Board Game Breakfast - Strategery

Tom Vasel takes a look at things he found on the internet. Tom gives thoughtful input on a made-up word. Plus, many segments by a host of board gaming experts. Episode # 284

Segments:
0:22 Welcome
1:57 What You Missed on the Internet This Week
4:10 We Game Together
7:14 Accessorize
10:25 Dice Tower Productions
12:02 Speed Quiz
14:13 Solo Mode Games
16:13 Dice Tower Library Additions
17:14 No Enemies Here
19:55 Meeple University
21:54 Tom Thinks
27:13 Second Chance Shelf
29:12 Potable Gaming
31:14 Board Game evangelism
33:00 Closing Thoughts

This week’s Internet Links:

Game Recommendation

Chaz Marler on Integrity

Inside the Box Time Stories

Homemade Game Table

Shut up and Sit Down reviews Underwater Cities

Tribute to Paul Shabatowski

Check out the friendliest conventions on Earth!

[thenmac]

@Tom thinks: There is another reason why some players resort to strategy guides, or in my case playing versus very good opponents; to better ones self. A number of years ago, before getting into modern board gaming, I was one of those people who avoided playing any game in which my opponent(s) were much better than myself. Then one day I found Scrabble online. I was terrible at the game, and when I started those online players showed no mercy. I decided that for once I was not going to back down. They were a kind group of people that did not mind me playing with them. I knew I was going to lose everytime, but my goal was not to beat them, but to improve myself.

Slowly over months and even years of play I improved to their level and started to beat them about 50/50. We had mini tournaments that were neck and neck and I look back on the whole experience with very fond memories. I have since stopped playing scrabble and now love designer board games. While I would not even put scrabble in my top 10 games now, I will never forget the time I took to better myself at something I once thought I would never be good enough at.

I certainly don't do this with most of my games, but I encourage everyone to do this at least once in their life. It shows that you can take a fear of never getting better, and beating the odds. That little voice in our heads that says "i'll never be able to..." can be very loud. It feels very good when we can finally silence it.

[benjaminjohnson]

@potablegaming - I saw you at UKGE but you were busy at the time, otherwise I would have said hi and thanked you for your great segments! You cover a lot of the games we take on our travels :-)

[WeGameTogether]

The only times I've looked up strategy for games it is only for basic strategy on a heavy game that I know everyone else at the table has already played. Basically a way for me to "get up to speed" with everyone at the table. Some of those heavy games are brutal if you don't at least have some basic know how...
I'll never look up ways to break a game or find the "best" strategy. Figuring out a game is what makes them so fun for me. ~Randy

[MrSampsonne]

Randy and Ellen - You guys are great. I really appreciate your laid back style and you seem like a super fun couple to play games with. Thanks for sharing a little slice of your life with us.

[juanpablozabala]

Inside the Box is such an underrated channel. Production is of the roof and they are also hillarious!

[sebastiantrost]

In my local group I'm the most invested and usually the one to teach the games, which usually puts me at an inherent advantage: Simply by studying the components and researching the games (KS campaigns, BGG) I do a similar thing to reading strategy guides. Personally I like to dive deep into games and to read strategy guides, but I'm limiting it to games that are abundandly big (currently 40k), or where I've played and discovered enough to compare my findings. Reading and discussing strategies offers a way to experience a game outside of the local group and at any time one feels the urge to do so.
This is also why a limited but existing amount of randomness is very important in my/our games. Unlike chess, which is a good sport, but a bad game - as without a random element the better player will usually win - elements like the mandates in RisingSun, deckbuilding in ForbiddenStars, etc. make games interesting and exciting to me and my opponents.
Loosing is something I acutally enjoy (and thanks to my GF I've got quite experienced in it), as it shows that the game has life left in it and I love it when my friends read about games to get stronger, as it pushes the intensity.

[guillermoz]

We game together, I would love to hear your top games you guys love playing with just you 2🙌🏽

[thenmac]

@Randy and Ellen: I noticed Obsession on your shelf and wondered if you can do a segment on it in the future. My wife and I just picked it up and played it once. So far loving it. We put it up right up there with Viticulture. My wife and my friends wife both love Pride and Prejudice books/movies, so I can't wait for the four of us to play this. Very thematic.

[marks]

Hi Andy from Potable Gaming

I was the guy that came up and said hello to you at the expo!

Glad to hear you had a great time at UKGE, my wife and I loved it, keep up the good work with your segment :)

[Coffeemaker]

Good luck to Netters Plays. I will miss it.

[jimsmith]

Tom: First of all, let me say that I'm pretty ecstatic about you and the gang getting to new CONS around the world... it gives the whole gaming thing a new sense of perspective... would like to see more video.*** I was impressed with some segments from Sam last week... when he was at CMON... very spirited, very animated and humorous. This is what I liked about Sam when I first began to watch TDT some years ago... that sense of discovery and involvement. Sometimes he seems a little drowned out on the Thursday Breakfast. He did a great job opening up the Joan Of Arc game... good to see him get really excited. I really missed the intensive video coverage on the Brit Games Expo... the kind you all used to do a year ago, or so. It's good you're expanding but sometimes you don't get the depth.

[cbazler]

My husband and I are pretty evenly-matched when learning a new game together, and we both enjoy games much more when our scores are close (or at least when we both feel like we had a good game). If one of us started reading strategy articles, that balance would be destroyed. It also seems a little cheap: "Oh, you were TOLD how to play better by someone else? How nice for you." I don't know, it makes it seem like winning is more important to you than experiencing/exploring the game.

[DarthNVious]

One of the best TOM THINKS so far. Somebody just had to voice this gaming phenomenon for the community.

[arakuss]

Strategy articles can be useful to also see how something works. Ok you have these abilities how do they work with each other? Am I missing something? What stops a player from doing this strategy in a game? These are questions that strategy articles often answer. It also teaches you how to start thinking or seeing strategy as you play without having to read articles.

[nicksbordone]

I only read strategies for ccg type games. Even then I usually try to develop strategies myself, I just find it interesting. With other boardgames I don't because everyone is just playing for fun, and it would be silly to learn all the winning strategies for a game that my friends never played/ only played a few times

[ambrosehuang]

Board game evangelist: I played a lot of monopoly and risk and I think that led to my enjoyment of catan. I also like area control probably because of risk. I like dice combat also probably because of risk.

[centuryspicysalsa]

I usually only read strategy articles if I am REALLY bad at the game. For example, I was 0-4 at Scythe and then I read that having more than 5 workers was a bad idea. I won the next game. I don't go out and read strategy articles at games I'm really good at because that seems to defeat the purpose of gaming for me.

[trapper]

Glad to see @noenemieshere is back! nice accesible game for non-wargamers. reminds me a bit to memoir 44

[jasonbrown]

What happened to the Dead Last segment?

[wroot_lt]

Ellen's eyes opened on where all family budget goes :D