It is the week of game playtesting. This afternoon, I headed over to Brett's place, a Madison Board Gamer and fellow game designer, for some community playtesting. We started out with a Risk-variant (although not meant to be a Risk variant, but that's the world-domination game we had) from Willow, with some modifications on how to add troops to the board. We played a few rounds to get the feel of things and found some stalemate posibilities; she'll be making some changes before we play it again, it's missing the natural cascade toward a conclusion.

Then it was time for soup. Brett made a great chipolte bean soup with fresh bread, covered in sour cream and spicy cheese, mmmm, so tasty. With our stomach's full, we tested out Brett's renaissance two-player game (can't give more details, he'll have to make a blog for that) which was very interesting and could be even better with some hidden information. We rounded everyone up after this for a round of Ultra-Violets, which went suprizingly well, even people who did poorly enjoyed the game. The first round is always the hardest to explain, but then things start going smoothly. Brett ended up with a nice collection of Red Double Miniatures, while Willow won the game with both here well-timed Cold Snap and a good sized collection of White Single Miniatures. Brett said I should bring the game to the Madison Board Gamers sometime, as he'd like to play again and was already thinking of different strategies.

We followed this up with a round of Gene Pool, which I think is working smoothly now, and then one last go of Brett's game before calling it a night. This was valuable playtesting, with people who hadn't seen my games before, and something we should again soon. I still haven't had a chance to blind-playtest Ultra-Violets, but this might happen soon.

While Mark was play-testing, Laura went to Jo-Ann's new superstore. (Enter Laura :) )I happened to come on a day when all the craft instructors were demonstraiting their wares- one that really caught my attention was the demonstration of a knitting machine. Knitting has always been difficult for me because I grasp the needles too hard, quickly wearing out my hands. It is unfortunate because I have always admired fine knitted scarves and sweaters- anyway this demonstration that I saw was how to make anything in just a few hours by knitting. I remembered Lorene Webber mentioning she owned some knitting machines, and now I know the magic she can create. After watching an increase, decrease and several quick rows magically made- I was sold. Unfortunately the machines are about $120- even with a 40% coupon, it would still be a heafty price, perhaps as a present some year...