Custom Gloom Card Box Part 2

Finished my box up today and have the photos to show (almost) start to finish.  I say almost because I did not take photos of the box before I got the wood burner out.  So I took the before photo from the Hobby Lobby website (same box because I bought it from Hobby Lobby).  The photo from their online store shows 3 boxes.  The one I bought is the middle box, with these dimensions:

Medium: 6" x 4 3/8" x 3 1/2"

Another note about the boxes on the Hobby Lobby website - they state they cannot break the boxes up.  This might be an online only issue, because they did not have the boxes in sets at the store, you could only buy them individually.

So the first step I took was to make a template of the Gloom logo.  If you are not familiar with the game, I will provide a review in the upcoming week or so.  The game is published by Atlas Games and has had 2 incarnations - regular Gloom with 3 expansions and Cthulhu Gloom with 1 expansion.  All of the card sets are compatible with each other, you just need to have one of the core boxes. 

I printed this image out on card stock, then used a swivel pen knife to cut out the letters.  My template wasn't perfect, but this wasn't going for perfection.  I wanted the unique antique sort of look - something you might find in the attic.  After I cut out the letters, I set the template to the side and took the hardware off the box.

The box without hardware and with the template resting on top.

With the box disassembled, I used a template to sketch the Gloom logo on the box top.

Next it was time to break out the wood burner.  I considered just painting the logo, but that didn't feel right.  Burning, yes, burning the box felt right for Gloom.

Wood burner gets HOT!  While the wood burner was warming up, I took measurements of the interior of the box and made a pattern to cut out my felt sections (2 sections, 1 for top, 1 for bottom, but used the same template for both).

I prefit the felt after I cut it out.  There was a little lip at the top that I knew I would have to trim, so the first shot with the pattern worked as planned.

Just a note here, if I were going to make another one of these, I would try cutting these out in sections.  The single felt piece looks good, but there were some issues when laying it in with the glue.  Speaking of which, I used the Elmer's Spray Adhesive, and I do not plan to use it for anything like this again.  The can puts out a LOT of spray, kicking a lot of adhesive in the air.  Also, I think brushing the adhesive on would be better if I made another.

Now that is jumping ahead a bit, so back to where we are.  The wood burner got to the right temperature (we have a multi temp wood burner) and I took my first foray into using a wood burner.  I used a practice piece of wood first, just to see how it worked.  I proceeded to burn the Gloom logo into the box lid.

I was pretty happy with how this turned out.  And with the logo burned in, it was time to start the staining process.  I went with 2 coats for the exterior and 1 coat for the interior using Minwax Tudor Satin polyshade.  This is the same stuff some people use for sealing and shading miniatures (also the same reason I have it).

After the stain had dried for a bit over 24 hours, I took a very fine sandpaper and went over the exterior of the box.  If you feel the stain when it dries, you get little bumps and rough places.  Going over lightly with very fine sandpaper gets rid of these and gives the box a smooth finish.  Then a damp paper towel to get any of the sanded stain cleaned up.

Next up was lining the interior with felt.  Yeah, back to that spray adhesive.  Never again for something like this.  I could see some use if I were interested in trapping flies or spiders, but hobby projects?  No thank you.  So the first step is to tape off the box.  I used a wide 2-3" painter's tape and taped off both top and bottom at the same time.

This worked well as it provided a good lip for using spray adhesive.  I didn't take photos of the steps where I applied the felt due to the whole adhesive thing.  I applied the adhesive, let it dry for 24 hours, then trimmed the felt.  The last step was putting the hardware back on, which took all of 5 minutes.  Here is how everything turned out.

I've got room for maybe 1 more expansion if they release it.  I would have liked to have a larger box, but this was the largest they had in stock at Hobby Lobby.  But the lessons I've learned through this project will help me out if I need to expand it.

I think my next project of this nature might be etching an acrylic box for my Netrunner cards.  But I'll have to do some thinking on that first.

Also, thanks to my wonderful wife for her assistance during portions of this project.  She was an invaluable help!

Custom Gloom Card Box Part 1

I stumbled across a thread on RPG.net a couple of weeks back, wherein a poster was asking for input regarding the Gloom family of card games.  Another posted the link to the Tabletop web show where Wil Wheaton and crew played Gloom.  I was enamored with it instantly and needed to add it to my gaming collection.

Fast forward a couple of weeks, the whole stable of Gloom and Cthulhu Gloom reside in my possession.  But there are just too many cards to keep them in the original boxes, so what to do what to do.  After a couple of trips to the local Hobby Lobby, I have a pine wood box that fits the cards quite well, some cranberry colored felt to line the box, and project "Custom Gloom Card Box" is a go!

Tonight I disassembled the box and hardware, then took the wood burner and burned the Gloom logo onto the top of the box.  So far, it looks pretty good.  I hope to have time to post the in-progress photos tomorrow.  I already have some Minwax Ebony stain, which is the steps that will start tomorrow.

Card game review - Light Speed

Light Speed

Game Type:  Card Game for 2-4 players

Designer:  Tom Jolly and James Ernest

Publisher:  Cheapass Games

Medium:  cardstock with color on one side

Price:  $5.00

Light Speed is a real-time card game of space combat.  The premise is simple, the game play is simple, and the game is almost too much fun.  The players each have 10 ships.  Each of these 10 ships are different, but each player has an identical set with the exception of the color.  In addition to the 40 ships, there are 2 asteroid cards.  The cards are on cardstock with the ships being printed in color with a glossy finish, while the back of the card is gray cardstock without a finish.  The rules come on a page slightly smaller than an 8 ½” by 11” page, folded in quarters and printed front and back.

Each ship card has the following details:  a number in the top left corner, the name of the ship beside the number, a number of health dots in the lower left corner, and a number of laser shots firing from the ship in a specific direction.  Some ships also have shields, which are represented by red lines on the border of the card.  The laser shots come in three colors, representing 3 different power levels of shots.  The colors are distinct, so there should be no confusion on which is which.

The goal is to score points by mining and destroying other ships.  You lose points by destroying your own ships.  And it is very easy to shoot your own ships.  One of my playtesters continually ended up in the negatives because he kept shooting his own ships by accident.  If the game were not real-time, you probably wouldn’t shoot your own ships, but a lot of the flavor of the game would be lost as well.

You play the game by shuffling your 10 ships face down.  You do not see which ship is next, so it is random and a surprise for you.  Once all the players are ready, someone says “Go” and the race begins.  Everyone places their ships at the same time, at whatever speed they want.  Some people will slap their ships down haphazardly just to get them all out.  Others will go the methodical route, but end up with fewer ships on the board.  The first person to place their last ship says “Stop”, and the remaining players can drop whatever ship is in hand wherever it is, or they can not play it.

Then you proceed to the scoring round.  The different laser colors do 1, 2, or 3 points of damage.  You start with the lowest number ship, and trace the lasers from it.  The first card the laser crosses, be it ship or asteroid, will be hit by the laser.  If the asteroid is hit, the ship counts as mining the asteroid for points equal to the damage of the laser.  If the laser hits a ship, it does a number of damage points to the ship.  Once all of the ships for the lowest value have fired, you removed destroyed ships and proceed to the next lowest ship value.  Continue this to the highest ship value on the board.  Higher value ships tend to be stronger, but might not be around if they get shot by smaller ships before their turn.  Whoever does the most damage points to a ship collects the ship for points.  Then you tally up points from mining and ship destroying to determine who wins the round.

All in all, this game is a blast to play.  It is simple, quick, and fun.  The ease of the rules makes it a game children can play as well.  Just be sure they don’t eat whatever you use as damage tokens.  This game is a great game to get out and play while waiting for the rest of the group to show up, or in those times where you don’t have anything scheduled, or anytime you just want to play a quick, fun game.  I highly recommend this game, and for the price, you cannot go wrong.

Ratings

Playability: ***** (great fun to play and easy to pick up and get going)

Game Mechanics: ***** (very easy to learn and simple to play)

Presentation: ***** (simple, efficient, and very well done)

Originally written 3/17/2003

Card game review - Give me the Brain! Special Edition

Give me the Brain! Special Edition

Game Type:  Card Game for 3-8 players

Designer:  James Ernest (art by Brian Snoddy)

Publisher:  Cheapass Games

Medium:  full color glossy cards

Price:  $14.95

Give me the Brain! Special Edition is, as the name suggests, a re-release of the original Give me the Brain!.  However, this is not just a re-release of the original game.  In the latest incarnation, Give me the Brain! Special Edition has been spruced up with full color cards, new artwork, new cards, and glossy plastic-coated cards.  The box includes 112 full-color, coated playing cards and a 1 page rule book (2 pages if you count front and back).  The cards come in a nice full color box with a zombie grinning at you from the front.  All that is needed to play is players and 1 six-sided die.

The artwork on the cards is funny and well done.  Cartoon zombies abound on the cards, along with some other critters.  I enjoyed just flipping through the cards to see what the next card had in store.  The cards also have funny quotes or titles, such as “Look!  A Monkey!” or “Are You Still Serving Breakfast?  ‘Uh, you mean like, today, or in general’”.  My players had a fun time just seeing what cards they drew.

Alright, so the game is pretty, but is it fun?  Yes, the game is a blast to play.  You, as an employee at “Friedey’s, the Fast Food Restaurant of the Damned”, would like to go home.  To leave, you need to complete all of the jobs you are assigned, which are cards in your hand.  Some of the jobs will require the brain to complete, of which only one brain is shared among the lot of you and the other employees (players).  In essence, the goal of the game is to reduce your hand of cards to zero.  The hand starts at seven, but it is quite easy to build that up.

The cards in your hand are either bid cards or job cards (with job cards also including objects).  Bid cards are only used when someone drops the brain, so these can be kind of trick to get rid of at times.  Fortunately, you can discard them and draw new cards instead of playing cards when your turn comes around, except you have to draw one extra (or, you could just draw the extra card if you do not play a card).  Job cards are rated by the number of ‘hands’ they take, not to be confused with your card hand.  You can play jobs that take up to two ‘hands’ per turn.  Some jobs require one hand and some jobs require two hands.  This is easily distinguished by the number of ‘hands’ required being drawn on the cards.  The crossing of hand of cards and hands required to do a job is the most complex part of the rules.

Now why do I need a six-sided die?  There are a couple of reasons for that.  First, it represents the brain, which is passed to players as the game plays on.  Second, it is used to make skill rolls, a number based on the difficulty of the job being performed (this is on the job card).

There are a couple of downsides to the game.  First, you do need three players.  In the initial playtest, I played it with another player and a dummy-hand (which was actually played by one of my cats).  There are decisions to be made that we randomized, but would actually be more enjoyable if a player were deciding them.  Playing with a dummy hand removes some of the strategy in the game.  Another downside is that, because of the way turns work, it is possible that you will not get the opportunity to play a job card before a game is over, especially if you are playing in a large group.  The second session of playtesting had seven players playing, and there were a few games where people did not have the opportunity to play.  The reason for this is that, when a player drops the brain (which happens if they do not roll equal to or higher than the target number on the job card), a new bidding round starts.  Whoever wins the bidding round gets the brain, and the turns start from there.  Of these two issues, I feel that the three player minimum is the worse of the two, but your mileage may vary.

So, is it worth buying the game if you already have the original edition?  Yes, it is.  This new version includes cards you do not have.  The cards are coated cards, meaning longevity over non-coated paper cards.  This alone will be worth the price, especially since your old cards are already worn if you played the game much.

Ratings

Playability: *** (it is playable as a 2 player game with 1 dummy hand, but really needs at least 3 players for the game to shine)

Game Mechanics: ***** (very easy to learn and simple to play)

Presentation: ***** (well laid out instructions and some of the cards are hilarious)

Originally written 3/17/2003