Zerg Crush

Not an ideal set-up, but this game is seriously big.

Didn’t get to bed until 5 in the morning last night, because of an epic session of Starcraft: The Board Game. Five of us were playing, and the game must have been almost 6 hours long. We’re a really slow group. We deliberate over every decision, heads in hands, moaning and wailing, shitting ourselves. We’re a group of players who really, really want to win.

The game took an age to set up. It was our first play, and none of the chits were even punched out of the boards beforehand. That’s very unlike me. Usually, when I get a new board game, I like to get inside and punch everything out, bag everything up, fiddle with stuff. Starcraft was a Christmas present, so I never quite got the time. That meant that yesterday I had to read the 40 page rulebook from cover to cover, punch everything out, assemble everything across two (YES! TWO!) tables, explain the whole deal to the players, and then play. So, add all the prep to the play time, and we’re talking about maybe 9 hours of Starcraft-related geekery.

But, man alive, what a game. I’ll probably talk about the game itself more at a later date, maybe even sling a video up, but I just had to scribble down my next-day feelings. It was tense and exciting from start to finish. Everyone was still upright and conscious at half four in the morning, when the last few orders were being carried out and the last few marines were being squished.

What amazed me the most was the fact that this strategy-deep, quite thinking-heavy board game still managed to feel like Starcraft. I was a Zerg player, and at the start I thought, okay, we’re all inexperienced players here. Let’s try an old-fashioned Zerg Rush! And hey, it worked! I got a conquest point victory, having spread my foul seed all over the table. In the game, I mean.

The great thing about the game is that I think everyone sort of felt that I’d won by a fair distance. But I hadn’t. I’d won by one point. If I hadn’t claimed that single Conquest Point, two other players would have been tied for a win. That’s how tight it was in the end.

Oh man. Theme, theme, theme. Loved it. LOVED IT.

LOVED IT!

Richard prepares his Yamato Gun. He's a Hot Yamato.

Monster Hunter 3 – Hunt Diary 1

29th April 2010

Went swimming for the first time the other night. Seems strange that I had grown to full adulthood without ever venturing into the vast areas of water around me, but it was definitely my first time. I know it was, because a disembodied head was telling me how to do it.

Swimming was a breeze, and felt lovely. I spotted some lovely big fish. I can’t remember their names. I’ll take more notes next time, if I’m doing this diary. Just believe me when I tell you they were nice big fish, and that I celebrated their niceness and bigness by stabbing them repeatedly with my nice big sword.

That same night, by the light of the enormous moon, I went to the village farm for the first time and had a chat with a cat and a weirdo. I asked them to cultivate some mushrooms for me, while wondering if I should maybe stay off the shrooms for a while, since I’m apparently talking to a fucking CAT.

I then went and dumped a load of stuff I had in my bag into the chest in my room. Another cat asked if I wanted to rearrange my furniture. I need help.

DowntimeTown – Summoner Wars

DowntimeTown – Summoner Wars from Robert Florence on Vimeo.

ZOZ!

The Independint Charles Show

I’m doing another show, about the Indie Games on Xbox Live, and it’s available for EVERYONE IN THE WORLD to watch on your own Xbox 360! If you live in the UK, that is.

It’s called “The Independint Charles Show” and it is…um…experimental.

If you want to watch it, and you’re in the UK, crank up your old 360 and check the Inside Xbox section to see the show you’ll either love or hate.

Monster Hunting

The latest videogame I’m playing is Monster Hunter 3 on the Wii.

I’ve only ever played one Monster Hunter game before, and it was on the PSP. I’m really not a big fan of playing games on the PSP. The machine just feels bad in your hands. But the game was great, and was an impressive technical feat.

The Wii game is even better. I’ve only been inching into the game so far, stressing myself out about killing the lovely big herbivores at the start. Big peaceful creatures, then along comes you to fuck up their day, by clonking on their head with your oversized anime sword.

Who is the Monster? That’s what I ask you. WHO IS THE REAL MONSTER?!

Look at this scenery, though. Oh it’s nice to just relax and have a spit roast sometimes. Not in the footballer sense.

Jump, you monster!

DowntimeTown – Horus Heresy

The Heresy Revealed!

DowntimeTown – Horus Heresy from Robert Florence on Vimeo.

ZOZ!