Author: ctrlalttabby@comcast.net

10 Days in the USA

We had a test in Social Studies on the 50 states earlier this week, so, to help me study, Mom pulled out a game called 10 Days in the USA.10 Days in the USA

In 10 Days in the USA, you are trying to draw cards for your trip that can be arranged in an actual trip format. You can walk across the border, drive through a state, or hop a plane to a state of the same color. Both the cars and the planes take up a day of travel each.

I appreciate the education that comes from this game. This education is greatly enhanced by the little blurb about one of the given state’s most notable attractions.

Ironically, the day after I played this with my mother, we did something similar in Social Studies. It was quite amusing.

Make sure to read up on the rules for Alaska and Hawaii, as I found those both a little confusing first time around.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

Eyes of the Jungle

Eyes of the Jungle is a cooperative game where there are 8 artifacts that all have to get back to their spaces, but they’re blocked by obstacles. This little difficulty is especially amplified by the way the board is set up: the obstacles, remedies and artifacts are all mixed together and then placed face-down, so you don’t know whether you’re going to pick up an obstacle, which then has to be placed in its numbered space, a remedy, which is saved until you decide to use it in order to remove an obstacle, or an artifact, which stays in place and must move one space at a time towards its destination.Eyes of the Jungle

I enjoy the mechanics of this game, particularly the remedies. We did end up adding a couple obstacles to some of the remedies so that they made sense, and so that each obstacle had at least 1 way to clear it. That said, even with the additions, it’s still pretty hard.

The reason it is so challenging is because there are way more obstacles than remedies. I appreciate that, even as a game meant for young(ish) children, it’s actually pretty easy to lose.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

Harry Potter Trivia!

For all of the Potterheads like me out there, it turns out there is now a Harry Potter Trivia game! I found it at Hot Topic when I was spending some gift cards I got for my birthday.Harry Potter Trivial Pursuit

The questions were in six categories, each assigned to a different color: The Dark Arts: Purple; Hogwarts: Blue; Magical Spells & Potions: Pink; Magical Objects: Orange; Magical People: Yellow; and Animals & Magical Creatures: Green. Questions in a category could range from “What creature did Hagrid introduce to the class during his first lesson?” to “What type of dragon does Cedric Diggory face in the first task of the Triwizard Tournament?”.

For my first game, I played with Mom, but then she had to go make dinner. Luckily, one of the perks of this game is that you can play it by yourself, too. Be forewarned: some of the questions are very hard.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

N-Day

I realize I already did a post on NationStates, but I feel the need to mention N-Day.

N-Day is an event that just happened in NationStates, where for 24 hours the users are given production, specialties and the ability to nuke each other. To do this, you have to be in a faction, which is usually formed by the region you are in.

Z-DayOnce you are in a faction, you can start using your production points to make nukes or shields. Which of these you make may strategically depend on what your specialty is: military, economic, or strategic (defense). You can always choose to make whichever one isn’t your specialty, though.

The picture above is of another event, called Z-Day, where instead of a nuclear apocalypse, there are zombies. You have three initial options: find a cure, kill them, or let them become a part of your population. I personally opted for the first option.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

Exploding Kittens

I know, I know, a little morbid, right? I thought so too, having heard of Exploding Kittens from a friend. It wasn’t until I played it (hesitantly) with another friend, though, that I realized it was quite fun!Exploding Kittens

I enjoy the simplicity of the game mechanics. For the most part, the cards explain everything! I played with the Imploding Kittens expansion pack, which was also very easy to understand. You can defuse an Exploding Kitten if you have a Defuse card. You cannot, however, defuse an Imploding Kitten. It’s an automatic game over card for whoever draws it.

The only cards that didn’t explain themselves were the ones like the Catermelon and the Rainbow-Spewing Cat. These cards are special, because if you have two of them, you can play them and steal a card from anybody.

I also liked the Cone of Shame. If you forgot who’s turn it was, you had to wear the Cone of Shame until someone else forgot or the game ended. The particular set we were playing with had a really cute box, too. Whenever you opened the top, it meowed at you!

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

The Vlog Brothers

The Vlog Brothers, Hank and John Green, have recently become some of my favorites after Hank did the Hobbit Drinking Medley with Peter Hollens (who I mentioned here). After watching the medley, I clicked to Accio Deathly Hollows, the song that made the Vlog Brothers famous. They have another Harry Potter song, called This Isn’t Hogwarts, that also became a favorite of mine.

They also do a lot of science songs, like The Universe Is Weird, and The Fermi Paradox. And then there is the song We’re All Going To Die, which I’m not sure how to categorize, but it’s hilarious.

The Vlog Brothers also have another channel called Crash Course, where you can take Computer Science, World History, Sociology, Mythology, and more. I look forward to trying all of them.

Hank was also in Titansgrave, a show about a role-playing game GM’d by Wil Wheaton.

Update: I also just found out that Hank is in a YouTube science show called Eons from PBS.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

Funway

Funway is an arcade/bowling ally/mini-golf putting green/go-kart track/bumper cars arena/bumper boats arena/cafeteria/one-on-one basketball/baseball/soccer/skating rink near us.

Funway - mini-golf and giant PacManFirst off, I’d like to state the obvious: they have a huge variety of options. We went for the mini-golf, but their arcade was pretty impressive, too. They had a very large Pac-Man game (it was about 10′ tall, by my estimation), as well as 3 different types of foosball.

I would note that most likely you want to do their outdoor mini-golf, not their indoor. Despite being the same price, the outdoor mini-golf has 16 holes, whereas the indoor only has 9. This isn’t to say that the indoor wasn’t fun, just that the outdoor gave you more for your money.

You could spend a whole day just playing at Funway. Between all of their games, there is more than enough for everyone to do. I especially want to try their bumper boats.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

Let’s build a Treehouse!

Treehouse is another Pyramid Arcade game from Looney Labs. In Treehouse, you have one trio of pyramids each. You also have one in the center. Over the course of the game, you are trying to change your trio to match the trio in the center (or, occasionally, vice versa).Treehouse

I love how simple this game is. There are rules for how you are allowed to move the pieces, but, on principle, the actual gameplay is quick and easy.

That saying, it does take a little while to get acquainted with the movement rules. They are, however, very similar to the other Pyramid Arcade rules.

Because of the many colors of pyramids, we played with light blue trees. This can be amusing, to say that you had ice trees, or trees on fire.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

Peter Hollens

Peter Hollens is a cappella cover artist on YouTube. I was first introduced to his work through a collaboration he did with one of my other favorite YouTubers, Whitney Avalon. As I sifted through his channel, I came across another collaboration he had done: a medley of Hobbit and Lord of the Rings drinking songs, with Hank Green. Not only am I a huge Lord of the Rings fan, but I have also seen Hank as a guest in several videos online. He was also a developer for Wizard School.

Once I saw the Hobbit Drinking Medley, I subscribed to Peter, then spent the next couple hours watching and re-watching his other Lord of the Rings and Hobbit covers. It’s safe to say I was addicted. It’s also reasonably safe to say I still am.

After hours and hours of re-watching his videos (seriously, I have to resist the urge to skip everything else I have cached on YouTube just to listen to his work) I came across his blog and Patreon page. After reading his most recent blog post, I realized just how much of a role-model he had become for me. One line in particular hit home for me: “I would argue that for any business, its not about how many supporters you have; its about how deeply you connect with each one of them.”

I have also, after those hours of re-watching his videos, determined my five favorites (because you can never ask me to pick one favorite of anything): In Dreams, Song of the Lonely Mountain, I See Fire, Epic Disney Villains Medley, and Hobbit Drinking Medley. I hope you enjoy his work as much as I do!

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

You need a Ticket to Ride

Ticket to Ride is a train game, and the particular one I bring you today is in North America. You get tickets, showing you what route to make, then attempt to match train cards of the same color* and build tracks.

Ticket to RideI think this game is a good geography lesson. You get to see where the cities are in the grand scheme of things. It’s also a good lesson in building off of what you have, since you only have a limited amount of train tracks. Thus you reuse tracks a lot. I did get lucky, my three initial tickets were New York to Atlanta, New York to Dallas, and New York to Los Angeles.

At the end of the game I also unintentionally got New York to Seattle. I had 2 train cars left, which would signal the end of the game, but we each got one last turn. I had a track from New York to Los Angeles, and, because of other tickets, I also had a track from Las Vegas to Seattle. Not because I realized I could get the ticket, but because I wanted to have one large train line.

* For those who are color-blind, each color of train card also has a symbol and a different style of train car.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail