Show Notes – Episode #56 “Jim Butcher plus Gamestorm wrap-up”

Posted by Shannon and Matt at 8:08 am Geek Speak

Mar 312010

It’s Wednesday and there is a new episode of Seattle Geekly. That can only mean one thing; Norwescon! We’ll be heading off to the con on Thursday but we can’t leave our listeners hanging.

On this special Wednesday show we talk about what we did last weekend at Gamestorm, preview some of the events we’re excited about at Norwescon and as an amazingly cool bonus we talk with author Jim Butcher about Changes the latest book in the New York Times bestselling Dresden Files series!

We also have the weekly geek news and Seattle area geek events.

Gamestorm Wrap-Up

Interviews

Pirate gaming group PDXYar

Bill Witt designer of Pajaggle (see below for our game review of Pajaggle)

Game Reviews

Munchkin has long been a staple of our game nights. We played a round with a few of the MIBs that were working the con. We played the Holiday Edition of standard Munchkin which features colored artwork (as opposed to the monochrome of the original set) along with the now unfortunately out of print Fairy Dust expansion. The Fairy Dust set adds a mechanic to reward people for helping others without demanding a share of the treasure. Some of the Fairy Dust rewards seemed like they might have been a little imbalanced but, on the other hand, imbalance is what being a Munchkin is all about.

From Munchkin we moved on to another Steve Jackson game – Frag. Frag is advertised as a tabletop adaptation of a first-person-shooter video game and it delivers. The rules are fairly simple to learn, gameplay is fast and there are all the elements you would expect from a FPS including weapon upgrades, armor power-ups and even hacking. One of the game elements that makes it perfect for play at conventions is the ability of players to jump in and out at any point in the game. New players can “log in” and spawn on the map just as you would in a video game and players who have to leave the table can drop out just as easily.

We then moved over to the Rio Grande demo area to try a round of Cardcassone, the Carcassone card game. Cardcassone doesn’t really share much in the way of mechanics with its namesake game but it has a similar spirit. It is a card collecting and set building game played in rounds. Each player is dealt a hand of 5 cards that are laid down one by one and grouped by color. At any point in the round you can claim a group of cards by marking one of the groups with your meeple (much like claiming a road or city in Carcassone). The trick is judging the optimal time to claim cards. Do you move quickly to ensure you get the cards you want or do you wait until later in the round in the hopes that one of the other players will lay down more cards that you might want to claim? The rules are elegantly simple and very quick to learn once play started. We will definitely be picking up a copy of Cardcassone.

We then jumped back over to the Steve Jackson zone for a round of Ninja Burger. We played the deluxe edition which combines the original Ninja Burger with the cards from the supplement, Sumo-Size Me. As we have come to expect from SJ Games, Ninja Burger has amusing artwork and a lot of really funny flavor text on the cards. The concept is that each of the players is a ninja in the employ of a fast food delivery service. Each individual ninja has different strengths and weaknesses and all your skills are tested as you try and deliver to outlandish locations like the International Space Station or the White House without being detected. The mechanics are similar to SPANC, another Steve Jackson game that we played at Gamestorm last year. Ninja Burger has the potential to be played cooperatively. If the individual players collect enough honor, the entire Ninja Burger franchise can win or, conversely, if the players loose honor the franchise can fail. That being said there are also plenty of opportunities to mess with your fellow players in a bid for individual victory.

The first glimpse impression of Pajaggle was a split decision for us. Shannon was immediately intrigued and wanted to try it, Matt was skeptical but once we played it we were both won over. Pajaggle is a game of perception and shape recognition. Its sort of halfway between a jigsaw puzzle and the classic Milton Bradley game Perfection. Of course Pajaggle has a distinct advantage over Perfection in that it won’t explode in your face if you don’t complete it in time. The basic game is simply a race to fit all of the shapes into their corresponding holes on the board as quickly as possible but there are rules for numerous variations, including several multi-player games, available on the Pajaggle site. The game is strangely addictive. If you are a fan of abstract puzzle games or the kind of person who can’t walk by a jigsaw puzzle without wanting to stop and fit a piece in somewhere you really need to grab a copy of this game. Even if you aren’t that kind of person it is worth trying out. If you’re curious, there is an online version that can give you a feel for the game.

Finally, one of the highlights of the con for Matt was the chance to try out Vasco de Gama. Vasco de Gama is a worker placement game with a unique and tricky turn order mechanic that requires some very delicate risk assessment. Each player gets four actions per round and for each action they take one of twenty initiative tokens. The cost of the initiative tokens is determined after players have chosen them and while that cost can vary considerably, either higher or lower, it can always be predicted within a certain range. The game casts players in the role of explorers who have to acquire contracts, outfit ships and launch them from port to accumulate gold and victory points. As mentioned earlier, each player gets four actions per round and there are five different activities available. Not only do you have to choose what you want to do with your actions, the order in which you do things in the turn, both relative to the other players and to your other actions within a round, is very important. This is another one of those games that sounds overwhelmingly complex when someone tries to explain the rules but once play begins becomes quite simple to learn. It is ideally suited for four players but can be played with three.

We had an amazing time at Gamestorm and we want to say “thanks” one more time to the entire crew that puts the con together. Great location, great people and great programming. We will definitely be back next year!

Norwescon Preview

We’ll be meeting Saturday afternoon at 12pm in the open gaming rotunda on the second floor between wings 4 and 5. Click on the map for a larger version. We’ll be hanging out and giving out a few prizes! Come say “hi”!

Other events you won’t want to miss

Thrill the World, Thrill Norwescon: Learn the Thriller dance! – Thursday 1:00pm -3:00pm and 4:00pm – 6:00pm in Maxi’s Ballroom
Zombie 101 or Walk, Zombies, Walk: Learn how to shamble like a genuine rotting corpse – Thursday 8:00pm-9:00pm Grand 2
1st Norwescon Zombie Walk: use the skills you’ve learned by shuffling, stumbling and dragging through the convention. The walk ends at the Thursday night dance which will kick off with a massive Thriller dance! – Thursday 9:00pm- 11:00pm Grand 2

NEW THIS YEAR! For the first time ever, the Double Tree is setting aside Maxi’s Lounge for the exclusive use of Norwescon on Friday and Saturday nights!
Friday 10:00pm-2:00am Maxi’s Lounge 14th floor

*The 14th floor is 21 and over with ID and Norwescon badge after 9:00pm*

Ready for an exciting night of music, drinking, dancing and literature? Yes, literature. Weird Tales is sponsoring tonight’s party in Maxi’s Lounge on the 14th floor. This is Norwescon’s first year with exclusive use of Maxi’s Lounge; help make it a huge success by joining Weird Tales and your friends up in our new space. Weird Tales and their fabulous authors will be providing the night’s entertainment. It is 21 and over, with ID and Norwescon Badges required. You must match your ID, so watch the makeup and masks. Weird Tales promises to give you a thrilling time you won’t soon forget, so join us for the inaugural night in Maxi’s Lounge.

Saturday 9:00pm-2:00am Maxi’s Lounge 14th floor

*The 14th floor is 21 and over with ID and Norwescon badge after 9:00pm*

Beam up to Maxi’s Lounge and have some drinks with your fellow Con-goers! This fabulous event will be sponsored by Star Trek: Phoenix so prepare to boldly go where no con-goer has gone before. Make sure you bring your Norwescon badge and your photo ID (21 and over). The drinks will be out of this world and the music hopping, so don’t miss your opportunity to be part of this brand new event.

Jim Butcher

Jim Butcher’s website

and don’t forget, you can catch Jim Butcher in Seattle on April 7 at 8pm on the University of Washington’s Kane Hall!

News

Events

Conventions

April 1 – 4, 2010 – Norwescon 33 – Sea-Tac WA
April 2 – 4, 2010 – Sakura-Con – Seattle, WA

Events

April 2 – 3, 2010 Odd Duck Studio 1214 10th Ave Seattle, WA 98122 Puppet This presents The Knights of Nowhere – Puppet This’s first official production, written by Brandon Felker based on an idea by Lindsey Newman, The Knights of Nowhere tells the story of misfits Theodore, Enis and Stuart as they square off against diabolical school bully Leslie and his sidekick Big Toe in an ultimate battle for the Beacon Academy playground. Will the boys’ IQ scores and kung fu skills be enough to help them discover the Super Secret Secret to Leslie’s downfall? Crafted in the spirit of The Goonies and Puppet Up, The Knights of Nowhere features strong language and graphic puppet violence and is not recommended for actual children.
April 5, 2010 7pm University Bookstore 4326 University Way NE, Seattle – Cory Doctorow, Mark Henry, Jeanne Stein, and Jaye Wells. Spend the night with an amazing group of authors reading and signing their work!

Contests!

Emerald City Swag Bag Giveaway!

So you couldn’t make it to Emerald City ComiCon? Well we raided it on your behalf and we have two (more or less) identical swag bags to give away! The bags contain a selection of comics from Image and DC, a graphic novel sampler, various bookmarks, stickers, buttons, flyers and at least one key chain.

The contest runs from March 25 until April 11 with the winner picked on April 12. We’ll ship the swag to you via USPS

“How do I enter?”
Please register / log in to our website, and leave a comment on THIS POST. You can just say “hi” or whatever! One entry per person please, we’ll delete any multiple or offensive posts. Make sure you use a valid e-mail address when you register so we can contact you if you win!

“How will you randomly pick someone?”
We have D&D dice of all shapes and sizes, even a 100 sider! We’ll roll and see who wins!

Zombocalyse Now Giveaway!

Thanks to the generosity of local author Matt Youngmark we have THREE SIGNED COPIES of Zombocalypse Now to give away!

Zombocalypse Now is a comedy/horror reimagining of the choose-your-own-ending books you grew up with. You’ll be confronted with undead hordes, internet dating, improper police procedure, and the very real danger that you’ll lose your grip on reality and wind up stark raving mad. The zombie apocalypse has never been this much fun.
- Amazon

The contest runs from March 24 until April 7 with the winner picked on April 8. We’ll ship the book to you via USPS

“How will you randomly pick someone?”
We have D&D dice of all shapes and sizes, even a 100 sider! We’ll roll and see who wins!