Power Metal and Board Games.

I've really been in a power metal mood lately.  Last night Metal Evolution was all about power metal, so today I feel like pumping my fists and screaming in a really high pitched voice.  I also feel like the only thing that would possibly make the day complete, is a viking helm.

Not sure why, but I've really been going through a stage where everything bores me.  It has to be an anxiety thing.  I can't sit still for more than 5 minutes.  I figure the more routine stuff in my life that I try to change, the better I may be at actually "successfully" doing something.  It's getting to the point where I don't even feel compelled to do my job.  I guess my life is just too boring or something.

With that being said, I've recently entered a world I've previously been afraid to enter.   The world of card games and board games.  The iPad feeds this desire like you wouldn't believe.  Each game only costs at most like 5 bucks.  Some do go for up to 10 though.  I probably wouldn't spend 10 bucks on an app unless it was super boss.  I've read a ton of reviews on all the best apps out there and have started building my new "brainier" game folder.  I'm also getting excited for up and coming existing games that are being made into iPad games!   I want to make a list of some of my new found loves.

I'll start off with my first download.  It's called Ascension.  It's 4.99 and then 2.99 for the expansion.  I've NEVER played a deck building game in my life.  Honestly had no interest either.  Every single site I went to looking for suggestions to meet my specific criteria lead me to this game, so I finally broke down and bought it.  The tutorial is the best tutorial ever.  You play through a predetermined game just enough to get the feel for it.  It slowly eases you into the real game then takes off the training wheels and before you know it, you are cruising through the game in style.  The expansion adds a bunch of cooler cards making replay value even more amazing.  Now this game is actually based off of a real life game.  I actually liked the digital version so much that I bought the physical version to play with friends.  I am anxiously awaiting it's arrival!  I won't go too into game play because it's complex and I'm horrible at explaining complex stuff.  Basically you assemble a deck to beat monsters and earn more victory points than your opponents.  Decks all start off the same.  No one gets dealt a better deck.  It's really all in how you assemble it.  You can also play online OR against up to 3 bots.  

Second, the game Two Towers.  No relation to TLotR.  This game is .99.  A great deal.  You can even try before you buy.  The game itself took me a minute to catch on to.  You read all the rules before you start, which you have no clue what they are taking about really.  I'm more of a hands on learner.  I started to play and got the idea of what to do.  Each game I'd start picking up tricks and better strategies.  The AI player is really good.  Too good actually.  I'm not sure if it's possible to beat the game without in-app purchased coins.  (I REFUSE to do in-app purchases to win games BTW)  The object of the game is to protect your tower and either build it up to the goal height, or destroy your enemies tower before he makes it too the goal height.  You are dealt 6 cards that cost resource points to use.  You can use the cards to hit your opponents tower, build up your tower, or build up your resources/take opponents resources away.  Not all cards are going to benefit you, so there is a discard option for those.  You win coins if you destroy your opponents tower or if you build your tower to the goal.  The coins allow you to unlock the next castle.  So far it hasn't got old, but there are only 105 cards in the deck.  I'd LOVE to see an expansion for this soon.  I'd also LOVE to see it made into a real life game.  It'd make a nice 2-player battle for you and a friend.

The third game isn't available on the app store yet, but it is expected sometime soon.  It's already an actual board game that looks like it may be very entertaining to play.  It seems to have been postponed a lot already, so the winter 2012 might not happen, but I hope it does.  The game is called Food Fight.  I watched the creators playing through it and it is definitely something I would like to try out.  It's only a 20$ game on amazon, so if it doesn't come out within the next month, I'll just buy the hard copy.  There were 2 different ways to play.  One was easy and one was a little more complex but really it makes the game better.  You basically are fighting food monsters with your food army.  I suggest watching a video of it on youtube if you think it sounds lame, because honestly it looks like a lot of fun.  There is also a snack expansion coming soon.

The fourth and final game is a game I actually own a physical copy of.  A friend owns it and I thought it would be a great "party" game to play with my other friends.  It's called Zombie Dice.  The app is free on iOs but if you want more options to play, it will cost you .99.   It's also cool because now I don't have to have anyone else around to play it.  I swear the dice are rigged, but overall it is a very entertaining game.  You can play against up to 9 AI zombies or throw humans in there and do a pass and play.  The object of the game to is be the first zombie to eat 13 brains.  You have red, yellow and green dice.  On the dice are pictures of a brain, a shotgun blast, or 2 feet.  Green dice have a better chance of rolling brains, yellow dice are kind of neutral and red dice are very hard to roll brains on.  You randomly select 3 dice to roll and basically try to avoid getting shot 3 times.  The brains and shotguns are held and feet are rolled again.  You can push your luck by rolling more or you can stop and take however many brains you have.  It's a very simple game to understand.  It's a lot of fun too.  And the AI zombie sounds and insults are kind of funny.