[img width=640 height=189]https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8808/18226401432_5aac114362_z.jpg[/img]Two years ago, we started Game Quest exclusively as a video game store. Now that we have the space, we've jumped into all sorts of other games. Many of these, like
Magic and a lot of board games, I've played and am very comfortable with, but as we keep getting requests and bring in new products to try, I find myself exploring all sorts of new games, many of which have turned out to be a ton of fun!!
Ante-Sealed Magic[img width=640 height=480]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/639/22052194313_ca6358a5d0_z.jpg[/img]A hilariously fun and cheap take on an old staple. Players each purchase 3 packs of cards, any old packs you want. Add 5 of each color of mana to the 3 packs you just purchased and voila, you have built your Ante-Sealed Deck. When you play against your opponent ,you each ante at least one card prior to the game (usually without looking, and you can ante as many as both player agree upon). Then you simply play magic as normal until a winner emerges. Here comes the fun part. The loser doesn't simply hand over the ante'd card, but HAS to personalize it in some way. That can mean altering the text, the picture, signing it, writing on it, or basically whatever you want to do with it. This has lead to some super funny cards, lots of weiners, butts, and boobs, and some really clever additions. It's been a super fun way to keep an old game fresh for me and we get to brag about the size of our decks as they grow and shrink and show off some really unique gems.
D&D - 5th Edition[img width=640 height=400]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/778/22485386260_d03c69f731_z.jpg[/img]Dungeons & Dragons is not a new game by any stretch of the imagination, but its one that I haven't played in about a decade. To see that is was back and gaining in popularity was a real treat and something that a group of friends and I decided we needed to experience once more. The basics are the same: one person is the Dungeon Master (DM) and creates a world full of characters, cities, landscapes, items and monsters to interact with. The players create their own characters to equip, learn spells, gain experience/items, and use to explore the DM's creations. The developers have updated some of the systems to try and make the game accessible to the masses. We seem to have questions about how to use or do certain things each session, so I'm sure they could streamline it a bit more, but overall it's not too challenging to get started. It's a relaxing way to have a fun and creative night with friends and strangers alike and you can get as invested into it as you want. We have people in our group that show up each night just to have some light fun and others that come back each week after having researched the hell out of their character type and spells in order to try new combinations of battle tactics. It's a very inclusive game to anyone that doesn't mind being creative and playing a fictional character for an hour or more.
Formula D[img width=640 height=448]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5646/22052190763_a31a8fb2f3_z.jpg[/img]This is one of the coolest ways to use dice that I've come across! Each player is pitting their racer and car against each other in a completely risk vs. reward based game. Each player has a cool little gear shift/damage tracker which represents their vehicle. As you start the game, you are in 1st gear which grants you a D4 to roll in order to move your car. After you've made your D4 roll, you gain access to 2nd gear and a D6. This keep progressing until your car is in its highest 6 gear and you'll be rolling a massive D30 to try and take the lead. Problem is there are some tight corners around the course, which you'll have to slow down in otherwise you may hit the wall far too hard and destroy your car. If you gear down too much too fast, you'll damage your tires, engine, breaks or suspension, which can end your race before the finish line if abused.
Formula D is all about how lucky you feel as you enter each corner. Is it worth tearing through a corner to take the lead if it means you'll shred your tires and possible loose that lead around the next corner, or should I play it safe and hope to slipstream past my opponent when the opportunity arises? I'm not a racing fan in the least, but this is a freakin' cool theme for a board game!!
Takenoko[img width=640 height=383]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5650/22659784532_f1b0aeb8a6_z.jpg[/img]Board games are always a lot of fun with the right group of people, and a fun, unique theme can make them ever better. One of my new favorites (even though its been out for a few years) is
Takenoko. In this game, you spend your turn manipulating a garden in order to please a feudal Japanese emperor. You place tiles, which represent new areas in the garden, irrigate those areas, have the gardener grow bamboo, or use the Panda to eat the bamboo in order to shape the size of the bamboo stalks. The player who can achieve a set number of goals first ends the game and gives each player one last round in order to achieve more points. It is a very visually striking game and even though it is incredibly easy to learn, it has a great deal of complexity which keeps it from getting stale.
Star Wars X-Wing[img width=640 height=360]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/671/22647309866_d091bee8a6_z.jpg[/img]This is a great intro into miniatures games because it cuts out the assembling and painting aspect, and has simple to understand and pick up mechanics (all of which are things that don't typically describe minis games). If you've ever been interested in games like
War Hammer,
Warmachine,
Malifaux,
Relic Knights, or the many others, this is a great way to get started. And what better way then with an awesome theme like Star Wars!! To play, all you need is two players each with an equal number of pilot points (which you can find on the pilot cards that go along with your ships). If you want to keep the flavor of the game intact, each side should play a different faction so that you don't have something like Rebels vs. Rebels. After that, you just take turns flying your ships around a 3'x3' area taking shots, dodging each other's fire, and trying not to crash into debris and other ships. This game is very fun and very quick to learn.
Wiess Schwarz[img width=640 height=351]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/650/22052185563_0bc93e859b_z.jpg[/img]Card games are always popular and they are a relatively inexpensive way to play a tabletop game. Many will typically have a theme that appeals to you and you can spend as much or as little on them depending on how competitive you want to be.
Weiss Schwarz initially struck me as "WTF..........", and it still does a little bit. It is a game where each new set is themed after a different Anime and you pit the cards from your favorite Anime against your opponents favorite Anime. What caught my eye was that a few of the sets were based off of video game properties too, like
King of Fighters,
Project Diva, and
Persona 3/4. One of my staff members happens to be a HUGE Anime connoisseur and started buying up the Love Live set and learning the game. He taught it to me, and after years of playing Magic and months of playing Pokemon, it had some really refreshingly new mechanics that made it seem very interesting. Fast forward a couple months, and we have a
Pajama Girls vs.
Swimsuit Divas rivalry going on! The problem with niche games like these is always finding more people to play with so that it doesn't get stale. Luckily, we both work at a game store and have slowly been getting more and more people into the game each week. Hopefully, we'll soon have enough that we can start planning regular
Wiess Schwars days each week; we would ideally like to call it "Waifu Wednesdays" if possible
