Encounter Forbidden Island

[platonicideal]

Finding a gem at the RPG store

I went to a game store over the weekend. I am not used to gaming stores that have more tables set up than games on the shelves. Browsing is an essential part of the shopping experience for me. The proprietor spent an hour speaking to me, about D&D Essentials, Magic and Pathfinder (which he said some people call D&D 3.75). Then we spoke of when they run D&D Encounters (D&D 4.0)—Wednesday nights at 6:30. I am interested in the Wednesday night gaming, because …

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I really want to play D&D, but …the group has quite a few teenagers in it. I have nothing against teenagers, I will have one before I know it, I just don't want to be the old man out. So to speak. And I have never played 4th edition rules so I would be some curmudgeonly noob, vaguely aware that everything had changed, unable to come to grips with it. I write about gamers portrayal in the media frequently, and stereotypes, but I have to admit up front, social graces are not my strong suit. Which makes it really difficult to meet new people, or attend cons or ...go out in public.

So I went to another games store today. [What can I say, my shrink ordered me to leave the house.] The only one in the area that existed when I was growing up. And they have a ton of board and card games. Their RPG assortment has dwindled to six D&D books, a couple of Warhammer boxes and some miniatures. They do have dice—oooooh shiny—and a small assortment of Magic and other tradeable card games. I would so love to find a store where I can read through RPG manual after manual. There are several more in the area I will be taking a look at but if anyone knows of good rpg stores in the Cincinnati area, drop me a comment, please.

Forbidden Island

I browsed a ton of games that looked great, including one called Munchkin. If anyone has played it please let me know in the comments. I settled on a new game called Forbidden Island, produced by Gamewright.

Here is the game's product description: “Dare to discover Forbidden Island! Join a team of fearless adventurers on a do-or-die mission to capture four sacred treasures from the ruins of this perilous paradise. Your team will have to work together and make some pulse-pounding maneuvers, as the island will sink beneath every step! Race to collect the treasures and make a triumphant escape before you are swallowed into the watery abyss! The latest creation by cooperative game master, Matt Leacock who created the best seller Pandemic.”

The trailer doesn't include any game play (and maybe no one wants to watch people playing a board game, though it seems like tv ads in the old days would have shown that. Smiling kids, laughing and flipping chips into Mr. Mouth or slamming handles to capture marbles in Hungry Hungry Hippos.)

[RushingMountain]

I generally use http://boardgamegeek.com when I hear about new board games and none of my friends has played it yet. This isn't often, but browsing through games I love and hate, I find that site usually reflects my own opinion about most board games. BBG often shows some useful information in judging whether or not a game is for me, including a nice little summary of general game mechanics.

Boardgamegeek.com has an entry on Forbidden Island . It has a few video reviews in it as well. The game has an average rating of 7.23 as I write this, which for BBG is a decent review.

Munchkin, which I have played, is a fine beer and pretzels game, full of throwback references to old school D&D. Easy to set up, easy to play, but sometimesoften quite random, which some people find frustrating. Despite the recommendations, it seems to me it can be played ages 10+, although I'm only an honorary uncle a few times over, and not a parent myself. I would not recommended playing Munchkin with only two players.

[platonicideal]

Thanks for responding, the link and the overview of Munchkin. A beer and pretzels game sounds great for a weekend escape. I will pick it up the next time I am out.

Now that I have a few more rounds of Forbidden Island under my belt, I still recommend it. We played four adult players a couple of times, with whipped cream vodka and orange juice instead of beer, and it went over well.