Dominion is just as good of a two player game as it is for five people.  Recently we made it our goal to play through all of the kingdom cards from the original Dominion, Seaside, Prosperity, Alchemy and Intrigue.  We pick 10 kingdom cards to start with and then after every game, we cycle out the most used card, the least used card and one other card and random and replace those with cards we haven’t used yet.  This keeps the game excited and allows us to try all the Kindgom cards.

Forbidden Island is a cooperative game where “adventurers are on a do-or-die mission to capture four sacred treasures from the ruins of a perilous paradise” before it gets flooded.  It is a great introductory game or a filler game.  It is really easy to teach and really easy to play since there is not a lot of thinking involved with each turn (Even the Legendary difficulty setting really isn’t that bad).  It is also a very quick playing game, its rated at about 30 minutes long.

Stronghold is one of my favorite two player games!  It centers around the storming of a castle (I have always played outside the castle, the invader, and Brian has always played inside, the defender).  The artwork on the board is really awesome. I also like the time convention; where the longer the invader takes to prepare his troops and attacks, then the longer the defender get to prepare his defenses  It looks more confusing than it actually is, the designers did a great job of creating cards outlining the six phase cards.  It is such a great two player game that I am scared to try it with three or four people!

Factory Fun is my least favorite two player game.  Okay, to be honest it’s horrible as a two player game but is great for four people.  With only the two of us, there wasn’t many options for machines nor the feeling of competition between us.  Many times we would both flip over a machine and we both decided not to use either of them.  The game ended up being pretty boring with only two people; its such a shame because with four people it is really fun.

New World: A Carcassone Game is an easy to learn, interesting to play game.  I love this version of Carcassone with two players because it has the surveyors which prevent any one player from sitting on road or in a town for too long without finishing it.  It is much like Carcassone except in this version you start on the East coast and explore westwards and it has surveyors that can give you bonuses if you complete something and the surveyors are in the same column as your last placed meeple.  I don’t think Brian likes this game as much because he can never draw the tiles he needs, and I always get what I need.

Hive is a cute two player game that Brian got for me at last year’s convention.  The object of the game is to surround your opponent’s queen bee before they can do the same to you.   This is a quick game to learn and play but it can involve some thinking about how to maneuver your bugs so that you win.

As we play more two player games I will share our experiences about them with you.  In the mean time, enjoy gaming!!

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Congratulations to @Howitzer_120mm from our Twitter followers.  Your name was drawn as the winner of the contest.  I’ve already sent you a Direct Message on Twitter to inform you of your winning, so if you haven’t already, please email me your information and I’ll mail out your new game.

Thanks you everyone who entered, and please look forward to future contests.  I do have a couple other games that I’m planning on giving away in the future, so keep checking back on the site for those and other board game news.

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No related posts were found, so here's a consolation prize: TJ’s guide to attending a game night.

There’s a game designer and professor at Carnegie Mellon named Jesse Schell who believes that everything in life will soon become a game.  He recently did an interview with CNN in which he discussed how and in what ways our lives are turning into games.

Some of the highlights are:

• toothbrushes will be hooked-up with Wi-Fi Internet connections within five years.
• New video gaming systems are coming out that track every joint of your body.
• I jokingly call this convergence of games into reality the “Gamepocalypse”
• World of Warcraft will start to have a camera on your face, and then they’ll map your facial expression to your avatar.
• They already have a bathroom scale that uses Wi-Fi and connects to the Internet, so that every time you weigh yourself, it uploads it to a database so you can track your weight over time.

You can read the whole interview at CNN, and I recommend you do.  You know, I’m thinking of buying one of those scales.  I’m sure it would embarass me into losing the 15-20lbs I need to.

You can also watch a talk he did at the DICE conference here:

So basically the guys a gamer, and aren’t we all.  Other than being a gamer, he’s one of those people who thinks outside the box on a lot of things.

If you’re interested in more of his thoughts, you can read his blog here.

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No related posts were found, so here's a consolation prize: Wrap Up From Gaming For Haiti.

I started looking for apps for the phone, and the first thing I found, or rather found me was that my phone automatically linked my Gmail and Facebook contacts.  I can see and communicate with the people from both areas instantly.  I can also post on the wall of the GAmes Overboard group and on my personal wall instantly.

I further delved into the realm of instant updates when I got the Bettr Flickr app (I think I paid $1.99 for it).  I can set it up to post pics directly to the Games Overboard Photostream, so you amy have seen a ton of new on-site pics over the last week.

Add to that the ability to Tweet from the phone,  and that about rounds it out.

But WAIT!  THERE’S More.

My favorite thing I’ve found is that I can actually capture video from my phone in decent resolution and with the Free YouTube App upload on the Go.  I’ve already uploaded three short clips to youtube.  and I’m calling the mini-casts “Overboard on the Road”

I can also record my plays and look up info using the boardgamegeek applications, so I can keep a running count of the games I play.  I’m hoping to integrate a real time feed that tells the last ten games I’ve played.

It’s a little overwhelming how connected I am now, but I’m really enjoying it.  Let me know of any other apps I need to get or ways that I can reach out to you even more. I love gaming, and I love our Fans, so let’s hear from you

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Hey guys,

I was just watching your review for “Dominion” and decided to come over to your website. I was wondering if you could help me out, I’m at University in Lancaster in the UK and I recently created a 2 player card game called “Convicts”; I was inspired by “Lost Cities”.

All the people who have played it have really enjoyed it and I was wondering what would be the best next step? I can’t find any games conventions that happen in England but then again, I don’t really know where to look. Can you help me out?

Thanks, James

Having gone through the rigamarol ourselves in the past here was our advise to James:

Hi James,

Great job creating your own game.  Is the basis of the game based off the “Prisoner’s Dilemma?”  We do love “Lost Cities,” so it definitely sounds like something we’d like to get our hands on.

About publishing, you do have a few options there.  You can use a service like The Game Crafter which we covered before to self-publish.  This would require you to self-promote as well.  Having recently completed my degree I know how much time a University student has so that may not be a viable option for you.

You could try contacting a big publisher, like Hasbro, to see if they have any interest.  One thing to note with these guys is that they make most of their money off of their standardized games (Monopoly and such) and aren’t very willing to look into new games unless you really pitch well.

Your third option is to find a smaller publisher, like Rio Grande, Mayfair, or North Star, and pitch your game to them.  Most have a way to contact them through their websites, and they might be willing to fly you out to pitch it to them (if not, try Go To Meeting to do it online.)  Better yet, find a publisher locally.  I’m not aware, offhand, of any publishers in Lancaster, but there has to be at least one.

Whatever you choose to do, let us know.  I’d love to do a story on you and how you worked through creating and eventually publishing a game.  On that note, how did you come up with the game?

Hope that helps, and please feel free to ask for any additional help.  I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on a copy of the game, once published, to do a review on myself.

Good Luck and Thanks for Watching,

Mark Miller

Marketing Director — Games Overboard

But we know there may be some other options out there for James to follow.  We have a lot of watchers here, and we know that some of you have published your own games.  Some of you may even be interested in helping James publish his game.

So do you have any additional advice for James?  Can you help our fellow board gamer out?  Please leave a comment below or contact us here and we’ll follow up with James.

Thanks to everyone.

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On that note, I’m looking for any suggestions about what you would like us to include in the design.  Is there some feature or option you’ve seen on another site that you would like to see on ours?  Is there some widget we really, really need to add?

Leave a comment at the bottom of this post to let me know what you want to see.  I should have the redesign up in about a month, and I want to make sure I include everything possible that you want.

Thanks,
Mark

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So if you’re on Twitter and want to know what’s up on Games Overboard, start following us.  Additionally, we try to respond to every tweet or reply sent to us, so let us know what you’re thinking.  We love hearing from our fans.

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No related posts were found, so here's a consolation prize: The Making Of A Game Review.

We have a group there showing all the pictures we’ve taken of our gaming, and we want to see yours too.  The group is open for all to join and upload to, so if you have a Flickr account already or needed an excuse to create one.  Here’s your chance.  Upload or add the pictures of you and your friends gaming, and they’ll be displayed on the Games Overboard site.

We hope to see some of your pictures soon, and don’t forget to send us an email at mark [at] gamesoverboard [dot] com, or contact us here, to let us know who you are and who’s in those pictures.  Thanks!

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I usually only go out when invited, and I’ve relied on my current friends to introduce me to new people and friends throughout my life.  Now, with my girlfriend moving out of town for Law School, and most of my friends being busy with their own lives, I’m finding myself with a great deal of down time with nothing to do.

So, I’m turning over a new leaf.  I’m trying to branch out and find some new friends and new groups to hang out with, and yes, I’m actually going to get up and get out of the house.  But where to find these groups?  How to ensure they have the same interests I do?

Luckily, I found the website Meetup.com.  A site that allows you to put in your interests, and links you with groups in your area that have those same said interests.  Being a gamer, I located a group in my area that has a lot of other board game lovers and joined that, all for free.

Now I realize that this is only one option, and I’ll also be going out to the local game store on their monthly game night to try and find some others to hang out with, but both are good starts for me.

So if you’re like me, I would strongly recommend looking up Meetup.com, and see if your local board game store has a group you can get involved with.  You should also join BoardGameGeek.com and find some folks in your area there.  It’s another great site that we mention often.

Hope to see you out there.

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Not so surprisingly the actor who plays Hurley, Jorge Garcia, is one of my favorite actors to follow online.  He writes his own blog, “Dispatches from the Island,” where he posts his and his girlfriend’s day to day activities.  On a recent post, I was happily shocked, when he started talking about one of his favorite games to play when he gets together with a group of family or friends.

It seems Mr. Garcia is a huge fan of Werewolves, a great group game and one I think everyone should own.  He even gives some play tips, like trying to get at least eight people in a round, and a minimal walk-through on the goal of the game (kill the werewolves before they kill you.)  On top of that he mentions a few of the alternative Werewolf games that you might like to play.

I have to say, it’s a thrill knowing that someone famous has some of the same interests as you do, and while I’ve never been one to hold actors on a pedestal, it’s good to know that some are just gamer-geeks like the rest of us.

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