Going to the World Boardgaming Championships has become a yearly staple for me. As in past years I was only able to make it one day, but as before, I had a fun time.

The first thing I did once I was registered was play in two Race for the Galaxy heats. I placed third in the first heat and won the second heat with what I think is my lowest winning score ever, 21. And though I won the second heat my less than stellar play in the first kept me from entering the semi-finals. Either way I had fun and always enjoy RftG when I play it.

The vendor area had opened so I went to see some of the deals and new games. There is a demo area set up in the front and I stopped at the Gamewick Games table. They make an old school RPG called WEGS and I wanted to try it out. It was fun and plays pretty quickly once you learn the system. They also told me about their new game Pittsburgh 68. I told them I’d find them later in the Open Gaming area to try it out.

I also got to see 1775 Rebellion by Academy Games and it looks very good. I also saw Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear 2nd Edition. The new edition looks great and they will soon be producing a solo play expansion. This sounded like it will be really fun.

Next I went to the Open Gaming area to see if anyone I knew was there. I knew some friends were missing it this year but knew a few others would be around. With no one I knew in sight. I sat down with my friend I came with and played a few things I brought. A couple of these are games I will be reviewing and I thought getting a couple more plays in couldn’t hurt.

First we tried Spyrium, a worker placement game that takes place over six rounds. Each round is divided into two phases. In the first phase you place workers next to cards you’d like to buy or activate during the second phase. These actions get you spyrium, money or VPs. It was fun and a full review will be up on the site soon.

Up next was Guildhall: Job Faire. I really like Guildhall and with its play time and accessibility it has hit the table a lot. The expansion introduces six new occupations and can be combined with the base game. We played with just the Job Faire expansion and enjoyed it. I am going to do a full review of this game too, but the new expansion allows you to mess with your opponents’ hands a lot.

I recently traded for Ghost Stories, but had not had a chance to try it. Whenever I put out a Top Ten list of my favorite solo or cooperative games, people tell me about this game. Well I can finally say I’ve played it twice and that it should be included on those lists.

After wondering around the hall a bit I tried out Pittsburgh 68 by Gamewick Games. It is a semi-cooperative game as one player is the zombies and opposes everyone else. The game is broken into reels and you must face hordes of zombies. You find weapons to help you destroy them, but you better roll well. You can control some of probability by spending spoints to up your stats, but surviving is tough. And though my rifle toting sorority girl kicked some butt, she was unable to live. Once you die you join the bad guys and the hits just keep coming. This game was a blast (even though we lost) and Larry from Gamewick did a great job running it.

I then got to try out Viva Java: the dice game by Dice Hate Me Games. I have played and enjoy Viva Java and I was interested in its new form. Much like the original game it did not disappoint. It is different from the original game but shares the same theme and beans for blending. This time they are on the dice. There is a semi-cooperative action available but no one playing ever used it. You still research to gain special abilities like re-rolling, or changing the value of a die by one. This version of the game plays fast and is fun.

Next we tried out a recent kickstarter game, Mars Needs Mechanics by Nevermore Games. It is like a stock market where what you buy most recently increases in value and you really need to buy and sell high to win. The trick is you don’t know what is coming up in the market. I lost this game as it took me two or three rounds to get a handle on it. But I still enjoyed it and would like to try it again.

The last game I played before I left was a game I played at the WBC in 2011 called Wartime. This is a real time game that requires splitting your attention and being tactically sound. You have four timers one 30 seconds, two 60 seconds and one 90 seconds. You can move or attack and then must flip one of your timers. Once the timer has run out you can reassign it to another unit or act again with the same unit. With four timers to keep track of there is a lot going on. This game is truly unique and I hope a publisher picks it up soon.

Again I really has a great time at the WBC and want to thank the people I met and played games with. It is great being able to hang out with a bunch of people that share my love and enjoyment of board games. I hope to see you all next year (or sooner) and maybe I can make it for more than one day.