EGG (Eugene Games Gala) 2011 - My EGGxperience (Part 2)

Ok, that was a bit too long of a break. Sorry, it's been a busy week. Gaming and all - no time for writing. Oh, and a little travelling.

Day 1 - still....
Anyhow, about part of the way through Terra Prime I was hungry for lunch. My usual lunch time is in the 11am-12pm range and we started in the middle of that range already so I was definitely hungry.

Now, here's something important that I've learned about myself and conventions. I know that if I don't eat regularly, it really starts to affect me and I cannot think properly or function well. Some people can go all day without eating. Not me.

Therefore, I have learned to make sure I have food available and not to rely on anyone else. I had made 2 PB&J sandwiches and also brought some crackers and a banana when I left from home. I kept this in an insulated lunch bag with ice packs in it. I find 2 does just swell - keeps everything nice and cool. Those ice packs you can get from the grocery store for 99 cents are REALLY GREAT! Not those cheap pillowy looking ones but the ones that look like little rectangular water canteens like you see on the back of a jeep. They keep things cold all day long! Perfect for all-day gaming!


As a side note, I get really extreme when I go to GameStorm - I usually stay in the hotel there and I have started to bring my own food: bread, jam, peanut butter, drinks, chips, cereal or cereal bars, juice, soda, etc. I usually room with Wes and he brings stuff too, so we have a bunch of stuff available that we share. We also bring a cooler for the perishable items.

Anyhow, in-between games at meal times I will often run upstairs to my room and make a sandwich and get a snack or two. In general, it's cheaper and usually faster. I also bring along the same insulated pack and maybe bring a few goodies down with me to the gaming area. Wes won't be there this year so I have to find another roommate that I can mooch share food with.

Yes, I know, they have a small coffee type shop in the hotel that has some food items and, yes, they have a hospitality room for GameStorm and, yes, they even have hotel pizzas and such available - I know. There's also a Subway across the park in front of the hotel. But, sometimes I don't want any of that so I try to be prepared and give myself at least a guaranteed option.

Do you have any unique ways of dealing with getting food into your system when gaming at conventions? I'd love to hear your tips and tricks. There's something about being at a convention that will drive you to not eat or drink anything! You will waste away or die of thirst if you aren't careful.

Seriously, I think it happens because you want to keep gaming and never stop! You've set aside 3+ days of your life, paid your fees, maybe paid for a room, a rental car or just a bunch of gas to get there. Damn it, you're going to get the most gaming possible crammed into that weekend, and not stopping for food and liquids is one of the things that gets sacrificed! You might be able to get another game (or 2 or 3) played over the course of the convention by skipping meals!

Or maybe I'm just crazy.

Anyhow, so I ate my lunch during Terra Prime. Wow, I sure went overboard there talking about food. It must be time for a snack or something...

Terra Prime - end game position

Ok, just get on with it will you?
Oh, sure thing.

So, I managed to continue playing games and then jumping right into the next one, and so on. I had dinner the same way - PB&J during Tribune or Small World or one of those games. Honestly, I can bearly remember because I was trying to play the damn game! Actually, I think it was Tribune because just before Small World I remember actually leaving and going to get a sandwich and a soda (since I hadn't brought one) from Quiznos. Yes, I BOUGHT a sandwich. See, I had already eaten all the PB&J and was still hungry and it was getting late but I knew I was going to be around for at least another 3+ hours. So I left during  rules explanation for  SmallWorld  (which I mostly already know how to play) to get Quiznos and some caffeine.

Well, I won't go into too much description here of the games I played as I already provided summaries in previous posts and also may do more extensive reviews (if I ever have time)

Although, here are some pics of The Great Fire of London 1666

The Great Fire of London 1666: Start of game

The Great Fire of London 1666: End of game

Let's just say that we had a great time burning down London!


So, how did your Day 1 end?
To conclude the evening, we went into the realm of 'simpler' games. Now, I don't know if I'd call Code 777 a simple game, but the rules themselves are pretty straight forward. To summarize quickly: It's a deduction game where you see everyone else's tiles but not your own. Then, each person answers a question about the tiles THEY can see and the answer will give clues to everyone else as to what numbers are on everyone else's tiles (which they can't see). You have a little sheet that you mark things down on. Eventually, you make a guess and, if you're right you get a point. 3 points and you win! Make a wrong guess and you have to start over. Waah, waah, waah! :(

I really like deduction games and this was very interesting for me. I made a mistake at the outset that I didn't immediately mark off the 9 tiles I could see which obviously weren't the tiles I had (although I might still have had duplicates in some cases). That little tidbit will win you the game. I guarantee it!

That game took maybe an hour before my friend Chris won.

Finally, the last game of the night for me was Flix Mix which I ended up playing 4 times! It's a very simple 'matching' sort of game - each person has their own set of cards, each with 6 colored dots on them - all cards have the same colored dots on them but each is in a different arrangement. Someone starts by playing one of their cards. Then, everyone (including that person) simultaneously plays their cards to match and overlap at least 2 of the dots. Do this over and over again until you've played all your cards. Everyone is trying to madly place cards and sometimes there are collisions with 2 or more cards being placed in the same spot at the same time. It's high-speed puzzly fun! Not everyone liked this game, though, but Chris and I had a blast. Of course, he beat me out at the end, even on the game where I was ahead by at least 4 cards at one point. Nice job Chris! I will get you NEXT time!

Well, it was getting on about midnight. I would have LOVED to stay and play more as they apparently were able to keep EGG open and running until 2am! BUT, I had to get up early to go on a day snow trip to the mountains with our Scout Pack.

So, I drove home in the dead of night, dreaming about the games I played and about the games I would miss the next day (well, I knew I would be back in the evening, but there you have it)