Ten Years and Counting!

Hello, everyone! This is a quick post to recognize that today is the 10-year anniversary of the RetroBeliever blog! I was perusing my old posts and went as far back as the first one, which is here:

https://retrobeliever.blogspot.com/2010/01/welcome-to-retrobeliever.html

Since that first post, the blog has changed quite a bit. Initially, I focused on retro videogames from a Christian perspective, but I have since extended my reach into board games and popular U.S. culture. More often than not, my posts have tended towards a nostalgic perspective because what I write generally comes from looking backwards. Over the last few years, I have gravitated a lot more towards board games and rules, so I'm intrigued by the possibilities of what I may post in the future.

As of this date, my focus has been on loss, death, and being lost. Many of my thoughts have dwelled on those subjects because of recent events and what seems to be a mid-life crisis I am experiencing. I am at a point where I am fairly convinced I have already lived more than half of my life on this earth. It has caused me to cling to God desperately, and yet I feel sadness at how meaningless many of my pursuits will be when I have left this earth. In heaven, board games, video games, movies, TV shows, and even the fond remembrances of the past won't necessarily matter. What will matter, though, are the connections I made with people through those interests and events and whether or not I impacted them in the name of Jesus. Everything else is ephemeral.

I look at my 16- and 14-year-old sons and ponder the future ahead of them. There is some much for them to experience. If I were to die today, I would want them to know that I love them dearly and want the best for them on this earth, as well as for them to be in the presence of God in eternity. I pray that they can live their lives while making wise decisions and avoiding egregious mistakes and sins. I know that many of us learn through tragedy and error, but, as a father, I would prefer that they would not have to face many of those situations.

I am thankful for my wife, though I am not worthy of her. She is spiritually stronger than me and more inclined to read her Bible daily and pray. She leads her women's group with compassion and fairness. She yearns for the best for our sons to the point of physical pain. There is a part of me that would have wanted a better husband for her, but God had a plan when He put me in her path. She has made me better, yet I am woefully inadequate.

Lastly, with loving respect of my mom, I want to mention my dad, who passed away over three years ago. On the day before he died, I prayed with my dad and he indicated with nods that he gave his life to the Lord. If, in the entirety of my life, I could lead one person to Christ, it would have been my dad. Of course, I pray the same for my mom, but my dad seemed much further from God. When he died, I was stricken with grief, yet I was filled with hope that I will meet him again.

Thank you for reading my blog posts. You may have read one, or you may have read many, but I am grateful, nonetheless. I write these posts for an audience of one hoping that others happen upon them. May your gaming be fun and eternally purposeful!

When Board Games Don't Matter

Last Sunday, six young men piled into a silver Toyota and drove to a house on a dare. Apparently, the dare involved ringing someone's doorbell and then running away just before the door was opened. One of the young men ran to the front door, rang the doorbell, and bolted to the waiting getaway car. A middle-aged man answered the door and spied the Toyota escape down his street. Extremely enraged, the squat man rushed to his own while sedan, started it, and sped in pursuit of the young men. As the older man caught up to the silver car, he bumped it at high speed. From what has been reported, he bumped it more than once. After a particularly forceful impact, the young driver of the silver car suffered a concussion and blacked out.

The silver car careened off the road and collided with a tree.

The angry driver fled the scene.

Of the six teens, three of them passed away. Two of the survivors were brothers of the deceased. The driver also survived. My family and I knew all three of the deceased young men. We know two of the survivors. We even spotted them at church earlier that day.

When I reflect on this tragedy, I ponder how I did not do my part in youth ministry to impact these guys. This is not to say that any past interventions would have prevented this horrific outcome, but I think about how every young person deserves our attention. Every youngster needs the love and wisdom of adults to guide them. I find my mind and memory drifting to past moments during which I was in close proximity to them. I dwell on how I could have interacted with them, how I could have been more intentional with my conversations with them, and how I could have looked past whatever was happening to show them that Jesus loves them.

Then I think about my sons and how these boys were sons to fathers that loved them. I know I cannot fully understand what those fathers are feeling today; when I imagine it, the searing pain of loss is palpable, but probably doesn't approach the anguish of these men. Yet, I can comprehend enough to view my sons in a different light. I am thankful that my sons are still with me, but I have guilt about being thankful when those three fathers do not have that option.

I know that these boys are in the presence of God right now, and I know that God is present in tragedy. He has brought a church together in mourning, He has brought justice upon the perpetrator, and He has reached the hearts of many of the youths in the community. Yet, we all mourn. In a way that is essential for any human being, we should be devastated emotionally for we will not see these young men again in this lifetime. We will not see their smiling faces except in videos and photos...

But I know we'll see them again in a place where the sins of humanity are stripped away. There will be joy on that day.

Board games don't matter today. More than ever, what matters is God and people. What matters is that we hold on to our loved ones and those that need God's love with both hands for as long as we can because our time with each other here on this earth is excruciatingly short. The good news is that eternity is long. Treasure your loved ones now and prepare them for what is to come after this very brief sojourn through this life.

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).

What to Do If... No One Wants to Play Your Game

Imagine this scenario: last week, a new game was released at your local game store. You had been excited to acquire it since seven months ago when the first press release announced its impending arrival. With great anticipation, you sped to the game store on the day of release and gobbled up the first copy (as well as all of the necessary card sleeves and containers for tokens, if you are anything like me). You spent a few hours sleeving cards, punching boards, and sorting the contents, relishing each component and piece of superlative artwork. You even found a place of great esteem on your game shelf for your new acquisition.

As you placed your shiny new box in its designated spot, your mind began racing. Who would I invite to play this game for the first time? Who would be available? Who would not be interested? Hurriedly, you bursted forth from your bedroom with notepad in hand, feverishly jotting down names. With your short list of would-be enthusiasts, you flung open your laptop computer, toggled to your email client software, and clicked New to create an email. You added the names, typed the message with urgent intensity, and clicked Send. Your email shot forth like a cannon blast. Then, you waited. And waited. And waited.

"Sorry, I can't play. I have to wash my dog."

"That game? No thanks. Why not play Power Grid?"

"That game looks way too complicated."

"My wife wants me to spend time with her."

"Ugh. I just bought a new game, too. Do you want to play that one?"

Obviously, the enthusiasm for your new game is decidedly low. You are despondent. You begin pondering your life goals. You resort to prayer. Things do not look good... What do you do? Well, there are solutions, some of which you may have already devised, but some might have escaped your attention.

Bring Your New Game to a Larger Gathering
From time to time, your friends might host a large gathering during which games can be played. Use that time to introduce yourself (if there are people who are strangers to you) and your game. Strangers are often the best people to whom you can introduce a game because they have no preconceived notions about you or what you brought.

Entice Your Friends with Food
The fastest way to a gamer's heart is through his stomach. Set up an invitation to play your particular game, and then advertise that you are providing pizza, burritos, or whatever your friends enjoy. This establishes a quid pro quo situation in which you are giving something (food) and getting something (opponents for your game) in return.

Enlist Your Captive Audience... er, Family
A great way to get your new game to the table is to make your family play it. Spouses are difficult to convince, but your children (or nieces and nephews) are impressionable, pliable, and usually more amenable to playing a new game than anyone else. Take to time to know the rules of your new game and practice teaching it to yourself so that you can prepare for training your children and young relatives.

Ultimatums!
A not-so-subtle variation of the quid pro quo arrangement is the ultimatum: "If you don't play my new game, I won't play yours next time!" Now, this kind of forceful declaration must be done with great care and humor, and can even be off-putting for your more thick-skinned friends, but a kind reminder that you are agreeing to play someone else's new game may compel your comrades to partake in your game. However, if they do not agree to play your new game despite your efforts to play theirs, then you may have to consider other options: patience, non-attendance to future sessions, or finding a new game group.

Find a New Group
As I mentioned in previous posts, they may come a time when you need to find a new game group. Of course, leaving your current group forever simply because they would not play your game is extreme and childish ("Fine! I'll take my ball home and you guys can't play with it!"), but their refusal to play your new game may be symptomatic of deeper issues. Perhaps someone in your group has an issue with you and his grudge has affected the group; maybe your group has collectively soured to each other's company. Instead of ditching your old group entirely, find another group at the local game store, at work, or at your church who would be open to meeting. It is fine to be a member of multiple groups, and looking for a fresh group of people with open minds has the ancillary benefit of creating chances to play your recent acquisition.

Be Patient and Plant Seeds
This may not seem like a solution because patience changes nothing in the moment, and it is the most difficult thing to do, but waiting for the opportunity and planting seeds of interest in your friends' minds is often the best approach. Some gamers like familiarity with a game, so they prefer playing a known game and not having to dive into rules explanations, which is why presenting a new game can be a daunting endeavor. For these folks, instead of the brute force tactic of forcing a game on your group, drop hints about it during your next play session. Spend a few weeks reading the rules and shoehorning comments about it every time you meet people in your group. Point out reviews on Board Game Geek or other sites. Talk about how the game's mechanics are like other popular games, but the theme of your game makes those mechanics feel fresh. The process may take a few weeks, but keep trying and, eventually, your gaming group will relent... even if it is to silence you at last.

Find Solo Rules Variants for Your Game
One of the many wonderful aspects of sites like Board Game Geek is the pooling of ideas that people have formulated on their own, especially solo variants for games. Though some games have rules for playing alone in the core rules (such as Robinson Crusoe, First Martians, Le Havre, and Agricola), most games do not benefit from this extra development on the part of the game designer. However, there are folks out there that have taken the time to devise a kind of artificial intelligence for your game so that tasks are essentially automated as if you are playing against a computer. Solo play does require much work on your part to move pieces, draw cards, and follow what can be complex algorithms simulating other players, but playing solo may be preferable to never playing your new game or doing what I am about to suggest...

Sell (or Store) the Game
The last resort is to either store the game and consider it a collectible, or sell the game on eBay or to other gamers. There is no point in keeping a game no one will play (unless you are content with collecting games), so consider selling it to buy expansions for games that your friends play. To avoid this altogether, though, even before buying a game, think about whether or not your friends and/or family will play it.

Before you attempt any of these solutions, there are a few requirements that you must satisfy:

• Learn Your Game
  Read the rules again and again before even attempting to introduce it.
• Practice Teaching the Game
  Brainstorm ideas of how you would teach the game and organize those ideas into a chronological outline. Use your outline to practice teaching the game, perhaps to a family member or just to yourself.
• Organize Your Components
  Have every component of the game organized so that they are easily accessed without wasting valuable game time hunting for them.
• Anticipate Player Counts and Set Aside the Requisite Components
  Some games' setups stipulate how much of any items you need for certain player counts. Instead of counting out tokens and cards at the start of the gaming session, use plastic bags to separate the required items beforehand so that setup is accelerated.
• Know the Comparable Games
  One thing that assuages fears of learning a new game is drawing parallels to existing games with similar mechanics. This further requires knowing your gaming group, but sticking with popular games helps. Here is one example: "My new game has a set collection mechanic, much like the way you collect cards in Ticket to Ride." Also, mentioning that similar games can be found at Target, Barnes and Noble, or other popular retailers sends the message that your new game is not that strange or difficult to learn because games like it are readily available.

Getting your game group to play your most recent purchase can be challenging and disheartening, but with some foresight and planning, you can mitigate this circumstance trying any of the solutions I mentioned. Usually, novelty is not so alluring for people; do not be insulted if your friends refuse to play your new game at the start. Entice, convince, entreat, bribe: there are yet more options you can pursue to help your game see the light of day.

Despite my suggestions, I believe that the best approach is thinking about your friendly opponents and what they would want before you buy a game. For me, I often think about my wife and sons: would they play the game I'm thinking of buying? A few years ago, my sons had the time and desire to play pretty much anything I bought, but now they are teenagers and their tastes have changed. My wife is much more selective, so I try to pick some games she would not mind playing. Also, because I no longer have to kind of gaming group I had at my previous job, I have to think about my old games and how often I can get them to the table; when I do think about that, I am often convinced to not buy a new game.

Furthermore, I encourage you to think about your current inventory of games and ponder how often you would like to play your existing games. The board gaming hobby is heavily steeped in a "cult of the new" mentality in which gamers are often excited to purchase the hottest novelties. This may be you, and if you have the money to engage in this, then I am happy for you. Yet, if you really enjoy your old games and would like to play them more often, reconsider that purchase you want to make. In this way, perhaps the best solution for what to do if no one will play your new game is to not buy that new game... Or, if you have already bought it, take it back to the store and buy some pizzas to tempt your friends and family to go to your house and play games with which they are already familiar.

Why Families Need Board Games, Part I

A few weeks ago, my wife, my sons, and I led a Board Game night for several families. To start the Board Game night, I presented 15 minutes of game information and etiquette for everyone, to which the adults politely listened while the children squirmed and squawked (note: PowerPoint presentations and children don't mix well). After my hastily-concluded presentation, my wife, my sons, and I led four different game sessions to introduce new games to the families there: my wife led a game of Dixit, my oldest son led a game of Carcassonne, my youngest son led a game of Fluxx (which is NOT a board game, but it didn't really matter), and I guided youngsters through a game of Balloon Lagoon.

As we all conducted our individual games, I found time to patrol the tables and monitor how people were adapting to the new games. I was pleasantly surprised to see that many of the parents and children were learning the games quickly and engrossing themselves in the nuances of each one. The little ones at my Balloon Lagoon tables were especially eager to play a second round, which I certainly allowed them to do. Another child had even taken it upon himself to start another group game of Ticket to Ride, which he had brought to teach others. Thus, the first round of gaming ended well as we all headed into a break, which was when I observed and realized an "inconvenient truth..."

The plan for the evening was to conduct a second round of gaming during which some of the young ones would teach their own favorite board games to the adults. However, as Round 2 was set to commence, it was painfully clear that almost all of the children no longer had any interest in playing board games. Some of them migrated to another room to play with Beyblades; a few boys went upstairs to pillow fight; and several other children seemed to wander around shooting Nerf guns. It was then that I grasped a basic notion: most kids have short attention spans. This wasn't an earth-shattering discovery, but what struck me was that while my sons were open to the idea of more board games, the other kids were not so eager, which led to the earth-shattering discovery:

Many people today have trouble with board games!

Why is that? I pondered the reasons for these children (and adults) not being eager to dive into another round of more profound strategic thinking and discovery. Maybe, it's because people are used to the audiovisual splendor and attention-sapping energy of video games; maybe, it's because board games take time to set up and play; maybe, it's because people are just too busy or distracted to play board games. It could even be because people are too "plugged into" their mobile devices and tablets to shut them off and actually touch tangible game elements. These reasons and others have swirled around in my head for some time after that game meeting, and I contend that all of the reasons I listed are acceptable ones.Yet, I have a better, more over-arching reason for why many kids (and even adults) cannot sit for an extended period of time and play a board game even though those same people can sit and play video or computer games for hours:

The "world" wants us to be plugged in and reliant on technology for entertainment, business, and our very livelihoods.

The "world" is corporations that want to sell us goods with built-in obsolescence so that we buy more in three to five years. The "world" is the entertainment industry (Hollywood, if you will) that wants us to buy its mind-numbing, non-life-affirming movies, its vapid, insipid popular music, and its haughtily amoral television shows. The "world" is video and computer game makers that only seek to satiate and enthrall while promoting sexuality, violence, and unimaginative, profane abuses of language. The "world" tells us we are not smart enough to think on our own, to conduct daily life without technology, and the "world" tells us that we must always be having its brand of "fun" or else life is awful. We are all being shaped by this "world" and the incursions and invasions this "world" has masterminded against our psyches are methodically reshaping us into thrill-seeking, attention-lacking, over-multi-tasked consumers sans a moral compass.

How do we stop the "world" from transforming us into lemmings? One way is through board games.

(To be continued)

Stratego: 1HN Childhood Dream Fulfilled

As my legions of fans know (okay, I DON'T have legions of fans, but that phrase sounds pleasantly grandiose), I was, and still am, an only child. I say this because I grew up with few playmates. Not so surprisingly, this had its advantages: I always knew where my stuff was, I tended to keep all the weapons to my GI Joes and Transformers and not have them lost by a younger sibling, and I only had myself to blame if a game or toy was damaged or wrecked. Sadly, though, being an only child had its downsides, namely the aforementioned lack of playmates or opponent for games. This was especially tragic because I loved, and still love, board games. I used to collect all the classics, like Monopoly, Risk, Clue, Advance to Boardwalk, Doorways to Adventure (a VCR game!), Chess, and Stratego. Now, you might be asking yourself, "What about your mom and dad? Didn't they play board games?" To be fair, I may not have asked them to play, but as I got older they didn't seem to enjoy playing games. Anyway, because I was an only child, I had few opponents except for friends. The other tragic thing about me was that I despised losing, and one has to be accustomed to losing at board games because results often do not favor oneself. That's another story.

One game that I collected that I mentioned earlier is Stratego. It's a game that involves two armies on a map with grid lines. Both players place the soldiers, bombs, and flag of their armies on squares in the back four rows of their sides of the board. Soldiers occupy many ranks from number 9 (which is a Scout) to number 1 (which is the field marshal). Pieces are deployed with their backs facing their opponent, so one never finds out what his opponent's pieces are until one of his pieces engages one of his opponent's pieces. That's how the game works essentially; two pieces engage in combat and the lower-numbered (or higher-ranking) piece wins. The object of the game is simple: capture the opponent's flag whilst avoiding bombs (which can only be defused and removed by the Miner, which is number 8) and higher-ranked pieces. A pleasing twist is the Spy, which cannot eliminate any other piece but the opponent's field marshal; the Spy can play a key end-game role, especially if the opponent favors an attack spearheaded by good ol' Number 1.

The wonderful aspects of Stratego are the placement of one's pieces and the various strategies one can employ to seek the opponent's flag. By this, flag placement is most crucial; does one place the flag in a back corner and surround it with bombs (even though this is directly out of the Stratego 101 textbook), or does one place the flag away from a cluster of bombs to fool the opponent into going for the cluster of bombs (which may also be a basic approach)? Does one lead a wedge attack with the field marshal, or does one use Scouts to feel out the opponent's front line and then send stronger troops in pairs or groups? Does one use the field marshal to defend the flag?

I'm certain there are numerous tactics one can apply and various websites that explain each tactic, but I won't delve into those here because, frankly, I'm not well-versed in all the strategies. Instead, the focus of this article is on the fulfillment of a childhood dream. Now that I am a father with two boys, I not only have the opportunity to watch them play Stratego with the same board and pieces that I collected as a youngster, but I also have opponents against whom I can play; and, I must say that my sons are the best opponents because I like to watch them beat me and I also enjoy winning against them in hard-fought matches. Stratego, along with many of the board games I still own from my childhood days, embodies what it means to live retro: to appreciate the utility and  fun of the old stuff. If you are in your teens or twenties now, save your board games, card games, and video games; though they may not have much collector value, they will have replay value with your descendants. Moreover, if you are in your thirties or older, do not be afraid to dust off the old games for your young ones. For me, dusting off those old games and playing with my sons fulfilled that childhood dream of having ready opponents that I would be as happy to lose against as I would be to win against.

RC Pro-Am: 1HN Racing

Back in my adolescent days, I owned an NES console, along with 15 or so games. Most of the time, I was entertained by those 15 or so games, but there were times when I wanted to try other games, so I'd often borrow games from my friends Ed and Brian. One game I borrowed from Brian was RC Pro-Am.

The premise behind RC Pro-Am was simple: take control of a red radio-controlled car as you zip around a track riddled with various power-ups, oil slicks, speed-boost strips, and other road hazards. All the while, you can use bombs or missiles to hold your rivals at bay as you strive to cross the finish in third place or better (fourth place meant elimination). It was a relatively simple game except for one wrinkle: as it is with controlling RC (radio-controlled) cars, if the car comes toward you, you have to steer left to go right, and vice versa. Okay, this is a bad explanation... Imagine this: the RC car is coming at you and you want to make it go to your left, so you press right on your control stick, right? Wrong. You press left because you have to pretend that you are driving from the perspective of the RC car... Get it?

That's okay -- my sons don't...

My wife and I got RC Pro-Am, along with several other NES games, for our sons for Christmas, along with a Gen-X Dual Station clone console. I initially thought that my boys would enjoy this racing simulation, but I found that the concept of oncoming perspective was too much to overcome. Thus, after 10 minutes, both of my boys asked to switch games, obviously frustrated at the idea that you had to press left to go right.

In any case, once you overcome this mental hurdle, RC Pro-Am is a whole lot of fun, especially when the computer turns on the cheese and gives the yellow RC car sudden bursts of supersonic speed -- and, the only way to stop this yellow demon is to blast it to bits... repeatedly. Despite this, RC Pro-Am is addictive and is easy to pick up, play for a while, and then put down with the satisfaction of having gotten the "need for speed" (and destruction) out of your system.

Goof Troop: 3HN Father and Son at Play

Last week, my four-year-old son and I decided to play Goof Troop, a Super Nintendo game based on the animated series of the same name that was broadcast in the early to mid-90s. The basic premise of the game involves Goofy and his son evading pirates, finding keys, using various items, and solving puzzles to rescue their friend, Pete, who has been kidnapped by the aforementioned pirates. The game is played from above with a perspective reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda, except that this game is much simpler and involves teamwork if played with another player.

Much to my surprise, the more I play Goof Troop, the more I am impressed by the gameplay and fun factor, particularly the fun of playing such as goofy character as... well, Goofy. I had initially purchased this game from a co-worker solely on the premise that this was a cooperative game which my two sons could play together, but I have found that the game is better played when one more-skilled player (me, in this case) plays with a younger, less-skilled player (my youngest son) because the more-skilled player can bail out the less-skilled one. How? Well, one of the prominent tactics of Goof Troop involves movement from one screen to the next: if one player leaves a particular screen, both players appear in the next screen. This not only allows one player to save another from imminent danger, but it also allows for additional tactics, like one player luring foes to one corner of the screen while the other player leaves; or, one player runs across the screen to retrieve an important item and the other player leaves shortly after retrieval. Besides this, players can throw projectiles to each other if one of the players needs it, and both players can carry different items that may be useful on different screens.

It took my youngest son and I about 20 minutes to pass the first stage of the game, which was a wonderful accomplishment for him, especially because he is only four years old and he has just started learning how to play video games (specifically, retrogames). I really enjoyed playing alongside him to beat the stage. As a dad, I suppose that is what I enjoy most about retrogaming: watching my sons enjoy and do well with games that were relevant when I was younger.