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Hipsters ahoy! Top Ten BOARD games for festive family fun
Just in case you’re bored this Xmas
D&D Attack Wing
Smaug died far too quickly for me to get my full on dragon fix in the last instalment of The Hobbit. So I was more than keen to get hold of this D&D Attack Wing starter set. The game uses the FlightPath game system copied from Star Wars: X-Wing and basically includes everything I need to get started as a dragon commander. Much to my pleasure, I control dogfighting dragons, while also having back up ground forces such as giants to aid me in battle.
This is one of a new breed of board games that only contains the starting contents of a miniatures game, which I have to then spend my hard earned cash building upon. This starter set that contains three pre-painted dragons and the simple enough rules allow me to jump straight into some fast-paced, two or three player games. Definitely a worthwhile investment for hardcore D&D fans.
Infinity N3: Operation Ice Storm
In gaming circles, Infinity is spoken of in hushed tones and includes a 250-page rulebook – more hardcore than a night out (or in?) with Ron Jeremy. Infinity N3 is a startlingly complex miniatures game. It is assumed that a great deal of my time will be spent building and painting the astoundingly detailed miniatures before the game has even begun.
Infinity has Manga aesthetics that bring the likes Appleseed and Ghost in the Shell onto my gaming table. Once I have mastered the basic rules there’s an infinite amount of tactical options to employ against my opponent and I presume, if I had the dedication and spare time this game could keep me busy for the rest of my life. Infinity N3: Operation Ice Storm is a fast paced game needing constant strategic analysis between would be hardcore gaming vets.
End game
While it’s true some of these games are much more complex and ultimately harder to learn than Cluedo and Monopoly, they are definitely spawning a new breed of gamers who, with the help of, “How to Play” instructional videos on YouTube, are willing to put down the controller and pick up the dice to enter the world of social table top gaming.
It’s strange to think that it’s mainly blogs and social networking that are doing the most to draw us back into what, ten years ago, would have been seen as an antiquated pastime. I would say there’s just about enough time before Christmas to get yourself down to The Orcs Nest. ®