I am lucky enough to work with a group of folks that gets together to play VR games in the family room, play board games in the dining room, and graze on the 14 different appetizers that we, as a group, Stone Souped together. Play this, play that, just sit down and watch other people play, maybe gossip about the people who didn’t come to game night.
Given that new people show up for each game night, and given that new people tend to have never played stuff like Lords of Waterdeep or One Night Ultimate Werewolf, it’s pretty much my job to sit down and help shepherd the new people through these games that are opaque if you’ve never played them before (but after 10 minutes, you’ll have it pretty much down).
So while I play Werewolf the first couple of rounds, after that, I’m the guy who is in charge of the phone app. Or I’m the guy who sets up Lords of Waterdeep and acts as the banker and explains the cards to the new guy or gal who, up to that point, hadn’t played anything much more complicated than Monopoly or Cards Against Humanity.
So it’s my job to welcome the new people, walk them around the appetizers and tell them to get a plate, explain the nuances of worker placement (“well, according to your quest, you want clerics and thieves and someone already placed their guy in the Grinning Lion Tavern… so you probably want to place in The Plinth”), and try to explain that BLUFFING isn’t exactly LYING and so if you’re the Werewolf, it’s not precisely immoral to tell everyone at the table that you’re really a villager.
Though I’m not sure it’s a great idea to play bluffing games in front of your bosses. “Sure, I should be able to finish that document by Thursday.” “You scratched your nose when you said that the same way you always scratch your nose when you’re pretending to be a villager.”
I’d suspect a really sneaky agenda here but I’m the guy who introduced the game to these guys.
And so I’ve got TWO game nights this coming weekend, but I’m looking forward to both of them. (And just hiding in a dark room on Sunday to get some Introvert points back.)
So… what’s on your docket?
(Featured image is “120/365 Game night” by Webhisheck. Used under a creative commons license.)
Let’s see, bouncy house birthday party on Saturday, cookout with family on Sunday, and more family coming to visit for the week Sunday afternoon.
So… ummm… if you don’t see much me next week, I’m not dead.Report
Hosting a family game night on Saturday and then we have a Chuck E Cheese birthday party on Sunday. Busy weekend.Report
Multiple job applications to review (we are hiring a new instructor), two exams to write for next week, maybe some research if I can cram it in. And Sunday I have a rather woeful meeting at church (something called pastor-parish relations, which is basically “people come and air their grievances” and there are a couple of people who just….continually dredge up stuff that happend 10 years before our current pastor arrived and it kind of makes me want to pull my fingernails out. Especially because I hate conflict and arguing and when people complain about how “someone should do something” when it turns out they are someone but they can’t be bothered to take responsibility for that thing that is specifically annoying to them….)
3 more weeks until Lent is over, too, so I can’t even consider buying myself some kind of little treat as a salve to my feelings after the meeting…Report
Here’s what we made tonight: Pigs in a Blanket Baked Brie.
The cheese was *AMAZING*.
(I imagine the piggies tasted good…)Report