The final day of the Con is always bittersweet as I prepare for my big event: the annual Loopin’ Chewie tournament. While this is one of my favorite experiences, it also means that the convention is coming to a close.
Tag: ares games
The news has been making the rounds across the websites but I thought I’d weigh in briefly on Ares Games’ announcement that they are developing a starship battle game set in the Battlestar Galactica universe. The game “scale” looks to be a dogfight scale game with players controlling a number of individual fighter scale ships.
image from the publisher
Thursday opened the Con with its typical crush of attendees all vying for position at the main entrances.
One of the first board games I really got into was Flying Frog Production’s Last Night on Earth zombie horror game. The game first hit the shelves in 2007 and I picked it up right away due to its unique art style using edited studio photography in place of the more common painted or illustrated art of other games.
image from bgg, publisher
One thing that has fascinated me in board games is the concept of taking a standard game and blowing the whole thing out to a larger size. These “super-sized” or “Giant/Mega” versions of games are usually seen at game conventions or public spaces. I suspect this is mostly due to the cost involved in creating giant versions of the game and the space needed to play/store it but it also creates a spectacle and attracts a lot of attention.
It’s the spectacle that drives us to make giant versions of these games. It’s this unique aspect of play that engages the players and the audience in a way that takes something very familiar and maybe even boring and makes it into a memorable experience. For me, playing a giant version of the game brings me back to a child-like state where the pieces barely fit in my hands. My movements are awkward and clumsy and I become fully immersed in the game itself. It occupies a wide field of my vision and I am in the game as completely as I can ever be.