Whoa. Dude. The idol is... like... made of g o l d. (Puerto Rico, Glory to Rome x2, China, Hollywood Blockbuster)

It was me, Luch and Bharmer tonight.

I know games generally go quicker with fewer players, but I was surprised how many games we got in our short 4 hour window.

Puerto Rico

The #1 game on BGG continues to pop up once in a while. I started with corn, decided I’d go for coffee, then got stuck with tobacco. I then decided to buy a factory and collect sugar and indigo for the set! I didn’t gain much from shipping, but the money I was making from the factory allowed me to buy two large buildings and win the game. Bharmer did manage quite a bit of shipping, but didn’t get as many points from buildings.

Glory to Rome

We were able to play two more hands of Glory to Rome, and I’m happy to say that it’s turning out to be a great game. One thing we all just came to understand is that the game can end very abruptly when a powerful combo of buildings gets built. The thing is, since GtR features an abnormally high number of such powerful buildings and combos, you really have to watch what’s going on.

In our first game, we were once again just sort of building buildings to see what they do. I came across a building called the scriptorium which allowed me to complete any building I wanted with just a single marble. That’s very powerful. In no time, I completed a series of random buildings I had started, one of which was the colosseum… a building that ends the game. Since no one had used their vaults, I knew I had won.

It all happened pretty abruptly.

Bharmer mentioned he didn’t feel very satisfied by the game, so he chose to have us play it again.

This time, things went rather differently. Luch built a building (the name escapes me), that allows the player to use the powers of his unbuilt buildings as though they were completed. He then started a virtual city of foundations and became so flush with special abilities it was probably impossible to keep track of them. I was keeping up with the joneses on the building front, but simultaneously stashing material in the vault. Near the end, Luch started completing buildings but most of his potential went unrealized, as the last in town site was chosen and the game ended. Since I was the only player to have played in the vault, I received a couple of bonus chits, and those six points gave me the win (though it was otherwise very close).

Now that we’ve played three times, I can definitely say that I really enjoy it. The games play out very differently each time due to the huge impacts the cards can have. The end can show up out of nowhere, and games can vary wildly in length depending on what triggers the end of the game, but it’s a card game so I don’t put it in the same context as most boardgames. I’m enjoying having to make the most of the cards I’ve got, and seeing how all the powers work together.
I think as a group we tend to undervalue the vault, but I’m pretty confident there’s a successfully strategy that counters that method as well.

China

What can be said about playing China? Luch often wins, and this week was no exception. He simply knows how to get those advisor connections going. He was ahead by the equivalent of a third of our score.

Hollywood Blockbuster

Amazingly, we still had time for another game. I pulled out my latest math trade acquisition, Hollywood Blockbuster, and we gave it a whirl.
I had read it was similar to RA. That actually scared me a little, because if there is something I dislike, it’s when game A resembles game B too much in my collection. Those fears were unfounded, as HB feels like a very different game.

Over four rounds, players try to auction sets of actors, special effects, directors, music and cinematography of various quality to try to complete the movies they have on deck. A particular movie might require a main actor, a cinematographer, and two composers. Once a player has won enough auctions to have a chip placed on each of these spaces, he/she adds up all the stars on the various items they’ve collected and the movie is scored.
Various awards are given for first film in a given genre, best film of the quarter, best direction, etc. There is even an award for worst movie, so there is actually some benefit in trying to make a really bad movie. The whole process is quite straightforward and I think the theme would actually appeal to a lot of people that aren’t normally gamers. (I’ll let you know after I try to get my sister to play). Although the continuous auctions create a definite parallel with RA, the simpler collection conditions and the lack of Sun Tile constraint and disasters makes this feel much more approachable (though RA is the better gamer’s game). The most serious flaw HB has is a result of patent law... Sadly, all the movies and actors in the game are “satires” or “caricatures” of real world movies and actors. Although the drawings themselves are pretty good for the most part, the “funny” names of famous people and movies are kind of lame. Personally, I prefer to just refer to everybody by their real names.
Anyway, over the course of the game I made Forrest Gump directed by Tarantino and staring Tom Cruise which won Best Picture. Then, Raiders of the Lost Ark staring Keanu Reeves managed to come in as the worst movie ever. Imagine that.
I liked it. Redistributing all the money you paid to win an auction to other players is a strange thing, but it seems to work. All in all, I’m happy with the game.

Every Dog has it's Day (Puerto Rico, Blue Moon City, Zooloretto)

You know how it goes. You bring a particular game time and time again to games night in the hopes of it getting picked. Time and time again, it doesn't. Well, I've been dragging Puerto Rico along with me for quite some time, and I've noticed Zooloretto in Kozure's bag every week since christmas. As if to appease us, Bharmer picked both (coincidence? subtle suggestion? who knows?).

Puerto Rico

Ironically, I often put down Puerto Rico. There's something about the setup which really irks me (all the counting and stacking... it's right up there with Memoir '44 and Hey! That's my fish! for making me want to choose something else just because of the setup to game ratio). I also hate teaching it, as all the subsystems and buildings are hard to condense into anything which will keep new player's attention.

Still, despite all that, it's fun to PLAY. It's been so long, I can't remember the last time we did (cue Shemp: "Y'all got too many games").

I was the first player, so Indigo it was. I usually go for the money route, with markets and coffee OR the corn strategy. This time, I was the beneficiary of a particularly lucrative propector on round three and purchased the University. How often does THAT happen? So, with the hospice in tow I started taking on colonists like crazy with my eye on the 6 building that gives you a bonus victory point for every 3 colonists (oh, and I was brewing coffee and selling it to make ends meet). Wouldn't you know it, I pushed my luck too far and Bharmer bought the 6 building before I could.

Meanwhile, Kozure went the big money route (a new tactic for him), Shemp went Pure Corn (he practically refused to buy any buildings other than a warehouse) and Bharmer did a little bit of everything.

Outcome: Bharmer wins a close game. Kozure 2nd, Shemp 3rd and me last. Still fun, though.

Blue Moon City

I alluded to it in an earlier post, but this is my pick for top game of 2007. With 4, the margin for error is slim. In a repeat performance, Bharmer claimed the top spot with 4 offerings just as most of us were considering our 2nd. Hmmm. I blame the fact that Bharmer had THE ENTIRE DECK'S WORTH OF PILLAR CARDS in his hand, and we wasted precious turns looking for some.

BTW, the standings were entirely the same as in Puerto Rico.

Zooloretto

I've played and enjoyed Zooloretto before, but I'm happy to state that it's much more fun and compelling with 4 competitive players that it was with 3. In my previous games, I was on the verge of getting maximum points every time. With 4, the competition for "stuff" was more intense and decisions seemed to matter more. I actually felt compelled to take an incomplete cart on several occasions! It will never be a favorite of mine, but it definitely is good with 4 and should be entertaining as a family game in particular.

Thousands of free tacos (Maharaja, Puerto Rico, Formula:Motor Racing)

So Taco Bell has offered to give a lifetime of tacos to anyone who is willing to give the company their Playstation 3 (so they can give it to charity). It's an odd story, and not one that affects us (since we don't have one). Still, it inspired Luch, our dictator for the week, to sugeest tacos for the evening. Mmmmm. Tacos.

First game was Maharaja. From the get-go things were going poorly for me... I just couldn't manage to place higher than 4th or 5th, and therefore couldn't really build any palaces. Bharmer, on the other hand, is extremely good at it. Each game, he seems untouchable, but what is interesting is that he uses a different strategy each game. In the first, he was swapping characters all the time. In this one, he manipulated the nobles (?) track endlessly, and continuously built palaces one turn ahead of time (getting the central position with little competition). It's a little weird, but it seems that despite the fact that there is little variety in what actually happens on the board, the way to get there appears to have many options. I don't remember how Tili managed in her first game, but she was very good in her second game, narrowly losing the game to Brian by a single palace (and providing him with the only real competition that game).

My opinion on the game is wavering. There are good things going on, but it moves slowly and the ending can almost be predicted halfway throught he game. That may be because we are not good enough competition for bharmer! It does bother me that he manages first or second in almost every city, even in a 5 player game. Shouldn't that be difficult to do? What are we missing?

Anyway, congrats to Bharmer (and Tili). You are clearly very good at this game.

Next was Puerto Rico. Wow, it had been a long time since we've played. None of us have ever really played this extensively, so it remains a largely "off the cuff" experience (no rote strategies, here). Anyway, I started with an indigo and went straight into tobacco. I was hoping to focus on making money, so I bought the two markets and then added an office. I never did get to use the office (and didn't get much use out of the factory, either). Still, things were going okay. I was hoping to pick up 3 large buildings but bharmer bought one much earlier than I expected anyone to... sparking a rush to buy them. I managed 2.

When the scores were tallied, kozure and I finished quite close: his 52 to my 54.

It was fun to get that out again!

We finished up with Formula: Motor Racing. I'm really enjoying this game right now. Not much to say, except that we managed to beat the bots, and that's an achievement for us.

The same... but different.

Ahhh, two well loved games... but each with a twist making them feel "new" again.

Puerto Rico was first up. I've had the expansion for quite a while, but never felt like I knew the base game well enough to give it a try. Dictator Luch was tired of waiting, and so we threw it in. What do you know? It was pretty good.

Playing Puerto Rico without knowing the buildings was a strange and daunting feeling. Now I know (again) what it's like learning this game from scratch... pretty intimidating. The new additions were not all included, as the rules call for a "draft" of the buildings to start. Essentially, if the base game had 2 buildings which cost 3 dubloons, then the game with expansion is limited to the same (etc, etc). This ensures that some of the balance is maintained.

The new buildings have a broad range of effects.

Some explore new variations on old ideas (like the one that behaves like a factory, but gives bonuses to multiples of the SAME good)

Some bring new but straightforward concepts (like the forest plantations, which give discounts to buildings without needing to be manned and without the limits of quarries but take much more effort to aquire)

Others offer very strange ideas (like the black market which allows you to get discounts by trading in workers, victory points or goods... or the Union Hall which gives you victory points for pairs of goods before they are shipped... or the guest house, which allows up to 2 workers to reside until the player decides he/she wants them to be moved to somewhere else (a very powerful way to avoid having to wait for the mayor phase to occupy buildings or plantations))

Tili joined us for the game, giving us a full complement of players. I chose to try a "Corn Strategy" bolstered by the new Union Hall and the Guest House. In the rush to place the new buildings, I completely forgot to make sure the Wharf was available! Normally, focussing on corn and not getting a Wharf is deadly but (lucky for me) it didn't go too badly. We all suffered from "New" shock... we're not used to playing 5 players, and the new buildings threw us. This basically ensured we all played equally poorly, and spent most of the game just "trying stuff" (in fact, Shemp mentioned on many occasions that he couldn't formulate a strategy). Shemp and (to a lesser extent) Kozure tried to accumulate Forests. Tili played a straight game, but frequently found herself at the wrong end of the trader or captain, losing valuable opportunities. Luch got good mileage out of his aqueduct. I managed to accumulate many VPs through the Union Hall and shipping. The Guest House allowed me to man the corn fields as soon as I aquired them. I ultimately won the game, though it's only by luck since we were all shooting in the dark and I happened to pick a combination which worked well.

Next was Power Grid. Again, we've played this before but always on the Germany map, so we decided to try the USA. The South West was randomly determined to be out of play (hurricanes?). I placed in the far East, thinking no one else would follow suit since it was so heavily constricted from the "out of play" areas, but to my dismay Luch and Shemp both set up camp on the mid east. This left Kozure with the entire West half to play with (which is expensive at the Rockies, but it was quite an advantage none the less). Sure enough, as the game progressed the three of us in the East where fighting for every scrap of free space, and Kozure slowly absorbed the rest. Both Shemp and Luch eventually branched off into that half, taking 2nd and 3rd stations in western cities, but I was hopelessly stuck behind masses of unavailable conduit. Lucky for me, I always had JUST ENOUGH to do what I needed. I often had to overspend, but at least it was possible. At the end, Kozure made a critical mistake and only realized it too late (he forgot that in the 3rd phase he could buy powerplants from both rows, and instead purchased a lower capacity plant). I seriously lucked out and was able to buy the "50" power plant (a "green" plant which powers 6) uncontested late in the game which vaulted me back in contention. Shemp and I were both within striking distance and both went for the kill by going to 17 cities with the ability to power it all. It came down to cash... and Shemp had 1 DOLLAR MORE THAN ME.

1 dollar.

!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I lost a photo finish, but it was fun!

Power Grid is a very good game, and clearly a favorite in our group. It's not a personal top 10, though, and I'm hard pressed to figure out why. The only thing I can think of is that the game feels more like a "race" than anything else. Everyone is jockying for position, trying to make it to the finish line first (giving ground to the leader during the game where it is strategically effective), but it can feel a little like multiplayer solitaire. Other than indirect conflict, such as blocking a route of purchasing fuel another player needs, everyone kind of goes their own way (and the tight money supply pretty much ensures that making a move which doesn't benefit you just to "screw yr Neighbour" is pretty risky and rare). The most important part of the game, in my mind, is manipulating player order to try to stay in last place as long as possible... but EVERYONE is following that strategy, so again it's kind of a race. Funny, because Princes of Florence has the very same criticism: "there is little competition, it's essentially a multiplayer solitaire race to see who scores more", yet it's one of my favorites. All I can say is that in PoF, there are far fewer moving parts, the system is more elegant and the game is shorter. Different people will have different opinions, but that's mine.

One last note: Am I the only one who finds the mid game power plants basically useless? Every game, we just wait for them to cycle through until we get to the good ones. Not a huge criticism, but something I have been feeling is a bit "odd" in the game design.

Anyway, while Power Grid is not in my top 10, it's in my top 20, so I don't want to make it sound like I don't like it (and games right into the top 30 are ones I love to play).

Just thinking out loud...

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.

Orange Bot Twenty

This week we went back to Puerto Rico for a couple of four player games, had three quick rounds of the Formula Motor Racing card game, and chowed down on the trailer park special - WonderBread HotDogs w/ instant MacNCheese!

If there was a theme here, it eluded me. Enlightenment appreciated.

Puerto Rico is a fabulous game, and I was surprised to see that we've only played in on WAGS night once before. Easy was absent from our session this week, so I decided to honour him by busting out the Percieved Standard Easy German Game Strategy in our first round of Puerto Rico.

What is the PSEGGS? Find some way to earn victory points that isn't directly tied to the main purpose of the game, focus on it, and hope no one notices.

Did it work? It did. In our first round, I was able to pile up some money quick, buy three of the large buildings, ship very little, end things by maxing out my village, and still pull out the victory. I'm not too sure what the scores were, but Kozure kept track - hopefully he will jump in on the comments with that info.

In our second round, our Puerto Rico minds were limbered up, and things flowed a lot better, resulting in a closer game. Tili managed to buy 2 large buildings (compared to one each for the rest of us), and it propelled her to a narrow victory, with a very impressive sixty points! I had abandonded the victory points through building strategy, focusing on shipping out diversified crops and earning $$ through a factory. It worked fairly well, but consistantly shipping out goods without benefitting other players was pretty difficult.

What continues to impress me about Puerto Rico is that there are a vast number of different ways to earn your victory points, and it seems that the efficacy of different strategies are very well balanced. Whoever does a good job of developing their plan and sticking to it will (while remaining able to react to other players' actions) be right in the thick of things come the endgame.

Easy, I'm upping my score on this to a 10. THAT'S RIGHT - A 10.

Now, Formula Motor Racing is a fun little game, and Kozure, L, and I blew through three rounds. The interesting thing about this game with three players, is that there are also three unplayed teams in the competition - we refer to them as "'bots", as in a video game. The human players focused on screwing over each other, and at the end of two rounds, the Orange Bot was in first place with Twenty points! In the third round we all took turns punishing the Orange Bot, and Luch was able to bring his total points up to Twenty-One, for a narrow victory over No One, who managed to beat both Kozure and me. The Red cars were our stand in for Easy. They came very, very last.

It was agreed that this game would be BEST played slightly intoxicated. Still good without being intoxicated, but not quite ideal.

To sum up: Very fun night, as we settle into rounds of playing games we are already familiar with.

Land Ownership in the Efficient German Style

Well the games of choice this week were Löwenherz and Puerto Rico. ????? had bought Löwenherz after being impressed with Domaine. Löwenherz, or “Lionheart” when translated from the German, is essentially an earlier version of Domaine. The principal differences are that the number of land tiles is cut down by three from nine to six in Löwenherz, and the turn mechanic is bid-based, rather than simple draw-or-play. The elder game also uses a different method for scoring areas, and adds “treasure” and “parchment” cards which are good for extra gold and end of game scoring respectively.

Due to its reduced size, Löwenherz feels much more “cramped” by comparison – but as a consequence, domains come into contact with each other quickly. As a result of this, knights, alliances and desertion/traitor cards become important much earlier in the game.

The bidding mechanic is interesting, and lends a social/negotiation aspect to the game which is largely absent from Domaine. Of course, negotiation and social aspects rely very heavily upon the make-up of the gaming group, which is why I imagine it was removed from the revised Domaine. Simply stated, each turn, an action card is turned over which has three actions listed on it. Each player bids for one of the three options with a special bidding card. Since there are only three options, two or more players can compete for the action in a “power trail”, essentially a negotiation of how much one player will pay the other to perform the action; if neither can come to an agreement, or three or more players bid for the same action, there is a “duel” – players secretly bid gold or treasure for the card and the highest bid wins, with the rest keeping their money.

The mediaeval tapestry look of the game board is appealing, but overall the newer Domaine wins in the looks department. A few other minor tweaks (cards for money, altered silver mine rules), combined with the major changes mentioned above makes Löwenherz significantly different from Domaine as to not be simply a “variant”. They play differently, with a few similar mechanics.

Easy won the match easily with a devastating combination of really knight-heavy domains and shrewd bargaining. My attempt at a massive early land grab was subsequently smacked down by a surgical expansion which effectively cut the entire domain in a 1/6 to 5 /6 portion, leaving me with the smallest bit.

As a side note, I thought it was amusing that Löwenherz features a king who is dying (rather than in Domaine, which features a king who is returning from a far-away land) since Richard the Lionhearted of England was famous for being an absentee king and having to deal with squabbling nobles and a prince brother when he returned.

Our second and third games of the night were Puerto Rico, an old favourite which we haven’t played a lot recently. As we’ve become more familiar with mechanics of other German games, we’ve been carefully re-reading and clarifying previous rules, especially the Captain phase shipping rules, which we have played incorrectly previously. Given our collective brainfreeze on the first game of Domaine last week, this is a very good thing.

We were also careful to watch the timing of certain actions, especially with the Settler phase and haciendas, which can make for some confusion, especially with ?????.

The first game felt oddly rushed for some reason, with no one managing to get large buildings completed in time for some reason. Both money and goods seemed in short supply, so much as to elicit a careful recount of components before proceeding. Even colonists were recounted, since the game seemed to be over before anyone was ready. We had no one to blame, though – we had the correct number of everything.

I believe a major factor in the rapid depletion of colonist reserves was the presence of multiple hospices, as well as haciendas, the combination of which can spell a very quick draw from the pool. There also seemed to be more concentration on erecting buildings which had long-term pay-off, rather than actual production buildings. Other than that, none of us could quite account for the odd feeling of our first game.

In the end, Shemp and I tied for first place, with exactly the same amount of victory points and combined goods and doubloons. – 23 victory points and about 12 combined points of goods and doubloons.

The second game felt much more right, with people managing to develop strategies well (confusing Shemp at the same time) with two people building large buildings before Easy brought the boom down by grabbing the Mayor card.

It was a good thing too, because Shemp looked to be pulling away from everyone with not only a harbour and plenty of goods to ship for VP, but also the doubloons to pick up the Custom House in the next building phase. Shemp carried the day with 47 VP, I came in second with 44, and Easy and Hapi brought up the rear with scores that I can’t remember, but were relatively close.

An enjoyable evening, with three solid games (well, two solid games and one shaky one) and some tight races. Also, I tied for first in Puerto Rico for the first time since the first or second time I played. Yay me! I'm usually the bridesmaid for Puerto Rico. One day, I will win, my precious, one day...