Duel of Ages... The Theme!

In sharp contrast to the last two weeks (both spent playing one game of Civilization, which is still unfinished), last night we played 4, count 'em, 4 different games! While Duel of Ages was the theme, we didn't actually play that game... instead, I chose 1 game suited to each of the four eras (Ancient, colonial, modern and future).

For Ancient, we played Citadels (with the "Artist" from the expansion thrown in). This is a fun game which I always wish we could play more often. True, something seems missing (we actually discussed that the game would feel more satisfying if the "district" cards somehow had more character or functions... leading us to the interesting possibility of combine Citadels with a Princes of Florence type board). This session saw Kozure spend most of the game as the King, Shemp and I in between and Hapi screwed as the last player of almost every hand. Not surprisingly, he found it hard to find his footing while the rest of us battled for first. In the end, Kozure won (he was very excited becasue he had never one at this one) by the narrowest of margins (Kozure 28, Easy 27, Shemp 26, Hapi 18). I'd say that the addition of the artist had very little impact on the game. I'd probably go back to the original set for the next game.

For Colonial, we played Bang with the High Noon expansion. Even though I still enjoy this game, it's beginning to wear on me. I find that the game can go on for a little too long. The High Noon expansion definitely shakes things up, but there;s still lag. Shemp, as the renegade, won the game. I'd never seen the renegade win before!

For modern, we played Deadwood. Always a good time, I'd say this is EASILY the best Cheap Ass Game. The cards, roles and combinations thereof had us laughing the whole time, and yet there's just enough of an actual game in there to keep it interesting. Kozure managed to become the master thespian early in the game (seriously outclassing our 1 and 2s with his 5). Despite Shemp best efforts at falling off a roof, Kozure wallopped us in the end (he had something like twice the money of the second best player... Over $80 bucks, at any rate).

For Future, we played Robo Rally. This one was a bit of a miscalculation on my part. True, we only used two boards, but we placed 4 flags. While the three other games clocked in at 45 min. to 1 Hour each, this one took 2. Still, it was a highly entertaining game. A Misshap on my first turn sent my poor little robot on an unplanned tour of the wrong conveyor belts, where he miraculously survived a ride along the edge of the board only to be crushed in the 5th register. I was behind, but not out... Luckily, Hapi did what he does best (which is playing to screw others rather than try to win), screwing himself at the same time as Shemp and Kozure. After what had to be the most full contact, unpredictable and uncontrollable rounds I had ever seen in the game (we're talking three robot trains, massive front and back laser fire, reprogramed robots, robots spending a good chunk of the game with frozen registers, and howitzer fire, Oh My!), I managed to slip through and get quite a wide lead. Sadly (for me), I made another major mistake which sent me leaping off the board. Nearing midnight, Kozure and Hapi were playing chicken at the third flag while Shemp and I were racing for the last flag but he was more successful and beat me pretty easily. Not bad, since he was the only one who had never played before!

And now... Back to Civilization !