Japan through my eyes

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...

My cat has been doing all sorts of funny things, like sleeping in my Dominion box insert, or sleeping on the printer and watching me type on my laptop.  I'm pretty sure that box insert is might uncomfortable, but I guess he wanted to get in on the action.  So with the magic of green screen my Android phone and PicSayPro, the Board Game Guardian was born.  Then while I was spending my first Christmas on BGG, I joined up with the wonderful Christmas card exchange , and also joined in on the 2011 BGG Supporter Badge Drive which was a lot of fun.  That inspired me to start up Secret Santa with my board gaming friends, and my cat, Android phone, and PicSay Pro decided to get in on the action. So until next time - as the Board Game Guardian says "Mewy Christmas!"

Once upon a time, there were games that supposedly used your imagination and story telling skills...but they were...meh! Upon watching The Dice Tower's review of Dixit, I thought I should see what the hype was all about.  The hype was worth it! I brought out this game with my newly formed gaming group of non gamers & gamer friends and it was quite a hit.  I thought that I would be quite good at this game then found out it was the opposite.  I'm too obvious!  Too predictable!  Too easy to read!  May I never play in a professional poker tournament. Game Play in a Nutshell: The game takes up to 6 players.  You can play with 3 players, and that seemed to work quite well in my group.  Everyone chooses a color and get's their voting tokens and wooden rabbit scoring piece.  They get dealt 6 cards each.  The storyteller chooses 1 card and says a word/sentence/question/makes a gesture about that card.  The other players choose a c...

After reading and watching reviews about this game, I was hyped up and wanted to own a copy of it.  I tracked down a copy on Amazon Japan, and clicked purchase.  But I wasn't able to bring it to the gaming table.  I wasn't sure how receptive my friends would be of this "tunnel laying" game.  The idea of just laying down tiles to form a path to the gold, gave me the impressions of Waterworks or a game of Dominos.  Didn't seem as fun as what the reviews made it out to be. Boy was I wrong. After about 4 months of this game sitting on my shelf, and almost getting it played a couple of times, I finally played it with the Northside Gamers.  We played with 4 players, and it was a lot of fun.  It did remind me of Werewolf with the hidden Saboteur role.  I was secretly hoping I would be a saboteur (I love playing the baddie) and luckily I was able to play one in one of the 3 rounds. Game Play in a Nutshell: The game plays quickly over 3 rounds. ...

I found a new game to play! Who will play with me? This out of print game is a gem.  After randomly stumbling upon a review of this game on BGG, and discovering it was Out Of Print. I decided to track it down.   I liked the theme and the mechanics.  In the land of the Rising Sun - Japan, I thought it would be impossible but I was wrong.  My FLGS (I'm going to call it Foreign Local Gaming Store as it sells Foreign=English games) sold it. I haven't played Citadels, but the mechanics are quite unique, and this is a game I will keep in my collection, not because it's OOP - Out of Print, but because I really enjoy the guessing aspect.   The game plays in such a short time, 30-45 minutes, but it has quite a lot of strategy involved.  There is a lot of out-witting the other players, and trying to guess what cards they might play. Game Play in a Nutshell: The aim of the game win the most points / victory points by brewing potions.  The game ...

I finally got a copy of Cosmic Encounter, thanks to H for bringing it back from America.  I had heard a lot of amazing reviews about this game, so had a lot of high expectations. Once I opened the box, I was in awe of the amazing components.  The alien space ships were great, everything was beautifully packaged.   The board pieces were so beautiful.  Bringing the game out on game night was so easy. We played one round Cosmic Encounter first, and it only took a few rounds to get into the game.  We didn't use any flares just as the instructions recommended for new players.  It was a lot of fun.  I was a Parasite!!! and it took me half the game to work out that I was the weird snail thing, on top of the Pacifist's head.  It was quite hilarious.  The parasite is awesome the cool looking alien on the cover of the box.  What a coincidence.  There was a lot of ganging up on the player who seemed to be winning, and it was great....

Panic!  Panic!  There's a Virus on my shelf in the form of a board game, and it's called Pandemic, and it's infected my brain with it's board gamey addictiveness.  Yes there is a game called Cranium, and one called Pandemic... I've started up my old hobby from Oz, rock climbing, and board games have taken up the other part of my brain.  Exercise for my brain and body.  Perfect!  Now to find people to play with... .1 minute later ... yah I found a handful :) plus 40 more. Last year (in Japan), I really didn't do much socialwise.  I came home and lesson planned, and on the weekend more planning, and cleaning house and the like.  But this year I've decided I need to make time to do things I enjoy, get out, make new friends, less facebooking, join the living, and start doing things that I would in Australia.  I guess I was treating Japan like limbo/still like I was a temporary visitor.  But I've lived here long enough.  I should rea...

About a month ago, my friends and I played a game called Bang! and it was a blast!  Hilarious, and lots of fun.  It reminded me of the Werewolf game, so I started to do some browsing about what other fun games were around. Then I stumbled upon  The Dice Tower 's podcast and The Dice Tower on Youtube .  It really opened my world up to Euro games, which are amazing!!!!!! Wow, I really have missed out on playing these cool board games that Tom Vassal reviews.  Remember the old monopoly? throw that away.  Remember how fun Risk was?  I do. I already have a few card games with me in Japan, which I bought for teaching at Eikaiwa.  - Clue, the card game - The worst case senario card game -  Pictureka card game Monopoly, the card game - and good ol Trumps, also in the non card game category, I brought over - Pictionary - Cranium - Operation I used Operation a few times, and monopoly the card game, but the others just sat in my collection...