PAX Australia was epic. There was so much to see and I barely scratched the surface. I did however, spend three whole days meeting fabulous people and playing board games non stop. Seriously good stuff people!
I think my favourite part of PAX was Collabatory which I discovered by accident. Run by the Tabletop Game Designers Australia (TGDA), Collabatory is a place where Australian game designers can play test their game prototypes.
Located towards the back half of the huge main exhibition hall, were eighteen tables filled with games to play. New games, games that aren't even on the shelf yet. Games that are still being designed. Games that are almost ready. And the best bit? You get to play the games with their designers and give them feedback. It was so cool to be a small part of the creative process and to provide feedback on a game.
And it's just indicative of the friendly nature of PAX – people are there to have a good time and to share what they know. I can't think of many environments where people are so friendly and generous with their time and knowledge. Which is a little strange when you think about it – after all the majority of these games are competitive with clear winners and losers. Maybe that's why it all works? You know what the rules are – play by them and you might just win. If not this time, then next time for sure!
On Saturday afternoon I was feeling a little fried so I headed outside to grab some fresh air and sunshine. While I was out there watching all the folks in cosplay go by, I checked the schedule to see what was next. That's when I saw a listing for Guild Chronicles: Deck Side Tales which was billed as a solo journalling game. Sitting down and spending bit of time writing seemed like a great way to relax after all the brain power I had expended that morning!
A lot of work has already gone into this game and I really liked the graphics and the cards which looked fabulous even though they were only a prototype. It was fun to spend some time creating characters and writing stories about them which we then shared with each other. This would be a great tool for people wanting to write a novel.
Did I mention yet how creative games designers are? The way they can take an idea, say like flat packed furniture, and turn it into a game where you actually get to create little flat pieces of furniture with which to decorate a room, score points and beat your opponents? I am of course talking about the games prototype for Flat Packed.
Playing this game was heaps of fun and it was great to use my hands and make something in this game. It's a games mechanic I haven't come across before. And you all know how I love to make stuff. Look how pretty it is in that photo above! Each player is given a room board to decorate and some secret bonus goals to complete. Then you have to try and collect the pieces you need to build your furniture.
My last game for the afternoon was Cooking with Tabitha. Out of all the Collabatory games this one felt like it was at the earliest stage of development. As such the designer was really happy to take on board any comments about its design and game play. This one is a maths game aimed at getting kids excited about numeracy. And good at it too!
Which is after all how we got into games in the first place. I was trying to get the girls into maths in a fun way and decided to sneak it in through games. Most games have scoring at the end which makes them ideal for maths practice. And all the planning and strategy involved in playing games are great tools to have as well!
Gamers understand that people like to win stuff so for every game you played at Collabatory you received a token. Play three games and exchange your tokens for an enamel pin!
They get that people love to collect sets of things. So there were four different pins, representing different games, for you to collect. Each year they do two pins – a pin for a new game and one for an established game. Eventually the pins will make up a big pie with each pin being a slice. This year's pins were for the new game Blasphemy and the established game Floodlands. You could also get last year's pins as well. Which I have (of course) but I can't for the life of me remember what games they were for!
What a great incentive to play lots of games by new Australian designers. It was the icing on the cake for me – I would have played the games anyway, just to see what new and cool things people are coming up with! And for a chance to meet the creative minds behind them! Imagine, one day I'l be able to say "Oh I met them at PAX when they first play-tested that game.' Or 'I played that game at PAX just before it was launched on Kickstarter!'
Lured by the promise of earning more pins and the excitement of playing new, unreleased games I was back at Collabatory on Sunday afternoon where I got to play two games, Videography and Spellwards, currently being developed by the same designer. Talk about being prolific!
Videography is a game where you play a category card and name a movie that fits. So for a fantasy card that is face-up on the table you might say Harry Potter as you play a card that says magic. Then another player will say Charmed as they play a witch card. And so on. I'm not a huge movie buff, I'm more into books, so I was at a bit of a disadvantage for this one.
Spellwards on the other hand was more up my alley and I reckon this one is great for young kids to help them with their vocabulary. You've got numbered cards and you have to say a word with that many syllables to play your card. Sounds easy but it can get pretty tricky!
Coffee Up is a memory game and I think it may be just the game I need to play at the moment to help improve my short term memory which seems to spluttering lately. In Coffee Up you're a barista and you have to remember the names of your customers and their coffee orders. You even have to remember if they're wearing glasses or not. By remembering the orders and names, you improve the rating of your cafe, trying to get it to five stars. This is one where you're playing together to be the best cafe you can. I loved this game – it was fun to pay with a group of friends (even brand new ones you've just met!), great artwork, cool concept and collaborative! What more could you ask for? Coffee Up is coming soon on Kickstarter so keep an eye out – I reckon it's a good one to back!
There were a lot of other quick, fun card games on offer. Like Tropical Fruit which is another set collecting game this time featuring fruit from South East Asia. Jumba anyone? I thought I was doing really well but misread one of the cards. I thought you got the most points if you had lots of that particular fruit. The snag was that three cards gave you the most points, but more cards than that and you scored less! Tropical Fruit was the winner of the Collabatory design award for the weekend.
Another fun card game was Combat Juggling. Being a sometime juggler and oftentimes clown, I was eager to try this one out. The deck consisted of cards featuring the different items you can use to juggle with – rings, ball, swords etc. The cards were numbered. And then there was some shenanigans going down with the numbers that you let win them or not. I can't quite remember how it worked and cos it's a game that is still being developed I can't even search for it online! That's the blessing and the curse of playing such fresh games!
I reckon next year I'd like to make time to play some of the more complex games that are being developed. I'll just have to be patient and queue up for them I guess!
Out of all the games I played at Collabatory, this Twilight Zone family board game was the most visually stunning.
The game is based on the original Twilight Zone television series from the 1960s. I'm more familiar with the 1980s reboot but that didn't affect the game play at all. One of the coolest things about this game is that it was designed by a dad and his eight year old son. Talk about an awesome weekend project to do together! As a result this is a roll and move game designed for families with young children. The cards with the moral questions drawn from episode of the show add a nice twist.
I've been looking at vending machines for a while and I was so excited to see a 3D printed version of the Twilight Zone fortune teller which featured in the television show. I'd seen a paper version online and it was fantastic to see it brought to life. There was even a radio that played the show's theme music. Talk about epic!
I ended my time at PAX Australia and at the Collabatory playing Heckle Havoc with Sheldon, its creator. This was the perfect game to end the convention!
It was the artwork on the box that drew me in and then it was the crazy storytelling shenanigans that kept me going. A player is given a set of cards with which to tell a story. The other players get cards with which they can interrupt the story at any time to heckle and make the story teller change their story. This game was heaps of fun and I definitely want to play it again and again and again!
Heckle Havoc is based on improv and the 'Yes and' philosophy familiar to acting students. There's even a version where two players with different goals and stories to tell are trying to have a conversation while being heckled. It makes for some crazy moments and big laughs. As the box says, there are no plot lines, only possibilities.