htdrake

htdrake, 21 days ago to random

#3GoodThings

1. Violet is being a trooper through the remodel chaos.
2. Showed a smart coworker how to use one of my favorite, lesser known, reports.
3. Jordan Klepper.

htdrake, 28 days ago to random

#3GoodThings

1. Wrapped up the interviews for our summer intern position. Super excited that we should be able to get someone great!
2. Kitchen demolition completed and the rest of the house isn't a total wreck.
3. Takeout shawarma for dinner so we can ease into this whole "wash your dishes in the bathtub" thing.

htdrake, 1 month ago to boardgames

#BoardGames10x10

04.08. PARKS

I absolutely destroyed @peterdrake in this game (52 vs 39). We had about the same number of pictures, but I visited a whopping 12 parks. I think that’s a record high for me.

Some of the new gear in the Wildlife expansion seems really overpowered. There’s no way the Planner, which gives you a wildlife after you visit a park, should cost only two sunshine. I’m sure I have that card to thank for my victory and personal best score.

#BoardGames

htdrake, 1 month ago to boardgames

#BoardGames10x10

04.07. PARKS

Thorough trouncing from Peter tonight (46 vs 39). I was very sad to realize at the end of season 3 that we weren’t at the end of season 4. He had a terrifying 6 pieces of gear to my 0. I wanted to force a quick end, but rushing both hikers to the finish just doesn’t help. We both visited 10 parks, but his were 5 points cooler than mine. He also had 8 photos to my 6.

The Wildlife expansion with the base game doesn’t seem hugely different so far.

#BoardGames

htdrake, 1 month ago to boardgames

#BoardGames10x10

03.03. Heat: Pedal to the Metal

Started in last, zoomed to an easy victory with perfect driving through the last two corners. I was a full corner ahead of everyone else by the end. I went for speed as we tried drafting upgrades for the first time. Clearly the correct choice.

The heat mechanism definitely elevates this game. If you’re unlucky in both speed and heat draws, you’ll have a terrible race. If you’re lucky in both, as I was this time, you’ll dominate.

#BoardGames

A game board with a curvy, two-lane racing track fills most of the frame. Several tiny plastic race cars are zooming along a relatively straight bit at the top of the board. We have just finished the first of two laps. My black car is hard to see on the black track, so it's been boxed in red. A caption says, "Pouring on the speed got me into first." In the foreground are the five excellent cards that propelled me into first: 6 + 4 + two stress (+) flips that each gave me a 3 for a total speed of 16!
A game board with a curvy, two-lane racing track fills the frame. Four tiny plastic race cars are spread along the track. My black car is way out in front, across the finish line, while my opponents are about 15 spaces behind, still exiting the final corner. My black car is hard to see against the black track, so it is boxed in red. A caption says "First across the finish line!" The second place car is also boxed in red. It's caption says, "Second place eating my dust." Off to one side are the super lucky speed cards I played in the last turn: 4 + 4 + two stress (+) flips that each also gave me 4 for a total of 16! VROOOOM!

htdrake, 1 month ago to animals

#Violet has had a couple of busy days.

#DogsOfMastodon

htdrake, 1 month ago to animals

#Violet is training for a new career as a throw pillow.

#DogsOfMastodon

htdrake, 1 month ago to boardgames

Without GameStorm 24, this month's stats would have been pretty lean. Only 3 of these titles were played outside of the convention. Well, technically 4, since we payed Aquamarine the evening we returned, but I'm counting that as con hangover.

#BoardGames #BGStats

htdrake, 1 month ago to boardgames

#BoardGames10x10

04.05. PARKS

I was sure I had lost, but logged another close victory (48 vs 47). Had I not stolen the camera in the last season, it would have swung the other way. There are a surprising number of subtle rules it’s easy to forgot. Max of 12 tokens at the end of your turn. The “Copy” trail action can't be used to camp. You must have two tokens to use the “Swap 2” trail action and you can't receive the same types you turned in.

Still on the fence about Nightfall.

#BoardGames

htdrake, 1 month ago to boardgames

#BoardGames10x10

04.04. PARKS

We added the Nightfall expansion for this play. I squeaked out a very close victory (47 vs 46). As with so many (too many?) expansions, this one loosens up the constraints: Wild animals come up more often. The new parks let you pay some of the cost with tokens of your choice. Camping gives you more action choices and makes it possible to accumulate multiple year (aka personal goal) cards. I feel like it’s not an improvement, but more plays are needed.

#BoardGames

A photo of the ending trail, below the main board, and the new camping board and tiles, above it. Three wooden tent tokens are placed on the trail at the beginning of each season. If you choose to camp, you take one of the four camping actions rather than the trail action. It’s cute how the tent “protects” you from the weather, so you don’t get the token bonus on a trail action if you decide to camp instead.

htdrake, 1 month ago to boardgames

#BoardGames10x10

04.03. PARKS

I chalk up this win over @peterdrake (43 vs 38) to three things. First, I had nice “forest” synergy among my gear and personal goal. Second, luck brought out plenty of forest parks. Third, I started with the camera and kept it for most of the game. I usually don’t want to fight for the camera, but I see now that it’s a good way to hedge against the cap of 12 resources and/or make use of spare resources.

#BoardGames

htdrake, 2 months ago to boardgames

Crushing defeat in Daybreak in turn three! China and the Majority World were BOTH overwhelmed by Communities in Crisis. Building resilience is just as important as cleaning up your carbon emissions. Lesson learned!

#BoardGames

Melinda, 2 months ago to 3goodthings

#3goodthings @3goodthings

1. Put the curtains back up in the van. Spring is on the way, so time to head west for a trip to the coast.
2. Sorted out a couple of house plants that needed attention. They look much better now.
3. Jigsaw finished at last! #JigsawPuzzles

htdrake, 2 months ago to random

#3GoodThings

1 @peterdrake wasn't hurt by the car that crashed into him as he was driving home from his platelet donation.
2. Made some solid headway on time critical testing that must be completed by next Tuesday.
3. Girl Scout cookies.

htdrake, 2 months ago to random

#3GoodThings

1. Wifey socks are soft and warm.
2. Cozy nap.
3. @peterdrake drew for me Francois Mitterand, booger spy.

htdrake, 2 months ago to random

#3GoodThings

1. Epic Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective case.
2. Perfect snow: Bright, fluffy flakes that melted before they hindered travel.
3. Late night grocery trip rewarded by both planned ice cream and surprise Girl Scout cookies.

htdrake, 3 months ago to boardgames

#BoardGames10x10

04.01. PARKS

We’ve played PARKS many times and with many different player counts. I’ve always felt like the personal bonus and photo mechanisms were dangerous distractions, so that’s one thing I want to explore in these 10 plays. We also own two expansions we haven’t tried out, so that’s a second goal.

This first game was a warm-up. @peterdrake inched past me at the end for the win (34 vs 32).

Memorable for me about Game 1 in the photo alt text.

#BoardGames

htdrake, 3 months ago to boardgames

#BoardGames10x10

03.01. Heat: Pedal to the Medal

Started in first, finished in last. (Alex M, Steven, Alex R, Peter, Dave, Me) I’ve only played once before, so this was kind of a refresher learning game for me. At least I wasn’t driving too conservatively!

I found the iconography for the actions you take during your turn, at the top of the player mat, really confusing. Like, New York Zoo levels of confusing.

Memorable about Game 1 in the photo alt text.

#BoardGames

htdrake, 3 months ago to random

#3GoodThings

1. Finished At First Spite by Olivia Dade before getting out of bed. Her characters and banter are the best. She also gets the best covers!
2. Breakfast tacos I cobbled together from random leftovers turned out better than expected.
3. Started two of our 10x10 titles at rescheduled board games.

https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/4081f898-82ee-4b7f-a524-e4821d4c7708

htdrake, 3 months ago to random

#3GoodThings

1. Plenty of reading time on the bus and over lunch, so I was able to finish The Last Days of Lilah Goodluck by Kylie Scott.
2. Noticed a subtle problem early this afternoon, alerted the right people, got a solution ready that will be shared first thing Monday morning.
3. Didn't need to bring any work home this weekend.

htdrake, 3 months ago to random

#3GoodThings

1. The report I want to use for March testing seems like it will run without timing out.
2. Limes.
3. Seth Meyers.

htdrake, 3 months ago to random

#3GoodThings

1. Started reading The Last Days of Lilah Goodluck by Kylie Scott and it was exactly the contrast in reading vibe I was hoping for.
2. That first deep breath of outside air when you leave the building at the end of the work day.
3. Forced myself to do my shoulder exercises even though I was exhausted.

nocto, 3 months ago to boardgames

My #BGStats roundup of #BoardGames played in
January. If I hadn’t been invited along to an all day session where I got 6 games in it would have been a very poor month.

New to me games

#RedRising collect cards that synergise in your hand and try to avoid your opponents doing the same. Hard to figure out what is best but we all wanted to play again.

#Planetfall tableau building game that didn’t seem to have much depth really, or maybe I just picked the right thing for an easy win.

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