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Finally got my hands on LEGO Games’ CREATIONARY, and got to play it a bit.

In concept, I really love this game. The idea of Pictionary with Legos is just right up my alley. The box comes with over 300 Lego pieces, but not with many of any one piece. I’ve seen this criticized online as a problem and a limitation.I agree that its limiting, but i don’t see it as a problem. Much like how in Pictionary you wouldn’t spend forever on an artistic masterpiece, here you’re not going to spend forever creating a perfect build. You’re sketching with Legos, and the piece limitations mean that you’re generally sketching small and a little abstract. And I’m okay with that.

I do think the box is a little overpriced for the amount of Legos in it. But to get such a neatly distributed set, and the Lego die, I’m satisfied enough.

In playing last night, however, I quickly decided that I HATE the standard ruleset the game comes with. It’s all very friendly and cooperative gaming — when you build, you get a point if your creation is guessed right, but the other person ALSO gets a point for guessing, so each time you win, they win, too. Blah! My family is too cutthroat for such a rosy skill set. My plan is to basically use the rules from Pictionary — dueling teams — and pretty much use them whole cloth, or with minor adjustments. I might post what i settle on after we’ve played it a few times.

With the right ruleset, this could be really fun. Luckily, LEGO Games encourages creating our own rules.

Filed under: games by Brian on Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 at 9:42 am
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Gotta say it: I am excited about the upcoming Apple event on September 1. This is the teaser poster they’ve been circulating:

September is “traditionally” Apple’s iPod event, and the guitar pretty much confirms that this is one of those.

Getting my iPod last Christmas was the thing that made me fall in love with mobile technology, touch interface, and cloud computing. I still love my 3rg Gen Touch, and it works great. I’ll probably keep using it.

But, I have also been in the market for a new digital camera, as my old 3mpx Kodak is dying. I used to update the family site with pics all the time, but I just don’t sit in front of my home computer anymore, my camera is less reliable (eats AA batteries like they’re candy), and the whole process has become a hassle.

The new iPod, if it comes with the rumored upgrades, will have a better flash camera than I currently own, plus video, and all the apps I would need to edit and post to the blog right from the device. It’s too tempting a thing to pass up. If the camera w/flash does end up on the iPod Touch 4th, I will almost have to upgrade.

Waiting with bated breath …

Filed under: Apple by Brian on Friday, August 27th, 2010 at 9:38 am
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Thought I’d share the alternate rule for LEGO Race 3000 that I mentioned in the last post.

Turbo Oil Slick & Shortcuts

Additional pieces: A black 1×2 flat tile piece, or two black 1×1 flat tile pieces.

Die Configuration: Put the Turbo pieces on opposite sides of the die. Place the Shortcut piece next to one Turbo, and the 1×2 flat black piece — the Oil Slick — next to the other Turbo. Leave the other sides blank.

Board configuration: Place five Oil Slick markers on the track — three on the outside, two on the inside — evenly distributed along the track (you can use every other placement from the original layout). In addition, place a sixth Oil Slick in the middle of the long shortcut. Place the other four markers somewhere on the green where everyone can reach them.

Rules: Play the game using the standard rules. When a player roles a Turbo, they move to the nearest Turbo tile, as normal. In addition, one of two things happens:

1. If the player rolled the Shortcut Turbo, and they have reached a Turbo tile with a Shortcut, they may move to the first Shortcut space. If another player occupies that space, they are blocked and may not enter the shortcut.
2. If the player rolled the Oil Slick Turbo, then they must place an Oil Slick marker on the space they occupied at the beginning of the turn. If that space is blocked (say, because the player only moved one space to the Turbo tile) then the Oil Slick marker is not placed. If there are no unplaced Oil Slick markers, then an Oil Slick marker is not placed.

In addition, whenever a player hits an Oil Slick, the Oil Slick marker is returned to the marker pool, making it available for future Oil Slick Turbos.

Rationale: We made this rule because the static Oil Slick markers are soooo easy to avoid in Race 3000, especially if you’re playing with fewer than four people. Dynamic oil slicks mean, basically, that if you get ahead you can punish someone close behind you, or make it so that both tracks along a stretch are hazardous. More oil slicks also mean a more dynamic die, since oil slicks remove movement tiles.

This rule becomes more fun if you do two laps instead of one (which Daniel loves to do). That way, oil slicks bypassed in the first round are waiting there for drivers on the second go-around.

Filed under: games by Brian on Tuesday, August 24th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
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