What Bharmer wants, bharmer gets (Pirate's Cove, Goa, Ra)

Bharmer felt like playing Pirate's Cove, Goa and Ra this week... so we did.

Kozure had to drop out at the last minute, leaving us with three players. Couldn't have happened on a better night, all these games work just fine at that number.

Pirate's Cove hadn't been played for a long time. I'd like to say that I won because I played so well, but the fact of the matter is that Luch and Bharmer were rolling like wusses. Yaaar, ya heard me, laddies! Wusses! Without exagerating, a battle between the two of them (which involved 3 or 4 dice per side) took 3 rounds apiece to register the first hit! I did manage to take down the legendary pirate, which also helped.

Goa was next. My success last time was not in the cards this evening. Bharmer was cruising along at breakneck speed, colonizing and increasing his skills extremely efficiently (he ended the game without a single plantation). He also received the lion's share of additional actions. Luch, meanwhile, was also doing a very good job of advancing his skills while he also tried to garner bonus point tiles. While the race was tight between the two of them, I was floundering. In the end, Bharmer won the game by three points (sadly, a poor choice in my last few moves affected the outcome in Bharmer's favour. Had I not overpayed for a tile on the last auction, Luch would have had the most money and tied for first). I'm happy to say that Goa continues to be a very fun optimisation type game which plays well at any number from 2 to 4... not a range of players typically found for this category (3-5 players is far more common, and 5 is usually the magic number)

Last, but not least, we played RA. Luch gathered a large series of monuments to win the game, but along the way had a very nice "push your luck" bit in the 1st era where he drew 5-6 tiles while facing down the last RA spot. It was fun to watch from the sidelines... I would have been far to chicken to draw that many in his situation!

It was the best of Dice, it was the worst of Dice (Pirate's Cove, Formula De)

Under strict dictatorial orders by Shemp, fueled by delicious Swazi Fire Sauce, we fearless Wagsters played games of "Daring, Bravery and Brinksmanship"...

Pirate's Cove and Formula De.

If those aren't your idea of "Daring, Bravery and Brinksmanship", well you're probably not alone, but who can really figure Shemp out anyway?

It took longer than usual to gather our forces this week, so we started Pirate's Cove (minus Kozure) at around 8pm. Brian was brought up to speed on the rules, and we set sail. Over the course of the game, I spent most turns licking my wounds in Pirate's Cove. Brian was in the lead early on, since no one ever seemed to attack him (clearly, this is the secret to success). We eventually found him, and knocked him back a bit. I dumped a bunch of treasure to take the lead, but Luch then snuck into the lead. The games was unusually close near the end, however. Unlike many games, the last round did not involve a large battle with the black pirate. Surprisingly, we all wound up on the same island (#1) instead! Luch was by far the biggest and best equipped ship at sea, so it was very unlikely we'd survive (particularly due to the first battle card he played which prevented any other cards from being played during combat). Brian went down first, then I took out Shemp for the easy victory point, and Luch ended the game by blasting me out of the water.

Luch supplemented his lead with a number of fame cards for the win! Brian came 2nd, I was 3rd and Shemp last, but as I said earlier it was a very close game right to the end. It was nice to play this one again... it had been too long.

Kozure showed up at 9:30pm, well after we had all gave up on him showing. This guy is a dedicated games player!

We played the Formula De Monaco course, with Luch in the pole position (and last), me in 2nd (and 9th), Kozure in 3rd (and 8th), Shemp in 4th (and 7th) and Brian in the middle.

The race went pretty smoothly to start. My 2nd car unfortunately had a "Bad Start", effectively putting me behind a turn, but I was convinced I could make up the time. The lead was exchanged on numerous occasions between myself and Luch, but the start order was pretty much maintained throughout the race. Exceptions, of course, occurred: Shemp's lead car was inexplicably falling behind until it eventually became the last car. My rear car tried a reckless maneuver to get himself back in the game (leaving the "3" corner in 4th gear so that I could take the long stretch in 5th... it cost me EVERY POINT my car had, but it worked. Unfortunately, the rolls didn't go my way after that and I didn't keep the ground I gained for long). Luch had earned the distinction of losing the first car, but others soon followed. My poor rear car spun out approaching the 2nd last corner and then crashed on an unlikely roll 2 turns later. Kozure received some engine damage early on, but it never caught up with him.

Luch and I turned the final corner in a virtual tie for first place. The win hinged on who rolled what, and luck smiled on team Red (that's me). YOU COULD CUT THE TENSION WITH A KNIFE.

We had settled on a scoring method which gave various points according to position.

1st=10
2nd=6
3rd=4
4th=3
5th=2
6th=1

In retrospect, our point distribution didn't make any sense because there was no way for the 1st place player to lose (no matter how the others placed). At least if 3rd place was worth 5, a player could win by getting 2nd AND 3rd. Otherwise, what's the value of the point system or of racing 2 cars? I wouldn't care, except it seems that the players in the first 2 spots at the beginning have a pretty distinct advantage, and racing the second cars doesn't seem to be of any value if combined points don't win the game.

Maybe next time we should do:

1st=10
2nd=9
3rd=8
4th=7
5th=6
6th=5
7th=4
8th=3
9th=2
10th=1

(cars which don't finish get no points)

This gives every player an equal chance of winning based on starting positions. It increases the importance of finishing every car as well as possible (and makes it especially damaging to crash a car). I don't recall all the finishing positions last night, but I'd be curious to see how the standings would have been affected (I think that due to the number of crashed cars the standings wouldn't have changed, but it's possible Kozure or Brian would have jumped up a bit).

Another fun evening!

All about the Benjamins

Short one this week:

With JayWowser with us for another visit, we played a few games he hadn't yet tried... Traders of Genoa and Pirate's Cove.

Traders was good fun... the stinginess of our last game wasn't quite as apparent and the session felt more fun for it (in my opinion). It lasted a bit longer than most... 2 1/2 hours. Not sure why, other than we didn't lose a single round to the market place, whereas we normally lose at least one (and, to be fair, it WAS a 5 player game). I tried to go for a "Privilege" strategy, with a plan to collect 1 for 1 tokens and random goods and then trade them in one shot for a pile of privilege cards (since I knew that no one would ever give me any once they knew I was going for it). It didn't quite work out because the five player game left very few privileges on the board, and the ones I did manage to get didn't work togehter that well. I think I played okay, but in the end Luch's ownership tokens brought hima pile of money which no one could touch.

Alas, I came in last!

One thing which frustrates me a little about this game is the limitations put on trading. I bought this one because it was described as "the german answer to negotiation/ trading games such as monopoly". In this game, Shemp was trying to get a few privileges in order to extort a pile of money out of me. this should have been a good move (and in Monopoly, it might have worked), but in ToG, the trading is forced into revolving around small immediate trades (who wants THIS action). There is no opportunity to shift things around by trading outside those confines. There is no real opportunity for a move like Shemp was attempting, and that is a shortcoming in my book. Any suggestions on how to fix this?

In the end, we only had time for a half game of Pirate's Cove. Not sure what Jeff thought of this one, but if he didn't like it, I would hope he'd give it another chance... we were really rushing through it and much of the flavour didn't come through.

Still, I had a great time as usual. Until next time...

Easy

"Yarghh". "Halt". "Well, I never"

Three games tonight:

Pirate's Cove
Domaine
High Society

Pirate's Cove was fun as always. I pulled to an early lead by focusing most of my starting money on sails and sinking many enemies (most often Luch) before they got a shot off. I was getting unbeleivably lucky with my dice rolling, but then things starting going badly... I got blowed up a few times, and the game quickly became a two horse race between Kozure and Shemp. In the end, Shemp won by a large margin, and proceeded to claim that he thought he had figured out the best strategy for the game. After we were all done laughing that the game could be won through strategy, he stood his ground but then conceeded that he'd have to try it again to see if he was right. I consider that a challenge, matey.

Domain followed. We once again forgot the very imporant rule that cards can't be drawn from the chancery once the deck is completed, but otherwise this was (and felt) like the most satisfying session so far. the game is finally living up to it's potential as we learn to identify the Big Land Grab (tm) early enough to prevent it. In this case, kozure was being sneaky and tried to seal off a huge chunk of the board quite early on. Luch and I where skirmishing in the corner. Shemp, well, he wasn't "firing on all cylinders" shall we say (though I can't remember why). Lucky for us, Shemp noticed the BLG a few turns before it happend, and we all mobilized to prevent it from happening. Luckily for me, I was in a position to benefit the most. With a few well timed "traitor" cards, I managed to grab quite a few points at Kozure's expense. Luch started threatening my borders at the end, but it wasn't enough to cut my lead. I won.

My feelings for the game have definitely improved as we've played. With a group of similarly experienced players, this is a great game. With that in mind, I'll be changing my rating for this one to an 8.5.

Last up was High Society. We hadn't played this one before, but I had heard such good things about it I picked it up last time I was at a gamestore. What a great game! It's simple (5 minutes to explain), it's fast (20-25 minutes), and yet it's strategic and fun. Essentially, everyone plays "Nouvaux Riche"... recently wealthy people looking to boost their status by buying impressive things. It's a card game where every turn, an item worth 1 to 10 is turned up for bidding. Players bid clockwise until all but one drops out, and then that player adds the item to their collection. There are also "bad" cards which force the player to discard a previously purchased item, half their score, etc. In this case, players bid to NOT take the item. First player to pass gets it (but all money bid by all players is lost). There are four cards with red borders, once all 4 are revealed the game ends. The total value of aquired items determines the winner, but the catch is that the player with the least leftover money is immediately eliminated, regardless of the value of their purchases (They are the poorest, and therefore only worthy of ridicule)! Having to balance aquiring the most valuable pieces with the threat of instant elimination for being the poorest player at the end makes for very difficult decisions. The fact that no one knows when the game will end makes things even more interesting! We played three hands... I lost the first one by managing to forget the "poorest player" rule (which is particularly embarassing considering I am the one who taught the others how to play), but then rebounded and won the next by taking a chance on a very pricey last bid which put me over the top.

I REALLY liked this game. In my opinion, this is probably "The Ultimate Filler Game"... Rating 8.5

Games are Like Jolly Ranchers

They're hard, sometimes sweet but sometimes sour, and they hurt your teeth. Wait. No. Santa head candies taste like Jolly Ranchers.

No.

Blokus pieces are like Jolly Ranchers.

*record scratch noise*

Well, we kicked off the 2005 season of WAGS with two classics and one newcomer, Princes of Florence, Pirate’s Cove and Blokus.

Princes of Florence is becoming more strategic as people begin to understand better the more subtle aspects of bidding, and the more coarse aspects like remembering to leave an action to actually play a work on the last round. This time I was very satisfied with my timing and my bidding, but it wasn’t quite enough to prevent Easy from snatching first place. We are achieving higher scores than ever in Princes of Florence, with familiarity being the obvious cause.

Pirate’s Cove held up well on its third appearance, with some shrewd strategy and sneaky moves making appearances. All the other players managed to build up their ships quite quickly, while I limped off to Pirate’s Cove to nurse my wounds after two early round trouncings. Fortunately, I was able to claw my way back up, and despite Shemp’s apparently commanding lead on rounds 8-10 the final scores were fairly close. Shemp did win, but Easy and I had to fight it out for second.

The introduction of Blokus, a simple geometric strategy game with a lot of depth, was a success. Blokus is played on a raised grid of squares, onto which each player plays an assortment of differently shaped pieces ranging in size from five squares to a single square, 21 shapes in all. The pieces must be placed so that each newly placed piece only touches corners (not flat sides) of your own colour pieces, and no pieces may overlap in any way. The play proceeds with each player placing a piece until he or she is “out of the game” when unable to place a new piece. The player with the fewest total squares in their pieces remaining once no one can play a piece is the winner. Bonus points are given to players who play all of their pieces, as well as those who use the tiny one-square piece last.

Blokus is one of those games which you cotton to immediately. It has an attractive look, the pieces interlock easily and are removed easily, and the game play is simple but strategic. There is no theme to speak of, but in the case of this game, none is needed. It is a refined a game as you could expect, up there with Go, Chess, Backgammon and Chinese Checkers as shining examples of simplicity in design.

I kept on having fragmented flashbacks of the light cycles from Tron while playing this game initially, but more apt comparisons are to Qix, Domaine or fractal geometry – the successful strategy is a combination of defensive play to maximize your own future moves, while offensively blocking opponent options.

A very good game, destined to become a classic with many enthusiasts, I think.

For the records (being kept by me, but open for your inspection), scores and rankings:

Princes of Florence

1st Place = Easy – 63 prestige
2nd Place = Kozure – 59 prestige
3rd Place = Hapi – 50 prestige
4th Place = Shemp – 49 prestige

Pirate’s Cove

1st Place = Shemp – 37 fame
2nd Place = Kozure – 36 fame
3rd Place = Easy – 35 fame
4th Place = Hapi – 26 fame

Blokus, Session 1

1st Place = Easy – 7 squares
2nd Place = Kozure – 14 squares
3rd Place = Hapi – 17 squares
4th Place = Shemp – 19 squares

Blokus, Session 2

1st Place = Tie, Kozure/Easy – 7 squares
2nd Place = Hapi – 8 squares3rd Place = Shemp – 12 squares

Rules Question: Pirate's Cove

Can one person play a Royal Navy card, then another person play a Royal Navy card to send the RN somewhere else?

Rambling on the Rails to Pirate's Cove.

This entry will be a bit more free form than most. Rambling, so as to entertain Easy, who was absent. (Punk.)

(It's a busy time of year, that's my excuse, and I am sticking to it.)

How'd it go Wednesday? Anything interesting?

The standard sort of interesting. Game-playing, Kickass Chilli (thanks to Ogami).


We played two games of Ticket to Ride. Ogami won the first with four players
(Tilli played) and Kozure won the second with three players.

Then we played Pirate's Cove. Shemp won the first game. I think we played a second game of Pirate's cove, but I can't remember for certain, or who won.

Actually, I am certain we played a second game. The first game of Pirate's Cove we played, Shemp and Kozure actually tied for points, which by the rules is resolved by a final player-vs-player battle. Shemp won, but it was a big fight. It was a three player game, so we had two legendary pirates on the go. Kozure and Shemp both teamed up to defeat Blackbeard, and then fought. And then there was a tie, and another Kozure-Shemp throwdown. Epic.

The second game of Pirates Cove, Tilli played. The winner of the second Pirate's Cove game was either Kozure or Ogami, but Kozure still can't remember who won, but knows it wasn't him. I know it wasn't Shemp or Tilli. Must have been Ogami, then. I think that matches up with my recollection. There was a battle with the Flying Dutchman, who was also hanging around on the first game. Of Pirate's Cove, not Ticket To Ride. The Flying Dutchman in Ticket to Ride would just be wierd. Since I am dictator, I decree that Ogami won the last game last week.

If we can't even keep track of winning, so much for being able to keep track of winning, showing, and placing. Maybe we can start that with the New Year. We could resolve to...

HMMM - this is a little light on analysis. That's the problem with waiting nearly a week to Blogue.

Ticket to Ride (actually, both games) have relatively simple mechanics which lend themselves to a finite set of tactics that can be mastered. Strategy is almost beside the point in TTR, I think, due to the randomness of the tickets that you can recieve. Both are fun enough to play with anyone at any point, but neither seems particularily DEEP. Maybe that's why I am having some difficulty writing about them.


Look. Hey, look. Here's the thing. Both games are prime for what Kozure calls "Meta Gaming". Playing the players. Trying to guess what others will do. Trying to conceal your intentions. The players are all trying to pull off a con (a confidence game), with brightly coloured, well designed pieces. It's a more elaborate poker.

Fun. Interesting. You can do some math on the game. Resistant to commentary.


Apologies to Kozure for the liberal cut and paste theft from his email.

I am such a punk.

The problem with naming your ship "Revenge" is...

...that it implies you will lose the first fight.

This Wednesday was Pirate's Cove, a game of featuring pirates, plunder and players trying really hard to think of other words than "Yaaar", and "Scurvy" to help them sound in character.

Simple game in concept: 5 outer Islands (where treasure, fame and fortune can be found), an inner island where treasure can be buried and another where defeated pirates go to lick their wounds. Every turn each player secretely determines which island they will try to plunder, and if more than one player pick the same place combat occurs.

Add to this a roving legendary pirate, parrots, upgrades to ship and crew, and you have an excellent Pirate game!

I have to admit that going in I was starting to think that Days of Wonder games where largely style over substance affairs ("Ticket to Ride" was fun, but not fantastic, and I wasn't crazy about "Mystery of the Abbey"). I was happily proven wrong with this one. Pirat'e Cove is FUN. The theme is captured very well, everyone is involved at all times and it's not very long. I would say that it may be a little complicated, but not so much that most people wouldn't catch on (The game with all the variants we added, however, is a different story).

We played three games, and the last one included several variants that Kozure had found online and others that he invented himself. The first game didn't feel bogged down by learning the rules. It picked up quickly, and I had the good fortune of not getting in too many people's way (and soundly defeating Shemp a few times) and winning.

The next game, however, didn't go so well. I spent nearly the entire game fighting Luch over cannons... and ALWAYS losing. I came in last, and Shemp won handily.

The last game included many variants (ships could get boarded, duelling rules were introduced and combat could happen at treasure island). IT was quite a bloody game, with my ship getting torn to pieces and boarded quite early by Luch (my nemesis for the evening, it seemed). He took my substantial hoard of treasure and money, and I was left plotting revenge. When I got my chance, I ganged up with the Royal Navy to attack/board Luch. Ultimately, I miscalculated and killed of the army myself and Luch sent me packing once more. Later, I lost a psitol duel with Shemp! Meanwhile, kozure seemed to be the leader with a strong ship and much fame. I think he suffered quite a bit of "Kill the Leader" from the rest of us and was beaten down. In the end, it was a very tight game but Luch won by a point.

My one problem: I feel that the game rewards those who avoid conflict a bit too much. IT seemed like most of the time, the winner was the one who snuck past everyone. This is compounded by the fact that hurt players are the easiest to target (because you pretty much know they will head to the island which will heal there lowest stat), and that they are the most attractive targets since they are easy to beat. I wonder whether a rule which allowed pirates out from the cove a turn where no combat could occur, or something like that, could alleviate the problem. The rule which allows defeated pirates to draw cards helps a lot, however. Maybe the answer is simply to draw one extra card. Another tactic would be to offer fame points according to the power of the player you fought (if the defeated pirate started the fight with a stat on the 1st or 2nd space=0 fame, 3rd or 4th=1 fame, 5th or 6th=2 fame, etc).

I also think that players with cards like the parrots, etc should be allowed to replace them with another by playing the new card and discarding the old.

Still, small quibbles. Great game.

Rating:8