Game + Architecture Alert!

I just discovered the Antonio Gaudi Tile game while online, and thought that is looked interesting. Have any of you heard anything about it? Thoughts?

Games Played

Ever wonder what games we have played... and how often?
Such questions can overwhelm a Wagster's thought, rendering him/ her incapable of more fruitful endeavours... like laundry or ... sorry what was I saying?

Anyway, to alleviate such problems,here is a compiled a list of Wagtser's Games Played.

P: Pick
W: Winner

May 10th - (P:E) Fury of Dracula (W:E), Transmarica x2 (W:S,S)
March 29th - (P:E) Carcassonne - The City (W:S), Jyhad (not finished), Santiago (W:S)
March 22nd - (P:K) Guillotine (W:?), Royal Turf (W:?), Louis XIV (W:S), Theophrastus (W:?)
March 15th - (P:L) Jungle Speed x3 (W:Sonja,Sonja,Sonja), Power Grid (W:S), Poison (W:Sonja)
March 8th - (P:S) Illuminati CCG (W:E), Vampire - Prince of the City (W:K)
March 1st - (P:E) El Grande (W:S), Bohnanza (W:L), China (W:S), Modern Art (W:E)
February 22nd - (P:K) Fantasy Business x2 (W:S,S), Royal Turf (W:K), Cash n' Guns (W: E,S)
February 15th - (P:E) Through the Desert x2 (W:E,K), Formula De (W:K), RoboRally (W:?)
February 8th - (P:L) Diamant (W:Robin), Tikal x2 (W:JayWowzer, Robin), Antike (W:E), Saboteur (W:?)
February 1st - (P:S) Hero System RPG (W: Everyone, and no one), High Society x2 (W:K,S)
January 25th - (P:Shamus) Settlers of Catan (W:Shamus), Railroad Tycoon (W:E)
January 18th - (P:E) Carcassonne - The City (W:E), China x2 (W:?,?), Pueblo (W:L), Formula Motor Racing x3 (W:Purple Bot)
January 11th - (P:L) Vinci (W:L), Santiago (W:Sonja)
January 4th - (P:S) Railroad Tycoon (W:K), Diamant x4
December 14th - (P:K) Midway (Incomplete)
December 7th - (P:E) Conspiracy (W:L), Intrige (W:E), Paranoia (W:Sonja)
November 30th - (P:L) Puerto Rico (W:E), Power Grid (W:S)
November 23rd - (P:K) Ideology (W:S), Unexploded Cow (W:S)
November 16th - (P:S) For Sale, Traders of Genoa (W:E), Ra (W:L)
November 9th - (P:E) Through the Desert x2 (W:L,K), China (W:E,L), Tower of Babel (W:S,E)
November 2nd - (P:L) Domaine (W:K), Tikal (W:K), Paranoia! (W:L)
October 26th - (P:Holloween Special Edition) Betrayal at House on the Hill x2 (W:K+L+S, E+K+L+S), Zombies! (W:E)
October 19th - (P:S) Hero System RPG (W: Everyone, and no one), Tower of Babel (W:E)
October 12th - (P:K) Monsters Menace America (W:E), Tikal (W:L)
October 5th - (P:E) Carcassonne+ ALL expansions (W:L), Duel of Ages w/ 3 player Cutthroat Rules (W:E)
September 28th - (P:J) Robo Rally (W:J), Arkham Horror (W:Everyone)
September 21st - (P:L) Puerto Rico (W:E), Princes of FLorence (W:E), For Sale! x2 (W:S,SEK)
September 14th - (P:S) Way Out West (W:L), Colossal Arenax2 (W:S,E)
September 7th - (P:K) Can't Stop (W:K), U.S. Patent #1 (W:L), Intrige x2 (W:E,S)
August 31st - (P:T) Hearts, Poker (W: Various)
August 24th - (P:S) Shadows over Camelot (W:S as traitor), El Grande (W:K)
August 17th - (P:E) RoboRally (W:E), Power Grid (W:E), Colossal Arena (W:K)
August 10th - (P:L) Arham Horror (W:orange bot)
August 3rd - (P:S) Ticket to Ride: Europe (W:S), Pueblox3 (W:E,E,L)
July 27th - (P:K) Colossal Arena (W:)
July 20th - (P:K) Doom (W:K)
July 13th (P:E) Shadows over Camelotx2 (W:E as traitor, group loss), Pueblo (W:S)
July 6th (P:S) Beyond the Supernatural RPG (W: Everyone... and no one), Bohnanza (W:E)
June 29th - Skipped
June 22nd (P:?) Bohnanza and others
June 15th (P:E) Traders of Genoa (W:L) Pirate's Cove (W:Incomplete)
June 8th (P: K) Way Out West x2 (W:L,E)
June 1st (P: L) Star Wars: Epic Duels x2 (W: K+L, L+S), Lowenhertz x2 (W: S,E)
May 25th (P:J) Power Grid (W:E) Fairy Tale (W:K,E)
May 18th (P:S) Beyond the Supernatural RPG (W: Everyone... and no one)
May 11th (P:?) Robo-Rally (W:E), Settlers of Catan (W:K)
May 4th (P:K) They've invaded Pleasantville (W:L/S), The Awful Green Things from Outer Space (W:K/L), Zero! (W:K)
April 27th (P:E) Ticket to Ride:Europe (W:L), Carcassonne: Princess and the Dragon (W:E), High Society x3 (W: K,S,Orange Bot)
April 20th (P:L) Pirate's Cove (W:S), Domaine (W:E), High Society x3 (W:K,E,S)
April 11th (P:S) Beyond the Supernatural RPG (W: Everyone... and no one)
April 6th (P: K) Witch Trial (W:E), Ra x2 (W:J,K)
March 28th (P:E) Carcassonne x2 (W:S,E), Traders of Genoa (W:K)
March 23rd (P:L) Puerto rico x2 (W:S,T),Formula-Motor Racing (W:L)
March 14th (P:S) Beyond the Supernatural RPG (W: Everyone... and no one)
MArch 9th (P:E) El Grande (W:T), Duel of Ages (W:E+K)
March 2nd Cancelled
February 23rd (P:K) Zero! x2 (W: Tie, Easy+Kozure), Battle Cry/Memoir '44 (W:E/S), Unexploded Cow x2 (W:L,E)
February 16th (P:S) Beyond the Supernatural RPG (W: Everyone... and no one)
February 9th (P:L) Carcassonne (W:K), LOTR Risk (W:E)
February 2nd (P:E) LOTR Sauron (W: E (as Sauron)), Modern Art (W:E)
January 26th (P:K) Formula De x2 (W:K,L), Formula- Motor Racing (W:S)
January 19th (P:S) Mystery of the Abbey (W:S), Captain Park's... (W:K), Conspiracy (W:S)
January 12th (P:L) Tigris and Euphrates x2 (W:S,S), Blokus x2 (W:S,L)
January 5th (P:E) Princes of Florence (W:E), Pirate's Cove (W:S), Blokus x2 (W:E, W: Tie E/K)
December 29th Cancelled for holidays
December 22nd (P:K) Wreckage x2 (W:T,K), Gammarauders (unfinished)
December 15th (P:S) Robo-Clix (W:E), Kung Fu Samurai on Robot Island (W:L)
December 8th (P:L) Ticket to Ride x2 (W:Luch, Kozure), Pirate's Cove x2 (W:Shemp,Luch)
December 1st (P:E) El Grande (W:Shemp), LOTR RISK (W:Luch)
November 24th (P:K) Falling! x5 (W:Nobody), Chez Geek x2 (W:Luch, Shemp), Chrononauts (W:Shemp), Star Munchkin (W:Easy)
November 17th (P:S) Domaine x2 (W:Shemp, Luch), Tigris and Euphrates (W:Shemp)
November 10th (P:L) Traders of Genoa (W:Shemp), Modern Art x2 (W:Shemp, Easy)
November 3rd ("Hail to the Thief" Special Edition) Taboo (W:Shemp+Easy), Ideology x2 (W: Shemp, Easy)
October 27th (Holloween Special Edition) Betrayal at House on the Hill x2 (W:Luch, Shemp), Modern Art x2 (W: Kozure, Easy)
October 20th (P:Kozure) Civilization (Concluded! W:Tili)
October 13th (P:Easy) Citadels (W:Kozure), Bang! (W:Shemp),Deadwood (W: Kozure),Robo-Rally (W:Shemp)
October 6th (P:NA) Civilization (Continued, still unfinished)
September 29th (P: Luch) Civilization (unfinished)
September 22 (P:Shemp) Pirates Cove x3 (W:Easy, Shemp, Luch)
September 15th - Cancelled
September 8th (P:Kozure)Duel of Ages (W:Easy+Kozure)
September 1st (P: Easy) Duel of Ages (W:Easy+????)
August 25th (P:?????) Lowenhurtz (W:Easy), Puerto Ricox2(W:Shemp/Kozure tie, Shemp)
August 18th (P:Shemp) Domainex2 (W:????,Easy), Castlesx2 (Shemp, Easy)
August 11th (P:Easy) Princes of Florence (W:Easy), Traders of Genoa (W:Shemp),Citadels (W:Easy)
August 4th (P: another "Bye") Castlesx3 (W:Shempx2,Kozure), Princes of FLorence (W:Kozure)
July 28th (P: ?????) Mystery of the Abbeyx2 (W:Kozure, Shemp) Zero! (W:Kozure)
July 21st (P: Shemp) El Grande King & Intrigue (W:Shemp), El Grande Grand Inquisitor & Colonies (W:Easy)
July 14th (P:Kozure) Ticket to Ridex2 (W: Shemp, Easy), Chrononautsx2 (Shemp, Shemp)
July 7th (P:Easy) Traders of Genoa (W: ?????), Tigris and Euphrates (W:Shemp), SPEED Tigris and Euphrates (W: Easy)
June 30th (P:?????) Domainex2 (W: ?????, Shemp), Carcassonex2 (W: ?????, Shemp)
June 23rd, (P: Shemp) Carcassone (vanilla)x2, Carcassonne (Builders and Traders) (W: ?????, ?????, Shemp)
June 16th, (P: Kozure) Hero Clix x2 (W: ?????, Shemp)
June 9th, (P: Easy) Corn-22 (W: Kozure), Princes of Florence (W: Easy, by one point!)
June 2nd, Session cancelled.
May 26th, (P: ?????) Settlers of Catan x 2 (Kozure won, ????? won), Mamma Mia! (W: Shemp)
May 19th, (P: Shemp) Tigris and Euphrates x2 (W:Kozure, Easy), Illuminati “One big Deck” (W:?????)
May 12th, 2004 (P:Kozure) Captain Park’s… (W:Easy), Zero! x2 (W:Shemp+Easy, Kozure+?????)
May 5th, 2004 (P:Easy) Traders of Genoa (W:Easy), Tigris and Euphrates (Partial game)
April 28th, 2004 (P: ?????) Settlers of Catan (W:Carolyn), Star Munchkins (W:Shemp)
April 21st, 2004 (P: Kozure) Deadwood x2 (W: Shemp, ?????), Wreckage (W:?????)
April 14th, 2004 (P: Shemp) El Grande (W:Easy), Hero Clix (W: 0)
April 7th, 2004 (P: Easy) Shadowrun CCG (W:Easy), Hero Clix (W: 0)
March 31st, 2004 (The “Bye”) Zombies (W:?????), Robo-Rally (W: Easy), Carcassonne (W:?????), Star Wars: Epic Duels (W:0), falling (Everyone dies)
March 24th, 2004 (P: Luch) Duel of Ages (W:Easy+Shemp), Wreckage (W:?????)
March 17th, 2004 (P: Kozure) Firefly-Trader Captains (W:Easy)
March 10th, 2004 (P: Shemp) El Grande (W: Easy), Citadels (W: 0)
March 3rd, 2004 (P: Easy) Princes of Florence x2
February 25th, 2004 (P: ?????), Citadels (W:0)
February 18th, 2004 (P: Kozure) Firefly TBG (Playtest)
February 11th, 2004 (P: Shemp) Illuminati CCG x2 (W: Easyx2)
February 4th, 2004 (P: Easy) El Grande (W: Kozure), Corn TBG (Partial/Playtest)
January 28th, 2004 (P: ?????) Puerto Rico x2 (W: Easy, Kozure)
January 21st, 2004 (P: Kozure) Wreck of the Pandora, (W:We beat the game) Kill Doctor Lucky (W:0)
January 14th, 2004 (P: Shemp) Duel of Ages (W:Shemp+?????)

Carcasses of Carcassonne

Wednesday night we delved into the mediaeval South of France via the Teutonic game mechanics of Klaus-Jurgen Wrede's classic, Carcassonne.

Shemp hadn't played before, so a quick review of the easy-peasy rules of tile placement and the job opportunities for the ubiquitous "meeples" in this twisting Gallic landscape was called for. We played vanilla Carcassonne first, eschewing all but the most basic rules. It was a relatively close affair at first, but the Unnamed One (currently tagged with the unfortunate moniker of "Hapi") rocketed into first place with a plethora of farmers supplying a bunch of two-tile cities. *cough* Weenie. *cough*

The second game, Shemp had caught on to some degree and was able to ken some of the strategies. Despite my best efforts, Hapi once again was farmer king, edging me out by less than a half-dozen points.

Emboldened by the relative closeness of the second game, we threw in the whole chimichanga and added the river expansion as well as the "Traders and Builders" expansion, thus making this game the most "added-on" version of Carcassonne any of us had played to date. While we don't have the "Inns and Cathedrals" expansion and we had the "King and Scout" expansion but didn't add it in, the change in play feel created by the new add-ons added a new flavour to vanilla Carcassonne - now it tasted of wine mixed with wheat and fabric. Mmmmmm... roughage.

This game was close fought and included two player collusion to prevent farmer-happy Hapi from dominating once again by the use of a strategically placed winding road. In the end, Hapi was left far behind by failing to complete cities or roads, and Shemp and I duelled for first. Shemp, ever the nascent capitalist pig-dog, had also managed to corner the commodities market for wine and wheat, twice sneaking in to complete a city I had all but finished. We tied in fabrics, so those 10 points were a wash. Cagey, that Shemp is. As always, it came down to farmers, but when the dust settled, Shemp's last minute placement of his meeple pig (peegle? piggle? meeg?) earned him the extra points to put him ahead of me by a measly two points. I had lost all three games, but at least in this one, I had the pleasure of almost lapping Hapi twice.

Carcassone: a very well designed and simple game with cute name for pieces.

Hey, you know, I haven't gotten to play Carcassone yet.

Is that a possible 4 Player game?

Would the Unnamed One be willing to bring it on Wednesday?

How do the rest of you feel about that?

I'm thinking Zero for a second game, or perhap Citadels. Oh! or the Munchkin one. It is very silly indeed.

Wait! We haven't played Chez Geek yet, either, have we? Maybe that.

Comments?

Heroic Efforts.

Listen All Y'all: Last week we took a third, more concerted shot at playing Heroclix, absent Easy. And, pardon the pun, this time things just, well, clicked.

After fueling up with an appropriate dinner (Hero sandwich, Super Red Gummie Berries, Win A Superpower Oreos, and some nuclear coloured sodas), Kozure, the Unnamed One, and I tried a 200 point basic goal game, which went swimmingly - I guess we finally got to the top of the learning curve on this one. What was different this time? I think the following:

1) Having only three players instead of four reduced the lag time between moves. Since individual moves take some time to resolve, and the strategy of the game is fairly rudimentary, there is less time for the mind to wander, and one stays more involved in the play.

2) More familiarity with the rules sped things up, also resulting in less distracting lag time.

3) I think that this is the first time that we consistantly applied the rules for "breaking away" - at least, this is the first that I remember of it. Doing so intensified the consequences of getting into close quarters type combat, and kept characters with more points of "move" from being at a great advantage.

4) More familiarity with the game (and with the characters in Kozure's possession) allowed us to form more effective teams with our 200 points. We could form a rough strategy while selecting pieces, and not leave ourselves with any glaring weaknesses.

Anyhow, the first game went well, with the Unnamed One pulling out a well deserved victory.

Due to time constraints, our second game was a 100 pt, themed team, capture the flag-type event. Kozure used all characters w/ bladed weapons (Typhoid Mary, the Silver Samurai, and Blade?), the Unnamed One went with unpowered heroes (Captain America and Hawkeye), and I used Team Poor Body Image (the Blob, Mr. Fantastic, and a Skrull). This game was for 20 rounds, and went really quickly - my favourite go at Heroclix yet, because everyone was in play until the end. It has seemed that in standard games, a winner becomes clear quite a bit before the end of the game, and then you just need to play out the string. Not the case with this "capture the flag" style game at all. I think that after last Wednesday, I will need to revise my rating on this game upwards.

Now, in my opinion, HeroClix is a 6. I still hate the color coding, but familiarity mitigates a lot of the trouble that we faced straight out of the box ~ we will have to try again w/ Easy at some point, and see if his opinion of the game changes.

Paranoia will Annoy Ya

Last night we took a trip into the paranoiac and utterly nonsensical world of Corn-22, Easy’s homebrew board game based on (now defunct) West End Games’ “Paranoia” RPG universe.

The Computer is Your Friend. Traitors are Everywhere. The Computer Wants Corn.

As a revamp of Easy’s earlier foray into board game design, Corn-22 featured a much slimmed down game board and a more limited equipment set. The stated object, to collect priceless “Old World” substances like corn, beer, cat food and soup, is paired with the necessity of rooting out traitors (and not being pegged as a traitor yourself). Of course, touching or carrying “Old World” items would acknowledge the very existence of the “Old World” which is, predictably, traitorous.

Assigning a rank, a secret society rank and a fighting skill as well as a “role” (Zoologist, Security, Intelligence Officer, Robotics Engineer or Schmoe) each player is sent into the contained area to root for goodies, avoid being turned into a mushy paste by the various nasty beasties, robots and traps that roam the area. The roles permit certain abilities, such as moving creatures around, getting extra points for catching traitors in the act or, in the case of the schmoe, being able to pass the buck.

The game uses an interestingly different point based movement system which permits players to take a number of moves and then reserve points, letting other players go before they go again. Unfortunately, this can lead to multiple circuits of the table in each turn, as players sit and wait to see what happens. Still, the system is different and has some interesting possibilities.

Also somewhat novel is the fickle nature of the computer’s desire. Although the computer starts off wanting Corn, its preferences can change, modified by the fulfillment of secret society missions, which are doled out based on the character’s secret society rank.

Thankfully, given the many terrors of the contained zone, players have an unlimited number of clones, though death carries a penalty in points and the necessity to drop all carried gear.

The game ends with the return of all the currently desired “Old World” product, or a set number of turns. If the second limit is reached, all players are killed by irradiation, in which case the player with the least number of points wins.

Playtesting proceeded a bit more slowly than Easy had expected, possibly due to unfamiliarity, and possibly due to the way that the movement system worked. Unusual situations like one player being effectively trapped and trying to decide on the most strategic way to kill himself highlighted the unpredictable and funny gameplay atmosphere. Two players quickly worked out the drawbacks of having a lower than average fighting skill. In the end, it became clear that we were all going to be microwaved, and having recently suffered a major loss of goods when Easy sicked a big honking robot on me, I proceeded to off myself twice in consecutive rounds in dramatic ways, divesting myself of all points and obtaining the lowest score.

The playtesting yielded many constructive details which I’m sure Easy will put into Corn-22’s next incarnation.

If not, the Computer will not be Happy.

Warping from a comedic Utopian future into renaissance Italy, we broke out Princes of Florence for the second half of the night. A perennial favourite, the game had a very different feel with only three players in attendance. We quickly learned that with less competition for desired items and improvements, we had to be very cagey about what we bought in order to absolutely maximize our WVs. Gameplay was close and see-saw even until the very last scoring round, with Shemp out in front by 4 PPs ahead of Easy and I, who were tied. Then, we both pulled out prestige cards, one giving me 7 PPs, the other giving Easy 8 PP. We were startled by the fact that had Shemp chosen two larger buildings for his final two builds, he might have denied Easy the 8 extra points, which earned him a one-point margin win. A well played and very close session.

52 Pick-Up

Last night, the game of choice was 52 Pick-Up.
First, I did it to Shemp, and we both laughed.
Then, he did it to Kozure. Kozure couldn't stop giggling, so we had to stop for a little while until he composed himself.
After that, Kozure tried to do it to ?????, but he started giggling again, so he didn't do it right. ????? was upset because he was really looking forward to it, so he stood on the table and hooted until Kozure agreed to do it again.
And so it went until we had all done it to each other. Then we kept doing it.
This isn't my favorite type of game, but it does have more depth than I had originally thought. Fooling your opponent when they already know what is going to happen can take a lot of keen strategy. For example, the obvious "My gums are bleeding!" only works once, so crafty solutions are necessary... I think we can all agree that Shemp's "My navel is bleeding!" didn't work on anyone, but ?????'s "Hey look, it's Klaus!" was gold.

Rating:42

Til' next time