Boards & Brews at Home: Betrayal at House on the Hill

 
  Happy Halloween Everyone!  

Light your candles, grab your crucifix, and stay close together because tonight, four brave souls will be lurking in the dark, dank hallways of a haunted mansion.  The floorboards are creaking and groaning under their feet, the light is swallowed by the dampened, dark corners of each room and the cold chill from the breath of the wind seeps through the cracks of the decrepit walls within this evil edifice.  Which one of us will turn against the others?  Will we survive the horrors within, or will the pain and suffering of the dark entities swallow us up? 

Quoth the Raven...

We returned to Noble Coffee & Tea today to play a game from Smirk and Dagger Games known as Nevermore.  This is a 3 - 6 player card drafting, hand management, set collection game with multiple take-that mechanics, subtle deception, and cunning trickery.  The raven has its eye out for you and we have a couple new players that have joined us for today's dark and dreary October morning.  Which of us will transform into ravens and which ones will be victorious?  Out of the darkness, our fate will be revealed in the cards.  Read on to learn about Nevermore. 

A Dreadful Double Feature

This week we attended Books and Brews which was having Live Music Night and showing the classic horror film The Shining, all while serving free popcorn and Halloween themed drinks! You should check out their website for the remaining movie schedule because this is not the last time that they'll be showing horror films in October!  On this night, we are reviewing two games, the dark humor story-telling game known as Gloom and the ever popular social deduction, bluffing card game, One Night Ultimate Werewolf.  Now lets shake things up a bit with terror-inducing stories and wildly-hairy accusations with some craft beer, or Dracula's blood as it's known tonight.

Beers and Braaaains...

Today we returned to Redemption Alewerks in Fishers to play Zombie Dice.  Throughout the fall time, Redemption has added a pumpkin-spice flavor to their Reclamation vanilla porter which is fantastic!   Today however, I had the Schlafly Pumpkin Ale, and Claire had the New Day Johnny Chapman Cider, both of which were excellent and we highly recommend them!  On this segment, we are playing the role of the restless undead, and only hungry for one thing…braaaains!  Zombie Dice is a push-your-luck, dice rolling game in which you are trying to attain the most brains possible.  There's a problem though.  The living still want to keep their brains and they're armed with shotguns ready to defend themselves.

Boards & Brews at Home: D&D Castle Ravenloft

  Welcome to the October segments!  

Claire and I are big Halloween enthusiasts, and the segments for October will definitely be fun for us!  Steve is even in the Halloween spirit and has decided to dress up as well!  We're kicking off the October segments by providing you another home segment to play Dungeons & Dragons: Castle Ravenloft.  As we've mentioned in the past, our monthly at home segments are designed for our big box games with lots of components.  Well, today is probably one of the best examples of these segments, because there is a lot inside of this box.  Venture further and read more.

Spotting New Places

Today we tried a new location in the Herron-Morton Place district of downtown Indy known as Thirsty Scholar.  It is located within the historic Penn Arts building which was built in the early 1920's, and still retains an early 20's european style.  They serve a variety of drinks such as coffee, tea, beer and wine, so it's our kind of place!  The barista's were courteous, but aloof.  The coffee had excellent foam and was well presented, but Claire's almond milk cappuccino was bitter.  We would like to revisit as we enjoyed the atmosphere and would like to sample their other offerings. 

A Meepling We Will Go!

Today at Books and Brews, we're all meepled up, and everywhere to go!  Now a quick history lesson.  The world famous French city, Carcassonne was known for its imposing fortifications erected during the Antiquity and the Middle Ages.  Even today, this fortress surrounded by it's magnificent walls, still stands as one of the most unique French cities.  In this 2 - 5 player tile-placement game, players must develop the area around Carcassonne.  They will place their followers onto roads, into cities, monasteries and fields.  The players who make the most judicious placements will gain the points required to win the game.

Get Yer Geek On!

Look out fellow geeks, here it is!  Today we went to Sure Shot Coffee in Fishers to play Geek Out!  Between years of science-fiction film viewing, fantasy films, several years of childhood super hero shows, tabletop games and video game experience since 1983, we consider ourselves quite the geeks.  Well, this game will really test your geek knowledge to the absolute limits!  There's not a lot to this game in terms of rules and complexity.  It's a party and bidding trivia game with hundreds of geeky questions from five genres, Games (both tabletop and video), Fantasy, Comics, Sci-Fi, and miscellaneous/pop culture style questions.  These 5 categories will demand answers from your knowledge on books, games, movies, TV shows, franchises, and more. 

Boards & Brews at Home: Sheriff of Nottingham

Once again, another at home segment is upon us!  Tonight we are playing something absolutely blinding known as, Sheriff of Nottingham.  What's that you say mate?  The premise of our story?  Well, that lousy Prince John has finally gone too far!  It's close to impossible for a merchant to make a living anymore, being taxed as much as we are!  He's hired that greedy Sheriff of Nottingham to check everyone who comes through the front gate for "contraband" and keeping it for himself!  Read more to see how he's proving to be quite the caterpillar in our buttermilk.

Renaissance Intrigue and Battle

This week we stopped in again at Sure Shot Coffee in Fishers to battle it out with Condottiere.  The premise of Condottiere is that during the Renaissance period, Italy was divided into numerous independent city-states, sometimes friendly and sometimes hostile.  This is the era in which the Condottieri appear as leaders of mercenary armies who offered their services to the most powerful cities.  In Condottiere, you relive this incredible age, and represent a Condottiere trying to conquer the most famous cities in Italy.  However, you are not alone!  You must take into account the ambitions of the other Condottieri.  The strength of your army alone will not suffice.  You must use diplomacy if you want a chance at victory.  The goal in Condottiere is to conquer city-states, unite them, and create the most powerful kingdom in Italy.

Coup d'etawesome

This week we visited Calvin Fletchers Coffee Company in Fountain Square to play Coup.  Our experience was very nice.  The employees are very kind and attentive, and the beverages really hit the spot!  The environment was relaxed, art-centric and welcoming.  We very much enjoyed the service we received from Calvin Fletchers Coffee and look forward to returning again!  Today's awesome game of choice is Coup, the dystopian future, social deduction, player elimination game so get ready for a mix of deceitful, but also truthful allegations and backstabbery. 

Who's the Boss?

Today we returned to the rustic, ski-lodge scenery of Mama Bears Bakery in Fishers to play Boss Monster.  Anyone who has played classic dungeon RPG games knows that the hero is the one and only individual who can save either the princess, or mankind, with his fortitude.  This game however is going to make us do the opposite.  In this dungeon building card game, you are the boss monster who is set out to lure the heroes into your dungeon and destroy them, taking their souls.  The methods in getting to this point will vary from game to game depending on the cards you draw from the room deck.  If you play your cards right, you can build an effective dungeon path to destroy every hero who enters, claiming each of their souls.  Whoever collects 10 souls first, is the winner. 

Boards & Brews at Home: 7 Wonders

For this segment we are scheduled once again to play big box games at home with more components!  Tonight Ryan, Kayte and Rand join us to play the card drafting, set collection game, 7 Wonders.  In 7 Wonders you are the leader of one of the 7 great cities of the Ancient World.  It is up to you to gather resources, develop commercial routes, affirm your military supremacy, and build your city to evolve an architectural wonder which will transcend futures to come.  7 Wonders lasts three ages.  Just like other card drafting games, each player begins each turn by selecting a card from their hand and then passing the remaining cards to an adjacent player.  Then, like other card drafting games, all players will simultaneously reveal their cards, playing resources if needed, or collecting resources. 

Gen Con 2015

This week we take a look at the four greatest days of gaming, Gen Con which is held in the Indianapolis Convention Center downtown.  It's like Christmas during the summer!  Today was the last day for Gen Con, but before I bid it farewell for another year, I'm going to share my thoughts about the experience.  One of the most fascinating things about Gen Con aside from thousands of tabletop games, is the massive volume of people that come from all over the world to be there.  Claire and I worked as volunteers this year and we met and spoke to people not only from all over the US, but from all over the world. 

Ready ORE Not.....More Catan!

For today's segment we returned to Noble Coffee & Tea to play Rivals for Catan.  A few weeks back we did an at home segment to play The Settlers of Catan.  This version of Catan is a two player card game in which you are still building roads, settlements, and cities, but this time only with cards.  You also still gain resources such as wool, grain, brick, ore, lumber, and gold, but the approach is very different.  Each turn you will roll your dice, and one die will determine which resources you gain, and which actions or event cards are drawn.