Hah. A controversial title!

No, we are not talking about *that* LSD which hits you on the hallucinogenic spectrum. But if you are here, then you probably are trying to find out more about this “LSD Game Day” that we are hosting or planning to host.

The TL:DR version – LSD Game Day is where there is no rule teach, session is likely 6-10 hrs long (pls check time commitment before signing up) and you need to be committed to complete the session. In return, you get to experience epic gaming with a group of likeminded gamers!

The Origin of “LSD Game Day”

Back in 2014, we were still hosting late night sessions on Friday at our shop OTK Cheras. However since those sessions started at 8pm, some of us found it challenging trying to fit in heavier / complicated / longer play-time games – without the session ending at 3am.

Chok Sien (CS) mooted the idea of removing the pre-playing part of a game session (i.e. the rule teach and the familiarisation of the rule vis-a-vis the game) from the actual playing session itself. In other words, all those who signed up for a particular game will commit to read up rules on their own, learn how to play the games (with or without the game itself) and be ready to start playing at 8pm!

This approach helped us to squeeze in these 4-5 hrs games and yet completed our sessions before the ungodly hours of Saturday. tsk tsk. CS did not name it as “LSD Game Day” back then. We were just calling it “long game nights”. The “LSD” moniker was added later when I needed a common term to call this type of game days.

So why call it LSD Game Day?

The LSD acronym is borrowed from the Running Lingo (as I’m an avid runner) which means “long slow distance“; a particular running day where we commit to a session that runs longer than what we usually do. With the cheeky part of LSD implying certain hallucinogenic attributes.

How does LSD Game Day work?

When we mark a game day (or meetup) as an “LSD Game Day”, this is our modus operandi:

No Rule Teach. There will be no rule teach on the game day itself. All those who signed up for the session agree to learn the rules of the game on their own and commit to be ready to play the game once everyone is set up at the game table. Youtube How To Play links would be provided where applicable. #rtfm

Note: If you are not someone who can learn to play a game by yourself, our LSD Game Day may not be suitable for you. We do have other Game Days where full rule teach is provided. Look out for those.

Be Familiar with the Gameplay. Games picked for LSD Game Days would be those rated in the heavier category (usu rated 4.0+ on BGG) with play time above 4 hours. Beside catching up on the Youtube How to Play video, you are also expected to have familiarised yourself with the game flow and turn order sequences. This is so that our sessions can move along at a brisk pace.

Note: You are not expected to know all the rules 100%. We are all aware these are games with higher complications/complexity, and we frequently checked the rulebook in-play and check/correct each other as we play along.

Stay the Course. LSD Games are those that play 4+ hours. Some can be even as long as 13+ hours. Yes 13+ hours for a single session (not multi-session of different games). An example of such whole-day game would be 18OE which at it’s shortest would take us 12+ hours. When you commit to a LSD Game Day, make sure you know the play time requirements for the game(s) you are signing up for, and be prepared to stay for the full course.

Note: If shorter more casual games are to your liking, we do host a Casual Friday Meetups. Get more info here.

Be Punctual. Since you likely get to play only ONE game in our LSD Game Day, this is not a casual meetup where you can saunter in at your convenience, and just wait to join the next game session. Once our LSD Game Day gets started, there will be NO NEXT SESSION for the day! So please be on-time so that everyone can start together. 🙂

Frequently Asked Questions

What time does the LSD Game Day usually start?

That usually depends on the play time of the game. For those that takes 6+ hours, we normally start around noon (have an early lunch). But for session with 10+ hours of playtime, it’s not uncommon for us to start as early as 10am or even 9am.

For those sessions that start early, we’ll break for lunch (and dinner) where appropriate. Don’t worry, “starvation strategy” is not practised in our LSD Game Days. hic.

Rule teach may take at most 1 hr. Since everyone is spending like 12+ hours, why can’t you add another hour overhead for rule teach?

The 1hr rule teach is merely a direct overhead. There is the more consequential indirect overhead of “game familiarisation”. If someone has not even done the homework of learning not just the game, but also understanding the concepts and flow of the game, then he is likely the x-factor that can make the game state swingy.

Now if this is a 1-hr game, having a swingy player is fine. We take the 1st game as a learning game and play again. But this is a 6- or 12-hour session and it’s not fair for everyone else to have committed their time to learn the game while one player keeps asking, “Ok so where do I get these VPs? What does Unrest do? Why does my faction board have these symbols?”

Note: We do have other Meetup Days that provide full rule teach such as our Casual Fridays and Euro Saturdays. Sign-up on the BGC Meetup.com page and gets notified when we post invites for the Casual Fris or Euro Sats.

So there is absolutely no rule teach in all LSD Game Days?

Well.. there are exceptions. 🙂 We actually provide full rule teach for our WAR ROOM (Nightingale Games) sessions. These WAR ROOM sessions are still considered LSD Game Days since the Global War mode for War Room will require at the minimal 6+ hours to play (for an experienced group).

But why rule teach here? Part of that is because the game concepts and flow are actually quite simple (don’t let that huge game map intimidate you). The other reason is that WAR ROOM is a team game. You are basically in the AXIS or ALLIES team so you’ll have team mates. Therefore even if someone is learning WAR ROOM on-the-spot, he won’t be left on his own as we’ll pair them with more experienced WAR ROOMers as a team. That’s the best way to learn the game.

Unfortunately for most of the other LSD games, this setup does not apply as everyone’s playing against each other. And most of the LSD games also have asymmetric player abilities which one needs to have some familiarisation in order to play the game well.

What are the games that are played in LSD Game Days?

We don’t have a definitive list. But we’ve done the following games as an LSD session – Twilight Imperium (TI3), Starcraft, 18OE, 1817, Virgin Queen, Arkwright, Die Macher, Space Empires 4X, Republic of Rome, The Colonists, War Room, and recently Weimar (Spielworxx).

As a side note, we have been hosting (not yet regularly) a War Game Sunday (WGS) session which we do consider it part LSD since everyone reads up on the rules before we meet to play. We’ve done the following games LSD-style – Wir sind das Volk, Maria., Atlantic Chase, They Come Unseen, Conquest & Consequence, etc. I suppose the direct one-on-one confrontational nature of these games make them natural LSD-style.

LSD Game Day allows us to bring together a group of likeminded people to play some epic games that they may otherwise not be able to schedule for. It’s not for everyone but for those who fall into this bracket, the LSD Game Day is one that we all look forward to!

Do you have any titles that you think should be an LSD Game Day for us? Feel free to suggest. We might just host it and you would be more than welcome to join us.

What about 2-hr games? Don’t you play those anymore?

No, no. We still do. I hope this post does not give you the impression that we only do games that are no shorter than 5 hrs long. 😛 As avid gamers, we play board games of all length (and weight).

But we love these EPIC games as well. And given the length of their play time and the fact they are best played with a group of 4 or more players, it is very challenging to get these games to the table. Hence BGC runs these LSD Game Days with the hope we’ll be able to find more likeminded gamers who are prepared to commit the time to co-create such epic board gaming experience.

In fact, some of our LSD Game Days have become a tradition for us to repeat yearly such as our TWILIGHT XMAS (TI3) and the annual visit to the ORIENT EXPRESS (18OE). We are repeating our BLIZZARD NEW DAWN featuring STARCRAFT and CTHULHU WARS, and I hope to make this a recurring event too.

Alright! I’m in… where do I sign up?

We usually arrange and call for LSD Game Day on our Meetup Chat Group (link to whatsapp invite) and once the session is confirmed, we will post an invite on our Meetup.com page. We hope to see you in one of our next LSD Game Days.

—
We hope this post explains what LSD Game Day is.

If you still have any questions, feel free to send them to us via email events@boardgamecafe.net. We’ll be happy to clarify them for you.