Just One and Magic Maze

Party games with limited communication!

Just One

In this three to seven player game (though you can easily add more), one player is the "guesser" and after giving a number from 1 to 5 then leaves the room while the remaining people take one of the many cards from the box which has five words and the guesser has to say the one next to the number he chose.

Now, everyone has to write down a one word clue to help him out, and the clue can't be the same word in a different language or have the answer in it (eg. if the word is King you can't use Kingdom). You can use onomatopoeia (words that sounds like something, like "Oink") but can't invent a word that just changes a letter from the target word. The tricky part is once everyone has a word, they first show it to each other and any duplicates eliminate each other on the spot.

Once there are no more duplicate words, the guesser comes back in and hopefully gets the word right! A very easy game to get people involved with a low barrier for entry, and requires zero table space. Big thumbs up for this one - recommended!

Magic Maze

In this chaotic and funny one to eight cooperative tile laying game, there are four different colored pawns trying to steal items from a fantasy mall. From the starting tile you must explore to find each of the items and each of the exits because you are always on a sand timer clock!

Of course this is not so easy because each edge is color coded and can only be explored by the pawn of that color,  all the pawns must be standing on their chosen item before any can escape, pawns can't move through each other, and players usually only have one move they can do... like... move North. That means any time any pawn needs to go that way, you need to be in charge of doing it.

The biggest challenge is that no one is meant to speak, grunt, or point! All you can do is stare intensely or use a "do something" pawn which looks like a 3D exclamation mark that you can put in front of someone. Rules also get added as you play through the 17 scenarios like having to pass your move to the player to the right and each colored pawn getting a specific ability. Easy to setup and again quite fun but as this one needs table space and isn't as welcoming as the above to non-gamers I'd have to recommend Just One over this if you are after a pure party game.

Bear-ly Returning Alive

My journal through Stalker Online! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Back tracking to the old farm was trickier than I thought as violent wandering bears had taken up residence in the fields and forests I needed to cross. Ironically in Ultima Online, Skyrim, and Mabinogi where my character has a sword and bow I can take out bears just fine. Here where I have an AK-47 I empty an entire clip into the beast and still lose. :P

It's like the bastards were waiting for me.

After a few attempts I managed to sneak past. Also encountered "normal" spiders who are actually easier to handle that the small counterparts (bigger target, still low HP). Was pretty smooth going from there until I reached the first SILENCE fort I visited - the guards there opened fire! I guess it is to do with how much time is left before the base comes under siege? Anyway I just steered clear and ran back up the hill to the road and through the broken wall back to the city.

A large shape lurked in the burned forest nearby though - it was another bear. Being a smart-ass I shot the thing and bolted to the town gates. Didn't get loot or XP since the town sentry killed it (eventually) but it felt good seeing one dead for a change. After selling various critter bits I was carrying I upgraded my gear according to Pioyer's previous instructions then repaired my nearly empty guns, and bought fresh ammo too. A fair number of Last_Light faction members were beginning to enter the town (accompanied by loud gunfire) so I figured it was best to lay low at this point and let them passby. Sure enough, I spotted Null25 on approach in the far distance of the fading light just before I found some dark shadows to conceal myself in.

Country Walkabout

My journal through Stalker Online! You can follow the rest of the story here!

It was pretty easy going, traveling the country. The thing I saw earlier was a fortress controlled by the SILENCE faction. Seems they controlled a large portion of the midlands here as my journey North-East led me to two more of their strongholds (the one on top of a mountain was really nice)! The guards seemed friendly enough too. Killed more boars and spiders as I trekked through forest and field to another fort, this one held by the GROM_INT group. Less friendly here as they didn't even let me trade with them but at least I could spend the night in safety. At the break of dawn I continued East into the tall grass and I must have stepped on a spider nest or something because before I knew it, dozens of the arachnids were on my case.

If these are "small" I'd hate to see what "big" ones are!

Managed to kill all the leggy insects and make it back to a road where I fought and killed a mountain brutor. I wonder if this muscular dwarf is related to the burers? I tried to continue down the road through the valley but there was some large-scale anomaly here causing me to stagger. Kinda missed my psy-helmet now too. Pulled back and opted to follow the road West instead. Made for easy travelling again and though I thought I heard distant gunshots at one point, I didn't run into a single soul on this journey. Took a small dirt path North to some old farms but found them quite empty. After spending the night by a campfire I pushed on across the fields to another small deserted village. Looked like everything here was looted.

With no more map to the West I followed the road South, finding some larger boars now. Another fort, this one held by the GROM faction, was coming up but I didn't make it there as their sentries opened fire on me! Had to backtrack to the empty village to lick my wounds and rest up for the night. I had less than half the ammo I started with now, and my guns were slowly deteriorating. As nice as it was out here I had no choice but to try make my way back to the city eventually.

Which is a pity because it can be really nice out here.