Here's plugging two games that I've been enjoying lately:

Dice Wars is a good little miniature online game for one person, playable in about 20 minutes and very satisfying for its size. The text below the game explains the rules, but suffice to say, it's basically Risk but built to be played rapidly thanks to some rule simplification and a very swift AI. (Thanks for suggesting it, Joandy!)

I've started playing Risk: Legacy with friends every few weeks. It has invented a new genre, the "legacy" board game: You permanently alter it by playing, such as placing stickers on the board that can't be removed, or tearing up certain cards, et cetera. This forces you to think on whole new strategic levels, because you're not just concerned with the current game, but the next one and the next one and beyond. It's highly clever and innovative, and it keeps refreshing itself with new rules so that you get to keep trying out new strategies. If you're into board games and you have a group of five people that you can gather regularly (it's best to play with the same people every time), I can't recommend this title enough.


One Reply to Risky Games

Scott Hardie | November 24, 2014
The more I play Risk: Legacy, the more impressed I am. It really runs with its twist. I don't want to spoil specific details, but one example is that using too many high-grade weapons at once can permanently transform that territory and change how that faction is treated by others forever. it reinforces the idea that your actions have bigger consequences than just the battle at hand. The game is fiendishly clever with its twists and surprises, constantly challenging you to think ever more carefully about your actions. This is turning out to be one of the best board games I've ever played, and I play a lot of games. I highly recommend gathering four friends and playing it yourself. (Each game lasts about an hour, and it's designed to be played at least 15 times, so you do the math on how many Saturday afternoons it will take your group.)


Logical Operator

The creator of Funeratic, Scott Hardie, blogs about running this site, losing weight, and other passions including his wife Kelly, his friends, movies, gaming, and Florida. Read more »

#FFFFFF

I love how MSNBC.com's new slogan is "A Fuller Spectrum of News," complete with online ads featuring brilliant rainbows, and yet their entire site design is plain white except for one strip of blue across the top. (link) If I didn't give up reading it years ago because the entertainment section is spoiler city, I'd give it up today because I can't stand to look at it. Go »

Abortion Aborted

Earlier this week, The Onion published another eyebrow-raiser: Actress' Abortion Written Into TV Show, with a photo of Leah Remini. Later that day, it changed without explanation into the much tamer Apple Unveils New Product-Unveiling Product. (link) Normally they never back down from a legal challenge or controversy, and good taste obviously isn't a factor, so I wonder why they changed the article. Go »

The Dragon

This is the first of four weekly blog posts about diagnoses that have completely changed my life since the pandemic started. Let's get the gravest one out of the way first. Until recently, I never appreciated how essential the future was to your mental health. Go »

Moved In

We are moved in and settled, or as settled as we can be with little money and way too much stuff for a two-bedroom apartment. The final move will come in April when we transfer to a house. We have our eye on a house in Ruskin, 30 minutes from here – four bedrooms, two-car garage, cable included, never lived in, all for $50 less a month than I pay now. Go »

Retrospection

If I recall the dates correctly, yesterday would have been my grandmother's 100th birthday. She lived to just shy of her 89th, despite a lifetime of chain smoking. I remember her as a sweet, generous woman who liked to laugh and teach me life's simple pleasures; a typical afternoon for us was playing crazy eights and baking cinnamon rolls. Go »

Crash

Some days are so bad, you feel like you've been the only driver in a demolition derby without a car. Go »