Just wanted to give you nightmares for the holidays!

Ryan Strong's Game Hierarchy (Sort Of)

So Tom Vasel of the Dice Tower just released his yearly top 100 games of all time list.  Its a list I look forward to seeing each year since the man reviews over 300 games annually and plays even more.  So I decided to follow suit and list my own favorite games in order (sort of).  I used a very sophisticated method to sort through the games that I have played.  Its called MonkeySort and basically you put in a list and it randomly takes two items and asks you which one you like better, until its advanced algorithm makes the list for you.

Be aware of a few of things as you look at this list.
1. This was a gut instinct type of voting so there is some arbitrary-ness to it.
2. You could really group the games into sets of 5 (1-5, 6-10 etc.) and I probably like those games about the same, so really this is my top 13 favorite games.
3. I left out party games because I love them, but I can't remember which is which.  Game of things and Wits and Wagers are awesome, but I don't remember what they are.  Sometimes I mix up Taboo and Guestures.  So just know that I've never played a party game I didn't like.  Maybe I should try to make a list for just party games.
4. I also omitted old standby games, like Risk, Monopoly so on and so forth, which are good and fun but have basically been beaten to a bloody pulp by most of these games.
5. There are a few games looming on my horizon that I fully expect to find their way into my top 15.  The Agents, Devistation of Indines, Galaxy Defenders, Xia.

So here is the list

1. Sentinels of the Multiverse
2. Lego Tactics
3. Roborally (Robot Mayhem,1-8p)
4. Arkham Horror
5. Race for the Galaxy
6. Risk Legacy
7. King of Tokyo
8. The Resistance
9. Shadows Over Camelot
10. Agricola (Resource Management, 1-5p)
11. Betrayal at House on the Hill
12. Survive
13. Lego Citadels
14. Last Night on Earth
15. Ghost Stories
16. Dominion
17. Smash Up
18. Small World (Area Control, 2-5p)
19. Cutthroat Cavern
20. Thunderstone
21. Citadels
22. Space Alert
23. Infinite City
24. Stone Age
25. Zooleretto
26. Cash-n-Guns (+Yakuza Expansion)
27. Nuns on the run
28. Bohnanza
29. Pandemic
30. Lost Cities (Deck Bulding, Board, 1-4p)
31. For Sale
32. Dixit
33. Seasons
34. Ticket to Ride
35. Boggle
36. Forbidden Island
37. Finca
38. Perry Rhodan
39. Set
40. Jamaica
41. Castle Panic
42. Pack & Stack
43. Hive
44. Lord of the Rings LCG
45. Pente
46. Modern Art
47. Fearsome Floors
48. Roll Through the Ages
49. Coloretto
50. Through the Desert
51. Nine-Shooter Quickdraw
52. Settlers of Catan
53. Zombie Dice
54. Ingenious
55. Aye, Evil Overlord
56. Sabetuer
57. Ultimate Werewolf
58. Ascension
59. Carcasonne
60. Quarriors
61. Jaipur
62. Cartagena
63. Balloon Cup
64. 7 Wonders (Empire Building, 2-7p)
65. Lord of the Rings
66. Arabian Nights
67. Inca Gold (Card, Adventure, 3-8p)

Enjoy this smattering of pictures from Halloween! Please go ahead and GUSH in the comments section over the incredible swords Ryan and I (and Aunt Denice too!) made for the kids. It was a very fun holiday indeed. 

Library Trick or Treat night the Monday before. Are you scared? Because Ninjas are silent. You wouldn't even know if these guys were standing right behind you RIGHT NOW.

Did you look? But they're not just silent. They're also sneaky little hiders. Better check behind the couch... just to be safe...

No, Abigail is not holding a knife! Ryan was out of town and I was pretty proud of myself for accomplishing the carving of the pumpkins with the kids all by myself. It was loads of fun!

School Parade

Water Ninja, Lightning Ninja, Fire Ninja

So unbelievably cute. What do you even call it? It looks a little bit edible.

Hope your October 31st was memorable ... horribly scary as well as perfectly fun. And filled to the brim with sugary goodness!

Josephine

Jo (6) just came out of her room. "Mom, is there anything that you like? I mean, Maggie likes to play, I know that about her. But you're always working. The rest of us, we do things that we like so it's easy to tell what we like. But you're hard cause you just work all the time. So is there anything you like?" I told her I like our family. Jo was unsatisfied. She explained that she's working on Christmas gifts for everyone and she's figured everyone's out except mine. "Are you ever cold or lonely?" I was lost. "No, Jo. I have you. Sometimes I get cold so I need to put on a jacket..." I told her I love the Church and I love PEOPLE. I love talking to people and getting to know them. She grinned so big and rushed off. Can't WAIT to see what gift she came up with from those suggestions! Love that girl.

 And here are some pictures from a week or two ago when Jo got a whole bunch of burs stuck in her hair from playing in the backyard. Be aware, she wasn't actually grumpy. She was actually pretty excited because Ramona Quimby also got burs stuck in her hair. So Jo was trying to LOOK grumpy like Ramona does. We weren't sure we would be able to get them out after working for a little while... but eventually, with a lot of conditioner, they did come out.