Travis Lopez
My name is Travis and I am a gaming addict. I recently moved to Crossville, TN, with my amazing wife, Kristin, our son, Finley, and daughter, Kaiya. We also have a barky Yorkie named Millie. When I’m not gaming I work in a sales office. I also try to be a working musician, but those days may soon be behind me. To say I am busy is an incredible understatement.
I have been board gaming all my life, but serious hobby gaming since Winter 2011. There was a game store that was temporarily in a mall back home in Illinois and we just walked in once and spoke with the owner. I asked for suggestions and he threw three at me: Munchkin, Dominion, and Colosseum. Of course, as a noob gamer I went for Munchkin. And so began my steady plummet into the hobby.
My wife and I were married in May 2012, and for my bachelor party we went out to a hole in the wall Chinese restaurant (which is probably still my favorite place for chicken fried rice) and then back to my Dad’s to game the night away. Pretty exciting, eh? Also, on our wedding day, during the lull time between pictures and ceremony, the groom party was claiming lands in Carcassonne.
My tastes have changed (evolved?) over the years of playing different games. I am pretty sure I do not like War Games (prove me wrong), but I’m good with everything else. As for theme, I’m a sucker for superheroes, fantasy, TV/movie IPs, and fun reskins of boring non-themes. I’m always on the lookout for new and fresh themes.
I love love love deck building. I’m not that great at it, but I love the idea of it. I also love exploration. Like, true exploration where you get to explore in a non-linear fashion. I also love co-op games and ones that are admittedly Ameritrashy.
Though I wish I could play more than I currently do, having two kids, two jobs, and running Purple Phoenix Games keeps me very busy. I find time to work on reviews mostly late at night when the kids go to sleep, but there are no slow periods in life. So I game whenever I can and do my best to have as much fun as possible.
Here are some rapid-fire thoughts from me on different subjects. If you would like to know more, just email me at travis@purplephoenixgames.com and I will add the questions and answers here.
Co-op vs. Competitive. I prefer co-op. If I MUST destroy your plans that you have been trying to put into place over the last several rounds then I will, but I would prefer we work together.
Sleeving cards. Yes, I sleeve some games. Not ALL games. If it’s a game where there is lots of handling and shuffling (like most deck builders), I will typically sleeve. If it’s a game where the cards are part of the board or don’t really get handled too much, they will be naked. My preferred sleeves are either Arcane Tinmen’s Board Game Sleeves or Swan Panasia Premium sleeves.
Component upgrades. I usually do not upgrade my components, especially if there is a cost. Now, some purchased upgrades that I have added that are worth it to me are the plastic blue buttons for Patchwork, neoprene playmat for Legendary: Marvel, wooden version of Flick ‘Em Up vs plastic version. I’m sure there are others as well.
Expansions. Okay, this is kind of a problem for me. I am a completionist so I MUST have an expansion (and all the promos) if there is one for a game. The problem? I rarely use the expansions. If I keep a game in my collection it is usually because I love the game. Like I said earlier, I do not get as much time to play as I would like right now, so I usually just play with the base game since we know the rules well and can get more gaming in.
Collectibles games. I thankfully never got into Magic: the Gathering. I never had to keep up with constantly purchasing packs. I was never into any of that stuff until a few years ago with Dice Masters. Again, they got me with the Marvel tie-in, and I built many teams that required me to have x-number of dice and specific cards. My brother, Bryan, and I even bought one of those big boxes of packs and split the loot. After that experience I really haven’t gotten into collectible games much because I know myself and I know I would want to buy buy buy.
Minis. Well, I’m not a war gamer, so if a game comes with minis in the box already then that’s how I get my minis. It’s not a make or break situation with me. Minis will never be the reason I back a game on KS or buy it in the store. They are a luxury item to me where meeples (or even standees but meh) would probably do just as well.
CLICK BELOW TO BE LINKED TO SOME OTHER PERSONAL ARTICLES.
My Must-Have Expansions List (coming soon)
My Take on Different Board Game Themes (coming soon)
