Prof. Amy Lupin

Ginny the Fearless What about Dean Thomas?

Justin the Mistrustful What about Nymphadora Tonks?

I'm aiming for the yellow shield!

Would someone be willing to gift me a persuasive petition that I can send to the High Queens so that I can keep all these wonderful gifts? No? I suppose that would be pushing things... In that case, I choose Emerald's gift!

He sighed then straightened himself up best he could. Then onwards he went. On the horizon, he saw a mysterious tent. He edged closer, momentarily distracted by a small pup.

The gust knocked his helmet askew. It teetered a moment, then toppled and into the mud it fell. He just knew his efforts to look dashing were hoppled.

I humbly present a golden pin in the shape of a music note.

*does a warm-up routine and aims for the red plumed helmet*

I humbly present a treatise on ancient codes and ciphers.

I'm aiming for the inkwell!

I'm aiming for the pair of gold dice.

Thanks Ivey and Sky for organising such a fun activity!

Xylophone

Fortunately she spots some tasty cheese as a distraction.

Innocent-ish. Is looking forward to the weekend?

Fortunately, someone nearby notices her plight and removes the spell.

Innocent Enjoys cooking?

Growing up, I loved the computer games produced by The Learning Company. I still have fond memories of Reader Rabbit, Gizmos & Gadgets, Treasure Cove and Midnight Rescue. Even back then, I appreciated the educational aspect of these games. Currently, I'm looking forward to introducing my honorary niece to HABA's games in the next year or two. They have different ones for the various ages, each with a number of things it tries to teach, such as colour recognition, turn-taking and so on.

With boardgames already, technology has become increasingly integrated. Some games require companion apps in order to play them (though other times they're there to improve setup/gameplay and aren't strictly necessary). There are also a handful of games published in the last year that utilise virtual reality. Though in theory, the inclusion of technology adds a different dimension, for me it's actually a bit of a turn-off. I love the tactile aspect of boardgames as well as some degree of human interaction to nudge the game along (or help explain things). From a design point of view, I enjoy seeing how the game designers work within the constraints of using physical components, and an app or virtual reality aspect takes that away. I'd like to think though as technology becomes increasingly part of our lives, some elements of games/sports will still remain. I don't recall which book or movie it was, but there were people playing chess (or a chess-like game) on a board with digital components. There was still the aspect of bringing people together to play something - and as adverse as I am to boardgames becoming over-digitised, I can appreciate the benefits, such as, in theory, being able to save the state of multiple games, ease of transport etc.

Maaaaybe. Has an interest in science fiction?

I slap Romilda for being enthusiastic.

I slap Will for his maths background.

Though I don't stay as up to date on it as much as I'd liked to, I'm always intrigued by developments such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence etc (though more importantly, the user experience aspect of it). Is reading something interesting at the moment?

Gobstones has endured in its current form throughout wizarding history, however in recent years, one rather determined individual proposed to overhaul the game by adding more elements to the game to garner more interest. The idea was that depending on which colour marble spelled the opponent's defeat as well as the number of marbles involved in that move, the defeated player would have to endure a spurt of fire, their remaining marbles in hand growing spikes, and so forth. Fortunately, the Ludicrous Patents Office put an end to this campaign as they were determined to keep Gobstones a light-hearted game without any potential for harm.

Every so often, we might implement a house rule with a particular boardgame, typically when there is some ambiguity with a rule. Additionally, it does happen that we realise we've been playing a rule incorrectly, but we'll either carry on the game how we started off (as a way to introduce some measure of fairness in that everyone has been equally impacted in the same way) or try implement the rule as intended. That being said, sometimes games don't live up to their (perceived) potential when played exactly as is laid out in the rules. I found this with Runebound, the 3rd edition. Great concept in terms of being able to level up, monsters with different difficulty levels, that also roamed about or spontaneously spawned. The problem though was it took way too long to level up, and the person who beat the final monster, was able to do so mostly through chance. We'd decided there and then that the next time we played the game, we'd make it slightly easier to level up, so as to avoid another 3 hour long game. There is one person in my games group though who iterates on existing games, particularly Perudo (incidentally, he has a variant called Peruno, which has some UNO-like cards and mechanics). His approach definitely keeps things interesting, though there are mixed results. We also once played Dominion in the style of the DC Deckbuilding game, which I still remember quite fondly. On the whole, I'd say I prefer playing games how they were intended to be played, but at the same time, I'm open to playing different variants of it (whether put forward by the designer or other players).