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If Dungeon Master is like the architect, the Player Characters are the actors. Though it may seem at first that the DM has all the creative power in D&D, don’t underestimate the little world that is your character. Your character can be exactly like you, or they can be everything you’ve ever (or never) dreamed of being. Create your little forest gnome sorcerer with a talent for circus acrobatics and cartwheel into combat casting Chaos Bolt. Make your sexy Tabaxi monk who defeats the evil harpies with equal parts partying and punching. The job of the Player Character is in the name—play. Thanks to the DM, for a few hours in your friend’s living room, with just a couple dice and some miniatures, you get to go to another world. You get to be someone else. The feeling of levelling up and accessing new abilities, specialisations or spells is just as satisfying as any RPG video game. One of the best parts about being a Player Character is the element of surprise. You get to be surprised by the DM’s plot twists or funny voices. You get to surprise the DM by doing the unexpected like hitting the puzzle with your shortsword and somehow solving it. You even get to surprise yourself with your godlike (or utterly trash) dice rolls. There’s always more than one correct answer to any social interaction, combat scenario, or puzzle and thinking up a creative solution never gets old. But what’s even better, is that you get to do all this with your friends—or soon-to-be friends! Where the DM has the powerful but solitary position of knowing and controlling everything, you and the other Player Characters (depending on their character’s alignments) are on a team. Maybe your rogue fails to be stealthy and gets one-shot trying to sneak, so the rest of you launch a rescue mission, with the wizard teleporting to the top of the tower and putting all the guards to sleep. Maybe you’re a bard and you distract the enemies with your Dancing Lights so your beefy barbarian friends can ‘sneak’ up behind the goblins and pummel them. Maybe you roll a natural 1 on your Witch Bolt and accidentally kill your friend (true story). In D&D, you can make memories together. My friends and I will still reflect on moments from old campaigns as if they were moments from real life. One of the best things about D&D, and what makes me hesitate before jumping onto any other RPG campaign tabletop games, is that, in D&D, you can basically do whatever you want. There’s a lot of rules to learn from the start, so I’ll admit, being a Player Character in D&D does have a fairly high upfront effort cost, but it is by learning these rules that you realise the true extent of your creativity. In combat, for example, you can do way more than simply smack the enemy with your scimitar. The ‘Help’ action lets you assist an ally. How? In any way you like! What does the spell Prestidigitation do? More than you’d think (including making a fake bag of gold to trick the greedy gnome selling you potions). As an English tutor, I often say that in writing, you learn the rules just so you know how to break them. It’s similar in D&D. If you know the rules, you know the extent to which you can take them. But seriously, if you’re a Player Character, don’t complain about how much work you have to do. The DM has way more. All you need to do is make a character, show up, and be engaged. And sometimes, that last one is difficult. Perhaps your DM is having an off day (because we’re all human—IRL that is). Perhaps you’re just losing interest in the campaign. But if you decide to be a Player, you need to be engaged. Look for clues, use your abilities, think outside the box. It’s very easy, especially in larger groups, to simply tag along—“Uhh…I follow everyone to the blacksmith.” But the truth is, you get as much as you give to the game. If you actively look for clues, the DM will open up the story to you. If you use your abilities, you really feel like you’re playing your class. If you think creatively, you get the surprise and the satisfaction of seeing your ideas actually work. So here’s the thing—without the DM, you wouldn’t have your D&D sessions. You would just have a character, with no world to exist in, no other player’s to interact with, no monsters to beat up. If you’re only going to take one thing from this article, take this: Respect your DM. They stayed up late learning rules, devising puzzles, calculating enemy difficulties. You don’t see a lot of what they do. The least you can do is show them and their story respect by creating a character you care about (not one you’re going to throw into a 1v20 because why not), learning your rules and limits, and engaging with the story they tell you.
We’ve all been there. You hype up a board game to your non-gamer friends and family, only for them to get super intrigued and relent to playing with you…and hate it, vowing to never play another. Don’t worry, it’s an often-reported bi-product of our passionate [read: obsessive] community, and we can help you combat it! As seasoned board-gamers and gamer-converts, we here at Gameology have developed an almost fool-proof formula for getting anyone interested in board games. And we mean it. Tried and tested, here are our current strategies to encourage your loved ones of any age to play your awesome board games with you! 1) Keep it simple. First up, pick your timing and eliminate any distractions – i.e., don’t beg your parents to play a game of light strategy when they’re busy cooking dinner and on the phone to your sibling with the news going in the background. You’ll need a solid 1-2 hours for our method depending on the game you’ve chosen to tackle, so best to pick a weeknight after dinner with the dishes done or a lazy afternoon on a weekend. Pick a game that is easy to digest and introduces the fundamentals of basic board game play. People are much more likely to cotton to a game that is easy to understand and master with a couple of plays, because let’s face it, we’re wired to crave a win with minimal effort, to stay interested. Aspects to consider when choosing a game include your target’s age (yes, target, because some days this sure feels like a mission), thought process (can they keep up with a bit of light strategy or will they get super bored by it?), time available (do we have 30mins to kill or do we have half an afternoon?) and interests (do they love or hate Lord of the Rings? Do they like pretty components or artwork?). You know your targets best so these answers will be subjective, but generally we’ve found that complete newbies enjoy quick-play abstract and family games such as; Kingdomino, Azul, Santorini, Love Letter or the classic, Ticket To Ride. 2) Bribe them. Look, we don’t like it either but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do for the sake of the game. Tell your parents you’ll wash up after dinner tonight. Tell your friends you’ll supply the beers if they indulge you for a game. Tell your significant other – well, you know where we’re going with that one… Aaaanyway, unfortunately our community is big but not entirely mainstream, so the average person will struggle to place value on their time spent learning something new and often time-consuming and it’s your responsibility to make it worth their while. That is of course, until they realise how awesome board gaming is and slowly descend into obsessive madness like the rest of us. 3) Play it through and explain as you go. Give players a brief overview of the game background and objective and go over some basic rules. After that, you’ll essentially play the game “open-handed”. That is, take your turn first and explain your steps and thought process as you go, allowing the other players to pause and ask questions where necessary. Then, let them have their turn and coach them through the process. Continue until they are confident in progressing on their own, with play remaining “open-handed”. Games with simple, concise steps taken each turn and then repeated each turn by every player are perfect for teaching as the repetition increases familiarity and confidence as play progresses. Games such as The Quacks of Quedlinburg, Splendor and Carcassonne are the perfect examples of this. The key to this step is patience. Your sense of excited frustration is dangerously infectious in these situations and could not only lead to the abandonment of your gaming sesh, but a heated exchange if you let it bubble over. So ensure you always keep your cool, even if your parents ask the same question for the hundredth time. Remember, they hold the trump cards in this situation as they could pull the plug at any point and leave you opponent-less, so it’s best to keep calm and carry on. 4) Play it a second time. Immediately. That’s right. Even if it seems tedious. Even if they don’t want to! In fact, especially if they don’t want to! This is our single-most important step in the whole process. The first game is always an ice-breaker, a get-to-know you if you will. The second game cements all the fresh information firmly in your brain by allowing you to play “for real” and put your acquired knowledge and skills to the test. You’ll usually find that your opponent starts out begrudgingly and finishes ecstatic, having ignited their competitive streak in knowing that they were able to give you a real run for your money! So here’s our strategy, but we want to know if we missed anything! Let us know in the comments what you do or have done to entice people to play with you so we can encourage others to try it out and grow our amazing community!
For D&D and its players, there always lives a Dungeon Master (DM), hunched over a table late at night with only a dim desk lamp to illuminate their works. On pen, on paper, with rulers and grids, the DM stays awake. They place enemies in arenas, traps in the floors, and treasure in secret rooms no one will ever find. They tell their tales and craft their characters, making sure each has a different personality, trait and opinion. So the next day their players will fall down the rabbit hole of adventure. One that begins with meeting a mysterious strider in a tavern and somehow eventually leads into a final confrontation with Grolantor, The Hill Giant God of War. The stories DMs create are fascinating. Running your own homebrew story is an adventure that is purely yours, where you can showcase aspects of your personality and wit. Or if you’re running an official campaign, you can take the moment to surprise your party with your showmanship. Maybe captivate them with twists and turns in the narrative that you learned the night before. Even if the twist is the death of a beloved character. It is a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one. These twists won't be just new and exciting for your players but also for you, you will see how players react and what their characters do in the game. Sometimes they will do what is expected but sometimes it will be unpredictable and the room will roar with awe or anger. If this sounds fun, if being a god of an imaginary world appeals to you, if being able to equally raise or ruin your players, or if you just like being the showman who brings characters and worlds alive, maybe try to be a DM. Being the DM of your party is a lot of effort, there is plenty of work but an equal amount of reward. You do have to spend the day or night before knowing the story and the Non-Playable Characters (NPCs) in it. You will have to know how to properly provide them with a voice that suits their personality and traits. And know how they would make decisions in response to your players. For the story aspects, you will need to know it all very well, as you will need to keep the story flowing based on your players unpredictable actions. Finally DMs work as mediators and judges, so you must know the rules and when to bend or break them. Unlike Players who need no preparation before a session (aside from levelling up their characters), some DMs do not have the luxury of being able to “wing it” and improvise story arcs without preparation. T here is work in being a DM, but with the right players it will not go unappreciated. The stories you weave and the world you build will leave your players, even the most passive player, engaged. Tell us about your best Dungeon Master Stories below we always love to hear your tales of wonder!
While items are continuing to leave the Gameology warehouse on time we want to inform our customers of some updates to delivery delays affecting Australia Post that they have advised us of. Over the last three weeks, Australia Post has experienced a significant increase in demand as Victorians have increased their online buying due to stage 4 lockdowns. At the same time, our business has been required to make additional adjustments in our processing and deliveries workforce to comply with the State Government's COVID safe restrictions. With the massive demand and workforce capacity constraints, Australia Post has advised there may be an additional 3 day delay for deliveries in Victoria. What we have observed is that due to the backlog of Victorian deliveries some parcels bound for a Victoria address are being re-routed for processing to a NSW depot. Australia Post has advised us that this is to assist backlogged Victorian processing centers and has been done in the aims of delivering your package in the shortest time possible given the current restrictions and circumstances.We appreciate the implications of these decisions and want to assure you we are doing our very best within these extremely challenging times to bring your orders to you as soon as possible.
Stuck on what to get Dad this Father’s Day that he’ll be able to use and enjoy at home? Well look no further than the gift that keeps on giving – board games! A fantastic way for the whole family to celebrate Father’s Day, board games require interaction and engagement between all players, which is all Dad really want’s on his special day isn’t it? So without further ado, here are our Top 5 Picks for Father’s Day! 1) Paperback A concise 2-5 player game for word-wizards and bookworms, Paperback is the perfect game for those that love a good Scrabble session. As a struggling author, players are trying to finish novels for their editor so they can live the dream and perhaps pay the bills in this beautiful and brain-testing deck builder. Beginning with a starting hand of letter cards, players try to form words to gain money to purchase more powerful and useful letters and accumulate victory points to win the game. Cards have abilities that activate once played, with certain genres providing different advantages over the others – introducing an exciting element of strategy. The longer the played word with more face up letters (face-down cards are wild whose abilities do not activate that turn) the more advantages players obtain and the further along they race towards victory. A fantastic small game that backs a big punch, Paperback includes 4 mini expansions and a cooperative variant as well, meaning that your word-smith Dad can enjoy it over and over again. If that wasn’t enough play time, there’s also the Paperback Unabridged Expansion that introduces 100 new cards and more ability mechanics. Additionally, if Dad’s more of a hardback fan, he’ll love the equally compelling and beautifully presented, sequel Hardback, of similar vein. 2) Catan The OG board game that started it all, Catan is the classic family game that is a wonderful introduction for anyone wanting to step up from your generic Monopoly into the wonderful world of board games! A 3-4 player resource-management game that incorporates elements of deep strategy, Catan sees players compete to become the dominant force on an island by developing settlements, cities and roads. By collecting resource and development cards used to build their civilisations and accumulate military power, players strive to gain the 10 victory points to win. But beware, there is trouble afoot as robbers seek to steal your resources and dismantle your plans with each turn. An award winning, popular game, Catan appeals to the masses and has thus spawned multiple spin off’s and expansions that keep the base game fresh and constantly changing. The ideal way to get Dad and the whole family involved and addicted to board games! 3) Koi A lover of Japanese art and majestic koi fish? As well as being a purveyor of fine taste and quality, your Dad will love this exciting (and frustrating) 1-4 player masterpiece. Beautifully thematic right down to the excellent components, Koi invites you into the interconnected world of the koi pond. As koi, players compete over seven days (rounds) to become the most well-fed fish in the pond, gobbling up as many frogs and dragonflies as they can. Drawn cards each round dictate the moves your fish are able to take for that day – some optional, others mandatory. Players will need to think about their path to gain more food and ensure they have enough movement and provisions spare to overcome any attempts by other fish to thwart their plans. A light strategy game that is easy to introduce and play through, Koi is a visually appealing masterpiece that is sure to please Dad and family alike! 4) Power Grid This is one for those Dad’s that are board-game aficionado’s and perhaps well-acquainted with the energy sector… Power Grid is an excellent 2-6 player resource-management game, incorporating elements of worker placement and deep strategy. Players complete to build the largest energy network and successfully power it by travelling to various cities in their region, purchasing power plants and buying resources to power those plants. You will acquire power plants and resources through player auctions and must compete with others to gain access to superior equipment or less-expensive resources; thus granting your fellow energy monarchs the opportunity to engage in insidious business practices. Players must ensure they monitor each other’s progress, expand their network and manage their money in order to power their grid! A fun game that may require a couple of play-throughs to get the hang of, Power Grid is well-worth the time and plays smoothly and quickly once you have the rules down pat. Check out Power Grid and its many expansions here! 5) Ticket to Ride: Europe Edition Another board game classic, Ticket to Ride: Europe Edition, builds on the award winning, fast-paced original game. A completely separate board game adventure (this edition is not an expansion and therefore does not require the original base game), employs the same rules as Ticket to Ride, with a few extra additions to keep play fresh. A 2-5 player family game that is very quick to learn, the Europe Edition sees players traverse the continent in an effort to gain the highest number of total points by placing train carriages between cities to claim routes, fulfilling destination cards and trying to accrue the longest continuous path across the board! A light and easy game perfect for young and older families alike, Ticket to Ride: Europe Edition adds another layer of strategy and incorporates exceptional artwork to delight engage. A worthy addition to the family board game shelf, you can check out our other Ticket to Ride products here! And that’s your Father’s Day gift sorted! Wishing all those Fathers and Father-Figures in your life a wonderful day from us here at Gameology! Have an excellent day spending quality-time with your family over one of our board games.
Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) is a wonderful game of fun, story, and situations. It is the blank canvas of tabletop gaming, where rich and beautiful adventures are made from nothing but made together. In D&D you will have entire worlds to conquer but where do you start? This new blog entry for the 10 people who actually read these blogs, especially the 2 who don’t work at Gameology and read these anyway (I appreciate you), is part 1 of 3 on What is D&D? How do you play as a Dungeon Master? and How do you play as a Player? D&D is a role-playing game where a single player will be a Dungeon Master (DM) who will run the game, and the rest of the group will be players who create characters in the game. The DM, runs the game by narrating the adventure, playing the roles of characters that players will meet, and managing what happens in the game’s world in response to the player’s decisions and actions. The DM is not included in the game, DM’s work behind-the-scenes directing the players will story hooks and scenarios to progress the players through the adventure. Players in the game create characters in the story. The characters will be fictional avatars that the players will role-play, as if they themselves were in the story. These characters can be as complex as you like, by providing a backstory, personal goals and traits, or even giving them flaws and unique personal opinions. Whatever character you create, they will be deeply involved in the adventure the DM creates. I know this seems to be a bit over-the-top, especially when you consider that the majority of this game takes place in your collective imagination. But truthfully, anything that isn't strictly: The DM tells a story and guides players’ characters on an adventure is an optional rule. D&D provides unbridled freedom. The freedom to play however you want is an amazing aspect of the game. There are not many rulebooks for games that basically say “if you don’t know what to do, just make it up.” The rules in Dungeons and Dragons are more like guidelines. Very loose guidelines. Which (for me) makes up for everything that could possibly be wrong with D&D. Unless you have an issue with the fundamental aspects, any other problem can be changed to suit your group’s preferences. If you don’t like combat rules and mechanics, just throw it out. If you don't like levelling up in a certain way just change levelling up to growing a few inches. Eventually you'll end up with a whole new adventure about how your players can’t stop growing and turning into giants. In D&D you can traverse incredible landscapes and delve deeply into intricate stories that can be experienced with Wizards of Coasts’ official campaigns or unofficially in community made homebrewed adventures. The content is never ending as campaigns can last actual years and there is always another story to dig into. Or maybe the idea of a long campaign exhausts you and you’d rather play something shorter and contained. Then you can always play the multitude of one-shot adventures that are concise enough to reach that satisfying conclusion in a single session. D&D is not some power nerd hobby, although I say that as a nerd working in a hobby store. This is a game for anybody, there is always something to like. If you like hitting someone with Thor’s Hammer with over exaggerated awesomeness, there's a scenario for that. If you like wacky social interactions, like trying to charm the dragon from eating you with your incredible charisma, there's a story for that. Or even if you just like role-playing a strange character like an acrobat master thief who's only fear is the dark, you can do that too. The options, quests, and scenarios in D&D are only limited by your imagination. If the idea of absurd social situations, and imaginative adventures with your friends sounds fun or even fun-ish. I strongly recommend looking more into the game. To be honest, at first it is easy to feel lost and overwhelmed, you may think there are too many options. As a DM, you will wonder where to start, what worlds to bring your players into, or what worlds to build. As a player, you will be overwhelmed by options of characters to play. Within each character you must pick a race and a class from a great variety just to begin and as you play you will be constantly bombarded with choosing a weapon, a skill, a trait, a path, there will always be options and choices to make. So I understand if D&D starts to throw you off here as there are a lot of things to consider. You have all these options that tell you, be whatever you want, do anything, but simultaneously, you have rules that tell you, you can’t do this, you can’t do that, the rules seem to cruelly limit you. But I implore you to just start playing, make your mistakes with your friends, make godly creatures purely by accident, miscalculate damage amounts or bonuses that cause enemies to implode at the sight of you, or say dumb things to non-playable characters just to see what will happen because I promise you, it will be memorable. If you are now looking to jump right into D&D the best starting place is the Dungeons & Dragons Essentials Kit which you can check out right here: https://www.gameology.com.au/products/d-d-dungeons-dragons-essentials-kit
‘Tis the season to be bombarded with pre-orders! If you’re like us and hate waiting for the next amazing game to become available, pre-ordering is for you, friend. What better way to ensure you’ll 100% receive your game on release day?! FOMO be gone. Now that we’ve established you’ll be going on a pre-order spree to quell the monotony of lockdown (here’s looking at you VIC friends), we’ve taken the liberty of compiling a list of the must-have games coming soon to our shelves! 1) Frosthaven After a very successful Kickstarter campaign - we’re talking almost $13M pledged of a $500K goal here - you’ll definitely want to pre-order this one. The formidable sequel to the epic campaign game that spawned its own phenomenon (Gloomhaven), Frosthaven follows a similar narrative but offers much, much more than its predecessor. While employing the same fundamental objective and theme of expansion through combat, Frosthaven now allows players to explore outside of battle, including solving mysteries, living through seasonal events and even controlling exactly how their villages expand to offer new avenues for progression. With the ability to integrate with the Gloomhaven game board, both old and new Gloom-fanatics will be enticed by this mammoth adventure. 2) Tainted Grail: the Fall of Avalon Another wildly-successful Kickstarter, Tainted Grail is a cooperative campaign game based on the equally successful video game of the same name. Now, we know what you’re all thinking. Video game to board game can be hit-and-miss. Well, we’re here to tell you that this one is definitely a hit. With an opportunity for a solo mode, this 1-4player adventure experience uses all the strengths of deck-building, character development and a dice-less encounter system that moulds it into the perfect medieval puzzle. Players must navigate the deep storyline where at every turn, something conspires to end their journey within a world of Celtic mythology and Arthurian legend. With even the smallest of decisions key to gameplay advancement, Tainted Grail has ensured character development is as meaningful and deep as the world in which the game is contained. This also ensures no game is exactly alike, which makes it absolutely worth the price. The hype on this one is real, people. Get on it. 3) Nemesis We’re sure you’ve all heard the hype on this one, and rightly so. This semi-cooperative game of sci-fi survival horror is sure to leave you wanting more, especially if you’ve been betrayed… Navigating their way across a decimated spaceship filled with hostile organisms, players must complete a set of objectives and board an escape pod back to Earth in one piece. But all is not as it seems. Player objectives are both cooperative and individual in nature; so who do you follow? Who can you trust? You’ll never know, right until the very end. A fantastic game that builds and settles climactic moments across play, Nemesis is an immersive experience that is both enjoyable and enjoyably frustrating at times. Absolutely one to include on your shelf. 4) Pandemic Legacy: Season 0 A game very current to our circumstances, however much-loved by many. 12 years of the Pandemic franchise and Z-Man Games has delivered us another excellent legacy game to round off the story at the very beginning. Just as its predecessors, Pandemic Legacy: Season 0 is a fully-cooperative experience steeped in Cold War history. Tasked with investigating and preventing the development of a deadly Soviet bio-weapon, players are members of the CIA and must undertake missions that allow them to travel the world and combat their enemies. It won’t be easy, as enemies become more and more cunning, but over the course of 12 months, each completed mission will bring players closer and closer to the truth. Don’t worry, you won’t need to have played Season One or Two in order to attack this Cold War thriller as it’s stand-alone, however it is a legacy game so bear in mind that each play brings new rules and conditions that can permanently affect future gameplay. Definitely a must-have for any avid Pandemic fan. 5) Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion Possibly the most talked-about game due out this year and definitely one for the pre-order list - these won’t last long in store! Designed as a casual introduction to the realm of Gloomhaven, this game is perfect both for die-hard fans (the new components can be used in the base game) and for those interested but not committed to the big box just yet. Set in the events before Gloomhaven, Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion includes 25 new scenarios inviting heroes to investigate a series of mysterious disappearances across the city. Players will play directly on a scenario book featuring new artwork unique to each scenario and the rules have been simplified and illustrated with a five-step tutorial to ease new players into the experience. If you’ve been eyeing off the game, but one of your hang-ups is that you’ve got no one keen to play along, this is the game for you. Its pedigree speaks for itself. 6) Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps! Armed with great componentry and artwork, Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps! is a cooperative survival game and one not to miss out on! Players assume aliases of specialist marines who work together to find other survivors and answers as to how their base has been destroyed and by who - or what. But what lurks in the shadows? Players are equipped with serious firepower; needed to fight off relentless foreign ambushes and get out of there alive. Able to play up to six different missions all with different objectives and outcomes, Aliens also caters to the campaign-masters out there, with four of the missions able to be played in this mode. An exhilarating and at times, heart-stopping game, it’s one to definitely add to the collection. Aaaaand that’s our list - get on them while they’re hot people! Don’t be that guy that sits there refreshing the page until the game goes live, only to realise it’s already sold out when you try to “add to cart”. Just, don’t. Check out our other awesome pre-orders here!
We have all had those moments as board gamers where we get a new magnificent game in all its pristine shrink-wrapped goodness. We’re so excited to share this 8th wonder with our friends, but ‘Oh no’ it's a complicated card drafting, worker-placing, resource-managing nightmare or maybe it isn’t that complicated but your friends are new to the hobby. How do you teach them the rules? How do you keep them engaged especially if the art on the box isn’t exactly spectacular? How do you avoid the dreaded statements like “This seems a bit too complicated,” “Do you have anything easier?”, “Let’s just play Cards Against Humanity.” If you’ve had to ask yourself these questions, worry no longer, your friendly Gameology retail store staff with the cute glasses is here to help. To begin, and this may seem a bit dramatic, teach the game with a narrative. Engage the other players by providing the context, tell them who they are and how they fit into the game. For example, if you’re playing Brass Birmingham, do not dive into the economics and numbers of the game, begin with explaining how the players are entrepreneurs in the 1800s striving to be the grandest titan of industry. This may not be as necessary in smaller games but it is still a joy to do and will guarantee that your players won’t be staring at their phones or prematurely say “Let’s just play, I’m sure we can learn as we go.” The next step is to jump to the end, define a goal for the players so they know what they are aiming for. You can continue your narrative but sprinkle in mentions of the core mechanics of the game. But only the core mechanics. Beware of getting caught on tangents about minor mechanics of the game or soon you will have explained the entire games at an awkward order and players will have to try and piece together your instructions. Continuing with the Brass Birmingham example, explain that to become the grandest titan of industry you must get the most victory points and that is primarily done by selling resources at your many factories that you build up. By providing the win condition, you have provided direction to your players so that no matter what overly-complex mechanic you explain next, they will always be able to connect it to how they can achieve the win condition. The final step is the longest, this is where your players are now engaged and are prepared to learn the nitty-gritty of the game. This step will be different for different games and different groups. So there is no clear cut way to do this that will work for everyone. But here are some tips: try and link the mechanic to the win condition. This is especially important for big games as most games have very precise intricate mechanics that don’t seem like they matter in the grand scheme of the game. Try and explain mechanics in a chronological order, the order in which they might appear to players as the game progressed. Maybe have a practice round, a false start whereby you play as you normally would but without hidden information and allow constant questions. That way players don’t have to ask midway through an actual game that could compromise their strategy. Finally, if it seems your friends still are not engaging or are disinterested, you have to accept that. Not all games are for everyone. Not everyone wants to play a 6 hour game of Dune, and you just have to accept that you have to throw away your friends and get new ones because Dune is amazing and you don’t need food or sleep if you’ve got Dune. AVAILABLE NOW AT GAMEOLOGY https://www.gameology.com.au/products/dune-board-game. And let us know your best tips and tricks for helping teach others a new board game down below, Im sure everyone would love the chance to learn from each other so we can all make our board game nights the best they can be
Biggest isn't always better especially when it comes to these powerhouses of fun games that just so happen to come in small packages. Check out our top 6 picks for the best ᵀᶦⁿʸ ᴳᵃᵐᵉˢ below! This list is most definitely incomplete so let us know what the smallest game you own is that you are still always ready to pull out on games night. 1) Mint Delivery A cross between Ticket to Ride and The Travelling Salesman Problem, in Mint Delivery players will be mint delivery drivers in the city of MINTOPIA the greatest mint-manufacturing city in the world. As competing drivers, you’ll all be competing for the coveted “Employee of the Month” badge. To get it, you must be the best driver, fulfilling the most orders around the region as fast as you can. To play this fresh, pocket-sized marvel, move your little meeple truck around a modular map of the region to specific factories and provide them with mints they have ordered. Throughout the game you may take 2 actions on your turn, these include: moving your truck to a space, picking up new orders, fulfilling an order, restocking on mints and finally converting your mints into mintier mints. That's all, this small tiny pocket game is perfect for a travel game as it consists completely of a handful of cards and meeples. Check out Mint Delivery Here 2) A Fake Artist Goes to New York Do you like to draw but can’t draw? Would you like to pretend to be able to? To pretend you are among the elite artists among your friends? In A Fake Artist Goes To New York, you must hide among the so-called elite of the art world and fake pretentiousness and distinction to be accepted. To play, all players will be dealt a role, either a real artist or a fake pretender. The artists are also given a secret word, a topic to draw, the fake artist is not provided this word but must pretend they were. Starting with any player, each person will draw a single line or shape and pass the canvas along. In a series of 2 rounds, players will continuously add to the art piece in a way that shows the others they know the secret word. But beware if the image becomes too obvious, the fake artist will be able to determine the secret word and will be able to blend in easier. After the 2 rounds are over players must determine who among them is a fake artist. A Fake Artist Goes to New York is a wonderful little drawing game where you will give sly looks at everyone who draws anything because no one is above suspicion. You must draw abstract enough as to not inadvertently help the fake artist but not too abstract where the other artists will suspect you. This combination makes this seemingly quaint game full of tension and suspicion. Where accusations will fly rampantly because someone put a single 2cm line in a suspicious place, or maybe a fake artist will be wrongly assumed to be real because they accidentally added a whisker to a cat’s face, which they thought was a leg. Check out A Fake Artist Goes to New York Here 3) Star Realms Build your space empire, unite the alien races, and assimilate their technology with your own to increase your intergalactic renown in this tiny deckbuilding game. In Star Realms 2-4 players will slowly build upon their meager fleet of Star Vipers and Scouts into an empire by purchasing new space vessels from the many factions in the Star Realms universe. Each faction will have a speciality mechanic for you to specialise in or maybe diversify and synergise different factions. Regardless of how you build your fleet, the goal is always the same, reduce your enemies health to 0 before they can reduce yours. To protect against yourself, build large space bases to act as a blockade and eat any damage your opponent throws at you on their turns. On your turns, switch it around and go on the offensive by strategically chaining you action cards. This is done by playing cards with a secondary ability that is activated by playing another card of a specific faction. So race to build your armada, your defenses, your economy and your realm. Check out Star Realms Here 4) Hive Pocket A pocket sized version of the wonderful abstract game “Hive”, the pocket edition provides players with a smaller bag, a smaller price tag and 2 free expansions. What’s not to love?! Hive itself is a wonderful two player, abstract game where players will control two competing Hives. The aim of the game is to encircle the opponent’s Queen Bee in pieces. To do so, players must move their many different insects around the table. In Hive, there is no board, the pieces players move and use, act as the structure of their hives and must move around already placed pieces. This is an incredibly interesting concept as the landscape of the game will constantly change as players try to entrap their opponent’s queen and protect their own. Hive utilises many different insects for players to use and so, different insects will move around completely differently to other pieces. For example, the beetle is able to climb on top of other pieces to completely immobilize them and grasshoppers can jump over sections of the hive. There are many more insects to play and master in this head-to-head fight for survival. Check out Hive Pocket Here 5) Spot It We could not talk about pocket games without talking abou SPOT IT, the family game for 2-8 players. If you haven’t heard of Spot It before it is an incredibly easy, fun, and versatile game with many different ways to play. The core basis of this card game is each card depicts a wild array of individual pictures, almost always any 2 cards will share a specific image on them, and most ways to play will revolve around “spotting” the matching images. As there are many different game modes to play, it would be incredibly difficult to fit them all in this small blog but a common and (in my opinion) the most fun way to play is the following: deal 10 cards to all players, who will hold them in a stack with the images face up. Play one card from the remaining cards in the centre. Players must now look to see if the card on top of their stack has any matching images with the centre card, if so, they play their card in the centre. If not, the players will cycle their top card to the bottom on their stack and continue. The first player to empty their stack wins the game. This game mode is fast paced with players shouting the names of the matching images in a chaotic mess of excitement and laughter, perfect for any family. Check out Spot It Here 6) One Night Ultimate Werewolf A game of both figurative and literal witch hunting where players will band together to find the figurative and literal wolf hiding amongst them. One Night Ultimate Werewolf (ONUW) is a dastardly game of villainy and deceit as players will try to all convince each other they are on the same team, each with their own secret motive and equally questionable credibility. To play, players will all be dealt a secret role, which will provide them their ability, their team, and thus their motive. The Villager team seeks to find the Werewolves and the werewolves seek to remain hidden, usually this will end with the villagers accusing one of their own by mistake. One Night Ultimate Werewolf plays in a single round, making it one of the quickest games to play, but don't worry with its super simple,and satisfying gameplay, the small game time only supports the game's wonderful replayability. In the round, players will close their eyes while the assisting phone app, names different roles one at a time, when a role is called out the player will open their eyes and perform the ability. The fun in ONUW is in the way these abilities interact with each other. A Seer may look at someone's hidden role and accidentally find the werewolf but a Troublemaker could throw a wrench into their strategy by switching roles with them. Maybe a specific player is suspicious so you all accuse them of being a werewolf but in reality they’re a Minion of the werewolves and seeks to be a scapegoat for them. The many roles in this game greatly alter how the round will play out. And with a dozen unique roles in the best game alone, makes this game you won’t be able to get tired of too quickly. Check out One Night Ultimate Werewolf Here
With the recent announcement from the Victorian government surrounding business and how they are able to operate moving forward we wanted to take the time to clarify some of the questions we have already been getting from our customers.𝑷𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑶𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔The Gameology warehouse will remain open while complying with all government regulations. What this means is that orders are still being processed on time however if there are any changes to this or delays expected we will notify you as soon as possible.This means that you can still make your online orders and pre-orders as normal.𝑮𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚 𝑹𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒍 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒆As per government regulations we will be required to close our retail store from close of business Wednesday which means that from that time onwards until the restrictions are lifted there will be no public access to the Gameology Retail store.After that time we will still be offering Contactless Click and Collect on pickup orders as we have been for a few weeks now and you can find some more details of this process below.𝑮𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚 𝑪𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒌 & 𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝑷𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒖𝒑1) Simply make a local pick-up order as you normally would online. Call our retail team on 0492 922 283 (please note this number is reserved for contactless pickup orders, not for general enquiries).To reduce your wait please call in advance to let us know you would like to use our contactless pickup service.2) When you arrive, please park in the designated parking bay to the left of our retail door.Please open your boot for our staff, and call us again to let us know you have arrived.We will come out and place the items in your boot, we will leave the boot open to allow you to confirm we have given you the correct order.Contactless Pickup is available Monday to Saturday.Please see here for more information on our Contactless Pickup: https://facebook.com/watch/?v=595417967844799𝑬𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑷𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒖𝒑 𝑶𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔Existing pickup orders can either be collected at our retail store before close of business at 5pm Wednesday, via our contactless click and collect method as mentioned above or are able to be changed to a postal order for the standard flat rate postage fee of $10.𝑨𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑸𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔If you have any additional questions feel free to ask them down below and we are more than happy to answer them or if it is about your specific order please send us a DM with your order number and we will be able to look into it for you.Thanks so much everyone for your support.- The Gameology Team
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