Awful Green Things from Outer Space

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As part of my project to play all of my unplayed non-wargames, Awful Green Things from Outer Space is up next.

I've got the game set up. It's cute. The components are really well made. The rules are simple and clear. And my heart, today, just really isn't much into it. Not really into playing anything, actually. (Which is part of my plan to burn myself out on games in March to clear up my head for getting back to work.)

A couple of other things are influencing me as well. Dresden Files Co-op game arrived last night, which I've been looking forward to for weeks, and I still have High Frontier set up. High Frontier, especially, is calling to me.

But no matter, all the other games are put away, and this one is the one on the table, so it's the one which will be played.

Here's the situation after the first full turn:

Awful Green Things first game

Ok, that was interesting. The Electric Fence weapon activated to induce a die roll of Fragments for each of ~5 Things. This turned into 17 fragments, which of course in two turns I grew into all adults. And that was pretty much the game, large stack of adults defeating crew in detail room by room.

I'm sure there is more to the game than this, and I'm sure I'll play it again at some point in the future. For now, I'm glad to have it on the table and now the table. Curiousity satisfied, and another game down.

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What to play next?

Deciding what to play next is always a tough call when faced with a closet full of games, all of which were purchased with intent to play. Here's one I'm dealing with the decision.

  • Something New: this means both something new to me and a game which has been published recently, within the last two or three years.
  • Something Classic: I've acquired a number of games properly considered "classic" which haven't yet been played. The current example would be PanzerGruppe Guderian.
  • Something Again: mastery requires constant practice, which means playing games many, many times to allow nuance to appear.
  • Something Vietnam: as I'm on a Vietnam binge. I don't have all the Vietnam games ever published, but I can say that I have a lot of them, and probably more than most people.
  • Something Obscure: as it's fun to poke around in the dustier corners of game design.
  • Something Different: break away from the same old publishers and try a game from one of the new kids on the block. Or, conversely, dip into legacy with a classic tried and true.
  • Something Light: once in a while it's nice to actually finish a game all the way through in one sitting, in an hour or two.
  • Something Heavy: if possible, it's nice to set up something big and complicated which can be left out for days or weeks or even months, for a leisurely stroll through a very large or long game.

There are surely many more ways to choose, but the above method keeps me busy enough, helps me get both breadth and depth into my play, and provides me with a sense of progress.

The odd man out

When there is an odd man out:

  • Have a solo game ready to play.
  • Keep score or advise on a game in progress.
  • Referee a game in progress.