Aftershock

We played a game of Aftershock last night. Remarkably, we did pretty well, ending with a total of 8 Relief Points and every player on a positive score.

This is an interesting game, both to play and because of its development background. It is a cooperative board game based on a humanitarian relief operation. It was designed by Rex Brynen and Thomas Fisher after a workshop at the 2013 Connections conference. While it is a fun recreational game, it is also used in workshops and political science courses.



Set in the fictitious country of Carana, four players - the Government, UN, NGOs and an international military task force - attempt relief operations after an earthquake. Each of the five districts in the country have a deck of cards that have to be "resolved" by providing the necessary resources such as food, water and medical supplies. However plans quickly come unstuck as event cards introduce disease, social unrest and general mayhem. Each player has slightly different strengths and victory conditions, but victory can only be achieved through coordination and cooperation.

I recommend having a look at the game. Proceeds from the sale go to the World Food Program

Formula D 2016

We just had our annual Formula D game this afternoon. This year, I chose the Sochi track, which proved to be quite challenging. While the corners are fairly fast, the straights between them are at just the right offset to cause problems selecting a gear, particularly once the corners become congested.

It was fairly close for most of the race with a pack of 4 or more cars in contention for most of the running. This year, after a mid-race driver change, Tony/ Grace won, with Michael coming second, Jacqui coming third, Dave fourth and myself (Todd) a very distant, and damaged, fifth. Lee, Tim and Clare all crashed, and there was quite a bit of debris on the track by the end.

Brickvention 2016

Brickvention seemed even bigger and better this year.
There were many new impressive models to see. Some highlights below.

 

 

Lego at the Powerhouse Museum

Over Christmas, we went to the Powerhouse Museum (Sydney) and saw the lego DC Comic exhibition.

The "artwork" was pretty good and there was obviously a lot of work in making the statues and murals. However, the lighting was ridiculously dark and flash photography was banned. I have no idea why it needed to be quite that pretentious, they are not 15th Century oil paintings.

So the photos below are very grainy due to having to deal with the lighting.

I'm not sure when the exhibition finishes, but it is worth having a look if you get the chance.