Tag: Recap

Board Game, Recap

May and Jun’s Whimsical Adventures – 2023

blackcatwhimsy

May was an odd month for me. As I mentioned in my July Upcoming blog, we got into a car accident in May and it was definitely a curveball. I didn’t spend much time working on the channel for a couple of months.

While I didn’t do much for the channel, I did get a lot of RPG videos watched. I watched episodes from a few different seasons of Dimension 20 – The Ravening War, A Crown of Candy, and Fantasy High. I really fell down the rabbit hole with Me, Myself and Die on YouTube. He makes great solo adventure videos and he inspired me to start my own solo adventure. I’m using the DND 5e rules set and the Mythic Games Master Emulator book to run it. I was expecting lots of adventure and fighting, but it has turned into a mystery adventure. It was completely unexpected, but I am loving it! I’ve been kicking around the idea to do some blog posts of my adventure and it’s been added to my list of things I want to do for the channel.

For games, I went hogwild in June! It was a fantastic couple of months for playing. I even got my husband to play a few games of Sushi Go with me! I had some table space available and was able to play the physical versions of La Granja, Under Falling Skies, Nemo’s War, and a new-to-me game, Sleep Tight. I recorded an unboxing video for Sleep Tight a while ago and need to get it edited and uploaded. On BGA I played 10 solo games of Sagani. What a great game. I also learned how to play Teotihuacan, Space Station Phoenix, and Loco Momo. Teotihuacan is such a puzzly game. I’ve played a few games against a much better player and I have learned so much from him by watching the actions he takes. The Castles of Burgundy, Carnegie, Earth, and Ark Nova rounded out the games I played. In all, I played 32 games in June which is the most I’ve played in one month this year.

As you can see, I kept myself busy outside of my channel work but it was channel adjacent. There are so many games out there that I have plenty to keep me busy for years to come.

Thanks for reading!

Board Game, Recap

Mar and Apr’s Whimsical Adventures – 2023

blackcatwhimsy

And I’m back with what I was up to in March and April. March was mostly spent on vacation enjoying some hot, sunny weather. It was glorious and I enjoyed every second of it.

In March I only uploaded one video, an Unboxing video of Herbaceous Pocket Edition. What a gorgeous little game. I love the artwork and it’s a great size to take along on trips. I’d like to do a playthrough of the game. In April I uploaded a video game playthrough of Gloomhaven digital. I tried for a short playthrough and didn’t succeed so I ended up splitting the video in half. Both of those videos are live on the channel. Behind the scenes I worked on editing the Under Falling Skies Unboxing video but it was sporadic at best.

Game wise I was able to get a few different online games in. I played a couple games of Earth published by Inside Up Games.  It has beautiful pictures on the cards and it is pretty to see your player area, or island as it’s called in the game, get built up. There were a few games of The Castles of Burgundy. What can I say, it’s a classic and always fun to play. I also played 2 games of La Granja and a game of Carnegie. A nice variety of games to keep my brain occupied.

Other than that, I watched the Dungeons & Dragon’s movie, Honor Among Thieves. I thought it was fun and enjoyed it quite a lot. I also watched some YouTube videos on roleplaying games. I watched the Dungeon Dudes Dungeons of Drakkenheim series and Dimension 20s Fantasy High series. I’m getting pretty heavily into RPG stuff so keep an eye out for future videos having to do with the world of roleplaying games.

Thanks for reading!

Board Game, Recap

Jan and Feb’s Whimsical Adventures – 2023

blackcatwhimsy

Am I late with this post? Absolutely. I was going to skip it completely but I like writing down what I’ve done. It’s helps me gauge how lazy I have been or haven’t been. It’s also fun to read later on and see what I was up to at the time.

I mainly played a bunch of games online, it was amazing. Mainly played on BoardGameArena. I took part in a Gaming Rules! Tournament for Carnegie. I didn’t win but I had enough points to move on to the 2nd round.  I played a couple solo games of La Granja and A Feast for Odin. The first time I’ve actually played either game. I then set up a multiplayer game of La Granja. I didn’t win but learned a lot and it was fun to see how gameplay changes when you play against other people. I also played some games of The Castles of Burgundy. A classic, I really like playing it. I also learned and played a solo game of Ultimate Railroads. Unfortunately, the BGA adaptation doesn’t have the AI player but it was still good to see how the actions fit together and seeing how your strategy can change the game. I also learned and played Madeira and Clans of Caledonia. All in all, I played 8 different games for a total of 29 plays for January and February and had a blast!

For my channel, I uploaded one Unboxing video for The Phantom: The Card Game. I’m starting to get through some of my oldest received games. It’s embarrassing to see how long I’ve had some of these games and haven’t played them yet! But baby steps, first unboxing, then playing. I also spent time editing and filming some videos.

A co-worker told me about a tv show on Netflix called ‘History of Swear Words’ hosted by Nicholas Cage.  How can you not love Nicholas Cage? He doesn’t take himself too seriously and he does what the heck he wants.  Love it.

Thanks for reading!

Recap

Nov and Dec’s Whimsical Adventures

blackcatwhimsy

November was exciting because I started my journey into RPGs with a Humblewood play. I am playing a Strig owl named Koa. She is a young monk who is just starting out in the world. It was a lot of fun creating my character and thinking through my backstory. We haven’t been able to get together again for our next playthrough but hopefully we can get back into it soon.

For the channel, I was able to get the Three Sisters Unboxing Plus video uploaded. I had quite the adventure trying to open the box. I got a couple of blog posts done. I also edited and published my Tainted Grail video game playthrough part 2. I worked on and finished writing my script for my Herbaceous Pocket Edition unboxing video.

I got a new bookcase set up and was able to get a lot of board games unpacked that I didn’t have storage room for. This helped get games put away but unfortunately, I have already filled it up and am in need of another one!

On to the good stuff of gaming. I played a quick game of Galaxy Trucker on the android app and came in 2nd. Continued the campaign game and played against 3 bots. I played a 4-player game of The Castles of Burgundy on Board Game Arena (BGA). I didn’t win but I came in 2nd with 227 points. I also played a 3-player game of it on the android app. I played against 2 bots and it was a close game, but I won that one. Towards the end of December, I played a solo game of Carnegie on BGA. It was my first ever game of it and there was a lot going on, but it really helped solidify the rules for me. I did not win against Andrew the solo bot, but I gave him a good run for his money. Now that I am getting more comfortable with the BGA website and playing online, there will definitely be more games played that way. All in all, a good stretch of games over the past 2 months.

For Android apps, I continued on with My Mini Mart – still with the annoying ads. I played an oldie but goodie, Candy Crush Soda. I also downloaded a new game called Cats&Soup. Not much action but adorable kitties. It looks like most of the items need to be purchased but it’s a good brain break for a few minutes. I also started playing a game called Mob Control which is fun. I have been spending most of my time playing Eatventure. I love anything food related and it’s been fun leveling up in the game. No ads interrupting gameplay unless I choose to watch one to get a benefit for the game. There are in-app purchases but there is enough opportunity to earn the items that you don’t need to purchase them. It’s one of those idle games where you continue to earn money while you’re not playing it and it’s actually a lot of fun.

On a random note, I got into nail stamping! It was pretty interesting and worked fairly well.  I didn’t have the correct nail polish remover so the nail plates that have the impressions on didn’t get as clean as they needed to be. I will try again though because it was pretty fun. I got a plate that has a bunch of cute cat images and cat sayings on it.

For the holidays I ate a lot of delicious food and had fun both giving and receiving presents. I received some board games and some RPG-related items. I received the Turing Machine board game which I am very excited to play! It looks right up my alley. I also want to get into some solo RPGs including DND. To get me started I received some dice and some dry-erase map boards. Another hobby to add to my huge list!

It was a busy couple of months, but I didn’t produce as much channel content as I wanted. I hope to change that going forward. Thanks for reading!

Stray Video Game
Recap

Sept and Oct’s Whimsical Adventures – 2022

blackcatwhimsy

 September and October were busy! It was all on the personal front though and unfortunately, my channel work had to be sidelined. We went on vacation and then I was away on a work trip for longer than expected.

On the channel front, I recorded a few unboxings before I left. I just need to buckle down and start getting the scripts and videos edited. In August, I released 3 videos. Gloomhaven and Stray are video game playthroughs. I’ve been waiting a long time to play Stray and it did not disappoint! You play as a cat in a future world, trying to find your way back to your family. I also did an unboxing video of The Hero’s Journal. This journal has you solving a personal quest and is a fun way to track a situation happening in your real life.

I got a few playthroughs of physical games in – Tiny Ninjas, Unsurmountable, and Herbaceous: Pocket Edition. Learning games for Herbaceous but what a great little game and beautiful artwork. I played a couple rules wrong so I will need to get a few more playthroughs in soon. Keep an eye out for a future unboxing video for Herbaceous.

I played in a group tournament for The Castles of Burgundy in September. I didn’t win the tournament or even advance to the final round of games, but it was my first time playing online with people and my first tournament. It was a step outside of my comfort zone and I had fun and will definitely play online more. I came 2nd, 3rd and 1st in my games so I nice range of places 🙂 I ended on a high note though which was nice!

I also played a couple games of Galaxy Trucker in the app. I’ve not played the game before and it was fun. I lost both games but I am not giving up.

For android apps it was mostly the same as I’ve been playing. My Mini Mart (yes even with the annoying ads) and Color Sort Puz which is similar to SortPuz. Color Sort Puz has little peeps you are sorting who have some snazzy dance moves when you win the level. I also pulled out a couple old favorites, myVEGAS and Pop! Slots which are slot machine games. Both of these you can earn points which can be exchanged for actual savings at Las Vegas hotels and attractions and select places worldwide. I also downloaded a couple games from Microsoft, Wordament and Mahjong. Both are fine and are basic games, they get the job done.

That’s about it for me. Time is moving ever onwards so I will get this posted. Thanks for reading!

Recap

July’s Whimsical Adventures – 2022

blackcatwhimsy

Welcome to almost the end of August! I’m a little late with this blog post. July was a busy month for me personally so I didn’t get a lot done with my channel.

I did get 2 videos uploaded. I was able to get my Tainted Grail: Conquest video game playthrough edited and uploaded at the beginning of July. It was a fun playthrough and I was surprised by how well I did in the game. It was my first playthrough and I thought it went pretty well. It was a little tricky getting my audio set up correctly as my laptop has a fairly well-hidden gaming microphone volume control which is different from the regular microphone volume control. Once I got that straightened out, it was pretty easy to get it recorded. I look forward to getting some more done.

I also finished editing and uploaded an unboxing video for Tiny Ninjas by 2niverse Games. This is a cute game pitting ninjas against each other. It also comes with a solo mode which I have tested out a couple of times. I won my first game and lost my second. As promised, the game does play in about 10-15 mins, and while a light game, it does have some nice thinky parts to it. You have to decide whether you want to use your cards for attacking or defending. Do you let the 2 hits land so that you can use the card for a powerful attack instead? Each card matters and if you’re not careful, your opponent can sneak a strong attack in, taking you out which is how I lost my game.

To round out the channel items, I continued working on the script for The Phantom: The Card Game unboxing, and I also recorded unboxing videos for 4 board games.

For Android apps, I got in some plays of SortPuz which is a sorting game. You have different bottles filled with multiple-colored liquids and you need to sort them so that each color is in its own bottle. I also found a couple of new apps – My Mini Mart and Hungry Hearts. Hungry Hearts is set in Japan and you play a grandma who runs a café. It is very story heavy and I wished it was easier to click through the conversations. You do get to a point though where the stories start to run out and you are basically just feeding people. I had fun unlocking the various recipes and it’s a pretty calming game to play. My Mini Mart is definitely a time suck. The absolute worst part about the app is the ads. Just about every 30 seconds an ad pops up and takes multiple clicks to get through it. On a positive note, once I sit through enough of the ads I shut the app off and I can get back to my regular life. Even with the annoying ads, it’s quite a fun game. You are basically running a grocery store and are cashier, stocker, chef, and farmer until you can hire help. There are currently 8 different marts and each one has a different vibe to it. In the first one, you are raising tomatoes, collecting chicken eggs, gathering milk, making bread, etc. In one of the later marts, you are harvesting rice plants, making bowls of rice, catching fish, making sushi, and making sake. Spoiler alert, even with the constant ads (yes, I’m currently too cheap to pay for ad-free), I am still playing it.

On the personal front, we went to a wedding and a family reunion. Even though they were still within the state, they were our first trips since the pandemic started. It was nice to get away and stretch our legs for a bit.

Besides the usual tv watching and YouTube viewing, I also watched the Silverstone F1 race. It was an interesting race to watch and I was not expecting Perez or Hamilton to finish as high as they did. Ferrari left me scratching my head with their strategy. I got some reading in and finished a couple of books and got further along with a couple more. I also had a little time to play some computer games for fun – Call of Duty Modern Warfare, Star Wars Battlefront, and Gloomhaven Digital. I even played a couple of quick games of PUBG for the first time, but I think it’s better in a team as I spent most of the time randomly running around and not seeing anyone until the last couple of mins of the game.

Now that I have it written out, I actually got a lot done in July! I might need to pick it up a little this last week and a half in August so I have more to write about next time.

Thanks for reading!