The past few years, it’s got to be a sort of tradition that, one day between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, I have an open house where all my friends drop in and play games all day. I’ve started calling RickFest because I’m just that big a nerd. Over the years, though, a bit of a complication has popped up: some people come to play the big games – Arkham Horror, for example – and some people come to play the small games – stuff like Carcassonne or Tsuro. That means that, if I’m involved in a big game when new people show up, it’s a little difficult to break away and get them up and running in another game, so I wind up half-ignoring some of my guests.
This year, I’ve decided to address that by splitting RickFest into Primus and Secondus. RickFest Primus is tomorrow, and will feature the short games, and RickFest Secondus is on Sunday, featuring the longer games. Everyone’s invited to both, but by setting the expectations, I’m hoping to maximize the fun for everyone ((And the divisions are not hard-and-fast rules. If everyone wants to play a long game at Primus, or some people want to play a short game at Secondus, I’m not about to say no, am I?)).
Oh, and there’s also lots of food and beverages, rowdy camaraderie, and plenty of bad, bad puns. And the joy of seeing how many people I can cram into my apartment ((The guest list has been growing every year. Honestly, if it gets much bigger, I may have to look at renting a community centre hall or something.)) .
I’ve got most of the shopping done – just need to make a quick run tomorrow morning for some ice for the cooler and a nine-volt battery ((Don’t ask.)) – and have a little bit of food prep to do tonight – finishing a cheese ball and making some more spiced pecans and some pepperjack cornbread. And then I spend the evening sorting out games. Here’s a partial list of what’s on offer, game-wise:
- Tsuro
- Tsuro of the Seas
- Pandemic
- Legend of Driz’zt
- Wrath of Ashardalon
- Escape from the Aliens in Outer Space
- Fiasco
- Deluxe Illuminati
- Fury of Dracula
- The Stars are Right
- Dominion
- B-Movie Card Games
- Carcassonne
- Chrononauts
- Zombie Dice
- Cthulhu Dice
- Beowulf the Legend
- Elder Sign
- Dixit
- Cards Against Humanity
Obviously, we’re not going to get to play them all but we’re gonna play as many of them as look like fun. I open my doors and noon, and close them after the bovine repatriation ((That is, we play until the cows come home.)). Then I get two days to recover before we do it all over again.
RickFest Primus is tomorrow. Game on.