UYE Board Game Night

As I have mentioned in the past, attending UYE’s is the way to get to know your fellow Unilocalers well. The majority of these get togethers are primarily food and alcoholic beverages but this UYE is unique where you play games, particularly board games.
This was my very first time to attend this continuing UYE series hosted by Darren N., the genius of board games. These aren’t your typical Monopoly games that many of us may think of. These are advanced and complex games that bring you into a new world!
Event was held at the Ewa conference room at Ward Warehouse and upon arrival, I immediately saw Cathy T., Maka K., Darin O. and host Darren N. It was a busy day for me and didn’t have time for dinner so I picked up cheap eats from nearby McDonald’s for $ 1 menu nomz and brought some Chinese mini custard tarts to share.
Darren N. was very informative and patient in teaching us the rules and objectives of several complex board games. Maka K. seemed to be also very knowledgeable as she and Darren N. were in sync when it came to scoring and rules.
Jacob N. stopped by after his night class to join us and this very intimate group of 6 Yeeps spent several hours playing board games.
This conference room was shared by other board game enthusiasts, who were part of a group/​club that meets up periodically (Meet Up?).
It was a very enjoyable and relaxing night with my fellow cool Yeeps. For the next UYE if I am available I’ll be sure to stop by!
NOTE: Post UYE nomz led some of us to Ryan’s Grill where Victoria M. and Daniel C. stopped by to join us with Happy Hour eats!

UYE Other Realms
Probably the most relaxed UYE I have ever been to– ever.
Just showing up is casual. There were many guys in t-​shirts, slippers and shorts carrying many big packages that we later find out are filled with hand made and store bought toys in massively large displays of miniatures for game play that takes up 2 tables normally used for 8 people each but is only for 2 gamers playing each other.
So– what did we do? Play with little toys?
No, not this time.
We played first an array game, that puts animals in length of life span on the axels. There were other choices on the cards so you can play the game over and over. I won that round– what can I say I had Maroon V ‘animal’ going on in my head and it was the winning ticket.
Then we played a board/​card game like Civilization on computer. You can build a city with technology/​warfare/​resources/​buildings. Maka was the winner of that round.
Then we played another game that was a cooperative game — Jacob, Cathy, Paul, our host Darren, Maka and myself were characters that went in a museum that tried to solve puzzles to kill a demon monster. It was a roll die chance game that uses team work strategy to keep other players alive while advancing towards the goal of killing the demon monster. Slower moving but the game was team based so you could jump in and give support or advice as the playing went on til your turn. We killed the demon monster– where Jacob says that the game normally gets way harder and harder as it is played at other times previously.
Pretty good fun.
The space above Ward is very different from the great facades on the interior ground floor store fronts. The room is the bear bones but is plenty adequate.
Really great small group and you are able to get to talk story while waiting for your turn and meeting Unilocalers in a really small setting.

I was able to arrive about halfway through play time and came upon Jacob, Daren, Alycia, and Cathy. It arrived just in time because the next game was about to start! The game of choice was Splendor. I had never played this game before and I was intrigued. Splendor is a game where you collect gems to collect more gems to score. There was also a short round of the Zombie Dice game. Milly and Bong also joined in on the fun!
It was really neat showing up to Board Game Night because I had not played or been around anything like this for a long time. I used to play fantasy card games a lot and it brought back some memories. Fun times!

I just wrote another review about how I’m a big nerd (see my Kawaii Kon review)…so it just seemed like a good time to finally review Darren N’s Board Game Night UYEs! How does being a big nerd connect to board game night? Well, it’s not like we’re playing Monopoly or LIFE, we’ve been trying things like Cards Against Humanity, Superfight, Elder Scrolls, Zombie Dice and more much less heard of games!
The UYE is always during Other Realms’ general board game/​tabletop Monday game night on the 2^nd floor of Ward Warehouse. That’s right; that means parking is plentiful and free! Yay!
Darren N. always manages to find us some table space where we set up shop and teach each other new nerdy games. I, personally, don’t own any of said nerdy games, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t enjoyable to learn about and play! Besides, it’s not like you can really play these games alone anyhow!
I can always count on some of my inner nerd to shine a little brighter at these Board Game Night UYEs, but at least I’m surrounded by my fellow nerd-​tastic Unilocalers. ^_​^ Don’t be shy, just join the fun!

Darren is amazing at explaining games in novice-​friendly terms. Darren, if you are reading this, you should create procedural youtube videos because I think you would be a pro and youtube sensation.
I had a great time at this UYE. I definitely tried to focus on how to play the games but Unilocalers Darren, Cathy, Aline, and Jacob were so friendly and fun so there wasn’t too much pressure to catch on to everything the first time. (Anyone that was a gangly, uncoordinated pre-​teen trying to learn a dance routine knows about the pressure I speak of but this event was the complete opposite.)
I loved playing new types of games out of my comfort zone of Cranium or Taboo so thanks to all for being welcoming and patient!

I’m so glad and thankful that Darren is continuing with this UYE! I had a blast the first time around, and this second time, although a bit smaller turnout, was just as fun, if not more so!
This time we got to play several games: Zombie Dice, Get Bit, King of Tokyo, and Elder Sign! These are all fun games with any group of people, but with crazy-​awesome fun Unilocalers like Darren N, Cathy T, Aline T and Kara K, it was an extremely fun night of gaming!
I really can’t wait for the next gaming session! I’m totally going to Christmas shop for new games for myself to bring next time!
Thanks Darren!

If you are even the slightest bit nerdy, you need to come to Unilocal Board Game Night hosted by Darren.
The board games are awesome but the Unilocalers are what makes Board Game Nights FUN FUN FUN!
It doesn’t hurt that after a night of intense board gaming, we are usually hungry and get grinds after. That’s what Unilocal is all about!

This «gamer» UYE was super fun!
It was so great hanging out with my fellow nerdy Yeeps and playing board games TO THE DEATH! lol.
I actually started writing this review after the 1^st UYE board game night but never got around to finishing it. Oops. But luckily Darren N hosted another night of board gaming so I can redeem myself by getting this one reviewed.
The first UYE game night was crazy! Over a dozen yeeps showed up and we had to spilt into two groups to play different games because it was too hard (twss!) to play with everyone.
The second time around it was a smaller group so we were able to all play! Zombie dice (won by Darren), Get Bit (won by your truly), King of Tokyo (won by Kara), and Elder Sign (unfinished due to time restraints) were all super duper fun & fairly easy to learn.
After threatening to kill off each other’s characters (and seeking REVENGE when we got killed) the group decided that Darren N must start a youtube channel where he explains the rules of each board game because he’s really good at making things simple. Seriously though some board games have rule books that are like 20 pages long!
If you’re thinking that you missed out well you did. But I’m sure we’ll have another board game UYE soon because this is the start of the Unilocal Honolulu Board Game Club! Woohoo! I can’t wait to play all of the crazy new games that I’m sure some of us will get over this holiday season!