Last weekend, I spent 3 days at the board game convention at the Davis Conference Center, and it was way fun. My co-worker Ron told me about it last year, and that was my first time going.
I'm the type of person that loves being around people, that's how I recharge and feel great. At the same time, though, it takes me a while to warm up to new people and new situations. So I consider myself a shy extrovert.
Anyway, so last year I had a lot of fun, but I felt like I spent too much time wandering around hoping that people would invite me to play. I had to spend that time just kind of learning how things worked.
This year was different. Because I knew what to expect, I was less nervous. I think also part of it was that there was a lot more people there this year, and so I found my timing was better at joining groups as they were starting new games.
One thing I did this year that I didn't last year was check out games from the game library and get others to play with me. That's how I was able to play Legacy: Gears of Time and Subdivision.
There are two main reasons I like board games so much: socializing, and mental stimulation. Games can bring people together. It was through games that I made a lot of friends 2008-09. But as time has gone on, people have moved away and/or gotten married and so now we don't play games as often anymore. I try to make new friends in my current ward, but it feels like trying to twist people's arms to get them to come.
It was actually because I was having a hard time making friends and finding women to date in my current ward, that an old leader of mine suggested I go somewhere that people have common interests, and we would automatically have that kind of connection. So when I heard about the board game convention last year, I decided to go. Most women there were in committed relationships, so that part of the plan didn't work out (not that I'm a "love at first sight" kind of guy anyway) but I had a lot of fun.
In fairness to the ladies, most the men were also in committed relationships. Which makes a lot of sense: Board games are fundamentally a family activity. Someone once said that they thought I was childish for liking board games, but someone else defended me saying, "Childish? The games you like are so complicated I can't even understand them!" Which is true, but I do look forward to the day when I have a family of my own and we can all play together.
And I do have other hobbies that I also would like to do with family or friends, but board games is probably the only one I would like to do with strangers.
Last year the highlight was Caverna, the thematic sequel to Agricola. I prefer Agricola because the cards go a long way to making each game different, but Caverna adds a lot and I enjoyed the adventuring part of it, and being able to play up to 7 players. Since nowadays I don't play as often anymore, it would probably take a long time before Caverna feels old.
I could talk more about last year, but lets go on to this year.
Dead of Winter was the main highlight. It came out in 2014 and was an instant hit. I wanted to get it for myself for Christmas, but it was sold out everywhere. So now I'm waiting to get it for a birthday present to myself. At the convention, I played it three times and it lives up to its expectations. Jason originally recommended it to me because he felt it similar to my Betrayal at House on the Hill game, and I think he's right. It's a lot more intense, though, since we have various objectives we are trying to accomplish each round and throughout the game. None of the games I played had a betrayer, but the possibility is what prevents some of the problems with pure cooperative games.
One great thing about the board game convention is that the people who are there are serious gamers, willing to try things beyond normal gamers. Saturday morning, I got to play 6-player Catan with Cities & Knights + Traders & Barbarians. I had done this once before back in 2010 with my own friends, but they got burned out by the complexity, and I regret it, since Traders & Barbarians is one of my favorite scenarios.
I think next year, I'll set up my own Explorers & Pirates game.
Then one important aspect of the convention that cannot be overlooked is the Game Library. They have a wide selection of games that you can check out and play. This means you can play games that none of your friend's own, or more obscure games that only a few people at all own. So that was how I got to play Legacy: Gears of Time.
It's a time travel game, where you go back in time to invent something, then go further back in time to invent the basic things that the more advanced invention relies on. You get points based on who influenced what inventions, and since they are all interconnected, it can get pretty complex. It has been on my list for a while, and I was glad I was able to play it. It was way fun, and will remain near the top of my list.
Because sometimes games aren't as fun as they sound. I've gotten lucky with the games I own, that they are all way fun. But, I'm actually pretty easy to make happy. All it takes is someone who wants to spend time with me!
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