Randolph Pub in Montreal

Last week I got the pleasure of visiting Randolph Pub in Montreal. It was the last item on my long list of must-do things in Montreal. Well you know what they say, save the best for last! And I did. 

Originally, I had plans to visit Randolph pub with a few different friends while in Montreal. However, they all seemed to fall through for a variety of reasons. However, my amazing wife offered to go with me instead. No offence to the others, but this was an upgrade in my books. 

We arrived shortly after 4pm, when the doors open to this board game paradise. The pub already had a few people playing games & enjoying the happy hour specials. I bumped into Justin, one of the four owners, and he was gracious enough to show me around the place. Justin explained some of the history of the establishment and showed me the numerous improvements they keep adding to Randolph pub. The picture above shows Justin in the newly renovated upstairs space. With the new bench seating, and the high end air conditioner installed, the upstairs space can now comfortably handle an additional 100 customers beyond the the main floor of the pub. 

Tanya & I enjoyed some delicious food and drinks. Tanya had a yummy Quiche with salad, and a Pop Shoppe cola. I must confess, I love Pop Shoppe, as its from London, ON and I lived many great years there. I enjoyed a delightful panani sandwich with tortilla chips, and a smooth St. Ambroise Scotch beer.  

I had a great date night with my wife at Randolph Pub. We ended up staying for about 4 hours and enjoyed some good food, drinks, and fun. We managed to play Roll N Bump, Cinque Terre, Augustus, & Qwixx (a home made copy as the game is not released in N. America yet). The staff were very helpful, recommending/teaching us a variety of games. Overall, a fantastic example of what every board game cafe/pub should and can be. 

Adventures on the Tabletop

Only 3 days left! If you havent heard already, an upcoming Board Game documentary is on Kickstarter. But only 3 days left to help this project be even better. I highly recommend you help sponsor this project by signing on to Kickstarter and finding a funding level that interest you. If you like board games, you are going to want to see this movie.

The film maker is Douglas Morse. I had the pleasure meeting him at the Gathering of Friends a couple months ago. Doug's goal with this movie is to make a film for board game fans, that helps pull back the curtain on the whole board game design/publishing process, and let everyone see the adventure games go through to get to our tables.

I am a little bias, as I might be featured in the film, but even beyond that, I am very confident the content in this film will be amazing. Some of the exclusive and candid interviews Doug Morse has been able to attain are priceless. The chance to hear from legendary board game designers like Alan Moon, and significant publishers in the industry like Hans Im Gluck, is incredible rare and will be very entertaining. We are talking about people who love and make games. Of course they are fun people.

So check out the preview below, and please consider supporting this project. Also, please go out of your way and recommend this project to a few people you know who might be interested in the film. At the very least you will earn some bonus points with your friends & family that you recommend this to them, because it shows you were thinking of them.

-- Daryl Andrews

(PS - you can see me at 0:48 & 2:25 in the preview)

Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe....

I know, I know.  I don't post for weeks and then you read this title.  Hear me out - work is crazy, dog is quite sick, and basically the only time I've had off was last weekend.  Speaking of which, we went to Origins for another fun weekend and I'll post some convention pics by the weekend.

But seriously, check out this link.  I scoffed at first but then I read ALL the rules.  It is actually a pretty clever and rather tricky variant.  Which is probably why it showed up on a math blog.  And yes, it's probably eventually solvable but then isn't every abstract?

(Thanks for the tip, Gilad...)