BOARD GAMES – Three Reasons to Play Star Realms Deck Building Game

Star Realms is a deck building game that can be played on iOS, Android, and as a physical game over a tabletop. Today I’m going to give you the three reasons why the game is worth playing.

There are a lot of deck building games out there. A deck building game is a card game genre made popular by the card game Dominion.

Deck building games all share one common game mechanic. You start out with a very small deck of cards (about 10 cards or so) and throughout the game you acquire more cards using these starting cards, often from a community pool of cards in the center of the table, thereby “building your deck” as you play the game. This is done to achieve whatever the winning condition of the game is.

This general game mechanic has spawned multiple types of deck building games. One such game is Star Realms.

When Star Realms was published, it became a huge hit. So much so that, the demand out weighted the supplies. It is extremely difficult (as of the time of this writing) to get a tabletop copy of this game.

But that’s okay, if you really want to give it a try, there’s an Android app available and a iOS app as well.

I’ve played a lot of deck building games. I own five tabletop deck builders and have downloaded three other deck building game apps for my iOS device. I didn’t see why I should download, yet another deck builder.

What did this one have to offer that the other ones didn’t already do? But since this one was such a big hit, and since I heard an interview with the designer on the Little Metal Dog show podcast. I thought I’d give it a try.

I downloaded the Android app of the game and boy, am I glad I did. At first, when I played the game I didn’t see how the game was any different from another game app I own called Ascension Chronicle Of The Godslayer. It played almost exactly the same.

But the more I played it, the more I started to see why the game had become so popular.

Below I will give you the three reasons why you should pick up a copy.

(The Amazon links are affiliate links. Thanks for  your support)

It’s Inexpensive

First, as far as tabletop deck building games go, this one is by far the least expensive. For $15.00 you can pick up a copy and you’re ready to play the game against a friend. You only need the one game to play two players. That’s a lot of game for a very low price.

It’s one of the lowest priced deck builders on the market.

Not only that but the Android app is free.

To unlock the higher difficulty modes and all the bells and whistles of the full game, you need to spend $4.99. But if you simply want to, learn to play, try the game out, play against the easy computer AI, and play the first part of the Campaign mode, you can’t go wrong with free.

I’m assuming the iOS app also has the same model.

Even at $4.99, the game is worth the price.

Easy to Learn

The game is very easy to pick up and play. The object of the game reduce your opponent’s life points (in game terms, his “authority”) to zero.

As with all deck building games, you start with a small deck of ten cards. You draw five as your starting hand of cards and with it you can either buy cards from the center of the table, attack your opponent’s life points, or do both.

Any cards you purchase go immediately to your discard pile. Once your turn is done, you discard all the cards you played AND the ones in your hand that you didn’t, into the discard pile. Then you draw another hand of five cards from your deck and wait for your next turn.

If you’re deck runs out of cards you shuffle your discard pile (which contains any new cards you bought) and you create your new deck from it.

Rinse repeat, until you opponent is out of the game. Simple.

I happen to own two other deck building game with almost the exact same simple game play as this one. The biggest difference between those games and this one is that, I get this game.

What I mean by this is, I get the way the combos in this game work. There something about the way the cards in this game work together that really makes sense to me.

It’s Deep

The game has four factions. Each faction has a theme. One is all about attacking, one is about building currency and life points, one is about getting rid of cards, and one is about building a swarm of ships.

The trick to playing this game is to try to create a synergy of cards that work well together within the limited amount of random cards that are available to purchase.

The designer, who is a Magic the Gathering Hall of Fame inductee, likened the process to drafting Magic cards in a Magic the Gathering draft game.

I’ve only played Magic this way once but I have to say, it resembled that way of playing Magic, quite a bit.

The more you play the game, the more you understand each faction and how it plays. It gives so much replay value to the game knowing how all the cards work, and deciding what the best cards to get are at the right moments.

It’s really fun, and very challenging.

Final Thoughts

This game is so worth getting. I didn’t realize how much fun I would have playing it.

It’s also very unique as a deck builder because most deck builders aren’t about directly attacking your opponents.

If you haven’t played a deck building game before, this once is an ideal introduction. It’s also a ton of fun to play.

If you’ve played Magic before and want to play something similar but without the collectible aspect, this is the game to get.

Give it a try.

WRITING – Four Things to Think About When Writing a Novel Part 4 of 4

Simpsons Quote:

Bart: “Hey, writers! The Da Vinci Code just sold another hundred copies!” (loud moan from the writers).

Hi. Welcome to video four of “Things to Think About When You’re Writing a Novel”. These are four things to think about when you’re writing a novel. Today we’re going to be talking about dialogue tags and I’m here with my wife, Alesha Escobar.

You can either watch the video or read the transcription below:

Some of the links below are affiliate links. Thanks for your support.

About Dialogue Tags

Luis: I’ve been editing my wife’s third book out of the trilogy, which is of The Gray Tower series. One of them…

Alesha: Tower’s Alchemist.

Luis: Tower’s Alchemist is number one. And number two is Dark Rift. And number three is Circadian Circle, which I’m halfway through.

And yeah, so we’re going to be talking about dialogue tags today and what do I mean by dialogue tags?

Alesha: Basically, he said/she said after a character speaks.

Luis: Yeah. I personally don’t like them. And I just kind of became aware of them in the way that they work without them after I listened to author Michael Stackpole, which – who used to be a – what’s the word. A host of the podcast The Dragon Page where he often gave a lot of writing advice, and one of the writing advice – one of the things of advice that he gave about dialogue tags is this: he’d rather see a character described doing some kind of acting or action and then in the way that a dialogue is said. For example, and here’s like an exercise that he gave out and I thought that it was really interesting. If you could write a dialogue between two characters and the way you write them indicates cadence or accents or expression or emotes and you can just through dialogue know who is talking without having to have a dialogue tag then – I mean, that’s a good exercise that helps make dialogue flow and feel a little bit more natural, right. But it’s just an exercise that in and of itself.

Another exercise he said was what if you were sitting say across the room in an office and you were looking at two people having a conversation between a wall of glass. Like here’s a glass and another wall of glass. You couldn’t hear what they were actually saying at all, but you can tell exactly what everybody was saying and how they were saying it just by the acting and the body language. So if somebody was mad or angry or upset, just through the description of their body language in and of itself you can tell what the conversation might be about, what it’s possibly about, what they’re acting talking about, what the conversation might be about.

So if you’re that good of a description – if you have that much description in the character’s body language then a bit of dialogue might very well be clear at least in an emotional level.

So that’s what I – so when I look and I read through Alesha’s book and the manuscripts I try to find places where you can get rid of the dialogue tags, but here’s the thing…she doesn’t agree with me.

Alesha: I don’t agree with you, Luis. And I’m going to tell you why. Okay, first of all, when you have more than two people speaking in a scene you’re going to have to use tags at some point just to indicate who is speaking. Or if someone who has spoken before has stopped speaking and letting others speak and then they rejoin the conversation I think that’s acceptable. It’s still kind of I guess you would say standard to have dialogue tags, but I do partially agree with you in the sense that it’s not always needed like just straight down the line and I think that’s what you’re trying to say. And there can be times where you would just use body language or description to communicate to the reader who’s speaking and maybe even how they’re speaking and indicating their tone but, you know, I still use he said/she said and I think it’s fine. I think it’s fine, Luis.

Luis: Again, I would much rather read a book that doesn’t. I’ve become hyper aware of it. I just think the pros works better and it feels better somehow. I wish I had the book with me but it’s upstairs with the baby and I don’t want to wake him up. It’s a book called Daemon. I guess the author’s last name is Suarez – I
forgot. I forgot his first name. But I’ll link to it on below but, yeah, the – it’s his first novel and the book is like this big monstrous book like that and there are scenes where there’s a room full in a meeting and people are talking back and forth and there’s six, seven character having a discussion and throughout the entire book, if you look through the entire book, he never once uses any dialogue tags in the entire book. And everybody that has some kind of dialogue is clear who is speaking and I thought, see, it can be done. Like that’s – and it really – you don’t notice it. You just don’t notice that he didn’t use any dialogue tags. I mean, after I read that I’m like, see, it’s possible. It’s possible. It totally works. I sometimes just – it’s just much more difficult not to do the dialogue tags. I think that’s the biggest problem and if you don’t do it well it gets really confusing. So, I don’t know. I mean, that’s what – you know…

Alesha: I think if someone can write without using dialogue tags then go for it, but…

Luis: Well let’s see in the Tower’s Alchemist a section where dialogue tags weren’t used and how it would work.

Alesha: Okay.

Luis: Do you want me to read it?

Alesha: Start right here.

Luis: Okay. So here’s a little bit. I don’t even know who’s talking this time but it says:

“You had to go all the way up north?”

Ken nodded. “So I get there, and I find out that the guy had been guillotined.”

“Ouch…” I frowned. I supposed the SS wanted to break up the monotony of firing squads.

“But I found out he had left three notebooks of ciphers with his assistant before being arrested.”

“Where was the assistant?”

“Erm…in jail, but he was in Mantes.”

“Wait, didn’t you start off in that area?”

“I know, makes you want to punch something, doesn’t it?”

Bernard laughed. “He’ll probably end up punching me.”

“You two know each other?” My gaze went between Ken and Bernard.

“Do I know him?” Bernard shot Ken a quick glance. “If it weren’t for me, Drake wouldn’t know how to make it down the street in Paris.”

So, I mean, the whole time you didn’t use any dialogue tags and it was just like: “Bernard laughed,” you have, “my gaze went to Ken and Bernard” after her dialogue. You know, “I know him, ‘Bernard shot Ken a glance.'”

So that’s kind of like what I’m talking about. Like the entire time you tag it without specifically saying “said” or “I said” or whatever and you just add like a moment of action. And it kind of works like a dialogue tag only you’re doing it with a moment of action. I turned, Bernard laughed, he looked up, scratch – I don’t know. Scratched his head, you know, something. And so, it can be done. It’s just so much, much, much more difficult to do it that way and it can be confusing if you don’t do it well.

Okay. Well you got both our points of views and this is real obvious, so.

Alesha: Let us know what you think.

Luis: Yeah. Yeah. Right now the Tower’s Alchemist is free for the Kindle at the time of this video. I don’t know, it may not be free later on but right now it is.

Alesha: And where else is it free?

Luis: At the iBookstore and Smashwords.

Alesha: Good job.

Luis: Okay. And I’ll see you guys next time. I’m not even going to plug my newsletter where you can download my free book. Go to my blog and find out how you can do that. All right. So we’ll see you next week from Luis.

Alesha: Bye.

Luis: Bye.

VIDEOS – Superman vs. Thor

I thought this was fun. For a fan movie with no budget (?), this is pretty darn good. Enjoy:

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THE SIMPSONS NEWS – At a Simpsons Party, I Encountered Weird Al Yankovic and…

Simpsons quote:

Homer Simpson: Hey, Weird Al! Did you get those parodies I sent you?
‘Weird Al’ Yankovic: Yes I did, Homer.
Homer Simpson: Which one was better, “Livin’ La Pizza Loca” or “Another One Bites The Crust”?
‘Weird Al’ Yankovic: Actually, Homer, they were both the same.
Homer Simpson: Yeah, like you and Allan Sherman.

Sometimes, at Simpsons parties, celebrities that provide guest voices show up.

I don’t often get starstruck.  In fact, I’ve NEVER gotten starstruck.  This isn’t to say that I don’t think it’s neat when I see a celebrity.

Although, if I was to ever get an opportunity to talk to a celebrity or something, I probably would, if I wanted.  Problem is, I don’t do well socially in the BEST of times. Not even with people I know, so I doubt talking to strangers would be any better.

Case in point, I had the opportunity one time to talk to Weird Al Yankovic at a party, here’s what happened.

You can either watch the video or read about the event below. It’s the same info:

(Some of the links below are affiliate links)

Growing Up with Weird Al

Growing up I really didn’t listen to much music.  In fact, my little brother and my big sister LOVED music. I was surrounded by their music. They just couldn’t get enough music. From U2 to Bob Dylan…you name it they where into it. But I was not.

The only thing that I would listen to, was Weird Al Yankovic.

I still have my records.  Like my “Even Worse” record:

and this self titled one:

The right hand corner of the second record album above is chewed up by the hamsters I had growing up. I left the album too close to the hamster cage.

I do have a turn table so I can still listen to the records.  I also had tapes. Mostly I had tapes.

I listened to them all the time. I memorized the music, it was fun.  I lyrics where humorous. I was really into comic strips and comedy. It was my thing.

Yeah ,so I was into Looney Tunes, comics strips, funny music…that was my life. I wasn’t that serious a kid (well maybe I was) which is why I like comedy and liked to laugh.

Who would have thought that he’d do a voice on the show.  I believed he played himself in it.

An Encounter on at The House of Blues

Well, one time there was Simpsons party that took place in The House of Blues in Hollywood.  My wife and I, we were in line to get in, and who was in front of us, but Weird Al Yankovic.

So it was a bit of shock because…well, I grew up listening to his music.  For so many years, and there he was.  But I didn’t do anything.  I didn’t say anything. I’m just too introverted to do that. But it was a very strange experience.

Anyway, we get inside The House of Blues and we go and mingle.  We’re there for an hour or two and my wife needs to use the ladies room.

So we walk over there to the restrooms and I stand outside, lean against a wall and while I wait for her to come out, because I have nothing else to do.

Of course, who has a date that also needs to use the lady’s room, but Weird Al Yankovic. So he’s standing there next to me, and we make eye contact.

The Big Moment

For that split second when we made eye contact…in my head I said to him,

“Dude, I listened to your albums for so many years of my life. They’ve been part of my life.  Thank you for making me laugh.” Stuff, stuff I wanted to say. It was just welling up.

We locked eye for just a simple second. Then we turned away from each other feeling really really awkward.  I can tell he felt awkward, like he should say something, but he didn’t. And I felt awkward, because I KNEW I should say something but I didn’t.

It Passes By

So we just sat there feeling uncomfortable, sharing silence.  It was terrible.

It’s the curse of the introvert, the curse of the shy guy. And then my wife came out and we walked away, and that was it.

That’s my story. It’s anti-climactic, it’s heart wrenching and he was there and I said nothing. It was weird, and sad, and it sucked.

Tell me Your Story

Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever done that?

I few weeks ago I got a good response from one of these posts and it was really interesting to hear your stories.

BOOKS – The Tower’s Alchemist is FREE

The Tower’s Alchemist, my wife’s book, is FREE on Amazon for the Kindle.

It’s an experiment. We want to see if the first books is good enough to get you hooked on the series.  That way you buy the other two books.  I think it is. The second book is even better than the first.

Go check it out. It’s a 4 1/2  star reviewed book. I don’t know how long my wife is going to keep it free.

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THE SIMPSONS NEWS – Behind the Scenes of a Simpsons Doritos Commercial

Simpsons quote:

Homer: D’oh!

Doritors announcer: …ritos

I’ve fully animated on The Simpsons many times during my years on the show.  I say this because my job doesn’t require me to animate most of the time.

I spent most of my career on The Simpsons as a Character Layout artist.  This is different than being an animator although there is some overlap.  If you want to know more about the job of a Character Layout artist, I wrote about HERE.

The first time I was able to full animate for The Simpsons was actually on a Doritos commercial.

To hear the story behind this commercial,  you can either watch the video or read the text below.  At the bottom of the post, you’ll have a chance to watch the commercial:

Animation Training in Action

The Doritos commercial was directed by Swinton Scott. I had all been layout out before I got it and I was asked to animate every single shot in the commercial.

It was a lot of fun but it was a very challenging thing. I hadn’t done anything like it before. By which I mean, I’d never been paid to animated before.  It was a big learning experience.

I through everything I learned about animation up till then into the project. A lot of overlapping action, things stopping at different times, action, movement…it was fun.

The artwork is NOT the best.  It was very early on in my career. It wasn’t like I had the best drawing of Homer.  I didn’t have the character down as well as I should have, but it was the best I could do at the time.

I found a copy of it on Youtube and I’ve embedded the video below.

Making Things fit Together.

I will say that, there’s a scene in the commercial that used to be two separate shots.  When we showed it to Fox we received some notes.  One of the notes was to cut out a scene. This forced us to combine the two scenes that book ended the missing scene. The scenes looked identical but they actually were not.

I ended having to animate the scenes into one another.  It’s near the end and it’s weird.  You’ll see. There’s a scene near the end where the announcer says, “food in the fast lane.” Well, that whole scene used to be two scenes.

You’ll see at the beginning of that shot that Homer kinda morphs a little bit. That’s where I was trying to animate these two scenes together and combine them into one scene.

The Commercial

So if you’re ready to watch it, here you go:

What’s your Reaction?

What do you think? Did you ever see this commercial when it went live?

THE SIMPSONS NEWS – The Couch Gag that Wouldn’t Die

So this season seems have been the season of epic Couch Gags.

Most of the Couch Gags I’ve worked on this season have been epic.  Like, “mini movie” epic.

I haven’t worked on all of them but I’ve worked on quite a few. Most of the time I don’t mind at all.  They’re a lot of fun.

This week though, I came face to face with the Couch Gag that wouldn’t die.

I’m working on revising show 22 of this season. Production approached me to do some overtime revising the storyboards for a Couch Gag  that needed to be approved.

I said sure.  I fixed the boards really quick and off it went.  I continued revising show 22.

Next day, after lunch, I’m told  there where notes on the Couch Gag.  I needed to fix the board A.S.A.P., so I did.  The fixes where kinda elaborate.   It took me three times longer to fix than the original notes.  Meanwhile, I’m running  behind on show 22.

I finish the fixes.

Nope, there are two designs that I need to put in the board.  I have to redraw some stuff.

So I change the designs and turn it in.  The board is okay, and that was that.  The boards are sent to get approved again.

The next day, mid-morning, I get sent a note telling me there’s more fixes.  Different fixes.

“GAH!” Why won’t this Couch Gag leave me alone?!  (Sigh)

So I fix it.  It didn’t take long.  It was minor, but it was annoying.

I half expect to get the boards sent back to me again before the day was over…and they were.

More changes were sent to me. Nothing that was even in the original script either.  The board just wouldn’t die.

I managed to finish those changes.  I hope we don’t get sent more today.  Wish me luck.

Now I’m behind on my work and have to make up the time.

At least I’m getting paid overtime.

Oh well, I can’t complain, it’s still a fun job. It can just get annoying sometimes.

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