A Gamestorm Recap

Critical Fumbles:

• After having spent a good deal of time on Thursday working on my personal design, Wizards' School,  I left the house with about 40 minutes to arrive and make my play test session.  I knew I was running behind but the drive only takes about 25 minutes.  Except on Thursdays when you have a play test, then it takes 90 min.  I missed this deadline and was unable to get a proper play test in all weekend.  This was a major loss and is what I regret most.  
• Two late starts on Thursday and Friday ate up more of my schedule than I had anticipated. 
• Not bringing any games that I own.  It seems odd given their library of games but there were games that we may have had time to play had I brought them.  Next year I will make sure to bring one or two.

Misses:

•  Cargo Noir proved to be very interesting at first as the primary auctioning mechanic provided a very rich, tight experience.  Unfortunately, the game seemed to fall apart in the last two turns as things wrapped up and the focus shifted to crunching numbers and optimizing.  I would play this again but, as with most Days of Wonder games, I do not think I would make the purchase.
• Unsure on the length of a demo and unable to seat all four players that I was visiting with, I opted not to participate in a game of Dominant Species.  I am a fool.  That game seemed very interesting to me but I had a few other things I wanted to do with that time midday Saturday.
• I was unable to meet up with Eric Dottarar, a designer who I met last year to play test his prototype, Patron.  I wish our schedules had aligned.

Hits:

• The hospitality room was awesome and although you could not bring food out of their designated area, the fact that they provided some on site snacks was fantastic.
• Relearning the rules to Hansa Teutonica resolved a number of problems I had with the game.  Actions make more sense now and I would be interested to play it more in the future.  The game is a much richer experience than I had previously encountered. 
• I actually had a good time playing Stone Age , although I am not exactly sure why. I did opt for more tools this time than I have in the past.  The game is still 'meh' in my mind but the experience was fun, perhaps due to company.  I enjoyed watching Andy shoot the moon with the starvation strat which did not work for him at all. It was his first game of Stone Age ever though and next time will be much more interesting.
• Dr. Reiner Knizia's classic horse racing game Winner's Circle was a blast.  Players place bets on horses before the race starts and then take turns rolling dice and determining which horses to move.  It sounds simple and it is for the most part but can provide some light choices.  I really enjoy the atmosphere it creates.  You can really feel the pull by individuals for their horses.
• Watched James Ernest play test a new version of Deadwood ('Two point Oh' I think.) with some folks at the GameLab. 
• Play tested a prototype by a local designer, Dave Meyers, called Paradise.  The game uses Lego's build-able dice as the core mechanic and starts each player off with a 'pair of dice'.  Roles allow players to populate their fiefs (dice) with actions from farming, merchant trading, building, and even allowed besieging other players dice.  It needs some serious play testing but was a very interesting space.
• Silly dice rolling game called Battling Towers.  More decisions than I had imagined and short enough to be a legitimate filler.  Solid design that I own all the pieces to recreate.

Critical Hits:

• Eating lunch on Saturday at Tiger Delight or some such place was amazing.  I really enjoyed my Beef Red Curry and the Spring Rolls were top notch.  I even had a Thai Iced Tea. 
• The only thing better than discovering the 'Double Bwaaaannhh' would have been ordering it.  
• Play testing a prototype by designer, Kris Gould, called Switching Tracks.  Kris is responsible for Jet Set and his new design is a pickup and deliver train game.  On your turn you get to toggle track switches to try to arrive at the optimal number of destinations where you deliver goods you picked up along the way.  It seemed very well put together and I am excited to try it again.
• I discovered Airlines Europe as a homemade copy was being played by some dedicated locals.  I had met a few of them before so I watched and I am super excited to purchase/play this game when it is released sometime in April.  It was packed with relevant decisions and played in around 60-74 min with four players.  Good job Alan Moon.
• Discovered the King of RPGs manga and met the writer Jason Thompson.