All Hell Broke Loose

We gathered this week, visited once more by our friend JayWowser from California, for an ambitious attempt at playing both a "long" course of Robo-Rally and a session of Arkham Horror. Turns out, we were too ambitious, but just by a little.

This was JayWowser's first go at RoboRally. We had five players, and we chose a 2 board scenario from the "beginner's" courses. I have to hand it to the course designers in the new edition... the two we've tried so far have been real winners. The length is well represented in the description, the courses encourage good interaction and keeps leaders in check by forcing "double backs" in most (all?) cases.

We played with my "Pirate's Cove" variant. I have always felt that this game penalizes the players that are behind too harshly (they go back to their last save point AND start with damage!). It's hard enough to come back from a death and stay in the race, why make it harder? In this variant, players who suffer a setback are given a chance to bounce back by being given the option to come at full health or take two damage and draw an "option" card (similar to Pirate Cove's rules, giving pirates a choice of option cards when they are beaten in battle). I'll probably post this to BGG eventually.

I made a bee line towards the first flag and got there largely unopposed. In contrast, the other four were battling it out from the start. Kozure made a habit out of zapping Jaywowser. Meanwhile, Shemp took a few too many rides on the looped conveyor belts. I had made it to the 2nd flag as all hell broke loose at the first one. JayWowser, heavily damaged and with several locked registers, along with an otherwise healthy Kozure, was sent flying off the board by a charging Luch (Kozure almost immediately went over again). As I made my end run across the board back to the final flag, Shemp decided to give up the race and focus on taking me out. Kozure was terminally stuck in the crossfire of too many robots, and was eliminated from the game. Meanwhile, JayWowser and Luch headed for flag 2... holding out hope that Shemp would screw me over. I got shot up good on the way to the final flag, well enough to lock 3 of my registers before I could reach it. I tried valiantly to get there anyway, and I did make it to within one space twice, but I was never able to make it work. JayWowser snuck down the middle and claimed the victory as Luch was destroyed by Shemp close to the final flag.

All in all, a very chaotic and exciting race (well, maybe not exciting for Kozure). I really enjoy this game.

Next up was Arkham Horror. The guys had hyped this up for me, and my brief solo game seemed very intriguing, so I was looking forward to trying it out. We started at 8pm, giving us 3 hours for the game (assuming we finished up at our regular time). 4.5 hours later, we still hadn't finished, so we called it a night!

Our group was a solid mix of brains and brawn. All in all, I never really felt like we were in serious danger of failing (of course, Shemp as our own personal army clearing the streets, all the healing abilities we could ask for, and a well timed visit from the feds, helped a lot in this regard). When we quit, we were very close to successfully sealing all the gates we needed, so we packed up confident we would have won.

My reaction to the game itself is mixed. On one hand, there is a large number of very cool concepts and mechanics in the game. I appreciate the sheer variety of "stuff" it offers (characters, monsters, equipment, Great Old Ones, etc). I feel like there was an honest effort to capture a huge amount of the flavour of the mythos (the stories, the rpg, etc). But in the end... there is too much. A serious amount of editing should have taken place.

A (very) brief synopsis:

Each player takes on the role of an investigator from a particular walk of life (psychologist, student, doctor, private eye, etc). Each has different strengths and weaknesses. A Great Old One is randomly selected as the evil which is about to awake, and the game begins. Each turn, "mythos" events occur, clues are discovered around town and portals open up in unstable locations on the board (spitting out monsters in the process). It is up to the players to seal these "gates" before too many open, awakening the sleeping evil... (the bulk of the game involves working toghether to roam the streets, collect items and "clues", fighting creatures and sealing gates. They can win by sealing them all, but if the condition is met for the Great Old One to awaken before they can do that, everything stops and the group must collectively fights it).

What I liked:

There is a clever character stat system which allows players to adjust their skills every round, but every time they raise something, something else gets lowered (such as raising your "speed" reduces your "sneak"). It's a very elegant little touch which gives good flexibility to the characters to adapt to situations in a way that is balanced and simple. The monster movement system is also interesting; routes in black and/or white are traced on the board. Every time monster movement occurs, creature's who's symbols are called that turn move along the track they have been assigned to (ex: All "Star" cleatures move along the white path). It's a bit cumbursome to scan every creature each round for the symbols, but it's an original way to have a multitude of creatures move in an unpredictable way (and better than just rolling dice for all of them). Each location has a deck of cards which determine the types of encounters which will happen there (it's a little overwhelming to see all the decks of cards, and it doesn't result in as much variety of events as you'd expect, but it's a nice idea nonetheless). The whole "upkeep","Move/fight","Location Encounters","Mythos Event" systems works pretty well, despite some confusion regarding WHEN combats actually occur in certain circumstances, and despite the poor layout of the mythos cards themselves. Finally, I like the dynamics of gate opening: Each mythos card calls for a new gate in a location on the board. If it already has a gate, all open gates spit out monsters. If a gate has already been sealed there, the players are spared. This system accomplishes many things with simple and logical mechanics.

What I don't like:

The biggest problem is that the game is fairly long, but it feels like it should be going faster. The issue, in my mind, is that on top of the core rules there are a myriad of other, tiny rules which are individually simple and add flavour, but collectively just feel cumbursome. The "doom" counters (I think that's what they were called), which track the slow awakening of the Great Old One, kept getting forgotten. Money is bordeline unecessary. The terror level is an interesting concept (with residents of town and shops closing as it rises), but it doesn't add enough to be included. The creature "overflow" area is similar, unecessary clutter. Between the modifiers to the game from the Great Old One, the 3 types of Mythos cards, the character abilities and the myriad equipment and spells... it's hard to really be sure to apply all modifiers at a given time. While the "Sky" space adds an interesting element, "Lost in Time and Space" seems like a kludge solution to a problem they couldn't solve. There is a lot more, but the last one I'll mention is that the creatures have two flaws which bothered me: 1) the colour coding for special movement should have been replaced with text on the card (in fact, in some cases there is both!). 2) The double sided tokens meant that we were constantly flipping to see how hard something was to kill, how hard it was to sneak past, what symbol it was for movement purposes, etc.

In short: Simplify! Consolidate!

The fact that no one can agree on how some rules work is clearly a problem. The fact that the climax of the game, the encounter with the Great Old One, is one such situation, is pretty awful. I haven't yet had such an encounter, but considering that I don't understand how "fighting" such powerful creatures is in the spirit of the mythos, I'd probably like to see the whole process eliminated or re-worked.

It would be interesting to see if the game would work like this:

1) No money (simple draw three, choose 1 mechanic at the shops instead)
2) no blessings or curses
3) No terror level/ Overflow stack
4) Eliminate the trip to the outer planes. When a player wants to seal a gate, draw and resolve 1 card of the appropriate plane. If he/she survives, try to seal the gate immediately (or possibly the next turn)
5) Agree that combat always takes place in the movement phase, no matter what.
6) The Great Old One chosen determines the special conditions of the game (as usual), but if it awakens, the game ends. (B.T.W. An idea for a better way of keeping track of the doom track: Count out a # of gate markers equal the length of the doom track and return the others to the box. When the last one is placed, the Great Old One awakens and the game is over. When an Elder sign seals a gate, return it to the bottom of the stack. I haven't tested it, but it seems like it would work)

A few items that could have simplified the game, but couldn't be done now without going back to the drawing board:

1)Reduce the equipment cards to one stack (combining spells, unique items and common items).
2)Possibly eliminate the location card stacks (and go with a simpler streets=nothing, locations=printed text at the location, Mythos card=game events). Some of the flavour would be lost, but it would dramatically improve the pace of the game.

Summary: A VERY ambitious game. Succeeds in many ways, but fails in just as many. I enjoyed myself as always, but I don't think I'll be requesting it in the future.

Rating: 6

I Made a Math!

Luch's fancy this week were Puerto Rico and Princes of Florence, two excellent games (in my opinion). Sonja was playing with us again, and trying Puerto Rico out for the first time. Sadly, Kozure couldn't make it!

First things first: We decided to come clean about some of the mistitled roles in Puerto Rico. The Mayor? Since when is it a mayor's role to take "workers" off a boat and give them work. The "workers"... well that's pretty sketchy too. The theme of this game is pretty tasteless, but luckily it's a good game anyway! I had taught Sonja briefly before playing... so she wasn't going in completely blind. Luch and I were racing with the same strategy, harbor and wharf, but I managed to win. I tend to gravitate towards that style of play every game (Buy a market and coffee or tobacco early for income). Speaking of strategy tendencies... we talked a little about the fact that in every game we've played, Shemp has built a warehouse, and I've NEVER built one... kind of odd. I think Sonja liked it well enough, but I don't think she'll run out and buy it.

Next up was Princes of Florence. Shemp likes this game but historically does very poorly with it (last in every case, in fact). I encouraged him to play against his instincts, to see if that would help.... I'm not sure if that's what he actually did, but SOMETHING worked, because he would have won (!) the game if not for a bidding war with Luch on the last round (which he lost due to lack of funds, messing up his plan). His loss was my gain, as I narrowly snatched the victory. We had a good laugh as Sonja exclaimed she "Made a Math" as she completed a work.

This was my first time really going after the jesters (I don't think I've ever bought more than 1 per game before). The verdict? Of course, the experts are correct... they are really quite powerful. Suddenly, all the turn minimum became very easy to meet (I had 3). Still, Shemp's end run made it clear to me that the game has many avenues of strategy which can work, and the key to winning is open to any of them.

Does this change Shemp's opinion of the game? Sonja's? Both commented on the down time between turns, which can definitely be an issue when players aren't snappy. But it's a worthwhile experience in my mind, hope others agree (so I can keep playing it!)

Lastly, we played a couple of rounds of Sonja's favorite game: For Sale! This is a very simple and quick game which involves bidding on properties over several rounds in phase 1, and then selling them to prospective buyers in round 2. In my opinion, this game is excellent filler. It's fast and fun, and everyone is involved at all times until the end. There is a good balance of luck and strategy, which keeps everyone in the running but gives an edge to the player who puts his (her) mind to it. Although this feels similar in weight to High Society, I give this one the edge in the fun factor. Hmmm, I might have to get it eventually.

Random, Semi-Random and Un-Random (?)

An unusually abstract theme for Kozure this week: Degrees of randomness.

We played three games for the first time: Sid Sackson's "Can't Stop", Cheap Ass Games' "U.S. Patent #1" and Stefan Dorra's "Intrige". Each game is progressively less random than the last.

Can't Stop is a simple game which I would describe as "Yahtzee" Level fun. It's very random, but enjoyable for what it is. The theme is pasted on, but it ostensibly involves climbers going up a mountain. The first to reach the top of three peaks wins. The reality is that the game shows a spread of numbers from 2 to 12, distributed roughly (or exactly?) in columns according to the odds of rolling them (there are three 2s and 12s, four 3s and 11s, etc). On your turn, you roll 4 dice and pair them up into two totals and place a marker on those two numbers. You have a total of three markers to place... and therefore three numbers which can be advanced each turn. You can roll as often as you want, but if you ever roll the dice and wind up with a combination which doesn't let you advance a marker... you lose all your progress so far. Knowing when to pull out is the heart of the game (because when you pull out, you get to fix your markers at that spot on the column)

Most of us spent a few rounds pushing our luck too far and staying right at the bottom of the mountain for longer than we should have. Afterwards, we were more reasonable and the race was fairly close. Kozure did have the lead for much of the game, and in the end he won handily. A fun, light game.

Next up was U.S. Patent #1. The crux of this one is that players represent inventors who have created a machine for time travel, and they are racing through time to go back to the U.S. Patent office in order to file the very first patent ever (before the other players can). I won't get into the specifics of the mechanics, but essentially, each player has a Time Machine in need of 4 parts: A power source, a chassis, a weapon and a shield (... because clearly every time machine should have a weapon and a shield...). Once a player has that, he/she can go to the patent office in the 19th century and take a ticket to stand in line and wait to be called by the clerk (in plain english: when you get there, roll the dice. The result is the number of turns you have to wait to submit your patent). During the course of the game, players hop from one time period to another, stealing items from laboratories and buying items found at markets (in order to equip their time machines). Along the way, players can attack each others with their unholy contraptions in order to slow each other's progress.

As the theme prescribed, this is a game which has a healthy dose of randomness, but it also involves a certain amount of decision making and players can somewhat determine their fate. As with most Cheap Ass games, the idea is humourous, the gameplay is humorous, the components are cheap and the game play is so-so. I didn't feel that this one worked terribly well on a "mechanics" level, and it didn't seem to be as effective at being humorous either. The rest of the group liked this one better than I did, but I felt that there was a certain pointlessness to the whole thing. Not bad, but not great.

I spent too much time combing the libraries looking for the chassis which matched the huge power supply I scored by accident early in the game (it's not necessary to match them, but there are bonuses if you do so). Meanwhile, Luch and Shemp built less expensive Time Machines out of missmatched parts and headed for the patent office. I made a few attempts to stop the leaders with my big gun (which can shoot forward in time to disable vehicle upgrades), but failed. In the end, Luch made it first and wasn't seriously challenged... winning with Shemp hot on his heels.

Last up was Intrige. There is NO luck in this game, aside from what the players personalities and choices bring to it. I was looking forward to this one, because the rules and reputation suggested a deceptively simple game which could result in a strange and potentially harrowing experience... and it delivered. The rules are short and sweet: You have 8 relatives looking for work (4 professions, 2 relatives in each profession). you also have 4 jobs available for other player's relatives to fill. Since there are half as many jobs as there are relatives, many will be out of luck. On a player's turn, there are three phases: First, he collects income for any positions his relatives hold. The second phase is where it gets interesting... If there are any of the other player's relatives at his company looking for work, he must decide who to employ, and who to send to prison (prison= out of the game). In order to sway his decision, the other players involved can make compliments, promise future consideration, make threats, etc... and then finally, in turn order, those players make a bribe to the player. The acting player then TAKES ALL THE MONEY, and makes his decision. The decision regarding who to employ is COMPLETELY UP TO THE PLAYER. He is not bound by the player who made the biggest bribe, cut the best deal or offered the most compelling promises. He is not bound by anything he said during the negotiations. It's kinda evil, in fact. For the record, there are a couple of rules dictating that no two relatives of one profession can exist at each company (spurring yet more bribes and threats)and that a player HAS to offer a position if it's available and not contested. In the third phase, the player simply sends two of his remaining relatives to other player's companies. At the end of five rounds of placing relatives, collecting cash and resolving the hiring of employees, a final round of income takes place and the game ends. Most money wins.

Wow. What an interesting game. This is a very pure game of diplomacy and cut throat treachery. For this reason, I think this would be a definitive "Love or Hate" game, because many people would take this stuff personally and wind up hurt. If you can take your knife in the back and smile, then this game is for you. You have to pick up on the subtleties of each player's personality, read how current events can shape future ones and bribe players/ strategise the order of deployment of your relatives to suit. In our first session, Shemp and I made an early alliance which proved mutually lucrative, distancing ourselves from Luch and Kozure. About halfway through the game, Shemp kicked me out in favour of the others and I did the same. Kozure climbed back on top (by being the "Least hated" and therefore winding up with a lot of high positions). He made a PILE of money on the last few turns, while Shemp made very little and I made a medium amount. When the dollars were counted, my early winnings carried me through and I came in first by a few dollars. In the second game, Kozure and I started out down a similar path of mutual back-scratching that had helped me and Shemp in the first game. I planted my daggar firmly in Kozure's back just before his third turn, having made two rounds of high earnings, so that he wouldn't get the benefit of his second round of cash (I kicked him out of two positions on my board). My hopes of a second alliance with Shemp after that were shafted since he percieved me as the early leader and routinely passed me over for positions. I couldn't successfully repair relations with Kozure, and Luch had a firm alliance with Shemp, so I again had a poor showing in the second half. Shemp won the game with a convincing lead.

I thought about this one for several days after the fact.

Can't Stop: 7
U.S. Patent #1: 5
Intrige: 9

WAGS + Cards = Old School FUN!

We had a surprise request from Tili last week: Let's play cards. Not fancy Shmancy designer card games. Cards.

Always happy to indulge a craving, we gathered around the table for an evening of Hearts and Poker!

With 5 players, the character of Hearts changes a bit. It's very hard to shoot the moon, so it was rarely attempted (and never accomplished). Still, it was a fun bit of nostalgia (I used to play this a lot in high school).

Next up was Poker. We played for fun (Read: not for money) and took turns calling the game. While the others were mostly content calling standard poker variations (from the standard: This is how many cards you get, this is what's wild and this is how many times you get to drop cards to the fancier pre-set variations such as "Samurai" and "The King and his children" (I don't think I remembered that title quite right)). I did my best to come up with new, "exciting" and "original" variations such as "Squeeze the Weasel" and "Secrets of the Dead". Please note that the fact that the established variations worked much better than my homebrews is irrelevant. IRRELEVANT. We finished the night off with a few rounds of Texas Hold'em.

I love playing cards... I grew up playing 500, Kanasta, Hearts, Asshole, etc. Poker is not a game I have played very much, but it was a fun way to spend an evening. Texas Hold'Em, though, I just don't "get". To me, it just isn't very fun... I honestly don't understand how this became such a rage. They've eliminated card playing and replaced it with limited bluffing (the other versions have both... a much more interesting combination in my mind).

All in all, I had a great time. Tili should suggest games more often!