Say hello to our brand new Bristol staff member, Eli!
Say hello to Eli!
With the official opening of our new Bristol store comes the official appointment of 3 new fantastic staff members!
In this one, we welcome Eli, one of our newest Rules of Play elves! Take it away!
Hi there! I'm Eli - student at large and meeple connoisseur. I’m a first year physics student studying at the University of Bristol.
When I’m not roping my friends into playing RPGs with me, you can normally find me at a gig, in the record shop, or playing Blood Bowl (it's the closest I get to actual exercise).
I also spend a lot of time pretending I know how to use the laser cutters in Hackspace, a free local maker-space here in Bristol.
As for games, I enjoy fairly heavy Euros, something I can really sink my teeth into, but a strong theme that works well with and informs the mechanics of a game will always sell me.
What’s your favourite board game?
This is really difficult! An honourable mention to Viticulture, which I keep coming back to and holds a special place in my heart, if only for the Black Books references you can make. Remember, “The olderer the wine, the gooderer the wine”.
However an unexpected gem for me over the last few years was Quadropolis; it's an elegant, beautifully packaged city builder that I never get tired of, and a very strong choice to introduce new people to board games as well.
If you had to pick a least favourite board game, what would you pick?
Monopoly: good socialist allegory, bad board game.
Favourite gaming memory?
Betraying friends and family to win my first game of New Angeles. It was the last turn of the last round, and after a dramatic reveal involving many wild accusations and a not insignificant amount of shouting, they lost by a single resource.
My mate still won’t speak to me...
What are you most looking forward to about working in a games shop?
Meeting everybody! I can’t wait to meet the wonderful and diverse group of people this hobby brings in.
I’m especially looking forward to growing the scene in Bristol and making the community even larger than it already is here.
Stamina and the will to carry on are both important traits in gamers! What’s your longest gaming session record?
The twelve hours spent playing Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective at a party are still vivid in my memory. Clues were missed, red herrings followed, motorcars commandeered, and not a single case solved, but it was still a fantastic night (into morning) of gaming.
What is your ideal weekend in Bristol? Any recommendations for visitors?
When I’m not writing lab reports, I enjoy exploring the city.
Clifton Suspension Bridge and Avon Gorge provide some fantastic views, and if civil engineering projects don’t get you going, how about a pint at The Apple, a cider pub based on a boat just one minute from the shop! It's perfect after a pilgrimage to VX, home to the best vegan burgers in the south west.
What TV series / film would you love to be turned into a game?
A Mad Max themed programming game in the style of Colt Express. Raiders must jump from car to car, looting guzzoline and water as they go.
I think the programming element would capture really nicely the sense of chaos, danger, and ‘plans gone wrong’ that permeate the films.
What game are you particularly looking forward to playing but haven’t yet?
I got a brief taste of 7th Continent a couple of months ago and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since.
The game exudes this great sense of wanderlust that drives you to explore, even though it might be dangerous. The art is beautiful, and I can see myself and a group of friends pondering over it for weeks at a time.
Thanks, Eli! Pop in and say hello to our brand new member of staff at our Bristol shop.
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