Board Game Bash a huge success!

This past holiday Monday, the Board Game Bash went down and saw 3 times as many people as were expected (170+!!!).  Despite some minor hiccups like not enough tables and chairs in the building for everyone who actually showed, I thought it was a stellar day brilliantly organized by Daryl.  I got to demo the wonderful Coal Baron to a bunch of people and tried a couple rounds of Uwe Rosenberg's Glass Road which I quite enjoyed with the full complement of 4 players.  And the prizes, oh so many prizes from all the sponsors!

Definitely a good thing for Kitchener-Waterloo and people came from surrounding Ontario cities like Guelph, London, and even the GTA.
Check out the pics at the Facebook page, and please ignore the one really terrible picture of me that Daryl refuses to take down.

First plays - Pandemic: The Cure and AbluXXen....

A couple nights ago I was able to play the only prototype in North America (says Daryl) of the new Pandemic dice game as well as a couple rounds of the upcoming delightfully vicious Kramer & Kiesling card game.

A special set of dice for each character

P: TC was interesting to say the least.  It felt a bit too busy and game-y for my tastes but the rest of the group seemed to really enjoy it.  Surprisingly, it seems to run longer than a regular game of Pandemic.  We definitely had some real rules questions throughout so I'll be curious to see if there are additions included in the final version of rulebook.

Things started to go sideways for us right about......

Tons of characters to play

I also cobbled together a set of cards and give us an unofficial preview of AbluXXen (or Linko! in English) coming out soon.  If you know Kramer, you'll remember he created the classic card game Take 6 (6 Nimmt!, Slide 5, whatever edition you call it).  I believe this brilliant game will have the same staying power - it's nasty, easy to pick up, and much subtler than at first glance.  Can't wait to get my hands on a real copy.

If you're interested in trying out the new Pandemic dice game and you're in Southern Ontario, Daryl will have the prototype at the Board Game Bash this coming holiday Monday (details are here or here).  Yours truly will be explaining how to play the lovely Coal Baron, amongst other games, so definitely say hello.

Board Game Bash Sponsors

Due to the amazing support we have seen from our sponsors for the Board Game Bash - I plan to highlight each sponsor with a post, sometime before the Bash. So stay tuned for those posts. I will be writing about each publisher, and highlighting my favourite game(s) by each of them. And hopefully we will add a few more publishers to the list in the weeks to come.

Board Game Bash 2014

Coming up on Feb 17th, 2014 (aka "Family Day" in Ontario, Canada) the Kitchener-Waterloo region will be having its first ever board game convention. The event is called the BOARD GAME BASH. Emmanuel Bible College will be hosting the event (100 Fergus Ave., Kitchener, ON). The event will feature some fun tournaments (including a Android: Netrunner tournament at 5pm) and lots of open gaming. We will have a board game lending library free of charge to play games at the event. Also, we will be highlighting some amazing games from our sponsors with some scheduled demo's. FunGamesCafe.Com will have a retail booth setup from 12-6pm so you can purchase that amazing game you just tried in the lending library or demo. FunGamesCafe is offering free pickup for anyone who wants to purchase a specific game and pick it up at the event. Also, the BOARD GAME BASH will be giving away some amazing door prizes at different times throughout the day. And hopefully we will arrange a free math trade for the event too.

MORE INFO AT: BOARDGAMEBASH.CA

Poster below. Please help spread the word. Save the picture and post it on Facebook. Print it out and post it.