Monthly Archives: September 2020

Week 6 – Free Play

This week for free play my group decided to play Incan Gold since we did not have a chance to last weekend. Overall, the game play went extremely well as everyone knew the rules of the game. Each player either won the game or came in second place which made it fun. We spent time talking about each others hobbies and found topics to relate on, which was interesting.

I like that this game includes both luck and skill. There is a certain skill to knowing exactly how much risk one should be taking. In fact, the hardest part about this game is knowing when to stop. I think it is really easy to get carried away and keep flipping your card saying you want to continue the journey. However, there are a lot of negative cards that will take all of your points away from you. I really do not dislike any aspect of this game.

I would recommend this game to any math teacher. I think this game shows the aspects of probability and could really enforce that idea to many students (and it is super fun to play!) I think this game ties to leadership in the fact that in order to play this game you must lead yourself to success. You have to choose the right time to make a risk in order to win!

Can’t Stop

From the beginning I knew this would be a game I either really liked or disliked depending on if I won or not, which is extremely rare for me. To me, this is a game of luck and risk, two mechanics that I don’t mind separately, but together makes for a game that has me on the edge of my seat trying to stop myself from rolling one more time. The hardest part of Can’t Stop is knowing that there’s some balance to knowing when to wait and when to keep rolling and that I just can’t figure it out.

My group’s main strategy was to roll until you couldn’t, or at least until you had at least one cone on the other side. I started with a more conservative approach. At first, as I inched slowly across the board the risky strategy seemed to be failing, and then within a couple of turns someone else would win. I tried to adjust my strategy to add more risky movements but it seemed that even two or three rolls would be too many and I’d be back where I started. I think that this game is good for those that like being able to risk a lot without having to deal with consequences outside of the game.

Knowing when to stop risking everything and when to keep trying is a critical skill in leadership. I tend to err on the side of precaution and that can be good in certain circumstances, and as I explained above, not so good in others. Making the decision to stop or continue can absolutely make or break a situation. Can’t Stop requires players to be constantly making that decision. Stop now and maybe someone else wins, or keep going and lose all your progress. The pros and cons of both choices change as you move forward and see other’s progress and as the cones get a greater and greater distance between them. The assessments of the risk versus the reward in the game that the players have to make are more immediate than ones outside of the game which only highlights their importance. The fewer risks, the fewer rewards.

Incan Gold and Can’t Stop

This week we played Incan Gold and Can’t Stop. We first started with the game Can’t Stop and we just can’t stop to play it. The game is like have a magic let us really Can’t Stop, the game is very interactive, addictive and so easy to understand so we all really enjoy playing it. I don’t think both of the game are hard or difficult to play but I think the most interesting one is Can’t Stop.

After the first round of the game Can’t Stop, everyone in our groups understands the rules and fully enjoy it. When one of our member is close to win, we will gives him hints and encourage him not to stop keep going with it. Since at the beginning of the game, the pieces are placed randomly, but once put all three pieces on the board, we will needs to consider to keep going or we should stop. And as the game processes, we found out the numbers that add up to 6,7, and 8 have the greatest probability but they also need more steps to get to the top. If we play our pieces in one of these three ways, we needs to take more shots. But if I am in path like 2 or 12, I better to hold on to my strength and hope I can have 2 or 12 next time. So it is really important to understand the strategy behind the game Can’t Stop, because it will not only make you win the game but also understand what kind of approach I would use in risk management. 

Since the game Can’t Stop is a risk management game and it can reflect my approach toward risk. Personally, I am a very cautious people, no matter how close I am to the top, I will choose to stop when I feel risk. But the disadvantage about that is I will lost the chance to win, it happened few times when we played the game. If you are too cautious, other people who willing to take risk might win. It is similar with what I approach in leadership, I am not willing to take risk. So I need a balance between risk taking and safety. 

We are having so much fun with the game Can’t Stop, so I am definitely recommended my roommates to play with me. And we will be really competitive and Can’t Stop the game.    

Game of the Week Blog Reflection: Fiasco Week 1/2

For week’s one, two, and three we played the game Fiasco. I was completely unfamiliar with the game and how to play and so that was the biggest challenge overall. I played with Alyssa, Grayson, and two other students who fluctuated in and out of the game. My character was a plumber who was non-binary, different from my own pronouns which are she/her, so that was also a bit challenging as people would often misgender me, unintentionally, as they forgot to call me by my character’s name or would address me as ma’am.

This game was amazing for leadership as it was completely improv and roleplay and therefore everyone involved had the freedom to include themselves in a situation, i.e. starting or resolving a situation. Another way leadership factored into this was when it came time to determine whether a situation was resolved or not and whether to give a character a positive or negative token, in which most cases we couldn’t agree and someone would eventually decide for the sake of progressing the game/storyline.

I think this game would be really enjoyable for a lot of people, age groups, and is non-detail specific in that each individual decides how much to reveal about their character, including their backstory, and can limit their involvement in the story if they are more into being a group member rather than a leader for that specific situation.

All of our sessions went very well, the storyline was really fun to build, and as we got more comfortable with our accents and remember each character’s names and pronouns, the game was quite enjoyable. There were a few moments where it felt as though I was playing a game with a group of my closest friends and there were no fears of embarrassment or judgment whatsoever.



Game of the Week Blog Reflection: Roll Player and D&D Character Creation

For my D&D character, I had absolutely nowhere to start as I had never played the game before and therefore knew nothing at all about races, skills, weapons, proficiencies, etc. Upon watching a few videos and reading a few forums and other blogs about the game and the best ways to set up your character for the best gameplay, I started to build my character.

My character was a double race/class, a tiefling monk, and a rogue. https://www.dndbeyond.com/profile/veethedestroyer/characters/34636310

The hardest part about the game was adjusting to natural gameplay as the game is both roleplay and tabletop related, so finding a balance between referring to the handbook and die rollers while trying to keep track of the storyline and all the moves other people made was quite difficult. I struggled most with keeping up because everyone in my group save for one person who had little knowledge of the game and had played once before, I knew nothing about the game and had never played and felt as though I was slowing down the game and frustrating my teammates in the process.

This game is excellent at propagating opportunities for leadership as each scene or moment of gameplay is unique to what moves, skills, and weapons each player has, and therefore is customizable, like Fiasco, to allow characters to take on bigger, more leader-like roles in different rounds, depending on their comfort level.

I know this game is incredibly popular and has been for decades and I can definitely say that this game would be most enjoyed by groups of friends or individuals who are really into improv, developing storylines, and creating characters and situations that are totally made up but detail specific and require background knowledge to play. DnD is an amazing game for individuals who love to lead and create and control situational factors as well as the role of dungeon master is just that, they record and playout each scene from their handbook utilizing a set of rules and tools specific to each character, dependent upon their race, class, skillset, etc. This game is also perfect for people who are detail-oriented and enjoy making very detailed storylines, i.e. character backgrounds.

The sessions overall went well, the most frustrating part was that I struggled to keep up and often made moves that were the same or weren’t considered to be creative as I wasn’t completely confident in my character’s abilities, including what I could and couldn’t do at that moment in the game, i.e. being out of range or not having enough strength or the right weaponry to attack



Week 5 – Incan Gold and Can’t Stop

This week we were going to play both Can’t Stop and Incan Gold. Starting the game was rocky as we had trouble with the board game arena website. Once we figured out the issues (realizing we had to play Incan Gold on a tabletop simulator) we started and decided to stick with the game Can’t Stop. I believe setting up the game was the hardest thing about it. 

Our game session went really well. Once started we had no issues and everyone came prepared as to knowing the rules of the game. We had some chatter and it was enjoyable being able to talk to people that I had not met before. I think this week was my favorite game play so far. 

I noticed that I do not have a very risky game style. This is parallel to how I am in a leadership role. I typically go with the safe and what I considered smart option, instead of a risk it all mentality. I liked that this game was very easy to play and took only minutes to learn. It makes it a very good game to play with a social group. There really is not anything I disliked about this game.

I am highly considering purchasing this game for my family because I believe they would really enjoy it. Playing with them would be a blast as we are all very competitive in nature and this game is exciting in the sense that you are risking your progress every single turn. 

Fiasco Part Two

From the previous week, we haven’t got chance to finish the game but we can be able to reach Act two. The hardest part of this game is to cooperate with our relationship and create a story with no twist. It relates to leadership that to create stories and keep track of people’s relationships, most of our backgrounds are obviously the opposite way of our life value, so it is hard to play the character in the game.

The part I loved about this game is that we have a chance to be who we want to be. In the game, we create a character who’s personality or value are way different than who we are in real life. But when we play the game, we have to get into the motion and indicate ourselves that this is who we are in the game. The part I do not like is that even we have multiple relationships between each player, but most of the relationship is similar to one and another, so this is hard to create a story with the similar relationship but totally different personality from character.

Overall the game is interesting for me and to think about my value, it helps me to think about other people’s personalities and personalities before I make a decision. To be a leader in the group, you will always have to think about what decision will influence the organization and to think about how to negotiate and make sure the game is processing smoothly and functional.

Tabletop Thursdays, Week 3: Fiasco, Part 2

This week in EDL 290T, our class continued playing Fiasco using the scenarios that we had set up the previous week. Fiasco is a dice-based game where players have to collaborate and create character backstories, then throw those characters into various scenes based on the rolls of their dice.

Our class continued with the same Zoom breakout rooms as the week before. Our team made it through the first half of Fiasco and was setting up the tilt, but we were the only group not to make it into the second half of gameplay. In Fiasco, the tilt is a central “plot twist” that makes for a challenge that has to be incorporated into the scenes in the second half of the game. The tilt is usually something that results in a catastrophe for at least a few of the players; the tilt, like all other elements of story setup in Fiasco, is dependent on the roll of the dice and is chosen by the players who have the highest roll totals for the “good ending” white dice and “bad ending” black dice.

The big challenge this week was communication; one member of the group had their wisdom teeth removed in between classes and other players had mic issues. We were able to use the chat within Zoom to coordinate some aspects of gameplay, but it did slow us down as a group. For me, the most fun part of the week was working out who got to do what to incorporate some of the elements we’d built into our storyline during the setup process, like the crashed helicopter and an Antarctic firetruck.

The gameplay within Fiasco ties into leadership because there are sometimes unexpected elements that come up seemingly out of nowhere to complicate situations. As leaders, having good communication and coordination within a team can make dealing with the unexpected easier. I could see my friend Will, who is big into disaster movies, enjoying this game because of the chaotic elements that have to be incorporated via the tilt.

Playing Fiasco on Tabletop Simulator

Fiasco
Fiasco was, as promised, a fiasco. As expected, the Tabletop Simulator was difficult to navigate, especially since I’m currently stuck using a trackpad. Otherwise the game went as many do, with a lot of confusion and chaos. It was hard to work off of the energy of the other players like you can in person. We compensated by talking as much as possible about our characters and the story itself. One of our group had a lot of trouble with connecting his voice to zoom, so for the last session we had the zoom chat pulled up and he communicated with us that way. Despite these struggles I believe that we were able to play

I’ve played Fiasco before in person and, despite the challenges that came with playing these past two weeks virtually, still really enjoy the game. There’s a lot of freedom in creating the characters, while still having enough of a structure and general direction that you’re not truly put on the spot for having to suddenly come up with a creative character backstory and motivation. I did struggle with immersing myself in the role of a mink farming grandmother. That had more to do with getting the components working than the game itself.

I feel that it ties into leadership by forcing each player to take an active role in making decisions concerning the story. Fiasco is, in my personal opinion, a fairly cooperative game. This means that there needs to be a balance of taking responsibility for the direction the story takes and then stepping back and listening to the others. There is also a lot of on the fly adapting that all the players need to be open to. A rigid mindset of how the game with play out can make it feel more like a script than a cooperative game. Being willing to hand over the reins can be difficult, but also makes the story better most of the time.

Fiasco Week 2

This week we played the second part of Fiasco and we only have time to complete Act Two of the game. After the relationships, objects, needs, and locations are defined, our group then takes a turn in part two of Fiasco. I feel like it is like a shared narrative game because I and my group members are taking turns narrating the story. And our story needs to working with our relationships among the other characters, and the needs, objects, and locations they share. The most special thing I think about Fiasco is that the characters do not have any skills, superpower, just a relationship with other people. So creativity and imagination are very important.

For me, I think in Act One, we come up with some crazy plan. For example, I am a helicopter pilot and I and my drinking buddies were drinking beers while flying the helicopter but since we are drunk, the helicopter was crashed on an ice-breaker. And the outcome of the scene is represented by the dies, which is taken from the pool of dice established at the start of play. Therefore, this adds a lot of fun to the game. As far as we going to Act Two, I think the overall experience is very pleasant and interesting, and we come up with a conclusion about the game. If our storyline can be set to a movie, we will all buy the tickets to watch.


I think the hardest part for me is it is my first time to play a board game like Fiasco, I will feel a bit of anxiety in the sheer openness of the storytelling. But the good part is that anxiety goes away quickly and in a few scenes, it feels natural. So I want to play Fiasco with my cousin because she is very creative and I will not nervous in front of her. I think the second part of Fiasco ties into leadership since at the beginning, no one wants to be the first one to create a story, but one of our team members was brave enough to talk and lead us to take part in the game. I think without a leader, we will not enjoy Fiasco as much as right now.