Sorcy does Boda Borg!
May. 22nd, 2016 10:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sorcyressSO LET'S TALK ABOUT BODA BORG!
Boda Borg is a team puzzle solving challenge dungeon. There are seventeen quests, each consisting of 2+ rooms. Every room has a success mode and at least one failure mode. Sometimes a lot of failure modes. They warn you right off the bat, and repeatedly, that you are going to fail, a lot. Especially because not one of the rooms comes with instructions...
Insert evil laughter and a whole lot of YES here. This is the sort of thing my parents were talking about when they wistfully sigh about how they wanted a big ol' warehouse on the nice side of town. They wanted to make their friends do this bullshit, and how!
Some of the quests are purely mental. Some of them are purely physical. Lots are in between! And I just spent EIGHT HOURS kicking ass, taking names, and having an absolutely great time.
mindways organized a group of 21 of us --eight veterans and thirteen newbies-- to come check it out. We got together at 2:00, and I wound up in a group with three strangers. The four of us kicked ass and had a lovely time --and yes, we failed a lot-- until about 5:30 when two of them had to leave.
Cue dinner and a group switch. I was itching to try some of the hardcore physical challenges --which I had been warned ranged from "kinda tough" to "American Ninja Warrior". And yes, there are at least two challenges that I am physically incapable of doing right now, which is genuinely and actually awesome. So I ran about with two different strangers, and Mindways, with me and Alex making lots of jokes about how Mindways and Ted had it SO MUCH EASIER being that they're both in the 6'+ range and Alex and I were...not.
Around 8:30, Mindways had to head home. Ted and I found his (??), Rebecca, who was the last of the other group, and the three of us decided to be the last stragglers. We finished another few rooms together, and finally at 9:30, our bodies decided to call it quits.
I had an absolute blast. I love the way that sticking with one group is good, in terms of solving puzzles, and I was very pleased with how well my later groups did with letting me take point on rooms I hadn't seen, to figure out how to solve them (and they would just do whatever physical things I requested). I got one nice compliment from Mindways, when I finished a room in about three and a half seconds and he sorta looked at me and said "so most people find that part to be really challenging, because [thing x]" and I just sortof goggled and replied that I hadn't even noticed.
I would one thousand percent go back, and am lightly planning to with Mindways and his sister in June once my school year ends (they both have often-free-during-the-day schedules). If you would like to go, hit me up! I will not spoil the quests for you! I will be obedient and maybe give hints if I am nice and be competent on the things that require competence.
Final verdict: (black = heavy physical, light puzzle; red = light physical, light-to-medium puzzle; green = almost no physical (but maybe dexterity), heavy puzzle)
COMPLETED QUESTS:
Jungle (black, and actually on a repeat through since one room was slightly broken the first time)
Quiz Show (green, Two of the variations with my first group, all three with Ted and Rebecca)
Light and Dark (green?, This was the first one my group went into, it utterly defeated us, I went back with Darker et al and they helped me through it)
Rats (red)
Farm (red)
Alcatraz (black and had just *fabulous* ambiance)
Dansa Pausa (red)
Spook House (red and absolutely my favourite, I don't care that I have solved the puzzly bits (and there are some failures I know I don't know yet) I will be doing this one every time, I love haunted houses)
Coach (green)
*Tough/Tougher (black, and this is the only one where it has multiple levels of stamps. I got the first two, see the "fuck this" section for the third.)
INCOMPLETE:
Spider (black, got into at least the second room with Mindways et al, but it's a rough one and people weren't up for more iterations --definitely want to come back to this!)
Platoon (black, and Ted and Rebecca and I went through it multiple times and we *think* we know the last puzzle, but we didn't have the stamina to do the physical parts again)
Infra (green, I think I know the first puzzle but it's horrifically hard, and I didn't get through the first room)
Pirates (green, got to the second room a couple times, no idea how to solve it)
Roll and Rock (green, got to the second room, know how to solve it but it's haaaaard)
Step Up (black, could totally have done it, but I made a small mistake didn't want to try again)
FUCK THIS:
SuperBanan (black, I love this one up until the last room and while I think I could get it, it's going to take some active practice)
Toughest (black, HAHAHAH FUCK THIS. This is apparently the only one Mindways hasn't gotten, and I don't blame him, it's horrifically difficult and physically challenging in one of my worst ways. I will try this every time I go, and *maybe* get it if I put actual practice and work in outside of Bodaing eventually, years from now).
I am all for puzzles and I am all for physicality and I am all for situations in which you are expected and encourage to fail better. It was a really great time, I enjoyed hanging out with all my teammates, and I encourage all of you to try it too.
And now I sleep for fifty years and see if my shoulders stop aching. :D!
~Sor
MOOP!
Boda Borg is a team puzzle solving challenge dungeon. There are seventeen quests, each consisting of 2+ rooms. Every room has a success mode and at least one failure mode. Sometimes a lot of failure modes. They warn you right off the bat, and repeatedly, that you are going to fail, a lot. Especially because not one of the rooms comes with instructions...
Insert evil laughter and a whole lot of YES here. This is the sort of thing my parents were talking about when they wistfully sigh about how they wanted a big ol' warehouse on the nice side of town. They wanted to make their friends do this bullshit, and how!
Some of the quests are purely mental. Some of them are purely physical. Lots are in between! And I just spent EIGHT HOURS kicking ass, taking names, and having an absolutely great time.
mindways organized a group of 21 of us --eight veterans and thirteen newbies-- to come check it out. We got together at 2:00, and I wound up in a group with three strangers. The four of us kicked ass and had a lovely time --and yes, we failed a lot-- until about 5:30 when two of them had to leave. Cue dinner and a group switch. I was itching to try some of the hardcore physical challenges --which I had been warned ranged from "kinda tough" to "American Ninja Warrior". And yes, there are at least two challenges that I am physically incapable of doing right now, which is genuinely and actually awesome. So I ran about with two different strangers, and Mindways, with me and Alex making lots of jokes about how Mindways and Ted had it SO MUCH EASIER being that they're both in the 6'+ range and Alex and I were...not.
Around 8:30, Mindways had to head home. Ted and I found his (??), Rebecca, who was the last of the other group, and the three of us decided to be the last stragglers. We finished another few rooms together, and finally at 9:30, our bodies decided to call it quits.
I had an absolute blast. I love the way that sticking with one group is good, in terms of solving puzzles, and I was very pleased with how well my later groups did with letting me take point on rooms I hadn't seen, to figure out how to solve them (and they would just do whatever physical things I requested). I got one nice compliment from Mindways, when I finished a room in about three and a half seconds and he sorta looked at me and said "so most people find that part to be really challenging, because [thing x]" and I just sortof goggled and replied that I hadn't even noticed.
I would one thousand percent go back, and am lightly planning to with Mindways and his sister in June once my school year ends (they both have often-free-during-the-day schedules). If you would like to go, hit me up! I will not spoil the quests for you! I will be obedient and maybe give hints if I am nice and be competent on the things that require competence.
Final verdict: (black = heavy physical, light puzzle; red = light physical, light-to-medium puzzle; green = almost no physical (but maybe dexterity), heavy puzzle)
COMPLETED QUESTS:
Jungle (black, and actually on a repeat through since one room was slightly broken the first time)
Quiz Show (green, Two of the variations with my first group, all three with Ted and Rebecca)
Light and Dark (green?, This was the first one my group went into, it utterly defeated us, I went back with Darker et al and they helped me through it)
Rats (red)
Farm (red)
Alcatraz (black and had just *fabulous* ambiance)
Dansa Pausa (red)
Spook House (red and absolutely my favourite, I don't care that I have solved the puzzly bits (and there are some failures I know I don't know yet) I will be doing this one every time, I love haunted houses)
Coach (green)
*Tough/Tougher (black, and this is the only one where it has multiple levels of stamps. I got the first two, see the "fuck this" section for the third.)
INCOMPLETE:
Spider (black, got into at least the second room with Mindways et al, but it's a rough one and people weren't up for more iterations --definitely want to come back to this!)
Platoon (black, and Ted and Rebecca and I went through it multiple times and we *think* we know the last puzzle, but we didn't have the stamina to do the physical parts again)
Infra (green, I think I know the first puzzle but it's horrifically hard, and I didn't get through the first room)
Pirates (green, got to the second room a couple times, no idea how to solve it)
Roll and Rock (green, got to the second room, know how to solve it but it's haaaaard)
Step Up (black, could totally have done it, but I made a small mistake didn't want to try again)
FUCK THIS:
SuperBanan (black, I love this one up until the last room and while I think I could get it, it's going to take some active practice)
Toughest (black, HAHAHAH FUCK THIS. This is apparently the only one Mindways hasn't gotten, and I don't blame him, it's horrifically difficult and physically challenging in one of my worst ways. I will try this every time I go, and *maybe* get it if I put actual practice and work in outside of Bodaing eventually, years from now).
I am all for puzzles and I am all for physicality and I am all for situations in which you are expected and encourage to fail better. It was a really great time, I enjoyed hanging out with all my teammates, and I encourage all of you to try it too.
And now I sleep for fifty years and see if my shoulders stop aching. :D!
~Sor
MOOP!
no subject
on 2016-05-25 03:06 am (UTC)I've been twice before, and haven't been back since Light and Dark opened. I've been planning to get a mob to go again, but haven't had a chance.
re: finishing a room in 3.5 seconds -- I assume you're referring to a different room, but in Roll and Rock, my group once accidentally completed the first room before the entry door closed, so it was kind of funny that we had to wait a few extra seconds to do it again before it would register our completion.
no subject
on 2016-05-25 03:07 am (UTC)