A Long Second

So I’d intended to write in this blog more, but many, many things have gotten in the way, including a distinct lack of desire to write.  I’ve also just been playing a lot be it board games, video games, and even softball (I help coach).  RPGs…not that much.  So let’s start there…

RPGs

I’ve been involved in just one of the sessions that my co-worker GMs.   Most of this is due to almost all the other sessions taking place on a Saturday where I’m either busy or just wanting to do other stuff.   I’ve suggested one other week-day game, but it got little to no traction from the other players.

I’d still love to take Blades in the Dark/Scum and Villainy or Pendragon for a spin, but my free time is dreadfully short and I tend to default to playing other sorts of games right now.

Video Games

Roguetech – I experienced a big revival with the Battletech PC game after discovering and installing this super mod.   I’ve even got 3 games going, though one is on a computer that I rarely use.  If you like Battletech, but want more mechs, more toys, and more detail, this mod is for you.  Battletech has quickly grown to my second-longest playtime on Steam.

Divine Divinity 2 – Since I last wrote, I’d put this down for awhile after getting off the initial island and doing a little exploration.  In the last week or two, I’ve polished off my game and tried to do some things, but feel a little stuck frankly.  I’m either entering into fights where I have to be super specific in how I approach it or I’m just wandering around (until i get into one of those fights and then I have to re-wander).

Slay the Spire – This game is #1 for playtime on Steam for me.  It’s just super simple, but super fun and the challenge of eeking out a reasonable deck is challenging but enjoyable.

Lego Harry Potter – My daughter got this for her birthday and she and I have been playing this off and on.  We played lots of Lego Star Wars on the Wii and now this has become our Switch game of choice (along with Mario Party).

Board Games

Went on a recent, family-fueled spending spree at one of my FLGS, with the following results:

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle – We beat the final game awhile back.  During the spending spree, we picked up the expansion (it was the game we went to buy), but have only had time to play the expansion once.

Codenames: Harry Potter – Also part of the spending spree, we’ve played 3 or 4 games of this one.  It’s the usual fun of Codenames with a Harry Potter theme and turned into a co-op game.

Terraforming Mars – The final thing we bought on the spree was the Hellas and Elysium board for TF Mars.  Also backed the Turmoil expansion on Kickstarter and will be getting Venus Next and Colonies.  Finally, the Game Trayz finally arrived from the BGG store and are definitely worth the money; we didn’t really have a problem with the flat player mats before, but both appreciate the extra surrity the Game Trayz give us and we finally had a couple table bumps that made the Trays well worthwhile.

This is still the go-to game for my wife and I when we have a couple hours to burn.  Our recent game on Elysium was a relatively low-scoring affair where I tried to do plants and heat, while my wife killed my plants and also did heat.  Despite snaking Ecologist from my wife, she came out on top by 6 or 7 points.

Prior to that, on our first play on the Elysium board, I’d managed a resounding (and rare) 20+ point margin of victory and on our first play of Hellas, my wife eeked out a win by 2 points.