Zelda and The Path

So I've been utterly engrossed in Zelda: Breath of the Wild.  I think the last open world game I played was Shadows of Mordor, which left me thoroughly unimpressed.  But Zelda is absolutely blowing my mind.  And I think a part of that is because it's having a little bit more faith in the player.

What have I been up to?

Not as much gaming as I'd like, that's for damned sure.  But I have been doing gaming tangential things.  Like painting BattleTech minis!  I'm proud of my meager work, and took some progress pics.  It's just a Commando, but I've been slowly painting the two lances from Sword & Dragon.  Almost done with The Fox's Teeth.  Just an Assassin, Enforcer and a Jagermech to go.

Why Shut Up & Sit Down's review of Card's Against Humanity was not just wrong, but frightening.

So SU&SD recently released a rather scathing review of Cards Against Humanity.  You've probably seen it, and if you haven't, I urge you to read it.  Because I'm about to vehemently disagree with it, and it's probably best you read it for yourself first before I do, so you can make up your own mind.

Firstly, I do have to concede, most of their criticisms of the actual game are fair.  The mechanics of the game are certainly not why people play it.  And it's not always funny.  And it's frequently just random.

Once I played A Victory Denied while reading Rise & Fall of the Third Reich and had a moment.

The title really says it all, but if you're still reading, you want more detail.

So ever since I played my first historical wargame I've been reading history.  A lot.  So immediately after I finished reading A World Undone I launched myself into Rise & Fall of the Third Reich.  After all, in the story of WW1, probably one of the most compelling character is Germany, and WW1 ends on such a cliff hanger.

To go with my history books, I like a good solo friendly history game.  So I'm playing A Victory Denied and I'm reading Rise & Fall of the Third Reich.  Suddenly something clicks.  Because I'm reading about the concentration camps.  I'm reading about all the horror of them.  Probably the most vivid and repulsive part was describing the Nazis gassing people with interesting tattoos so they could make lampshades out of their skin.

Augustus Review

I honestly don't remember how Augustus got my attention.  Partially various nominations.  Partially it's Roman theme.  I am a huge Roman history fan after all.  And then lastly, it just looked like a great game to play with my girlfriend.  Gaming isn't her hobby, it's mine, but she's kind enough to indulge me.  Augustus looked like the sort of game we could get through after she's driven 90 minutes through rush hour traffic back home from a 9 hour work day.

Augustus was released in 2013 by Hurrican Games, and was designed by Paolo Mori.  Disappointingly, I have nothing to say about them.  I've never played a game from that designer or publisher before.  However, Augustus is a good first impression.

Augustus is a sort of "Roman Bingo".  You have objective cards, and various icons will be called out, which will allow you to check off requirements for those objective cards.  This is all themed around conquering Provinces and winning over Senators to please the grand Augustus.

PAX East: Bl4k Lotus sang this song about Race for the Galaxy

I saw this at PAX East and it blew me away. Thankfully someone recorded it. Most of it at least.

Burnout

Burnout is something we've probably all suffered from at some point.  Something happens to an activity you really enjoy, and all the fun gets sucked out of it.  So much so that we feel compelled to avoid it at all cost.  Which can really suck, because suddenly you are short a hobby that may have really been fulfilling.  It can also really hurt any aspirations of competitive growth if that's your thing.

I've found burnout can come from a lot of sources.  The one that probably happens the most to people is playing a game to death.  I find this to be especially the case when the metagame for your group turns to cement.  Bob always opens with the same strategy obnoxious rushing strategy that feels over powered.  Sue always gangs up against him with Greg.  You know the broad strokes of the game before you even sit down to play it.