the game, as they say, was the thing

Yesterday was a fantastic day at work on Tabletop. In the morning, I played a really fun geek trivia game called Geek Out, with Anne, and our friends Bonnie Burton and Clare Kramer. Normally, I’m not crazy about party or trivia games, but Geek Out is so wonderful and fun, it’s in regular rotation at Castle Wheaton’s Gaming Keep.

In the afternoon, I played my favorite worker placement (or displacement, if you prefer) game of the year, Five Tribes, with my friends Jenna Busch and Satine Phoenix, and Richard Garriot. Yes, that Richard Garriot, as in: the guy who basically invented the MMO, and who has been to freaking space.

Today, we’re playing Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards: Duel at Mt. Skullzfyre in the morning, and in the afternoon, I’m running a Dread scenario. I’ll post some pictures later on the Twitters and Instagrams later today, so anyone who is interested can see who is playing with us (though if you read to the end, you’ll find out who is playing this morning).

Before I run off to get ready for work, I thought I’d share my intro for Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards: Duel at Mt. Skullzfyre, because I think some of you may find it interesting, and it’s the sort of thing that I would probably write about as a blog, if it wasn’t an intro for my show:

I have a confession to make. I originally did not want to play this game on Tabletop, because I felt like it was too random, and that there wasn’t enough strategy. Producer Boyan pointed out to me that we had just finished playing a heavy strategy game, and if I was looking to continue that experience, I wasn’t going to get it from this game.

Tabletop doesn’t have to be, and shouldn’t be, just about heavy strategy games, he suggested, and maybe I should give this game a second chance, let it be what it is, and see if I have fun playing it on its own terms.

I thanked him for his advice and insight, reconsidered my initial impression, and decided to let this game be what it is: a hilarious, fast, relatively light game with amazing artwork, that encourages its players to fully embrace how outrageous the whole thing is. When I did that, a wonderful thing happened: I cranked up some 80s heavy metal, got into the spirit of the game, and had a fantastic time playing it. I don’t even remember who won, and I totally don’t care. The game, as they say, was the thing.

Today on Tabletop, you’ll get to see for yourself exactly what I’m talking about, as Jonah Ray, Emily Gordon, Veronica Belmont and I put on our robes and wizard hats, to reenact the Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards: Duel at Mt. Skullzfyre.

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20 thoughts on “the game, as they say, was the thing”

  3. I’m excited about the new season! I look forward to introducing some of these new games into my circle of friends. They have really loved ‘Wits and Wagers’, ‘Carcassonne’, ‘Smashup’, ‘Ticket to Ride’, and ‘Betrayal at House on the Hill’. We all live in different cities, but we have a game night once or twice a month that gives us face time. We’re trying out ‘Lords of Waterdeep’ in November, I’ve never played it before, but it looked fun. Thanks for bringing us even more new games to try and keep being awesome!

  4. Five Tribes is a great game. I was lucky enough to have Bruno Cathala teach me the game at Alan Moon’s Gathering of Friends last April. It was my favorite game of the meeting.

  5. If you haven’t considered Cosmic Encounter for Tabletop, it’s a real hoot. Great mix of luck, strategy, and hamming up your alien character.

  6. Sounds like a blast Wil. BTW, I like the name of your gaming place. “Castle Wheaten Gaming Keep “.
    How many games do you actually own?

    1. Not knowing the games is my favorite part about Tabletop; it gives me an excuse to buy new games. (Or to kickstart at the “All the games” level, as the case may be….)

  8. You said “Richard Garriot, as in: the guy who basically invented the MMO,”. Ah, how folks forget that we Elder Geeks were doing MMO back in the, wait for it, 1970’s. My friend John Daleske programmed a little piece called “Empire” in 1973. Yes… a Star Trek game. By 1976 it had evolved into Empire IV. Up to 50 simultaneous users could be playing across the country. Yeh, not “massive” for now. In the 70’s? MASSIVE. 512×512 graphics, no less!

    Read about it at:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_%28PLATO%29 .

    By the way… you can play that very game via the PLATO portal at CYBER1.ORG.

  9. Try Talisman (an old school game) if you want to see someone flip the board in anger in one of your episodes!

  10. I received my copy of Epic Spell Wars today (gotta take advantage of family going to the US, also got Forbidden Desert). So looking forward to trying it out during the weekend and it will be great to see you guy play it! Can’t wait for the season to start.

  12. Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards: Duel at Mt. Skullzfyre is awesome. You’re right: there is absolutely no strategy involved, but the game is just meant to be ridiculous fun. It is the tabletop equivalent of two six-year-olds going, “Now I shoot are fireball at you!” “Well, now I lighting strike you!” “No! Now I kill you!” “No, now you’re dead!” “No, now YOU’RE dead!” “Well, if I’m dead, I’m getting points for being dead because I’m a wizard– so there!” “Nuh-uh! I’M the last wizard standing, so I get all the points– SO THERE!”, etc. And really, the game plays so quickly, that it’s over by the time you can say frostfire.

  13. I was one of the folks who recommended Epic Spell Wars, and I’m super excited that you played it today! Sure, there isn’t much in the way of strategy in the game (How big do I make my spell this round? Do I save my high Initiative cards for later?) but the game is so off-the-wall and over-the-top, I think it’s going to be a lot of fun to watch you ham it up.

  16. The episode hasn’t even aired yet, and I want to go out & get Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards: Duel at Mt. Skullzfyre. Your description was awesome enough to make me check it out; it looks like so much fun!!

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