gaming – Page 2 – Tiana Feng

Board Games: Starcraft, Mille Bornes, Crocodile Dentist, Pop-Up Pirate, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

August 30, 2012March 10, 2013Board Games, Entertainment, Food1 Comment

On Tuesday we got really bored of the CNE after 2 hours so we decided to waste the rest of the day at Snakes & Lattes. Since we had an unlimited amount of time we started with a rather complicated board game.

Sitting high on a shelf was Starcraft: The Board Game. I asked one of the employees to lend me a hand and his words were: “You don’t want to play that game. I’ve never seen anybody finish that game. They’d take 1 hour to read instructions, and another to set it up.” I wasn’t going to give up though and part of me really just wanted to prove him wrong.

There are around 60 pages of instructions but we read and setup the thing at the same time. It took around 2 hours to get through one game. The game actually plays a lot like the video game. There’s resources, units, fights and areas to take over. It’s like a card game and a board game in one. I don’t think there’s an easier way they could have written the instructions but it did take a bit to figure out. Once you play it once though, the second time is easy peasy. The game allows up to 6 players and it would have been even better with more than 2 people but explaining the game is the challenge.

After the Starcraft game we needed something a bit more brainless. Nash taught me how to play Mille Bornes.

The goal of the game is simply to get up to 1000 mph. There are distractions such as flat tires, red lights and other things that you can hinder your opponent with.

Then for some reason we went completely brainless and opted to play some children’s game starting with Crocodile Dentist.

It’s one of those games I really wanted to try as a kid because of those enticing YTV ads. It’s actually not that fun when you’re a grown up though because there’s a way of pushing down on the teeth to ensure that he won’t ensnare you.

Pop-Up Pirate did not require any brain power either. However, the first time through it scared the hell out of me when Nash poked a sword through and sent him flying. It was unexpectedly loud as it popped up.

We finished the day off with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Pizza Power Board Game. It was probably the most “board game” like thing we played the entire day with the exception of how you kill the bad guys. There was this dice bouncing seesaw thing where you had to bounce it into the right square. It was challenging.

I seriously wish I lived near at (or atleast near Snakes and Lattes). I don’t think you could ever get bored there with the HUGE selections of games they have for you to play. I’ll definitely be back, even if it’s to eat this prosciutto and brie sandwich again:

Pacman, Spaghetti, Logos and Dexter Board Games

July 23, 2012July 29, 2012Board Games, EntertainmentLeave a Comment

Since the discovery of Snakes and Lattes, I fell in love with it and want to go all the time. They have so many board games that I can never get, well bored.

We saw another table playing the Pacman board game. The great thing about this place is that you can see so many interesting games going on at different tables. We politely asked for the game after they were done. The board looked exactly like a level of the video game. There were plastic “Pacman” pieces in different colours and 2 ghosts.

The way the game worked was there were 2 different coloured dice. One moved your Pacman across the board and you ate the marbles that were along the path. The other dice moved the ghosts in any direction you wanted. Ghosts were used to send your opponents back to start and steal their marbles. There were also coloured marbles that allowed your Pacman to eat the ghosts along the path. They effectively integrated the classic parts of the video game into a board game!

I was looking for some ridiculous looking games and one of them was Ready! Set! Spaghetti!. The goal of this game was to roll the dice and remove ingredients on the board so that your spaghetti could be perfectly curled up in your spoon. It was a silly but fun idea for a game.

We also dove into the Logos Board Game. The interesting thing about this is I watch a lot of TV but I actually sucked at this game whereas my boyfriend who doesn’t watch TV knew way more about random companies and their products. I guess he is way more affected by marketing than I am. This game isn’t actually too exciting otherwise though.

I didn’t even remember to take a picture of it

If you’ve ever played Clue, we found a Dexter board game which was like the opposite of clue. The objective was to get all the weapons, find the suspect, kill him and head to the marina. We kind of changed the rules a bit or it would have taken hours to play. Despite this, it was a decent effort to turn the idea of a TV show into a board game.

The majority of the games we played so far have been short length games, but we’ll definitely be back again and I’ll share all my board game adventures with you.

What strange games have you played? What are your favourites? I’d love to know!

Snakes and Lattes- A Board Game Cafe

Snakes and Lattes- A Board Game Cafe

July 16, 2012October 13, 2012Board Games, Drinks, Entertainment, Food3 Comments

Located at 600 Bloor Street West, Snakes and Lattes has become one of my favourite new discoveries. Simply put, it’s a board game cafe. A place where you can have a drink and play a game with your friends.

The place is only a few years old, but already they’ve expanded into the building next door. For now, only one side is liquor licensed so if you’re looking for some drunk board game times ask specifically for that side. When you walk in the place its usually full of people playing games of all types. I saw some pretty complicated boards with islands and giraffes.

The atmosphere is friendly and inviting. There are a couple of walls lined up with thousands of board games. According to their site they have over 2208 games. There are even really limited edition versions of the board games that you can’t even buy any more. I got really nostalgic when I visited the shelves. I love Jenga and I found the Mario version (which I later ended up buying).

I was there for a birthday party and we asked for game suggestions. The staff is pretty knowledgeable about all the games and will teach you how to play if you’re too lazy to read the instructions. We discovered a game called Cards Against Humanity which is a hilarious and dirty minded version of Apples to Apples. Definitely a great one to try if you’re there to drink.

I wish I lived beside this place, because I want try all the board games. It’s a great place to kill time and hang out with friends. For only a $5 per person charge, you can sit in the cafe all day. There is also food and drinks available so you won’t starve if you really do decide to stay the day. It’s also a great place to try out new board games before you buy them. They have a bunch of new games on site that you can purchase if you do become attached to one.

I definitely will be back to play some more games soon!

Angry Birds in Space is So Much Better

June 8, 2012June 8, 2012iOS, Technology, Video GamesLeave a Comment

It’s been a while since I have beaten an iOS game. But now that I commute (A LOT), I have a few on my phone to amuse myself during down times. The majority of my iOS gaming still happens on the iPad that I don’t really carry around with me any more.

Angry Birds I’ve never actually beat yet. I think I got stuck and gave up. However, Angry Birds In Space, adds a whole new level of complexity, gravity. The whole premise is there are planets and their orbits can suck you around in a loop and you must use this to your advantage. Some of the birds are the same as in previous games, but a few have changed.

The addition of gravity gives the game a whole different feel. You’d think winning a level was a fluke before? Well, you never know where on earth the orbit will swing you sometimes. The only thing I didn’t like about this new game was that harder levels had to be purchased for another 99 cents.. so for now I am going to cross this game off as beaten!

Lessons I Have Learnt from Draw Something

April 5, 2012April 5, 2012Art, iOS, Technology, Video Games3 Comments

elvis — Really horrible drawing I did of Elvis

If you don’t know already, Draw Something is the new mobile game sensation. It’s basically a set of Pictionary that you can play with your friends who have Apple and Android devices. I have been playing it for a couple of weeks now and through observation I have realized and learnt many things.

Celebrities are really hard to draw. I try my hardest not to use words when I am drawing clues. I think it’s cheating. However, when you get hit with a celebrity, it can become hard.

drake — This is Drake, boyfriend didn't get it.

britney — Name the first generic blonde person you can think of!

People draw people that look like themselves. Whenever the drawing requires the use of a person to describe something, they always seem to look like the person who drew the picture. I’m guilty of this too. My people always look like the doodles of me that I do on My Life In Drawings. Other people do this too though. My friends who have blonde hair draw blonde people. Those that have curly hair draw curly haired people. Even if it takes an extra step to do these things.

pegasus — Guess the hair colour of the person that drew this.

It can be used as a genius marketing plan. Companies should insert their names into this game. Subliminal advertising after all. And hey, if your logo isn’t recognizable for anybody to want to draw it, maybe you should do something about that.

Continue reading ➞ Lessons I Have Learnt from Draw Something

Puzzlejuice Crushed!

March 7, 2012iOS, Technology, Video GamesLeave a Comment

It has been a while since I beat an iOS game on my iPad but I started to look for short ones I could play on my iPhone when I had short periods of free time. Puzzlejuice is my most recently finished. It’s a hybrid mix of Boggle and Tetris requiring you to be constantly thinking of two things at once.

There are goals to achieve that unlock certain powerups that can be used in each game: