Oh, and I finally got around to changing the light bulb.
That's a Wrap
So in summary, board games are like movies. But not really. I just needed a creative jumping off point, and it sorta works.
No more background and introductions now. My next post should be my first look at an actual game we recently played.
And movies have pandas sometimes.
Edit: Found out how to add alt text to the pics. More fun!
So this is a blog about board games. At least, that's what it is mainly supposed to be about. But pandas have a way of sneaking into things. They are pretty stealthy. I mean, in a forest made out of newspaper crossword puzzles they would be basically invisible.
I got really into board games a little over a year ago when a couple of friends introduced me to Agricola (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/31260/agricola). It's basically "Farming: The Board Game." So obviously it is awesome.
No, for reals, it is.
Anyway, many many hours of gaming (and many dollars spent) later, I'm still obsessed with the hobby, and this my attempt to share some of that obsession.
So about the title of this blog...
The "Meeple" Portion:
This is a meeple
Meeple!!
It's a little wooden dude used in a lot of board games.
For the formal definition (from Wiktionary, of course), see http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/meeple.
But my definition is just as good.
So the "meeple" portion of this blog's title refers to board games. Because this is a blog about board games. More specifically, my small gaming group and the games we play. Nothing fancy, just fun.
Oh and then there's...
The "Panda" Portion:
A panda eats around 20 to 40 pounds of bamboo a day, in many small portions.
Oh, but for the blog title, the "panda" means I like pandas and they will probably pop up in some form or another here. Pandas are also big and cute and fuzzy and awesome and ferocious and they do Kung-Fu. So basically, they encompass everything, which by having "panda' in the title gives me the right to write about anything I want. I call this legal statement the "Panda Claws." And I will invoke it.
Combining the "meeple" and "panda" gives "The Panda Meeple," which is not just a blog, but also a legendary creature.
The Legendary Panda Meeple!
I drew him in Microsoft Paint. Because Photoshop and other fancy things are for people who think that "smooth" lines and "pretty" pictures are where it's at. But I know better.
Hopefully putting both "panda" and "meeple" together will cover most google searches, so tons of people can find and read this. Because other than cat videos, what else do people use the internet for?
If only there were a board game with a panda theme...later...perhaps soon.
So in summary, this blog is about:
1. Board Games
2. Pandas
3. Other stuff (see above, "Panda Claws")
4. Nonsense
I don't know how often this blog will get updated. Sometimes I may get busy (crime doesn't fight itself, ya know) or not feel motivated (why put in the effort of thinking of clever things to say when there are reruns of Pokemon to watch). But I hope you enjoy the ride, whatever it may be.
