ohryan.ca

A Web Developer in Winnipeg

  • Top 3 Board Games of 2009

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    Thinking back over 2009, I played a fair number of new boardgames. These are my top 3. None of these games were actually published in 2009, but I was introduced to all of them last year.

    1. Pandemic

    Pandemic is the most original and interesting game I’ve played since being introduced to the board game revival a few years ago. In short: it’s a fully co-op game where you work as a team to rid the world of viruses. You play with a team, each player has certain special skills.

    With 3 ways to lose and only 1 way to win the game is also really, really challenging…in a good way. The gameplay mechanic is such that you’re essentially racing against the clock, in a losing battle against global pandemic on multiple fronts. Also because it’s a fully co-operative game, players often in a situation where they need to coordinate moves and ability.  I’ve found that the main opponent is often the players egos. We’re so used to competing against others for a solo victory that actually co-operating and managing resources amongst each other is the most challenging element.

    The game is technically set up for 2 – 4 players. I’d recommend a full 4, the smaller games are essentially scaled down from the 4 player game.

    Publisher’s Site
    Best Dang Games Video Review
    BoardGameGeek

    2. Agricola

    Agricola is a farming, resource collecting game. It is well balanced, complex and loads of fun. The starting conditions of the game are so variable that I have yet to come up with a general strategy for Agricola. It’s been the #1 game on BoardGameGeek for quite some time, the only reason I’m ranking it lower than Pandemic is simply because I think pandemic is a more unique game.

    The game is playable with 1 – 5 players. Agricola is a little different than most games, you have an almost completely different set of starting conditions and a different deck of available cards depending on the number of players. This lends to it’s extreme re-playability.

    Board Games With Scott extensive 30 minute video review
    BoardGameGeek

    3. Bang!

    Published in 2002, this game certainly isn’t new and it’s not actually a board game. Bang! is a wild west theme card game. Each player has a hidden role card (except for the sheriff) and different win conditions based on their role, this guess and bluff gameplay element makes it a great party game. Additionally, players are dealt character cards with unique abilities and hit points.

    I don’t think the game is as well balanced as it could be, it’s quite hard for the sheriff to win and extremely hard for the outlaws to lose. But the game is quick, lasting about 15 – 30 minutes, so you can easily play 3 or 4 games in a sitting. If you think of each game as a “round,” the fact that players change roles each game lends to great fun overall.

    4 – 7 Players. I recommend at least 5.
    PS. It’s translated from Italian, some of the rules a nonsense. Read the FAQ.

    BoardGameGeek
    Wikipedia

    Most Over-rated Game of 2009: Powergrid, currently #3 on BGG. The mental math is extremely difficult and really takes away from the game experience. It’s also unclear what steps need to be taken in order to win, the win condition is not concrete enough. The art is nice though.

    Most Anticipated Game of 2009: Battlestar Galatica. Seems fun. That is all.

  • How To: Stop Websites From Resizing Your Browser Window

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    If you’re tired of websites resizing your browser window, rest your weary head. In Firefox, you can disable website’s abilities to do this with Javascript:

    1. Tools-> Options (Firefox -> preferences or ⌘, on OS X)
    2. Select the “Content” tab.
    3. Click on the “Advanced” button across from “Enable JavaScript”.
    4. Uncheck the “Move or resize existing windows” checkbox.

    Thanks to reddit user libertao, another one of the many bits of knowledge I’ve learned from comments on reddit.

  • Apple Store Service Sucks

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    I visited the Apple Store in Polo Park earlier today with the intention of finding out whether they had any Magic Mouses (mice?) in stock and spending some Christmas money purchasing one if they did. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect this sort of thing to be a fairly straightforward, 3 – 5 minute process. Instead, it took 10 or more minutes – I wasn’t counting – and my wife ended up in a verbal altercation with another customer. However, this is not an isolated incident, I’ve been to the store once or twice a month since opening and every time I’ve attempted to purchase something it has not been a pleasant transaction. The customer service stinks.

    I believe the problem is entirely due to the lack of a designated “checkout” area. If you haven’t ever stepped foot in an Apple Store, the main staff (I think Apple refers to them as “Concierge”) walk around the store seemingly aimlessly waiting for customers to flag them down, there are no checkout counters or cash registers. I can see the logic behind this type of set up: without a designated check-out area you don’t have long, ugly lines forming around the store and you don’t waste retail space. Without designated “cashiers,” all staff are able to help customers with any task. In theory, it’s more efficient than a traditional retailer.

    In practice, the whole system breaks down if there are equal numbers of customers wanting help and staff.

    It’s not always entirely clear whether a staff member is helping a customer or not; they may need to run to another part of the store to do one thing or another – in this situation, you find yourself trying to flag down someone who’s either ignoring you or has to sluff you off. In and of itself, this is not a problem unique to the Apple Store, this happens at any retailer when you’re trying to get help on a busier day. At the Apple Store because there are no designated checkouts, you’re forced in to this customer-unfriendly situation even if you do not need any help with your purchase. At best it’s a minor annoyance, at worst it doesn’t leave me feeling like a very valuable customer. I almost feel like this behavior serves to reinforce the old Apple-elitist attitudes, i.e. Apple only has a limited amount of time to dole out to the peons. Not only that, this type of system favors the visible and vocal customer, a dis-service to the typical-introverted-geek that makes up the core of Apple’s customer-base.

    Most retails stores have a queuing area is because it works, it’s an accepted shopping convention that all customers know how to interact with. The key component in good customer service is setting expectations, a queue is a good way to accomplish this. If I see 10 people waiting at a checkout I can roughly estimate how long it will take me buy something or get service, I can adjust my patience accordingly. With staff randomly scattered around the store I’m not able to easily determine how many staff are engaged with a customer, how many are free and how many customers are waiting on a giving staff member – i.e. I don’t have enough information to calculate how much time to expect to be spending in the store. Queues also make it very easy to distinguish between customers waiting on service and customer who are just browsing or staring into space. When informal queues form around a given staff member it’s impossible to tell who’s “in line” and who’s not. As I alluded to earlier, this can cause the customer who’s “next” to yell at your wife for not waiting her turn.

    The Apple Store is chaos. Whenever I try to get help I feel like a little lost puppy. Maybe that’s how Steve Jobs wants it. If I could have made this purchase online, I would have.