Why ELS Part 2: On To Adventure!
In Part two of our look at why we are called ELS Gameday, we are going to look at the E in our name and discuss adventure as we take on Amelia Earheart.
Our ELS Day logo! Amelia on the left.
Her story:
Amelia was born on July 2, 1897 and was a daredevil as a child. She longed for adventure, but according to her family, she was afraid to try flying. Her father tried, thinking that she would love it, but she wouldn’t sit in a plane until later in her life.
She served as a nurse in World War I until she caught pneumonia and maxillary sinusitis. She convalessed in Massachusetts at her sister’s house in Northampton, Massachusetts. She almost went to MIT in 1924 when she lived in Medford, but she couldn’t afford it, so she worked as a social worker. All the while, she enjoyed flying and joined American Aeronautical Society's Boston chapter and was elected its vice president. She flew out of Dennison Airport (later the Naval Air Station Squantum) in Quincy. Earhart also flew the first official flight out of Dennison Airport in 1927.
Ms Earhart looking sassy in front of a plane!
In 1928, she made her first transatlantic flight. But the one she is most known for is her attempted world trip in 1937. As she got close to Howard Island, she disappeared and was never heard from again. There are so many different theories as to what happened, but none of them appear to be the truth.
(Anyone who has ever heard Thrilling Adventure Hour may be familiar with one of Lady Diceacorn’s favorite segments. In it, Amelia disappeared to become a time traveling spy for the allies in World War II. It has a very catchy theme song and it is highly recommended.)
Adventure Games
We love to play games that embody Amelia Earhart’s sense of adventure! Here are a few recommendations so you can get your adventure on:
Numenera by Monte Cook Games. Anyone who has read our blog before knows how much Meepline loves this game. It’s a game that is driven by exploration and adventure. You get rewarded for searching in the deep dark tunnels of the Ninth World. It’s also got an easy and quick character creation mechanic, so you can be off and running fairly quickly!
Mansions of Madness by Fantasy Flight Games. If you’re big into Lovecraftian mythos, this is the adventure game for you! Working alongside a free app, you explore a mansion and try to uncover a mystery held within. There are several different scenarios, of varying difficulty and length, in order to keep this game fresh! And you can unlock more stories via in-app purchase and physical expansions. The game is also good for single players (you control multiple investigators). This is one of Meepline’s favorite Lovecraftian board games, and she plays A LOT of them.
Boss Monster by Brotherwise Games. For a quickplay game, look no further than Boss Monster. Instead of playing the adventurers, you’re playing the biggest baddest monster in the dungeon. You’re competing against other Bosses in order to lure adventurers to your dungeon and, well, kill them. The art is based on old SNES-era games, and the descriptions for each adventurer makes this game worth the purchse!
Our next ELS Game Day is on July 14, which happens to be both Pandemonium Day and Shark Awareness Day, so our featured games are Unspeakable Words and Get Bit! We’re also putting the call out for GMs that identify as women for our August 11 Try An RPG Day.
Until next time, may all your hits be crits!