{"id":1014,"date":"2012-12-26T17:16:14","date_gmt":"2012-12-26T22:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rickneal.ca\/?p=1014"},"modified":"2012-12-26T17:16:14","modified_gmt":"2012-12-26T22:16:14","slug":"rickfest-primus-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rickneal.ca\/?p=1014","title":{"rendered":"RickFest Primus 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

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 <\/em>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<\/em>, for example – and some people come to play the small games – stuff like Carcassonne<\/em> or Tsuro<\/em>. 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.<\/p>\n

This year, I’ve decided to address that by splitting RickFest<\/em> into Primus <\/em>and\u00c2\u00a0Secondus<\/em>. RickFest Primus<\/em> is tomorrow, and will feature the short games, and Ric<\/em>kFest Secondus<\/em> 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<\/em>, or some people want to play a short game at Secondus<\/em>, I’m not about to say no, am I?)).<\/p>\n

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.)) .<\/p>\n

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:<\/p>\n