Beyond Earth

OK, so I had this whole thing planned out concerning today's post.

Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth came out last Friday, and this was going to be a grand review of this game. An intelligent and sophisticated analysis.

But, last night I started getting a fever, and with perhaps four tormented hours of sleep, I crawled out of bed with even more fever.

So, no grand magnum opus today.

However, I will write a good review of SMC: Beyond Earth, probably next week.

Until then, you must content yourself with this:

Beyond Earth is a fantastic game! Built on the Civ V engine, you colonize a planet in outer space. You have lots of options, many grand strategies and on top of that, the game looks frikkin' sweet!

And since you came all this way, and you might want to know more, I'll direct your attention to this Let's Play by my favorite LP'er Quill18. 

Until next week, take it easy.

Lost at sea

Hello friends, and welcome to another thrilling installment of Eccentric Spheres!

Today we'll be talking about one of the most legendary places on earth: The Bermuda Triangle.

One could if one was so inclined, spend the rest of ones life talking about the triangle, which I won't. So I'll skip all conspiracies and stick to what's known.

First off, it's been proven that compasses act erratically in the triangle, which makes navigation difficult. Now, a compass can act strangely anywhere on earth, but it does genuinely seem to occur more frequently there.

Secondly, a part of the Gulf Stream flows through the area. As you may know, the Gulf Stream is an underwater river that is immensely powerful. Ships and planes that have crashed here and are caught in the Stream are pushed, slowly but surely hundreds of miles from the site of the accident. This explains in no small part the difficulty in finding wrecks and contributes greatly to the mystery. In fact, a crew who went searching for the USS Cyclops, who went down in the triangle, found by accident another ship that sank no where close to their location. This was the first clue to the disappearances.

Finally, the area is famous for the sudden appearance of lousy weather. And not just brutal tropical storms either. Fog banks can catch you in minutes, just when you were enjoying sunny and clear weather. Suddenly it doesn't seem quite so strange that ships and planes go down, does it?

Now, there are lots of other (plausible) explanations, from giant methane pockets destroying the waters buoyancy to simple human error that we don't really need Atlantis or Aliens, but there have been many odd occurrences that aren't that easy to explain away.

But without these mysteries life would be much duller, don't you agree?

Here's a Wikipedia list of the most famous disappearances if you're curious.

Until next week, stay safe!

When you've had a long day

One of the great things about boardgames is the ability to have fun with family and friends even if you're really tired.
Like I am today. Thus I'm keeping today's post short.
Last week I wrote about Letters from Whitechapel, but before I bought it, I researched it thoroughly online.

If you're looking for a new game you really are spoiled for choice. There are so many games out there in so many categories. But which game to choose? You can (and probably should) go to boardgamegeek.com and look around, but the sheer mass of games is hard to sift through.

A long time ago, I mentioned Beer and Boardgames on Youtube, but they don't always give the best impressions of a game, however entertaining their antics are.
But Wil Wheaton's webseries Tabletop really does a great job of demonstrating how a game works. It's pretty funny as well.
So without further ado, here are a couple of sample episodes for your enjoyment.

Until next week, take it easy.

Letters from Whitechapel

Last week I sauntered over to my local board game shop and purchased their last copy of Letters from Whitechapel.

LfW is a hidden movement game a la Scotland Yard and Fury of Dracula. The idea here is that Jack the Ripper moves in secret through the streets of Whitechapel, murdering his victims, and the other players as the police do their best to figure out where he is and arrest him. There's more to it than this, but that's the gist of it.

I've played it twice now, both times as Jack, and boy oh boy is it ever good. First game out, I was arrested on the third night (out of four), and in the second game, I barely scraped through and won.

This game is a complete nail-biter as you watch the police (i.e. the other players) walk around right next to you, and they don't even know it!

It's a roller coaster of emotion ranging from smug glee to spine-chilling terror and finally elation as you watch the police hunt you down.

The mechanics are super simple, with minimal set up time, but the game can run pretty long.

The board is an accurate map of Whitechapel in 1888, which is in itself a treasure if you're as crazy about the Victorian era as I am. The pieces are wood instead of plastic, which is nice, and the rule book is really simple to understand.

My copy is the English 2^nd edition, which is printed by Fantasy Flight Games. If you're familiar with their products, you know how fine the quality is.

I'm looking immensely forward to playing as one of the Inspectors, as well as taking Jack out for a spin with a full set up of cops. It's worth pointing out that whether you play against one opponent or five, all police are deployed. But the though process is very different from one person to five. I can't wait!

If you're curious to see more, I'm linking a video I found on Youtube below.

Until next time, have an exciting week!

Cards Against Humanity

This Saturday last, I finally got to try Cards Against Humanity.

This game falls squarely under the category “Beer and Pretzel Games”, i.e. games that go well with a few drinks and some snacks.

Cards Against Humanity definitely requires a few drinks to work. You see, it runs on blind luck and bad taste. The rules are also so simple that even if you've had quite a few drinks, you quickly get the hang of it.

The idea is this: there's a white deck and a black deck. Each player has seven white cards in their hand. Then one player draws a black card and reads it out loud. It can be a question or a statement with one or more words missing, and then every other player chooses a card from their hand to complete the sentence (or answer the question). Without knowing who chose what, the reader of the black card then chooses the best (in his opinion) white card. The player who played it wins the black card. At the end of the game, the player with the most black cards wins.

The genius of CaH comes in the form of bizarre and usually tasteless humor. Hence the need for a couple of drinks first. Also, I wouldn't use CaH as an icebreaker at parties, unless you are sure everyone is cool with it. This game can be racist, politically incorrect, sexist and very dark in one round! On the other hand, I have not laughed so hard in months. We all had a roaring good time.

A couple of examples that I won rounds with:

Black card: The TSA now bans _______ on all flights.

My white card: Chunks of dead prostitutes.

Black card: For my next trick, I will pull _____ from my _____.

My white cards: An oversized lollipop, my soul.

If you don't think this is all that funny, wait until your tipsy in the right crowd of friends...

My only real complaint is that I can't get the whole game in Finland. We played the free & and legal) down-loadable basic version, but there are so many cards. I want them! Aarrgh!

If the makers of this gloriously wicked game should read this: Make Cards Against Humanity available!

Until next time, have a hilarious week!

It's a kinda magic

Hello and welcome to another installment of Eccentric Spheres!

As promised last week, we're talking about magic today. No, not Gandalf, Merlin and Potter, but rather Houdini, Copperfield and Blaine.

I've always loved magic. The showmanship, the skill and the “how the F**k did he do that”.

But as much as I love to watch it, it also frustrates me. A mystery is great but satisfying my curiosity is better.

That's why I was so pleased to find Magic's Biggest Secrets Revealed on Youtube.

The concept is simple. The Masked Magician performs a trick and then reveals how it's done. And I've learned so much. Of course, if you want to remain in blissful ignorance then do not watch this show!

The tricks range from some of of the greatest illusions made famous by magicians like Harry Houdini, David Copperfield, David Blaine and Chris Angel, but you also get to see how small up-close illusions work.

I've watched eleven episodes so far, and my only criticism is the narrator. He is vitally important since the Masked Magician does not speak and neither does his beautiful assistants. The narrator however never stops drooling over the girls. Yes they are very pretty, but after a few episodes, you kinda wish the guy could get over it.

I'm linking the first episode below, but if you want to see more, I'm sure you can figure out how. So until next week, on with the show!

Utopia

Back in July I happily blogged that Utopia was getting a new season. In case you don't remember what Utopia is, since my original post about the first season was back in 2013, it's a British TV show about a fictitious group called the Network, and their plans for the world.

Anyway, I just finished the 2^nd season last Friday, and wow, mind absolutely blown!

Be warned: SPOILERS AHEAD! (at least small ones)

Basically, every other show (hyperbole, I know) out there should take heed from Utopia on how to do a new season. The first one ended perfectly. Sure there were questions unanswered, but that's OK. Not everything needs to be spelled out. All the major points were covered. But the second season just adds so much more, though without anything feeling padded or overblown. At no point did I feel that the creators had gone too far (in a show that actually showcases the murder of children) or jumped the proverbial shark.

The visuals were even better than before, and the recurring characters, which is pretty much everyone that didn't die in season one have been “updated” somehow, and not necessarily for he better. The one line-up change is that the actor playing Donaldson has changed, but that's of no real consequence.

The very first episode in season two is a flashback to how it came about that Janus was created, and it may actually be my favorite episode if them all, but only because you know who the principal characters are and what they will do in the future.

I could go on. And on and on.... but not without spoiling it for those of you who haven't had the chance to enjoy Utopia. Yet.

I strongly urge everyone to watch this great show, but beware: the going get's very tough at times. And by that I don't mean it's hard to follow the plot. The subject matter and how it's handled can be pretty gruesome, and the tone of the show is at times pretty damn depressing.

That's all I gave to say really, if you're not convinced, there's nothing else I can do.

Until next week, when we'll be talking about magic, have a great week!