MENSA Mind Games

Every year MENSA selects 5-6 games that it deems worthy of its "Mind Games" designation. Both Magic and Pokemon are on past lists. This year's selections are:

• Ex Libris (Renegade Game Studio)
• Photosynthesis (Blue Orange Games)
• Raiders of the North Sea (Renegade Game Studio)
• Azul (Plan B Games)
• Constellations: The Game of Stargazing and the Night Sky (Xtronaut Enterprises  / Hit Point Sales)

Busy Weekend

We will have quite a busy weekend at the store. Friday night starts off the draft weekend for Dominaria at 6 p.m. We will have 2 more drafts on Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. Prepay for all 3 for $40 or $15 each. We will also host a modern tournament at 6 p.m. Friday night. Pokemon also gets some love with the pre-release for Forbidden Light at 5 p.m. Friday.

Saturday is International TableTop day and we will host board and card games all day. See the store website calendar or Facebook page for more info. Saturday is also the Sneak Peek for the new Yu Gi Oh set, Flames of Destruction. You can participate in the Sneak Peek starting at 10 a.m. Saturday for $20 or in the tournament at noon.

We will have a game of the Legendary Deck Building game at 4 p.m. Saturday and Munchkin at 7 p.m. In addition, there will be demos of the new Deckbuilding game Dobbers from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

See you this weekend.

Fireball Island

It seems like every time I hear about games on Kickstarter, another game has broken records for funding levels on the platform. This time, it is Fireball Island, a recreation of the 1980s marble rolling game, which was seeking $250,000 in funding and currently had taken in almost $2 million. Thinking about backing it since the game releases this November. If they make the proposed release date, we would have it on the shelves just in time for Christmas. What do you think? Are you already backing this or would this be more of an item you would want to give (or get) for Christmas?  My concern with the game is, from what I remember about it from the 1980s, it didn't have great replay value, certainly not at the level of a Catan or Ticket to Ride.

4 Notable Things about Pre-release Weekend

This week's Rolling for Initiative column looks at 4 things Scott noted about this past weekends Dominaria pre-releases. 

Why You Should Play role playing Games

this week's Rolling for Initiative column looks at reasons why it is good that people play Dungeons and Dragons or other role playing games. Any game that combines literacy, math, problem solving, socialization and strategic thinking should be encouraged.

Dominaria Spoilers

Remember about 20 years ago or so, when WOTC went to great lengths to keep the card lists for new Magic releases secret until the release date. Well, those days are long gone.  Here is the spoiler list from WOTC for many of the new Dominaria cards.

6 Things You Should Know About Dominaria

WOTC just posted this list of 6 things they think are important about Dominaria. Here's a summary:

1. Two promo cards, one stamped and one foil stamped Legendary card in every pre-release pack.
2. The Historic mechanic which give Arifacts, Legendary and Saga cards additional benefits when played together
3. FNM promos are now playable cards, rather than tokens, with alternate frames rather than alternate art.
4. Every booster pack contains at least one Legendary card.
5. The Buy a Box cards are unique. You will not find them in booster packs
6. Karn, Squee and Teferi all return.

How to Win at Rock Paper Scissors

This article looks at the psychology behind Rock Paper Scissors and presents a couple of strategies for winning. Based on an analysis done by the World Rock Paper Scissors Society (yes, there is such a thing), you will most likely win if you throw paper. Here is the reasoning:

In Society tournaments, players throw scissors 30% of the time (well 29.6%). That means there is a 70% likelihood your opponent will throw rock or paper so if you opt for paper and your opponent chooses rock, you win. Paper covers Rock. If you opt for paper and your opponent also chooses paper, you tie.

The other thing to take into consideration is that players will usually throw the same thing twice in a row, then switch. So if someone chooses Rock twice in a row, your best choice on the third game is scissors as they will most likely change to scissors or paper. If you change to scissors, you will either tie or win.

Glad to help

Kickstarter Pros and Cons

This week's Rolling for Initiative column looks at the pros and cons of a Kickstarter campaign, this time from the publishers perspective, rather than the retailer's.