in which I buy some games to play with my family

So after I got the kids from school, I took a list and went to my friendly local game shop (Game Zone, in Pasadena, close enough to walk to Comics Factory, and Gold Line friendly, if you're local and the goddamn wind hasn't blown you into Orange County¹)

Game Empire is about 2/3 open gaming area, with pretty much whatever game you want to demo ready to go, and is filled with guys (gamers and normals and in-betweens) playing different things all the time.

I walked in with my list, and started picking up and looking at different games. A few minutes passed and the owner of the store, Chuck, came over to see if he could answer any questions.

We talked for a few minutes (it turns out that he started going to The Last Grenadier in 1979, eight years before I started going in 1987, has a non-gamer wife, and two teenage boys) and Chuck quickly figured out what I liked, but when I described what my family liked to play, and what the dynamic was between the kids, he directed me toward different games that my family would enjoy.

"You may find these a little too simple," he said, "but it sounds like your family is going to enjoy them, and if your goal is to have some fun with your family --"

"It is," I said. "My goal is to have an evening of bonding together, and if I can help shape them into future gamers, that will be a great bonus."

"I know exactly what you mean," he said, and he showed me a ton of games with that in mind.

We spent the next hour looking at all the different games that I would like, my kids would like, my wife would like, and figured out what would be best -- according to the parameters I gave him -- for all of us to play together.

This is why I love my Friendly Locals so much, and why the Friendly Local Game Shop is so important, so worth supporting, and so awesome. I can't imagine getting the same time and level of knowledge in any of the big chain stores (and I'm pretty confident that the average toy store won't have a lot of German games, or even know what they are. Snort. Ponytail. Gulp Dr. Pepper.) At Game Empire, they encourage open gaming all the time, and have scheduled events almost every night of the week, including family-friendly gaming starting soon on a few nights of each week; I think he said Sunday, but I can't recall for certain.

He was sold out of Descent (I'm going to go back and get it next week, I think, based on everyone's advice) and Memoir '44 (which I really wanted and looks like a ton of fun) but I ended up getting Carcassonne and Ticket to Ride: Europe, which seemed like games that I could play with my family. Carcassone apparently works very well as a two-player game, which will be great for me and Nolan.

I very seriously considered BattleLore (I think I'll get it before too long, but Memoir seems a little less complex, which will be better for my family) and Bang! (which I understand plays best with five players, and that's not going to happen for me with any regularity) but exhibited great restraint . . . I don't know if I'll be able to walk past Pieces of Eight another time and not buy it.

If you're a gamer in the Pasadena area, I highly recommend Game Empire. I haven't been to a place that captures the spirit and friendliness of the Grenadier in 1988 anyplace else.

¹Oh man, blown into The OC! That's just cruel. Especially if you're a Kings fan or a Liberal. Or, like me, both.

Comments

[BobApril]

Ah-HAH! Your nefarious plan has been revealed! You claimed to offer us a list of great games from your long geeky career, and then solicited additions to the list so that your readers could benefit from each others' experiences. In FACT, you were merely looking to aggregate games reviews to help you pick out new ones for your family, without having to research them yourself! But I saw through your cunning plan!
Not that there's a durn thing I can do about it...guess I'll console myself by going through the postings and picking a game to buy for my family...

[LinksMonkey Brian]

I'm an "in-between" when it comes to playing games, so I have no recommendations.

However Wil, with your gaming/writing/geek background, is there the chance that you will be adding "game creator/designer" to your resume?

I realize I'm suggesting a project that may involve spending 'bout 1000 hours of writing and testing, but I just wanted to plant a seed for a possible future project.

[WaywardSailorGirl]

Oh, I love Carcassonne! Some friends turned me on to it about a year and a half ago...I even bought a copy for my friend's kids in Wisconsin. They are hooked as well. Settlers of Catan is another Iplayed almost as often. Both are played using expansions and "house rules". Have fun and check back!

[[GWJ] rabbit]

Good choices. I've been playing Carc with my daughter since she was 6. Skip the farmers though.

Carc: The Discovery is, I think, the ideal variant for kids.

TTR is quite good with kids, 8 is about the right age to go for.

Pieces of Eight also excellent and fast. Bang as well.

Memoir 44 and Battlelore both excellent. I prefer Battlelore because there's more variety, but you can't beat 8 player memoir.

[AndreaDetroit]

Wil,
This is the first time I've commented on your blog. I've been a fan since "Stand by Me". I am a girl (woman) gamer who has been gaming since video games were invented! LOL..I actually met the man of my dreams online gaming, playing Return to Castle Wolfenstein about 5 years ago. We met IRL about 2 years ago and have been together ever since. Right now we are playing EQ2 together and are in a great guild (who are all adults, thankfully) and have met so many wonderful people that we are hosting a party over Labor Day weekend for guildies from all over the country. All 3 of my daughters like to play games (although not quite as much as mom does)and I think gaming has brought us all closer. I really enjoyed this post because it totally hits home for my family and I will definately be looking into the games you mentioned for some together time for my "clan" :)

[Mad Monk]

Ah yes, the world is divided into two different types of people:

Gamers and non-gamers.

It is this tension that pushes and pulls humanity forward.

[Chris Kessel]

Whatever you buy, please check it out first on boardgamegeek.com and check a couple reviews. Also check the playing time.

Twilight Imperium (3rd ed presumably), for example, actually takes about 12 hours to play and you really don't want less than 4 people. Good game...for you and your 5 other college buddies that have an entire weekend to blow. If you're a real person with a real life, it'll never get played.

[David]

Hello Will,
I´m a boy from Spain. some years ago,I saw the film "Stand by me" for first time, and I liked it very much.I didn´t remember the name of the movie,but two months ago,I watched it again and I think that I won´t ever forget that film.
Now I´m going to read your blog...
Sorry but I don´t write in english very well.
Do you know spain??

[John Fiala]

Good for you, Wil! Carcasonne and Ticket to Ride (Europe or otherwise) are both games my wife and I really enjoy.

My boardgames meetup group met last night, and we played two fun new games: Cthulhu Munchkin and Blue Moon City, the latter of which is a neat game involving rebuilding a fantasy city. They're both fairly light and quick games, and on the strength of one play each I recommend them.

You should come out to Denver sometime - we've got a yearly Star Trek con called Starfest and other fun stuff going on in the city.

[Christopher Arthur]

I recently started playing board games with a group of friends every week and I can attest that Ticket to Ride Europe is hellafun. I can also recommend Betrayal in House on the Hill, I believe that's its name. Its a little dark but not too bad and is much fun indeed!

[raphael]

There is a saga behind the transition from Game Zone to Game Empire, which isn't just a redesign but an entire new shop with new owners.

Lifelong Pasadena native Eric Burgess offered up the scoop (and some credit) for the whole thing through his podcast Boardgame Babylon, as well as a wonderful reminiscence of gaming in the Pasadena area in the 1980s which is well worth a listen even for people not living in the area.

Wil, you should be aware that Battlelore is just as simple as Memoir for about the first four scenarios of the scenario book -- it is intentionally designed to scale up very carefully and very slowly, introducing the more complicated (and unique) components such as the monsters and the lore deck only later in the game.

You could quite happily play the basic scenarios -- which exclude the fantasy elements -- with your sons for a long time before graduating into the complex stuff, and these are just as simple as Memoir. Once the basic move and fight rules are like second nature, adding in the lore deck and the war council and so on is really very easy, because actually the rules for these are quite simple -- especially when they're introduced one at a time as the scenario book does.

For what it's worth, my ultimate money is on Commands and Colors: Ancients, which is in stock at Game Empire. It's my favorite of the C&C series, but in this case it is indeed more complex than either Battlelore or Memoir (though only slightly). I've found it the most satisfying and rewarding to play, even if the board kind of sucks. However, based on your comments and needs, I still maintain that Battlelore is the best because it's medieval fantasy, and it's so very flexible.

As for Carcassonne, I have played it dozens of times and bought a copy for my Mother -- we now play it whenever I visit, and as already stated by many, it makes for a really great two-player game. Some of the expansions really enhance the game (Traders & Builders, and Inns & Cathedrals both spring to mind) while others (like the Count) make it more nasty (not what I'm after in this game).

[ToastedWoobie]

I totally forgot about Fluxx -- it's the game we play when waiting for everyone to show up. I love it.

You may also want to check out Guillotine for a quick and fun game.

We're lucky where I live (Fresno, Calif.) to have 3! good game stores -- one focuses on board games and a TON of RPG books, one has lots of open gaming and 40k gear (and a monthly get together) and one tries to be a comic shop and game store, but is really on adequate in both.

But, really, a wealth of riches here for gamers. I've lived in metro areas where it wasn't so good. Pile WoW and work on top of that, and I rarely have any time to be bored.

[Chris Filson]

Dude, Wil, you have to change your advertisement scheme. I saved the screen capture of your website with a banner advertisement for Bill O'Reilly's "Culture Warrior." Next thing you know there you'll be hocking Ann Coulter's "Godless" on your blog.

[Keri]

Cole- Welcome to the world of games! You should check out boardgamegeek.com (if you don't already know about it). The internet has definitely been a boon to the gaming industry, so don't feel bad about using it.

Again, welcome! You have gained +2d6 geek points in our eyes. (Please be aware that that translates to a penalty of -1d6 cool points in the eyes of normals, but fortunately normals don't know what "-1d6" means.)

[Paul Turnbull]

Carcasonne has spread like a plague through my family and friends.

Expansion notes: Traders and Builders, and Inns and Cathedrals extend the basic gameplay but don't radically alter it. The Princess and the Dragon add an element of chaos to the board as the Dragon romps around eating followers. This can force major alterations in strategy from the basic game. I also got to play using the Tower the other day and while introducing less chaos than the Dragon it also produces an alteration in strategies from the basic game. I found it introduced an element of active diplomacy as followers became threatened by the presence of towers on the board.

Needless to say I think it's a great game. :)

[brazos605]

I'm one of your non-gamer readers. I read these posts and comments, and feel like a little kid sneeking a peek into a dark bar!

[AmyKay]

I was just sitting here at work and thought of another great game for a family. Easy to play however there is more strategy than you would think:
Through The Desert

[nickb]

Wil, Carcassonne rocks! There are all sorts of fun strategies to play with it. But here is one to work on -- places farmers early...

It is a very fun game, and at around an hour for a game its very playable. Its not like monopoly where you start playing and can get yourself into a 3 hour marathon, and even get cornered into dead heats...

If you enjoy it, do think about getting the expansion packs, they add a nice dimension to the game.

[Villainiss]

I have to second that vote for Settlers of Cataan. It's such a fantastic game, and it's even MENSA certified. We have had several Cataan nights where we've agonized over the plays for hours, strategy oozing out our eyeballs, and with the gameboard changing with every new game, it's hard for it to get old.

But, if you do feel like you've accomplished it, you can get the expansion pack for Knights of Cataan. Although it takes forever to read through the rules the first time you play it, it really adds a lot to the existing Settlers game.

Anyhoo...I'm so glad to hear that you're finding more non-video games to play with the family; it's such a fun bonding experience, and teaches a lot about humility, gracious winning, and losing gracefully.

[gamestoreguy]

Ticket to Ride is one of the primary games I suggest to gamers wanting to play something with non-gamers. In addition to the great suggestions people have made above, take a look at Shadows Over Camelot, Zombietown, and Redneck Life (yes, I'm serious- it won awards this year!).

[Reddy]

Hmmm Dr Pepper

Have you ever tried Dublin Dr Pepper?? (or do you have any idea what it is?? well for the people who don't & read this it is Dr Pepper made the old fashion way with real sugar & not corn stuff - nothing beats it in the glass bottles - this comment may just blow my diet)

I hope your family has a great week-end playing those games, they do sound great. Since my hubby went off on a canoe trip I just might get candy land out & see if my 9 year old will play with me - last time he was quite cute & had all of the gingerbread men follow the trail one after the other then we worked on matching colors with the cards (I got the austic boys which I don't expect you to remember)

I'll take your windy weather if you will take my almost 80 on Wednesday then snow on Saturday then almost 80 this last Wednesday - I don't know what is going on ut hunting easter eggs in the snow was very different(but very pretty with the spring flowers up)

[rachel h]

OK, I gotta comment on the Orange County thing. Dude, that is so 1980's! Orange County is no longer the territory of the John Birch Society lovin', white, conservative, evangelical, mysongonistic, nouveau riche male that it once was. My folks moved here from L.A. in the 70's and I thought I'd gone to hell. Honestly, it was awful. But it has really changed, despite the stupid shows you see on the telly.

For one thing, demographically, the majority is minorities. Vietnamese, Mexican, Korean, Indian, Iranian, Chinese..., big ol' melting pot going on here. One of the most popular columns in Orange County is "Ask a Mexican".

For another, there is a lot of very cool music, art and lit that has brought down the Orange Curtain. We have a thriving "Green" movement going on here too. Some of the top sustaianble design firms are headquartered here.

So give us a chance Wil. Come on down. I'll introduce you 'round to some of the known, and unknown, denizons of a very different Orange County than you think you know.

Have fun with the family! Local shops rule!

[jo]

OMFG STAY AWAY FROM CARCASSONNE.

Trust me, Wil, you will be plagued by dreams of little men sitting in fields and on roads and in castles...nobody will want to be your friend anymore, and you will want to buy all the stoopid expansion packs.

And Wil, never, *ever* buy the Settlers of Catan.

Just, seriously, man, don't argue.

[betsy]

Well, I'll echo the folks with good things to say about Carcasonne, but I'm really here to praise Pieces of Eight. It's a great game for two people (or more), with no discernable "sure-win" strategy -- and it feels substantial when you're playing it. It takes a little practice to memorize which pieces do what, but once you do, it's the kind of game you can play while standing in line with friends or family at a movie theater or an amusement park.

I know, I sound like an advertisement, but I was involved in play-testing it, so I feel a kinship with it. In any case, good luck with the game hunt! It's fun to watch, vicariously.

[Belina]

We try to do regular family game nights. The goal was once a week, but once every month or two is what generally happens. The kids are old enough they have fairly separate lives. Most evenings my son is back in his room playing yugio with his friends while my daughter is hanging out with hers. (or studying)