Dice Vice: Lazy Summer Bluffing Games

Summer is a great time for get-togethers and seeing friends. There are beach days and cookouts, and I like to get outside as much as I can. For a warm weather lover like myself, Massachusetts weather is tolerable about half the year. So I admit that playing board games isn’t as attractive in the summer months. I’ll save the hours of gaming and rules explanations for the winter, thank you very much!

But that doesn’t mean I stop playing altogether! Rather, in the summer it’s great to play some lighter or party games. Lately, we’ve been playing a lot games that deal with bluffing or just down right bullshitting other players. Hot languid nights make it easier to loosen up and put your gullible friends to the test. Some perennial favorites of these types of games are Skull and Spyfall. Both of these games are also great for opening a night of gaming.

Full disclosure: I am terrible at bluffing. Terrible. I giggle, and I can’t make a poker face at all. So I never win at these games, but that’s okay. If you’re looking to have a lot of fun and learn something quickly, check these out. (more…)

Dice Vice: Lords of Waterdeep, a D&D Board Game

Hello tabletop gamers! I’m on a serious Dungeons & Dragons tear right now, so I’m going to talk about Lords of Waterdeep, a worker placement tabletop game with a D&D theme. Last month I wrote about libraries and gaming, specifically about investigating playing D&D with some of my library teens. So this month I’m going to continue to talk about the role-playing game, at least tangentially. (more…)

Dice Vice Does Denver: Gaming at Libraries and Library Conventions

This month, I’m going to take a break from talking about a new game I’m playing and take you on a magical journey. Imagine hundreds, nay thousands, of ladies* and a few men, all decked out in gear ranging from sensible shoes to cat-print sweaters to tattoos to all of the above wandering around a convention center. You’ll hear strange and arcane acronyms and initialisms like OPAC, MARC, ILS, IMLS, RDA, YALSA, ACRL, and more. You’ll see them jockeying in line to be first to get free books even though they work in a place where free books is kind of what they do all day. What is this place? Why, it’s a librarian conference and specifically last week’s Public Library Association (PLA) Conference in Denver!

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