The last couple of weeks I have been referring you guys to other people’s reviews of board games which, for me, is fine. But now, I want to tell you why you should buy this game myself. 

The card game was created by Kirk Dennison and published by PieceKeeper Games. I mentioned it weeks ago while attending a board game mini convention. I talked to the creator for a bit and liked what he said about the game and so bought it. Since then, it has become my favorite game for its strategy and mechanic game play.  

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The game comes with the following items:

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There are two versions of this game: The one version requires two to four players and the other version is a solo adventure.  In the two to four player version, you play as one of four tinkerers in a workshop repairing a clock machine. To do so, you must acquire parts for the contraptions you are handed at the start of the game and in doing so will earn you points. There are other ways to earn points, but they accrue at the end of the game. The main way to earn points is to gain parts for as many of your contraptions as possible. 

The way to earn parts is by placing your gear cards on a grid shown below. 

The setup is very easy. The gear cards (3) are placed where they need to be to start the game. For two players, place the cards in locations A2, B1, C4, D4. 

This is how you play the game. There are three rounds. Every player takes a turn and continues around until everyone passes. You are given 5 gear cards face down and, on your turn, place one card anywhere on the open grid. You must place a card on the grid or pass. However, there are certain rules in placing the cards. For every column, there can only be one card for each color, no two cards of the same color are allowed. For every row, the numerical value of the cards must be either going from ascending to descending order. However, the card value can be the same if it is placed next to another card of the same numerical value. 

When you place a card down, you flip over the gear tokens (1) and rotate it so that the color of your tinkerer card is facing the grid. This indicates you now control the specific row/column. At the end of the round when everyone has passed, each player collects the parts associated to the row/column they control at the end of the round. Then, you apply it to the contraption card and earn points. An example of game play is shown below.  

Now, here is where you need to remember your basic math skills. If you place the card with the value 3 on it like shown above, you gain a “spark.” You gain this spark because the two cards next to the card 3 add up to three. You can gain a spark the same way if the difference equals the card you played, also (i.e. I played the 2 card and the cards next to it are 7 and 9.) The spark allows you to do a lot of things from placing your card on top of another card, gaining another gear card, to allowing you back into the round you previously passed in. 

The instructions says it will take about 30 to 45 minutes, but expect to play it for double the time for the first time playing. It, also, says it is for 10 year olds or above, but I think it could be playable for as young as seven year olds. 

The single player is similar to the two to three and four player game, but you play against a monstrous machine called the Leviathan to stop it from destroying the clock machine you are trying to repair. The Leviathan places its cards by the contraption card’s letter on it. I haven’t had to play this version, but when Christmas break comes around I will be trying it out. 

The game play is solid. It keeps you focus on the game with each turn forcing you to figure out how to take control of the rows/columns while trying to stop the other tinkerers at the same time. I highly recommend this game for anyone who wants to play a simple setup, but complicated game play. 🙂

Salut! (Informal French for hello)

I don’t have much board games news this week because of the craziness of the holidays. So, to make up for this lack of traveling (Sorry!), I thought I try something I haven’t done before. I am going to do my own review of a board game! It is one I mentioned before, but I want to go into more details about the game than either I or the supplied link did. It is called Gearworks created by Kirk Dennison and published by PieceKeeper Games. I will place the review on the board game recommendations page for you to see. Let me know how I did so I can improve and do more game reviews for you. But first, here is what I scrounged up this past week for you, my readers:

• I went on Reddit and found a list of all the board game conventions in the U.S. Thank you beardedcosplayer1 for your efforts in creating this google document. The only sad thing about this is there are only two in Wisconsin and they take place during the two months of the year. 😦
• I found a cool website that helps you find a board game community in your area! It is called GameFor and it is in a beta format for now. It asks you for your city and state you live in and then searches in its database for any contests or game groups in your area within various radiuses from 25 to 200 miles.  
• What type of drink do you usually quench your thirst with? I vary depending on the situation, but sometimes I drink tea after a long and arduous week. I bring this up because I found a game called Chai on Kickstarter that I think is worth buying. Check out the game on Kickstarter and tell me below whether you will buy it or not and why. 

Habari! (Hello in Swahili)

Welcome back for another discussion. You should notice some things are different around here. As with reality, we need to organize and reorganize our lives to better meet the needs of others. So, I took on the task of restructuring my home here to allow better communication with my viewers, creating secondary pages to sort out my postings, and moving the various postings to their respective spot. Hopefully, I won’t have to deal with the hodag for a while (Please let the hodag finally hibernate. Life would be so much easier.) Thank you guys for your patience. In the meantime, while discussing my reconstruction, I realize something important to ask you guys. 

What do you guys do when you play a game and realize you have been playing it wrong? Usually, I try to make amends to other players to may have been at a disadvantage as a result of this issue. But, in the end, I feel the game should start over from scratch. What do you guys think?

Don’t forget to check out my treasures I discovered on my latest journey:

• I am finding news stories based on the them of, “What’s old is new again.” The first item is an ancient board game becoming more popular in Irag that dates back 5000 years ago! It is called “The Royal Game of Ur(I think)” and it looks interesting. Shout out if you hear more about this game or know where I can watch it played.
• I discovered a new board game company that buys the rights to old board games and make them better! I discovered Restoration Games and they are Kickstarting a game called Fireball Island: Curse of Vul-Kar and it looks appealing for families with young children. Go check it out and let me know what you think!
• I recommended videos of game reviews in the past, but here is a video of board games with role playing added to each one. It is pretty funny to watch and stars some famous people. It is called Wil Wheaton’s TableTop and you can watch it on YouTube right now. 
• Another YouTube channel to check out is GameNight! Their latest review is Everdell and it looks interesting. The group of four are friends who describes, play, and discuss the strategy of each of the players during play. It looks promising and I hope to hear from you guys on what you think of it.
• I wouldn’t be much of a game board adventurer if I didn’t mention the game Gloomhaven. Though I have heard of it, I have not found anyone who has the game or set up time to play it. But, based on the review I found here, I would definitely recommend renting/buying it. It is a D&D, legacy type game without the dice! Check it out and let me know what you think of it.

Konnichiwa!

Today’s post is about exploring the game you have just bought. I bought the game Gearbox mostly on a whim, but was given a brief description of the game by the game designer I met at the last game convention I went to. I didn’t get a chance to play it out, but it does match what I like in game play. It involves strategy, math, and some luck of the draw/dice. I recommended this game in the past and I still think it is worth your time to check out. But has anyone bought a game and had trouble playing it? Do you check out YouTube to find out how to play it? How about asking the store owner or the creator? Let me know below what and how you handle a game that may be beyond your comprehension.

While you think about my posted question, here are some things I discovered on my latest adventure.

• I found a posting about how to introduce people to board games. I really like it and I recommend it for you guys with friends who are curious, but not convinced to play with you. At Gamesradar, it talks about how board games have changed, what games to play first for newbie, ect., so check it out.
• I want to offer thanks to Tony Mastrangeli to found a video on table top game design. It is found on Kickstarter and is about a man who is trying to sell his game. He is videoed attending gaming conventions and making his pitch to major board game developers in his attempt to sell his game idea. Check out the video, “The Next Great American Game”, and let me know if you will donate to the cause.
• Are you having problems finding people to play D&D nearby? Sign up for Roll20 here and have your needs met. It is a website that helps people play D&D online and/or set up their own game at home with map creation software and forums for discussions on D&D game play. I have already signed up for it and recommend you guys do the same.
• Press for time but you need to fulfill your gaming needs? There is an article on 5 Great Games that Play in Under an Hour and I am seeking some feedback from you guys on the value of these games. I have played only one of the five games, Boggle, and that game is o.k. It is something I would play if nothing else is available. The other four I have not had the pleasure in discovering. Leave some comments below if you have some experience playing these games or you have games like these that you would recommend, instead.
• How much do you really know about evolution? Do you have a basic understanding of natural selection? I found a game on Kickstarter that should meet both your need to understand a major scientific field in biology and game play. The game is called Natural Selection and it plays under an hour for four people! What a coincidence! Once I get my book that covers my adventures with the hodag publish and collect the revenue from it, I will start contributing to the production of the game.

The Holidays are approaching! The Holidays are approaching! Beware the early, early Christmas,Holidays, or Humbug sales! While I listen to Christmas Music (Yes, there is a radio station in Sheboygan that is playing Christmas music all day and night right now.) to keep the hodag away (Who knew?), I am making plans already for the upcoming holidays. What are plans for the holidays? How many board games are you planning to buy? How many nights are you going to have game nights? Comment below and maybe we can hook up later!

Here are the latest news stories of the board game world:

• There is an interesting story where the television series, “Black Mirror,” has inspired a game called Nosedive. Reported by mashable.com, Nosedive is a social game where people learn about “classicism” through rating each other. The higher the rating, the more things you can do.
• I am switching things up. I found an article on the worst board games that have been made so far. The article is, “30 Hilariously Bad Board Games,” by bestlifeonline and I agree on some of them. Comment below if there are any games you have played that should be placed on this list, too.
• Do you ever learn anything from playing board games, whether intentional or not? I have learned to strategize more and watch how other people play, instead of focusing on the game itself, to win. How about you guys? I read this article “6 business lessons I learned from playing board games,” on a blog and thought it an interesting reading.
• And you thought I forgot what this blog is all about. I found a game that is simple, fun, and about death. What could go wrong? Stupid Deaths is about the true/false facts about people and how they die. Check out the video and leave a comment below about your opinion about it. It looks fun, but I think it will have limited play with only 100 cards to play with.

Gday, Mates!

Welcome to Derferd’s Boardgame Expeditions. My actual name is Fred Prueter and I currently live in Sheboygan, WI. I picked the nickname, Derferd, because it is unique and it’s fun for me to watch people faces figure out where I came up with it. Here is a hint: Look at the letters of my nickname really close. I grew up in Plainfield, IL (Yes, I was there for the F5 tornado. No. I did not see the Wicked Witch of the West flying by) and then bounced around until about 10 years ago. At that time I met the love of my life, Keri, and wanted to settle down somewhere between where I was currently living, Lake Geneva, WI and Green Bay, WI where Keri was living. Sure enough, Sheboygan fit the bill and we have been lucky and/or blessed since then.

For as long as I can remember, I love to play games. I started to play card games with my parents and siblings ranging from hearts, spades, and crazy eights. Later on, there were traditional board games like Monopoly and Sorry. Unfortunately, when I became a teenager, nobody in my family wanted to play board, tabletop, and card games with me (Cue sad music) 😦 . I filled in the gap between the years of then and now with video games, but it was a lonely experience. It wasn’t until I moved to Sheboygan, WI that I was able to get back to playing board games with people. I made friends with some people from my church who are big into playing board games and I mean “big”. Their house had as many board games as a small game store in Milwaukee! I was able to try modern board games like Settlers of Catan, Citadel, and Mysterium and fell in love all over again. That was about 6 years ago and have been playing new and exciting games coming into market ever since.

Now, I have decided to write this blog in hopes to either reignite people’s lost passion for board games or to encourage people to try them out. Board games are so much different than they were years ago. There are strategy, D&D, deck-building, and cooperative board games that are challenging as well as fun to play. Please join me on my journey in exploring the new and upcoming games being developed and released to us.

“The way a man plays a game shows some of his character. The way he loses shows all of it.” – Uncredited.