Telestrations

               Telestrations is a board game that uses up to 9 players. Each player has a notepad, an eraser cloth, a card with a dozen different words, and a marker. The game is played by a die being rolled, and using that number given from the die, you pick a word from your card and write it on the first page of your note book. After this is done, you then pass your note book (to either the left or right, depending on the rules of the group playing) and the next person will attempt to draw a picture of your word. After that, each person passes their note book again, and next person must guess the word from the previous drawing. This is repeated until all of the pages are filled, and the note book is returned to its original owner. Like the game states, this is the game Telephone, but with drawing. It is a fun, family friendly game, but that is not the point of this paper. The game can have a much deeper meaning, and that is to help people realize that it is sometimes ok to be bad at something.

            You are probably wondering how a board game can help a person realize this, well let me give you an example. The worst you are at drawing, the more fun this game becomes. Because when the next person see’s your “who knows what it could be”, they mainly just guess a word. This throws a curve ball at the end when you are giving out points and wondering how you went from say the President of a University, to a pizza. So what does that example prove? If you are self-conscious of what your “artwork” looks like, it is ok if it is bad, because it makes the game more fun. Everyone gets a laugh out of it, and that self-conscious feeling begins to go away. This in turn can help you open up, have more fun, and maybe make some new connections. Ok, ok, you are probably thinking “cool man, but how does this help me in real life situations”, well I will tell you. One of the most commonly asked questions when going into a professional interview is “what is your biggest weakness, and how do you plan on improving that weakness.” I have personally been asked this in an interview situation before. When you go into an interview, you usually plan to talk about your strengths; you know, to make you sound good so you can get the job. So when they throw a curve ball like this at you, it usually trips most people up. What they are looking for is that you are ok with admitting you have weaknesses, and that if you are trying to make progress on those weaknesses, you will be able to handle some given situation in the work place that may play against your strong points (if you are planning to go to some really big job interview, I recommend going to an interview workshop. It was very helpful for me). One of my biggest weaknesses is not expressing or talking about my feelings, a very common weakness among males in today’s society. This is a weakness because; if I am extremely upset I tend to bottle it all up inside. This can affect my work in the work place, especially in my field of work, a Certified Nursing Aid (CNA). Working on this, such as talking to my supervisor (someone with you know, a lot more experience in these situations) may show my weakness, but it will help me calm down and do better at my job.

            As I sat down to first start playing the game, I knew only one person in my group. So I can’t say everyone was talking too much. But after we were done with the first round, everyone was laughing and talking as if we all knew each other for years. Everyone’s shyness or doubt disappeared.  For instance, if it was not for spell check, I doubt anyone would be able to understand half this paper. To say the least, I am really bad at spelling. So when it came to one of the rounds where I had to guess, I did not know how to properly spell the word. The worst part was it was the name of the building we were in, Fawick, which I have only ever had 2 classes in. So instead I spelt it Fay-a-wick. Instead of people laughing at me because I did not know how to spell the word, they were laughing with me, and I actually won points because of it.

            So all in all, I am saying that it is ok to have weaknesses, and it’s ok to be bad at something. It does not make you look weak, or cause people to judge you.  Instead it can help you become stronger and even break the ice in some situations, and this board game can help show you that.

New posts, but a twist on the games

Hey everyone! Well It has been a long time since I had any posts, and I thought about adding some new ones. I started this blog because I was taking a class on video games. Well now I am taking a class on social board games, I know you're probably thinking "what school is this guy attending?" Well I will post my thoughts on the games that I will be playing weekly in this class. They will be less about the game, and more of what the game can teach you. I hope everyone enjoys these new posts!

Marvel vs. Capcom 3

That's right, the third chapter.
  Much like 'Words with Friends,' MVC3 is a game that will destroy all relationships that it comes in contact with. It is a well designed game, but it was much better in an arcade setting when you could easily hate the stranger next to you who very effectively used the stupid Okami wolf to trounce you nine times in a row. At home with only friends you are forced to let these frustrations fester until you find youself digging up old wounds, and making your once solid friendship crumble in ruin like so many ancient civilizations.

Fuck you, Okami wolf. Fuck you.

  That being said, I really sort of love this game. It is one of the best fighters out there, and you get to be spider-man; the Spider-Man! The game pits two players against each other, each picking three characters from the Marvel or Capcom universe. There is also a single player mode culminating in a fight against a giant Galactus, but that isn't really the main point. One could button mash if they really wanted to, but if one really focuses on good play and combos, one can easily defeat the aforementioned masher. I am a little disappointed that the super move function boils down to essentially pulling a trigger and that sometimes just triggers a tag to one of your teammates. Maybe I was a little hasty saying it was well-designed, but I did really like it despite some of its issues. Deadpool moves backwards in a moonwalk.

Even Galactus gets owned by that damn wolf.

Marvel vs. Capcom was always my favorite game to play in the arcade, so perhaps my opinion is a bit clouded my nostalgia, but I would say that this game gets an Ironman out of all Marvel characters. Which is to say, not the best but still pretty damn cool.
 

Line Rider

Line Rider is an Indie game, that has made its biggest appearance on mobile devices. Now, this is another "App Game" that is not much like another out on the market. The game has built up quite a large fan base, and even created what I like to call "line artists" for the great detail and time put into this game.

Now, as I said Line Rider is not like a lot of other "App Games" on the market. It doesn't have have a story, or a plot, or even basic game play. The only thing you do in this game is draw. Yup, that is right, you just draw. You use a multitude of different colored pencils to create any thing you want.

In Line Rider, you draw a track of any design and have a little dude on a toboggan ride your track. Plan and simple. This is a game that I really like, but I wish I was better at., How can you be bad at a game that you just draw in you ask, well that is simple. I cant draw a straight line in this game to save my life. When you can not draw a straight line in a game called Line Rider...you are pretty much a failure. Anyways, the game is about how far your imagination can take you. This is something I really like, because if you anything like me, you can not keep your mind on track to save you self from any amount of boredom. With a game like line rider, where you can build any type of track possible, it really keeps a person busy to kill some time.

I did mention "Line Artist", these are people I tip my hat to. For there is now way I could ever put the details and let alone the time they have put into these designs for this game. A great example of this is the McDonald's Line Rider commercial. Here I put up an impressive video to show the amount of errfort these people put in that I just am way to lazy for.

If you ask me, it is game like line rider and it's generation of "App Games" that made mobile gaming, especial with the IPhone as popular as it is. So check out the PC version of this game Here.

Popcap Game's Zuma's Revenge

Zuma's Revenge is another "App Game". A lot like the games Bejeweled or Boulder Bash, it is a simple game game with no real story behind it.

Now as I said, like Kingdom Rush, this is an "App Game". So it has no real difficulty on how to understand and play the game. You control a frog somewhere on the map, and your goal is to shoot colored orbs into groups of 3 and destroy them all before they reach the skull at the end. It has a hand full of power ups and collectible fruit for extra points.

So like Kingdom Rush, this a game that anyone can pickup and play with out difficulty. It has an addicting like game play for those who enjoy this simple mechanic.Now the graphics are not that bad, and the power ups give it some fun aspects. But, personally I did not really find the game that fun to play. This is because of a few reasons. One, it is kinda hard to aim the frog, I mean you get used to it real fast, but It bothered me. Not that big of a deal though. The real main reason I did not really like this game is mainly because I am just not a big fan of "App Games". They are great for people who are not really big gamers, and just want something simple to kill time. But me, I like story, detail, and action. I am looking forward to a break from school so I can take a deeper look and Star Wars the Old Republic, personally.

From what I have seen about it, it is a really popular game online, popular enough to become a squeal for the original at least. So, for the small time "App Gamers" out there, check this one it, I think it is more your style than mine.

Here is a Link to play the game

Armor Games' Kingdom Rush

Kingdom Rush was developed by Armor Games, and is in a different category that the other games that I have posted about. It is more of a "App" game, and that's is what I am going to refer it as. This is more of a game that you will be seeing people play on tablets and smartphones. Though it is not as "in depth" as other games, "App Games" have brought upon us a new generation of gaming.

Kingdom Rush is your basic tower defense game. That is you have a starting point where enemies start their advance, and it is your job to stop them from reaching the other side by placing a series of towers to destroy them. There is not really anything that makes this game stand out against other tower defense games. That is, it still has all the basics. Up gradable towers, special abilities available on purchase, and of course you standard Tower defense strategy game play.

Though simple, I find the game still very addicting and fun to play. it still has towers with different abilities and enemies with different immunity's. Which gives you the need strategically place towers in the best of ways to insure your victory. Also, it does have some fun towers that really add to the game play. The ones that I liked the most where the barracks and the bomb towers. This is because, the barracks set out little soldiers in the path of the enemy. I really liked this because it was like a slow tower, but still did damage. It was also a tower did not actually shoot at the enemies, which is something you do not find very often. Next, the bomb tower was just fun because it lobbed  bombs that did splash damage, and I just found it entertaining.

Now as I said it is an "App Game" so nothing to special about it. But, it is an "App Game", which means it is easy to play and understand. So if you are not really one of those hard core gamers, but looking for something to kill your free time, I recommend you check out this game.

Here is the Link to play this game. Enjoy!

EA's NHL '95

Here comes EA Sports to the line up of games. NHL '95 was developed EA (Electronic Arts) and released on several platforms in 1994. I know it says NHL '95, so why was released in 1994. Well that s just what EA does with all of their sports games. The release them a year prior so the game is available during its title year. I am sure that there are other marketing reasons, but I am a gamer so i can not say I really care about those other reasons.

Now I can not say that I am a huge fan of sports games. I do do sports in real life, but I only run college track and cross country, and only people that are involved with those sports believe them to be real. So half the world doesn't really consider me an athlete, if you are one of those people, then get off my back for never even owning a sports game. Anyways, NHL '95 is all about, yeah you guessed it hockey. Now this game, along with a lot of other early sports games of it's time, doesn't have any real campaign or story plot. You pick a team, and you face another team. The team that scores the most goals wins. It is just that plain and simple.

Though I did enjoy playing this game because of a few of its aspects. First off, there is no story, it is just play the sport. Sports games should not have stories. Good for you if you made a character and brought him to the pros. Now tell me, who else, besides yourself, really cares. In NHL '95, you get to pick your favorite team and get right into the action.

Next thing I liked was its general simplicity.  No fancy controls, no control this with this stick then move with this stick, shoot with this pass with this so on and so forth. If you really play a sports game for its complex controls and in depth story.... just go outside and play the sport. I know I know, you have never seen sunlight, so its going to burn a little the first time. But, you will make so many more friends than the ones who play sports games for the story and complexity. As I was saying, the controls are really simple, you move, sometimes pass, and you shoot. Also, for those saying "but I have never played hockey, how does it work" you will get destroyed by penalties, but you can simple turn them off. That is a another thing that I like. You can make the game more work for you.

All in all it is a sports game I actually liked playing, and no Wii Sports and Mario Tennis do not count as sports games. So if you are looking for a simple way to turn yourself into a hockey playing machine, without the actual hockey playing part, then check this game out. But please, do not try to use hockey playing as a pickup line after playing this game.