Japan through my eyes

What type of gamer are you?   When you go to game days do you you prefer to play 1 huge epic deep game that takes 4+ hours, or play as many games as possible?    Does it depend on the mood/the group?  Are you a 1EGAD-Gamer (1 Epic Game A Day)     OR in the spirit of the 2012 Olympics,  are you a GAMAPPIAD-Gamer (Get As Many As Possible Played In A Day) ? Since I'm relatively new (1 year and still going)  to board gaming compared to others, I find that when it comes to the length of games on offer during a board game day, I tend to choose games that play in around the 45-60 minute mark.  Whether it be a Euro game, a party game, a storytelling game, an American-style game...or any other game.  Even when it comes to RPG'ing...if there was a toss up between playing a lot of games in the same time it takes to run a session of AD&D...I'd probably choose - playing lots of games.  (Sorry, my D&D gro...

FIRE!!! Argh!! A Spider!! Skull & Crossbones!! STOP!! OK After stumbling across this game via watching one of The Dice Tower's video reviews . I knew I had to have this game, but boy was this a hard game to track down in Japan! I searched for months to no avail. Who knew, that for a game about being the fastest to spot something, it would take so long for me to Spot ... It ...(get it ) (Now it's available in Japan under the name of Dobble) After 3 months, I finally found it at the import board game store. I passed it up the first time because of the price (around $20) to see if I could find it cheaper elsewhere. But a couple of weeks later, I went back and threw down my Yen (aka moola), and the game was on it's way to my shoebox-gaming-apartment. This is one of the many interesting & clever games published by Blue Orange Games . They have a range of games in interestingly shaped/packaged boxes/tins. Their games are easy to learn, colourful, w...

This was the first games I backed on Kickstarter , and I wasn't sure if this was going to be a solid purchase, or something I could get out onto the table because of the theme. But boy WAS I WRONG, after 1 play I knew this one was going to be one of my favourites. It's such an easy game to teach & a lot of fun. There's a lot of interaction, and it plays so quickly, but has a lot of depth. I love it. Being new to this hobby I had never heard of Dice Hate Me before, and for one of their first games that they released, this one really piqued my interest in their company and what games they might release next. A brief...brief...(a short some-airy): Players are carnival owners trying to complete 4 out of their 5 rides by getting a set of cards (4 of the same colour: banners, materials, seats, lights). But watch out, if you don't hurry up to complete a ride, one of the other sneaky carnies might come and steal your materials. Seriously, who knew a ...

I've put up a little poll to the right of my blog.  Please feel free to vote.  Also, feel free to comment below this post, what other games you want to play this year.  Then we'll look back in 6 months to see what games got played :)

** Update: Once BGG is back up after it's upgrade, I'll add in the links for this game ** This game has definitely slipped under a lot of radars.  Seriously, there needs to be extra ratings added.  I never knew floors could be this fun and scary at the same time.  Fearsome Floors , made by the famous Friedemann Friese , published by Rio Grande is a game that I would have totally ignored on the shelf if I hadn't played it before.  At first the box does not do it justice, but once you've played it, you'll realize that the box actually does match perfectly with this WONDERFUL game.  I'm just going to say straight away, that as soon as I saw the components, I fell in LOVE. I don't know about you, but look how awesome this guy is! How cute is that?  One fantastically, awesome, nostalgia-filled board game, of fun and gore.  I am eagerly awaiting my copy to arrive all the way from America...Oooh hurry up... I must introduce you to all my...

Today while browsing through Tokyu Hands in Shibuya, I decided to check out the board game section.  As soon as I entered the room, there was a huge display of board games right in front of the stairs and elevator!  I was amazed at the display and really excited.  I think this is huge.  A couple of months ago Tokyu Hands was demo'ing Rummikub, and on that day there weren't as many games.  But today, maybe 1/4 of the floor was full of board games.  Not just the typical Roll & Move board game, but real good quality ones. Check it out! The fantastic display of board games! Stone Age is next to Monopoly! Look at all the awesome Euro games! Another shelf full of good games Giant Jenga! The cute Chicken Ramen character next to the board game display The games I highly recommend you check out are: Stone Age Lost Cities Battlelines Carcasonne Catan Bohnanza Kakerlaken Poker Midnight Party

2011 was a big year for the world.  We saw huge earthquakes in New Zealand, and the one in Japan was devastating because it was 3 major disasters in 1 day.  Japan was still in a bad recession - I knew a lot of friends who had lost jobs.  I was also worried I wouldn't be able to come back to Japan after the Earthquake, and would have to leave my friends behind.  I remember I was crying on the train to say goodbye to coworkers.  It was a really sad time. I lost my voice and discovered I had Vocal Cord Polyps which is really painful when I speak and sometimes breathing hurts. The conversation went like this "Don't speak or it could damage your voice" "But I'm a teacher" "Don't speak for 2 weeks, oh and the polyps come back, it's permanent. " I really Love to sing :( just have to sing in my mind these days because some days I can't even speak when I wake up.   But Japan moved on.  Everyone has been trying to be really positive...

Recently, I received this great game called Coerceo .   It looks quite interesting.  I love abstract games, but haven't been able to find someone to play them with in Japan.  I used to play a lot of Chess in high school, but after the losing a gazillion times, it was time to throw in the towel/Chess board. I read the rules and watched some videos on this game, and it looks like a lot of fun.  I think this one is simple enough to teach even new gamers.  That's definitely a bonus in my eyes.   I like the modular board, and the great pyramid shaped pieces. Here's what the game looks like.  After I play it a few times, I'll post up a review right here, on what I thought of the game. Watch this space....To be continued The game components The board shrinks as you play it

After seeing "Kakerlaken Poker" or in Japanese "ゴキブリポカー" (Gokiburi Poker) appear as a top 10 on a lot of Japanese board gaming catalogs, I decided to check out what the hype was all about.  So I picked up a copy of the Japanese version (luckily the cards had no language specific text)  and once I opened the box, I was immediately hooked by the colourful and amazingly cute artwork.  This cute little Take That style game by Jacques Zeimet has been my go to game for the month.  You can print out a Tuckbox from BGG which allows you to fit this game into your pocket, literally. There's a different image on each of the 64 cards, no 2 cockroaches are exactly alike, which makes the game higher on my Gaming list.  The artist who designed the FANTASTIC art is Rolf Vogt (yes, I was so interested in who did the art, I looked it up on BGG).  If you hated creepy crawlies before, this game might make you rethink those pre-conceptions.   "Awh, isn't that co...

Mastar & JBC were scrooges this year.  They gave me nothing.  Maybe it's because I give them nothing each year.  I sent this clue to my Secret Santa recipient But I did have a Master rival give a huge box of goodies for Christmas.  Technically they arrived on New Years Eve, so I guess the song title needs to change/blog title above needs to change. Then the wonderful Santa elf by the name of Awesome Joe Yamasaki, carefully wrapped up all the goodies, and bagged then, then boxed them into a huge box of exciting awesomeness.  I'm SO glad I met him at the Tokyo Game Show 2011.  He's such a great guy! After unwrapping all my goodies, the long wait began.  When would the next game day be...?  Luckily it was only a few days away.  Unlucky for me, I had all these rules I had to read up on before we played the games.  So until next time Batman   I've had a chance to play the games a few times, I'll leave you with this eye can...