Gaming With Grandma - 52

Another Saturday morning visit from my mother (AKA Grandma to our kids). They had predicted it was going to be a hot* day today so I'd reminded her to bring her togs. On a side note, togs are what we colloquially refer to swimwear or swimming costumes here in the state of Queensland. Interestingly enough, swimwear is called by different names in the other states of Australia. I did a quick search on the Internet for the word 'togs' and it appears to come from an 18th century English term for a coat and especially in reference to clothing as in "a set of clothes and accessories for a specified use" (i.e. riding togs). So it's not hard to imagine someone in the early days saying 'swimming togs' to refer to swimwear.

Anyway, my wife was working this morning so it was just Grandma, Maddie (6), Georgia (2) and myself. As it was already heating up we decided to all go for a swim in the pool at 9.30. This is only Georgia's second season of being in the pool and it's great to see her confidence growing. Maddie has now mastered opening her eyes underwater and can swim to the bottom of the pool with ease. After splashing about for about an hour or so we decided to head back upstairs before the sun became too hot.

After a short morning tea, Maddie and Grandma played Guess Who while I tried to put Georgia down for a nap. When Georgia finally fell asleep I went in search of a game to play. I'd been wanting to get Loopin' Louie on the table for a long time. In Loopin' Louie a battery-powered motor is placed in the centre of the table and this rotates a boom with a little plastic plane (Loopin' Louie). Four radial arms lead out to the players' barns on top of which are the chicken tokens they're trying to protect. Each player's barn has a little lever, which is used to knock the rotating plane away from your chicken tokens and hopefully into someone else's. When only one player has chicken tokens remaining on their barn they win the game.

Over the last couple of years I've been able to pick up two copies of the 1992 version fairly cheap at garage sales. One of them had had a battery left in it and the unit was all corroded. There were missing parts in both copies but between the two of them I was able to cobble together a complete game. Unfortunately, I'm still missing 1 chicken token which makes 4 player games difficult.

The original version of Loopin' Louie

Last year I noticed on the shelves of local stores that Hasbro had re-released the game. This was the 2005 edition which was slightly smaller in size than the original edition. I decided to buy it because at only $17 I thought it would be worth it. So today I finally got it to the table.

Three players doesn't do this game justice. I believe that this game shines when all four players are playing. There is certainly an art to this dexterity game. Knowing when to hit your lever as Louie flies around is vitally important. The other thing is getting a feel for how much force to apply to the lever. Hit too hard and you may dislodge one of your own chickens, hit too soft and you may not push Louie high enough to clear your chickens.

We played a couple of games of the new version and it was OK. However I seemed to remember having more fun with the original version when I'd demoed it to my wife a few years back. So I broke out the original version and we played another eight games of that. I felt the larger size, with the larger levers and the increased counterweight on the Loopin' Louie stand, as well as the increased speed with the larger battery, made the game much more fun. Grandma and Maddie also agreed that the older version was more fun.

* Oh, by the way, it did turn out to be a hot day. Brisbane reached 40 degrees Celsius (that's 104 degrees Farenheit), which was 10 above average, our hottest day in 4 years and our 15th hottest day in 105 years of records.

It's Alive! Contest Result

The It's Alive! competition to win a free copy of the game has closed. I didn't win but congratulations to the winner, BGG User Boneroller (Ken F), who submitted the following joke to the geeklist.

After paying an arm and a leg for the last body part needed for his ungodly creation, the alchemist uttered the necessary incantation binding flesh and bone together with the fusing power of gold particulates. When he was finished his assistant asked what the alchemist would name his creation.

The alchemist thought a moment and finally said, "When I need his attention, I'll just say, AU."

It's Alive!

It's Alive! is a boardgame designed by Yehuda Berlinger and published in 2007 by Jackson (Jack) Pope of Reiver Games. It's Alive! is actually a re-themed version of Yehuda's previously designed The Menorah Game (2005).

The front of the box (image from BoardGameGeek)

Here is a description of It's Alive! from BoardGameGeek:

It is the turn of the nineteenth century, and mad scientists throughout Europe are competing for the infamy of being the first to create life through the power of alchemy. Using only the raw materials provided by some dubious 'Suppliers to the Anatomical Trade', harnessed lightning and the services of a motley crew of unattractive servants you race to collect the eight body parts needed to create your monster and bring it to life. Unfortunately the local peasants are particularly clumsy and tend to die in freak farming accidents so the dubious gentlemen rarely find a whole cadaver in sufficiently good condition. Instead they offer the parts they have managed to salvage. Each turn you may buy the offered part, sell it to an anatomist for a meagre profit, or auction it trying to get a better deal or rip off your opponents. You might be lucky and get a coffin with a weakling clerk's cadaver in it, which can be used in lieu of any strapping villager's body part, or your involvement in the macabre trade might invoke the villagers' wrath.

For over a year now I've been subscribed to both Yehuda's gaming blog and the Board Games - Creation And Play blog of which Jack is one of the main contributors. It's been fascinating reading about Jack's virtually one-man publishing company and his labour of love in creating and publishing games (which I'm sure is something most gamers (including myself) would love to do!).

The back of the box (image from BoardGameGeek)

To date Reiver Games has published Border Reivers (2006) and It's Alive! (2007) and Jack is currently working on another game called Jorvik which will be a 2-player card game about the building of York in North-East England during Roman and Viking times.

It's Alive! cards - Mmm...deliciously gruesome! (image from BoardGameGeek)

I recently noticed a blog entry on the Board Games - Creation And Play blog that Jack at Reiver Games was offering a free copy of It's Alive! in a competition he was running on a geeklist at BoardGameGeek. The game will go to the person who adds the best It's Alive!-themed joke to the Geeklist.

I've always been interested in this game so I decided to enter the competition. Instead of searching Google for other people's jokes about mad scientists, Frankenstein or grave robbers, I made the decision to make up my own original It's Alive!-themed joke.

Here is my competition entry:

Devastated (and somewhat mentally unhinged) from failing to win a free copy of ‘It’s Alive!’, BGG User Ozvortex decides to make his own copy of the game…

"A shovel is the only tool I'll need to collect the components (i.e. body parts) for my home-made version of It's Alive!" [cue evil mad scientist laugh] - Ozvortex

It would be really cool to win a copy of this limited-edition game to play with my family. I also know some local BGG members, game groups and clubs here in Brisbane Australia who would be dying [haha!] to play this game.

Just on the topic of mad scientists making dead bodies come to life, watch this clip from YouTube of the 1931 movie Frankenstein where Dr Frankenstein (Colin Clive) exclaims the famous line "It's alive!" when he successfully brings his monster (Boris Karloff) to life. A classic piece of cinema which after watching really whets my appetite to play It's Alive! So fingers crossed! I'll update my blog with the results of the competition when it ends.

Gaming With Grandma - 51

Another Saturday morning gaming session with my daughter (AKA Maddie) and my mother (AKA Grandma). Today we played RoboRally which is probably one of the first boardgames I'd ever purchased. I have the first edition Wizards of the Coast version which was published in 1994.

RoboRally is a game in which players control robots attempting to negotiate a factory floor maze of walls, conveyor belts, laser beams and pits to try to be the first to tag all of the checkpoint flags. The thing is that you must tag the flags in order which may mean you have to cross back and forth across one or more boards.

We played with the one board (the 'Cross'), with 4 flags and with each player having 5 lives.

The deadly 'Cross' board on around turn 9

Turn 1: Maddie falls into a pit. Grandma gets taken off the board by a conveyor belt. They both lose one life. I get within one space of Flag 1.

Turn 2: Maddie and Grandma both decide to come back 'powered down' on the starting space which means they miss the turn but don't play with two damage points. I touch Flag 1 and get within three spaces of Flag 2.

Turn 3: Maddie moves off the edge of the board and loses another life. Grandma moves along conveyor belts towards Flag 1. I touch Flag 2 and proceed towards Flag 3.

Turn 4: Maddie starts again on the starting space. She decides to return to the game immediately with her robot carrying two points worth of damage. Grandma falls into a pit and loses another life. I move into the part of the board which holds Flag 4. I must cross this area to get to Flag 3.

Turn 5: Maddie again moves off the edge of the board and loses another life. Grandma comes back at the starting space and rather than missing a turn 'powered down' moves towards Flag 1 with two damage points. I make my way towards Flag 3.

Turn 6: Maddie comes back again on the starting space. She decides to play immediately with the 2 damage points. Grandma gets closer to Flag 1. I get closer to Flag 3. Maddie's robot shoots Grandma's robot for one point of damage which Grandma immediately heals due to being on a 1-spanner square.

Turn 7: Maddie spins in place. Grandma is now only one space from Flag 1. I am only two spaces from Flag 3 but due to a poor selection of movement cards I end up headbutting a wall for all 5 register phases.

Turn 8: Maddie keep spinning. I can tell she isn't really enjoying this game. Grandma is very close to Flag 1 but just can't quite get there. I touch Flag 3 and make my way towards Flag 4 via the potentially dangerous conveyor belts in the centre of the board.

Turn 9: Maddie bangs back and forth between two walls. Grandma makes a mistake and moves off the edge of the board losing another life. I move onto the conveyor belt and am taken around the edge of the centre pit.

Turn 10: Maddie moves off the edge of the board losing another life. Grandma comes back onto the starting space with the two damage points. Due to a poor hand of movement cards she bangs into a wall for the entire turn. I end up only 1 space from Flag 4.

Turn 11: Maddie comes back on to the starting space and plays immediately with the two damage points. At the end of her moves she has moved further away from Flag 1. Grandma somehow manages to move off the edge of the board again losing another life. I touch Flag 4 and my robot spends four register phases spinning in place doing a victory dance.

Final scores were me 1st with 5 lives left and no damage, Grandma 2nd with 2 lives left and 2 damage, and Maddie 3rd with 2 lives left and 4 damage. I was the only one to tag all four flags. Neither Grandma or Maddie were able to even tag the first flag.

I've only played this game once in the last 10 years or so and it was so much fun playing it again today. Grandma said she enjoyed it and that it 'really made her brain think'. Maddie said it was 'boring'.

I would say that Maddie at only 6.5 years old is probably a little too young for this game. One must have a good ability to visualise in your mind objects moving and turning in all directions. I know that this game can sometimes be difficult for new players to get their heads around. I hope we can play it again soon.

Happy Valentine's Day!

First off, I must say I hate the commercialised nature of Valentine's Day. Having said that, I did buy my wife a bunch of red roses. However, I bought them for her two days ago on February 12th just to surprise her!

I thought I'd share something interesting. mX is a free newspaper that I pick up every afternoon to read on the train on my way home from work.

Today, something odd struck me about this issue. It smelled - of roses!

This is what it says in the circle on the front of the paper:

'STOP TO PICK ME UP AND SMELL THE ROSES. It's the day that sets hearts fluttering and wallets spluttering. So mX has a free romantic gift for you. No, it's not your imagination, today's newspaper DOES smell like a bunch of roses. mX is the first newspaper in Australia to use scented ink for a special edition, and what better day, or way, than filling the air with the scent of love. So guys (or gals) if you haven't had time, or have blown the budget, take this newspaper to your beloved - it's as close to the real thing you can get. Happy Valentine's Day.'

Redback Spider

The redback spider is a potentially dangerous spider native to Australia. Here are a couple of photos I took of one which we found underneath our letterbox. It is an adult female with a body roughly the size of a pea. As you can see it is protecting three large egg sacs.

The redback spider is a member of the widow family of spiders. It is one of the most dangerous spiders in Australia having a neurotoxic venom which is toxic to humans with bites causing severe pain. There is an antivenom for redback bites commercially available and it is interesting to note that there have been no deaths reported since the antivenom was introduced in 1956.

Redback spiders are found all around Australia. They are often found close to human residences. Every summer we find them in our garage and near fences.

Gaming With Grandma - 50

Another Saturday morning gaming session with my mother (AKA Grandma), my six year old daughter Maddie, and myself. Today we played Dungeonquest.

Dare you face the Dragon's challenge?

From the blurb on the back of the box:

The eerie ruins of Dragonfire Castle, atop the sinister peak of Wyrm's Crag were abandoned long ago. Memories of the vile deeds of the Wizard T'Siramen have faded like a half-remembered nightmare. But far beneath the Castle's shattered stones, nameless horrors still prowl the gloomy dungeons, while a terrifying shadow stirs in sleep...

Riches, fame and glory await the hero who overcomes the dungeon's monstrous inhabitants and finds the Dragon's fabled hoard. But beware the setting of the sun! If nightfall finds you still within the dungeon's maze, there is no escape - save death!

Maddie chose Sir Rohan, I chose Ulv Grimhand and Grandma chose Volrik The Brave. Maddie took the Ring of Blinding, I took the Ring of Warning and Grandma took the Ring of Opening.

The three adventurers who entered the dungeon. Did any escape with treasure, let alone their lives?

Turn 1:

Each of us entered the dungeon alone via one of the corner towers. Coincidentally, as each of us entered our first room a heavy iron portcullis slammed down behind us, barring our exit. This was an ominous sign. Luckily, each of us found our rooms were empty.


Turn 2:

Sir Rohan - Maddie entered her next room to find a beautiful necklace worth 30 gold pieces (GP). She quickly placed the jewellery in her leather pouch and continued on.

Ulv Grimhand - The room I entered had a foul stench. I soon discovered the corpse of some poor soul who had come before me but had died after only reaching the second room. I had heard tales of the dangers of Dragonfire Castle and this dead adventurer was evidence those tales were true. I searched his body but found nothing.

Volrik The Brave - Grandma entered her next room to find it empty.


Turn 3:

Sir Rohan - Maddie 's next room was a crypt. [After we explained to her what a crypt was she said "I hope I don't get attacked by a zombie!". Ahh, only 6.5 years old and she already has a healthy fear of zombies - how sweet.] Greed, however, overcame fear. After searching through the dried bones within the stone sarcophagus Maddie came away with a pile of golden guineas worth 50GP.

Ulv Grimhand - The room I entered had a deep chasm running across the floor which cut access to the passage on the other side. As I was trying to figure out how to get across a Death Warrior jumped out of the shadows. A sneak attack! [Damage = 1d12 - Luck. I rolled a 5 and subtracted my Luck score of 5.] Luckily, I was able to dodge at the last second and his blade glanced off my armour. Even though he appeared formidable [5 Life Points (LP)] I chose to attack him. It was a hard-fought battle. I did finally overcome him but not before suffering some wounds [4LP] myself.

Volrik The Brave - Grandma entered her next room to find a Mountain Troll [3LP] guarding the exits. She decided to wait and see what the Troll would do. Doing what Trolls do it rushed towards her swinging it's club. The battle was fierce. At the end Grandma was the last one standing although she was sorely [6LP] wounded.

Turn 4:

Sir Rohan - As Maddie entered her next room another heavy iron portcullis slammed down behind her. The crash must have loosened the ceiling because before she knew it there was a cave-in! [1 in 6 chance of instant death. Maddie managed to evade this but then had to roll 1d6 damage. She rolled a 3] She barely made it across the room to the next passage.

Ulv Grimhand - I had to backtrack away from the chasm room to a previous room. The room I entered from there was a dead end and appeared empty. Empty until I felt a blade cut across my back. A sneak attack from an Orc! [Damage = 1d12 - Luck. I rolled an 8 and subtracted my Luck score of 5 which meant I took 3LP of damage] I decided to try to escape but as I turned to run he slashed at me [1d6 - 2 damage. I rolled a 2 which meant I took no damage] Realising I had nowhere to go I turned around to face the Orc and attacked him. Although he appeared weak [2LP] he fought like a demon and I was sorely wounded [3LP] before my axe found his throat.

Volrik The Brave - Grandma entered her next room to find another heavy iron portcullis slam down behind her. As she made her way across the room a trapdoor suddenly opened at her feet. [To escape roll Agility or less on 1d12. Her Agility was 7 and she rolled a 3] With the nimbleness of a cat she evaded the trapdoor.


Turn 5:

Sir Rohan - As Maddie entered her next room she set off a trap which filled the room with poisonous gas! [Damage = 1d6 - 3. She rolled a 4 and took 1 LP of damage. Also miss 1d6 - 3 turns. She again rolled a 4 which meant she would miss the next turn]

Ulv Grimhand - As my room had no apparent exits, and as I did not wish to have to backtrack again, I decided to search the room in the hope that I would find a secret door. My search was successful and I found a hidden door leading in the direction of the heart of the dungeon. It is rumoured that the Dragon has a hoard of wondrous treasure in the centre of the dungeon. The secret door led to another empty room with no exits. [D'oh!]

Volrik The Brave - Grandma entered her next room to find the ceiling about to collapse. In the middle of the room stood a Champion of Chaos. Grandma decided to escape back to the room she'd just come from. The Champion of Chaos let her flee.


Turn 6:

Sir Rohan - Maddie spent this turn coughing, choking and floundering around the room as the poisonous gas dissipated.

Ulv Grimhand - As I had entered another dead end room I once again decided to try and find a way out. My skills of detection did not fail me and I soon revealed another secret door. The room it led to contained an Orc which soon fell to the blows of my axe. I did not leave the fight unwounded though [2 LP damage].

Volrik The Brave - After fleeing back to the previous room Grandma decided to return back to the room that the Champion of Chaos had been guarding. Luckily for her he was nowhere to be seen. The room itself appeared unstable and on the verge of cave-in so she carefully made her way to the other side. [Next turn must roll 1d12 and roll Agility or less otherwise become trapped]


Turn 7:

Sir Rohan - As Maddie entered her next room, still recovering from the poisonous gas of the previous room, she set off another trap! This time poisonous snakes came out of holes in the walls and struck at her. [1d6 damage. She rolled a 6]. She was bitten a number of times before making her way to the next room.

Ulv Grimhand - The room I entered was also trapped. Luckily I was wearing the magic Ring of Warning and was able to bypass it. I was sad to then see the magic light drain away from my ring [they are all one-shot magic items]. I was now vulnerable to further traps.

Volrik The Brave - Grandma was carefully making her way across the room when the ceiling collapsed [she failed her Agility roll by rolling a 12 on 1d12]. She was trapped!


Turn 8:

Sir Rohan - Maddie then entered a long corridor which led to a what appeared to be an empty room. As she entered she was attacked by a swarm of vampire bats. [Damage = 1d6 - 2. She rolled a 4 which meant she took 2 damage]

Ulv Grimhand - The room I entered was a crypt. A careful search revealed a magic potion!

Volrik The Brave - Grandma was trapped in her room after the ceiling had collapsed. [She had to roll her Agility roll or less on 1d12 to escape. She rolled a 1!] After some struggling she was free! The room she entered next was empty. However, it was at this point that her torch went out. She spent the rest of the turn trying to find her spare torch and tinderbox.


Turn 9:

Sir Rohan - Maddie decided to search her room for secret doors. [She was near to the Treasure Chamber but the room she was in led in a different direction] Unfortunately she found nothing. [At this point Maddie only had 5LP remaining]

Ulv Grimhand - The room I next entered contained another dead adventurer. A quick search of his corpse turned up nothing. [At this point I only had 4LP remaining]

Volrik The Brave - Grandma was in darkness. But not for long. She found her spare torch and was able to light it. [She had to choose 3 numbers between 1 and 6 and then roll one of those numbers on 1d6. She chose 1, 3 and 5 and was lucky enough to roll a 1] As she entered the next room she found a dead adventurer. She searched the corpse but as she was doing so a scorpion bit her. [Damage = 1d6 - 2. She rolled a 6 which meant she took 4LP worth of damage. At this point Grandma only had 5LP remaining]


Turn 10:

Sir Rohan - Maddie again searched the room she was in for a secret door. [Once you have searched a room twice you must move on] Unfortunately, she again found nothing.

Ulv Grimhand - The room I next entered adjoined the Treasure Chamber! Through the open door on the far wall of the room I could see a huge pile of riches atop which lay the sleeping Dragon. But before I could enter the Treasure Chamber I first had to deal with the large Orc [4LP] who was guarding this room. I felled him with several blows from my mighty axe but not before he had struck me with a blow from his foul sword [I took 2LP worth of damage]. My way to the Treasure Chamber was now clear.

Volrik The Brave - Grandma entered her next room to be attacked by a weak Goblin. [1 LP] She soon killed him but took some damage herself [1LP] in doing so.

Ulv Grimhand is only one room away from the Treasure Chamber!

Turn 11:

Sir Rohan - Unable to find a secret door leading in the direction of the Treasure Chamber Maddie decided to keep going. The next room she entered contained a crossfire trap. [Damage = 1d12 - Armour. She rolled an 11 minus her Armour of 9 which meant she took 2LP of damage]

Ulv Grimhand - I entered the Treasure Chamber and searched the pile of riches. I took a sack containing gold coins worth 120GP and a bag of jewels worth 3,200GP! I looked up at the Dragon to see if it was stirring. [You must choose 1 of the 8 Dragon tiles. One tile shows the Dragon awake and the rest show the Dragon asleep. I thankfully chose a sleeping Dragon tile. These tiles are not returned to the cup. This means that each time you choose another Dragon tile the odds increase that you will wake the Dragon].

Volrik The Brave - Grandma searched her room to see if it contained a secret door that led closer to the Treasure Chamber. She was lucky and found one. It led to a room which contained a crypt. She searched the crypt but found nothing. Beyond, through the door at the end of the room, she could see the Treasure Chamber!

Ulv Grimhand about to enter the Treasure Chamber!

Turn 12:

Sir Rohan - The next room Maddie entered was adjacent to the Treasure Chamber but unfortunately for her there were no exits leading in that direction. However she did find a dead adventurer with an amount of golden guineas worth 20GP.

Ulv Grimhand - I decided to stay in the Treasure Chamber and continue to search. This time I found a sack containing gold coins worth 220GP and a magical crystal ball worth 2,200GP! I looked up again at the Dragon fearing that my rummaging about had awoken it. [This time I had a 1 in 7 chance of waking the Dragon]. Luckily it was still asleep.

Volrik The Brave - Grandma entered the Treasure Chamber and searched for goodies. She took a sack containing gold coins to the value of 110GP and another larger sack which held gold coins worth 170GP. [She then had a 1 in 6 chance of waking the Dragon. I was sweating on her pick because if the Dragon awoke the consequences would affect both of us] Luckily the Dragon continued its slumber.


Turn 13:

Sir Rohan - Maddie tried to search for a secret door to allow her entry to the Treasure Chamber. She found no secret door but did find jewellery worth 200GP.

Ulv Grimhand - As there were now two of us in the Treasure Chamber I decided to take what I'd already found and try to escape from the dungeon. [We were now at the half-way point of the game. I only had another 13 turns to escape before nightfall and certain death]. I headed back the way I had come.

Volrik The Brave - Grandma decided to stay in the Treasure Chamber and see what else she could find. She ended up grabbing another two sacks filled with gold coins valued at 300GP and 250GP respectively. [She now had a 1 in 5 chance of waking the Dragon] Luckily she did not disturb the Dragon.


Turn 14:

Sir Rohan - Maddie searched her room for the second time and found a potion bottle [As she had searched twice she must now move from the room].

Ulv Grimhand - I head back the way I had come.

Volrik The Brave - Grandma headed back the way she had come.


Turn 15:

Sir Rohan - Maddie decided that she wouldn't be able to get to the Treasure Room before nightfall so she headed back the way she had come.

Ulv Grimhand - I head back the way I had come.

Volrik The Brave - Grandma headed back the way she had come.



Turn 16:

Sir Rohan - Maddie headed back the way she has come.

Ulv Grimhand - I head back the way I had come but the next room I must enter is the trapped room I had previously evaded thanks to my Ring of Warning [on turn 7]. I felt weak at this point [I only had 2LP remaining] so I decided to drink the potion that I'd found earlier [on turn 8]. Drinking a potion is always a gamble. [Roll 1d12 - 1 - regain 4LP, 2 - regain 3 LP, 3 - regain 2LP, 4 - regain 1LP, 5-9 No effect, 10 - Lose 2LP, 11 - Lose half your LPs, rounding down, 12 - Instant death!] It was gamble but it paid off. I drank the potion and felt my wounds healing. [Would you believe it! I rolled a 1! Woohoo!!! I got 4LP back! I was now back to 6LP]

I entered the trapped room and suddenly the floor below me opened! A trapdoor! [To evade roll 1d12 - Agility. I rolled an 11 which meant I fell through the trapdoor] The fall nearly killed me. [Damage = 1d6. I rolled a 5 which meant I only had 1LP left. Had I not rolled a 1 when I'd drunk the potion I would now be dead]

Volrik The Brave - Grandma headed back the way she had come.


Turn 17:

Sir Rohan - Maddie was back at the trapped room which had contained the poisonous snakes. The room was still trapped, and she was barely alive [3LP remaining] so she tried to search for a secret door which would take her around the trapped room. Her search was successful and the room she entered through the secret door was empty with exits leading in the direction of the corner tower and freedom.

Ulv Grimhand - I was at the bottom of a pit and almost dead. I tried to climb out [roll Agility or less. I rolled an 8] but failed.

Volrik The Brave - Grandma headed back the way she had come.


Turn 18:

Sir Rohan - The next room Maddie entered was empty but unfortunately did not contain any exits in the direction she wanted to go.

Ulv Grimhand - I was still at the bottom of the pit and realised that nightfall was now not far away. I once again tried to climb out [roll Agility or less. I rolled an 7] but again failed.

Volrik The Brave - Grandma headed back the way she had come. She entered the cave-in room where she'd previously been trapped. She tried to make her way across the room without setting off another ceiling collapse.


Turn 19:

Sir Rohan - Maddie searched for a secret door and found one leading in the direction of freedom! Unfortunately, the room contained a Mountain Troll who did not want to let her pass. [As she only had 3LP left I fully expected her to die. However, she surprised me when she exclaimed "I use my magic ring to blind him!" She had remembered the Ring of Blinding she had chosen at the beginning of the game.] Maddie used the Ring of Blinding to blind the Mountain Troll [I was so proud!].

Ulv Grimhand - I was still at the bottom of the pit and realised that I must escape or I would surely die. I summoned my remaining reserves and with a mighty jump I caught the edge of the pit and pulled myself out. [Roll Agility or less. I rolled a 3!] Although I was out of the pit I still had to escape the dungeon.

Volrik The Brave - The room Grandma was in collapsed, sending debris everywhere. Unfortunately, she fell beneath the rubble and could not move [roll Agility or less on 1d12. She rolled an 8].


Turn 20:

Sir Rohan - Maddie kept going back towards the tower and freedom. The next room she entered was empty.

Ulv Grimhand - I head back the way I had come.

Volrik The Brave - Grandma tried to escape the rubble of the collapsed room. [Roll Agility or less on 1d12. She rolled a 2] Grandma escaped! She moved to the next room which was one of the rooms that had been blocked off by a falling portcullis.


Turn 21:

Sir Rohan - The next room Maddie entered had no exits. She is only 2 squares from escaping the dungeon.

Ulv Grimhand - I head back the way I had come.

Volrik The Brave - Grandma is faced with a heavy iron portcullis blocking her way. She then used her Ring of Opening to raise it! She continued back the way she had come.


Turn 22:

Sir Rohan - So close to freedom, Maddie searched the room in the hope she'd find a secret door. Unfortunately, all she found were poisonous snakes which attacked her. [Damage = 1d6. Maddie only has 3LP remaining. She rolled a 1 leaving her with 2LP remaining]

Ulv Grimhand - I head back along the corridor to the room only 2 squares from freedom.

Volrik The Brave - Grandma headed back the way she had come.

Ulv Grimhand (bottom left) is almost to the tower - and freedom!

Turn 23:

Sir Rohan - Maddie searched the room for the second time. If she does not find a secret door now she is doomed. She fails to find a secret room. Her way is blocked. There is now not enough time remaining to backtrack to find another way out of the dungeon.

Ulv Grimhand - I enter the last room before freedom. It is the room I first entered when I came into the dungeon. There is a heavy iron portcullis barring my way. I can see outside that it is very close to nightfall.

Volrik The Brave - Grandma also arrived back to the room into which she'd first entered the dungeon. The exit to freedom is also blocked by a portcullis.


Turn 24: (3 turns until nightfall)

Sir Rohan - Maddie moved back to the room she'd previously been in. She now knows she will perish within the dungeon.

Ulv Grimhand - I try to lift the portcullis. [Roll Strength or lower on 1d12. I roll a 5!] The bars raise and I make my escape from Dragonfire Castle! [Woohoo!!!] I have treasure to the value of 5740GP to show for my efforts but only 1LP remaining. There will be feasting and drinking tonight for Ulv Grimhand!

Volrik The Brave - Grandma also tries to raise the portcullis but she isn't that strong [Strength of 4]. She gives a heave. [Roll Strength or lower on 1d12. She rolls a 10] The portcullis remains where it is.


Turn 25: (2 turns until nightfall)

Sir Rohan - Maddie searches the room. She finds a Giant Centipede. It bites her. [Damage = 1d12. She rolls a 12] The poison takes effect immediately and her character, the brave Sir Rohan, dies. Maddie takes it well.

Volrik The Brave- Grandma again tries to raise the portcullis. She gives another heave. [Roll Strength or lower on 1d12. She rolled a 10] The portcullis remains where it is. She only has one more try before it is nightfall.


Turn 26: (the final turn before nightfall)

Volrik The Brave- Grandma summons every ounce of strength. [She realises that if she does not roll a 4 or less on 1d12 her character will die] She gives a final mighty heave. [She rolled a 4!] The portcullis raises! She makes her escape from Dragonfire Castle with treasure worth 830GP and 4LP remaining. [We all cheer!]


We all had a great time playing Dungeonquest. Sure, there is a fair amount of luck involved, but when the luck goes your way, well, that's when songs are sung throughout the lands of your mighty deeds.

Blue-faced Honeyeater

The Blue-faced Honeyeater is a large (growing to approximately 30 cm or 1 foot) black, white and golden olive-green honeyeater with striking blue skin around the yellow to white eye. I spotted this one on our next-door neighbour's banana tree. Not surprisingly, Blue-faced Honeyeaters are also colloquially known as Banana-birds.

Finished with that flower it spots another...



Hmm... how to get at the nectar within?




Sharp claws latch onto the outside of the flower...



Mmm...nectar!

Gaming With Grandma - 49

My mother (Grandma to our kids) dropped by for another Saturday morning of gaming. Our games this morning were chosen by my 6-year-old daughter Maddie. First up was Elefant Hunt which was designed by Tom Wham. He also did the artwork in the game and I really enjoy his cartoony style of drawing the characters and animals. Elefant Hunt is basically a roll-and-move game where the object is to gather hunters and supplies and then set off on safari to capture animals. Each animal is worth a certain number of points and the first person to reach 100 points is the winner.

An oldie but a goodie

This game came as an insert in a Dungeons & Dragons (then AD&D) monthly magazine called Dragon magazine. The issue was number 88 which was published by TSR in August 1984. I was into roleplaying back in the 80's and had a subscription for many years to Dragon. Grandma went on to win our game with 100 points, I came 2nd on 72 and Maddie came 3rd with 0 points.

It was at this point that 2-year-old Georgia needed to have a nap. While I was trying to get her to sleep Maddie and Grandma played Old Maid and Go Fish. Maddie won both games.

Our next game chosen by Maddie was my homemade version of Diamant (AKA Incan Gold). This is a fun push-your-luck style of game where each player is an adventurer seeking rubies and diamonds within a network of caves.

Maddie (purple) and I (black) chicken out and head back to camp while Grandma continues on...

Maddie made some great decisions in the game and went on to win with 36 points, Grandma coming 2nd on 26 and myself 3rd on 16.

Our final game of the morning was Blokus Duo (AKA Travel Blokus). This is the 2-player version of the 4-player Blokus and a great little game. Each player is trying to fit all of their pieces on the board while attempting to deny spaces to their opponent. Although it is a 2-player game we decided that Grandma and Maddie would team up and play against me.

A very pretty game

We played two games. I won the first 73 to 68. I also won the second game 68 to 64. The rules state that you can get bonus points if you place all your pieces on the board. You know, I've played 44 games of Blokus Duo as of today and I've never been able to place all my pieces on the board. I should ask this question on BoardGameGeek to see if anyone has been able to achieve this feat.

Gaming With Grandma - 48

My mother (Grandma to our kids) came over for her usual Saturday morning gaming session. As it was Georgia's second birthday the day before, Grandma had a present which Georgie gleefully opened. We also had a small chocolate birthday cake which everyone enjoyed.

Our first game was chosen by Maddie - Enchanted Forest. This is a memory game in which players move through the enchanted forest searching for magical items. The first player to successfully advise the king in his castle of the correct location of three of these items becomes the king's heir. When a player's pawn is adjacent to one of the trees the player may look underneath the tree to see what item lies beneath. The roll of two 6-sided dice is used for movement. The numbers rolled are treated separately for movement purposes but each number must be used to move fully in a certain direction. For example, if you rolled a 6 and a 4 you could move 10 spaces in one direction, or you could use them to move 6 spaces forward and 4 backwards thus giving you a net movement of 2.

Another quality Ravensburger game

As there is no reading necessary it's a perfect game to play with young children. I also enjoy it as an adult and I'm sure it would make a challenging game for a group of adults. There are elements of screwage where you can land your pawn on another player and send them back to the starting village. There is also the opportunity to bluff when you are making your way to the castle perhaps causing the other players to use magic to change the face-up magic item to one where you may know it's location. Obviously there is a fair amount of randomness in rolling dice for movement, however this applies to all players so over the game I feel it evens out. And of course memory is the most important part of this game. I won with 3, Maddie with 2 and Grandma with 1.

Our second game of the morning was Packrossli (AKA Pakkesel). This is a fun little dexterity game with lovely wooden components in which each player is attempting to stack sticks of their colour on to the back of a donkey. Each player is assigned 12 sticks in their colour. Starting with the youngest player and proceeding clockwise each player attempts to place one stick of their colour onto the saddle of the donkey. If a player knocks over the accumulated bundle of sticks then they take those sticks. The first player to place their last stick (of any colour) onto the pile of sticks on the donkey's saddle wins the game. We played one game which I won. Coincidentally, my wife bought this game at a garage sale almost exactly one year ago to the day (27 January 2007). It ended up being a fairly close game between myself and Maddie.

Captain - she canna take any more!

Our last game of the morning was Der Schwarze Pirat. Maddie chose to sit this one out but stayed to watch. This is a fun dexterity game in which players use a rubber bellows to blow their wooden ships around the board collecting treasure. The two dice rolled during the game determine which ship is moved (your own or the Black Pirate's), how far (either 3 or 4 squeezes of the bellows), how much, and on what islands the gold coins are placed.

The dreaded Black Pirate!

A cool part of the game is that on a player's turn the dice may determine that they move the Pirate ship. In this situation you may use the Pirate ship as you would your own and move it to an island to claim the gold, or you may use it to board another player by moving it to touch another player's ship. If you board another player they must take 3 of their gold coins and distribute them as they see fit in their two closed fists. The Pirate player then chooses one of the hands and claims the gold coins within. I was the only player in this game to use successfully board another ship - in both cases my mother's ship. And both times she had 3 coins in one hand and none in the other. Unfortunately on both occasions I chose the hand with no coins. However, I did go on to take the win with 23 gold coins to Grandma's 13 gold coins. The more I play this game the more I enjoy it.

My Prototype Dice Tower

Back in late October 2007 I built a dice tower. Now, for those of you who don't know what a dice tower is let me explain. A dice tower is a tool for randomising the roll of dice. You drop the dice into the top of the tower and as they fall they hit a number of alternating sloped ledges within the tower before falling out the bottom ramp into a catchment area.

The benefits of a dice tower are that 1) all players use the same mechanical method for rolling dice (reducing possible individual influence over dice rolls), and 2) the dice when rolled are kept in one area (thus eliminating game components being knocked over or the dice falling off the table).

The dice tower almost complete except for the final face of the tower

I really wanted to make a dice tower out of wood. However, I realised that it would be wise to make a prototype out of cardboard first. I chose card of about 3mm in thickness which was similar to the thickness of mounted game boards. Then, armed with a metal ruler and craft knife I set to work.

I didn't work off any plans. I knew roughly what I wanted and based the dimensions on what card I had available. I first constructed the tray the dice would fall into. Then I built the tower to fit into the tray. I purposely only built three sides of the tower so that I would have room to insert the internal ledges.

This shows the internal ledges and ramp

After measuring and cutting, the card pieces were glued with normal white glue (PVA wood glue). This glue gives a really strong bond to card board. The internal ledges were inserted at roughly 30 degree angles. After waiting for these to dry I glued on the front of the tower and then left it over night to fully dry. The completed dice tower stands about 30cm (1 foot) high.

The completed dice tower

I was very happy with my first dice test. The dice fell through the tower hitting the internal ledges with satisfying bumps and came to rest fully randomised in the tray. The tower is actually quite fun to use and is now a regular part of any game that requires the roll of dice. I haven't bothered to paint it or decorate it in any way as yet.

I'm now in the planning stage for my next project - building a wooden dice tower.

Gaming With Grandma - 47

My mother (Grandma to our kids) popped over for a cup of tea and our regular Saturday morning gaming session. We were joined by my daughters Maddie (6.5) and Georgia (almost 2). Maddie wanted to play a new game Mummy (my wife Deb) had recently purchased for AU$5.00 from a thrift store - Electronic Whac-A-Mole.

This game can be played with 1 to 4 players and can be set for varying degrees of difficulty. Each player is assigned their own mole and takes a plastic mallet. The multi-player game begins with a mole voice stating each player's 'sound' which they must listen for. Then the game begins and every second or so a random player's sound will be made and the corresponding mole's helmet will light up. The player then has a brief moment to whack their mole on the head before another player's mole's helmet lights up.

"Die, mole, die!"

It's fun and Maddie loves it but I couldn't see myself playing more than a couple of times in a row. At the end of the game the mole tells each player their score. I came first with 100, Maddie 2nd with 90 and Grandma 3rd with 80. Georgia had wanted to whack some moles so we let her go for it as we were setting up the next game.

Our next game was one we hadn't played in a while - Money, Money, Money. This is an interesting game which comes with what's got to be the sturdiest bag I've ever seen! I think it's made out of canvas. There are 77 plastic coins within the bag. They comprise of 17 each of yellow, red, blue and green stackable coins numbered $1-$16 plus a 'wild' coin, and also 9 white 'instruction' coins.

The final combined stacks. Can't get that ABBA song out of my head...

Each player attempts to collect the most coins and stack them according to colour in front of him. On a player's turn they guess either 'higher' or 'lower'. They then draw a coin from the bag. They then compare the value and colour of the coin they've drawn to the topmost coin in the stack of the same colour as the coin just drawn. If they guessed correctly they place the coin on the top of the same coloured stack and continue. If they guessed incorrectly they put the coin back in the bag and their turn ends. Obviously, at the start when a player does not have any coins their first guess will automatically be correct because they have no coins with which to compare the first drawn coin. However, as a player builds stacks and has a stack in each colour the ease of guessing becomes more difficult. For example, your yellow and red stacks may have low numbers on their tops but your green and blue stacks may have high numbers on their tops. This is where your memory may help to recall what numbers were drawn and are now hidden within other player's stacks or you can base your guess on how many of a certain colour have already been drawn by looking at all the stacks on the table. When all the coins have been used, each player joins his four stacks together and the winner is the player with the tallest stack (or most coins). The 9 white coins throw a little randomness into the game (e.g. 'miss a turn', 'collect coins', 'lose coins'). Grandma made some great guesses to win on 29, Maddie came 2nd on 20 and I came 3rd on 19.

Our next game was G.I. Joe - Live the Adventure. This is a game we haven't played for quite some time. That's probably because I'd moved it from our dining room game cabinet to a downstairs cupboard in the hope that it would fade into obscurity in the memory of the children of this house. Alas, it was not to be so. While Maddie was rummaging through the game cabinet she asked "Where's that G.I. Joe game?" Downstairs I had to go.

"Die, Joe, Die!"

In this roll-and-move game players take turns rolling a die and moving a single G.I. Joe token around a circular board. Most spaces consist of a "battle" with a Cobra soldier. Battles are resolved by the active player and an opponent of his/her choosing each playing one of two cards. If the active player wins he receives a Badge of Honor. The first player to earn 6 Badges of Honor is victorious. Grandma was the luckiest with her rolls to win with 6 badges, Maddie came 2nd with 2 and myself 3rd with 0.

After that game Maddie wanted to go into her room to play so said that Grandma and I could continue without her. For our next game I chose Rack-O. My wife had picked this up at a garage sale for AU$3.00 back on 27 January last year and it was as yet unplayed. There is a deck of cards numbered 1 to 60 and a plastic tray in which they sit. Each player (from 2 to 4) has a plastic rack which sits in front of them and holds 10 cards. The aim is to be the first player to accumulate 500 points. Each round consists of the dealer dealing 10 cards to each player. In a two player game only the cards 1 to 40 are used. As each player receives one of the initial 10 cards they must put them in the rack in order from the back to the front. This will mean you'll most certainly have a range of cards mixed in value ranging from the back of the rack to the front. The aim is to get the cards in any numerical order from the front (lowest) to the back (highest).

The Rack-O racks make great card holders

After the initial 10 cards have been dealt the deck is placed face down on one side of the plastic card holder which sits within reach of the players. The top card of the deck is turned over and placed face up in the other side of the card holder to start the discard deck. On a player's turn they may either choose the top card of the face up discard deck and then must exchange it with one card in their rack, or they may choose the top card of the face down draw deck and may exchange the card with one card in their rack (if they choose not to exchange the card it goes face up on the discard deck). So, each turn by choosing and exchanging cards both players try to go Rack-O by getting all their cards in any numerical order from lowest to highest. When a player goes Rack-O they get 75 points. The other players get 5 points for every card in any numerical order from lowest to highest. When counting these cards they stop receiving 5 points as soon as they reach a card that is not in numerical order.

It took us 9 rounds for one player to achieve 500 points. Grandma won 540 to my 435. This is a fun game which feels a little like Lost Cities in having to choose which card to exchange because as that card goes to the discard deck it could be used by your opponent to their advantage. There is also the similarity of waiting for a certain card to appear. There's also the difficult choice of deciding where within your rack you will place a certain card. All in all it's a decent game which I'm sure we'll play again. We may reduce the victory level to say 300 or 350 for a two player game next time though.

On a side note I just noticed that all of the games played today were purchased second-hand from various garage sales, thrift stores, flea markets or school fetes.

Gaming With Grandma - 46

Our first Saturday morning gaming session of the new year was attended by my mother (Grandma), my six-and-a-half-year-old daughter Maddie, and myself. Although she didn't play, (and I know she wanted to!), almost-two-year-old Georgia sat on various laps wriggling and attempting to grab game components when they were within her reach. My wife Deb was out this morning with her father.

Maddie chose the six games we were to play. She then informed us of the order in which they would be played. This morning we would be playing the games in order of their individual box sizes, from largest to smallest. It was as good a method as any I've used before so we began.

First up was the largest box - Fraidy Cats. In this game the board is a 3d back yard with fences on the four sides of the yard and a dog house in one corner. Placed in front of the dog house is the battery-operated 'Mugs' the dog. The players are cats trying to make a precarious circuit of the dog yard along the top of the fence posts. Your token is a cat on a spring-loaded base. On your turn you roll two dice which have numbers and a picture of Mugs on the die sides. If you roll numbers you move that many spaces along the fence posts. If at any time either of the dice are rolled and you get a picture of Mugs that player presses a button on Mugs after they've moved. This then sets Mugs careening off from one side of the yard to the other, bouncing off the fences and turning every which way. If he happens to bump into a cat token sitting on the fence he triggers the loaded spring in the base of the token which then shoots the cat up into the air. The unlucky cat then has to return to the most recently passed trash-can (safe-spot) or the starting point if the trash-cans are occupied.

Mad Mugs the cat-hating dog

Sure, this is basically a roll-and-move game and I normally don't like roll-and-move games. This game, however, is a hoot to play with kids. There are squeals of fear when Mugs comes close to their cat and cheers when Mugs bumps into their opponents - and that's just me - the kids are pretty vocal during this game as well!

Mugs was particularly vicious this game, targeting me on several occasions and sending me back to the starting point. Grandma ended up winning with Maddie 2nd and myself 3rd.

The next box in size was Gulo Gulo. This is a fun dexterity game from Germany where those with dexterous fingers will egg-pluck their way to victory. Each player is a Gulo (wolverine) searching through the Swamp-Vulture-infested swamp to find the missing Gulo Jr (or Baby Gulo as we've nicknamed him). To move from dry land to dry land you must pluck an egg the colour of the land you wish to move to. The eggs are different shapes with the smaller ones obviously harder to pick than the larger ones. In the center of the egg-bowl (nest) is the Swamp-Vulture alarm. If it falls and touches the table, or you knock and egg from the nest, you set off the alarm and move back to the most recently passed land of the same colour as the egg you failed to take. Like she has done many a time before, Maddie was the ultimate winner.

A beautiful game that looks good enough to eat!

The next smallest game was For Sale. Maddie has said many times that she really likes this game. It's fast and it's fun and my daughter enjoys it which means it should see a lot of plays in 2008. This game was odd, with Grandma trying a different strategy of passing a lot to save money. I'm never really sure of Maddie's strategy but she always seems to do fairly well. Final scores were me 1st on $82K, Maddie 2nd on $77K and Grandma 3rd on $50K.

Hot property - but how much are you willing to bid?

The next game in size was Nobody But Us Chickens. This is another game I really enjoy. The object of this game is to score the most points in chickens. Each player has the same hand of cards representing chickens of varying values, a fox, a rat and a guard dog. A number of rounds is played equal to the number of players. Each round represents a night. Each round ends when all cards have been played from a player's hand. Each turn players play one card face down to the center of the table. The cards are then revealed and the outcome depends on what cards were played.

A fun game of bluff and counter-bluff!

If only chickens were played then those chickens stay in a pile (the chicken coop - we use the box to represent this). If chickens and a fox were played then the fox takes the chickens (more than one fox they share). If chickens and a rat were played the rat takes all the chickens. If a rat is played with other foxes then the rat has first pick of the chickens but can take only one. If a guard dog is played with any predators then he chases off the predators and rescues the chickens for points. If there are no predators the guard dog gets nothing. It's quite a fun game trying to outguess your opponents.

Night 1 - Me 22, Maddie 1, Grandma 1 (Wow! I scored big with the fox and guard dog!)
Night 2 - Me 10, Maddie 3, Grandma 3
Night 3 - Me 3, Maddie 11, Grandma 4

Final scores were me 1st on 35, Maddie 2nd on 15 and Grandma 3rd on 8

The size of our next game was again smaller than that of the one before - Pick Picknic. This game is similar to Nobody But Us Chickens in that each player secretly plays cards and the outcome is based on the comparison of those cards to any others played in the same area. It features lovely artwork by Doris Matthäus which also makes it visually appealing. In this game players are vying for corn in six poultry yards. The corn is represented by small coloured wooden cubes of values 1, 2 and 3 which are placed on the poultry yards. In our three player game, each turn each player played two cards of different colours on to separate poultry yards. If you were the only bird at the yard you ate your fill of corn. If there was a fox the fox ate the birds and gained points equal to their value. If there was more than one bird at a yard they could duel by rolling a d6 and adding their value to the roll. Highest roll got all the corn. There was also a fleet fowl who (similar to the rat in Nobody But Us Chickens) could pinch one corn and get away before having to duel or being eaten. It was a fun game with Grandma 1st on 61, Maddie 2nd on 60 and me 3rd on 47.

Mmm...corn.

And so we had made our way from the largest game box to now the smallest - Der Plumpsack Geht Um (AKA Sherlock). I have the German version with the scrotum-like Plumpsack gracing the front of the box and also the title-card which is used in the game.

In this game play proceeds clockwise. Everybody has 30 seconds to memorise the cards and then they are turned face-down. The player on your right places the plumpsack card next to one of the cards. If you guess correctly you follow the directions on the card. There will be an arrow and a number. You then must guess the card so many spaces in the direction of the arrow. If you keep guessing correctly you keep turning cards face up. When you finally guess a card that directs you back to a card that is already face up you win that card.

It was as we were setting up the game that my wife and father-in-law arrived home. Deb saw what game we were playing and immediately wanted to play. We decided to make it 8 cards laid out and the first person to win 3 cards would be the winner. So it was Deb, Maddie, Grandma and myself in a battle to see who would be the best at recall. I've played this game before against my wife and she's pretty good at it. She did explain to me that she uses the pictures as items in a story. In this way she can better remember their order. This is a similar method to how some people can memorise the correct placement of a randomly shuffled deck of cards, or the names of people in a studio audience.

Apologies for the photo - it was blurry - unlike my memory in this game! ;-)

With that knowledge I approached the first layout of 8 cards. They were an alarm clock, a shoe, a sweater, a cap, an apple, a lollipop, an anchor and a yellow duck. I visualised myself waking up in the morning (the alarm clock), getting dressed (the shoe, the sweater and the cap) having breakfast (an apple and a lollipop), then having a bath and playing with a toy boat (the anchor) and a rubber duck (the yellow duck). This visualisation helped me to win the first card of the game. But here's the thing - when you win a card you take it as a point and replace it with another from the face-down deck. I ended up winning the apple and replaced it with a feather. This fit my story perfectly as it came straight after the cap allowing me to amend my story by placing a feather in my cap and reducing my breakfast to only a lollipop.

As expected it was a close game between myself and Deb. I ended up coming 1st with 3, Deb came 2nd with 2, Grandma 3rd with 1 and Maddie 4th with 0.