Both Michael and I were able to attend the Origins game fair this year. Origins is much more about board and card games, but it does feature an RPG component. There are many hosted events in a variety of RPG systems. There are also usually new games that are open for testing. This is true for the board and card games as well. Many companies use Origins to debut new games or demo early release copies of their products. Some of these game are also entered into competition for the Origins Award. There are many categories, covering all types of games.
In general, Orgins is five days of gaming. There are tournaments, open gaming, and demos of everything. There are activities for the kids, movie rooms, and even (shudder) LARPing. There are also events like art shows. And of course, there are plenty of opportunities for planned and pick-up RPGs. There are also lots of booths that sell game accessories, dice, and collectibles. Quite a few booths also sell medieval and steampunk costumes and weapons.
I have yet to be able to attend the entire convention. Due to my schedule and finances (the bane of all gamers), I was able to go only on the last day and take advantage of the Family Pass event. Hopefully, next year will be a different story.Here is my take on the con. Of course, my thoughts are rather restricted, due to my limited interaction with the events. I can’t even scratch the surface of everything that Origins has to offer. It’s not as big as Gencon, but there is a wealth of opportunity for fun and new experiences.
This year, I got to wander through the exhibitor hall and the open gaming hall. The exhibitor hall is home to all the vendors, most of which are also demoing their games. The open game hall is where most of the tournaments are held, but there is also space for pick-up games of all types and even more demos.
I think you all know that I tend to favor board and card games over RPGs. Don’t get me wrong. I will happily spend hours upon hours playing, running, or writing content for DnD or FATE or Call of Cthulhu or anything else I can get my hands on. But I love me some board games. Board and card games usually represent less of a time sink than sitting down to play an RPG. They let you jump into different genres a bit easier. They’re usually easier for non-role players to grasp and enjoy. They have just as much opportunity for role playing and rules customization. Rambling aside, I feel right in my element at Origins. Demoing new games at Origins is a pure joy. Sometimes, I’m even lucky enough to talk to the game designers themselves.
Since all I really got to do this year was demo games, I’ll run down a list of what I played and give you my feelings about the games.
Smash Up–I tried this game at last year’s Origins and enjoyed it, but didn’t buy it. This year, I tried it again with the mindset of picking it up, but it didn’t seem quite as fun. I think this is due to the rep that was running the demo. Overall, it’s a fun card game. You create your deck by smashing (see what they did there?) together two smaller themed decks. The core game has themes like Aliens, Robots, Ninjas, and Pirates. Expansions cover everything from Cthulhu to classic movie monsters. The gameplay revolves around playing minions to capture bases and earn points. There are all kinds of crazy special abilities that kick in to make things interesting. It’s a great party game, but there are lots of complex rules that require a hight degree of paying attention on every single turn. It’s one of those games that almost requires you to know every card and interaction backwards and forwards. But overall, it’s a fun game with a good sense of humor and strong mechanics.
Marvel Dice Masters–This is a relatively new dice building combat game made by Wizkids. It’s very loosely based on the structure of their Quarriors game. Dice building games work like classic CCGs in that you create a “deck” of characters and powers. The twist is that these are represented by dice and on each turn, you roll the dice to randomly generate energy and summon characters. It sounds strange, but it’s a really fun mechanic when you sit down with the game. The Marvel license gives the game all the classic comic book characters to play with. I really enjoyed this game. It was quick and fun, but there was a lot of deep strategy elements. What helped my enjoyment was the guy running the demo. He was passionate and knowledgable about the game. He didn’t just tell us how to play, he taught us strategies and the methods behind them. If this game had been in stock, I would’ve bought it.
Boss Monster–This is a brand new game. My friend picked it up, and if we don’t play it soon, I might have to “borrow” it from his place. This is an awesome game. It’s a card game where you play as the boss monster in a classic 8 bit video game dungeon. All the graphics are 8 bit style and are beautiful. You play by creating a dungeon that will kill off heroes as they come to attack you. There are all kinds of heroes in the deck (warriors, priests, rogues, and so on) that automatically generate and move through the dungeons. The mechanics are super simple and easy to pick up, but there is a lot of strategy.
Get Lucky–I picked this game up immediately after playing it. This is produced by Cheapass games, one of my favorite companies. This is a card game based on their amazingly popular Kill Doctor Lucky board game. In this game, everyone is a guest at a party and everyone is trying to kill the good Doctor Lucky. You can equip you character with weapons and motives, all of which are extremely tongue-in-cheek hilarious. The game is over as soon as someone kills the Doctor, so there are plenty of ways to interfere with each other. I like this game because it’s simple, silly, and can be played quickly. It’s a fun game for a group to play and it’s easy for non-gamers to understand and enjoy.
Krosmaster: Arena–For me, this game was this year’s Sentinels of the Multiverse. Which means, I would’ve bought the core game and every expansion available if I would’ve been able to. This is miniatures tactical combat game. The board has various environmental features, and there are 3D components like trees and boxes. Each character has a stat card that outlines health, movement, and several special powers. There’s also a store that allows players to purchase weapons, armor, and spells. The first thing that attracted me to this game was the beautiful presentation. Each figure is pre-made and pre-painted in a gorgeous anime cartoon style. The board is equally well-made, as are the tokens and 3D components. The game itself is normal sized, with each mini being a few inches tall. But the demo model was gi-freaking-gantic. The board was 3 feet square and the minis were easily 8 inches tall and amazingly detailed. Don’t let the style fool you; this is a hardcore tactical game. The powers deal damage, but also move targets around the board to set up combos. Combat is resolved with d6 rolls, but the results are symbolic instead of numerical, and these symbols grant further tactical opportunities. This is an awesome game. i really hope I can pick it up in the future.
Vanguard–I did not like this game at all. I don’t even really know how the rules work. It wasn’t my intention to demo this game, but I desperately needed to sit down and rest and I let the guy at the table convince me that the best way to rest was to do so while playing his game. It’s a card game based on a manga. It’s somewhat similar to Yugioh in that gameplay revolves around summoning monsters and adding up ridiculous attack numbers (it’s over 9000!) I don’t want to knock this game. It seems like a solid card combat game that certainly appeals to its intended audience. The rules were difficult to grasp, but that may have just been me. I was dead on my feet by that point in the day. The guy demoing the game was very helpful, but it felt like we were just doing what he told us to every turn. I had no understanding of the rules. But we did get an intro copy of the game as swag for trying it, so maybe I’ll dig into it again.
Two Rooms and a Boom / Doctor Boom–I didn’t exactly demo this game, but only because it doesn’t quite exist yet. I was able to speak to the game designers, and they are in the final stages of preparing the game from a successful Kickstarter campaign last year. And they’re local to Cleveland Ohio, so they’ve got the home town bonus. But the game is available for free in a print and pay format, so you don’t have to wait for them to finish. This is a social party game for up to 30 players. Remember playing Mafia or Murder as a kid? Where everyone had a randomly drawn role and would take turns opening and closing their eyes to kill off characters while others were trying to find the killers? This is an updated version of that game, but with lots more twists and tactics. There are two teams, gameplay centers on the bomber trying to get to the president. There are lots of other rolls in the cards, all of which add different goals and objectives. Doctor Boom is a free trial game that was part of the Kickstarter that the designer gave us for our time listening and talking to him. It’s the same basic idea, but with only 5 cards that were printed very nicely on business cards for great portability. I love simple games like this that are easy to play with a group. This is a winner in my book.
And that’s all I was able to hit this year. There were lots of other booths and games that I just didn’t have time to get to. Next year, I will plan out more time…and I won’t exhaust myself by spending the entire day before at the zoo.
