Once upon a time, there lived a turtle. He lived in a marsh. He sat on logs and sunned himself, when he got too warm he stayed in the shade, he swam and he ate and had a generally standard turtle life.
Then one day, a stockbroker turned up in his marsh. “I am a stockbroker,” explained the stockbroker. “Let me tell you something, turtle, if you work with me you could own this entire marsh and then some. How would you like it if I set you up with an initial public offering which we can leverage into a high-yield set of funds to ultimately set up a diverse portfolio?”
At that point, the turtle swam away, because he didn’t understand what this man was talking about. Again, he was a turtle. The stockbroker was later located and placed in assisted living as he was trying to sell hedge funds to skunks. If you found this ending disappointing, please suggest a worse one in this week’s What Are You Playing.
Bonus question: What’s your favorite board game for playing during family time (that is, not necessarily played with people who are necessarily board game geeks)?
​Andrew Ross (@dengarsw): More Pokemon Go when I brave the outdoors, and as much Animal Crossing New Horizons as I can. Still doing a major make-over on Nu Dereth. Also, is it weird that Animal Crossing is making me miss Landmark a bit?
For board games, Settlers of Catan is good. I feel like we have enough to do during our turns, it’s easy to understand, easy to customize, but I can also head to the bathroom without too much trouble most of the time.
Andy McAdams: Who knows what I’m going to be playing. I’ve been putzing around Elite: Dangerous and having a lot of fun. I also downloaded Star Wars: The Old Republic and subbed for a month because I haven’t played in a very long time, and its never a bad time to be a Jedi. Of course, I will be checking in to Animal Crossing too.
Bonus Question: No answer. My family wasn’t big on games.
Brianna Royce (@nbrianna, blog): I’ll be all over. So far this week I’ve been in City of Heroes, Star Wars Galaxies Legends, and Guild Wars 2. I think the weekend will be the same!
When I was a kid, my family had a standing pizza-and-board-game-night! Nowadays, not as much. Kids board games just kinda suck, and my littles are too little for more adult games still. My all-time favorite, though, is probably RISK or one of the Clue clones no one has ever heard of.
Carlo Lacsina (@UltraMudkipEX): More Final Fantasy VII Remake and some Final Fantasy XIV; my wife’s birthday is on April 20th and I’m trying to figure out the best way to spend it!
I’m not sure if this counts as a board game but I’m a fan of Avalon! I like how incredibly intense those conversations can get
Chris Neal (@wolfyseyes, blog): Satisfactory has had a recent update that adds fluids and pipework to manage, so I will likely be focusing on that. This will be interspersed with my usual Animal Crossing chores and some alt class leveling in Final Fantasy XIV. Yes, I do more than just roleplay in that game, believe it or not.
I have not played board games in ages, particularly since my husband doesn’t seem to have an appetite for them at all. The last board games I recall actively playing frequently were things like Mouse Trap and Crossfire, if that gives you any idea of how long it’s been.
Eliot Lefebvre (@Eliot_Lefebvre, blog): Some FFXIV and FFVIIR, plus a couple of other assorted projects here and there. Thankfully, the weather is supposed to be nice on Sunday, so I’m looking forward to a pleasant walk.
My family always really enjoyed playing Trivial Pursuit together, which generally worked fairly well, but a lot of my fondness there is more about association rather than the game itself. In terms of actual games that are good to play with non-board-game people, I find Apples to Apples (or, depending on the audience, Cards Against Humanity) is good for lighter fun, or even just the chaotic structure of Bananagrams.
Justin Olivetti (@Sypster, blog): Mostly I’m going to be digging hard into Fallout 76: Wastelanders this weekend. I’m actually having a really great time with it and can’t wait to share my impressions with you all! If I have extra time, I’ll be doing some Bingo Boffin quests in Lord of the Rings Online and living world stuff in Guild Wars 2.
Mia DeSanzo (@neschria): I am going to drop into Final Fantasy XIV this weekend. Otherwise, going to catch up on the housework we have been neglecting despite being home all the time. Things are just weird lately.
We are big fans of Apples to Apples, but my daughter got a game for Christmas called Cult Following: The One True Game that has been a big hit. (Those are more party games than board games, but close enough.)
Samon Kashani (@thesamkash): This weekend I’m all in on Starborne. My glob, Starborne. It’s the most addicted to a game I’ve been in years. It’s totally and completely out of control. If I weren’t homebound, it’d be a problem. Aside from that, I might get a bit of time in Guild Wars 2’s Adventure Box.
If we play family board games we usually go with something like Apples to Apples. It’s safe, kid friendly, and generally a fun time.
Tyler Edwards: Right now I seem to be consistently splitting my time between We Happy Few and the Reign of Terror Diablo II mod for Grim Dawn. I expect that to continue.
Bonus question: I haven’t had any significant contact with my family in a long time, but when I was a kid I loved Risk. Preferably the Lord of the Rings version, but I’ll take the vanilla version in a pinch.
Pierre, patron: I’m taking turns playing my two favorite games: The Last of Us and Final Fantasy VII Remake. As you can see, it’s mainly PS4 gaming, but what a treat. When I need a change, I play some of The Elder Scrolls Online. It’s amazing how much content the dev team has built for this very pleasant MMORPG, thousands of hours. What I really like about this one is the quest writing, even the secondary quests; each quest takes you on an adventure, many times long adventures, involving you in the life of so many NPCs, and making their life interesting for you even if you just met them. Great job! Combat is probably the most deceiving part, but when you have played MMOs for a long time as I do, you probably noticed combat is not really their forte. But it’s not an issue as you have a lot more to do in those games beside fighting.
Finally, as I require my weekly dose of shooter gaming, I go fight narcoterrorists in Ghost Recon Wildlands, sometimes co-op, sometimes playing solo. This game is so much better than Breakpoint, it’s very difficult to explain how Ubisoft managed such a great alchemy of gaming features in Wildlands and dropped the ball completely and failed mixing similar features properly in Breakpoint.
Bonus question: I’m not really into board games but for playing with family, old classics are probably my favorite ones; Cluedo and Monopoly come to mind immediately. For playing with friends (geeks mainly, I must admit), Zombicide is an excellent one as well as Junta… but only if you’re not too attached to your friends, as treason in that one can end friendships quite brutally. And you MOP readers, what’s up these days? Let us know in the comments and be safe, most of all. Cheers!
Every Saturday, join the Massively OP community and staff for What Are You Playing, our roundup of what MMORPGs and other games we’re hoping to play this weekend (with a bonus question or two for our amusement). Tell us what you’re up to! Go off-topic! And don’t forget to have fun!
