HOT BOX - Key Market (What's in the Box?)

I FINALLY got a chance to open my Key Market box last night. I was up late gaming but I was getting tired of not opening it! So, I finally did (although I had to take a nap today after being up so late).

A quick summary: Key Market was released at Essen 2010 and is designed by David Brain. It is an economic game that fits into the R&D Games 'Key' series. Similar to at least 2 of the other games in the series (Key Harvest and Keythedral), you have a farm and workers who must work the fields, but in this game you must bring your goods to market to turn a profit. Some workers can be promoted to the Guilds from Apprentice up through Master which gives your farm better capabilities in producing and selling goods.

I have not played this game myself yet and am very excited to bring it to the table this weekend with some gaming buddies of mine here in the Board Game Back Room.

Here's the box, just waiting to be opened!

Key Market ready to be opened and punched!

Timely Topics - Do you have Guilt when Gaming?

I was hoping to have Key Market opened, photographed and ready for posting today. I had been anxious all day to get into it in the evening. Well, with Scouts (I'm a Den Leader for my son's Wolf Den), getting kids rounded up for bed, editing my daughter's school paper and dealing with other chores (including cleaning up my Board Game Back Room before friends come over tomorrow and this weekend), it got late. Really late. (note the time I'm posting this!)

I think this is the typical life of the gamer with family and responsibilities. It's difficult to fit gaming in sometimes. Or, if you do manage to get some gaming in you might feel guilty about it, that you should be helping your spouse with chores or spending time with the kids instead. I used to feel guilty when I had a game night and was running out the door and my wife was left with screaming kids or dirty dishes. But as soon as I got home I tried to make sure I jumped into chores or something else that needed to be done to make sure I was doing my fair share.

I still do this and still sometimes feel a bit guilty when I'm gone all day long playing games, but I think my wife and I have learned how to balance family needs with personal time and space. Gaming is an escape for me - to leave behind the pressures of the real world and relax a bit, spend time with friends, and just have a good time. Feeling guilt for having that time detracts from it.

Back Stock - Games that will be coming to my table soon!

So, I've been thinking about my blog a lot more today. I've come up with a list of general categories and figured out how to tag my articles and display the tags to kind of create sections. I realize that these sections probably won't have any meaning on the Kindle, but if I include them in the Title of each post, that will still 'categorize' the posts anyhow and readers will 'know' what they are getting, so to speak.

I took some pics of my 'Board Game Back Room' and posted a 'permanent' pic on the web blog. Here's a quick shot for the  Kindle readers:

There are more games piled around that I need to organize but you get the idea.

Up and running

Well, today I set up this blog and here is my very first post!

I have considered starting a blog or podcast or some such beast over the past year or so, but wasn't sure how to focus my attention and wasn't sure exactly what I really wanted to talk about. I suppose that's not completely true - I figured it would focus on board games. But, did I want to actually 'talk'? Did I want to shoot videos? Did  I just want to write? All of these present their own advantages and drawbacks. 

The biggest issue with a podcast was I'm not really the chatty sort - I can be, but perhaps not enough to be entertaining in that way.

The problem with video is, well, I suppose I'm camera shy. I'm primarily an introvert and taking a video of myself goes against that nature. Besides, who wants to look at my silly balding head with that oily shine reflecting back into the fragile viewer's eyes? Between that and my thick glasses and my 'bowl full of jelly' (a bit rotund perhaps - yes, I am planning on working on it. No really, I am!)

SO, writing it is!