The Knitting Developer

A knitting, development, and general geekery blog.

The Knitting Developer - A knitting, development, and general geekery blog.

Category Archives: Saturday Morning Geekery

Saturday Morning Geekery: 2 Player Board Games

My sister and I always had board games growing up. We loved them, and it was probably the only time we didn’t fight. Ok, well we’d fight, but it was usually focused on the game, so at least it was a fight worth having? Looping Louie, Don’t Wake Daddy, Pretty Pretty Princess, if it was on the Target or Walmart shelves, we probably had it.

It wasn’t until I went off to college that I was first introduced to board gaming as a hobby. My first hobby board game was Settlers of Catan. How cliché is that? Guess that just speaks to the power of the game. I mean, if as a board game you can bring so many into the fold, you’ve gotta be good. Right?

Late nights playing Settlers of Catan with friends had opened my eyes to this world of board games I didn’t know about. I didn’t know there were shops that were dedicated to just shelves and shelves of board games. I was looking up board gaming podcasts, board gaming YouTube videos, ALL THE BOARD GAMING THINGS.

As you can imagine, I was ecstatic when Will Wheaton produced TableTop on Geek and Sundry. Finally, hobby board games were becoming popular, and I could talk about boardgames in the same way that comic book lovers talk comics. TableTop provided the medium for me to spread board gaming to other people. Board Gaming nights happened more often, and more spaces were being created for board gaming.

Through board games, I’ve made some amazing friends and expanded my world. Board games gave me the opportunity to hear other people’s truths, and to form bonds and memories that I can treasure. Board games don’t care what race, creed, sex, color, or gender you are. While playing a board game, everyone is under the same rules, and everyone can be who they are. Human beings, just trying to connect with other human beings.

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What are your favorite board games? What about your favorite story as a board gamer? Also, what would you like to see from me in the future? (Both in my blog and on YouTube). I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Saturday Morning Geekery: Doctor Who?

Good morning, I hope your Saturday morning brunch is settling well. As you may know, Doctor Who just started Season 7 on September 1st. Since we don’t pay for cable in my house, if there is a show we want to watch with the rest of the world we purchase a subscription through Zune (though probably not the best service, it’s the most convenient for us because all of our television comes from our XBox).

Before I get into the good stuff, I want to tell you my history with Doctor Who. It all started a few years ago when some friends jumped on the Doctor Who bandwagon…*queue dream like flashback music and fade*. I couldn’t get into the corny, quirky nature of the show. It was outside of my ability to suspend disbelief. So I did what any good hard-earned Doctor Who convert does (and what I recommend to anyone who has similar issues watching Doctor Who), I watched Torchwood.

I love these guys!

Torchwood and I, we fell in love. Deep, deep, DEEP in love. To this day I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the original BBC Torchwood (not Starz’s awful attempt to port it to the U.S.) all the way through at least 4 times. Torchwood had the right touch of modern-day Sci Fi mixed with the same quirk-iness you would expect on Doctor Who. After watching, my mental wall against Doctor Who was broken. I was happily trapped in the Who-verse and had no desire to leave.

*fade back into reality* So 7 seasons later, I’m hanging on Doctor Who’s every last word. This is the warning, there are going to be spoilers. If you’ve not see Episode 1: Asylum of the Daleks, go now and come back to read this later. I mean it, go. Find it on your DVR or purchase it from some other LEGAL means and watch it.

~*~*~Don’t read on after this if you don’t wish to be spoiled.~*~*~

 

 

 

The first episode of the season was definitely attention grabbing. I can’t wait for the next episode because I’m left with more questions that answers. My main complaint is how the writers decided to deal with Amy and Rory’s relationship. Though it was cause for some sweet moments, I felt that the mini-story arc was a cheap ploy for the watcher’s emotions. I didn’t feel it was necessary to have them divorcing in the beginning, proving their love in the middle, and inevitably reconcile in the end. On a different note, I loved the introduction to the new companion and (maybe it’s just because I don’t keep up with Doctor Who gossip and inside stories) was surprised when she didn’t end up with the crew in the end.

New Doctor Who Companion?

I LOVE her. She’s smart, attractive, funny, and so far the first companion I’ve felt I could get attached to since Rose. Dont get me wrong, I’ve loved all the companions in some way, but I can’t say I was in love with them all. I’m looking at you Donna. The question is, how are they going to bring Oswin back? She was announced as the new companion months ago, and within the first episode she dies. Will she be Oswin when we see her again?

The biggest question I have is: how will the Dalek’s erased memories effect their behavior? This change in the Dalek story line will have massive repercussions and I’m not sure what the Dalek’s will do. Will they continue to seek out and destroy the Doctor? Or, now with the Doctor forgotten, will they continue on their own evolution? Will that evolution be any different from the one that was based around their fear of the Doctor?

Overall, I felt this was a very strong season opener. I don’t expect to talk about Doctor Who every week, but I’m sure I’ll mention a few of my questions as the season progresses. I’m extremely excited for this season, and hope that if you aren’t a Doctor Who fan that you give it a shot. All the past seasons for Doctor Who and Torchwood are on Netflix.

Saturday Morning Geekery: Relic Knights

Good morning! I hope your Saturday morning cartoons and coffee are treating you well. Thanks to Kickstarter, I spent the past few evenings obsessing over a new tabletop game called Relic Knights. This game looks to be a fun, over-the-top anime style table top game with awesome looking models and easy to learn game mechanics.

The simplicity of the game mechanics makes it easy to learn and non-intimidating. In my experience, tabletop games can be overwhelming when first learning and watching them. Relic Knights does not appear to have this issue, and basic game rules are learned rather quickly. Despite its apparent simplicity, it still appears to have the ability for high-level strategy . I’m still in the process of play-testing, but so far it’s been fun.

The thing that really caught my eye were the models. Miniature painting is something I enjoy to do, and wish I did more. Ever since I started, I’ve loved Soda Pop Miniatures‘ highly stylized anime models. They have been my goal when it comes to painting. Soda Pop has been working with Worthy Painting on the painting of all their models, and the results have been fabulous. Give Worthy Painting a look through for any painting inspiration you need.

How can you not love the color and styling of these models?

The prices to begin the game start at $50. With everything you are getting in the Kickstarter, I wouldn’t expect to see these prices anytime soon after game release. Whenever you get a moment, I highly recommend you go give Relic Knights a look and let me know what you think.