Perspective “In This Moment”

 “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”

— Theodore Roosevelt

Five years ago the covid-19 pandemic hit America hard. School and businesses started to close. News stories speculated about infection methods. Toilet paper and other essentials started disappearing from store shelves. People worked from home when they could. Masks. Social distancing. People dying in droves. Everything changed. Nobody quite knew where it was going...or how it might end. It was a moment in history for those of us used to reading about, studying, or even gaming with history. Suddenly we weren’t just looking back on some distant event with full knowledge of its aftermath. Our immediate perspective offered little insight how the crisis might play out. For once we occupied the position of people throughout history, experiencing history at that moment, unable to see where it was all going, with only future uncertainty ahead. Like playing a constantly changing game, we could only “estimate the situation” to the best of our knowledge and proceed with what seemed at the time as a suitable course of action

Fighting A Plague of Droids

During the New Year’s holiday our family played Star Wars The Clone Wars Game – A Pandemic System Game. It combined our enjoyment of Star Wars and games – and my particular admiration of cooperative games – in an immersive experience ridding the galaxy of battle droids, planetary blockades, and iconic prequel-era villains. The rules and procedures took a little while to understand; various elements draw on the Clone Wars themes, sending players across the galaxy pursing different strategies as turn-by-turn the overall tension increases. Designer Alexander Ortloff adapted elements from Matt Leacock’s innovative Pandemic mechanics to produce a suspenseful and immersive game experience evocative of the Star Wars: Clone Wars cartoon epics.

Online Game Shopping during Covid

In an earlier post I noted my inability/unwillingness to migrate my gaming from the in-person tabletop to the electronic platforms the internet offers during the covid-19 pandemic. Yet the internet has made surviving the pandemic possible...and even bearable. My wife could work from home. My son could attend “virtual learning” at school remotely for a year. And I could continue indulging in game purchases when it didn’t feel safe to make my occasional pilgrimages to area game stores and conventions. Though my gaming didn’t leave the house (with a few exceptions at the local history museum), purchases kept me engaged with reading and learning rules, crafting miniatures and terrain, and playing games solitaire and with family members. Despite a seemingly impersonal online shopping experience (compared to in-person shopping), I discovered some excellent online retailers who brought game-related diversions right to my doorstep.

Tabletop Transitioning Online

“We fear change.”

– Garth, Wayne’s World

As a member of Generation X who fears change, I feel torn between two worlds. I am reluctantly adapting to the exponential technological advancements of 21st century society despite my preference (possibly nostalgia) for the seemingly better days of my youth. It’s not easy for an old curmudgeon like me ensconced in my old ways. It’s not that I haven’t tried. Long an advocate of print publishing, I adapted to release game product in PDF format and even succumbed to sharing my written thoughts on game matters online in this very blog. Even so, I still prefer to read print books, for my eyes and attention span have limited tolerance for reading text on a screen with any lasting sense of comprehension. The pandemic has forced everyone to adjust, often with the aid of electronic devices and various apps and programs. And I’ve tried to adapt, too, but I find tabletop gaming online doesn’t offer the same experience, the same satisfaction, of gaming in person.

Rejuvenating after the Lost Years

 “With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.”

– Eleanor Roosevelt

A reproduction of an Egyptian scarab figurine sits on my desk. He’s plaster, painted as if he were blue faience, a souvenir from my last visit to the Worcester Art Museum ages ago. I bought it and set it on my desk because he embodies the creative spirit of the ancient Egyptian god Khepri, inspired by the beetle that rolled around dung balls from which its offspring miraculously crawled, seeming to summon life out of nothing. Khepri was also revered as a god rolling the sun from the dawing horizon on its skyward course each day. The figurine on my desk isn’t as much an inspiration as a reminder, a talisman symbolizing the imaginative spark. He’s not been very happy with me during nearly two years of pandemic privations. He sits there, silently, but in my mind he’s furiously shouting at me: “Create something out of nothing! Better yet, create something from a ball of crap!”

Gaming the Covid Crisis

 “Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.”

– Confucius

Occasionally I joke when people ask what games I’ve been playing lately: why, live-action Pandemic, of course, just like everyone else. Perhaps if more people had played Pandemic the board game they might have had a better understanding of the covid-19 crisis and more seriously considered some of the unexpected threats it poses to our society. Looking back over the last 18 months, however, I sometimes wonder how different, hopefully more effective, our response might have been if people and institutions at all levels had taken the time beforehand to learn to assess situations, form possible action and contingency plans, and explore possible outcomes through game-like exercises centered on pandemic response.

Another Pandemic Summer

 “One swallow does not make a summer, neither does one fine day; similarly one day or brief time of happiness does not make a person entirely happy.”

– Aristotle

We’ve managed through another pandemic summer, not quite as difficult as last year – when covid-19 ravaged our populations amid political tensions and an inconsistent response at various levels of government – but challenging nonetheless. We managed to engage in some of our geeky pursuits, learning about history, watching movies, trying some new games, and making a few careful day trips. And I’m happy to report the wargaming programs I’d hoped to run at the local museum finally got a tentative start. But overall it was another summer of getting by without many of the entertaining activities we’d normally enjoy during this season.

History Lost/Gained in the Pandemic

 “That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history.”

– Aldous Huxley

The covid-19 pandemic forced many to alter our lives for the sake of the common good in overcoming a novel virus. Everyone’s lost something. If we’re lucky we only lost more than a year of life’s normal activities, routines, and special events. The less fortunate lost jobs, homes, and, worst of all, loved ones. (I discussed some of my own disappointments before in “The 2020 that Might Have Been.”) Hopefully we’ve gained a little something from these experiences...a perspective on what we lost, how much it meant, and how we might appreciate it all the more in the future. We’re still dealing with covid-19, managing our comfort levels, health, and vaccination status against the risks of returning to the way we did things in the “Before Times” as I sarcastically call them. A “normal” school year for students ranks among the losses young people sustained. Partial in-person learning and part- or full-time distance learning online focused on the most central of the core subjects – math, reading, science – and what little history they had studied earlier simply dropped off the academic map. Luckily for our household we try fostering and engaging an interest in history through films and games.

Frustrated Pandemic Dreams

 “All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.”

– Edgar Allan Poe

Our subconscious works in mysterious ways, as evidenced by our dreams. Sometimes they’re strange visits to past episodes of our lives, other times nightmares, and often strange and frustrating situations, for all of which wakefulness offers some respite. Goodness knows 13 months of pandemic controversies, news, anxiety, and precautions have weighed heavily on our minds. The media is rife with stories that seem almost routine now: tips on working from home; how students can make the most of distance learning; simple ways to beat the pandemic blues; and typical covid-fueled dreams about precautions and privations we’ve endured. So it should come as no surprise that the pandemic has infected my scarce peaceful hours of sleep at least once a week.

Forget 2020, Look to the New Year

 “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”

– Seneca

The new year begins in only a few days. Although we want to forget the dumpster fire of 2020 and put it well behind us, its ruinous effects on various levels will unfortunately continue wreaking havoc with life as we know it well into the new year. For some it has and will continue to plunge them deeper into physical and economic hardship, a malicious result of America’s reliance on cruel capitalism for the masses and corporate welfare for the privileged few. In past New Year’s holidays I’ve waxed nostalgic about the prior year, reflecting on one as we stumble into the next. Looking back on what the world has lost in 2020 offers little comfort, especially knowing that the first months of 2021 hold more of the relentless challenges and upheavals we’ve endured since March. We must all reflect on how the pandemic has affected and will continue to impact our lives, communities, and world in our own way. Although I’ve looked back at how the pandemic has changed my own life, especially as related to the adventure gaming hobby, I take some comfort looking forward to the coming year when we can appreciate some of the adjustments we’ve made in these unprecedented times and anticipate an eventual return to cherished activities we suspended to survive the Year of the Pandemic.

The 2020 that Might Have Been

 “These so-called bleak times are necessary to go through in order to get to a much, much better place.”

– David Lynch

The insanity of the year 2020 certainly gives me cause to reflect on what could have been if the pandemic hadn’t completely disrupted life as we know it. Contemplating these lost experiences helps me comprehend the scope of our sacrifice and look forward to appreciating them that much more should the post-covid future allow us. Among the canceled vacations, game conventions, family gatherings, summer camps, blockbuster film premieres, and routine excursions to relieve real-world stress – disappointments no doubt shared by many – is one gaming opportunity I’d anticipated immensely, one that might still develop and flourish once America learns to responsibly deal with covid-19. But for now it languishes with the “might have beens” of 2020. I’d long planned to develop a “Wargaming History” talk for the local museum and had finally met with the director to pitch it, even had it scheduled on the calendar, when the pandemic shut everything down.

A Horrifying Pandemic Halloween

Pretty much how I
feel about Halloween.

I’m not a huge fan of Halloween. Oh, sure, as a kid I loved it, mostly because we focused on creating fun costumes and wandering through the neighborhood collecting candy. But as an adult – especially seeing how some of Halloween focuses on the grisly, ghoulish, and outright horrific – I have little stomach for it. I bear much of it because the holiday remains important for my wife and son; our basement storage bins of Halloween decorations and kitsch rival our boxes of decorations for the yuletide holidays; and the subject of “What costume can I demand Mommy make me this year?” remains a prominent thought for my son as soon as school begins. So I grin and bear the Halloween season and its host of required traditional activities. Yet the pandemic challenges us this year to celebrate in a different, safer way.

Playing to “Win” the Covid-19 Game

I don’t usually indulge in politics or other sensitive, real-life subjects here at Hobby Games Recce. If I do, it’s in some way related to games. So I’d like to propose that the current pandemic situation has some parallels to gaming; specifically how we play games, strategies we use to succeed, and what happens when we win or lose. So bear with me if you will or simply come back next time for a less-politically tinged feature. And if you’re the kind of person who takes offense at my sentiments on these subjects, well, sic transit mundus.

Game Activity during the Pandemic

For two months the covid-19 pandemic has altered how we live our lives, including our gaming habits. Most world governments imposed limitations on their population (followed more stringently in some places than others). In less than two months more Americans have died than in all the years of fighting in Vietnam. Depending on how soon scientists can develop more effective testing and tracking, vaccines, and treatments/cures, we may never really return to a semblance of “normal” we experienced before. In the face of this deadly pandemic most everyone’s trying to adapt to the new situation: businesses, conventions, individual gamers. No doubt we’ll continue adjusting as conditions change for better or worse. We just have to sit back and see how our efforts affect the pandemic...and until then, we can distract ourselves and find some respite from this grim reality through our modified adventure gaming hobby activities.

Solo Gaming in Pandemic Times

The covid-19 coronavirus seems like something from the intro to a post-apocalyptic roleplaying game. Or a night playing Pandemic. Anxiety remains high, especially with our 24/7 information highway overload and a problematic centralized federal government preparation and response. Hopefully everyone employs good hygiene practices and uses “self isolation” to whatever degree possible (I realize not everyone can engage in it, especially first responders and medical workers, but also those who have little choice but to report to work lest they lose paychecks and jobs). We need entertaining diversions to occupy our inflammably anxious minds and provide some positive, imaginative experiences. Solo gaming to the rescue!