Interlude 1: Trickerion (or Pizza Delivery in 30 Minutes or Less)

In my professional life I've been required to attend a multitude of training courses for everything from Anti-Money Laundering to How to Write Clearly and Concisely (that one may not have stuck) to How to Treat People with Respect and Be a Decent Human Being (is this really so hard for some people that we need a class dedicated to it?!). But, today's journey brings us away from the awkward stares of the company HR team, and into the exciting world of Six Sigma. If you don't know what that is... it really doesn't matter, just go with it.

Definitely, 100%, not me

There I was, going for my green belt (yes, they have "belts" for these business classes... I don't know either), and it comes to everyone's favorite part of any classroom experience. Group Activity. I don't know about the rest of you, but I was one who always internally let out a huge sigh of annoyance whenever the teacher started breaking us up into teams. I can do this on my own, thank you very much.

But alas, I needed to complete the course, and the course wanted me in a group. So, group activity time it was. I pouted my way over to my team and we were given our task. Deliver pizzas. Now. Pizza delivery is a rather typical example in the six sigma world. You want to deliver pizza within 30 minutes or it's free to customer. So. What do you do?

Pizza dude's got 30 seconds

Hopefully not have to deliver to 122 1/8. "Wise man say, forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for late pizza."

Anywho, the class obviously didn't have us actually out delivering pizzas. Instead, we were given catapults. Because, reasons. And What you did was drop some foil on the floor. Tape a target on the foil. And shoot ping pong balls at it. In the target, pizza delivered on time. Everyone's first go is naturally a cluster.

Fire in the hole!

But something with me clicked here.
"You, hold this part."
"You, grab a pencil."
"You, get more tape."
"Hold this. Mark that. Stand here."

Ping pong balls dead to rights (errrr, pizzas delivered in 30 minutes or less).

What occurred to me was:
A) Having me on your team is probably a good thing if you're the quiet type.
B) I REALLY like sending workers out to do my bidding for me.

No surprise that my favorite game mechanic is Worker Placement.

Enter Trickerion: Legends of Illusion.

Trickerion (the base game) came out back in 2015 when I was just a mere fledgling of board gamer (look, Catan!) who didn't even know what a kickstarter was (isn't that the thing you use to get your pizza delivery moped going?). However, even since then, I have not purchased nor played the game (still haven't (played it)... he says hanging his head in shame).

BUT (and that's a big but), the game is back on Kickstarter right now.
RIGHT. NOW.
The KS is for an expansion, BUT (another one!), they're also selling a Collector's Edition.
Base game. ALL OF THE Expansions. Metal coins. Other nifty stuff (did I look at what that stuff was before backing? No! Do I care? Not really! Still in!). (There's also an Upgrade Kit if you already have the base game).

Not only does this scratch my worker placement itch. But holy monkey, the art and theme on it is just... beautiful (look at that board! Look at it!). I'm all in and looking forward to getting this on the table.