What the Fluxx?!

I always turn my nose up at Fluxx, and I really don't know why.  If you ask me if I wanna play Fluxx, I'll probably go "eh, nah" or something like that.  I've got nothing against it, but it never really grabs my interest.

Now is why I explain that that makes NO sense.  Every time I play, I have a blast.  There's always laughing, and cursing, and card drawing or playing dilemma (which is part of the fun).  Last night I played and we got an hour long game in because it ended up with, at one point, draw 8 and play all.

Ok, mini-review time.  The game is fast to learn, and starts with one rule, draw one and play one.  From there it gets crazy, even the goal you're trying to reach changes as you play.  Games take between 5 minutes and an hour, in most cases.  You CAN win the game on the first hand, but don't bet on it Doc.

Last night we played Zombie Fluxx which is kind of a monster in its own right.  I'm not going to go into all the rules, but to be direct the rules are very simple, and the game gets so complicated it's hilarious.  Every time I play a Fluxx I leave loving the game, so next time someone suggests it, play.  If you don't gave it, grab a copy, as far as games go it's definitely on the cheaper side, and Loony Labs really hit it out of the park with this one.  I can't wait for Fluxx, the board game! (no, I'm not kidding!)

Group Play, what happened to party mode?

I just want to put in my two cents on something that's kind of bugged me since it came out.  The Kinect, from Microsoft.  Is it awesome?  Hell yeah, I can wave my hand and things happen like on Iron Man or Minority Report.  It's really fun to play with, and the implications aren't limited to games, but computer use, military application, even drafting, construction, and physical therapy could be really helped by this technology, without a question.

My question arose when I watched someone jumping around, kicking a ball in a Kinect soccer game, "head"ing it, and nearly diving to block shots on goal.  Was it neat?  Again, definitely, but I have to ask myself, at that point aren't you just finding more non-social ways to do social things?  If you want to play soccer, go outside and play!  Not only were the games taking you away from outdoor activities and things to do with friends away from the TV, now they're teaching you that you don't even need the outside activities, you can do them inside and alone.

I think we need more interactive games, and by interactive, I mean with other humans, talking, interacting with them, not a computer.  I remember friends hanging out at my house, drinking our mountain dew and playing Tekken, taking turns passing the controller around and laughing as someone got their ass kicked.  Video games can be social, but it feels like more and more they're encouraging you not to be.

Just my 4 cents worth (I never stop at 2).  Let me know what you think below, and I'll talk to you soon!

Random Game Night!

Happy friday!  So when was the last time you played a game just because you hadn't played it yet?  Sometimes you buy a bunch of board games and play most of them, but what happened to the fifth one that you bought with them?  Maybe you're at a friend's house and they suggest a game that you never heard of.  Maybe you were online and saw a downloadable PDF of a new RPG for you and your friends to try sometime.

Well if it's been too long since you've tried that, then do it.  Sure you love the games you play now, but take a chance, and love a new game, maybe one you haven't even heard of.  Go on, I'll wait.  As a matter of fact, after you play this weekend, come back here and comment what game you tried, so someone else can know what it's like!  Now scoot! Go have fun you lil whippersnappers!

Indie Developers? They named the DOG indie...

Ok ok, lame title, I know, but it just illustrates my point even more, how impressive indie game developers really are.  I just went to a gaming convention recently and I really thought I'd share something that surprised me.  There are a LOT of indie developers out there.  I mean some are pretty rough around the edges, but then again sometimes White-wolf publishes a lemon, and seriously, have you looked at D&D 4th?  But other ones are really gems.  Sometimes they need to be cleaned up and polished, sometimes they're just about there, but even the iffy ones I really have to give my respect to.

You guys are going to so much work, often years and years of your life dedicated to it.  Working your ass off to write, design, test, redesign, retest, reredesign, and so on.  Trying different dice mechanisms, randomizers and mechanics, changing stats, and doing so much more work with a game than most of us do at our real jobs.  So this is to all the private and public indie game writers out there, whether it's a paper game or computer, designed for a 4 hour session or year long campaigns, my hat goes off to you.

I can't say enough how much I love going to those indie booths and looking over the new games, and skimming the content, reading the flavor text and setting, and hearing about new mechanics.  Keep up the good work, designers, and if your'e a gamer, get to some of those cons and really meet the people behind the games, maybe even support their efforts.  I promise you that you'll be glad you did.

Players Vs. GMs?

Are you a good game master or a bad game master?  Do you drop houses on people who do things you don't like?  Do you make up magical slippers of teleportation?  Do you do the old "oh but it was all a dream" thing?  (grrr I hate that one)

It's better to ask yourself what makes a GM bad, rather than if you're a bad GM.  Was the movie "The Wizard of Oz" bad?  I know for a fact that you know someone who loves it, and someone else that thinks it's a terrible movie.  Games are the same way, you can't just follow a handful of rules and find the perfect game for every player.  Ask your players what they're enjoying, ask them what bothers them.  I asked you last week what makes a good GM because that's the questions that all good GMs ask.  Are you doing a good job.  The only ones that can tell you that are the players.  They're your customers, and they're always right (unless they botch a skill check) so talk to them.  Keep your players close to your decision making process.  It's their game too.

Remember, an amazingly designed dungeon that the players (players, not characters) hated working their way thorough isn't a good thing.  You're all on the same side in real life, you're trying to have fun, so if both sides aren't, then something needs to be fixed.

Get to the point already...

What makes a good game master for an RPG session?  Well first of all if you don't know what an RPG session is, this probably isn't the article for you.  There are a lot of things that will determine if a session, or even a campaign, goes well and I won't pretend to know every nuance or even be a master myself, but I'd like to share what I find to be a critical one.

More and more, people just don't want long exposition, even in the gaming community.  Do something while you narrate.  No, I don't mean to hire a monkey to dance in circles while you talk in a droning monotone, I mean make the players actually learn.  Give a little background, but make the players learn the rest.  At the same time, don't hide it too much either.  If it's a strange world they're dropped into don't spend the first session talking about it, but let them see someone getting in trouble for something they might have done if they hadn't witnessed it.  If they never saw the girl getting filleted into thin strips of beef because she dared to cover her mouth after she yawned, not during, then they wouldn't know to be extra careful with manners.

I'm learning every day that people want brief blurbs, bits of info in bite-sized chunks so they can digest and consider it, without feeling like they need to take notes.  Give it a try, let them get their own information at a piece by piece pace and see how that works for ya!

And no, if you're the JRR Tolkien kinda player that loves 4.5 hours of exposition with 2 die rolls mixed in, your'e not wrong, just not in the majority…  Though by modern rules of stigma, I guess that means you are wrong after all… sorry to break it to you, next time drink the kool aid sooner.