SkimbleCat's Ramblings

Dixit

2011-06-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

Dixit is a visually stunning board/card game. The game had been recommended to my gaming group before PAX, but we hadn't had a chance to try it out until recently.

Dixit is for 3-6 players age 8 and up and an average game takes about 30 minutes.

Each turn a player is the Storyteller - they look at the six cards in their hand and come up with a one or more word sentence to describe the card they've chosen. Telling the other players the sentence, the other players then look through the six cards in their hands and choose one that best matches what the Storyteller described. The Storyteller then takes the cards, shuffles them face down and turns them face up on the table. The other players then use a numbered token to choose which card they think was described by the Storyteller.

If everyone or no one chooses the Storyteller's card then the Storyteller gains no points that turn and everyone else scores 2 points. Otherwise, the Storyteller and anyone who chose the correct card scores 3. Players score 1 point each time their card is chosen by another player. Points are tracked on a board by moving coloured rabbits along a marked trail.

The mechanics of the game are simple, but after playing a few rounds we discovered there is a skill you need to develop for this game. You don't want to be too obvious or too vague when describing your card, or you will get no points for that turn (this happened to me a lot!).

I highly recommend this game; it has great re-playability and really gets your imagination going!

Originally posted at Pretty Gamer

Gloom

2011-06-20T13:00:00.000-07:00

Gloom is published by Atlas Games, and is a quirky, cheerful and uplifting card game. No, wait, that's not right. Gloom is horrible, depressing and a ton of fun!!

Gloom is a card game for 2-4 players ages 8 and up. The average game takes about an hour. Cards for this game are unique - they are transparent plastic, so when you stack cards you can easily see what effects are still in play.

When you play Gloom you control the fate of a family of misfits and weirdoes. Your goal is simple: you want your family members to suffer the worst tragedies possible before they die. Some examples of the tragedies are Distressed by Dysentery and Terrified by Topiary. These modifiers have negative point values and lower your Self Worth, and you want each member of the family to have the lowest possible Self Worth before they die. The problem is your opponents are trying to lower their Self Worth, and raise yours - by playing modifiers that cheer you up and have positive point values (such as Wondrously Well Wed or Delighted by Ducklings).

The game ends the instant an entire family is eliminated. Each player then counts the visible points on each of their dead family members to determine the winner - the one with the lowest total score.

There are a few other types of cards as well, some that block effects, some which have immediate or ongoing special effects, etc.

I played Gloom at VCon and had fun. Adding to the atmosphere, each player should contribute an element of storytelling as they play - explain how Cousin Mordecai The Red-Headed Stepchild was Pierced by Porcupines!

Originally posted at Pretty Gamer

Elmer

2011-06-16T13:00:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what possessed me to buy the Elmer graphic novel - I have a vague recollection of seeing listed somewhere as a "must read" but I rarely agree with those lists. :-) I was in my Friendly Local Comic Book Store the other day to buy the MouseGuard Legends of the Guard graphic novel when I spotted a copy of Elmer on the shelf. I took a quick glace at it and decided what the hell.

Elmer was created by Gerry Alanguilan, and is a thought provoking story - what if one day chickens developed human-like consciousness and the ability to speak? The chickens then push to get rights as the newest members of the human race. The story starts after the chickens have been granted rights, and is told as a family drama/coming of age story.

It sounds like an odd concept, but I really recommend reading Elmer. I found the story to be very engrossing - how would you feel or react if something that was a food source suddenly became sentient and had the ability to talk? What about those who make their living off this food source?

Originally posted on Pretty Gamer

Forbidden Island

2011-06-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

Your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to capture the four sacred treasures hidden on Forbidden Island. But wait, there's more! The ancient mystical empire that hid the treasures also designed the Island to sink if intruders ever came to Forbidden Island. Will you and your team be the first to enter Forbidden Island, find the treasures, and make it out alive!?

(*dramatic music*)

Forbidden Island is a cooperative boardgame for 2 to 4 players ages 10 and up, and an average game takes about 30 minutes to play.

The game comes in a cool metal box containing:

28 Treasure cards (these are good)
24 Flood cards (these are bad)
6 Adventurer cards (these are the roles of the Adventurers)
24 island tiles (these are the areas of the Island)
6 pawns (these are the Adventurers)
4 treasure figurines (The Earth Stone, The Statue of the Wind, The Crystal of Fire, and The Ocean's Chalice)
1 water meter
1 water level marker
Rules of play

Forbidden Island is similar to Pandemic, but simpler. The object of the game is to keep Forbidden Island afloat long enough to capture the four treasures and escape via helicopter from Fools' Landing.

After you shuffle the island tiles and lay them out, each player takes a random Adventurer card. The Adventurer card tells you what role you will be playing (Explorer, Pilot, Engineer, Diver, Messenger or Navigator). Each role has a special ability that gives an advantage in the game. Take a moment to look at the island tiles - these will indicate where each Adventurer starts the game, and where each Treasure can be captured.

Each player's turn consists of three things:
1) Take up to 3 actions. Your actions can be a combination of these standard actions (note that your Adventurer card may allow you to do additional actions):

Move
Shore Up - if a section of the Island is flooded, this action flips the tile back to normal
Give a Treasure card - give a Treasure card to another player
Capture a Treasure - discard 4 matching Treasure cards if your pawn is on the corresponding tile

2) Draw 2 Treasure deck cards. There are 5 of each Treasure card in the deck, as well as 2 types Special Action cards and the Evil Waters Rise! cards. Drawing a Waters Rise! card causes the Water Level marker to move up the Water Meter, which will cause more of the Island to flood each turn (this is bad).

3) Draw Flood cards equal to the water level. Each Flood card is a tile location - so if that location is normal, you flip it over to indicate it is flooded. If that location is already flooded, then that location sinks and is out of the game.

You win the game by collecting all four treasures and getting all the Adventurers back to Fools' Landing.

You lose the game if:

You don't manage to collect all four treasures (those tiles sink before you collect the treasure)
Fools' Landing sinks
Any player is on an tile that sinks and there are no adjacent tile to swim to
The water level reaches the skull and crossbones.

Scott Kurtz wrote a PVP comic about Forbidden Island, and Gabe from Penny Arcade had tweeted about the game. I finally had a chance to demo the game at PAX and it was a blast. We had an epic 5 person game with the woman who was running the demo, and we barely won.

I recommend picking this one up - the rules are pretty straight forward, the game is pretty inexpensive, and it could be a good gateway game to encourage your non-gamer friends to become cooler :-)

Originally posted at Pretty Gamer

Revolution!

2011-06-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

Revolution! is a board game in which you're secretly bidding against your opponents to control territory and gain the support of the masses. Revolution! is produced by Steve Jackson games, is for 3-4 players and a game lasts about an hour.

The board consists of the seven areas of town and a support track running around the edge of the board. The goal is to have the most support at the end of the game. Each area of town holds a number of influence cubes, at the end the player with the most cubes in an area has control of it and gains the associated support.

Each player gets their own Bid Board and screen. You place your bids on the Bid Board while it's protected by the screen, when everyone is ready the screens are lifted to reveal the bids. The Bid Board has twelve spaces that represent influential people who will assist you on that round, if you win that bid! There are three types of tokens used to bid - Force, Blackmail and Gold.

A round of play goes through four stages:

1) Espionage - Since the town is full of spies, everyone knows what resources everyone else has. At the beginning of the round the players must show the tokens they are starting with.

2) Bidding - Secretly place tokens on your Bid Board behind the screen. You can place a maximum of six bids and you must use all your tokens. One Force token will beat any amount of Blackmail or Gold. One Blackmail token will beat any amount of Gold. Some people cannot be forced or blackmailed.

3) Resolution - All players lift their screens to reveal their bids. Bids are resolved in the same order every time - starting at the top left of the Bid Board (the General) and working down to the bottom right (the Mercenary). If you're the only player to bid on that person then you win and receive whatever benefit is listed. If two or more players bid on the same person then the player with the highest bid wins. If the bids are tied or no one bids on a person then that benefit doesn't occur this round. After the bids are resolved return tokens used in that bid to the bank.
Winning a bid provides a benefit. If the person grants support then move your scoring token around the track on the edge of the board. If the person grants tokens (Force, Blackmail or Gold) then get those tokens from the bank and place them aside until the next round. If the person grants influence then place one of your influence cubes in the specified location on the board.

4) Patronage - After all bids have been resolved check the number of tokens each player has. If they have less than five then take gold tokens from the bank to bring them back up to five tokens. You can only get Force and Blackmail tokens from winning bids. After this phase a new round begins.

The game ends when all the influence spaces on the board are full. Players then score support from the areas they control and from the tokens in their hands. To control an area you don't need to have the majority of the influence spaces, just the most. The winner is the player with the most support.

We were introduced to this game at VCon while waiting to play something else. There's a fair amount of strategy and trying to second-guess your opponents, you want to try to predict where and how much your opponents will be bidding. The game play is simple, but the strategy really adds a level of complexity.

Originally posted at Pretty Gamer

Poo!

2011-06-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

Who wants to play Poo?! Wait, where are you all going?!

Poo is a fun, fast paced card game for 2-8 players ages 8 and up, and takes less than 15 minutes to play.

It's quite the intellectual game. Here is the basic concept: Each player is a monkey, and you fling poo and mess with each other until only 1 monkey remains. I am fairly certain no poo or monkeys were actually harmed in the making of this game.

The game play is pretty straight forward. Start the game with 5 cards each. At the start of your turn you draw a card into your hand. You can then play a card from your hand - usually to fling poo at another monkey or to clean yourself off. Outside of your turn you can use cards to defend yourself from incoming poo or foil the other monkey trying to fling poo. After you play a card, draw another card from the pile. Different cards cause (or remove) different amounts of poo, and when you reach 15 points of poo you are out of the game.

There are 5 types of cards in the game:

- Poo: these cause poo points to your opponents. Some target 1 opponent, others target multiple opponents. Eg: King Kong Poo, The Big One

- Defense: these can be played outside of your turn as an opponent is about to fling poo on you, and stops or redirects any poo points that would have been given to you. Eg: Block, Dodge

- Mishap: these can be played outside of your turn as an opponent is about to fling poo on you, and causes a negative effect to the poo flinger. Eg: Just a Fart, Cramp

- Clean: these are played during your turn to remove poo points from you Eg: Found a Towel, Sharing the Love

- Event: these are played during your turn, and have an effect on the game. Eg: Zookeeper Turns on the Hose, Escaped Tiger

While clearly aimed at a younger audience, this game is a blast for adults as well. There is very little strategy involved, but you can add a social aspect by ganging up on a particular player or trying to protect a player. We played a couple games of Poo on the ferry ride home from PAX.

I was going to wrap up by saying this is a fun quick game that could be played anywhere, but I don't think you should ever play with poo at the dining room table.

Originally posted at Pretty Gamer

Munchkin

2011-06-02T13:00:00.000-07:00

SETTING:

A stark room with a single light over the table. Four people sit around the table, clutching cards in their hands and warily watching each other. There are a number of cards and a single d10 in front of each person. The room has a palatable sense of tension.

Player 1:

I choose to fight the Large Angry Chicken.

Player 2:

Now it's a Humongous Large Angry Chicken!

Player 3:

Ha! Now it's an Ancient Humongous Large Angry Chicken! Take that!

Player 4:

I will help you for all the treasure cards. If you say no, I'll play a Wandering Monster and guarantee you loose the combat.

Player 1:

*sighs* I hate you all.

Have you ever played Munchkin? I think it's one of the most well known geeky card games out there. The text on the box neatly sums up the goal of the game: Kill The Monsters - Steal The Treasure - Stab Your Buddy.

In the basic game (there are a number of other sets that I will discuss in future articles) you and your buddies are Dungeon Explorers and you're competing with each other to kill monsters and grab magic items. The first player to Level 10 wins the game - so do your best to screw your buddies and stop them from gaining levels!

Munchkin really is a ton of fun. Reading through the rules the first time can be confusing, I think it is best to just sit down with some friends and start playing a few games.

There are two decks of cards in the game - Door cards and Treasure cards.

Door cards are:

Monsters (eg. Gelatinous Octahedron or *shudder* Lawyers)
Monster modifiers (eg. Ancient or Baby)
Character classes (eg. Cleric, Thief )
Character races (eg. Dwarf, Elf)
Curses (eg. Chicken on Your Head, Duck of Doom)

Treasure Cards are:

Items (eg. Chainsaw of Bloody Dismemberment, Pantyhose of Giant Strength)
Potions (eg. Potion of Halitosis, Flaming Poison Potion)
other treasures (eg. Go Up a Level)

Each turn goes through a sequence of actions. First you Kick Down The Door (drawing a door card). If it's a monster, then you can choose to fight it or try and run away. If it's a curse then it takes effect immediately. If you didn't fight a monster, then you can choose to Look For Trouble by playing and fighting a monster from your hand. If you didn't meet a monster at all that turn you can then Loot The Room and draw a Door card into your hand. Defeating a monster will net you level(s) and treasure.

Combat is the best part of this game. Each monster has a level, and to see if you can defeat the monster you add up your level and any bonuses from items in play. If your total is greater than the monster's level then you win! But wait, there's more! Once you decide to fight a monster your buddies get 2.6 seconds to decide if they will try and screw you over. They can play Monster Enhancers (making the monster stronger), items, curses, anything they can to make it so you loose the fight. This can get pretty nasty. :-)

If you can't beat the monster, you're allowed to ask for help - one other player can choose to assist you (adding their level and item bonuses to yours). But why would they help you? They are trying to win! You often have to sweeten the deal by offering some or all of the treasure cards to get them to help you.

There's a great Munchkin Flowchart available to guide you through the game.

Take the time to read each card as it comes into play, the cards are pretty damn funny and the artwork just adds to it all! In the case of a conflict between the rules and what the card says, the card always wins.

Remember - cheating is not only allowed, it's expected!

Originally posted at Pretty Gamer

Defenders of the Realm

2011-05-30T13:00:00.000-07:00

I had some friends over the other night and we played our first game of Defenders of the Realm. I had first heard of this game a few months ago, and had been wanting to try it. I picked up a copy at PAX, and couldn't wait to play it.

Defenders of the Realm is a fantasy based co-operative board game, for 1-4 players ages 13 and up. An average game takes about 2 hours. As a co-operative game, the players work together to a common goal - the game has similar mechanics as Arkham Horror, if you are familiar with that game. The art for the game is all done by Larry Elmore, and it is awesome!

Each player takes the role of a Hero (Cleric, Dwarf, Eagle Rider, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, or Wizard) and you must defend the King and save the lands from the Evil Bad Guys (Balazarg, Gorgutt, Sapphire, and Varkolak)

The game comes in a large box with a ton of stuff:

Rulebook
24" x 30" Game Board
8 Hero Character Cards
8 Hero Miniatures
4 General Character Cards
4 General Miniatures
100 Minions [25 Black (Varkolak’s Undead) 25 Blue (Sapphire’s Dragonkin) 25 Red (Balazarg’s Demons) 25 Green (Gorgutt’s Orcs)]
War Status Board
Deck of 56 Darkness Spreads Cards (these are used to spread the Bad Guys around the world)
Deck of 96 Hero Cards (these are multipurpose cards that are used with actions
Deck of 24 Quest Cards (these are side quests that get that reward the Heros)
12 Tainted Crystals
5 Magic Gate Tokens
12 Dice -3 per color (Black, Blue, Red, Green)
7 Status Tokens (War Status, 4 General Wound Markers, 2 Eagle Rider Status)
42 Life Tokens

The miniatures are plastic, but I think I might paint the Heros and the Generals to make them look even cooler.

Each players turn is comprised of 3 phases:

Daytime - player takes a number of actions equal to their number of Life Tokens. Actions are movement, using a special skill, listening for rumours at an inn, building a magic gate, healing the land, healing wounds, engaging enemy minons in combat, or engaging enemy Generals in combat.
Evening - player draws 2 Hero cards to their hand
Night - badness happens!! This is the time when the Bad Guys advance and Try to Take Over the World.

Players win the game by defeating all 4 generals. Players loose the game if any of the following occur:

any of the 4 generals move into Monarch City
if a Darkness Spreads Card identifies minions to be placed on the board and you do not have enough minions to meet the requirements of the card
the last of the 12 Tainted Crystals is added to the board
if 5 enemy minions are in Monarch City at any time

My friends and I had a fun time playing this game. I think the first run through is a bit slower as you are refering back to the rulebook a lot, but as you become familiar with the rules it will go faster.

Yes, we won our game, but it was close. We were so focused on defeating the minions and Generals, we sort of forgot about the Taint spreading across the world. I think we were at 11 Taint crystals (12 looses the game) when we defeated the last General!

Originally posted at Pretty Gamer

Thunderstone

2011-05-26T13:00:00.000-07:00

Thunderstone is a fantasy-themed deck building card game from Alderac Entertainment Group. It is for 1 to 5 players, ages 12 and up, and the average game takes about an hour. That's right - this game has solo rules.

The base game comes with over 500 cards and the goal is to build your deck with stronger and stronger heroes and better weapons and gear to defeat the monsters until you finally claim the Thunderstone. There are three expansion sets for the game as well (Doomgate Legion, Dragonspire, and Wrath of the Elements).

The setup for the game can take a while at first, until you get used to it. Learn from my error - the cards come in groupings so don't mix them up. :-) Once you get a handle on the setup and sort the cards properly, setup becomes much quicker.

You don't use all the cards in every game. To determine what will be in the game, you use the special randomizer cards - there are randomizer cards for each type of Hero cards, Village cards, and Monster cards. To start, find the monster cards that match what you picked from the randomizer - shuffle these together to form the Dungeon Deck. Count off 10 of these, shuffle in the special Thunderstone Card, and put them on the bottom of the pile. Leave space beside the Dungeon Deck for the 3 ranks of Monsters to defeat.

Next you set up the Village. There are the four types of Basic cards that are used in every game of Thunderstone - Militia, Torch, Iron Rations, and Dagger. Additionally there are the Village cards chosen by the randomizer cards. Do NOT shuffle the Village cards - each type is put on the table in its own pile.

Last thing to set up are the Heroes - for each class of Hero there are 3 levels, and each is piled with the level 3 cards on the bottom and the level 1 cards on top.

To start, each player draws 6 Militia cards, 2 Dagger cards, 2 Iron Ration cards, and 2 Torch cards. Shuffle these together and draw 6 cards to form your hand. The remaining 6 cards stay face down as your Party Deck. As you play the game you discard cards into your discard pile and work through your Party Deck. Only once the Party Deck is gone do you shuffle the discard pile and place it face down to form your Party Deck. Each time you purchase cards or defeat monsters the cards go into your discard pile, so the deck gets bigger all the time. In some circumstances cards are destroyed - so they go into a separate pile and are not shuffled back into your Party Deck.

On your turn you have 3 options - you can Visit the Village, Enter the Dungeon, or Rest:

1) If you Visit the Village you reveal you hand, count up the amount of gold you have (indicated on the cards in your hand) and can purchase one card with a value up to the amount of gold you have. You can buy items, weapons, spells, or heroes. Anything you buy goes into your discard pile. If you have enough experience points, you can also choose to level up any or all of the Hero cards in your hand. At the end of your turn you discard all cards in your hand (whether you used them or not) and draw 6 new cards from your Party deck.

2) If you Enter the Dungeon you reveal your hand, declare what monster you are attacking, and resolve the combat. If you defeat the monster you put that card in your discard pile. Shift the monster cards on the table to fill empty ranks from the Dungeon Deck (ie if you defeated the monster in Rank 2, move the monster from Rank 3 to Rank 2, and draw a new monster card and place it in Rank 3). At the end of your turn you discard all cards in your hand (whether you used them or not) and draw 6 new cards from your Party deck.

3) If you choose to Rest you may Destroy one card from your hand (remove it from the game, it does not go in your discard pile). At the end of your turn you discard all cards in your hand (whether you used them or not) and draw 6 new cards from your Party deck.

The game continues until a player has collected the Thunderstone or the Thunderstone moves to Rank 1 of the Dungeon because a monster was not defeated. Each player then counts the amount of Victory Points they have (not all cards have Victory Point values) and the player with the highest total wins.

Overall the game is a ton of fun. There are a few suggestions I would make - I think the pictures on the Hero cards should be different for each level so you can easily see what level it is (eg perhaps older, or better equipment). I think the biggest challenge of this game is keeping the cards in order :-)

I would highly recommend this game to anyone who has played Dominion or Ascension, or anyone looking to get into a non-collectible card game.

Originally posted at Pretty Gamer

Cthulhu Dice

2011-05-23T13:00:00.000-07:00

Cthulhu Dice is a quick dice and token game from Steve Jackson Games – makers of some of my favourite games! The game is for 2-6 players and most games last 5-10 minutes. The game comes with a big custom 12 side die, 18 glass tokens, and the rule sheet. At this point there are 6 colour variants on the cool Cthulhu die:

Black	Green	Glow in the dark die
Yellow	Purple	Glow in the dark ink

Like most games of this sort, the mechanics themselves are quite simple and straight forward. Each player starts with 3 sanity tokens. The attacking player (the Caster) chooses who to attack (the Victim) and rolls the die. Deal with the result (see below) and then the Victim gets to respond by rolling the die and dealing with the result. The die is then passed to the next player and the sequence repeats. The game ends when only 1 player has any sanity left at the end of a turn. If no one has any sanity left, then Cthulhu wins!

The die has 5 different symbols on it, each with a different effect:

	Yellow Sign – your target loses 1 Sanity to Cthulhu (put Sanity token in the middle of the table)
	Tentacle – Caster takes 1 Sanity from the Victim (no matter who rolled it)
	Elder Sign – you gain 1 Sanity from Cthulhu
	Cthulhu – everyone loses 1 Sanity to Cthulhu
	Eye – Choose any result above

This game (similar to Zombie Dice) is a great game to play when you have a few minutes to kill.

Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!!

Originally posted at Pretty Gamer

ElfQuest free online!

2011-05-21T09:34:00.000-07:00

Wow, the complete ElfQuest comic is now available online!

If you have never read ElfQuest, or if it has been years, run (don't walk) and go read this! ElfQuest is a classic...

Death Star PR: FLOWCHART: How to Deal With Your Impending Doom

2011-05-20T22:04:00.000-07:00

Death Star PR: FLOWCHART: How to Deal With Your Impending Doom: "FORM 2B/N07-2B: NOTIFICATION OF IMPENDING DOOM Dear Citizen of Planet ________________________, It has come to our attention that you..."

Zombie Dice

2011-05-20T21:10:00.000-07:00

Zombie Dice is a great dice game from Steve Jackson Games. According to the dice cup, the game is for 2 or more players, will take 10-20 minutes, and is recommended for ages 10 and up. Caution: it's not for children under 3. So what about the 4-9 year olds, eh? Should they be cheated of the glamour and honour of being a zombie?! I guess that's up to their parents to decide.

The game comes in a cool dice cup, and has 13 dice (6 green, 4 yellow, and 3 red) that represent your human victims. The goal is to eat 13 brains without getting shotgunned 3 times.

The gameplay is pretty straight forward:

- shake the dice in the attractive and functional dice cup
- choose 3 dice without looking (no cheating now, I'm watching you!)
- roll the aforementioned 3 dice
- move any dice that came up brains to your left (mmm...brains...) Brains are good.
- move any dice that come up shotguns to your right (BANG! owie...) Shotguns are bad.
- any footprints? Those are the ones that got away. That means you don't get to eat them this time. Leave these dice in front of you.

So, unless you rolled 3 shotguns you get to make a decision - stop and score, or play on. I recommend playing on, what are the chances you will roll shotgun? Besides, you are already undead, what do you have to lose!?

If you choose to stop and score, you get 1 point for each brain you rolled (write this down somewhere - I recommend using your opponent's forehead). Remember the goal is to consume 13 delicious squishy brains (say it with me: mmm...brains...) Put all the dice in the attractive and functional dice cup and pass to the next player.

If you decide to play on, well then you are pretty damn cool in my books! Did you roll any footprints last time? If so, you get to re-roll those dice and add additional dice from the cup to total 3 dice. So if you rolled 3 foot prints last time, then just re-roll those 3. If you rolled 2 footprints last time, pick another die from the cup so you are rolling 3 dice. Got it? Need me to explain further?

Lather, rinse, repeat as above - moving brains to the left, shotguns to the right, and footprints in the middle. But beware - if you are up to 3 shotguns then your turn is over and you score NO POINTS! That is bad - it means the humans won, and we can't let the damn humans win!

But wait, there's more! Remember the dice colours I mentioned above? Did you think those were just for aesthetic pleasantness?! Well, guess again bucko, it's way more nefarious than that! You see, there are a different number of each type of symbol on the different colour dice:

Green: 3 brains, 2 footprints, 1 shotgun
Yellow: 2 brains, 2 footprints, 2 shotguns
Red: 1 brain, 2 footprints, 3 shotguns

Pretty damn clever of you, Steve Jackson Games...

I recommend you pick yourself up a set of Zombie Dice, it's a fast and easy game you can play pretty much anywhere. Waiting for your dinner to arrive? Play some Zombie Dice! Waiting for your evening gaming session to start? Play some Zombie Dice! Waiting in a lineup at PAX? Play some Zombie Dice!

Originally published at Pretty Gamer.

It LIVES!!!!

2011-05-20T19:48:00.000-07:00

I am bringing this blog back to life. I took a break and was writing for Pretty Gamer, but that has sadly petered out. I will be re-posting a number of my articles from Pretty Gamer here, as well as new things that catch my interest.

Is Twitter tweeting without your knowledge?

2010-03-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

So there has been an ongoing issue with people's Twitter accounts posting various things without their knowledge - usually advertising links ("I lost 20 lbs in two weeks, click here to find out how!") As usual, NEVER EVER CLICK THE LINKS! I cannot stress that enough - chances are it will take you to a site that will try and install malware on your computer without your knowledge, or will ask you for some sort of login credentials.

So what do you do if this happens to your account? Follow these simple steps:
1) Login to your account on Twitter.com
2) Click "Settings"

3) Click "Connections"

4) Revoke access to everything listed here unless you are 100% sure you want it to have access to your account.

5) Click "Password"

6) Change your password - choose a complex password!

7) as a courtesy to your followers, send a quick tweet letting them know NOT to click on the links you had sent out.

Always be aware of what sites and applications are asking for you to log in with your Twitter username and password - be very clear on why that site wants it and what it will do. The only authorized connection I have is TwitterFeed - this service will automatically post a pre-formatted tweet when I have updated this blog. When the Shorty Awards were happening, I granted them access for a day or so, and then revoked it. Sometimes you may not realize that you have granted access to your twitter feed - go in every once in a while and see what is listed under Connections.

Info Security Basics: Complex Passwords

2009-09-14T14:17:00.000-07:00

I will soon be teaching a bunch of “Information Security Basics” courses at work, and that gave me the idea for a few blog posts.

So children, today we will learn about Complex Passwords!

Passwords – they are everywhere!Love ’em or hate ‘em, you probably use them often, if not daily. Passwords are one of the most basic types of authentication used – your basic Who You Are (user id) combined with What You Know (password).

Do your best to NOT use the same password for everything – your online banking password should not be the same as your Facebook login password. Ideally every password you use should be unique, but realistically that would be a nightmare to maintain – but do the best you can. I tend to group in terms of importance/risk:

1) High (e.g. banking) – unique, very complex passwords
2) Medium (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) – unique-ish, complex passwords
3) Low (e.g. web forums) – I have a few passwords I tend to use

Also, don’t use common words or proper names of people/pets. Common words are easily guessed using a dictionary attack, and proper names are easily guessed by doing a bit of research on people.

Most websites give you a “forgot your password?” link if you are having problems. Be careful of the standard security questions they use – the answers tend to be common things that are easily guessed or researched. You know those online quizzes and Facebook “25 things you didn’t know about me” type things? Did you know the name of my first pet was Snowball? Oddly enough that’s also one of the common security questions used when you forget your password!

Basic Rules for Complex Passwords:

Minimum of 8 characters
Use both upper (A to Z) and lower case (a to z) letters
Use numbers (0 to 9)
Use at least ONE symbol (e.g. , ! $ & % #)

One of the most common complaints about complex passwords is that they are hard to remember. A good suggestion is to use the first letters from an 8 word (or more) sentence or catch phrase, replacing some letters with numbers or symbols:

We work hard so you don’t have to” becomes WwH$ydh2

Oh, and one other thing: please don't write your password on the under side of your keyboard, or on a sticky note by your monitor, etc! That sort of thing really makes that vein in my forehead throb....

It's Like Christmas in August!

2009-08-24T12:35:00.000-07:00

August 28th 2009 will be like Christmas...only in August... and not cold and raining...

Anyway, 2 great things happen on August 28th that I feel compelled to share with you:

1) Snow Leopard will be released, and the world will be a better place. And the best part? The OS upgrade is only $35 for a single user licence (in Canada). That is cool. I am about to phone my local Apple Reseller and pre-order a copy so I can pick it up on the way home from work on Friday.

2) The newest D&D Penny Arcade podcast begins on the 28th, and the world will be a happier place. If you haven't listened to the previous sessions, you really should. No really, go listen.

Also:
Season 3 of The Guild will be released on August 26th! You don't have to be an MMO player to enjoy The Guild, so go watch seasons 1 and 2! I command you!

Ahh, Snow Leopard, D&D PA podcast, and The Guild all in one week... all is well in my world!

I Had A Cunning Plan

2009-08-01T21:17:00.000-07:00

But was it cunning enough to put a tail on it and call it a weasel? I think not. For you see, my plan has failed, and here is where I need your help.

The Background:
I recently canceled my cable TV subscription, I just torrent the few TV shows I like to watch. I have the media files on a USB external hard drive attached to my PC. I have a wireless home network, with the PC, PS3, XBox 360, and a MacBook laptop.

The Current Situation:
Using Windows Media Player I stream the video to both my PS3 and my XBox 360 so I can watch on my HD TV and make use of the surround sound system. This is working well. However, I had to go and want more. Why? 'Cause that's just how I roll.

What I Want:
I want many things, but to keep on topic: I would like to also stream the video to my MacBook, and attach the laptop to the TV in my bedroom. It seemed like a simple desire.

The Setup:
I stopped by my local Apple reseller Simply Computing to get a Mini-DVI to Video connector. Why didn't I go to an official Apple store you ask? Because I live in a city without one. Confession time: I have NEVER been to an Apple store. This makes me sad. But I feel closer to you all now that I have that out in the open. Thanks.
Anyway, then I went to Monoprice.com to get a couple of cables. I bought a 6 foot m/m s-video cable and a 6 foot 3.5mm stereo to RCA audio cable. I really recommend Monoprice if you need any cables - their prices are great, shipping to Canada is reasonable, and they fill the orders quickly.

The Test:
It was like Christmas. The cables arrived, I brought everything into the bedroom and set it all up. It worked! I had video and audio from the laptop through the TV. The resolution isn't spectacular, but workable. I played a DVD, laying in bed controlling the playback with the apple remote. I was ecstatic. For about an hour. I know, typical woman!

The Issue:
I can't find any software to run on the MacBook that will receive the wireless stream from my PC. I don't want to copy the files to the MacBook, I want to stream them. Quicktime doesn't seem to do it. MPlayer doesn't seem to do it. I installed Windows Medial Player for Mac, but that didn't seem to do it. And I felt dirty putting Windows software on my Mac. Sorry MacBook.
I installed TVersity on the PC and tried streaming that way. The user interface for receiving on the Mac was ugly and awkward, and when I tried testing a stream in Firefox it would open the page but won't play. I Am Sad.

So: does anyone have any suggestions / solutions? Please send help.

An email for my nephew :-)

2009-06-22T16:16:00.000-07:00

Well Alex, you are 18 months old now and I am sure you will soon be learning to ride a bike. I have some words of wisdom for you: you will fall at least once, but do your best NOT to wipe out during morning rush hour. Drivers get annoyed at you if you lay on the road whimpering - I recommend you do as I did this morning: spring to your feet and pull your bike onto the sidewalk, and THEN realize how much the fall hurt. For drivers are in a hurry and think they are Important and will say Bad Words to you for slowing them down.

Make sure you have at least 1 friend whom you can call and wake up at 8:15am who will come and rescue you, but perhaps remind them that while you really appreciate them saving you and giving you bandages for you owies, beer will also make you feel better. I'm just saying.

Also, make sure your Mom is near enough to give you sympathy, and perhaps laugh at your stupidity for falling down - it's amazing the power moms have to make you feel better.

Love,
Auntie Bonnie

Microsoft Project Natal & Sony Motion Control

2009-06-03T21:44:00.000-07:00

So this year at E3 both Microsoft and Sony announced full body motion controllers for their game systems. Microsoft demoed Project Natal, and Sony demoed the cleverly named Sony Motion Controller. I know, wish I had thought of that name.... Both of these systems are trying to take the Wii controller style to the next level (ick, did I really just write "to the next level"? Shoot me now...)

Let's start with Project Natal. It promises to bring hands free control to a variety of game types (eg racing, sports, etc). It gives a 1-to-1 avatar control system, so whatever movement you make, your avatar will reflect that on screen. While there is no announced release date, Microsoft has stated that Project Natal will work with all versions of the Xbox 360 (but no info on price either!)

Here is Microsoft's Project Natal commercial (from my favourite site Joystiq):

My initial thought was that this was a cleverly arranged tech demo, and at this stage would never really work as shown at E3. While I am still not entirely convinced, I have read a number of reports from people who had a chance to try the system, and they seem impressed...

Sony went in a slightly different direction with their new system - it's a controller wand you hold that works in conjunction with the PlayStation Eye camera. The wand is replaced on screen with whatever weapon or tool is appropriate. This system seems to be the middle ground between the Wii controller and Microsoft's Project Natal. The Sony system is due to be released in spring 2010.

Here is Sony's Motion Controller demo:

Both of these systems can detect 3D motion (so forwards/backwards as well as left/right). While I don't think these systems will replace traditional controllers for every game, I think they will have their place. Imagine flipping through the dashboard on your Xbox 360 by just waving your hand - shades of the interactive user interface in Minority Report!

Oh, and FYI, "demoed" just looks wrong....

Fable 2: See the Future DLC

2009-05-19T19:07:00.000-07:00

Lionhead Studios released the latest piece of Fable 2 DLC (downloadable content) for 560 Microsoft points (that's $7 in real monies). If you enjoyed Fable 2 then I recommend you buy the DLC - I enjoyed the additional game play. In my run-through I found 9 of the 10 Murgo statues and 8 of the 10 new dyes. I ended up looking online for the location of the 3 missing items, and because I missed the Grumpy Rabbit book I had to look online for help with the Rabbit Hole. And to be honest I don't think I would have figured that puzzle out on my own.

There are three new areas to explore in the DLC - the snow globe, the cursed skull, and the Colosseum. Most of the DLC is spent in either the snow globe area or the cursed skull area. There are some new items, new foes, and some fun new puzzles to solve.

The Colosseum is a total bitch. Seriously. There are 3 teddy bears to get, and I found 2 of them relatively easily. Again I had to go to Teh Googles for help on the 3rd bear (and the final dye). Apparently you need to score exactly 1985 points for the Stupid Annoying @#$*&ing bear to appear. I have tried. Lots. Now I Have Hate in My Heart. I guess this challenge is for the gamers who are willing to spend hours trying, or working out the point values for each enemy and the proper combination to get to 1985. I am not one of those people. Bummer.

But outside of the Colosseum That Causes Hate In My Heart, I had fun with this!

Happy Jedi Day!

2009-05-04T10:57:00.000-07:00

Today is Jedi Day - May the Fourth (be with you)!! Seriously, this should be a holiday...

Saturday May 2nd - Free Comic Book Day!

2009-05-01T21:12:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow (Saturday 2 May) is Free Comic Book Day!

Free Comic Book Day is the first Saturday in May when participating comic book shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely FREE to anyone who comes into their stores.

Best Personal Ad Ever!

2009-05-01T20:43:00.000-07:00

Penny Arcade linked to this post on Craigslist: If you know who Jim Darkmagic is, let's talk...

What a great geeky ad! And if you don't know who Jim Darkmagic (of the New Hampshire Darkmagics) is, then shame on you! Immediately stop what you are doing and go listen to these podcasts. When you are finished you many return...I will wait....go on...

Reminiscing about Gaming

2009-04-23T11:29:00.000-07:00

I read Wil Wheaton's blog regularly...ok maybe obsessively. Seriously, I am addicted. I follow him on Twitter (www.twitter.com/wilw) so I know when he has updated his blog. Reading Wil's work has made me admit I am comfortable with my childhood geekiness, and sometime miss it. I am proud of my adult geekiness!

Then came the fateful day when Wil linked to a series of D&D podcasts - the folks from Penny Arcade, PVP and Wil sat down with Wizards of the Coast for a 4th Edition D&D session. Listening to them play through, laughing often (these guys are funny!), celebrating their natural 20s, wincing when they rolled 1s, and totally geeking out ... it was great.

It made me remember my childhood days of playing D&D - starting with the red covered Basic set, moving up through Expert, Companion, and eventually Master. And then changing to AD&D - it was so much more complex! Many of my childhood days were spent rolling up characters, carefully drawing maps on graph paper, lovingly collecting dice (really, how many sets of dice do you actually need? Ask any gamer - you always need more!)

Years passed, and then in my early twenties I worked in a comic book / gaming store, and I got back into it all. Our system of choice was GURPS, but we also played a little Rifts, dabbled in Vampire the Masqerade, etc. I also got introduced to table top wargames - we played Epic (2nd edition, before they "improved it" - I had massive Chaos army) and were just getting into Warhammer Fantasy (Dwarf army) when things changed, I went back to school and then moved. I think back on the hours we would all sit around a table, painting miniatures, discussing the latest roleplaying session, weighing the pros and cons of a new strategy for Epic ... I really miss those days!

I really have a strong urge to find a gaming group and get back into it all! But will it be like I remember? I dunno....

Thanks Wil, for sharing and celebrating your geekiness with us all.

iPhone app - Dog Tricks & Bark Machine

2009-04-04T20:44:00.000-07:00

Back in early February, I was given a promo code for the iPhone app Dog Tricks & Bark Machine (website) I have been having so much fun with this app that I forgot to write a review :-)

This is two applications in one - Tricks and Bark Machine. This app works on both the iPhone and the iPod Touch.

Bark Machine

This is the part of the app that I have been having the most fun with. There are eight different sounds (woof, meow, doorbell, fire truck, click, squeaky, high frequency whistle, and door knock) Playing with these can drive my dog nuts, and cause me great amusement! There can be a training aspect to the sounds as well - my dog is very reactive to a knock on the door, so I have been able to start to desensitize her to the sound with this app!

Tricks

Tricks is a dog training app, that gives you a bunch of basic commands, as well as some games and tricks you can teach your dog. There are also sections for advice on behaviour issues, and some useful tricks/games specifically for puppies. The developers have added some fluff in the application as well - some cute photos and a mini encyclopedia of common dog breeds.

You can choose "All Tricks" for an alphabetical listing of all the information available in the Tricks part of the app, or you can choose "Random" and shake your iPhone to randomly pick a trick with a Bark Machine sound. There is also a "Search" button if you know the name of the command you are looking for.

Each command is first shown as a couple of clear photos, and then you can press "info" for the step by step text instructions. I found the instructions were pretty clear and easy to follow.

Overall, I think this is a great little app, and is well worth $2.99 (although according to the website it is currently free for a limited time). While I recommend seeking out a professional dog trainer if you are new to having dogs or if you are having issues with your dog, I think this app is a great addition to your training package!

Twitter Hashtags

2009-02-21T14:05:00.000-08:00

I have been asked to elaborate on the use of hashtags in Twitter. Using a hashtag allows you to tag your post to a specific topic (eg #spconf) You can use established tags to participate in an event or topic (eg #coralinereview was used when people were tweeting their reviews of Neil Gaiman's movie Coraline), or you can start your own (eg #SC_todo). Remember Twitter only allows for 140 character tweets, and the hashtag count towards that limit!

Now that you have tagged your tweet, what's next? You can go to Twitter's search page (http://search.twitter.com/) and enter the hashtag to see all tweets tagged with that one.

There is a site called Tweetchat (http://tweetchat.com/) that uses hashtags to create an auto-updating chatroom to follow the topic. Also, anything you post in Tweetchat is automatically taged with the topic. Disclaimer: I have not used Tweetchat! There is no real information on the site, and it asks for your Twitter userid and password. This sort of thing makes me twitchy, and I wouldn't use it.

My Little Cthulhu

2009-02-19T14:11:00.000-08:00

I am not a big fan of dust-collecting, space-taking-upping, money-costing toys. However, there are times when I simply must have something. This is one of those times.

Dreamland Toyworks My Little Cthulhu

*squeals with delight*

These toys harken me back to my younger geek/gamer days (as opposed to the current geek/gamer days). I already have a plush Cthulhu and a plush Nyarlethotep. Have you ever tried to explain to someone who Cthulhu is? "Well, he's a Great Old One, and they lay in wait in their city R'lyeh..... oh never mind...."

I...MUST...HAVE...
*sigh* but where can I get these awesome amazing toy amazing-awesomenesses?!?!

Twitter

2009-02-05T15:12:00.000-08:00

I recently started using Twitter, and was a bit confused about the symbols and abbreviations often used. I am not talking about the common net-speak abbreviations (i.e. BRB, IMHO), but Twitter-specific things like RT, #

To start with, Twitter is a micro-blogging service that allows you to post small (up to 140 character) messages. You can sign up at Twitter . Once you get set up, you can "follow" people and subscribe to their updates. People can follow you and get your messages. You can block specific people from following you. Sound simple? It is :-)

Make sure you put the bare minimum of information at registration and in your profile, and read Twitter’s privacy policy. Note that Twitter can “process” your information, including collecting, storing, deleting, using, combining and disclosing. The information they can collect from you can include personally identifiable information such as IP address, full user name, password, email address, city, time zone, telephone number – and all of this information is stored in the US.

Here are some useful definitions:

Tweet:
A twitter message, limited to 140 characters. To send a tweet out to the world, type it and hit send.

@ Reply
- to send a public tweet to someone specific, use the @ symbol (e.g. @LeoLaporte hey that was a great show!). Note you don't have to be following a person for them to receive your @ reply.
- if you use an @ in the middle of a tweet (e.g. I just sent a message to @neilhimself!!!) the person mentioned will not get your reply, but it is a good way to mention people. Twitter will automatically make that person's user name a link to their Twitter profile.

RT:
ReTweet - when you repeat a tweet from someone else (e.g. RT @LudwigK "The Joystiq podcast is still coming, but it'll be late")

# (Hashtag)
The # is used to tag a post with a specific category (e.g. #todo, #spconference). If you would like your hashtags tracked, you have to follow @hashtags (it will automatically follow you back). Check out the Twitter Fan Wiki for more info on hashtags, and some other options for tracking hashtags.

Hope this helps, let me know (@SkimbleCat) if you have any questions!

URL redirectors / cloakers

2009-01-26T19:53:00.000-08:00

There are a number of sites that will mask or shorten a URL (TinyURL, TubeURL, URLZoom, W3T to name a few). For example, you can take a long URL (http://www.bukisa.com/people/skimblecat) and make it shorter and more user friendly (http://tinyurl.com/cs8kos)

The biggest benefit of this sort of service is convenience - it's way easier to type the shorter URL. This is especially useful when using something like Twitter that restricts the number of characters you can use in each message. You can also use this service to cloak affiliate links.

Of course, there are potential downsides. You don't know the real URL you are being sent to (note: tinyurl has http://tinyurl.com/preview.php that lets you preview the site for 10 seconds before you go, so you can stop your browser if needed). The Bad Guys are capitalizing on this type of service, to redirect people to malware infected sites.

As always, never click on a link from someone you don't know. And be cautious even if you know the person. Really, just be paranoid like me :-)

Bukisa

2009-01-22T18:44:00.000-08:00

Hey, does anyone have any experience with Bukisa? It's a site similar to eHow in that it pays you for articles based on readership, click-through advertising, etc. Unfortunately eHow only pays you if you are in the States, so not so useful for Canadians!

Signed up, wrote a few articles (well, copied them from my blog) and we will see what happens....

Weird podcast issue on my iPhone

2009-01-16T14:10:00.000-08:00

I have encountered a weird issue on my iPhone. I listen to a bunch of regular podcasts, and have iTunes set to send the 5 most recent unplayed episodes to my phone when synching. Sometimes this means that older ‘casts are on my phone, and if they are news ‘casts, then not so relevant anymore and I want to fast forward through them so the phone marks them as completed.

So as the unwanted podcast is playing, I tap the screen to bring up the slider, move the little dot all the way to the right, podcast is marked as completed, all is well in my world. Unless I am listening to the Xbox 360 Fanboy podcast. Seriously, this is the only ‘cast this won’t work for. I move the slider, there is a slight pause, and then the podcast resumes playing from where it was. Or it jumps to some random location. Sometimes I can get away with moving the slider a tiny bit each time and it will eventually work, but not always. What the hell? Why does this happen with only this podcast?! Yeah, I could hold down the fast forward button, but that takes way too long for a ‘cast that is over an hour long.

Suggestions? Comments? Conspiracy? User error?

Ushering in a New Era of Fiscal Responsibility

2009-01-13T14:55:00.001-08:00

I have started following a number of personal finance blogs, as I am Ushering in a New Era of Fiscal Responsibility.

Here are a three I read every day:
I Will Teach You To Be Rich: Personal finance and entrepreneurship tips from a Stanford graduate - Personal finance blog for college students, recent graduates and everyone else -- including entrepreneurship -- for getting rich.
Get Rich Slowly - Personal finance that makes cents.
The Simple Dollar - A personal finance blog focusing on ordinary people dealing with unprecedented levels of debt.

This group I scan quickly, often the posts aren't that relevant to me:
Wise Bread | Personal Finance and Frugal Living Forums
Canadian Dream: Free at 45 | One Canadian’s Dream to Retire at 45
Million Dollar Journey - Building Wealth through Saving and Investing
Canada's Personal Finance Blog by Award-Winning Financial Author A. Dawn
Michael James on Money
Canadian Personal Finance Blog
ABCs of Investing
gailvazoxlade.com

Facebook

2009-01-13T14:42:00.001-08:00

Facebook has a number of settings for securing your profile, but it seems many people either don't know or don't care. When in doubt, set to "only friends".

Here are some of my setting recommendations:

Settings \ Privacy \ Profile \ Basic
Set everything to "Only Friends". By default everyone in your network can see your profile - and your network can contain many thousands of people.

Settings \ Privacy \ Profile \ Contact Information
Think carefully about this section. I would recommend setting most of these to "No one". In my profile, my website is the only thing set to "Only Friends". No one needs to see my home address, email address, or phone number - if you don't already know this info, then you can send me an email via Facebook and I can choose to share. Remember, Facebook is a great resource for identity thieves - why make it easy for them!?

Settings \ Privacy \ Search
Uncheck everything but link to add as friend and send message. I am fortunate in that I have a very unique name, so if you are looking for me on Facebook, you don't need a photo to make sure you have the correct person. Strangers also don't need to see your friend list - be nice to your friends and do a bit to protect them too!
Make sure you also uncheck "create a public search listing" - I don't want my Facebook profile coming up when people google me!!

Settings \ Privacy \ Applications
I don't have a lot of applications on my profile, but I do have a few. So I can't choose to "do not share any information" So instead I have unchecked every box - applications I don't use have no reason to know anything about me! Also don't allow Facebook connect and Beacon.

Things to keep in mind:

Know your employer's position and policies on Facebook - if you list your employer on your profile, you could be representing them. And chances are, you are not paid to surf Facebook all day.

Remember, more and more employers are searching Facebook - drunken party photos don't look good when you are applying for a job. Do a quick google search, and you will find a bunch of people who have been fired, suspended, etc due to Facebook activity. Don't call in sick, and then post party pictures from the night before!!!

Unlock all songs on Rock Band 2 (PS3)

2009-01-09T16:26:00.000-08:00

I bought Rock Band 2 before Christmas, to be played casually when friends come over. So I wanted to unlock all the songs so we would have the greatest variety to play, but I found a variety of different codes to use for the PS3 version. I couldn't get the first code to work, tried it multiple times. Then after more googling, I found the second code, and it worked fine.

*Note: this code must be entered using the drums*

The code that worked:
Main Menu > Extras > Modify Game > Red, Yellow, Blue, Red, Red, Blue, Blue, Red, Yellow, Blue > scroll down and select unlock all songs

Apparently I will need to select this option each time I start the game, but I shouldn't need to enter the code again.

iPhone shortcut - deleting email from Inbox

2009-01-07T07:57:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick iPhone tip for you - to delete email without opening it, swipe horizontally across the message in your Inbox, and a red Delete button will appear.

iPhone shortcut - taking a screen shot

2009-01-06T08:01:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick iPhone tip for you - to take a screen shot of your current display, simultaneously press and release the wake/sleep button and the home button. The screen will briefly turn white and the image will be stored on your Camera Roll.

Blog Readability Test

2009-01-05T14:31:00.000-08:00

I stumbled across this link recently, off a personal finance blog (but can't remember which one). You input your blog's URL, and it returns the level of education required to read the blog. Apparently, you must be at least this smart to understand my blog:

But what's the criteria? Too many multisyllabic words? Acronyms? The mind boggles....

Note: lovely little HTML snippet included an ad link that I removed.

iPhone shortcut - scroll to top of screen

2009-01-01T20:49:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick iPhone tip for you - if you are trying to get to the top of a long list, just double-tap on the title bar and you will jump back to the top.

What to play next?!

2008-12-30T16:07:00.001-08:00

Ok, help me out here. I am trying to decide what to play next. Here's what I have waiting for me:

Assassin's Creed
Baroque
BioShock
Enchanted Arms
Fable 2
Fallout 3
Final Fanstasy 12
Folklore
God of War 1 & 2
Halo 2 & 3
Jade Empire
Lego Star Wars
Lost Odyssey
Morrowind
Overlord
Rogue Galaxy
Tales of Vesperia

I just finished Eternal Sonata - should I stay with the RPG style? Maybe mix it up with a FPS? Play something on the PS3? Not ignore the Wii? Ah, decisions decisions. Of course I want to leap into Fallout 3 because I just bought it, but some of those other games have been sitting on the shelf for over a year. And then there is Oblivion, which I have many many hours invested in, but the world is just too damn huge. Maybe I should just finish off the main quest in that one and put it to bed? I love Fable 2 but am currently suffering the Black Screen of Death, and so far the only fix is to delete my saved game and restart.

But Fallout 3 calls to me...

Eternal Sonata (Xbox 360)

2008-12-30T15:54:00.001-08:00

Eternal Sonata (Xbox 360)
Rating: 7/10
Time to Complete: 30 hours

I just finished playing through Eternal Sonata (Developed by Tri-Crescendo, Published by Namco Bandai Games). This was a classic JRPG (Japanese Role-Playing Game) with a great and unique storyline. The game is centered around a dream world of the composer Frederic Chopin as he lays dying. There are also narrative segments of moments from Chopin's life, complete with photos from Warsaw, Paris, etc. Who knew I would learn something playing this game?! The game took me about 30 hours to complete.

The Pros:

loved the concept behind this game
visually stunning, great music
liked the use of light vs dark in the combat system, added some great strategy and some frustrating moments!
you can often avoid combat by going around monsters, or gain bonuses by attacking them from behind
character Beat can take photographs during battle, which can then be sold at shops
encore mode - once you finish the game you can select "New Game +" and restart the game, allowing you to get additional achievements, new areas, etc

The Cons:

very linear game play
actually got so lost in some sections I had to consult a walkthrough guide
Score Pieces are an interesting minigame system, but I have absolutely no musical ear or knowledge so these were mostly guesses based on what the notes looked like and the pattern they were in
frustrating camera angles during combat - often times you can't see your character (they are blocked by the bad guy) so you use up your action gauge with missed swings
with Beat's ability to take photos during combat, money is not an issue in this game and you can easily amass more than you will ever need to spend
longest…ending….ever…. Wow, I actually started to loose interest, and I honestly could not explain the ending to you… and what was up with caterpillar and snail having a discussion?!

Overall I would recommend this game to any J/RPG fans. Now I have to decide if I should replay in Encore Mode for the additional stuff or play something else and then come back to this….

My gaming systems

2008-12-19T14:14:00.000-08:00

I own a launch-day Xbox 360, a PS3, a Wii, and a DS….hi my name is SkimbleCat and I have a problem…..

Do I need all these systems? Not really. Would I give them up? Not a chance!

Xbox 360: I love my 360; it’s my primary gaming system. It’s a launch-day system and it has never let me down. I have a black-log of games to play, but there just aren’t enough free hours in the week!

PS3: I bought it for two reasons: Blu-ray and exclusive RPG games – wow what a let down on that one! I am reading great reviews for Valkyria Chronicles but the quick look at the demo didn’t grab me. I might pick it up on Boxing Day if I can get a decent deal.

Nintendo Wii: With the Wii I totally got sucked into the hype. I hardly every use it, but I have faith that one day a game will be released for the Wii that totally justifies the purchase. Seriously…it will happen….one day….. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few positives about the Wii – non-gamer friends (*sigh* yes I have them) can have fun with Wii Play or Wii Sports. Wii Fit has it’s moments in the sun. I bought (but have not played) Twilight Princess. A friend lent me Mario Galaxy and that amused me for a short time.

Nintendo DS: The DS has saved my sanity on many an occasion - bus rides, waiting for appointments, travelling with the family.... The only regret is that my DS is pink ... I am not a big fan of pink and am often slightly embarrassed when seen with it.