Open Gaming at Brimstone Games February 15th

The Windsor Gaming resource returns to Brimstone Games on Saturday February 15th from 6pm until Midnight. Brimstone has a huge gaming area with tons of tables, chairs and great lighting. I'm told by the owner Sean that we could fit 60 of us in there.

This is an open, all ages, theme-less gaming event. Just a bunch of us getting together to play some games. Magic the Gathering and Warhammer are popular at Brimstone along with the usual mix of card and board games.


You can find Brimstone at 3298 Walker Rd. Parking is available on the south side of the building and on the street around back. Note Brimstone used to be located in McGreggor. This is no longer the case, they moved into Windsor last year. Some internet mapping sites seem to have not gotten this figured out yet.

Check this out: a card game you don't need a table to play on. Oddball Aeronauts (Prototype) Review

I was contacted by maverick:muse back near the end of 2013 and asked if I wanted to check out a new game they were working on. This new game was a two player card game that simulated a fantasy airship battle. The most unique part about the game was that it was played "in hand". This meant that it didn't need a surface to play on. That game is Oddball Aeronauts.

I checked out some of the links Nigel Pyne, the game's designer, provided and I was blown away. First by the artwork and then by the way he made the whole surface-less thing work. I really liked the look of Oddball Aeronauts and jumped at this chance to check it out before the kickstarter goes live in February. My prototype copy showed up a couple weeks ago.

Since getting the prototype I played a few games with my wife. I also brought it out to one of the Windsor Gaming Resource events and showed the game off to a few people. I figured I've given the game enough of a shot now to write up a formal review:

Oddball Aeronauts Overview

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The prototype box I received is a bit thicker than an old Magic the Gathering starter set. Inside were a couple pages of instructions and 54 cards. The cards are split into two 24 card decks and there are 6 additional encounter cards. I will admit the instructions were currently a bit rough. I communicated my questions and concerns to Nigel and he assures me that they will be fixed in the final version of the game. You can check them out yourself here: Oddball Aeronauts Beta Rules V2D

The back of the cards showing the two factions airships

The theme of the game is an aerial airship duel between two factions: Pirates and Pendragons. These factions and characters come from something maverick:muse is calling the Oddball Realms. The art for this realm has a steampunk anthropomophic slightly anime look to it that I really dig.

To start the game each player chooses one of the factions. Each faction has it's own 24 card deck. To that deck each player adds three encounter cards that are randomly selected. You then hand your deck to your opponent who shuffles it and then hands it back to you face down. When both players are ready you flip your decks and begin.

Holding your deck of cards eliminates the need for a table

All of the stats for the for the cards are located on the left hand side with the artwork taking up more than half of the card on the right. There's a reason for this. They way you play is that you slide the cards out to the left so that you see three cards at a time (as shown there on the left). I thought this was particularly well done and is one of the main ways that the game eliminates the need for a surface.

Each card has three statistics on it. Each statistic has two numbers: a rank shown as a number and a bonus shown as a number with a plus. In addition every card ha a special ability which is located below the stats. Only the special ability of the top card is used each turn. The skills going in order from top to bottom are: Sails, Guns and Boarding. There is an exception to this: events. Event cards do not have skill numbers.

Example of an event: here the Pirates would recover 1 card

Once both players have their top three cards showing, both players check for an event. If both players have an event they are both discarded. If only one player does then the event happens. Events generally have players comparing one of their respective skills on the top crew card shown. Some events check for the lowest skill others look for the highest. Once the event is resolved it is discarded.

The way you discard cards in Oddball Aeronauts is the other way that this game keeps the cards in your hand instead of on the table. When you have to discard something you just flip the card over and put it at the back of your deck. Sometimes you will be told to recover a card, when that happens you look through your deck and find the first card that is face down and flip it face up. I thought this was also brilliant. The game ends when one player's entire deck has been discarded aka flipped over and in that case the other player wins.

Now that there's no events in either players hand we can get to the meat of the game. The active player is going to look at his top three cards and pick one of the three skills to attack with. The opposing player then chooses which skill they want to defend with. Now here's where it gets interesting: both players then decide how many cards they want to use for support. Player simultaneously hold up either one, two or three fingers (We found using a rock paper scissors like pumping motion and counting "one" "two" "three" and revealing worked well) to indicate how many cards they will use. 

Here comes the math bit: now each player adds the skill on their top card to the bonus of any other cards they decided to use. Note this can be one, both or none of their support cards. The player with the highest total wins the round.

Example Pendragon cards

Both players now have to discard the cards they used. Then, based on what skill was used by the winner, players recover or discard cards. If Sails were chosen the winner gets to recover two cards. If Guns were chosen the looser must discard two more cards. If Boarding were used, the winner gets to recover a card and the looser must discard a card. This resolution system adds a nice level of strategy to the game and gives a valid reason to not always just go with your highest combo. 

Sounds simple enough right? Well there's just a bit more to it. Remember I mentioned those special abilities on the cards? These mess with the basic system and modify games in a variety of ways. Most of the special abilities give you a bonus based on what skill your opponent chooses. Stuff like "you get +2 guns if your opponent chooses Sails or Boarding" (note it's not that verbose, it's all done with symbols on the cards.

Other special abilities will let you recover cards or they can modify the next round in some way. These next round modifications are handled in a very interesting way. Any modification for the next round is added to the top right of the back of the card. When you discard the card you leave it sticking up just a bit to remind you of this rule in play next round. Something I've never seen before in a game and it works really well. 

So that's basically it. The winner of the round becomes the active player for next round and you rinse and repeat until one players deck has been completely discarded. All this without a single card having to touch a table.

Final Thoughts:

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Okay I will admit I was a skeptic when I first read about this whole "card game that doesn't need a surface" thing. I just couldn't imagine how it would work. How do you 'play your cards'? How do you discard your cards? Heck, what do you do with your deck after you shuffle it? Now I know, and I really dig it. Oddball Aeronauts managed to pull off the game you play 'in hand' brilliantly. 

Example Pirate cards

This means that my wife and I can play it anywhere. The last time I actually played a game was standing in front of the cash at Hugin & Munin, showing the store owner how to play as I played against one of the other patrons. Next time my wife and I head out to our favourite coffee shop I'll have her toss the deck in her purse. 

Not only is the game uber portable and playable almost anywhere, more importantly it's actually fun. Sure it's not the most strategic game I own and sure it's not the most engaging two player experience I've had, but it's a solid little game. It very strongly reminds me of the old Citadel Combat Cards from Games Workshop but it takes the basic mechanic (I pick a stat, you pick a stat, whoever is higher wins) and improves on it quite a bit. There are some real tactical choices to be made here. Using more cards to win the round means you are eating through your deck quicker. The different attack types mean that you may not always want to go with your highest skills. There are even ways to combo your special abilities if you can manage your attacks properly (If I use one card now and my opponent is using boarding that will mean that my third card will be on top, which means...).

Overall I really dig this and I want to thank Nigel and maverick:muse for giving me a chance to check this out. The kickstarter isn't launching until February but when it does I recommend anyone who's looking for a fun two player game that can be played anywhere to back this one.

A Bonus for Windsor Gaming Resource Readers

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As noted above the Kickstarter for Oddball Aeronauts goes live next month in February. Watch this blog when it does because I've made a deal with Nigel that I think is rather cool. We will be hosting a give away here with a pretty unique prize:

One of the 'Event' cards will be 'Bounty Hunter'. We're proposing that the winner designs the character for this card. They would work with Lloyd to develop the card art, choose a name for the character that will appear on the card, would receive the original artwork and be credited in the rulebook as co-designer of that card.

In addition, once the game is in production we will be getting a couple copies to give away at WGR events as well as hosting another give away here on the blog.

Update: The contest is live:

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http://w-g-r.blogspot.ca/2014/02/oddball-aerounauts-giveaway.html

Cards & Coffee - February 8th

February 8th we return to long time FLGS Hugin & Munin for a night of cards and caffeine. The event will run from 5pm until 11pm. Through the entirety of the event all Tassimo coffee will be half off.

Our last event in January had 22 people show up, which pretty much packed the place. You may want to show up a bit early as the place gets packed and we run out of chairs quickly. To help alleviate this problem Ian will be putting up a table for us to store our games on and an extra table (4 total) so that there's more room to actually play. We also ask that people try to squeeze in two games at each table where possible.

Yeah it's called Cards & Coffee and yes some people dig playing Dominion or Magic or Munchkin but you don't need to stick to card games. It's just an excuse to spend a Saturday night playing some games, any games. Our last event saw games like: Firefly, Zombie Dice, Settlers of Catan, Gloom and Space Cadets Dice Duels.

This is a free, ages event that is open to anyone and everyone. Bring your favourite game or play one of ours. The store always has plenty of demo copies you are welcome to try out and most people who attend bring a game or two to share with the group.

Hugin & Munin is located at 1664 Tecumseh RD. E. in Windsor Ontario. Parking in back or on side roads and free out front after 6pm.

We've got mice in our house and the whole family loves it! - Mice & Mystics review.

It's hard to find a game that you can enjoy with the whole family. Really hard. There are lots of kids games out there but it seems like many game designers seem to think that kids game = simple game with no decisions to be made. Many of these games aren't even really much fun for the kids and are an absolute bore for parents. At the other end of this scale you find games like Mice & Mystics.

Mice & Mystics is by Plaid Hat Games and is just as much a great game for adults as it is a great game for kids. The suggested age is 7 and up but kids younger than that can still play and have a great time with some help. The original game was released in 2012. Since then there have been some additional scenarios released as well as a full boxed expansion.

In Mice & Mystics all of the players work together to play through an epic fantasy story. The story starts in a typical fantasy realm, where an evil sorceress tries to take over the kingdom. Prince Colin and his friends are forced to turn into mice in order to escape. The board game starts from there with the players each playing a hero turned into a mouse stuck in a dungeon cell.

The game is played by selecting a chapter from the story book (best if played through in order) and then setting up the board and selecting mice for each player. The thick beautifully illustrated boards are two sided and show various locations around the castle. Minions, the bad guys, are placed on the board and are represented by very well sculpted plastic miniatures. The mouse heroes are more great looking minis. Each player gets a set of cards to represent their character and their equipment and a central board is set up to hold other important game items like the initiative track, the search deck, the encounter deck and party items.

The scenario book gives the players their objectives and any special rules for each chapter. In addition there is a ton of fluff and background. It's this narrative that really brings the game to life. Playing Mice & Mystics is like playing through a story book. Some of it is just playing through the story as it unfolds but other parts are true decision points where you have to decide which way to go. Do you take a chance and run to the kitchen to warn Miss Maggie or do you decide to skip that area in fear of the dreaded Cat?

Actual gameplay is what you would expect from a fairly simple dungeon crawl. Roll for movement rate then take an action and move or move and take an action. Actions include scurrying (moving twice), searching, attacking or using a special action. Order of play is determined by cards and the bad guys are controlled by the players and move and attack according to some very clear rules in the main rulebook.

Combat is done using special dice that come with the game and are reminiscent of games like Heroquest or Descent: Swords are hits in melee, bows are hits in ranged and shields negate hits. In addition to the combat icons on the dice there is also 1 side of each die that shows a piece of cheese.

Cheese is used for two things. For the heroes it lets them power their abilities. Each hero starts with one ability and when they level up (also done by spending cheese) they can get new powers. These let the mice do a variety of things like heal, magic attack, better defense etc. They are similar to Feats in popular pen and paper RPGs. For the minions cheese represents the passage of time. Every time a bad guy rolls a cheese it goes on the clock on the center board. When that clock fills up with cheese more bad guys may spawn and time advances. If you run out of time the game ends and the bad guys win.

Right now Mice & Mystics is the most popular game in our house. My wife and I enjoy dungeon crawl style games and this is a good example of one. Better yet though is that our kids love it. Our oldest is particularity smitten with the game. At only 6 years old she's figured out pretty much all of the strategy of the game and will confidently play Tilda, "The Healer" in a fun and tactically valuable way. Now my 3 year old, while she loves the game doesn't really get it yet. She has fun rolling the dice but is more interested in sorting and counting her cheese than actually figuring out which Rat she should go smuck next. 

I strongly recommend this game for anyone who enjoys games like HeroQuest, Descent or even Mansions of Madness. One thing that Mice & Mystics improves on all of those is that there's no adversarial play. It's completely co-op. In addition to being a solid dungeon crawler this game is seeping with theme and story. The game is more than just a board game it's an experience and the fact that it's one that you can share with the whole family is awesome.

Games and Grub at the Green Bean - January 31st

On the 31st of January we return to the Green Bean's Windsor Star Cafe in Downtown Windsor. The event starts at 6pm and goes until 11pm and is open to all ages.

The Green Bean Coffee Company, Windsor Star Cafe is located on the third floor of 300 Ouellette ave. You can take the elevator from the ground or the stairs up from the 2nd floor. This is the location of the old Palace theaters.

There's lots of room and great lighting at this venue. We've found it's great for long and short games alike. The large tables are great for those games like Eclipse that are hard to fit at home.

There's no theme to the event. Bring whatever you like, or show up and play some of the games others have brought. Everyone is usually willing to teach anything they bring.

DriveThruRPG 2014 New Year, New Game Sale

Okay this is a heads up post. This sale hasn't started yet but it looks like it's going be a great one.

50% off over 80 core rule books for different games. Based on the info I got in email it looks like Numenera, Dungeon Crawl Classics and White Wolf games will be part of this deal.

It officially starts on Monday January 6th.

The WGR would love your support by clicking the banner above before you go shopping. We get a small percentage of any sales and it doesn't cost you the buyer anything at all.

The First Cards & Coffee of 2014 - January 18th

Happy New Year!

Here's a great WGR gaming event for trying out those new games you got over the holidays. Come out to Hugin & Munin between 5pm and 11pm on Saturday January 18th.

Yeah it's called Cards & Coffee and yes some people dig playing Dominion or Magic or Munchkin but you don't need to stick to card games. It's just an excuse to spend a Saturday night playing some games, any games.

This is an all ages event that is open to anyone and everyone. Bring your favourite game or play one of ours. No XP needed, we'll teach you what we have.

Coffee is also half off for the entire event.

Hugin & Munin is located at 1664 Tecumseh RD. E. in Windsor Ontario. Parking in back or on side roads and free out front after 6pm.

The most popular games of 2013

Last Friday saw our the last Windsor Gaming Resource event of 2013: our Boardgame Bash! I wanted to take a moment to thank every single one of you who came out to one of our events and made 2013 our best year ever. We've gotten more events in than any year in the past and I've met a ton of new wonderful gamers. Thank you!

The other thing I wanted to do was take a look back at 2013. After every event I gather a list of all of the games played and enter those plays over at www.boardgamegeek.com (awesome site BTW). This lets me see; not only what's been played, but how often each game was showcased at one of our events. Here's the results of that data collection:

The 10 most popular games at WGR events in 2013:

1. Munchkin

I will admit that I'm personally not a big fan of this but if this year's events are any indication, I'm in the minority with that opinion. This one and the next one tied, showing up at 11 different events.

For those who haven't heard of it (I'd be surprised if that's anyone who follows this blog) Munchkin is a pretty simple dungeon crawl parody game full of back stabbing and one upmanship. Kick in the door, kill the monster and steal it's loot. You will have to ask for help along the way but expect a knife in the back from those same friends as you approach level 10 and the win.

2. The Settlers of Catan

This one doesn't surprise me at all. There's a reason The Settlers of Catan is the most well known "Eurogame" in the world - it's a great game. It also introduces a lot of mechanics that players only familiar with traditional roll and move games may not know.

Catan really is a great gateway game and has been the doorway to hobby gaming for many people, myself included. I expect this one to remain popular for years to come.

3. King of Tokyo

The first time I tried King of Tokyo I wasn't a big fan. Yet another push your luck Yahtzee game but with giant Kaiju monsters. Eventually one night at one of our events at Villains Beastro I gave it another shot and found I loved it. I'm  not sure what changed, I think it may have been the expansion that added power ups and differentiated the monsters. Whatever it was, I was glad I gave the game another shot as I've found it to be one of the best filler games out there. I'm always happy to see it come out at our events.

4. Race for the Galaxy

Race for the Galaxy was hugely popular at the beginning of the year. I would receive requests from players week after week to bring this one out. For some reason that popularity died off as the year went on. I don't think this is any reflection on the gameplay of this great game, but rather the amount of great new games that came out in 2013 and people's desire to try new things.

"Race" continues to be one of the most popular card games out there for good reason: it's a fantastic card based 4x game. There's a bit of a learning curve but once you are past that you've got a great strategic game with no one right way to win.

5. Ca$h 'n Gun$

What's not to love about a game where you point foam guns at the fellow players in a virtual Mexican Stand Off?

This one is great for public play events as it's quiet the spectacle. It always gathers a crowd and is responsible for getting the non-gaming public to join in the fun at some of our events. 

You've just completed the bank job of a lifetime. Now it's time to split up the cash. There's no way this is going to go smoothly. The only problem with this game is that it's been out of print for some time.

6. Love Letter

One of the hottest new games of 2012, Love Letter continues to be a WGR event favourite. 

There's a new trend in tabletop gaming and that's a trend towards micro games. Small games that are very portable and easy to explain. The best of them don't sacrifice strategy and gameplay and currently Love Letter may be the best of the best. Though it's looking like Coup may usurp the throne in 2014.

Love letter is a deck of only 16 cards but involves a solid amount of risk, deduction and just a bit of luck.

7. The Resistance

I've always enjoyed the group game Werewolf. We've seen versions of it at a few of our events over the years with Do You Worship Cthulhu? seeming to be the most popular version. That was until The Resistance came out.

This brilliant big group game can handle 10 players. It's a hidden role game that pits The Resistance against the Imperial Spies. The Resistance is trying to complete missions and the Spies are trying to make those missions fail. 

One of the best parts about this game over the Warewolf games is that no moderator is required, so all players get to actually play and enjoy the game.

8. Magic the Gathering

I think we can blame the Cards & Coffee events hosted by Hugin & Munin for this one showing up on the list. Magic has been very popular since it first came out in 1993. The fact that it's on this list 20 years later (oh man I'm getting old), showcases that very well. Magic continues to be the driving force in card gaming and it doesn't look like it's slowing down any time soon.

Build your deck, summon some monsters and cast some spells to defeat the opposing player trying to do the same for you. Over the years this one has evolved a lot of cool and interesting ways to play besides the traditional head to head.

9. Quarriors!

One of the biggest innovation in tabletop games in the recent years was the invention of the "Deck Builder" games where the drafting of cards isn't something you do before the game, but rather it becomes the game itself. 

Quarriors is an interesting twist on this mechanic. Instead of drafting cards you collect dice which you put in your dice bag and pull from every turn.

10. Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age

This one surprised me. I don't remember seeing it out all that often but I guess it was there and I missed it.

Roll through the ages is a very solid Yahtzee like dice game. You roll and then use the resources rolled to build cities, craft wonders and upgrade your technology level. For an even better experience you can download the free Late Bronze Age expansion.

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If anyone is interested in seeing all of the games we played at events in 2013 you can check here:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/plays/bygame/user/WindsorGaming/subtype/boardgame/start/2013-01-01/end/2013-12-17

Did your favourite game make the list?

The 11 best new games I played in 2013

With the time of gift giving very fast approaching (far too fast if you ask me) I thought it would be a good time to look back and see what new games I enjoyed playing the most in 2013.

Note these aren't necessarily games that came out in 2013, they are games that were new to me this year. Also note: these aren't in any specific order. I wouldn't say the first game on the list is better than the last.

I tried Core Worlds as I kept hearing it listed as various podcaster's favourite deck building game. Many of them ranking it well above Ascension which was my favourite deck building game. Note "was" The podcasters were right. This is a great game and is now really the only deck builder I've been playing. I really enjoy it. It reminds me of a mix of Race for the Galaxy and Dominion, which is a really good mix. This seems a lot more strategic and less random than many other deck builders. I've heard, but not yet proven, that it's even better with the expansion.

I got into the Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures Game at the start of 2013. I even wrote up an X-Wing Buyers Guide that has ended up being the most popular post on this entire blog. I still think that this is an awesome game. Besides having the best looking pre-painted miniatures you will find on the market, the game play is excellent. Though I see quite a few people complain about the price, it's still one of the cheapest miniature games to get into. It really does bridge the gap between boardgamers and miniature wargamers. If you haven't tried this one out yet check with your FLGS as demo events and organized play are common.

I picked up Quarriors! with a gift certificate I received for my birthday this year and I've never regretted that choice. Quarriors! takes deck building to a new 3D level. Instead of building a deck you are building a dice bag full of dice representing spells and monsters. The basic game is quick to learn and fun though a bit broken (buy the biggest thing all the time and the first one to get a big monster often wins). There are some advanced rules that really make this game shine though. Plus, what gamer doesn't love dice?

The best big group game I found this year was The Red Dragon Inn. This game is all about the party after the fantasy adventure. What the group does with their loot after they've saved the kingdom and killed the dragon. This is fantasy RPG themed screw your neighbor last player standing card game that is at it's most fun when the players get into character. Now the base game only plays 2-4 players but each stand alone set ads 4 different characters and they can all be combined. Right now with all the sets out there you can play with up to 14 players. This one has proved to be very popular at Windsor Gaming Resource Events.

I was leery when I heard Wizards of the Coast was going to put out a D&D based Euro-Game. It's not really their niche and I'm not sure if it's their market either. I was pleasantly surprised when I finally got to try Lords of Waterdeep though. I immediately went and bought myself a copy. This is a very light worker placement game with a very solid D&D theme (as long as you can convince the players to say Fighters instead of orange cubes). The core game is easy to explain and is designed in such a way that the final scores are usually very close with no run away winner problem. I personally find the base game a bit light for my taste, but all you have to do is toss in the Skullport expansion and the game goes from good to great.

Primordial Soup is an old one. It's from 1997. I first got to try it at a friends birthday part this year. He noted it was his favourite game and I can see why. You start off this game just playing single celled creatures floating in the soup. At first you have very little you can do besides just flow with the current and eat food cubes. As the game progresses though you buy evolution cards. Maybe you gain mobility being able to go against the current, maybe you grow armor to protect you from other evolving animals, etc. A very unique and rewarding game.

One of the things I've done more of this year than in the past is play more boardgames with my kids. They are now getting old enough to really grasp how to play a variety of different games, even getting good enough to beat their mom and dad sometimes. I picked up Catan Junior based on some very positive reviews, reviews that were dead on. This is a great game to introduce kids to hobby gaming. It teaches the basics of resource management and trading and planning ahead. It's a simplified version of Catan with a pirate theme. The great part being that it's not overly simplified. It's still actually quite fun to play even as an adult. If you've got a growing little gamer in your life I can't recommend this one enough.

2013 seems to be the year I discovered Stronghold Games. Maybe it's due to how often Stephen Buonocore shows up on various podcasts. Space Cadets is a very unique game that attempts to capture the chaos of being a starship bridge crew. Each player takes a different station like Helm, Engineering or Weapons and then has to play a mini game while on a 30 second time limit to get their station ready and hopefully follow the captains orders. The games vary from dice games to dexterity games from puzzles to memory. This one isn't for everyone though, some people really dislike it. Personally I'm a fan. Now I've heard the new Space Cadets Dice Duel is better. I'm going to have to check that one out in 2014

A new toy store opened up here in Windsor: Mastermind Toys. For their grand opening they had 50% off any one item: Qwirkle was the item I chose to buy at that sale. I had recently listened to an interview with the designer and the game sounded solid. Since then Qwirkle has become my favourite abstract game. Pretty much replacing Ingenious for me. I love the simplicity of the rules combined with the rather deep strategy of play. Even better: the rules are simple enough even kids can get this one. Play a set with one thing in common shape or colour: get points based on how many tiles are in the complete set. Get a bonus for completing a set of 6. That's pretty much it.

La Boca was the surprise hit of our Extra Life charity gaming event. It was donated by the awesome people at Z-man Games and gathered a crowd every time it was played. La Boca is an interesting dexterity game that has players teaming up to try to assemble a stack of coloured and oddly shaped blocks to a pattern shown on a card. A timer is started each time and both players get points based on their combined time. The interesting bit is that the card is different from each side and only shows one player's viewpoint. Each pair is timed and the game is played round robin so that you team with every other player twice. The player with the most points at the end wins.

This is another one that we are playing with the kids and they are loving it. In Mice and Mystics you take on the role of medieval fantasy characters who have been turned into mice and despite their diminutive stature must save their kingdom from the evil sorcerer queen. The game is a highly thematic dungeon crawling game reminiscent of classics like Heroquest or Descent. Mice and Mystics is completely co-op though with no Zargon hiding behind his screen. The combination of richly detailed story, amazing components and very thematic mechanics makes this one a must buy for anyone with kids. Added to that the game is actually good enough that there's no reason you have to save it for the kids. I know plenty of adults that love this game.


So there you have it. Eleven of the best games I tried for the first time in 2013. What new games did you get to try out this year? Which would you recommend as great gifts this holiday season?

December 13th - Holiday Boardgame Bash

Join us at the Green Bean Windsor Star Cafe at 6pm on Friday December 13th for our first ever Holiday Boardgame Bash!

What better way to celebrate the holidays than by playing some games with friends? This is a free all ages open gaming event. It's an excuse to get together one more time before all the craziness starts. It's a chance to try out some new games and find stuff to add to your wish list. It's a great chance to discover the perfect gift for the gamer that has everything.

Door Prizes

Besides the usual open gaming we are also going to have door prizes. Some of which have been donated by our FLGS Hugin & Munin and also by the awesome Jason Russel. To be eligible all you have to do is show up and play at least one game!

Hidden Gaming Gift Exchange

Bring a sealed gaming related gift to join in the Gaming Gift Exchange.

Here's how it's going to work: Everyone who wants to participate brings a wrapped gaming related gift. These will all be put out on display at the Cafe. The exchange will take place at around 8pm (we'll let people in the middle of games finish up if possible). At that time everyone will receive a random playing card. Then we will draw one card and the first person will pick one of the gifts and open it. Then going forward every subsequent person will have an option: open a new gift or "steal" one of the gifts already opened. If your gift is stolen you then get the same choice, open a new gift or "steal" one that's already opened (but no stealing back what was just taken from you). 

Location

The Green Bean Windsor Star Cafe is located at:
300 Ouellette Ave - 3rd floor
Windsor, ON N9A 7B4

6pm - 11pm on Friday December 13th