Audiobook fail and ManorCon success!
Jul. 18th, 2011 10:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearWhat seems like a really long time ago, I started listening to the second Farseer book by Robin Hobb - Royal Assassin. By half way through, I realised I wasn't looking forward to my daily walks any more, because I was finding the book incredibly wearing, so I decided to give up on it and move on to something else. Now that I've just read the plot synopsis of this and the third book in the series, I'm really glad I gave up, since the rest of the story sounds really dire - and also entirely unfamiliar, which suggests I never made it past the first book when I tried to read them years ago, either. The problem I had with the second one was mostly that all the characters are complete idiots, who do really stupid things and fail utterly in fixing any of the problems that are laid in front of them, despite some seemingly relatively easy solutions. Striding along High Holburn, inwardly cursing all the people whose annoying trials and tribulations are filling my brain through my headphones, is not conducive to enjoyable exercise (though it may have been making me walk faster!) - so moving on to something new!
In other news, the weekend just gone was ManorCon, which I thoroughly enjoyed from beginning to end. Chris pointed out that I should start writing reviews of games I play, and also add them in to my statistics, so I've gone back and recorded the stats for games in the first half of the year, and will now do quick reviews of the new games I discovered at ManorCon (as well as recording the ones I played that I already knew).
20th Century - an interesting game where you have to bid to obtain land to add to your jigsaw kingdom and then obtain technology to keep it unpolluted and running efficiently. I found it quite difficult in some respects, but it was very interesting and quite different to other games i've played, and I didn't do too badly overall. Not one I can see us playing a lot or actually purchasing, but a good start to the weekend.
Dominion - only played one game of this, first thing on Saturday morning, but it was fun.
Dungeon Lords - this is an excellent example of how my attitude to and aptitude for games has changed in recent years. It is (to my standards) a long and complicated game, which a few years ago would probably have irrevocably put me off before I'd even played it. But I *love* it, even though it's really hard to do well, and takes quite a lot of brain power to get through. This was my fourth time of playing it, and I've done better each time - this time even coming second out of four players.
Kingsburg - the second new game of the weekend, and highly enjoyable. My favourite type of game is where you have to assign people/money/dice rolls to obtaining resources in order to build things that gain you special abilities and victory points, and this is an excellent example of that kind of game. It's beautifully made and designed, with lots of pretty pictures and surface glitz (which is always a strong selling point for me - I'm such a girl), but the mechanics are also interesting and challenging. Definitely one I want to play again - and we'll probably get round to obtaining our own copy at some point in the near future.
Seven Dragons/Gold Digger/Guillotine - these are three short and not too taxing games I played late on Saturday night, after the curry. They were exactly the right sort of games for that time of day, and I enjoyed all of them, even though the first two in particular were very slight and perhaps not the most brilliantly designed games in the world. Guillotine was by far the best and the most fun of the three.
Stone Age - Sunday began with me appropriating a copy of Stone Age from a kind someone I vaguely know, and corralling another three people so I could play it. This is probably my favourite game at the moment (first discovered on the May holiday, and play twice more since wtih our own set) - though Kingsburg probably just takes the prize as my favourite game from the weekend, because of the novelty value. Anyway, this particular game of Stone Age was a little frustrating since I would have won if I hadn't completely messed up my last turn for no other reason than being an idiot. I still really enjoyed it, though, since it's such a good game and I'm rarely bothered about not winning (a good job as I usually don't).
Vinci - another good discovery and another good example of my broadening horizons and improving strategic ability when it comes to games. When I saw the map of Europe and the hundreds of small counters, my heart sank and I was convinced I wouldn't enjoy this game at all. However, I think I managed to pick it up pretty quickly, thoroughly enjoyed playing it, and didn't disgrace myself on my first time out - I came last out of four, but not by very much.
Ticket To Ride - this was a good Sunday afternoon choice, as I really like it and find it both easy to play and quite relaxing. I didn't too particularly well - mostly because I wasn't trying very hard, but it was fun, as ever.
It's Alive! - this was the last game we played before departing and definitely my least favourite. It was *okay*, but it was a bidding game and I've never been all that keen on those, or all that good at them. It was light and silly, though, which meant it wasn't hard, but it's not one I'd be particularly keen to play again.
One of the most interesting things about the weekend was that only Dungeon Lords contained only players I already knew before the weekend started. This was an unusual development for me, as I generally tend to stick very closely to the people I know - but it added an extra dimension to the experience, which was good.
So, all in all, an excellent weekend, as I have now come to expect from ManorCon!
In other news, the weekend just gone was ManorCon, which I thoroughly enjoyed from beginning to end. Chris pointed out that I should start writing reviews of games I play, and also add them in to my statistics, so I've gone back and recorded the stats for games in the first half of the year, and will now do quick reviews of the new games I discovered at ManorCon (as well as recording the ones I played that I already knew).
20th Century - an interesting game where you have to bid to obtain land to add to your jigsaw kingdom and then obtain technology to keep it unpolluted and running efficiently. I found it quite difficult in some respects, but it was very interesting and quite different to other games i've played, and I didn't do too badly overall. Not one I can see us playing a lot or actually purchasing, but a good start to the weekend.
Dominion - only played one game of this, first thing on Saturday morning, but it was fun.
Dungeon Lords - this is an excellent example of how my attitude to and aptitude for games has changed in recent years. It is (to my standards) a long and complicated game, which a few years ago would probably have irrevocably put me off before I'd even played it. But I *love* it, even though it's really hard to do well, and takes quite a lot of brain power to get through. This was my fourth time of playing it, and I've done better each time - this time even coming second out of four players.
Kingsburg - the second new game of the weekend, and highly enjoyable. My favourite type of game is where you have to assign people/money/dice rolls to obtaining resources in order to build things that gain you special abilities and victory points, and this is an excellent example of that kind of game. It's beautifully made and designed, with lots of pretty pictures and surface glitz (which is always a strong selling point for me - I'm such a girl), but the mechanics are also interesting and challenging. Definitely one I want to play again - and we'll probably get round to obtaining our own copy at some point in the near future.
Seven Dragons/Gold Digger/Guillotine - these are three short and not too taxing games I played late on Saturday night, after the curry. They were exactly the right sort of games for that time of day, and I enjoyed all of them, even though the first two in particular were very slight and perhaps not the most brilliantly designed games in the world. Guillotine was by far the best and the most fun of the three.
Stone Age - Sunday began with me appropriating a copy of Stone Age from a kind someone I vaguely know, and corralling another three people so I could play it. This is probably my favourite game at the moment (first discovered on the May holiday, and play twice more since wtih our own set) - though Kingsburg probably just takes the prize as my favourite game from the weekend, because of the novelty value. Anyway, this particular game of Stone Age was a little frustrating since I would have won if I hadn't completely messed up my last turn for no other reason than being an idiot. I still really enjoyed it, though, since it's such a good game and I'm rarely bothered about not winning (a good job as I usually don't).
Vinci - another good discovery and another good example of my broadening horizons and improving strategic ability when it comes to games. When I saw the map of Europe and the hundreds of small counters, my heart sank and I was convinced I wouldn't enjoy this game at all. However, I think I managed to pick it up pretty quickly, thoroughly enjoyed playing it, and didn't disgrace myself on my first time out - I came last out of four, but not by very much.
Ticket To Ride - this was a good Sunday afternoon choice, as I really like it and find it both easy to play and quite relaxing. I didn't too particularly well - mostly because I wasn't trying very hard, but it was fun, as ever.
It's Alive! - this was the last game we played before departing and definitely my least favourite. It was *okay*, but it was a bidding game and I've never been all that keen on those, or all that good at them. It was light and silly, though, which meant it wasn't hard, but it's not one I'd be particularly keen to play again.
One of the most interesting things about the weekend was that only Dungeon Lords contained only players I already knew before the weekend started. This was an unusual development for me, as I generally tend to stick very closely to the people I know - but it added an extra dimension to the experience, which was good.
So, all in all, an excellent weekend, as I have now come to expect from ManorCon!
