Many readers of my casual game blog and people that attend game nights have been talking about Blokus alot and after examining Rumis (a type of 3-D Blokus) I am seeing on Educational Insights website that they are now officially showing off their retooling of Rumis to be a part of their Blokus line. They have changed the color scheme to match the silver look of the line and plastic streamlined feel. I look forward to trying this version out and seeing how the changes have helped or hurt the original Rumis gameplay, look and feel this Fall.

The next Buffalo GameBuffs blog game night is on Saturday, September 20th in the Buffalo, NY area. This game night will be held at a local game store, The Good Toy Shop in Orchard Park [location details below]. Many people requested a game night in the southtowns so this is our first southtowns game night. There were also numerous requests for a smaller game night so this will be another first as a small game night. It will be limited to 20 people. So RSVPing is necessary. RSVP info is below. The games of the evening will be Ruin, Blokus and Dicecapades. They are all casual fun games with a little strategy. If you are not familiar with the games there will be people there to show everyone how to play them. They are easy to learn and fun to play. We will also be giving away some of the games we play that evening.

Original blog post with images

Time and Date

Saturday, September 20th

7:00pm - 9:00pm

Location

The Good Toy Shop CrossRoads Centre Plaza at Five Corners

(Tops & Lowes Plaza)

3217 Southwestern Boulevard

Orchard Park NY 14127

(716)674-4001

click here for driving directions

They also have a cool blog for their store

RSVP info

Because space is limited to 20 people, RSVP is needed (I will have another large game night soon). I am announcing this across the blog and my MySpace page on the same day and I also gave forewarning when I'd be opening up the RSVP. I just tried to be as fair as possible. The Event page for MySpace is up and running again so I've sent invites to everyone so you can add yourself that way.  You can still leave a comment at the original blog post with your name (first name is fine) and the names of any guests you may be bringing with you if you prefer that way.  There is a limit of 2 guests per person.  

If more than 20 people RSVP then I will simply look at the time when people RSVPed here and on MySpace and Facebook. I will update my MySpace page with current RSVP info. I will keep things current as to how many people have RSVPed from the blog and the social network websites I am a part of. If you RSVP and then find out you can not make it, please let me know as soon as possible so I can update this post so others will know.

It's been a couple months since the last Buffalo GameBuffs blog game night in the Buffalo, NY area and many of you have been kindly reminding me you'd like to get together for some gaming fun again.  This next game night will be near the end of September and limited to 20 people.

Many people requested smaller game nights and this will be a trial run.  It will be held at a local game store and will feature a couple blog favorite games and a couple new games.  There will be the usual blog game night giveaways of some of the games we open and play that night as well as some snacks and drinks.

I will post all the gory details of the location, the games to be played, the day and time and everything else on Wednesday September 3rd via a Bulletin, Blog post and Event invite.  At that point you will be able to RSVP on the Event page I create on Wednesday.  Because it is a smaller game night, RSVP is a necessary evil.  So the first 20 people that RSVP in the Event area here or at the post at my Buffalo GameBuffs blog post.  I will be sending the details and opening up the RSVP at the same time to give everyone a more fair chance. 

The next game night will be another large game night.  I hope to have that before the end of this year.  I will also be posting soon on the blog about helping people start or join game nights in their own area as well as guest posters from gaming types from all over. 

Look for a small game night with game giveaways and fun casual games and people on the third or fourth saturday in September.  When I know the official date I will report it here and at my casual game blog.  This will be a definite RSVP early as it will be limited to 20 people and will be held at a surprise location... more on the location when the date is solidified.

We will have 3 games in rotation play for the evening, 2 of the games will be the new light strategy game Ruin and the blog favorite light strategy game Blokus.  The 3rd game will be hand picked by the owner of the host location for the game night.  Many people were asking for smaller game nights and this will be a nice trial run. 

Then look for another large game night to happen in early to mid November, a week or two before the holiday season starts.  This too will be RSVP so I know how much room to have set aside, but last time we had about 50 people and can probably fit a little more if needed.  I'm planning this game night to be at Barnes and Noble again.

If you were at the last game night, what would you add or change? 

(please note : at this point I am only organizing game nights in the Buffalo NY area.  I hope to be able to coordinate with other organizers in other states in the future for game nights and giveaways.)

When Buffalo Games first announced and showed their prototype of Ruin (a light strategy game with an interchangeable board) at the past New York Toy Fair in March I received a bunch of emails with questions of when it was coming out. All I heard was that it would be released by the end of the summer. Well now I can let everyone know that Ruin is now available for purchase at your local specialty game shop or online. 

Just follow the link below to see some pics of the game, read my thoughts on the game and I also let you know where to get your family strategy minded hands on the game yourself.  Think Sorry with a dash of strategy and a pinch of ruthlesness :)

My Ruin blog post

Just letting the Buffalo, NY area MySpace friends that Barnes and Noble on Transit will be having their monthly game night to show off and teach people how to play a bunch of the games they sell in their store.  I am not organizing this event but I have gone to their game nights before and they are fun.  Families and people of all ages attended last month.  It is this Tuesday the 8th and starts at 7:00pm and ends at 9:00pm.  It is held in the cafe area on the right after you enter the doors.

Address:
4401 Transit Road Suite 800
Clarence, NY 14221
716-634-1011

I'll be there early, probably about 6:00, and will be inking some Hope 7 art pages if you wanted a sneak peek at some future pages. 

Let me know if you will be there and say "hi"

Nothing is solidified yet, but I am starting to put plans in motion for a couple other game nights full of fun casual games, game giveaways and fun people.  Yes, the last night was alot of work but it turned out to be a fun evening with over 50 people showing up and people keep emailing me about the next one.  So I thank everyone for their comments and being the glutton for punishment I am, I have set out to get sponsors and things together for at least two more game nights this year.

Look for a small game night with game giveaways and fun casual games and people for sometime in August.  This will be a definite RSVP early as it'll probably be limited to about 20 people.  Many people were asking for smaller game nights and this will be a nice trial run. 

Then look for another larger game night to happen sometime in October.  This too will be RSVP so I know how much room to have set aside but last time we had 50 and can probably fit a bit more if needed.  I will hopefully have more room set aside this time as now I can convince a place more that many people will probably show up.

If you were at the last game night, what would you add or change? 

The game is called Micro Olympics but has little to do with the olympics you may be thinking of. This game is a trajectory game that is simple in concept, but very addicting. The goal of the game is to shoot your airplane out of a cannon and get further than the distance of your competition. You have three tries to beat their distance.

The distance changes with each level and starts out pretty easy, but quickly jumps in difficulty. Here are the basics of play to get you started.

When you go to the Game Link, listed below, just simply click .. and then Play. The screen will show a Distance to beat and you simply click anywhere on the screen to continue. At this point look at the meter in the bottom left part of the screen that contains an arrow for the direction you shoot and the power for how hard you shoot out of the cannon. As the arrow moves you click the mouse again on the screen to stop the arrow at the angle you want. Then the power option will pulse behind the arrow and you want to click the mouse again on the screen to get the highest amount of power. Then your little plane flies out of the cannon. The image shows a good angle and the highest power range you can get.

Each time you shoot out of the cannon you get money. The amount of money differs with each shot. Spend all your money on upgrades like skis and calling a fish to bounce you farther. Freaky fish is actually the best power up to buy after your first round if you can get at least 65 dollars. Later rounds you'll be buying more fish and eventually more gunpowder. To activate skis, or thrust or the fish you click on that button on the play screen as your plane gets near the water.

I played for a half hour and the time went quick as I tried to figure out the best angle and power ups to use on the different rounds. The first couple rounds are easy but later rounds get very hard, so get as much money as you can early on.

Let me know your thoughts on the game...

Game Link