I live alone. I have friends and we game as often as we can, but that hasn’t been that much recently. I still like to play games with people, but it’s been kind of tough. Recently, I’ve been looking for alternative methods to game with people.

I know there are plenty of sites out there that allow people to play certain games online. I spent a few weeks two years ago trapped in my house during a rather large snow storm playing Dominion online. I can’t remember the website. I can remember the experiences and they were horrible. I was still learning the game at that point and sometimes cards would come up from expansions I didn’t have. I tended to be slow and that’s a sin on that site. People didn’t talk. They quit games if you were slow. They quit games if they were losing. …and all of that was if you could get into a game, which was actually hard to do anyway. It was a really confusing system and I often, without realizing it, jumped into games I had no permission to be in. It was a mess and it soured me on the experience.

When I look for online games now, I look for AI.

I ponied up for the Ticket To Ride Online software and have enjoyed playing that by myself, when it doesn’t crash.

I have an iPhone which is pretty awesome for playing with AI. It’s not really an iPhone, I mean that’s what it is, but it’s not my phone and isn’t connected to the internet. It’s pretty much for playing games locally with the AI and answering emails and tweeting when I’m at a place with WiFi. I love the games I can get for my iPhone. I make no secrets, I play Ingenious ALL THE TIME! I’ve become a fan of the new free “unofficial” Dominion Ap. Crokinole and Samurai are among my favorites as well. I was excited to hear of the currently running Beta test for Alien Frontiers, but sad when it turned out that it’s only for iPad.

I can console myself, of course, since it also just came out on Mirthworks. I won’t send you that link just yet, it’s still a beta test and Alien Frontiers is the only game currently. When it goes live for really real, we’ll talk about it.

I kickstarted Alien Frontiers:Factions, so I get to be involved in the beta test for the game on Mirthworks. This is cool. The first night was a little harried. I ended up in two games I didn’t even realize I was in. It took me almost two days to take my turn. I just… the first night had lots of problems, and I had planned on staying away for a little while…until I realized I was actually involved in two games! So, I started playing. Right now, one game is fairly advanced and I think I’ve still only had one turn in another game. I suppose I’ll write that one off soon… In the meantime, a third game was started. I’m averaging one turn a day in that game, which is fine. I have personally met and know all the players, so I’m more comfortable about the communication loop.

The saddest part about all of this is that I love playing games with my girlfriend. She loves playing games with me too. We’re kind of long distance at the moment. She didn’t kickstart Alien Frontiers: Factions, so she’s not in the beta test. Last night I had a crazy idea. I, because of the Mirthworks games, have Alien Frontiers on the brain. I actually had a two player game set up physically in my “studio” because of a project I was working on for the website. I invited her to play a game over Skype.

This wasn’t going to be my first Skype game, nor was it my first Skype game with her…But this was going to be the most complex game I’ve played over Skype with her and it was going to be her first time playing Alien Frontiers. She passed with flying colors. It was difficult for her, but she had rules and stuff in front of her and really got the hang of it. True to form, I used the Colony Constructor seven times!…but she blocked me from that for seven turns and was able to steal a large supply of ore using the Raider’s Oupost. I was proud of her. I did win, but it was just a 1 point spread.

So, I guess what this is all about is…when I’m alone, I can still play games. It will never replace actual players and actual interactions, but I do have options now-adays…and those options don’t need to include random strangers I’ve never met. It’s kind of cool. It’s really a new world.  Game on man!