The Joy of Gaming: 13 Days Until International Tabletop Day - Fortune & Glory

"Fortune and glory, kid."

If that line doesn't immediately come to mind when you hear this title, then you were robbed of an amazing childhood! I can't say that, like so many others, didn't love the adventure of Indiana Jones. Even I wanted to adventure around the world looking for artifacts and defeating the bad guys, but like so many, that dream never came to fruition. But with Fortune & Glory I can play like I am living my dream (sort of).

The game itself was interesting to me, because of the artwork. I was intrigued by the use of these real-life images. It made the game feel slightly real, because who doesn't want to be Indiana Jones, even if it is just in a game? The other intriguing part about this game, which surprised me when I first sat down to game, was my husband asking if I wanted to play competitively OR cooperatively! WHAT?!?! I can play against you AND the game or the two of us can play against the game? Oh my! I, though, love cooperative, especially if it's the first time we play.

While time consuming, for me at least, I don't get to break it out often, but it stares at me every day of my life, since it sits on the shelf right next to my work space... taunting me... calling to me... just like it's doing right now! Willpower... so much willpower.

Yet, one of the things I love about this episode is not so much just the basic "woah, what is this game!", but the fact that this episode show the pitfalls of what many of us go through with games. We read the rules, we have someone run the game with us and we are so sold on playing it correctly and we show more people that's how it's played and so on and then, months later, we find out we're wrong about some major flaws. Awe geez. My nephew, in his condescending always arrogant way, could call all those games "false wins" and then be a jerk about it, assuming your misunderstandings were you just cheating to get ahead. Have I mentioned I hate that as well?

So really, if you're going to screw up, at least you played the game consistently with that screw up and you had fun, which really is the point of playing if I'm being completely honest. I screw up stuff all the time, but it's for fun. I'm not in a competition for money and if I'm getting something enjoyable out of the game, isn't that a win for everyone?

Besides... after running a unit on game design and part of the unit being reading rules books and figuring out the game on your own... I already know that direction booklets are the devil and developers really need to spend more time writing directions that can be understood by everyone. Sadly, we all see the world in different ways and that's what playtesting is for, but just trust me... we all have made this mistake and if following rules to the letter is what you find pleasure in, great for you, but for some of us... it's more than the rules.

Love this game!

The Joy of Gaming: 14 Days Until International Tabletop Day - Unspeakable Words

Fun Fact: 14 Days and today is April 14th! #numbernerd

I learned about Unspeakable Words from watching Tabletop. I immediately fell in love and bought the game. The scrabble style quality of points via word construction, but also the opportunity to fall victim to the insanity of Cthulu was too much of a draw for me. The little figures were so cute! The art on the cards was unique. And I'm a Literacy teacher!

Being silly is one of my things. It's even my teaching style, because I have learned over the years that students retain more information if you can give them something silly to latch on to than if you just straight-up teach them. It also stops class clowns from derailing teaching by making absurd comments that then derail the concepts you're teaching and enter false information into your lesson, because it was a joke. "In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue, but the whole ship smelled like poo and everyone died of the flu." NOOOOO!!!!!!

This is a game that offers a bit of silliness, but as a teacher I saw the potential for an informal assessment opportunity. When getting to know kids and see where their comprehension level is at, there are things teachers pay attention to. Testing and papers and writing don't always do the trick. So one day there was a field trip for music and it left behind 2 kids in my class. I didn't really know what to do with these two kids, so I decided to break out some games and the three of us play. Unspeakable Words was one of the games, because I wanted to test my theory that this game can informally assess spelling and the accessing of larger than average words (so not just cat, hat, mat kinda stuff). And oh my goodness... it did the trick. It literally helped me to see where my one student was in a way that wasn't test taking or doing an essay. Immediately I was able to start planning for how to reach him as we progressed through out units.

A grandiose story for such a simple game, but it has stuck with me for a long time. It was also the game that sparked how I could use games within my classroom to help teach concepts, beyond just sitting down and laying out the game and saying "let's play 1775: Rebellion so that we can understand the American Revolution better."

Sadly, I had to take the game out of my vault, because I realized it was out of print and I cherished my copy. So there wouldn't be a "you break it, you buy me a new one." Luckily it is back in print, but I like the looks of my copy better. I still hope to have some extra money somewhere to get a copy to put back into my game vault.

Bonus: One of the designers is Mike Selinker (whose name I swear I will never screw up again by calling him Mark........ nerd shame of the highest order). 


Original Edition


Gag Reel


Troy Baker Interview

The Joy of Gaming: 15 Days Until International Tabletop Day - Takenoko

Takenoko is the game that keeps on giving. Not only do we own the game, but the game is in my club vault AND we use it every year for my Tabletop Game Unit. The draw of it really centers around the panda. I've come to the conclusion that the panda somehow makes the players feel less stressed. But this game is not only near and dear to my heart, because the mechanics are something I love and I actually consider myself good at the game, but because I have so many funny stories that go along with the game play.

Several years ago we were starting to introduce my daughter to board games. Now, she was too young to play things like Ticket to Ride and Takenoko, but sometimes it's not about her playing the games, it's about exposing her to games that have "neat" concepts. Takenoko had pandas and she loves animals, so we broke it out to play. The mechanics were a bit outside of what she could handle at age 3, but she gave her the honorable task of being "The Weather Panda." She had a panda hat and wore that and we let her roll the weather die. If lightening struck, she would move the panda and make all the "nom nom nom" voices to go with it. I actually wrote a little thing about playing these older games with her so young if you want to know more about our early gaming with my daughter.

Another story, though, involves my game club and, actually, some of my kids this year in my Literacy class. My club has a rule: "You break it, you by me a new one." My club really has no funding. The easiest moneymakers were stopped due to healthy food laws that were passed, so it's down to things like selling cups or working at Culvers to get 15% of their profits. Well, when you have a small club of inconsistent and noncommittal kids, it makes that kind of stuff a bit difficult. So I purchase most of the games and we have a few donations here and there from friends or families of the students.

Takenoko was the first causality of the club. The kids would play it so much that the poor gardeners head finally came off. So our club copy has a headless gardener. When I brought the game out year for our Tabletop Game Unit, the group who played the game came up with a story about the headless gardener. It goes something like this:

The panda and the gardener never really got along. So one day, when the lightening and storms scared the panda, he ran and being the nervous eater that he is, he grabbed the nearest bamboo-looking item, not realizing it was the gardener's hat. With one bite, the panda ate the head of the gardener. Now the headless gardener roams the Emperor's garden fulling his tasks, forever haunting the panda that killed him.

Morbid, I know, but what a story!

The memories with this game are wonderful and it is a game I love to break for new gamers all the time. Plus... PANDAS! Plus Antoine Bauza (we're superfans!).


Original Edition


Extended Edition

The Joy of Gaming: 16 Days Until International Tabletop Day - Betrayal at House on the Hill

There's nothing like a good betrayal to keep a game going. A never ending onslaught of paranormal and horror elements, Betrayal at House on the Hill is always a great time. You and your fellow players go through the doors of this foul mansion to unearth its mysteries. Move room to room looking for clues, finding means to protect you from the horrors that lurk around every corner. Not only is your life in danger, but your very sanity teeters on the brink. In the end, one of your compatriots turns out to be a traitor and each game of Betrayal at House on the Hill leads you down a very different story path depending on a number of circumstances. Is someone bringing forth demons from another dimension? Is their a vampire amongst you? Is one of you a lunatic housing a gang of murderous escaped inmates? Has someone bowed down before alien eye-creature overlords? One never knows what sinister happenings you will discover at the House on the Hill.

My husband recently introduced this game at our Tween Lock-In and it was unlike anything they had seen before. I watched as the person who had the betrayal walked away and read the twist intently and everyone else waited with bated breath to see what would happen.

So epic and great for the spookiest or holidays or late at night. Or if you're my husband anytime, because he adores this game. When we were going through our list of games based on purchase dates, we were trying to remember if it was because of Tabletop that we were finally able to get a copy, because it was made so available everywhere after it showed up on the show. That happens to be the case with several of the games in my series. It wasn't so much that we saw the game on the show and wanted it, but that the show made it a desired game and it became easier to find. Definitely love Tabletop for those benefits.

Note: Another Mike Selinker contribution. 

Part 1


Part 2

The Joy of Gaming - Ray's Rate a Shelf #9

At the beginning of this year, my husband started a Twitter feed, posting a different part of our game shelves and rating the games that are on them. I was so impressed by this activity, I thought it would be great to share it on my blog.

Click the Tweet to see the rankings and the games.

Rate a Shelf: @Zmangames_ @StrongholdGames @FFGames @EagleGryphon @aeg pic.twitter.com/I5XQFb9siP

— Ray Bonilla (@OldManMerton) January 11, 2018

The Joy of Gaming: 19 Days Until International Tabletop Day - Forbidden Island & Forbidden Desert

There is absolutely no way to gush enough about Forbidden Island. I've spent countless hours playing it. I've introduced the game to so many people, especially my students. For my students this game literally blows their mind. The cooperative nature of it coupled with the frantic need to get off the island with the relics. It's like Pandemic, but with a better chance of being able to achieve your end goal. The modular board is unique to them and the variable player powers make them excited, because they try to get the best combinations (even though they're not supposed to be all specific).

Forbidden Island is an absolute #1 on my list of games to share with people. A true gateway to seeing games in a whole new light. I can't wait to break this out with my daughter. The funniest part about it all, though, is that every year that I do my Tabletop Game Unit the kids are so enamored with the game, a large portion of them always choose it as a mentor game in some capacity. At least, those who play it. It is also the most played game for those who choose to come in to play additional games for extra credit. I'd say poor game, because it's so warn, but that's one game that deserves to be played until it is nothing more than faded everything, that's how great it is!

If we loved Forbidden Island, you know Forbidden Desert was next to add to the collection. I do find it interesting that in my game club, Forbidden Desert is now picked up a bit more than Forbidden Island, but I think that's because it adds a few new levels of challenges and after playing the one for so long, it's nice to change things up a bit. What I love is the flying machine and the hunting aspect of the game. Talk about a challenge!

Now I'm really looking forward to Forbidden Sky. I don't have many details on it, but I am so stoked! Matt Leacock has something really special going here and I'm psyched about it.

The Joy of Gaming: 20 Days Until International Tabletop Day - King of Tokyo

Our copy of King of Tokyo is so used. It is definitely one of the Top 5 more played games in my game vault for my club. The kids just love it to bits and pieces. I, personally, love the dice rolling, but am not as big a fan of being bombarded by damage in Tokyo. At an upcoming Con, one of my club kids will actually be hosting this game and it seems to still get a pretty decent draw to the game table.

My husband and daughter just played it together for the first time for Daddy-Daughter-Game-Night and it seemed to go over well. Might still be just a smidge above her focus, but give it another play or two.

In 2014, I briefly wrote about this game (and a few others I've mentioned or will be mentioning) for an article in my series called "Meet Me at the Table." It was a Halloween edition for the International Geek Girl Pen Pals Club (IGGPPC or Iggles). I do think it is one of the better big monster games out there.

The Joy of Gaming: 21 Days Until International Tabletop Day - Once Upon a Time

Once Upon a Time was a game that I did see on Tabletop and I fell in love with it's storytelling ability. My teacher mind immediately went into all the different scenarios where it would be helpful for my classroom, even when thinking about the plot of a story. There are twists and turns and different shocking moments that come up. At the time we were also working through a unit about Fairy Tales and we were comparing the original horrific stories with more modern versions.

The other interesting part of the game is that you're working together, but you're also working against each other to come out of the story winner at the end. You want the story to end with your ending. So much fun!

It is a much more fun game with more people, so right now I'm hoping to make this a game I reintroduce to my students, because I think it has fallen by the wayside and it has so much exciting potential for what these kids want out of club right now.

As you can see from the episode, it does take a great deal of creative energy, but also paying attention. The point, though, is you're creating a collective story... duh! And you have to remember the details to keep your own story going. So much fun with so much potential and I think the game itself has somewhat fallen out of the limelight and might even be somewhat of a forgotten game, as I found while posting about it in a forum.

Really enjoy how it changed my perception of a cooperative, yet competitive game of storytelling.

The Joy of Gaming: 22 Days Until International Tabletop Day - Pandemic

I don't really know what to say about Pandemic. It is one of my absolute favorite games. Each time you sit down the fate of the world is in your hands. Will you be able to save it? So many variables dictate what the outcome could become. Whether it's the combination of characters with their variable player powers to the way the deck is shuffled, you are crossing your fingers every time. Thank goodness it's cooperative.

My husband introduced me to this game and we played the goodness gracious out of it. Poor thing has seen some things. I have the dice version (Pandemic: The Cure), as well, and the expansions for the original. I have a tendency to pull either the dice or board game out every time there's an event that I'm part of. If I actually ranked games, Pandemic might be my #1 personal game.

We purchase Pandemic Legacy, but we have yet to break it out. Maybe this summer. We just introduced the game to my game club (actually for a, like 5th time) and they just loved it. Success was not in our future, though, but we'll try again. I feel like somewhere there's a secret cheerleader we have to save in order to finally save the world.

The Joy of Gaming: 23 Days Until International Tabletop Day - Dixit & Mysterium

Dixit is a game that has absolutely enraptured me. I love the use of images to make clues for the other players. Additionally, I love that the clues can be references, but that you have to make sure you pick and choose your clues carefully depending on the audience, because if you are too obvious or too vague points might be lost!

Dixit's art is beyond amazing and glorious. I know people have used the cards to make collages and other decorations. I loved the art so much, I used some cards in my classroom for story inspiration. The game itself inspired in me strategies for my Literacy classroom. I developed an informal assessment where I could actually see where students were at with deep reading strategies based on how they look at the cards, the hints they gave, etc.  It is a very challenging game when it comes to using context for clues.

I have also brought this game in for various family events or club activities and it is generally enjoyed. Most kids compare it to Apples to Apples, which they sometimes treat as if it is more fun, because they didn't even give Dixit a shot, but I can only do so much to spread the love. Once they open their minds, they see how clever the game is, but like I've said before... it requires a bit of thinking on the part of the participants, which occasionally still falls short on people who think games are just there to play, have fun, and kill some time. That mindset is changing very rapidly.

When Mysterium was announced and it was revealed that spirits are sending messages through the use of images, it became an immediate purchase. It still offers the same challenges are Dixit, but now it's one person who is giving clues to everyone through the whole game. Each player has their own layout that the spirit needs to send messages about, so you're always having to think about the player and what clues would work best for them. It's hilarious what people latch on to and it has nothing to do with what you shared with them, so, again, you have to be very careful not to send the wrong message.

We recently played these with some of my club kids at our lock-in and it was quite a bit of fun. The mystery all tied up in the clues that you have to figure out really intrigued them. Most voted to play it again and I can't say I didn't completely agree.

Sidenote: The Mysetrium episode includes Laura Bailey, which always makes everything sillier. For those who might not know, she's on Geek & Sundry's Critical Role and was also on Wheaton's RPG show Titansgrave.