A Round-Up by KK Seuss
Sunday, September 2, 2018
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Gamer kids these days (Jan-Feb 2018)
Jojo (aged 13) and Evan (aged 11) give their personal comments about the games they’ve been playing these days:
1. Codenames: Duet
Jojo: “Well, it’s a change from the original Codenames. I prefer the original one. I find this a bit harder when you’re playing in teams because sometimes you’re all not on the same page, and then you overthink it. Evan and I were on one team, while Mum and Dad were on the other team. I found it harder to decide what clues to give to the other team because you need to discuss it with your teammate. And the scoring and timer is more complicated than the usual one. I love the new artwork though! Was it fun? Well, the original Codenames was competitive, and I found that more fun compared to this one.”
Evan: “Where’s the gloating!? In this game, you can’t say to the other team, “In your FACE!” when you win! And it was FUNNY when the other team gets it wrong! That was missing from this game!”
2. Betrayal at the House on the Hill
Jojo: “I learnt something interesting with this game. Mummy says she doesn’t like this game when she first played it a long time ago - but I think that was because she played it with the wrong people! So far, we’ve played this twice, and I really enjoyed it, probably because I played it with the right people, like Dad and Evan. This game is partly like a role-playing game - you don’t know what is going to happen next because there are so many different possible outcomes. I wouldn’t have picked it off the shelf myself, mainly because I don’t like horror, gore, etc, but although this game is based off all that, I still had fun playing it! I think it puts scary things into a funny perspective! Nobody is striving to win or planning every single move - we’re just messing around to see what happens next. So yes, I found it fun and entertaining, and I want to play it again - I can even name some of my friends who would have a great time playing this!”
Evan: “I love this game! Especially when you can build the house to look real weird, like with a very long Upper Floor that protrudes over the Front Entrance! Love the different Haunts - we got the Mummy and the Cannibals. I really wanted to be the Traitor, and every time someone gets an Omen, we’d all cheer and hope for the Haunt to start! With Jo and me, it’s guaranteed fun as we make a lot of jokes while playing. I even found ways to mess with the Mystic Elevator - I wanted to use it to strand Dad in the basement! I think this game is really fun with friends who make fun of stuff!”
3. Clank!
Jojo: “I like all the cool cards, and the wonderful artwork. Usually in a game where you have a limited amount of time, I tend to stress out a bit more, but in this one - it was more fun than expected! I like replenishing the Dungeon Row, and reading the new cards to see what cool things they do. I never felt that I was in a situation where I had nothing to do.”
Evan: “I like stealing the first Artifact I can get to, and then getting out ASAP. This reminds me of a video-game “Bonanza Bros” where you steal stuff and get out. And I like it that after you get out, you go party on the roof which triggers more dragon attacks! It’s all about the bragging rights, y’all!”
1. Codenames: Duet
Jojo: “Well, it’s a change from the original Codenames. I prefer the original one. I find this a bit harder when you’re playing in teams because sometimes you’re all not on the same page, and then you overthink it. Evan and I were on one team, while Mum and Dad were on the other team. I found it harder to decide what clues to give to the other team because you need to discuss it with your teammate. And the scoring and timer is more complicated than the usual one. I love the new artwork though! Was it fun? Well, the original Codenames was competitive, and I found that more fun compared to this one.”
Evan: “Where’s the gloating!? In this game, you can’t say to the other team, “In your FACE!” when you win! And it was FUNNY when the other team gets it wrong! That was missing from this game!”
2. Betrayal at the House on the Hill
Jojo: “I learnt something interesting with this game. Mummy says she doesn’t like this game when she first played it a long time ago - but I think that was because she played it with the wrong people! So far, we’ve played this twice, and I really enjoyed it, probably because I played it with the right people, like Dad and Evan. This game is partly like a role-playing game - you don’t know what is going to happen next because there are so many different possible outcomes. I wouldn’t have picked it off the shelf myself, mainly because I don’t like horror, gore, etc, but although this game is based off all that, I still had fun playing it! I think it puts scary things into a funny perspective! Nobody is striving to win or planning every single move - we’re just messing around to see what happens next. So yes, I found it fun and entertaining, and I want to play it again - I can even name some of my friends who would have a great time playing this!”
Evan: “I love this game! Especially when you can build the house to look real weird, like with a very long Upper Floor that protrudes over the Front Entrance! Love the different Haunts - we got the Mummy and the Cannibals. I really wanted to be the Traitor, and every time someone gets an Omen, we’d all cheer and hope for the Haunt to start! With Jo and me, it’s guaranteed fun as we make a lot of jokes while playing. I even found ways to mess with the Mystic Elevator - I wanted to use it to strand Dad in the basement! I think this game is really fun with friends who make fun of stuff!”
3. Clank!
Jojo: “I like all the cool cards, and the wonderful artwork. Usually in a game where you have a limited amount of time, I tend to stress out a bit more, but in this one - it was more fun than expected! I like replenishing the Dungeon Row, and reading the new cards to see what cool things they do. I never felt that I was in a situation where I had nothing to do.”
Evan: “I like stealing the first Artifact I can get to, and then getting out ASAP. This reminds me of a video-game “Bonanza Bros” where you steal stuff and get out. And I like it that after you get out, you go party on the roof which triggers more dragon attacks! It’s all about the bragging rights, y’all!”
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Travels, Games and Airport Security. Or how many games can you stuff into a Codenames box?
QUEENSTOWN AIRPORT, NEW ZEALAND.
I’m going through the X-ray check-point just before the boarding gate when I hear the dreaded words that no passenger wants to hear.
“Excuse me, is this your backpack? Could you please step aside?”
“Sure, mate.” Okay, just smile and keep casual while frantically running through the mental inventory of what I packed into there. Oh God, I did not put the nail-clippers in there, did I? That’s an embarrassing rookie air-traveller mistake.
“Something came up in the X-ray,” explains the officer with my backpack. “Let me just have a look through, okay?” He’s nicer than most airport security personnel I’ve met so far. In fact, this whole country is filled with the nicest people in the world, almost as if the colonial powers back in the day had migrated all the nice people here and left all the grumpy ones back in the old country.
After a brief rummage (which fortunately was nail-clipper-less), he finally pulls out a box. “Can I open this?” he asks.
I stare at it. “Sure thing.” It’s Codenames. Why on earth would Codenames set off the X-ray machine?
Okay, well, yeah. There’s more than just Codenames in that box.
I’m going through the X-ray check-point just before the boarding gate when I hear the dreaded words that no passenger wants to hear.
“Excuse me, is this your backpack? Could you please step aside?”
“Sure, mate.” Okay, just smile and keep casual while frantically running through the mental inventory of what I packed into there. Oh God, I did not put the nail-clippers in there, did I? That’s an embarrassing rookie air-traveller mistake.
“Something came up in the X-ray,” explains the officer with my backpack. “Let me just have a look through, okay?” He’s nicer than most airport security personnel I’ve met so far. In fact, this whole country is filled with the nicest people in the world, almost as if the colonial powers back in the day had migrated all the nice people here and left all the grumpy ones back in the old country.
After a brief rummage (which fortunately was nail-clipper-less), he finally pulls out a box. “Can I open this?” he asks.
I stare at it. “Sure thing.” It’s Codenames. Why on earth would Codenames set off the X-ray machine?
Okay, well, yeah. There’s more than just Codenames in that box.
Saturday, January 20, 2018
Who are 'we' in 'Games We Play'?
First blog post for 2018, and I realise that we haven't updated (or created!) our profiles on our blog. So I decide to rectify this, and go round up the various members of the family today to interview them one at a time. Turned out to be an interesting exercise, with me asking gaming-related questions and typing furiously into the laptop while the family member drawled on about games they love to play.
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