Shopping Spree

Today I took Z on a little birthday shopping spree. Al came along to carry the packages.

First stop was Time Machine, the most awesome hobby shop in the world. Z picked out a little fairy figure and a pack of gum as a reward for behaving at game club while I was trapped in the endless game of Power Grid. I picked up Rails of Europe and three green glitter dice. Al got nothing.

Then on to the Mall.

Build-A-Bear. Z used her birthday Build-A-Bear coupon to get PJs for her stuffed cat. Al got nothing.

Limited Too. They were having a buy 1, get 2 free sale on accessories. For some reason games are considered accessories. Z got High School Musical Mystery Date, a pillow with speakers in it for her ipod, and a Polly Pocket. Total cost $16. Al got nothing.

Bath & Body Works: Al got sexy shower gel that makes him smell all outdoorsy and manly. Al says that technically he still got nothing, since the shower gel is really for me.

Z and I played Mystery Date when we got home. Z says she rates it a 20.

And More Playing Children's Games

Saturday, Z "took a tone" with me, so I banned Disney channel for a week. If you take the TV away, you have to actually pay attention to your child for an extra hour every evening. Last night Z wanted to play Once Upon a Time, but we couldn't find it. She noticed the Icehouse stashes in the card game drawer, and decided she wanted to play "that game." So I taught Al and Z how to play a modified Zendo. I expected the game to crash and burn, but Z and Al really enjoyed it. Z wasn't too bad at it either. Z wanted to play Zendo again tonight, but my brain was too burnt from work, so we played Castle Keep and Clue instead. Al really dislikes Clue. He was so miserable.

The Z Girl

Z added all her games to her Boardgame Geek user ID and rated them all. She gave about a third of her games a 10. Kids feel strongly about stuff. There is not a lot of middle ground. She also edited her own profile. I think she was a bit nervous about my seeing what she wrote about me, but I can't fault the child for being honest. Truth is, it made me laugh. At least she didn't say I drink and I smoke and I tell dirty jokes.

The upshot of this is that I took Z's games off my account, so I can sort through the adult and family games we have a bit more easily.

Sword & Skull

Played Sword and Skull with Z and Al today. Sword and Skull is a great mainstreamy, kid's game with a Talismany/Monopoly feel. I know some gamersnoots who think these type of games are a waste of time, and want their kids to play "intellectually challenging" Euro games. But kids just really enjoy these roll and move and get stuff type games. These games are really designed for kids to play with other kids. I think the -ology games may also fall into this category. I know Ghost really likes Dragonology: The Game. I am thinking of getting one of the -ology games for Z to play with the other kids on game club days.

A Family Game Day

This morning started with a flat tire, a cat with an oozeing incision, and a child that had to be picked up at Sunday school. Triple A and a vet with Sunday emergency hours salvaged the day. By noon the tire was changed, the cat was medicated, and Z was home watching Wizard Oz, while I enjoyed a well earned Bloody Mary followed by a nap on the sofa.

I was awakened by the sound of something being dumped on the coffee table next to my head, and Z poking me in the arm.

"Play with me," she said.

I opened my eyes to a large stack of games inches from my face. Well why not?

We started with Mastermind. Z had never played before. It was gratifying to watch her learn and see her excitement build as she caught on to how solve the puzzle. Mastermind was my favorite game when I was Z's age, and I believe it played a large part in developing my own approach to problem solving.

After several rounds, Al joined us, so we needed a three player game. Z choose Capt'n Clever. I beat Z by one treasure, which frustrated her to no end. Losing with grace is a skill we continue to work on.

Z and Al tried to convince me to play Twister with them. I agreed to man the spinner, but there was no way I was going to risk injury on the mat. Z lost twice, but laughed each time.

Z then pulled out O Zoo le Mio, but then changed her mind and choose Blurt instead. Blurt gives me a headache. Actually, that's not entirely correct. A small child yelling out answers 18 inches from my ear gives me a headache. I am seriously considering donating this game to Z's school. Teachers are accustomed to yelling children, aren't they.

Horse Show, O Zoo le Mio, Creepy Freaks and Sword and Skull are currently stacked up on the sideboard waiting to be played, but I don't think we will get to them tonight. I think it is bath time.

Return of the Heroes

I just played a very frustrating game of Return of the Heroes. It was the first time that we played with the Under the Shadow of the Dragon expansion, which made the game much longer and more complicated.

The primary issue, however, was that Z decided she wasn't going to listen to anyones advice, and ended up in difficult situations that made her cranky and whiny. The first mistake she made was playing the hobbit, which is one of the new characters. The hobbit has only three hit points and only moves 2 spaces. Then she wouldn't listen to any advise about were to place her manor house, and placed it next to the White Village, where you can get healed. Therefore, she had fewer areas on the board where she could heal than the other players did. She also completely fixated on fighting the dragon to win the game. She focused on her dragon quest, and ignored doing other small quests.

Her character got killed one space away from her manor house, which resulted in major tears. We decided that since she didn't start the game with the bonus that we sometimes give her, that her bonus would be a one time "you don't lose your last life" potion. She got impatient with moving slowly, so she kept using the teleporter, which shot her everywhere on the board except where she needed to go, and ended up taking her longer to get anywhere than if she had just moved there normally. Finally she got impatient for her dragon quest chits to come out, so she spent all her gold at the mystic to pull the chits she wanted from the bag. She then didn't have the gold that she needed to actually complete one stage of her quest.

We finally ended up conceding the game to Al, which is the nice way of saying, we had to quit before we all ended up in a bad mood.

We separated out the expansion from the base game, and decided that we would just play the base game until Z gets a little older. Al also wants to try Shadow of the Dragon as a stand alone. He thinks that since it is only 9 tiles, it may play more quickly than Return of the Heroes, which would be a good thing. Although it says that it is only a two player game, Al says we should try it with three.

Wacklepudding Cards

Downloaded the English translation of the Wacklepudding cards. Formated them to fit on lables just slightly longer than standard playing cards. Sliced off the extra with the papercutter (Z had to help me find that). Stuck them on an old deck of cards. They came out all kinds of awesome. Or well, at least useable.

Busy Playing

I have been so busy playing, I haven't been keeping up with my blog. I also haven't finished writing anything for F:AT. I have several things started, but haven't had the focus to pull anyof them together into something that makes sense. Maybe I should just throw up my mad ramblings, and let people connect the dots by themselves.

D came up for a visit at the end of June. We spent 5 days playing. He borrowed some games from some very nice guys. The biggest hit was Kapitän Wackelpudding. Although it is impossible to find a copy, I happened across a couple of Wackelpudding type dice in a bargin bin last weekend (29 cents each). I gave them to Z and told her that she could make up her own game with her blocks.

Boosters

If you ever have the chance to surprise a kid by dumping out 50 packs of boosters in front of them, go for it.

Harry Potter TCG

I picked up a starter set of the Harry Potter Trading Card Game last weekend (see ultimate geek day). It was an impulse buy at the counter for $4.99.

Z really likes Harry Potter and we have a few Harry Potter themed games. They mostly suck. But hope springs eternal.

Tonight Z and I played. It's a kid's game, but it was still pretty fun. You get to have a wizards' duel. How fun is that! Z really liked it. It is fast (about 10 - 15 minutes) and easy and captures the flavor of the books. The best Harry Potter themed game I've played. So I ordered a couple boxes of boosters ($2 a box) for Z. She is going to be tripping ripping open those packs.

Heroquest

Z changed her mind about playing Mutant Chronicles: Siege of the Citadel and decided that she wanted to play HeroQuest today. She plays the dwarf, but pretends she's a hobbit. I play the elf. We used the female figures that I painted back in my youth, and still keep in their special box. Al was the DM. We played the second mission. Since we were playing only two characters, Al declared a special sale at the equipment shop - 2 shields and 2 helmets for exactly the amount of gold that we had earned from the first mission. Z gets a little flipped out about losing hit points, so the extra defense is a good thing. Al always adjusts the game to keep Z's character alive during the game so that she doesn't freak out, however she doesn't realize this, so the game is always tense for her. It was a lot of fun. Z found a broadsword early on, and happily slashed her way through the monsters. At one point, I used the walk through rock spell to move into an adjacent room while Z kept the monsters busy up front. I kicked in the back door and dealt two swift blows to the chaos warrior on the other side. Z thought that was so cool that she had to act that bit out a couple of times using the living room door before we could continue. We completed the mission and returned with a pile of treasure.