The silent WAG was dictator last night, selecting two rounds of a Settlers of Catan variant and pizza for dinner. This weeks dictator gets a 10 for Dictating Style, but only a 4 for actual Dictator behaviour. A little too wishy-washy, dig?
Anyhow, the first game that we tried was with two varations from the basic rules. The first involved randomly distributing the numbers onto the hex areas, and the second was that whenever the robber moves to a new hex, the number from that area moves to the robber's previous position. As you can imagine, this affected strategy quite a bit - when deciding where to place your initial roads and villages, you were not assured as to the probablility of return in the same way that you would be in a standard game. Also, Kozure's cunning revealed that sometimes it could be advantageous to move the robber against YOURSELF, in order to eliminate a low probability number tag from an area you would be harvesting from. The variation was fun, but this version suffered from a fatal flaw in my opinion: without the probabilities being carefully distributed around the board, one player can have an overwhelming location-based advantage. That was the case here; Kozure smoked the rest of us in a 5-player game.
Our second round of Catan had 4-players, used the standard starting positions for number tags, and retained the robber/roving number tag rule from the first game. I personally found this to solve the previous games problem, and it resulted in my most enjoyable game of Catan yet. Whether that was because of the rule switch, or because I finally managed to implement a decent strategy, though, I am unsure. One interesting thing to note is that there are only a total of 5 victory points available from the development cards in a 4 player game. Not knowing this, I continued going to the development card well in a desperate attempt to win, when the victory points available had already been exhausted. All wasn't lost however - I think that my army ended up 9 soldier cards strong. Crazy stuff. The result of this game was that the Silent Dictator pulled out a win with the Longest Road, 3 Victory Points, and very little else. Kudos to him, for winning a close game where everyone hovered around 7-9 points for several turns.
Another interesting thing was the difference in play that results from the "special builder" phase that is included in the 5 player game. Without using "special builder" in the 4 person game, we all ended up with mittfulls of cards (seven or more) fairly frequently.
After Settlers, it was time for a quick round of Mamma Mia!, a goofy little card game of pizza making that this guy explains pretty well. I do disagree with his assessment of the playing time, though at least as it pertains to a five-player game. I think we were done in about 20 minutes, initial explaining of rules included. I think this is another perfectly fine "palate cleanser" type of game, fulfilling that role much better than, oh, Falling!, for instance. Quick pace, some luck, some strategy, some skill, and no room for discouragement or hard feelings, as far as I can see. Also seems to be a game that would be fair across quite a range of gaming abilities and aptitudes - ie., you could play w. your little cousins, and not have to "let" them win at all. IMHO, a 7, for achieving what it tries to be.
Lastly, while looking for links, I came across this guy's site - he had a few games I haven't heard of listed, so I might try to track a couple of them down, since good ol' Jim seems to be as game-obsessed as we are, or at least in the same neighborhood.
'Til next week, Over and Out.
Thursday, May 27, 2004
Friday, May 21, 2004
This Week In World Domination.
Everything was fine. Everthing was stable. Everything was just fine until the Gnomes of Zurich took control of the Tobacco Companies and the Cable TV companies. In response, the shadowy Network seized control of the Multinational Oil Companies and established a Moonbase.
Which made a certain kind of sense.
The thing is, that spurred an Illuminated Shangri-la to control Japan, and then use the Center for Weird Studies' High Energy Cheese Lab to enable Japan to take control of the Moonies. Which is escalation. Which is never good. Shangri-La tried to calm things down by declaring Peace In Our Time, but the Society of Assassins jumped in; a Hidden City enticed the Big Media on to their side. Once that happened, they were ready to begin their campaign of Political Correctness.
Well, Political Correctness is a form of thought control, and that never goes unanswered. The gnomes launched some Orbital Mind Control Lasers, enacted Gun Control and the Tobacco Companies used the distraction to take over Brazil. The Network tried using their Midas Mill to seduce Al Gore over to their side, but failed, allowing Shangri-La and their new ally Newt Gingrich to assist Japan in winning Gore over to their side.
'Twas but a brief victory, however, as the Big Media used an agent inside the Gore camp to gain the former VP's aligence. This was but the first of many blows to Japan, as a crazed, violent Brazil, obviously under the influence of the Orbital Mind Control Lasers, used a Censorship campaign to assist Big Tobacco in gaining hostile control of Japan, and with them, the Moonies. That was bad enough, and things only seemed to be getting worse when the Network sent a bunch of Wargamers to the Moonbase.
Then all Hell really broke loose. The Assassins sent a sniper after Gingrich, but he failed. Shangri-La gained the support of the Congressional Wives, who in turn narrowly failed to capture control of the Moral Minority, and then declared that to be the first sign of The End Of The World. That appeared to become a fulfilled prophecy when Japan was instantly consumed by a plague of The Oregon Crud, collapsing in upon the Moonies, and destroying both. The Assassins followed up by controlling the Savings & Loan industry, but failed in their attempt to gain control of the Cattle Mutilators due to interference from the Gnomes, who then used their Mind Control Lasers to convince the Wargamers (and Everyone Else) that they (the Wargamers) were in fact a Government Agency. Big Tobacco wanted to control the Government Wargamers, but there was no way that Newt Gingrich would allow that to happen under his "Newt World Order".
With The End of the World still in full effect, it was a little surprising that not just one, but two Meteors narrowly missed the Moonbase.
So it was a narrow, temporary victory for the Gnomes of Zurich.
What does this all mean?
Well, Japan and the Moonies have just been destroyed, and so will be unavailable for our next game, due to Campaign Rules. The next game will also begin with Gun Control and The End Of the World in full effect. Due to cataclysmic upheaval, however, the pre-existing power structures will be smashed.
Fnord.
Thursday, May 20, 2004
Tigris and Euphrates
Another Wednesday, another WAGS night. We played Tigris and Euphrates twice, and finished it off with a game of Illuminati CCG (using the "One big deck" rules. I'm not going to do illuminati justice if I try to explain last night's session, so I'll leave it to Shemp. I'll tackle T&E instead.
Tigris and Euphrates came with high expectations, since it ranked #2 on the top boardgames at Boardgamegeek.
Briefly, it's a game involving laying coloured tiles (followers) and matching wooden discs (leaders) to create kingdoms. Points are scored by placing followers in kingdoms where that player has the corresponding leader. Since there are up to four players, conflicts between leaders will arise. These are handled rather abstractedly by counting the number of relevant followers on each side, and the loser is removed from the board (sometimes with his followers). One very original aspect of the game is that the most balanced kingdom wins, not the most powerful. You are judged by your weakest sphere.
To me, it had a very different "feel" than most german games we've played... more like "Chess" or "Go" than "Puerto Rico" or "Settlers of Catan". The whole thing is quite abstract and the game quickly becomes one of strategy over theme (I had heard that about El Grande as well, but T&E is much more so). Of course, that's only a bad thing if you don't like that kind of game. Personally, I love them. Still, many hallmarks of a good german game are here: plays in a reasonable amount of time, not too many rules (although it CAN be hard to get your head around them) and everyone plays until the end.
Our first game was all about exploration. We each built our own little kingdoms and rarely clashed in a big way. We were each on our own personal race to capture the "treasures" and so the game ended rather quickly. i won the game, but only by one point. All players were surpringly close. Although nothing spectacular happened, we were all happy to have a game undr our belts and try again with a better idea how to plan ahead.
The second game was much more aggressive. Although 4 distinct kingdoms were formed by the end, each dominated by a player (okay, mine was more like a village), the road to those kingdoms was quite twisted. Kozure had a powerbase in the center of the board, but was ousted by a large conflict with Shemp. Later int he gameI Kozure came back and booted me out of my little kingdom (just after I had built a water temple!!!). Luch was far more successful with his temple, drawing points from it until the end of the game. In the end, it came down to a very large battle between Shemp and Kozure, involving nearly half the board. Once all was revealed, Kozure won by 1 point, and again the difference between first and last place was just 2 points. I'm getting the feeling that close games will not be uncommon.
Just like the classic games I compared it to, T&E is a kind of "Brain Burner" game. There are always many choices, and your opponent is always trying to catch you off guard with a placement strategy you didn't see coming. Because of this, the game is a little heavy (there's a lot of thinking between turrns) and It will take many plays to really hone a good strategy... I still think El Grande acheived a better balance between abstract strategy and fun. I did like it a lot, though, (more than most, even) and I'm looking forward to seeing if increased familiarity and skill will raise this game to another level or not.
Rating 8
Tigris and Euphrates came with high expectations, since it ranked #2 on the top boardgames at Boardgamegeek.
Briefly, it's a game involving laying coloured tiles (followers) and matching wooden discs (leaders) to create kingdoms. Points are scored by placing followers in kingdoms where that player has the corresponding leader. Since there are up to four players, conflicts between leaders will arise. These are handled rather abstractedly by counting the number of relevant followers on each side, and the loser is removed from the board (sometimes with his followers). One very original aspect of the game is that the most balanced kingdom wins, not the most powerful. You are judged by your weakest sphere.
To me, it had a very different "feel" than most german games we've played... more like "Chess" or "Go" than "Puerto Rico" or "Settlers of Catan". The whole thing is quite abstract and the game quickly becomes one of strategy over theme (I had heard that about El Grande as well, but T&E is much more so). Of course, that's only a bad thing if you don't like that kind of game. Personally, I love them. Still, many hallmarks of a good german game are here: plays in a reasonable amount of time, not too many rules (although it CAN be hard to get your head around them) and everyone plays until the end.
Our first game was all about exploration. We each built our own little kingdoms and rarely clashed in a big way. We were each on our own personal race to capture the "treasures" and so the game ended rather quickly. i won the game, but only by one point. All players were surpringly close. Although nothing spectacular happened, we were all happy to have a game undr our belts and try again with a better idea how to plan ahead.
The second game was much more aggressive. Although 4 distinct kingdoms were formed by the end, each dominated by a player (okay, mine was more like a village), the road to those kingdoms was quite twisted. Kozure had a powerbase in the center of the board, but was ousted by a large conflict with Shemp. Later int he gameI Kozure came back and booted me out of my little kingdom (just after I had built a water temple!!!). Luch was far more successful with his temple, drawing points from it until the end of the game. In the end, it came down to a very large battle between Shemp and Kozure, involving nearly half the board. Once all was revealed, Kozure won by 1 point, and again the difference between first and last place was just 2 points. I'm getting the feeling that close games will not be uncommon.
Just like the classic games I compared it to, T&E is a kind of "Brain Burner" game. There are always many choices, and your opponent is always trying to catch you off guard with a placement strategy you didn't see coming. Because of this, the game is a little heavy (there's a lot of thinking between turrns) and It will take many plays to really hone a good strategy... I still think El Grande acheived a better balance between abstract strategy and fun. I did like it a lot, though, (more than most, even) and I'm looking forward to seeing if increased familiarity and skill will raise this game to another level or not.
Rating 8
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
Misunderestimate: A New Game Alert.
Make no mistake! Do not Misunderestimate your opponents when playing this upcoming game of strategery.
I don't know anything about this one, but hope that it involves putting food on your family, making the pie higher, and leaves out any nucular confrontations.
I don't know anything about this one, but hope that it involves putting food on your family, making the pie higher, and leaves out any nucular confrontations.
Monday, May 17, 2004
Next Session.
The rumour is true - we will playing a full game of Tigris & Euphrates this week, so feel free to study up on the rules. I will also have some Illuminati: New World Order on tap. I'm considering trying the "One Big Deck" rules from the big list o' I:NWO variants. The "Piglet" and "Campaign" variants are also pretty interesting. Leave any thoughts on the rules we should use in the comments for consideration.
It might be a good idea to have Zero on hand, in case we need something short to fill in at the end of the evening, too.
End of Transmission. Fnord.
It might be a good idea to have Zero on hand, in case we need something short to fill in at the end of the evening, too.
End of Transmission. Fnord.
Extra-WAGSal Affairs
As the members of the group are aware, I am lucky enough to have a spouse who is quite happy to join in board games from time to time - she goes by Tigerlily Bumbleroot on this blog. The WAGS group being composed of roughly five members, with one provisional member at the moment, lends itself more to five or six player games. Unfortunately, games designed for four to six players seldom scale down to two players well (notable exceptions being Duel of Ages). Seeking games which better suited a one-on-one enviroment, I've bought a few games which I feel are worthy of note even though they're played outside the usual WAGS night.
Hera and Zeus was one of my first two-player purchases. It's a self contained, non-collectible card game which takes a mythological competition between the chief of the Greek gods, Zeus, and his wife, Hera, as its theme.
The object of the game is to conceal the mortal lover of your opponent (Argus, in the case of Hera, and Io, in the case of Zeus) from being recovered while struggling to get back your own. Along the way, players use a wide array of mythological creatures and personalities to probe for weaknesses and try to locate the hidden mortal. While the cards are differentiated between the two "sides", the game is "symmetrical" in the sense that both sides have the exact same number of indentically powered cards (with different names). This is quite different from a asymmetrical game, in which one side typically has strength in some areas but weaknesses in others. The game plays in about a half an hour to forty-five minutes, and there is a large amount of strategy to the game play. Combat exists, in a sense, but is abstracted, which is a bonus for Tigerlily, who doesn't find much interest in combat-themed games.
This game has a good amount of strategy and a fair deal of bluffing, but a few game mechanics allow for a largely random game-winning option (the infamous Pegasus strike). I don't find this such a "broken" mechanic as some people seem to think, as there are ways to avoid being caught with the mortal in your hand, and appropriate strategy can protect the mortal on the board.
I enjoy this game, and given its theme of spousal conflict, it seems ideal for a gamer to play with his or her significant other as a fun way of fighting the war of the sexes on an epic level. Released by Kosmos, Hera and Zeus has decent artwork (Tigerlily likes it more than I do) and well produced cards and rules. None of the rules have to be modified to play the game correctly, but a quick trip to the online site can assist in clearing up some minor interpretation questions.
Rating: 7
Lord of the Rings: Confrontation was my second purchase of a two-player game. Knowing Tigerlily's love for Tolkein, I thought she would enjoy a two-player board game which abstracts the War of the Ring and Frodo's quest to destroy the Ring of Power. Produced by Fantasy Flight Games and featuring artwork by the same acclaimed Tolkein artist who did production artwork for the movie adaption of Lord of the Rings, John Howe, LoTR: Controntation is a handsome looking game.
Played on a small gameboard which has an abstract representation of Middle Earth, the game uses a mechanic familiar to players of Stratego - each piece has a strength rated from one to nine, which determines its power in combat. This strength is hidden from the other player by having the pieces constructed in such a way that the characters are only viewable from one side. If this was all this game was, it would be only a LotR-themed Stratego. However the designer takes the game a few steps further by introducing special powers for each character, as well as giving each player cards which can modify the strength number or cause other effects when played as a part of combat. The "good" forces must attempt to spirit Frodo into Mordor through a combination of strategy, bluff and good luck. The "evil" forces must capture Frodo or move a number of their characters into the Shire.
This game is a classical example of an asymmetrical game, quite different from "Hera and Zeus" above. At first glance, the good forces are weak and ill-matched - the evil forces seem almost insurmountable. Careful gameplay and a liberal dose of skillful bluffing can even the odds. After several plays, I find the sides fairly evenly matched, although some players claim one side or the other has a distinct advantage. Reiner Knizia has perfectly captured the theme and mood of the conflict with very simple powers and mechanics. Playable in about twenty to forty minutes, the game is suitable for many replays and is a delight to look at. A steal at its usual MSRP of around $30 CDN, this game is a worthy addition to any two-player game collection.
Rating: 8
Lost Cities is my most recent two-player purchase. Having bought and enjoyed LotR: Confrontation and Hera and Zeus, I was intrigued by reviews of Lost Cities being as good or better. Fortunately, I was not disappointed. Lost Cities is a super simple game, themed around making voyages to fabled lost cities in Iceland (or Northern Scotland?), Central America, Atlantis, Egypt and the Himalayas. Strangely, the cities and locations are never explicitly named, so most of the time they are referred to by their colours: Red, Green, Blue, Yellow and White. Players take turns playing a card to either invest in a expedition, or advance it. You can set out without investment, but for lesser return. After embarking on a expedition, no further investment can be made in it, so the gameplay becomes a very careful balance of bluff, risk management and a healthy dollop of "screwing your opponent". Scoring comes once the entire deck has been played through, and a quick addition/subtraction plus a multiplication factor for investment (and a bonus for an eight-card expedition) scores each journey. The highest score takes the round.
Of the three games mentioned here, Tigerlily seems to like this one best. It requires no understanding of any specific language and only rudimentary math skills, but the strategy is quite deep. A round can be played in 10-15 minutes, and to balance out luck factors, a combined score total over three or more rounds is recommended. The cards are well illustrated and the quality of both the cards and the small three panel board (largely needed only as a placeholder) make this an attractive game which is also fun to play. One thing I like about this game is that, much like Eucre or Hearts, once you've gotten the rhythm, the correct play is almost reflexive - it doesn't tax your mind overmuch. It's a lovely way to help your mind relax while sparring with an opponent. This Kosmos game feels like a classic - it's one that will be around after other fads have come and gone. It's as close to perfect within the context of what it tries to be as is possible - and that's the hallmark of a fine game.
Rating: 9
Hera and Zeus was one of my first two-player purchases. It's a self contained, non-collectible card game which takes a mythological competition between the chief of the Greek gods, Zeus, and his wife, Hera, as its theme.
The object of the game is to conceal the mortal lover of your opponent (Argus, in the case of Hera, and Io, in the case of Zeus) from being recovered while struggling to get back your own. Along the way, players use a wide array of mythological creatures and personalities to probe for weaknesses and try to locate the hidden mortal. While the cards are differentiated between the two "sides", the game is "symmetrical" in the sense that both sides have the exact same number of indentically powered cards (with different names). This is quite different from a asymmetrical game, in which one side typically has strength in some areas but weaknesses in others. The game plays in about a half an hour to forty-five minutes, and there is a large amount of strategy to the game play. Combat exists, in a sense, but is abstracted, which is a bonus for Tigerlily, who doesn't find much interest in combat-themed games.
This game has a good amount of strategy and a fair deal of bluffing, but a few game mechanics allow for a largely random game-winning option (the infamous Pegasus strike). I don't find this such a "broken" mechanic as some people seem to think, as there are ways to avoid being caught with the mortal in your hand, and appropriate strategy can protect the mortal on the board.
I enjoy this game, and given its theme of spousal conflict, it seems ideal for a gamer to play with his or her significant other as a fun way of fighting the war of the sexes on an epic level. Released by Kosmos, Hera and Zeus has decent artwork (Tigerlily likes it more than I do) and well produced cards and rules. None of the rules have to be modified to play the game correctly, but a quick trip to the online site can assist in clearing up some minor interpretation questions.
Rating: 7
Lord of the Rings: Confrontation was my second purchase of a two-player game. Knowing Tigerlily's love for Tolkein, I thought she would enjoy a two-player board game which abstracts the War of the Ring and Frodo's quest to destroy the Ring of Power. Produced by Fantasy Flight Games and featuring artwork by the same acclaimed Tolkein artist who did production artwork for the movie adaption of Lord of the Rings, John Howe, LoTR: Controntation is a handsome looking game.
Played on a small gameboard which has an abstract representation of Middle Earth, the game uses a mechanic familiar to players of Stratego - each piece has a strength rated from one to nine, which determines its power in combat. This strength is hidden from the other player by having the pieces constructed in such a way that the characters are only viewable from one side. If this was all this game was, it would be only a LotR-themed Stratego. However the designer takes the game a few steps further by introducing special powers for each character, as well as giving each player cards which can modify the strength number or cause other effects when played as a part of combat. The "good" forces must attempt to spirit Frodo into Mordor through a combination of strategy, bluff and good luck. The "evil" forces must capture Frodo or move a number of their characters into the Shire.
This game is a classical example of an asymmetrical game, quite different from "Hera and Zeus" above. At first glance, the good forces are weak and ill-matched - the evil forces seem almost insurmountable. Careful gameplay and a liberal dose of skillful bluffing can even the odds. After several plays, I find the sides fairly evenly matched, although some players claim one side or the other has a distinct advantage. Reiner Knizia has perfectly captured the theme and mood of the conflict with very simple powers and mechanics. Playable in about twenty to forty minutes, the game is suitable for many replays and is a delight to look at. A steal at its usual MSRP of around $30 CDN, this game is a worthy addition to any two-player game collection.
Rating: 8
Lost Cities is my most recent two-player purchase. Having bought and enjoyed LotR: Confrontation and Hera and Zeus, I was intrigued by reviews of Lost Cities being as good or better. Fortunately, I was not disappointed. Lost Cities is a super simple game, themed around making voyages to fabled lost cities in Iceland (or Northern Scotland?), Central America, Atlantis, Egypt and the Himalayas. Strangely, the cities and locations are never explicitly named, so most of the time they are referred to by their colours: Red, Green, Blue, Yellow and White. Players take turns playing a card to either invest in a expedition, or advance it. You can set out without investment, but for lesser return. After embarking on a expedition, no further investment can be made in it, so the gameplay becomes a very careful balance of bluff, risk management and a healthy dollop of "screwing your opponent". Scoring comes once the entire deck has been played through, and a quick addition/subtraction plus a multiplication factor for investment (and a bonus for an eight-card expedition) scores each journey. The highest score takes the round.
Of the three games mentioned here, Tigerlily seems to like this one best. It requires no understanding of any specific language and only rudimentary math skills, but the strategy is quite deep. A round can be played in 10-15 minutes, and to balance out luck factors, a combined score total over three or more rounds is recommended. The cards are well illustrated and the quality of both the cards and the small three panel board (largely needed only as a placeholder) make this an attractive game which is also fun to play. One thing I like about this game is that, much like Eucre or Hearts, once you've gotten the rhythm, the correct play is almost reflexive - it doesn't tax your mind overmuch. It's a lovely way to help your mind relax while sparring with an opponent. This Kosmos game feels like a classic - it's one that will be around after other fads have come and gone. It's as close to perfect within the context of what it tries to be as is possible - and that's the hallmark of a fine game.
Rating: 9
Thursday, May 13, 2004
Clearing away the Wags Blog Backlog.
I didn't want to leave a gigantic comment on the Complied Rating post from earlier, but did want to log my thoughts on the games mentioned in it. You can check the original post here.
9's- El Grande, Traders of Genoa, Puerto Rico
I'm agreeing w/ the posts below on El Grande - a great strategy game, with the healthy dollop of screwing over the other players.
I'm seeing great potential in Traders of Genoa. Since there are many possible routes to earn money, many different strategies can be pursued simultaneously, and nothing that happens is arbitrary. A little bit of randomness, but no arbitraryness. Looking forward to playing this one over & over. Also w/ the Healthy Dollop of Screwing Over the Other Players.
Puerto Rico, most of the same comments as Traders of Genoa. Also w/ the HDoSOOP.
8's - Illuminati: New World Order, Duel of Ages, Princes of Florence
I just have a great affection for INWO. It's my personal favourite, a combination of humour, scheming and strategy. As long as you try to keep it snappy and change up your decks regularly, the game is a fun one. Especially if you are paranoid.
Duel of Ages is also enjoyable, but you need to be in the right headspace, and as mentioned, devote a LARGE chunk of time to it. And hope that none of the balancing issues crop up, or things can get out of hand and hopeless for one team pretty quickly. That's the only reason this is a little below the top.
I have a feeling that Princes of Florence would get repetitive if you played it often - it's fun, but the extent of play options seems a little limited compared to some of the other German games that I have ranked higher here.
7's - Citadels, Deadwood, Firefly: Space Traders
Citadels is a nice quick card game w/ simple mechanics. Not too involving or memorable, but a nice little game.
You want a hilarious, quick to pick up game? I think you want something from Cheapass Games. And I think you want Deadwood. That's all.
Kozure's Firefly: Space Traders game was really slick, and well-worked out. I would definitely play again, and look forward to any tweaks he might make.
6's - Settlers of Catan, Bang!, Star Munchkin, Shadowrun, Wreckage, Star Wars: Epic Duels, Kill Dr. Lucky
Catan just feels a little arbitrary to me - I can't put my finger on exactly why my crank isn't turned. This one may just "click" one day.
Bang! is quite fun, with the only downside being the aformentioned "kicking out" of players before the game is completed. Also, some roles are more difficult then others, affecting the game balance IMO.
Shadowrun, as mentioned, suffers from lag time when being played by more than two, but is a perfectly reasonable card game.
I REALLY enjoyed playing Star Munchkin once - it is good silly fun, and doesn't aspire to be anything more. I think this would be a good one to pull off of the shelf periodically, but it isn't much special as far as gameplay goes.
Wreckage, I really enjoyed the first couple of times, but the replayability just doesn't seem to be there for me. The same things happen, over and over.
SW:ED - I think that this is for the game as a whole. If it were solely a 2-player game, I would bump this up to a 7.
Kill Dr. Lucky is, again, a perfectly fine game IF all the players are on a similar wavelength. If not, it can suffer in the same way that Monopoly can when one player just isn't willing to engage in "deals".
4's - HeroClix
Unlike Easy, I AM a comic book fan, and yet.... the actual game play of this is clunky. One really need to know their pieces inside out to be effective. Also, as a colour-blind person, I find that the colour coding used on the pieces is even more impenetrable than most. I think that this would be more fun ignoring the "superpowers" of the characters, but that destoys the point balance. Eh. I would, however, instantly bump this up to a 9 if they ever issue pieces for Grant Morrison's incarnation of the Doom Patrol! 'Cuz I'm a dweeb like that.
3's - Wreck of the Pandora, Falling!
Pandora had fun elements, but all of the rolling for non-player actions became tedious, destroyed the pacing (I'm all about pacing - blame the MTV), and sucked the life out of this one. (Although, it should be noted that this was only intended as a 1 player game, so take the criticism on this page with a grain of salt.
Falling! is an OK palate cleanser between games, but is frenzied, muddled, immune to strategy, and pretty arbitrary, at least to this player. I'm liking the frenzied part. The rest, not so much.
0's - Dr. Who CCG
RNA - (Rating Not Applicable)- Firefly the Game
This was playtesting, and I'd await the next incarnation before forming an opinion.
UBUBS - (Unrated Because Unplayed By Shemp)
Carcassonne, Robo-Rally, & Zombies!. I look forward to any game with an Exclamation Mark! in the Title! because they are Exciting!
Is that the whole list of games we've played in 2004? Whew. It was a blast, but I'm glad I'll be down to commenting on just a couple weekly from now on.
9's- El Grande, Traders of Genoa, Puerto Rico
I'm agreeing w/ the posts below on El Grande - a great strategy game, with the healthy dollop of screwing over the other players.
I'm seeing great potential in Traders of Genoa. Since there are many possible routes to earn money, many different strategies can be pursued simultaneously, and nothing that happens is arbitrary. A little bit of randomness, but no arbitraryness. Looking forward to playing this one over & over. Also w/ the Healthy Dollop of Screwing Over the Other Players.
Puerto Rico, most of the same comments as Traders of Genoa. Also w/ the HDoSOOP.
8's - Illuminati: New World Order, Duel of Ages, Princes of Florence
I just have a great affection for INWO. It's my personal favourite, a combination of humour, scheming and strategy. As long as you try to keep it snappy and change up your decks regularly, the game is a fun one. Especially if you are paranoid.
Duel of Ages is also enjoyable, but you need to be in the right headspace, and as mentioned, devote a LARGE chunk of time to it. And hope that none of the balancing issues crop up, or things can get out of hand and hopeless for one team pretty quickly. That's the only reason this is a little below the top.
I have a feeling that Princes of Florence would get repetitive if you played it often - it's fun, but the extent of play options seems a little limited compared to some of the other German games that I have ranked higher here.
7's - Citadels, Deadwood, Firefly: Space Traders
Citadels is a nice quick card game w/ simple mechanics. Not too involving or memorable, but a nice little game.
You want a hilarious, quick to pick up game? I think you want something from Cheapass Games. And I think you want Deadwood. That's all.
Kozure's Firefly: Space Traders game was really slick, and well-worked out. I would definitely play again, and look forward to any tweaks he might make.
6's - Settlers of Catan, Bang!, Star Munchkin, Shadowrun, Wreckage, Star Wars: Epic Duels, Kill Dr. Lucky
Catan just feels a little arbitrary to me - I can't put my finger on exactly why my crank isn't turned. This one may just "click" one day.
Bang! is quite fun, with the only downside being the aformentioned "kicking out" of players before the game is completed. Also, some roles are more difficult then others, affecting the game balance IMO.
Shadowrun, as mentioned, suffers from lag time when being played by more than two, but is a perfectly reasonable card game.
I REALLY enjoyed playing Star Munchkin once - it is good silly fun, and doesn't aspire to be anything more. I think this would be a good one to pull off of the shelf periodically, but it isn't much special as far as gameplay goes.
Wreckage, I really enjoyed the first couple of times, but the replayability just doesn't seem to be there for me. The same things happen, over and over.
SW:ED - I think that this is for the game as a whole. If it were solely a 2-player game, I would bump this up to a 7.
Kill Dr. Lucky is, again, a perfectly fine game IF all the players are on a similar wavelength. If not, it can suffer in the same way that Monopoly can when one player just isn't willing to engage in "deals".
4's - HeroClix
Unlike Easy, I AM a comic book fan, and yet.... the actual game play of this is clunky. One really need to know their pieces inside out to be effective. Also, as a colour-blind person, I find that the colour coding used on the pieces is even more impenetrable than most. I think that this would be more fun ignoring the "superpowers" of the characters, but that destoys the point balance. Eh. I would, however, instantly bump this up to a 9 if they ever issue pieces for Grant Morrison's incarnation of the Doom Patrol! 'Cuz I'm a dweeb like that.
3's - Wreck of the Pandora, Falling!
Pandora had fun elements, but all of the rolling for non-player actions became tedious, destroyed the pacing (I'm all about pacing - blame the MTV), and sucked the life out of this one. (Although, it should be noted that this was only intended as a 1 player game, so take the criticism on this page with a grain of salt.
Falling! is an OK palate cleanser between games, but is frenzied, muddled, immune to strategy, and pretty arbitrary, at least to this player. I'm liking the frenzied part. The rest, not so much.
0's - Dr. Who CCG
RNA - (Rating Not Applicable)- Firefly the Game
This was playtesting, and I'd await the next incarnation before forming an opinion.
UBUBS - (Unrated Because Unplayed By Shemp)
Carcassonne, Robo-Rally, & Zombies!. I look forward to any game with an Exclamation Mark! in the Title! because they are Exciting!
Is that the whole list of games we've played in 2004? Whew. It was a blast, but I'm glad I'll be down to commenting on just a couple weekly from now on.
~Linkification!~
Just a quick note to my co-bloggers -> I've been doing some linkification inside old posts, mainly to test my chops. If you notice any edits, they were by me, and solely for linking purposes.
Also, I'm playing w/ the layout, first by adding a link to the Big Game List at the top of the sidebar, and second by adding a links section to the sidebar. I figure it can be for quick links to game publishers sites, reviews, good online game stores, etc. Leave any links you would like in the comments, and I'll get them up there. (Can all of you edit the layout, or just me? I'm curious about that.)
Also, I'm playing w/ the layout, first by adding a link to the Big Game List at the top of the sidebar, and second by adding a links section to the sidebar. I figure it can be for quick links to game publishers sites, reviews, good online game stores, etc. Leave any links you would like in the comments, and I'll get them up there. (Can all of you edit the layout, or just me? I'm curious about that.)
Fondues, Flaming Zeros and Freezing Death is a Harsh Mistress
Observations on last night's session:
1. Fondues, while extremely yummy, are very non-condusive to rapid starts to the evening.
2. Mmmmmmmm. Fried bread.
3. Never try to explain game rules over sizzling fondue.
4. Zeros tend to make short work of F4F Wildcats.
5. It's a lot more fun to turn Zeros into flaming paper kites.
6. Shemp likes calling things by strange, masculine first names, i.e. "Zeke", "Jimmy". He finds this very humourous.
7. Captain Park is a harsh mistress.
8. Elabourate stories about heroic adventures in far-away lands are best told in a really bad accent.
9. Used fondue pot oil is not for drinking.
The games for the evening were: Zero! The Rise of the Imperial Japanese Air Force by GMT Games and Captain Park's Imaginary Polar Expedition by Cheapass Games.
Zero! The Rise of the Imperial Japanese Air Force is a stand-alone, non-collectible card game of air-to-air combat in the early years of the Pacific theatre in WWII. Up to six players can fight, each controlling one or more aircraft. Using a fairly simple "attack-response" combat system which has added layers of complexity built onto it with the addition of wingmen and altitude, the game does a really decent job of simulating quick and deadly aerial combat in 15-30 minutes.
Captain Park's Imaginary Polar Expedition is a game for up to six players. Having witnessed the fame and attention accorded to Captain Park for a completely fabricated story told to the Adventurer's Club of London, you set out into London to acquire photographs, anecdotes, "facts" and biographies of "heroes" to embroider your own elabourate tale of daring-do. Unfortunately, Captain Park doesn't want his thunder stolen and will report you to the club as a fraud if he catches you. A simple game mechanic with many "Kill Dr. Lucky" undertones, Captain Park's Imaginary Polar Expedition plays in about 60 - 75 minutes.
I really enjoyed playing Zero!, but I fear it may suffer from "wargame trying to be a simpler card game syndrome" that many of today's 'new and improved' wargames suffer from - the basic system is quite simple and elegant, but a number of fussy exceptions make it difficult for non-wargamers to penetrate... which is basically a general critique of all the "real" wargames I played prior to 1998 or so. I fear that Zero! may not get many repeat playings for this reason. I enjoyed it, however, and rate Zero! a 7.
As with many Cheapass Games, Captain Park's Imaginary Polar Expedition was hard to judge in advance. Like Deadwood and Kill Doctor Lucky, the rules are pretty basic. Fortunately for the late start of the game, the rules of Captain Park's Imaginary Polar Expedition are simpler than even most Cheapass Games, with even fewer fiddles. Overall, I didn't find the gameplay as engaging as Deadwood, but more fun than Kill Doctor Lucky. I can't really see it improving with multiple sessions, but it's not all that bad. I rate it 6.5, sliding halfway between Deadwood and Kill Doctor Lucky.
1. Fondues, while extremely yummy, are very non-condusive to rapid starts to the evening.
2. Mmmmmmmm. Fried bread.
3. Never try to explain game rules over sizzling fondue.
4. Zeros tend to make short work of F4F Wildcats.
5. It's a lot more fun to turn Zeros into flaming paper kites.
6. Shemp likes calling things by strange, masculine first names, i.e. "Zeke", "Jimmy". He finds this very humourous.
7. Captain Park is a harsh mistress.
8. Elabourate stories about heroic adventures in far-away lands are best told in a really bad accent.
9. Used fondue pot oil is not for drinking.
The games for the evening were: Zero! The Rise of the Imperial Japanese Air Force by GMT Games and Captain Park's Imaginary Polar Expedition by Cheapass Games.
Zero! The Rise of the Imperial Japanese Air Force is a stand-alone, non-collectible card game of air-to-air combat in the early years of the Pacific theatre in WWII. Up to six players can fight, each controlling one or more aircraft. Using a fairly simple "attack-response" combat system which has added layers of complexity built onto it with the addition of wingmen and altitude, the game does a really decent job of simulating quick and deadly aerial combat in 15-30 minutes.
Captain Park's Imaginary Polar Expedition is a game for up to six players. Having witnessed the fame and attention accorded to Captain Park for a completely fabricated story told to the Adventurer's Club of London, you set out into London to acquire photographs, anecdotes, "facts" and biographies of "heroes" to embroider your own elabourate tale of daring-do. Unfortunately, Captain Park doesn't want his thunder stolen and will report you to the club as a fraud if he catches you. A simple game mechanic with many "Kill Dr. Lucky" undertones, Captain Park's Imaginary Polar Expedition plays in about 60 - 75 minutes.
I really enjoyed playing Zero!, but I fear it may suffer from "wargame trying to be a simpler card game syndrome" that many of today's 'new and improved' wargames suffer from - the basic system is quite simple and elegant, but a number of fussy exceptions make it difficult for non-wargamers to penetrate... which is basically a general critique of all the "real" wargames I played prior to 1998 or so. I fear that Zero! may not get many repeat playings for this reason. I enjoyed it, however, and rate Zero! a 7.
As with many Cheapass Games, Captain Park's Imaginary Polar Expedition was hard to judge in advance. Like Deadwood and Kill Doctor Lucky, the rules are pretty basic. Fortunately for the late start of the game, the rules of Captain Park's Imaginary Polar Expedition are simpler than even most Cheapass Games, with even fewer fiddles. Overall, I didn't find the gameplay as engaging as Deadwood, but more fun than Kill Doctor Lucky. I can't really see it improving with multiple sessions, but it's not all that bad. I rate it 6.5, sliding halfway between Deadwood and Kill Doctor Lucky.
Monday, May 10, 2004
Compiled Rating
A Compiled list of ratings for the games played at WAGS
K: Kozure
S:Shemp
E:Easy
L:Luch
10
Ra (E:10)
9
El Grande (E:9,S:9)
Tigris and Euphrates (E:9,S:9)
Intrige (E:9)
8.5
Princes of Florence (E:9, S:7.5)
Puerto Rico (E:8,S:9)
Traders of Genoa (E:7.5,S:9)
Pirate's Cove (E:8.5,S:8.5)
Duel of Ages (E:8.5,S:8)
Lord of the Rings (E:8.5)
High Society (E:8.5)
8
Lowenhurtz (E:8,S:8)
Modern Art (E:8,S:8,K:8)
Blokus (E:8,S:8)
Battle Cry (S:8)
Domaine (E:8.5,S:7.5)
Way Out West (E:8)
Robo-Rally (E:8.5,S:7.5)
7.5
Illuminati: New World Order CCG (E:7,S:8))
Sid Meier's Civilization (E:6.5,S:9)
Deadwood (E:7.5,S:7)
Citadels (E:7.5,S:7)
Ideology (E:6.5,S:8)
Conspiracy (E:7.5, K:8, S:7)
Memoir '44 (E:7.5)
Ticket to Ride: Europe (E:7.5)
7
Star Wars Epic Duels (E:7,K:9,S:6)
Ticket to Ride (E:7,K:7.5,S:7)
Firefly- Space Traders! (E:7,S:7)
Carcassonne (E:7,S:7)
Risk: Lord of the Rings (E:7,S:7)
Lord of the Rings: Sauron (E:8.5, S:5.5)
Formula De (E:7.5, S:6)
Formula-Motor Racing (E:6.5, S:7)
Unexploded Cow (E:7,S:7)
Witch Trial (E:7)
Can't Stop (E:7)
6.5
Settlers of Catan (E:6.5,S:6)
Chez Geek (E:7,S:5.5)
Carcassonne: Dragon and the Princess (E:6.5)
6
Arkham Horror
Shadowrun CCG (E:6,S:6)
Kill Dr. Lucky (E:6,K:6,S:6)
Bang! (E:6,S:6)
Zero! (E:7,S:5)
Chrononauts (E:5,K:6.5,S:6.5))
Hero Clix (E:5,S:6.5)
5.5
Star Munchkin (E:5,S:6)
Wreckage (E:5,S:6)
Mystery of the Abbey (E:4, S:6.5)
Betrayal at House on the Hill (E:6,K:6,S:4.5)
Kung Fu Samurai (E:5.5,S:5)
5
Zombies! (E:5)
Captain Park’s Imaginary Polar Expedition (S:6.5,E:4)
U.S. Patent #1 (E:5)
3.5
Wreck of the Pandora (E:4,S:3)
2.5
Falling! (E:2,S:3)
Not Yet Played
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Score NYP)
K: Kozure
S:Shemp
E:Easy
L:Luch
10
Ra (E:10)
9
El Grande (E:9,S:9)
Tigris and Euphrates (E:9,S:9)
Intrige (E:9)
8.5
Princes of Florence (E:9, S:7.5)
Puerto Rico (E:8,S:9)
Traders of Genoa (E:7.5,S:9)
Pirate's Cove (E:8.5,S:8.5)
Duel of Ages (E:8.5,S:8)
Lord of the Rings (E:8.5)
High Society (E:8.5)
8
Lowenhurtz (E:8,S:8)
Modern Art (E:8,S:8,K:8)
Blokus (E:8,S:8)
Battle Cry (S:8)
Domaine (E:8.5,S:7.5)
Way Out West (E:8)
Robo-Rally (E:8.5,S:7.5)
7.5
Illuminati: New World Order CCG (E:7,S:8))
Sid Meier's Civilization (E:6.5,S:9)
Deadwood (E:7.5,S:7)
Citadels (E:7.5,S:7)
Ideology (E:6.5,S:8)
Conspiracy (E:7.5, K:8, S:7)
Memoir '44 (E:7.5)
Ticket to Ride: Europe (E:7.5)
7
Star Wars Epic Duels (E:7,K:9,S:6)
Ticket to Ride (E:7,K:7.5,S:7)
Firefly- Space Traders! (E:7,S:7)
Carcassonne (E:7,S:7)
Risk: Lord of the Rings (E:7,S:7)
Lord of the Rings: Sauron (E:8.5, S:5.5)
Formula De (E:7.5, S:6)
Formula-Motor Racing (E:6.5, S:7)
Unexploded Cow (E:7,S:7)
Witch Trial (E:7)
Can't Stop (E:7)
6.5
Settlers of Catan (E:6.5,S:6)
Chez Geek (E:7,S:5.5)
Carcassonne: Dragon and the Princess (E:6.5)
6
Arkham Horror
Shadowrun CCG (E:6,S:6)
Kill Dr. Lucky (E:6,K:6,S:6)
Bang! (E:6,S:6)
Zero! (E:7,S:5)
Chrononauts (E:5,K:6.5,S:6.5))
Hero Clix (E:5,S:6.5)
5.5
Star Munchkin (E:5,S:6)
Wreckage (E:5,S:6)
Mystery of the Abbey (E:4, S:6.5)
Betrayal at House on the Hill (E:6,K:6,S:4.5)
Kung Fu Samurai (E:5.5,S:5)
5
Zombies! (E:5)
Captain Park’s Imaginary Polar Expedition (S:6.5,E:4)
U.S. Patent #1 (E:5)
3.5
Wreck of the Pandora (E:4,S:3)
2.5
Falling! (E:2,S:3)
Not Yet Played
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Score NYP)
Unplayed Games and Games Forgotten in Previous List
Just a supplement to Easy's excellent previous list (I disagree with one or two of the ratings, but otherwise a very good list).
Games also Played by WAGs
Star Wars: Epic Duels
A really quick, simple to learn game with a snazzy theme: any of the various main characters from Star Wars Episodes 1, 2, 4, 5, & 6 can fight any other main character on a tiny "arena-like" map board. Up to eight players can play, using a combination of dice and cards to beat the 'Force' out of the other guy. Last man (or woman, or wookiee, or whatever the heck Yoda is) standing wins. Two-on-two, Team and Battle Royale games add to the fun, but there isn't much depth. Basically, you fight with blasters, lightsabers and the Force and enjoy the ride.
Personal rating of 9, Miguel would probably rate it a 5 or 6.
Kill Dr. Lucky
A sort of prequel to Clue - players try to kill the owner of a large Edwardian mansion without being seen by other players. Unfortunately, the intended victim, Dr. Lucky, has more lives than a cat with seven rabbit's feet and a horsehoe up his behind. Good for a few laughs, but it can drag if people aren't good sports about playing certain cards.
Rating: 6 - Miguel might rate it lower.
Unplayed with WAGs Games
These are games which I haven't played with WAGs - in many cases, I've played them with other friends. Occasionally I haven't played them at all.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
One of the best boardgames adapted from a TV show (not high praise, but true nonetheless), Buffy is a relatively easy game for 2 to 5 players. One player controls the forces of evil; the other one to four players control Buffy and her 'scooby gang' of Willow, Xander and Oz as they battle Evil through the streets of Sunnydale. The game and components are very well done and it works pretty well even if you're not a fan (which I wasn't when I first bought the game). Gameplay meshes very well with theme, with certain game mechanics such as a rotating "daytime/nighttime/full moon" track being very well done.
Rating: 8.5
Captain Park’s Imaginary Polar Expedition
I haven't played this one yet. Inspired by Victorian sagas of exploration derring-do, and jealous of the fame and fortune of "Captain Park", players travel around the board of London collecting artifacts which will better help them tell tall tales at the Adventurer's Club. Artifacts, faked photos, bar stories and other fake memoribilia help to make the incredible journeys more plausible. The player to acquire the most fame wins the game. Looks like fun.
Rating: Unplayed
Chez Geek
A card game where players compete to get the most "slack" by goofing off, getting cool stuff and snogging with significant others. The winner must learn to carefully balance a job (various occupations ranging from part-time fry-cook to full-time professional) with the need to relax and slack off. Funny, but some of the cards are unbalanced and a lot of the strategy is determined by the luck of the card draw.
Rating: 6
Chrononauts
A card game of alternate histories, where players alter events from 1860 to 2000 to make it into the reality that their character wants to return to. Unfortunately, with everyone altering space-time, this can be a challenge. A clever strategy game with a great sci-fi theme. I've only played this solitaire and with Marianne, so I'm unsure how it would work with a larger group.
Rating: Unplayed
More later - I should get back to work.
Games also Played by WAGs
Star Wars: Epic Duels
A really quick, simple to learn game with a snazzy theme: any of the various main characters from Star Wars Episodes 1, 2, 4, 5, & 6 can fight any other main character on a tiny "arena-like" map board. Up to eight players can play, using a combination of dice and cards to beat the 'Force' out of the other guy. Last man (or woman, or wookiee, or whatever the heck Yoda is) standing wins. Two-on-two, Team and Battle Royale games add to the fun, but there isn't much depth. Basically, you fight with blasters, lightsabers and the Force and enjoy the ride.
Personal rating of 9, Miguel would probably rate it a 5 or 6.
Kill Dr. Lucky
A sort of prequel to Clue - players try to kill the owner of a large Edwardian mansion without being seen by other players. Unfortunately, the intended victim, Dr. Lucky, has more lives than a cat with seven rabbit's feet and a horsehoe up his behind. Good for a few laughs, but it can drag if people aren't good sports about playing certain cards.
Rating: 6 - Miguel might rate it lower.
Unplayed with WAGs Games
These are games which I haven't played with WAGs - in many cases, I've played them with other friends. Occasionally I haven't played them at all.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
One of the best boardgames adapted from a TV show (not high praise, but true nonetheless), Buffy is a relatively easy game for 2 to 5 players. One player controls the forces of evil; the other one to four players control Buffy and her 'scooby gang' of Willow, Xander and Oz as they battle Evil through the streets of Sunnydale. The game and components are very well done and it works pretty well even if you're not a fan (which I wasn't when I first bought the game). Gameplay meshes very well with theme, with certain game mechanics such as a rotating "daytime/nighttime/full moon" track being very well done.
Rating: 8.5
Captain Park’s Imaginary Polar Expedition
I haven't played this one yet. Inspired by Victorian sagas of exploration derring-do, and jealous of the fame and fortune of "Captain Park", players travel around the board of London collecting artifacts which will better help them tell tall tales at the Adventurer's Club. Artifacts, faked photos, bar stories and other fake memoribilia help to make the incredible journeys more plausible. The player to acquire the most fame wins the game. Looks like fun.
Rating: Unplayed
Chez Geek
A card game where players compete to get the most "slack" by goofing off, getting cool stuff and snogging with significant others. The winner must learn to carefully balance a job (various occupations ranging from part-time fry-cook to full-time professional) with the need to relax and slack off. Funny, but some of the cards are unbalanced and a lot of the strategy is determined by the luck of the card draw.
Rating: 6
Chrononauts
A card game of alternate histories, where players alter events from 1860 to 2000 to make it into the reality that their character wants to return to. Unfortunately, with everyone altering space-time, this can be a challenge. A clever strategy game with a great sci-fi theme. I've only played this solitaire and with Marianne, so I'm unsure how it would work with a larger group.
Rating: Unplayed
More later - I should get back to work.
Games list, description and ratings
Hi everyone,
I thought I'd make up a list of the games we've played, along with a
quick description and rating to give Carolyn an idea what is available
to play.
I thought it would be fun to have you guys rate them too, and we can
see what our WAGS top games are!
For me, a game typically ranks highly when it is a satisfying mix of
strategy and fun, but not just novelty. So a game which I had a great
time playing, but I don't see playing over and over again would not
score as high as it could (a perfect example is Deadwood, a game which
I had a lot of fun playing... but I don't think it would stand up too
well to lots of playing).
Yes, I know, I'm a big ol' geek.
Anyway, here goes:
"German Games"
Settlers of Catan:
Strategy game set on an island where players compete in a contest of
resource production, city building and negotiations. Good game, but for
me not a "Great" game. Although the board changes every game, something
about it makes it feel a little arbitrary and repetitive.
Rating: 6
El Grande:
One of my current favorites, this is a game set in Spain, where players
try to build a presence in as many regions as possible and score
points. Not too long or complicated, great player interaction (With a
good amount of "Screw your neighbour thrown in) and a good mix of
strategy and surprise.
Rating: 9
Puerto Rico:
Sounds similar to Settlers of Catan in description, but very different
in play. Every player tries to develop their own version of "Puerto
Rico" by growing plantations, building buildings, producing resources
and shipping them out on boats for victory points. Very original and
clever game which is a lot of fun, but a little difficult at first
because of all the different "building" cards that you need to get to
know in order to compete.
Rating: 8
Princes of Florence
A great game where every player gets a section of the city of Florence,
and tries to develop it in order to attract various artisans and have
them produce great works. Success comes from strategy and shrewd
bidding, and the game is all about wanting to do 10 things, but only
being able to do 1. Beautiful board and components. Also one of my
favorites.
Rating: 9
Traders of Genoa
A negotiations game set in Genoa. Every player tries to make as much
money as possible by delivering messages, fulfilling orders and selling
just about everything in between. Fun if the group is in the mood to do
a lot of fast bidding, but with the wrong group, this could become long
and draw out pretty easily. (Luckily, it seemed to me that it worked
well at WAGS)
Rating: 7
Carcassonne
A simple game of laying together tiles. Each tile shows a portion of a
field, a road, a city or a combination of each. By placing them
together into long roads and whole cities players try to score points
by laying claim to them before other players do.
It's simple but fun.
Rating: 6
Tigris and Euphrates
Not yet played a full game
"Card Games"
Bang!
A card game of cowboys and, more cowboys. Everybody is in a shoot-out
and they try to get weapons, barrels to hide behind and horses to run
away on. Outlaws try to kill the sheriff, the sheriff want s to kill
the outlaws and the renegade wants to get all of them. Pretty simple
and fun, once you get a handle on what all the cards do. One downside
is that if you are eliminated, you have to wait until the game is over
to play again (most of the games we play are designed so that everyone
plays until somebody wins)
Rating: 6
Citadels
A card game where everybody tries to build a city of a certain size.
The trick is that every turn, each player has to secretly pick a role
which will determine their secret power for that hand. Two examples: The
magician gets to switch hands with another player, the thief gets
another character's gold. These hidden roles add a level of bluffing
and strategy to an otherwise pretty simple game. fun, but not
fantastic.
Rating: 6
Falling!
Everybody is falling. The winner is the one to hit the ground last. The
dealer goes around the table placing cards in front of everyone until
the deck runs out (at which point players "hit the ground"). Players
try to take the cards they get and play them on others in order to...
oh, I don't know. The biggest problem with this game, which lasts on
average 1 or 2 minutes, is that most people don't get it. I THINK I do,
but I have no idea what the strategy is. It's really frantic, and seems
like it should be fun, but so far hasn't been.
Rating: 2
Space Munchkins
A silly card game which mimics and makes fun of hack and slash dungeons
and dragons. Every player outfits themselves with armour, weapons,
races and classes and then fights monsters. It sounds more complicated
than it is. It's all very simple, it's all very silly.
Rating: 5
"Collectable Card Games"
Shadowrun
Everyone gets a different deck of cards, tries to build a good group of
"guns-for-hire" and then go off on missions. Fun game, but it can take
a little long before your turn comes up, and there's not much to do in
between.
Rating: 6
Illuminati
Everyone gets a different deck of cards and plays a secret underground
society bent on controlling the world. They control various groups
(like the nuclear power companies, Cable TV or The Religious Right),
countries (Japan, Canada, Germany) and/ or personalities (Nancy Reagan,
Elvis) in order to build a powerful empire and to take down their
opponent's empire. Fun game, especially because it can be unpredictable
and funny, but it suffers from way too much math and also once you get
to know your opponent's cards it can become a little predictable.
Rating: 7
"Misc. Games"
Duel of Ages
A game where pretty much any number of players get together on two
teams in a fictional arena, gathering personalities and weapons from
the past present and future, and try to get as many points as possible.
Points are gathered by successfully overcoming challenges in the
"Labyrinths" and beating each other up. Plays like a a light wargame.
Not particularly clever or original, and frequently seems unbalanced,
but lots of fun. Biggest problem is that you need a long time to play
it (minimum 2 hours, but preferably 3-4 for a satisfying game). For
some reason, this is one of my favorites.
Rating: 8.5
Robo-Rally
Everyone plays a robot is a giant factory. You have to pre-program
your robot with orders to turn, move forward, etc and hope you get the
order right and that nothing happens to you that you didn't expect. A
lot of times, unfortunately, that's what happens. Think of the scene in
Star Wars, Attack of the clones, where Anakin, Princess Amidala, C3P0
and R2D2 are in the robot factory.
Rating: 7
Wreckage
It's a smash up derby. Everyone gets a cardboard car and you move it
around on the table trying to pick up gas cans and smash each other to
smithereens. Fun, but a little clunky and repetitive.
Rating: 5
Deadwood
Everyone plays a two-bit actor in a one-bit (?) movie studio. Most
people competes to star in roles in bad movies and get paid. SOME
PEOPLE (you know who you are) spend all their time as extras in movies
that never get finished, making money that way. This game is lots of
fun, but I'm not sure how long it will hold up.
Rating: 7
Hero Clix
A Miniatures game involving superheroes. You pick a team of superheroes
and... fight. To me, the system is clunky, and not being a huge comic
book fan the "thrill" of playing the characters is lost.
Rating: 4
Wreck of the Pandora
All the players are on a ship in space, just awoke from stasis sleep
and you realize that the ship is crawling with creatures and you can't
quite remember where anything is. you have to work together to get the
ship going again before time runs out. Sort of fun, but the combat
rules in particular are very clunky.
Rating: 4
Firefly- The game
Chris wrote this one. Everybody plays one or more characters from the
show Firefly and proceed to re-enact the episodes. We only played once,
and it was the first time played, so some slack has to be given. The
game was beautiful, and it was close to being good, but in the end it
was too much "following the script" for me. Also, some of the rules
needed tweaking. Probably lots of fun for fans of the series, though.
Rating: NA (not finished)
Firefly- Space Traders!
Chris also wrote this one. Everyone plays a ship involved in space
trade. Pick up goods on one end of the galaxy and ship it to another
planet to make a profit. Evade the cops and improve your ship. Although
this was also the first time we played this one, it worked much better
as it was. A few tweaks would make it even better, but I enjoyed this
one quite a bit.
Rating: 7
Zombies!
The setting is your typical zombie horror movie. You are surrounded by
hordes of stupid, slow zombies which you have to plow through in order
to find the helicopter pad and fly of to safety. Fun, but a bit clunky.
We found an alternate set of rules which seemed like they would be much
better.
Rating: 5
I thought I'd make up a list of the games we've played, along with a
quick description and rating to give Carolyn an idea what is available
to play.
I thought it would be fun to have you guys rate them too, and we can
see what our WAGS top games are!
For me, a game typically ranks highly when it is a satisfying mix of
strategy and fun, but not just novelty. So a game which I had a great
time playing, but I don't see playing over and over again would not
score as high as it could (a perfect example is Deadwood, a game which
I had a lot of fun playing... but I don't think it would stand up too
well to lots of playing).
Yes, I know, I'm a big ol' geek.
Anyway, here goes:
"German Games"
Settlers of Catan:
Strategy game set on an island where players compete in a contest of
resource production, city building and negotiations. Good game, but for
me not a "Great" game. Although the board changes every game, something
about it makes it feel a little arbitrary and repetitive.
Rating: 6
El Grande:
One of my current favorites, this is a game set in Spain, where players
try to build a presence in as many regions as possible and score
points. Not too long or complicated, great player interaction (With a
good amount of "Screw your neighbour thrown in) and a good mix of
strategy and surprise.
Rating: 9
Puerto Rico:
Sounds similar to Settlers of Catan in description, but very different
in play. Every player tries to develop their own version of "Puerto
Rico" by growing plantations, building buildings, producing resources
and shipping them out on boats for victory points. Very original and
clever game which is a lot of fun, but a little difficult at first
because of all the different "building" cards that you need to get to
know in order to compete.
Rating: 8
Princes of Florence
A great game where every player gets a section of the city of Florence,
and tries to develop it in order to attract various artisans and have
them produce great works. Success comes from strategy and shrewd
bidding, and the game is all about wanting to do 10 things, but only
being able to do 1. Beautiful board and components. Also one of my
favorites.
Rating: 9
Traders of Genoa
A negotiations game set in Genoa. Every player tries to make as much
money as possible by delivering messages, fulfilling orders and selling
just about everything in between. Fun if the group is in the mood to do
a lot of fast bidding, but with the wrong group, this could become long
and draw out pretty easily. (Luckily, it seemed to me that it worked
well at WAGS)
Rating: 7
Carcassonne
A simple game of laying together tiles. Each tile shows a portion of a
field, a road, a city or a combination of each. By placing them
together into long roads and whole cities players try to score points
by laying claim to them before other players do.
It's simple but fun.
Rating: 6
Tigris and Euphrates
Not yet played a full game
"Card Games"
Bang!
A card game of cowboys and, more cowboys. Everybody is in a shoot-out
and they try to get weapons, barrels to hide behind and horses to run
away on. Outlaws try to kill the sheriff, the sheriff want s to kill
the outlaws and the renegade wants to get all of them. Pretty simple
and fun, once you get a handle on what all the cards do. One downside
is that if you are eliminated, you have to wait until the game is over
to play again (most of the games we play are designed so that everyone
plays until somebody wins)
Rating: 6
Citadels
A card game where everybody tries to build a city of a certain size.
The trick is that every turn, each player has to secretly pick a role
which will determine their secret power for that hand. Two examples: The
magician gets to switch hands with another player, the thief gets
another character's gold. These hidden roles add a level of bluffing
and strategy to an otherwise pretty simple game. fun, but not
fantastic.
Rating: 6
Falling!
Everybody is falling. The winner is the one to hit the ground last. The
dealer goes around the table placing cards in front of everyone until
the deck runs out (at which point players "hit the ground"). Players
try to take the cards they get and play them on others in order to...
oh, I don't know. The biggest problem with this game, which lasts on
average 1 or 2 minutes, is that most people don't get it. I THINK I do,
but I have no idea what the strategy is. It's really frantic, and seems
like it should be fun, but so far hasn't been.
Rating: 2
Space Munchkins
A silly card game which mimics and makes fun of hack and slash dungeons
and dragons. Every player outfits themselves with armour, weapons,
races and classes and then fights monsters. It sounds more complicated
than it is. It's all very simple, it's all very silly.
Rating: 5
"Collectable Card Games"
Shadowrun
Everyone gets a different deck of cards, tries to build a good group of
"guns-for-hire" and then go off on missions. Fun game, but it can take
a little long before your turn comes up, and there's not much to do in
between.
Rating: 6
Illuminati
Everyone gets a different deck of cards and plays a secret underground
society bent on controlling the world. They control various groups
(like the nuclear power companies, Cable TV or The Religious Right),
countries (Japan, Canada, Germany) and/ or personalities (Nancy Reagan,
Elvis) in order to build a powerful empire and to take down their
opponent's empire. Fun game, especially because it can be unpredictable
and funny, but it suffers from way too much math and also once you get
to know your opponent's cards it can become a little predictable.
Rating: 7
"Misc. Games"
Duel of Ages
A game where pretty much any number of players get together on two
teams in a fictional arena, gathering personalities and weapons from
the past present and future, and try to get as many points as possible.
Points are gathered by successfully overcoming challenges in the
"Labyrinths" and beating each other up. Plays like a a light wargame.
Not particularly clever or original, and frequently seems unbalanced,
but lots of fun. Biggest problem is that you need a long time to play
it (minimum 2 hours, but preferably 3-4 for a satisfying game). For
some reason, this is one of my favorites.
Rating: 8.5
Robo-Rally
Everyone plays a robot is a giant factory. You have to pre-program
your robot with orders to turn, move forward, etc and hope you get the
order right and that nothing happens to you that you didn't expect. A
lot of times, unfortunately, that's what happens. Think of the scene in
Star Wars, Attack of the clones, where Anakin, Princess Amidala, C3P0
and R2D2 are in the robot factory.
Rating: 7
Wreckage
It's a smash up derby. Everyone gets a cardboard car and you move it
around on the table trying to pick up gas cans and smash each other to
smithereens. Fun, but a little clunky and repetitive.
Rating: 5
Deadwood
Everyone plays a two-bit actor in a one-bit (?) movie studio. Most
people competes to star in roles in bad movies and get paid. SOME
PEOPLE (you know who you are) spend all their time as extras in movies
that never get finished, making money that way. This game is lots of
fun, but I'm not sure how long it will hold up.
Rating: 7
Hero Clix
A Miniatures game involving superheroes. You pick a team of superheroes
and... fight. To me, the system is clunky, and not being a huge comic
book fan the "thrill" of playing the characters is lost.
Rating: 4
Wreck of the Pandora
All the players are on a ship in space, just awoke from stasis sleep
and you realize that the ship is crawling with creatures and you can't
quite remember where anything is. you have to work together to get the
ship going again before time runs out. Sort of fun, but the combat
rules in particular are very clunky.
Rating: 4
Firefly- The game
Chris wrote this one. Everybody plays one or more characters from the
show Firefly and proceed to re-enact the episodes. We only played once,
and it was the first time played, so some slack has to be given. The
game was beautiful, and it was close to being good, but in the end it
was too much "following the script" for me. Also, some of the rules
needed tweaking. Probably lots of fun for fans of the series, though.
Rating: NA (not finished)
Firefly- Space Traders!
Chris also wrote this one. Everyone plays a ship involved in space
trade. Pick up goods on one end of the galaxy and ship it to another
planet to make a profit. Evade the cops and improve your ship. Although
this was also the first time we played this one, it worked much better
as it was. A few tweaks would make it even better, but I enjoyed this
one quite a bit.
Rating: 7
Zombies!
The setting is your typical zombie horror movie. You are surrounded by
hordes of stupid, slow zombies which you have to plow through in order
to find the helicopter pad and fly of to safety. Fun, but a bit clunky.
We found an alternate set of rules which seemed like they would be much
better.
Rating: 5
The Inaugural Post.
Well, after a brief IM chat w/ a fellow WAG, I thought, why not start this thing, as a handy place to archive our thoughts on previously played games, and what we would like to play in the future. Games we've tackled in 2004 are listed here:
Duel of Ages
Princes of Florence
Puerto Rico
Carcassonne
Bang!
Citadels
Settlers of Catan
El Grande
Traders of Genoa
Tigris and Euphrates
Wreckage
Deadwood
Hero Clix
Shadowrun Collectable Card Game
Illuminati: New World Order (Steve Jackson Games)
Wreck of the Pandora
Firefly- The game
Firefly- Space Traders!
Robo-Rally
Zombies!
Falling!
Space Munchkins (Steve Jackson Games)
More soon.
Duel of Ages
Princes of Florence
Puerto Rico
Carcassonne
Bang!
Citadels
Settlers of Catan
El Grande
Traders of Genoa
Tigris and Euphrates
Wreckage
Deadwood
Hero Clix
Shadowrun Collectable Card Game
Illuminati: New World Order (Steve Jackson Games)
Wreck of the Pandora
Firefly- The game
Firefly- Space Traders!
Robo-Rally
Zombies!
Falling!
Space Munchkins (Steve Jackson Games)
More soon.
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