Kudos to the fine folks at Gaming Hoopla for running another excellent fundraiser for the American Cancer Society this past weekend. And while this “Spring Mini Hoopla” was more low-key than usual—with no preregistration of badges or events—it was every bit as friendly and fun as the previous ones I’ve attended. (For what it’s worth, I’m more of a “show up and discover what’s playing” guy anyway.) Got a chance to hang out with Jim Ward and with Gerald and Randy from Colosseum Games, among other people.
Over the weekend, I demoed Monster Con, Wolf Man’s Curse, and Invasion of the Saucer People (with and without the Booster Pack), and also played a German game, Die Vampire Connection, and tried out Vampire Empire.
In Die Vampire Connection, each player is a traditional sort of vampire, able to turn to wolf, bat, or mist, and with a hunchback assistant. At least, if you have the right card to play. You gain cards from the vampire deck mainly by resting in your crypt—where you are also more vulnerable to being staked. (Fortunately, your hunchback assistant can unstake you.) Or you can spend your turn in your castle, playing movement cards (wolf, bat, mist—or carriage driven by Igor) to visit the village deck and carry off victims. The village deck contains some protection cards (garlic to repel mist form, for instance), and other vampires can play hunters and stakes to intervene. Toss in a unique power for each vampire, rules for robbing each others’ castles, and a few wild cards for unexpected sun-ups and such, and you have a game. Whoever has the most blood tokens once the Village deck is exhausted wins.
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