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I will expound more on my next contributor, but suffice it to say for now that he falls within the lowest degree of geek. I will let you meet him a little yourself, and enjoy his thoughts on games from someon with a more rational point of view.

- Victor Monreal

If you were to ask you about my gaming credentials, I’d tell you that I am a gamer by marriage, not by blood. I’ve dabbled in a few games and gotten into a select few. But, despite the paucity of my gaming experience, I do think I have something to add to goicon.org, and that is my insight into the “married double date.” Since I got married 8 months ago, we’ve had “double dates” almost once a week, and we’ve learned some valuable lessons that I thought I’d pass on in my first post. Please feel free to add your own experiences or comments.

And now, how to ruin a game night with another couple (or couples):

- Start up a game and then get so carried away talking that every time your turn comes around, the game comes to a grinding halt. Like I said above, I’m not a hardcore gamer, but when I play, I like to play! Josh has extolled the virtues of gaming as a way to break down barriers and get to know people, but if you can’t play and talk at the same time, please step away from the table. One of the longest nights of my life was when I had this very experience playing dominoes with another couple
- Lose your temper. That same night, one of the guys in the group got angry at his wife for blocking one of his moves. She didn’t have the best handle on the strategy of that game, and when she sawed him off at the knees, it didn’t move her any closer to winning. For the rest of the night he was riding her about it. It took the fun out of the game and it definitely didn’t endear any of us to that bloke.
- Get in a fight and nag your spouse. This is similar to the previous point. The couple that taught us this one didn’t yell at each other, instead they took sarcastic jabs at each other all night long. At one point he said, “You’ve been annoying me since the day you said yes!” In addition to learning the details of every annoying tick my hosts could think of, they were so preoccupied with their spat that we were effectively divided into two different conversations: us and them. It was an easy decision to head home early that night.
- Don’t follow through on your plans. A couple of weeks back, a guy I go to church with told us that we “look like a gaming couple” and then said he would call me later in the week to set up a night to get together. The next week at church he had the same story. Now it seems it’s never going to happen, and it’s just bad form to keep missing the boat
- Talk about intimate details of your marriage. Your friends may NEVER look at you the same way again
- Teach a new game and then commence trashing the other couple. We’ve been guilty of this a couple of times when we’ve taught other couples how to play a delightful little partner card game called Tichu. This game is a lot of fun, but it has a bit of a learning curve with some of its crazy rules. Instead of dividing up and giving them a fighting chance against our experience, we demolished them. We haven’t gotten many requests to play this one again. You do the math.
- Continue playing a game long after the fun has faded. Ignore the blatant signs that people are continuing to play out of sheer obligation at your own risk
- Invite them over and then don’t offer to play any boardgames with them!

What have I missed that you would add? There has to be lots more…

I could have entitled my inaugural post, “How to compromise a marriage or friendship in 30 minutes or less.” However, that would only have applied to those among you who, like myself, subscribe to the outlandish idea of trying to win games that you play.

In a Pickle is a fun word game that is played with 4 players. 4 cards are layed out in the playing area, each facing outwards from the center, and each player starts with a hand of 4 cards. Each card has a single noun on it. Throughout the course of the game, players are challenged to show that certain cards are “in”, or “on” the noun on another card. For example, “Idaho” is in the “Universe” is a sure bet, while “Reflection” on the “Past” might cause some controversy. Disputes are settled by a simple up or down vote by each of the other players. I am sure you can see where this is going . . .

What makes it interesting is that as the game goes round, players who successfully show that thier card is “in” or “on” one of the cards in the center get to lay their card on top of one of the central cards. When the 4th card is played on a stack, a “Pickle” round is begun. During this special round, each player gets the opportunity to play a card on the most recently played card on the stack, with the last successful player taking the stack. Therefore, the player to start the “Pickle” round goes last, and is most likely to win the set. That is, of course, unless the other players decide that they shouldn’t.

The first player to collect 3 stacks wins the game. Now, it requires almost no though to anticipate when a “Pickle” round (and therefore a chance at a victory point) will begin, and play accordingly so that you get to start the round. However, the intrepid player will quickly learn not to do this. You see, playing this game is alot like watching Survivor; You cant win by jumping out ahead of the pack. If you do, the others can (and will) make up arbitrary reasons why a suitcase cant be in a doghouse, even though theres a piano in the trunk. The key is to lay low. If the others find out what your up to (winning the game that is) they will drag you down and crush you.

If you like playing games for fun, then I dont want to talk to you. But you’re sure to enjoy a game of “In a Pickle”.

-Todd Freed

I admit it. There are probably more than just three degrees to such a universally accepted label for those who enjoy games. But this week, I have the pleasure of introducing you to three of my favorite game players. And each of them certainly bears a different degree of geekiness.

Without further ado, I present you the thoughts of a man who was likely doomed to be a geek simply by blood. A close relative of mine, this man has enjoyed games for a larger percentage of his life than myself. He is a ravenous afficionado of good literature. He is, like many gamers I meet, a computer scientist of sorts, and has even programmed his own small but amusing games all ready. A hard-working student, and father of 3 hilarious girls, he has still agreed to provide us with some of his thoughts each week on the state of games, books, movies, fatherhood, marriage, and probably more. He has made me laugh for as long as I have known him. So, it is with great pleasure that I present to you: Todd Bert Freed.

I’m not really a geologist.

I think I’ve been in a room with a multitude of pretty rocks once, maybe twice, in my life. I was only there because I got lost on the way to a statistics class. But I do feel that I can be considered a gaming geologist. Here’s why:

In my still relatively short career as a gamer, I have been exposed to an incredible strata of people. I’ve had the opportunity to play games with doctors, physicists, flatworkers, world travelers, machinists, nurses, electricians, bankers, politicians, religious individuals, atheists, lawyers, madmen and sane, and the list could go on. I have gamed with democrats, republicans, libertarians, socialists, conspiracy theorists, and green party members. I’m not sure if I’ve met a constitutionalist, yet. One thing has been true with almost everyone of these experiences. I have enjoyed myself, greatly.
It always delights me to meet such a cross-section of humanity, and to interact with them, if only for an evening on a equal level. I find it astonishing how many different walks of life people come from. And, more to the point, how many of those different people are willing to sit down for a time to talk, and laugh over a hand of cards, a roll of dice, or the random draw of a tile. For those moments, the world always feels a little lighter to me, a little better, and maybe just a little smaller.

For those reasons, and my own selfish desire to always have an opponent handy, I keep doing my best to spread the word. To embed the knowledge of and desire to play more games that can bring so many different layers of mankind together, if just for an hour or two. And who knows, maybe as the pips come up in a full house, my house full of gamers will find something more in common.

Thanks for playing.

My understanding of one of the marvels of the human body is that if I lose a little blood, new quantities will be produced. My understanding is even that I don’t even have to lose it, per se to have more produced. The body is just constantly replenishing itself. I’m not a medical professional, but I do know some, so I am sure you can take these preceding sentences to be scientific fact.

This weekend, I learned the importance of creating a similar process in a game group. New blood is about the only thing that made a great game night happen last friday. I will probably never know all the reasons, but almost none of the core group of players I am used to entertaining were able to make it to Game Night at Wheelers on Friday. An upstanding local gamer, whom we will call Mark, did show up right at 6:30, and the two of us got to enjoy Rio Grande Games’ new offering To Court the King.

My father and brother walked in the door about 30 minutes late, and they had brought two friends with them. We all got to enjoy an original game called Rise of Heroes that was designed by Mark. So, that was very fun to enjoy something that you might only be able to play in southeast Idaho.

Then, at 8, two more first timers made an appearance. I sat down with Mike & Kelly and we all thoroughly enjoyed games of Marvel Heroes, Midgard, and To Court the King. I will say now that the little dice rolling gem is great to fill in the gaps between longer games. Mike & Kelly were great to game with, and Kelly indicated that Marvel Heroes was going to go on his buy list. His statement about the game was that, “It has a lot more too it than I expected.”

So, I have to say thanks again to all the people who attend my game nights, and keep me entertained. More importanly, I have to say that I have relearned how important it is to keep meeting people, sharing games with them, and adding to the stable of people willing to take a chance on boardgaming with you. New blood keeps the hobby alive, keeps your strategies sharper, and makes the die rolls that much sweeter.

Tune in next week, when some new contributors will begin to bring a special brand of flavor to the site, and get ready for more updates on the upcoming Idaho Convention for Boardgamers.

I just wanted to report on a great time that I had at one of our local game nights. The League of Extraordinary Gamers met this thursday, February 1st. I got the opportunity to stop by for a game of Midgard, which I taught to Melissa, Jed, and Trish.

The game moves along at an excellent pace, and we were done right around the 45 minute mark. It has some fun elements to it, with a little card drafting for anyone who has ever enjoyed Magic: The Gathering, and some rapid fire conflict for those who just want a bit of conquest in their evening. When we finished tallying scores after our 3 rounds of glory and Ragnarok, three of us were tied for 81 points.

To the rulebook, where it was revealed that the teacher, Josh, had won by collecting the most kingdom markers overall. Was it a glaring oversight? Cynics will say yes. In the end, everyone had a great time. I invite you to check out the photos that have been added to the gallery, highlighting this stellar event.

We’ve gotten off to a bit of a slow start, but the League of Extraordinary Gamers is getting ready to begin a new round of ladder competition.

We’re expanding the list of games that can be played now, by a factor of 10. So, if you’ve ever wanted to try, or are all ready good at any of the following:

Tigris & Euphrates
Ra
Samurai
Princes of Florence
Puerto Rico
Vegas Showdown
Blue Moon City
Yspahan
Midgard
Ingenious
Stop by a League of Extraordinary Gamers event soon, and take part in the Play Rewards program, where you can play these great games and win prizes while you do it. The current prize up for grabs is Martin Wallace’s Tempus.

Now, if there is anyone out there who has an interest in helping with the next Idaho Convention for Boardgamers, be sure and email Josh.

Thanks for playing.