Decisions, Decisions
So I still have three unused vacation days, and they reset in June at annual conference. I had just assumed I would not use them, but Abigail convinced me that I needed to do so. This means at the end of May/beginning of June I will have my own little Stay-cation. Because of Memorial Day weekend, I will effectively have Sunday afternoon through Saturday to do things I want to do. As I have thought about it, I have thought of four things I would like to do during that week. This is a list, so of course it is descending order for dramatic effect:
4. Play Video Games
Earlier this year after getting Skyrim, I had pretty much decided that was going to be the only video game I bought until like September or so. Then my brother had me play a beta for Ghost Recon: Future Solider, so now I will be getting a game in May.
The game comes out a week before my little break, so I hope to spend a few hours playing it during the week I am of off. Ideally, I would like to beat the single player and spend some time online. However, I have to be cautious not to play to much or I will find myself out of time.
3. Read a Book
I like to read and I do read regularly, just at a low level or regularity which creates a slow pace. I probably finish a book every other month or so. This means I have an embarrassingly big backlog of books to read. It should not take up to much of my time during this week to knock one book off the list. I am not particular about which one either. I have a couple of books that people have lent me, so it will probably be whichever one of those first I find when I am ready to read.
Those were the easy things that I know I want to do over this week. In a general sense, I know there are two other things I want to accomplish but I am unsure on the specifics. Generally, when there is something like this where I want to do something but I am undecided on how to do it I will end up not doing it due to indecision. I do not want that happen because I really want to do these things, so I would appreciate your opinion to help sway my thoughts.
2. Play a war game (by myself)
It is firmly established that Abigail really dislikes hex and counter war games. It has also been established that I really do like them. This puts me in a sad state (that apparently a whole lot of people find themselves) that if I want to play a war game it is by myself (unless someone reading this is a willing opponent). That is fine, and it is something I rarely do because of the time commitment. However, I want to do it this week I just do not know which option I want to go with. My choices are:
Battle for Galicia, 1914: This is a fairly standard hex and counter war game about the opening fighting of World War I on the Eastern front. I got this game about a year ago for $3. This was marked down from a ludicrously high $18. The reason that is so expensive is because this requires players to assemble their own double sided counters. Using chip board I did this. Because I put some time in this game, I would like to play it.
War and Peace: This is a game that allows player(s) to play through all of the major Napoleonic campaigns. This is a strategic game, which means that players control the entire campaign and not just the units for an individual battle. Of the these three games, this is the highest rated/regarded.
Gazala 1942: This is a game about the British and the German fight for North Africa in 1942. Specifically, the British need to hold back the German advance. It uses a neat chit-pull system to determine which units activate. My wife gave me this game for father's day last year and I have played it once on my own already. There is something said about playing a game more than once.
1. Create a Board Game
I have written a lot the past couple of years about the appeal of the creative process of creating a game. I have even created prototypes a hand full of times and played them (they were just never any good). I have several ideas, and I just need to sit down and figure them out. I really, really want to spend one of my days off just doing that. Ideally, by the end of the day I could have (roughly) written rules and a working prototype to play with. Again, I just have to decide what idea to run with. These are the front runners:
Dodge Ball Game: Back in February on a long car ride I was listening to a podcast where one of the people said as a joke that they wanted a dodge ball board game, and then they followed up with that it really was not a joke and they thought it would be neat. I spent the rest of the drive thinking about that. The game would be a simple, quick game (as dodge ball should be) that is all about simultaneous action selection, and then simultaneous target selection. The actual act of throwing and dodging will be determined with a dice roll (with modifiers of course). Of the three this would be the easiest to make.
Call of Duty Board Game: Of all my ideas this is probably the most developed, because I have actually created a very rough version of this game as a miniatures game that we played as part of a couple of youth group lessons. The idea of this game is to capture the feel of a call of duty video game in a board game form. Players create a character by picking perks and a weapon load out. The actual game is determined by players picking the action they wish to do and then simultaneous revealing that action. Actions are then resolved in a specific order. For a tactical miniatures style game it play fairly quickly. The board game version would borrow a page from Memoir '44 where a blank board would be modified by placing terrain tiles, that way various scenarios and "maps" could be created quickly. Of the three this is the game that I have the most thought out, but it would also be the hardest to create.
Co-op Church Game: This idea came from me thinking about the possibility of actually creating a faith based game that was not a bible re-theme (like Apples to Apples: Bible Edition) or strictly historical in theme (like Kingdom of Solomon). I thought of a co-op card game where players control a church and they have to balance using the resources of what the church considers meeting its basic needs, and using the resources to help others in the world. Players would work together to meet world needs using their resources, but they have to meet the needs that the church their playing requires as well. If to many world needs pass by unfulfilled then everyone loses. This is the game that I have the least thought out, but the one I am the most intrigued by.
So what do you think?
4. Play Video Games
Earlier this year after getting Skyrim, I had pretty much decided that was going to be the only video game I bought until like September or so. Then my brother had me play a beta for Ghost Recon: Future Solider, so now I will be getting a game in May.
The game comes out a week before my little break, so I hope to spend a few hours playing it during the week I am of off. Ideally, I would like to beat the single player and spend some time online. However, I have to be cautious not to play to much or I will find myself out of time.
3. Read a Book
I like to read and I do read regularly, just at a low level or regularity which creates a slow pace. I probably finish a book every other month or so. This means I have an embarrassingly big backlog of books to read. It should not take up to much of my time during this week to knock one book off the list. I am not particular about which one either. I have a couple of books that people have lent me, so it will probably be whichever one of those first I find when I am ready to read.
Those were the easy things that I know I want to do over this week. In a general sense, I know there are two other things I want to accomplish but I am unsure on the specifics. Generally, when there is something like this where I want to do something but I am undecided on how to do it I will end up not doing it due to indecision. I do not want that happen because I really want to do these things, so I would appreciate your opinion to help sway my thoughts.
2. Play a war game (by myself)
It is firmly established that Abigail really dislikes hex and counter war games. It has also been established that I really do like them. This puts me in a sad state (that apparently a whole lot of people find themselves) that if I want to play a war game it is by myself (unless someone reading this is a willing opponent). That is fine, and it is something I rarely do because of the time commitment. However, I want to do it this week I just do not know which option I want to go with. My choices are:
Battle for Galicia, 1914: This is a fairly standard hex and counter war game about the opening fighting of World War I on the Eastern front. I got this game about a year ago for $3. This was marked down from a ludicrously high $18. The reason that is so expensive is because this requires players to assemble their own double sided counters. Using chip board I did this. Because I put some time in this game, I would like to play it.
War and Peace: This is a game that allows player(s) to play through all of the major Napoleonic campaigns. This is a strategic game, which means that players control the entire campaign and not just the units for an individual battle. Of the these three games, this is the highest rated/regarded.
Gazala 1942: This is a game about the British and the German fight for North Africa in 1942. Specifically, the British need to hold back the German advance. It uses a neat chit-pull system to determine which units activate. My wife gave me this game for father's day last year and I have played it once on my own already. There is something said about playing a game more than once.
1. Create a Board Game
I have written a lot the past couple of years about the appeal of the creative process of creating a game. I have even created prototypes a hand full of times and played them (they were just never any good). I have several ideas, and I just need to sit down and figure them out. I really, really want to spend one of my days off just doing that. Ideally, by the end of the day I could have (roughly) written rules and a working prototype to play with. Again, I just have to decide what idea to run with. These are the front runners:
Dodge Ball Game: Back in February on a long car ride I was listening to a podcast where one of the people said as a joke that they wanted a dodge ball board game, and then they followed up with that it really was not a joke and they thought it would be neat. I spent the rest of the drive thinking about that. The game would be a simple, quick game (as dodge ball should be) that is all about simultaneous action selection, and then simultaneous target selection. The actual act of throwing and dodging will be determined with a dice roll (with modifiers of course). Of the three this would be the easiest to make.
Call of Duty Board Game: Of all my ideas this is probably the most developed, because I have actually created a very rough version of this game as a miniatures game that we played as part of a couple of youth group lessons. The idea of this game is to capture the feel of a call of duty video game in a board game form. Players create a character by picking perks and a weapon load out. The actual game is determined by players picking the action they wish to do and then simultaneous revealing that action. Actions are then resolved in a specific order. For a tactical miniatures style game it play fairly quickly. The board game version would borrow a page from Memoir '44 where a blank board would be modified by placing terrain tiles, that way various scenarios and "maps" could be created quickly. Of the three this is the game that I have the most thought out, but it would also be the hardest to create.
Co-op Church Game: This idea came from me thinking about the possibility of actually creating a faith based game that was not a bible re-theme (like Apples to Apples: Bible Edition) or strictly historical in theme (like Kingdom of Solomon). I thought of a co-op card game where players control a church and they have to balance using the resources of what the church considers meeting its basic needs, and using the resources to help others in the world. Players would work together to meet world needs using their resources, but they have to meet the needs that the church their playing requires as well. If to many world needs pass by unfulfilled then everyone loses. This is the game that I have the least thought out, but the one I am the most intrigued by.
So what do you think?
posted by SeanXor at 9:28 AM
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