Calling all Ocho Vampiros Card Game fans. It is my intention to build a simple, user-friendly fun spot for people of all ages and locations who wish to chat, comment or share strategy secrets about the game of border-crossing vampires.
A Note About Card Players (You Know Who You Are) -- Card players are a unique brand -- we use our brains while video gamers are simply using their thumbs; we discuss politics and history while TV addicts vote for their favorite 80s band. Of course, even card players have favorite 80s bands and favorite video games, but those of us who are willing to slow down for a moment ... just a moment, long enough to sit around a table with a group of friends ... well, we discover a flavor of entertainment that the more isolating pastimes do not allow. We discover teamwork, conversation and good wine.
A Note About Ocho Vamprios -- For a game that has not been around very long, I find Ocho Vampiros to have the marks of a classic game. At present, if I want to play Ocho Vamp. with a gathering of friends or friend's friends, I have to teach the game to most if not all of the guests. That's all right. I'm a patient person and the basic game is very simple. But I foresee a day coming quickly when the need to teach the rules to the newcomer will be a rarity, no more common than needed to teach someone to play Blackjack or Bridge or Crazy 8's. In my opinion, the key to a brilliant game is its adaptability to personality. What I mean by this is that the game can be employed, manipulated, altered is such manner as to allow for the level of play desired by the present company. In other words, children play a different sort of poker than adults. Friends play a different style of card play than rivals. A card table with a bottle of wine at the center witnesses a different brand of strategy than one without. Ocho Vampiros has come so far so quickly because it is adaptable. The basic game can be played with many different "adjustments" to add or diminish the difficulty, and the necessary strategies will vary greatly depending on the number of players, whether or not players are grouped into teams, and ... well, just how closely they wish to pay attention. Therein lies the secret to a classic game: if you don't want to take it too seriously, you certainly don't have to, and yet you still enjoy yourself wholeheartedly. Ocho Vampiros can be played for money, yes, with hostile squint-eyed glares between players, but so can most good card games. What makes the difference is that it can also be played by my daughter at a slumber party.
A Note About simplicity -- We are in an age of billion-dollar recreation. So much money is spent on promoting new forms of fun that rarely is a game just a game; nowadays, it's more likely that a game is simply one part of a multitiered corporate package -- a movie, a CD, a novel, a comic book, a cartoon, collectible figurines, a board game, a video game, trading cards, tournaments, bedspreads, a NASCAR sponsorship. Is it necessary? I strongly believe that such mega-packaging cheapens the original product. Even more often, the original product was cheap to begin with, thus the need for a multimillion dollar promotional. It's so much more ... Satisfying ... when the fun is a natural evolution ... when the strength of variety comes from the game itself, not the hype ... when word of mouth spreads the rules to a game ... when there's no celebrity spokesperson.
My strong opinions on these matters led me to pick up a deck of Ocho Vampiros -- "the game of illegals," it was called. I'm glad I did. And I'm proud to host a fun spot on the web that brings Ocho Vampiros fans together ... that salutes card games fans of all stripes ... that encourages simplicity in a world that seeks to complicate our fun.
Please feel free to post any information about Ocho Vampiros by clicking on the "comments" section on this site. I will moderate, but I will be a quite liberal leader.
A Note About Card Players (You Know Who You Are) -- Card players are a unique brand -- we use our brains while video gamers are simply using their thumbs; we discuss politics and history while TV addicts vote for their favorite 80s band. Of course, even card players have favorite 80s bands and favorite video games, but those of us who are willing to slow down for a moment ... just a moment, long enough to sit around a table with a group of friends ... well, we discover a flavor of entertainment that the more isolating pastimes do not allow. We discover teamwork, conversation and good wine.
A Note About Ocho Vamprios -- For a game that has not been around very long, I find Ocho Vampiros to have the marks of a classic game. At present, if I want to play Ocho Vamp. with a gathering of friends or friend's friends, I have to teach the game to most if not all of the guests. That's all right. I'm a patient person and the basic game is very simple. But I foresee a day coming quickly when the need to teach the rules to the newcomer will be a rarity, no more common than needed to teach someone to play Blackjack or Bridge or Crazy 8's. In my opinion, the key to a brilliant game is its adaptability to personality. What I mean by this is that the game can be employed, manipulated, altered is such manner as to allow for the level of play desired by the present company. In other words, children play a different sort of poker than adults. Friends play a different style of card play than rivals. A card table with a bottle of wine at the center witnesses a different brand of strategy than one without. Ocho Vampiros has come so far so quickly because it is adaptable. The basic game can be played with many different "adjustments" to add or diminish the difficulty, and the necessary strategies will vary greatly depending on the number of players, whether or not players are grouped into teams, and ... well, just how closely they wish to pay attention. Therein lies the secret to a classic game: if you don't want to take it too seriously, you certainly don't have to, and yet you still enjoy yourself wholeheartedly. Ocho Vampiros can be played for money, yes, with hostile squint-eyed glares between players, but so can most good card games. What makes the difference is that it can also be played by my daughter at a slumber party.
A Note About simplicity -- We are in an age of billion-dollar recreation. So much money is spent on promoting new forms of fun that rarely is a game just a game; nowadays, it's more likely that a game is simply one part of a multitiered corporate package -- a movie, a CD, a novel, a comic book, a cartoon, collectible figurines, a board game, a video game, trading cards, tournaments, bedspreads, a NASCAR sponsorship. Is it necessary? I strongly believe that such mega-packaging cheapens the original product. Even more often, the original product was cheap to begin with, thus the need for a multimillion dollar promotional. It's so much more ... Satisfying ... when the fun is a natural evolution ... when the strength of variety comes from the game itself, not the hype ... when word of mouth spreads the rules to a game ... when there's no celebrity spokesperson.
My strong opinions on these matters led me to pick up a deck of Ocho Vampiros -- "the game of illegals," it was called. I'm glad I did. And I'm proud to host a fun spot on the web that brings Ocho Vampiros fans together ... that salutes card games fans of all stripes ... that encourages simplicity in a world that seeks to complicate our fun.
Please feel free to post any information about Ocho Vampiros by clicking on the "comments" section on this site. I will moderate, but I will be a quite liberal leader.
posted by Dos Vampiros at 11:33 PM
8 Comments:
Thanks for the notice, Dos! We'll put a mention on the Adventures Blog this week. Thanks for the electronic word-of-mouth. Best Regards.
I'm game, Dos. Card games are a speciality of mine. There's no better way to get a group of young frustrated, half-bitter neighbors chattering than to sit them around the dining room table and throw a deck of cards at them. I'll post a couple of my made-up methods for playing Ocho V. soon. Gotta run.
Not sure Ocho Vampiros is appropriate for slumber parties. The packaging says for "Ages 16 and over." I realize the game itself is innocent but I think the vampiros legend story is included in the box, and it is too suggestive for very young people. A woman helps her ill brother-in-law to undress and pretends to have made love to him, I think. I know children see far worse on TV, but I wouldn't allow my young daughter to play.
Just learning the game and would enjoy reading some play tips.
-- jp
Greets. I will attempt to post tips and strategies at least once a week. But feel free to ask specific questions. Maybe I will be able to answer them, maybe not, but it will make the site better nonetheless. -- Dos
NASCAR PATCHES that can be ironed onto leather or fabric for a tight bond and will not peel. The backing and the stitching is of materials that resist fading from the sun, and is completely washable. $6.00 each.
(There is a PayPal link on the "car badge" page, Or you may mail a check.)
**NASCAR**
NASCAR PATCHES that can be ironed onto leather or fabric for a tight bond that will not peel. The backing and the stitching is of materials that resist fading from the sun, and is completely washable. $6.00 each.
(There is a PayPal link on the "car badge" page, Or you may mail a check.)
**NASCAR**
**auto racing**
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