So, they were going to play Cyclades, which was Kozure's selection, as he was dictator this week.
Unfortunately, I didn't show up until 11pm. I was stuck at a function that should have been over at 9pm. Oh well.
Kozure and Shemp played Battle Line and Dominion/ Dominion: Intrigue, and from the sounds of it they played quite a few times.
(Shemp started this post, and I'm publishing it to keep them all in order. I presume his title refers to many games played)
When I arrived, we played another game of Dominion and then Kozure and I had a hand of Race for the Galaxy.
Sorry, not very interesting, but there it is.
Showing posts with label Race for the Galaxy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Race for the Galaxy. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Skulligan (Roll Through the Ages x2, Glory to Rome, Race for the Galaxy, Dominion)
It was Kozure's pick this week, and he was lookin' to play some quick n' light civilization building games.
Roll Through the Ages
We opened with a relatively recent purchase that hadn't yet seen any play at WAGS... Roll Through the Ages. A long time ago I used to play computer yahtzee quite a lot, but I can't say this type of "combination seeking" dice games have really been my thing since (I'm not counting games like Excape, Liar's Dice or Can't Stop, because those aren't really the same type of game). Still, with the recent crop of dice games I started to get interested and settled on this one to try. Ra: The Dice Game and Settlers of Catan: The Dice Game just seemed too derivative of their parent games, while this one seemed fresh.
You roll a number of dice based on the number of cities you've built. Building cities or monuments requires "workers", while developments require "goods" and/or "money". Cities need to be fed, so more cities means more dice but also means more upkeep. All the while, any "disasters" that come up must be set aside and the more a player gets the worse the result (with one exception, where if exactly three disasters are rolled the other players are penalized). At first blush, I was disappointed that it wasn't more Yahtzee like. I was looking to make combinations, to satisfy certain requirements based on series or the like. Luckily, my initial fears were unfounded. Trying to get the dice faces you are looking for, trying to finish items that have been started, trying to push for just enough disasters to affect the other players instead of you... it all boils down to trying to achieve the same sort of thing, but it's more fluid and situation dependent. There appears to be a couple of different ways to get ahead, from focussing on monuments to racking up goods and going for big technologies. It might have been cool if another path to victory was opened up along the lines of "wonders" (or whatever) where rolling a particular combination of dice signified the discovery of something important... maybe in a future expansion?
Anyway, it's a fun light game that doesn't take very long to play. The interaction is pretty light, but there is an optional rule for trading that we haven't tried that might help.
Kozure pulled ahead in our first game and ended just as it seemed Shemp was catching up. Lucky for him, he did it just in time and he won by a just a few points. Shemp coined the term "skulligan" by combining the "disaster" face of the die with the word "mulligan". It wasn't an intentional combination, but it worked and we thought it was pretty funny. In our second game, I had a huge streak of luck that gave me an enormous amount of points but I had been hit so hard by disasters and a particularly brutal turn where I lost nearly ten points to famine that I was pulled out of contention. Who won that again? Don't remember (sorry).
Glory to Rome
We then moved on to the quirky world of Glory to Rome. This game is usually best when played a few times in succession because it is so deeply weird that it takes a bit of time to adjust to it. You have to come to terms with the fact that there are a large number of highly unbalanced combos to be found, and that the game is won by the player best able to set one up and exploit it (which ultimately makes it balanced, in a weird way). When we go a stretch without playing, this often seems to come as a surprise that these ridiculously powerful things happen, and it can feel a bit unsatisfying because it feels rather random when it happens.
Oddly, just like the last time we played I managed to build the Garden, which allowed me to execute the patron action once for each point of influence. Just like last time, I had a ton of influence and wound up with a *large* number of patrons. I completed several powerful buildings and stuffed my vault full of goods. The funny thing was I couldn't end the game because I wasn't getting any marble buildings, and therefore couldn't use up the last foundation, and was very afraid someone would build one of those "instant win" buildings. No one did, and I won by a landslide, but it was interesting to me that even in a situation where I am so far ahead the game is such that I know I could still lose at any moment. That's a good thing in my book.
Race for the Galaxy
Here's a game we haven't played as a group in a really long time. I personally play on occasion against the computer in the free downloadable version at BGG. It's amazing how the iconography becomes second nature the more you play, but Shemp reminded me how difficult it can be on beginners. He had a few run-ins with symbols he couldn't figure out, coupled with his colour-blindness, and had a frustrating time of it (this game is stupid, is how he put it, I think). Anyway, I had a great game. I started with Epsilon Eradni and a mitfull of military worlds. Everything fell into place beautifully and I put out larger and larger military worlds until I got to twelve card played (which happened the same turn Shemp did it). Here again, I had a very good score and won handily (mid forties, I believe). Experience matters in this game, and I therefore have an unfair advantage.
Shemp has mentioned on a few occasions that games with low interaction are rarely his favorites. Although I do find that I am constantly aware of the other players, from the point of view that I withhold certain cards I think others need and don't bother playing role cards I think others will play for me, I can't argue that the interaction is pretty thin. Oh well, I still like it!
Dominion
Dominion puts me in the opposite situation as Race for the Galaxy, because here I'm the one with less experience. I'm not sure why, but I have a hard time wrapping my head around the powers on the ten cards each time I play. I therefore kind of float through the game doing my best to keep up but then always ending up a distant last. I must respond better to multiple symbols than to blocks of text (actually, I know I do). Other than my general inability to play well, it is a fun game.
I had abrief moment where things were going well for me. I had the coinage card that doubled all my copper, and it worked to get me a couple of provinces very early in the game. Unfortunately, I kept purchasing cards and my deck got bogged down. From memory, I think that Luch won the game by a nose. He is quite effective at this game. He mentioned at the end of the game that he tries to go as quickly as possible to purchasing the 6 VP provinces, and tries not to get distracted by the the cards. I'll have to take that advice...
Roll Through the Ages
We opened with a relatively recent purchase that hadn't yet seen any play at WAGS... Roll Through the Ages. A long time ago I used to play computer yahtzee quite a lot, but I can't say this type of "combination seeking" dice games have really been my thing since (I'm not counting games like Excape, Liar's Dice or Can't Stop, because those aren't really the same type of game). Still, with the recent crop of dice games I started to get interested and settled on this one to try. Ra: The Dice Game and Settlers of Catan: The Dice Game just seemed too derivative of their parent games, while this one seemed fresh.
You roll a number of dice based on the number of cities you've built. Building cities or monuments requires "workers", while developments require "goods" and/or "money". Cities need to be fed, so more cities means more dice but also means more upkeep. All the while, any "disasters" that come up must be set aside and the more a player gets the worse the result (with one exception, where if exactly three disasters are rolled the other players are penalized). At first blush, I was disappointed that it wasn't more Yahtzee like. I was looking to make combinations, to satisfy certain requirements based on series or the like. Luckily, my initial fears were unfounded. Trying to get the dice faces you are looking for, trying to finish items that have been started, trying to push for just enough disasters to affect the other players instead of you... it all boils down to trying to achieve the same sort of thing, but it's more fluid and situation dependent. There appears to be a couple of different ways to get ahead, from focussing on monuments to racking up goods and going for big technologies. It might have been cool if another path to victory was opened up along the lines of "wonders" (or whatever) where rolling a particular combination of dice signified the discovery of something important... maybe in a future expansion?
Anyway, it's a fun light game that doesn't take very long to play. The interaction is pretty light, but there is an optional rule for trading that we haven't tried that might help.
Kozure pulled ahead in our first game and ended just as it seemed Shemp was catching up. Lucky for him, he did it just in time and he won by a just a few points. Shemp coined the term "skulligan" by combining the "disaster" face of the die with the word "mulligan". It wasn't an intentional combination, but it worked and we thought it was pretty funny. In our second game, I had a huge streak of luck that gave me an enormous amount of points but I had been hit so hard by disasters and a particularly brutal turn where I lost nearly ten points to famine that I was pulled out of contention. Who won that again? Don't remember (sorry).
Glory to Rome
We then moved on to the quirky world of Glory to Rome. This game is usually best when played a few times in succession because it is so deeply weird that it takes a bit of time to adjust to it. You have to come to terms with the fact that there are a large number of highly unbalanced combos to be found, and that the game is won by the player best able to set one up and exploit it (which ultimately makes it balanced, in a weird way). When we go a stretch without playing, this often seems to come as a surprise that these ridiculously powerful things happen, and it can feel a bit unsatisfying because it feels rather random when it happens.
Oddly, just like the last time we played I managed to build the Garden, which allowed me to execute the patron action once for each point of influence. Just like last time, I had a ton of influence and wound up with a *large* number of patrons. I completed several powerful buildings and stuffed my vault full of goods. The funny thing was I couldn't end the game because I wasn't getting any marble buildings, and therefore couldn't use up the last foundation, and was very afraid someone would build one of those "instant win" buildings. No one did, and I won by a landslide, but it was interesting to me that even in a situation where I am so far ahead the game is such that I know I could still lose at any moment. That's a good thing in my book.
Race for the Galaxy
Here's a game we haven't played as a group in a really long time. I personally play on occasion against the computer in the free downloadable version at BGG. It's amazing how the iconography becomes second nature the more you play, but Shemp reminded me how difficult it can be on beginners. He had a few run-ins with symbols he couldn't figure out, coupled with his colour-blindness, and had a frustrating time of it (this game is stupid, is how he put it, I think). Anyway, I had a great game. I started with Epsilon Eradni and a mitfull of military worlds. Everything fell into place beautifully and I put out larger and larger military worlds until I got to twelve card played (which happened the same turn Shemp did it). Here again, I had a very good score and won handily (mid forties, I believe). Experience matters in this game, and I therefore have an unfair advantage.
Shemp has mentioned on a few occasions that games with low interaction are rarely his favorites. Although I do find that I am constantly aware of the other players, from the point of view that I withhold certain cards I think others need and don't bother playing role cards I think others will play for me, I can't argue that the interaction is pretty thin. Oh well, I still like it!
Dominion
Dominion puts me in the opposite situation as Race for the Galaxy, because here I'm the one with less experience. I'm not sure why, but I have a hard time wrapping my head around the powers on the ten cards each time I play. I therefore kind of float through the game doing my best to keep up but then always ending up a distant last. I must respond better to multiple symbols than to blocks of text (actually, I know I do). Other than my general inability to play well, it is a fun game.
I had abrief moment where things were going well for me. I had the coinage card that doubled all my copper, and it worked to get me a couple of provinces very early in the game. Unfortunately, I kept purchasing cards and my deck got bogged down. From memory, I think that Luch won the game by a nose. He is quite effective at this game. He mentioned at the end of the game that he tries to go as quickly as possible to purchasing the 6 VP provinces, and tries not to get distracted by the the cards. I'll have to take that advice...
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Shemp played himself so hard he's bleeding (Jumpgate, Race for the Galaxy: The Gathering Storm)
We played a second session of Kozure's prototype, Jumpgate. This was was the first time Shemp and Bharmer had tried it, and I think it was the first playtest with the full complement of 4 players. I was initially worried that there would be too much chaos with 4... many games where the board changes significantly between turns suffer a little bit in my opinion. There's often a feeling of lost control that I find unsatisfying. Luckily, it didn't really feel that way. Again, I'm not going to talk about it too much but it was fun playing it again.
One note: For posterity, I want to record that during this game Bharmer managed to "Bharmer", "Luch" and perform a "quarter Ono". It was quite remarkable.
We finished the evening with our second game of Race for the Galaxy: The Gathering Storm.
I was dealt an excellent hand. My starting world was the Separatist Colony. In my hand were 3 alien cards that had a military bent, and a fourth card that boosted military. They complemented each other so well I was able to put down military/ alien worlds and developments effortlessly, grabbing a "first to have 3 alien cards" chit along the way. I only had a single production world, the damaged Alien Factory, but between it and another card I had played it gave me 6 cards a shot. I spent the second half of the game putting down military worlds for free and 6VP developments. I don't normally do well at Race, but this one was playing itself. I ended the game 20 points ahead of the second place player, Kozure. Yay me!
One note: For posterity, I want to record that during this game Bharmer managed to "Bharmer", "Luch" and perform a "quarter Ono". It was quite remarkable.
We finished the evening with our second game of Race for the Galaxy: The Gathering Storm.
I was dealt an excellent hand. My starting world was the Separatist Colony. In my hand were 3 alien cards that had a military bent, and a fourth card that boosted military. They complemented each other so well I was able to put down military/ alien worlds and developments effortlessly, grabbing a "first to have 3 alien cards" chit along the way. I only had a single production world, the damaged Alien Factory, but between it and another card I had played it gave me 6 cards a shot. I spent the second half of the game putting down military worlds for free and 6VP developments. I don't normally do well at Race, but this one was playing itself. I ended the game 20 points ahead of the second place player, Kozure. Yay me!
Labels:
Jumpgate,
Race for the Galaxy,
The Gathering Storm
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Aren't we popular? (Race for the Galaxy: The Gathering Storm, Agricola)
This night's session neatly assembles the two hottest games for 2008; Race for the Galaxy and Agricola. What could make this impossibly hot duo any hotter? We were playing the just released Gathering Storm expansion for RftG!!!
Catch your breath. Pick your jaw up from the floor.
Okay, it's not nearly as exciting as that. Particularly for us, because unless I'm mistaken our collective opinion on both those games are : Good/ very good... but not great. Still, good/ very good adds up to a fine night's entertainment, so who am I to complain?
Race for the Galaxy: The Gathering Storm
I find it intriguing that this expansion comes complete with an expanded storyline to further that of the initial game. Mostly, this is intriguing to me because when I play Race for the Galaxy, I am aware of very little theme. I would have gone so far as to describe the original setting as particularly generic. Still, I'm actually kind of glad that the game's designer uses a storyline to develop the game... it makes me feel like there is a purpose behind the development of the expansions even if I currently am not really "feeling" it.
In reality, it was the the addition of a fifth player and the solitaire "bot" that attracted me. The additional cards are nice, but I haven't played enough to really know the base deck that well so the "newness" of the cards will be lost on me (most of the cards are still pretty new to me). I wasn't even aware of the new goal tokens, so that was a nice surprise!
The game played just fine with 5 players. I was a little afraid that all the phases would get chosen every round, making things a little "samey" throughout. It didn't really happen. It's still the same game, but we did play with the goal tokens so it did feel a little different. The goals introduce two new ways to score points: The first is a series of 3 point goals that reward the player that reaches particular achievements first (the ones we drew this game were: First to play 3 Alien cards into their tableau, First to accumulate 5 victory points, First to play worlds that produce all of the possible goods and First to to play a "6" development). The second is a series of 5 point goals that reward the player with the most of something (the two we drew were: The most developments and the most military). For our first game, anyway, the goals felt pretty good. It added a sense of urgency to accomplish certain things before other players, therefore increasing player interaction, without dramatically changing the feel or flow of the game. Of course, the danger with this sort of thing is that the players who's goals naturally align with goals on the table are unfairly advantaged (for example, the most military is almost surely going to go to the player with New Sparta). Anyway, it's a concern but it didn't feel like a problem in our first game.
Having claimed two of the "first goals" and one of the "most" goals, and finished the game with a 12 card tableau (including one 6) I thought I stood a pretty good chance of winning. Alas, Bharmer not only beat us, he was way ahead!
Agricola
Bharmer hadn't played this with the cards before, so he asked that we include them. Kozure shuffled up the entire deck of "E" cards and that's what we used (I actually hadn't played with the whole "E" deck myself, so I wound up seeing a number of new cards too).
Since I always seem to go long on animals, I figured I would try to take advantage of a particular occupation I had which allowed me to pay a food for a ploughed field at the start of every round. Problem was that, just like last game, I got carried away and started trying to get way too many of my other cards on the table as well. Although I feel the cards I did play were at least all used, I'm not 100% sure they got me further than NOT playing them. Because I was trying to coordinate the effects of all these cards, I never actually got around to planting anything in my ever growing pastures! I also was particularly poor at accumulating food without the help of the animals and ovens I was used to. I didn't ever resort to begging, but on two occasions I was saved by lucky breaks (other players giving me food for my master forester's wood space). On the final turn, I had to consume the two vegetables I was holding onto to feed the family, and lost 3 points because of it.
I came in second with 30, but Kozure crushed us with 38.
Catch your breath. Pick your jaw up from the floor.
Okay, it's not nearly as exciting as that. Particularly for us, because unless I'm mistaken our collective opinion on both those games are : Good/ very good... but not great. Still, good/ very good adds up to a fine night's entertainment, so who am I to complain?
Race for the Galaxy: The Gathering Storm
I find it intriguing that this expansion comes complete with an expanded storyline to further that of the initial game. Mostly, this is intriguing to me because when I play Race for the Galaxy, I am aware of very little theme. I would have gone so far as to describe the original setting as particularly generic. Still, I'm actually kind of glad that the game's designer uses a storyline to develop the game... it makes me feel like there is a purpose behind the development of the expansions even if I currently am not really "feeling" it.
In reality, it was the the addition of a fifth player and the solitaire "bot" that attracted me. The additional cards are nice, but I haven't played enough to really know the base deck that well so the "newness" of the cards will be lost on me (most of the cards are still pretty new to me). I wasn't even aware of the new goal tokens, so that was a nice surprise!
The game played just fine with 5 players. I was a little afraid that all the phases would get chosen every round, making things a little "samey" throughout. It didn't really happen. It's still the same game, but we did play with the goal tokens so it did feel a little different. The goals introduce two new ways to score points: The first is a series of 3 point goals that reward the player that reaches particular achievements first (the ones we drew this game were: First to play 3 Alien cards into their tableau, First to accumulate 5 victory points, First to play worlds that produce all of the possible goods and First to to play a "6" development). The second is a series of 5 point goals that reward the player with the most of something (the two we drew were: The most developments and the most military). For our first game, anyway, the goals felt pretty good. It added a sense of urgency to accomplish certain things before other players, therefore increasing player interaction, without dramatically changing the feel or flow of the game. Of course, the danger with this sort of thing is that the players who's goals naturally align with goals on the table are unfairly advantaged (for example, the most military is almost surely going to go to the player with New Sparta). Anyway, it's a concern but it didn't feel like a problem in our first game.
Having claimed two of the "first goals" and one of the "most" goals, and finished the game with a 12 card tableau (including one 6) I thought I stood a pretty good chance of winning. Alas, Bharmer not only beat us, he was way ahead!
Agricola
Bharmer hadn't played this with the cards before, so he asked that we include them. Kozure shuffled up the entire deck of "E" cards and that's what we used (I actually hadn't played with the whole "E" deck myself, so I wound up seeing a number of new cards too).
Since I always seem to go long on animals, I figured I would try to take advantage of a particular occupation I had which allowed me to pay a food for a ploughed field at the start of every round. Problem was that, just like last game, I got carried away and started trying to get way too many of my other cards on the table as well. Although I feel the cards I did play were at least all used, I'm not 100% sure they got me further than NOT playing them. Because I was trying to coordinate the effects of all these cards, I never actually got around to planting anything in my ever growing pastures! I also was particularly poor at accumulating food without the help of the animals and ovens I was used to. I didn't ever resort to begging, but on two occasions I was saved by lucky breaks (other players giving me food for my master forester's wood space). On the final turn, I had to consume the two vegetables I was holding onto to feed the family, and lost 3 points because of it.
I came in second with 30, but Kozure crushed us with 38.
Labels:
Agricola,
Race for the Galaxy,
The Gathering Storm
Thursday, September 11, 2008
On Winning (Glory to Rome, Agricola, Race for the Galaxy)
One thing that this blog doesn't really focus on is who wins and "winning strategies". I think that is largely due to the fact that we're a pretty laid-back group and it's not really the main intent of our play - that is, although we do our best and definitely are competitive, we're not aggressively (or ridiculously) so. I've read a lot of horror stories on BGG and even witnessed a few games playing with other people or groups where it was obvious that winning was the main goal of a particular player. I've seen people storm away from a gaming table; I've seen Paris Hilton-level pouts and sulks and seriously obnoxious rules-lawyers, know-it-alls and "gotta-wins".
Generally speaking, and in fact with probably 97% of boardgamers, they're nice, well-balanced people. That percentage may be a little lower with RPGers (not to knock RPGers, since I am one, but the weirdness factor definitely is a little higher in that social circle).
I do want to comment on what a pleasure it is to play with this gaming group. It's one of the highlights of my week and I always look forward to it, as much as a day or two beforehand. Agent Easy, Bharmer, our occasional visitor Jaywowzer, Ouch, and Shemp are all pleasant opponents and good friends.
That said, (and at the risk of sounding obnoxious) it does feel awfully good to win all three games in an game night. I guess the victory is somewhat sweeter knowing that you're up against decent opponents and often coming in a close second in some tight games the previous three evenings I've attended.
The first game of the evening was Glory to Rome, one of the triumvirate of similar card-based resource optimization games started by San Juan and continued by Race for the Galaxy. I like the theme and general mechanics of this game, but I still have trouble with the powers of some of the building cards, which occasionally seem unbalanced/overpowered or somewhat... I don't know the best word... arbitrary?
The Catacombs - for example. A card which ends the game at the whim of the builder? Or the Forum, which wins the game regardless of influence if you have one of each clientèle (not a difficult situation, with some combos - like the one which lets you perform a patron action for each influence on completion of the building). Another, whose name I've forgotten, lets you perform an action twice for each of your clientèle if you lead or follow an action. The Ludus Magna (allows client Merchants to act as any other occupation) in combination with a few Merchant clients can also be a killer combination. Similarly, the Temple, although difficult to build, can give an amazing advantage to a player (nine card hand!).
The game seems more interesting than San Juan, but simultaneously less balanced, so I'm not sure if one is better than the other as a game design. Given the choice, I'd still pick Glory to Rome, but San Juan is probably a "tighter" design. Glory to Rome also lacks one outstanding characteristic of its two brethren games, brevity.
Since I had missed out on vaulting materials in previous plays, I made sure I did so about mid-way through the game, instead of scrambling at the end. I also built a temple early on as my first building, which helped immensely when I did the thinker action. The combo of decent buildings with a lot of marble and brick in the vault put me well in the lead. It also helped that Jaywowzer was struggling a little with the rules, so his usually savvy play wasn't interfering with my nefarious plans.
Agricola is also a somewhat overlong game in which the deal of certain cards (occupations and minor improvements) singly or in combination can give a player a secret and fairly distinct advantage. This is a different criticism than the imbalance of individual cards which are available to everyone as in Glory to Rome. Inasmuch as that is true, you can still lose with poor play even with the best of card combinations. I think (though I must have at least ten or more plays of the basic game to be sure) that the best way to play this game would be to have a common pool of available occupations and minor improvements dealt at the beginning, with players using coloured markers to indicate which have been purchased. This way, each player has the same opportunity to use and benefit from the same occupations and minor improvements, and the replay value is retained through the cycling of cards (the family game, though interesting and good as a learning tool, does seem like it would become repetitive after a dozen plays).
I pursued my usual strategy of a balanced approach with a slight focus on planting/sowing. This time I did manage to get more animals earlier in the game, which helped with feeding my family and with end-game scoring. Once again, however, I lost out on a fifth family member and a five room house. I also have yet to upgrade to a stone house in this game. I had actually been trying for a build strategy this time around, since I had the master builder card in my hand, but it didn't pan out.
A nice combo appeared for me in the form of the berry picker, mushroom picker, and reed gatherer occupations plus the basket minor improvements. They are relatively short term gain occupations, but can make the difference between begging and not begging when grabbing a lot of wood.
I think a lot of what helped me to victory is managing a third family member early on. The number of extra actions helped me a lot.
As happy as I was with my play, I still only managed a very narrow victory over Agent Easy with 38 points. Easy was super-close with 37, as was Jaywowzer with 34 and Ouch managed one of his higher scores in the game, 24. Ouch did get some nice card combos initially (master baker, potato dibber, grocer(?) and something else) but didn't quite translate them into a higher score, unfortunately.
Race for the Galaxy continues to be one of my more enjoyed light euros. It's quick, competitive and well-themed. One drawback is that it is a less interactive game than Glory to Rome (while still being more interactive than San Juan) which does lend a sense of not really having to pay much attention to the gameplay of others. That's a dangerous habit to fall into, though, because failure to notice strategies, especially produce/consume timing, can make or break a winning bid.
I drew New Sparta, but had a dearth of hostile worlds, so I had to pursue a mixed economy strategy initially. Early play of the Interstellar Bank bankrolled a lot of later purchases and once I did start getting military power in combination with the usual New Galactic Order (I think that's the one, the one with VPs for military power), I was feeling good about my chances. Jaywowzer ended the game a little earlier than I expected, though, with the play of his twelfth tableau card. Ouch and I tied for VPs with 28 apiece, but I squeaked the win with one more card in hand and one more resource in my tableau. Jaywowzer was in the 24-26 range (I've forgotten) and I believe that Easy was in the 20-24 range.
So, I won Race for the Galaxy, but narrowly. Hat Trick... woo hoo! USA! USA! USA!
I'll be quiet now.
Generally speaking, and in fact with probably 97% of boardgamers, they're nice, well-balanced people. That percentage may be a little lower with RPGers (not to knock RPGers, since I am one, but the weirdness factor definitely is a little higher in that social circle).
I do want to comment on what a pleasure it is to play with this gaming group. It's one of the highlights of my week and I always look forward to it, as much as a day or two beforehand. Agent Easy, Bharmer, our occasional visitor Jaywowzer, Ouch, and Shemp are all pleasant opponents and good friends.
That said, (and at the risk of sounding obnoxious) it does feel awfully good to win all three games in an game night. I guess the victory is somewhat sweeter knowing that you're up against decent opponents and often coming in a close second in some tight games the previous three evenings I've attended.
The first game of the evening was Glory to Rome, one of the triumvirate of similar card-based resource optimization games started by San Juan and continued by Race for the Galaxy. I like the theme and general mechanics of this game, but I still have trouble with the powers of some of the building cards, which occasionally seem unbalanced/overpowered or somewhat... I don't know the best word... arbitrary?
The Catacombs - for example. A card which ends the game at the whim of the builder? Or the Forum, which wins the game regardless of influence if you have one of each clientèle (not a difficult situation, with some combos - like the one which lets you perform a patron action for each influence on completion of the building). Another, whose name I've forgotten, lets you perform an action twice for each of your clientèle if you lead or follow an action. The Ludus Magna (allows client Merchants to act as any other occupation) in combination with a few Merchant clients can also be a killer combination. Similarly, the Temple, although difficult to build, can give an amazing advantage to a player (nine card hand!).
The game seems more interesting than San Juan, but simultaneously less balanced, so I'm not sure if one is better than the other as a game design. Given the choice, I'd still pick Glory to Rome, but San Juan is probably a "tighter" design. Glory to Rome also lacks one outstanding characteristic of its two brethren games, brevity.
Since I had missed out on vaulting materials in previous plays, I made sure I did so about mid-way through the game, instead of scrambling at the end. I also built a temple early on as my first building, which helped immensely when I did the thinker action. The combo of decent buildings with a lot of marble and brick in the vault put me well in the lead. It also helped that Jaywowzer was struggling a little with the rules, so his usually savvy play wasn't interfering with my nefarious plans.
Agricola is also a somewhat overlong game in which the deal of certain cards (occupations and minor improvements) singly or in combination can give a player a secret and fairly distinct advantage. This is a different criticism than the imbalance of individual cards which are available to everyone as in Glory to Rome. Inasmuch as that is true, you can still lose with poor play even with the best of card combinations. I think (though I must have at least ten or more plays of the basic game to be sure) that the best way to play this game would be to have a common pool of available occupations and minor improvements dealt at the beginning, with players using coloured markers to indicate which have been purchased. This way, each player has the same opportunity to use and benefit from the same occupations and minor improvements, and the replay value is retained through the cycling of cards (the family game, though interesting and good as a learning tool, does seem like it would become repetitive after a dozen plays).
I pursued my usual strategy of a balanced approach with a slight focus on planting/sowing. This time I did manage to get more animals earlier in the game, which helped with feeding my family and with end-game scoring. Once again, however, I lost out on a fifth family member and a five room house. I also have yet to upgrade to a stone house in this game. I had actually been trying for a build strategy this time around, since I had the master builder card in my hand, but it didn't pan out.
A nice combo appeared for me in the form of the berry picker, mushroom picker, and reed gatherer occupations plus the basket minor improvements. They are relatively short term gain occupations, but can make the difference between begging and not begging when grabbing a lot of wood.
I think a lot of what helped me to victory is managing a third family member early on. The number of extra actions helped me a lot.
As happy as I was with my play, I still only managed a very narrow victory over Agent Easy with 38 points. Easy was super-close with 37, as was Jaywowzer with 34 and Ouch managed one of his higher scores in the game, 24. Ouch did get some nice card combos initially (master baker, potato dibber, grocer(?) and something else) but didn't quite translate them into a higher score, unfortunately.
Race for the Galaxy continues to be one of my more enjoyed light euros. It's quick, competitive and well-themed. One drawback is that it is a less interactive game than Glory to Rome (while still being more interactive than San Juan) which does lend a sense of not really having to pay much attention to the gameplay of others. That's a dangerous habit to fall into, though, because failure to notice strategies, especially produce/consume timing, can make or break a winning bid.
I drew New Sparta, but had a dearth of hostile worlds, so I had to pursue a mixed economy strategy initially. Early play of the Interstellar Bank bankrolled a lot of later purchases and once I did start getting military power in combination with the usual New Galactic Order (I think that's the one, the one with VPs for military power), I was feeling good about my chances. Jaywowzer ended the game a little earlier than I expected, though, with the play of his twelfth tableau card. Ouch and I tied for VPs with 28 apiece, but I squeaked the win with one more card in hand and one more resource in my tableau. Jaywowzer was in the 24-26 range (I've forgotten) and I believe that Easy was in the 20-24 range.
So, I won Race for the Galaxy, but narrowly. Hat Trick... woo hoo! USA! USA! USA!
I'll be quiet now.
Labels:
Agricola,
Glory to Rome,
Race for the Galaxy,
San Juan,
Session
Friday, June 06, 2008
Cards, Cards, Cards
First games night at my new house was a bit of an understated affair; Bharmer arrived late, Agent Easy was taking care of his sick wife and Shemp Duchamp is still taking time off to be with his wife and newborn child. Ouch, however, managed to both find the new location and show up on time. No matter, we killed time by eating leisurely and watching "Bender's Big Score" - the first Futurama TV movie.
Since we didn't have a quorum until around 8:15 PM, the night got off to a late start. We played two games of Race for the Galaxy, followed by starting (and almost finishing) a game of Plunder.
I'm still enjoying RftG, despite its reputation as a sort of auto-pilot solitaire game among some detractors. I do think that it will benefit from the additional player interaction promised in the expansion. One of the things I enjoy about it is the double-think aspect of role card selection, combined with trying to time your scout/develop/produce/trade/consume phasing to give yourself maximum advantage and -ahem- "screwing" your opponent.
If you don't pay attention, there's definitely a sense of auto-pilot in the game, but the random card draw also sometimes forces you to adapt or wholly discard strategies, especially if you aren't drawing the cards you need. Alternatively, you can go for the "deep search" seven (or eight with some exploration modifier) draws to try to get exactly what you want.
For a quick playing and well-themed game, there's also a decent amount of strategy, I feel, so I quite like this one.
I won the first game with a military strategy for Alpha Centauri - 37 points. Bharmer took the second with a pretty descent market economy strategy and 35 points. I came in a close second with 33. Ouch is still getting used to the game and is consequently not scoring quite as high as the rest of us.
I dragged out Plunder for the third (and final) game of the night. I'm certain there's a decent game in there somewhere, and this - if I recall correctly - third or fourth session of this game seems to have gone fairly well. I did modify the starting set-up somewhat, adding two additional open sea cards NW and SE of Tortuga. After this play, I think that this is a average-decent game that needed one more pass to make it good. It's still the best Pirate themed game I own/know of, unfortunately, that doesn't really say much. My friend Captain Physics has acquired a copy of Blackbeard, but I think that level of semi-wargame complexity is probably beyond the realm of preference for this WAGS group.
A good night, if a little abbreviated. Also, we ate a lot of Japanese themed food - yakitori chicken skewers, miso-basted salmon, Japanese white rice and green beans, as well as yummy PC wasabi-honey rice chips.
Since we didn't have a quorum until around 8:15 PM, the night got off to a late start. We played two games of Race for the Galaxy, followed by starting (and almost finishing) a game of Plunder.
I'm still enjoying RftG, despite its reputation as a sort of auto-pilot solitaire game among some detractors. I do think that it will benefit from the additional player interaction promised in the expansion. One of the things I enjoy about it is the double-think aspect of role card selection, combined with trying to time your scout/develop/produce/trade/consume phasing to give yourself maximum advantage and -ahem- "screwing" your opponent.
If you don't pay attention, there's definitely a sense of auto-pilot in the game, but the random card draw also sometimes forces you to adapt or wholly discard strategies, especially if you aren't drawing the cards you need. Alternatively, you can go for the "deep search" seven (or eight with some exploration modifier) draws to try to get exactly what you want.
For a quick playing and well-themed game, there's also a decent amount of strategy, I feel, so I quite like this one.
I won the first game with a military strategy for Alpha Centauri - 37 points. Bharmer took the second with a pretty descent market economy strategy and 35 points. I came in a close second with 33. Ouch is still getting used to the game and is consequently not scoring quite as high as the rest of us.
I dragged out Plunder for the third (and final) game of the night. I'm certain there's a decent game in there somewhere, and this - if I recall correctly - third or fourth session of this game seems to have gone fairly well. I did modify the starting set-up somewhat, adding two additional open sea cards NW and SE of Tortuga. After this play, I think that this is a average-decent game that needed one more pass to make it good. It's still the best Pirate themed game I own/know of, unfortunately, that doesn't really say much. My friend Captain Physics has acquired a copy of Blackbeard, but I think that level of semi-wargame complexity is probably beyond the realm of preference for this WAGS group.
A good night, if a little abbreviated. Also, we ate a lot of Japanese themed food - yakitori chicken skewers, miso-basted salmon, Japanese white rice and green beans, as well as yummy PC wasabi-honey rice chips.
Friday, April 04, 2008
Man is the dumbest animal (Wildlife, Race for the Galaxy, Ra)
Only three tonight. Myself, Kozure and Bharmer.
Wildlife
Wildlife is one of Kozure's favorite games and since we hadn't played it in quite a while he picked it as the main course for the evening. It's odd that this game, designed by Wolfgang Kramer (El Grande, Princes of Florence, Tikal), seems to have flown completely under the radar on BGG.
Kozure was Man, I was the Eagles and Bharmer was the Bears.
In the beginning, the bears came across the forest and climbed up the mountains.
The eagles soared across all earthbound terrain.
Man dominated the plains.
It was then that Eagle learnt how to thrive in the water. There, it fought with Bear over the fluvial realm. Man could not be bothered with such trivialities as evolution, food or advanced intelligence. It spread out to the desert and the forest.
It was then that the Bear and Eagle were dethroned. Man cut the vast kingdom of the Eagle in half and learned much about aggression, defense and the importance of foodgathering. When all was said and done, man stood victorious.
It was a good game. It seems that Wildlife plays pretty well at three (though picking the wrong starting races could change that). We spent a good amount of actions simply exchanging the advancement cards, particularly the defense ones. If I had one complaint about the game is that those cards don't quite feel right in the game (too powerful?). Anyway, it's a small complaint. Wildlife is a good game.
Race for the Galaxy
This is a shoe-in for most played game this year. I once again tried a military strategy after being dealt New Sparta as my starting planet. I managed to place quite a few military planets down, but since my production was zero and I didn't manage to get the related "6" development out I came in a distant third.
Two funny stories:
1) I had a hand of 5 cards, and they were all planets. I was sure Kozure or Bharmer would pick development that round, so I chose Explore +5. Guess what, I drew 7 more planets.
2) In the final round, I skipped drawing cards in the explore phase since I knew I wanted to play a "6" development from my hand (capitalizing on the small amount of ALIEN technology I had). Just for fun, afterwards I looked at the cards I wold have drawn... the military "6" card I needed was the second one! Counting the difference it would have made in points, I would have tied for second instead of coming in 15 points behind second place! Bharmer won, but he made a mistake in his interpretation of one of his cards and made repeated "production" errors. I therefore declare his win null and void (Ha!).
Ra
Ahhhh, Ra. Nice to see you again.
Civilization tiles came hot and heavy in the first era (15 of 25 tiles, in fact). Bharmer ended the 1st with a huge stash of points (including 15 points for 5 civs). Despite the fact that Kozure and I had 2-3 suns left and 6-7 RA tiles left to draw before the era ended, we essentially wound up with nothing as RA after RA were drawn.
The 2nd era was kind to no one.
In the third, Bharmer sealed his victory with 30 points from buildings. Scores were closer than I expected, but he still won comfortably.
Wildlife
Wildlife is one of Kozure's favorite games and since we hadn't played it in quite a while he picked it as the main course for the evening. It's odd that this game, designed by Wolfgang Kramer (El Grande, Princes of Florence, Tikal), seems to have flown completely under the radar on BGG.
Kozure was Man, I was the Eagles and Bharmer was the Bears.
In the beginning, the bears came across the forest and climbed up the mountains.
The eagles soared across all earthbound terrain.
Man dominated the plains.
It was then that Eagle learnt how to thrive in the water. There, it fought with Bear over the fluvial realm. Man could not be bothered with such trivialities as evolution, food or advanced intelligence. It spread out to the desert and the forest.
It was then that the Bear and Eagle were dethroned. Man cut the vast kingdom of the Eagle in half and learned much about aggression, defense and the importance of foodgathering. When all was said and done, man stood victorious.
It was a good game. It seems that Wildlife plays pretty well at three (though picking the wrong starting races could change that). We spent a good amount of actions simply exchanging the advancement cards, particularly the defense ones. If I had one complaint about the game is that those cards don't quite feel right in the game (too powerful?). Anyway, it's a small complaint. Wildlife is a good game.
Race for the Galaxy
This is a shoe-in for most played game this year. I once again tried a military strategy after being dealt New Sparta as my starting planet. I managed to place quite a few military planets down, but since my production was zero and I didn't manage to get the related "6" development out I came in a distant third.
Two funny stories:
1) I had a hand of 5 cards, and they were all planets. I was sure Kozure or Bharmer would pick development that round, so I chose Explore +5. Guess what, I drew 7 more planets.
2) In the final round, I skipped drawing cards in the explore phase since I knew I wanted to play a "6" development from my hand (capitalizing on the small amount of ALIEN technology I had). Just for fun, afterwards I looked at the cards I wold have drawn... the military "6" card I needed was the second one! Counting the difference it would have made in points, I would have tied for second instead of coming in 15 points behind second place! Bharmer won, but he made a mistake in his interpretation of one of his cards and made repeated "production" errors. I therefore declare his win null and void (Ha!).
Ra
Ahhhh, Ra. Nice to see you again.
Civilization tiles came hot and heavy in the first era (15 of 25 tiles, in fact). Bharmer ended the 1st with a huge stash of points (including 15 points for 5 civs). Despite the fact that Kozure and I had 2-3 suns left and 6-7 RA tiles left to draw before the era ended, we essentially wound up with nothing as RA after RA were drawn.
The 2nd era was kind to no one.
In the third, Bharmer sealed his victory with 30 points from buildings. Scores were closer than I expected, but he still won comfortably.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
The Life Aquatic (Entdecker, Race for the Galaxy)
Five months ago, I went to a local math trade and played an oldie called Entdecker by Klaus Teuber. I liked it, but thought it was too long. Still, the mechanics stuck with me and so I figured I'd try to trade for it. And now, here it is...
Entdecker
Many comparisons to Carcassonne were made by the group throughout the explanation. I had the same feeling myself before I played the first time, but unlike the WAGSters, I didn't feel that way by the end.
Why?
There is a physical disconnect in Carcassonne. You draw a tile, and place it anywhere. Carcassonne is essentially an abstract, after all. In Entdecker, tile laying represents the exploration of the sea. You pick a spot to start, invest in your voyage and set sail. The tiles are placed as a representation of bringing your boat into uncharted waters. The tile matching mechanic may be the same as Carc, but being able to place it is not guaranteed. It's meant to complement the question mark tiles as a way to simulate the uncertainties of sea exploration. For me, the risks and rewards of exploration are well represented and it provides a distinctly different experience despite the tile laying similarities.
Also, it looks pretty cool as the board fills up.
The whole "discovery of the native tribes" aspect to the game helps to give the game another dimension which once again separates it from the lighter Carcassonne. (Don't get me wrong, I really like Carcassonne. In fact, I'd pick it over Entdecker given if I had to pick only one. I'm just saying that they are fairly different games)
In the first half of the game, we discovered a gigantic island which Bharmer dominated, launching him into the lead. As is often
the case in this type of game, his lead was attacked by the rest of us. His scouts exploring the native tribes were quickly outnumbered, stripping him of the endgame points. I won the game, mostly because my scouts gave me points.
I AM still concerned that those endgame points make the rest of the game unimportant. Otherwise, it's a good game and I'm glad I got it!
Also, with our group the game played in a very reasonable 1.5 hours. That made me happy.
Race for the Galaxy
We finished with another game of Race for the Galaxy. Not much to say except I had a hard time getting things going again. Kozure, on the other hand, seemed to be far more in control. Luch was just learning, but seemed to be doing well. It appeared that Kozure was way ahead, and Bharmer was firmly in second. That's how it ended, too, but I at least managed to come in third by playing a couple of 6 cards just as the game ended. Despite the fact I suck at it, I'm really enjoying this one.
Over the course of the game, it did occur to me that I do still miss some of the interaction of Puerto Rico. While I still feel that Race is much better in this regard than San Juan, I still miss the jockeying for limited real estate on the ships and trading house. Maybe an expansion will feature cards played to the centre of the table which multiple players can play to? I think that would be very interesting.
Entdecker
Many comparisons to Carcassonne were made by the group throughout the explanation. I had the same feeling myself before I played the first time, but unlike the WAGSters, I didn't feel that way by the end.
Why?
There is a physical disconnect in Carcassonne. You draw a tile, and place it anywhere. Carcassonne is essentially an abstract, after all. In Entdecker, tile laying represents the exploration of the sea. You pick a spot to start, invest in your voyage and set sail. The tiles are placed as a representation of bringing your boat into uncharted waters. The tile matching mechanic may be the same as Carc, but being able to place it is not guaranteed. It's meant to complement the question mark tiles as a way to simulate the uncertainties of sea exploration. For me, the risks and rewards of exploration are well represented and it provides a distinctly different experience despite the tile laying similarities.
Also, it looks pretty cool as the board fills up.
The whole "discovery of the native tribes" aspect to the game helps to give the game another dimension which once again separates it from the lighter Carcassonne. (Don't get me wrong, I really like Carcassonne. In fact, I'd pick it over Entdecker given if I had to pick only one. I'm just saying that they are fairly different games)
In the first half of the game, we discovered a gigantic island which Bharmer dominated, launching him into the lead. As is often
the case in this type of game, his lead was attacked by the rest of us. His scouts exploring the native tribes were quickly outnumbered, stripping him of the endgame points. I won the game, mostly because my scouts gave me points.
I AM still concerned that those endgame points make the rest of the game unimportant. Otherwise, it's a good game and I'm glad I got it!
Also, with our group the game played in a very reasonable 1.5 hours. That made me happy.
Race for the Galaxy
We finished with another game of Race for the Galaxy. Not much to say except I had a hard time getting things going again. Kozure, on the other hand, seemed to be far more in control. Luch was just learning, but seemed to be doing well. It appeared that Kozure was way ahead, and Bharmer was firmly in second. That's how it ended, too, but I at least managed to come in third by playing a couple of 6 cards just as the game ended. Despite the fact I suck at it, I'm really enjoying this one.
Over the course of the game, it did occur to me that I do still miss some of the interaction of Puerto Rico. While I still feel that Race is much better in this regard than San Juan, I still miss the jockeying for limited real estate on the ships and trading house. Maybe an expansion will feature cards played to the centre of the table which multiple players can play to? I think that would be very interesting.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Déja vu (In the Year of the Dragon, Race for the Galaxy, The Kaiser's Pirates)
Last week, we liked the new games so much, we wanted to play them again! (remember, we have game attention deficit disorder. This is big for us).
As an aside, this year is turning out to be very different for me for new games. 2007 was a year that brought a series of very good "niche" games into my collection. Last Night on Earth, Jungle Speed, Dungeon Twister, Nexus Ops, Hannibal: Rome vs Carthage, etc, are all games that I really enjoyed for what they are. They're fun, they have a place in my collection for the variety that they bring, but in the end my true love is heavier strategy games (i.e. El Grande, Taj Mahal, Princes of Florence, etc). I didn't play a single game of that type in 2007 that really did it for me. Even Blue Moon City, which is a very good strategy game by all accounts, is at most a middleweight. In contrast, we aren't even in the third month of 2008 and we've already played Perikles, In the Year of the Dragon and Race for the Galaxy... three games that I consider to be excellent gamer's games. I couldn't be happier.
Shemp joined us, so we were able to see how In the Year of the Dragon and Race for the Galaxy played with four.
In the Year of the Dragon
This is turning out to be a great game. I can't really say whether it's harder or easier with more players, but so far I'd say it's a bit of a wash. On one hand, there are fewer actions in each group so in some ways it can actually be easier to get what you want even if you aren't first in turn order. On the other hand, if you are LAST in turn order, you have a choice between paying 3 yuan or picking the single action left over by the other players. So, going from three to four has made it easier to be in 2nd place, and harder to be in 4th. With five, I bet being 3rd, 4th and 5th will be a little miserable.
Although the game doesn't change dramatically because of the order of the disasters, it changes just enough to shake things up. Sure, you can't allow yourself to fall behind on the VP engine if you hope to win so you probably can't totally ignore palaces/ courtisans and dragons but the rest will have to be considered on a game by game basis.
I noticed a similarity to Maharaja in the sense that on a given turn, there's a good chance all players are eyeing the same one or two actions (due to the order of upcoming disasters). Just like that game, the player with turn order advantage can take the easy route and prepare for the events as they come. Players who are going later on in the turn will lose if they spend the whole game chasing the leader... they have to prepare for the events in a different order or look for an alternate approach to getting VPs.
Anyway, I picked up a dragon, a courtisan and a third palace early and managed to keep turn order advantage throughout much of the game. Scores were mostly tight, but near the end the spread got a bit wider. Unlike last game, I didn't forget about the endgame points so I managed to keep the win. Bharmer fell back on the turn order track and paid a heavy price for it (he became a fireworks specialist as, turn after turn, fireworks were the single left over action he was forced to pick). Shemp did very well for his first game... he came in a rather close second if my memory serves.
Race for the Galaxy
What a nice surprise this is turning out to be. Race manages to be virtually identical to San Juan on the surface and yet be a very different game experience. With four, San Juan was a bit dry for me (because just about all the actions are chosen every round... making most rounds pretty samey). In Race, many rounds a few of the players pick the same action so phases definitely do get skipped frequently. Also, the wide variety of cards available in the base set allows even further variety between games. There's enough going on that the simple game engine it's based on becomes a fast yet meaty game that manage to avoid most of the things I typically dislike about themed card games.
I can't remember the name of my starting planet this time (epsilon?), but there was a dose of military and consumption in the opening hand. I became fixated on building a particularly cool 6 building and therefore fell behind on the cards I was playing. Kozure, on the other hand, was a machine. When he ended the game (with twelve cards played) I was still at eight.
The Kaiser's Pirates
This was a new game purchased recently by Kozure. It's a card game about pirates and the merchant ships they raided. Players look after three pirate ships and three merchants, and try to make as many points as possible by having their pirates attack and sink other player's merchants. The actual gameplay is fairly reminiscent of others we've played. It's essentially a "take that" style game, with the good and the bad which comes with the territory. A bad hand can probably screw you over, and the free for all nature of attacks could probably make it hard for a player who gets picked on to compete. The game has a couple of good ideas which try to overcome the inherent randomness of card games... the most important of which is that each card has multiple functions ensuring that there is typically at least one useful way to use each card. I thought it was cool that each ship has it's strength represented by a mix of die types (1d6, 1d8 and 1d10, for ex.), highest single roll determines the value, so you can get an idea of the odds but you'll never really know until the bones are rolled. A variety of attack types and special abilities are represented by a similar system.
We only got through a partial hand, so I can't really say too much about it. On the surface, I'd say I liked it about as much as Zero!, Airwar: Pacific or Naval War... similar war themed card games we've played in the past.
As an aside, this year is turning out to be very different for me for new games. 2007 was a year that brought a series of very good "niche" games into my collection. Last Night on Earth, Jungle Speed, Dungeon Twister, Nexus Ops, Hannibal: Rome vs Carthage, etc, are all games that I really enjoyed for what they are. They're fun, they have a place in my collection for the variety that they bring, but in the end my true love is heavier strategy games (i.e. El Grande, Taj Mahal, Princes of Florence, etc). I didn't play a single game of that type in 2007 that really did it for me. Even Blue Moon City, which is a very good strategy game by all accounts, is at most a middleweight. In contrast, we aren't even in the third month of 2008 and we've already played Perikles, In the Year of the Dragon and Race for the Galaxy... three games that I consider to be excellent gamer's games. I couldn't be happier.
Shemp joined us, so we were able to see how In the Year of the Dragon and Race for the Galaxy played with four.
In the Year of the Dragon
This is turning out to be a great game. I can't really say whether it's harder or easier with more players, but so far I'd say it's a bit of a wash. On one hand, there are fewer actions in each group so in some ways it can actually be easier to get what you want even if you aren't first in turn order. On the other hand, if you are LAST in turn order, you have a choice between paying 3 yuan or picking the single action left over by the other players. So, going from three to four has made it easier to be in 2nd place, and harder to be in 4th. With five, I bet being 3rd, 4th and 5th will be a little miserable.
Although the game doesn't change dramatically because of the order of the disasters, it changes just enough to shake things up. Sure, you can't allow yourself to fall behind on the VP engine if you hope to win so you probably can't totally ignore palaces/ courtisans and dragons but the rest will have to be considered on a game by game basis.
I noticed a similarity to Maharaja in the sense that on a given turn, there's a good chance all players are eyeing the same one or two actions (due to the order of upcoming disasters). Just like that game, the player with turn order advantage can take the easy route and prepare for the events as they come. Players who are going later on in the turn will lose if they spend the whole game chasing the leader... they have to prepare for the events in a different order or look for an alternate approach to getting VPs.
Anyway, I picked up a dragon, a courtisan and a third palace early and managed to keep turn order advantage throughout much of the game. Scores were mostly tight, but near the end the spread got a bit wider. Unlike last game, I didn't forget about the endgame points so I managed to keep the win. Bharmer fell back on the turn order track and paid a heavy price for it (he became a fireworks specialist as, turn after turn, fireworks were the single left over action he was forced to pick). Shemp did very well for his first game... he came in a rather close second if my memory serves.
Race for the Galaxy
What a nice surprise this is turning out to be. Race manages to be virtually identical to San Juan on the surface and yet be a very different game experience. With four, San Juan was a bit dry for me (because just about all the actions are chosen every round... making most rounds pretty samey). In Race, many rounds a few of the players pick the same action so phases definitely do get skipped frequently. Also, the wide variety of cards available in the base set allows even further variety between games. There's enough going on that the simple game engine it's based on becomes a fast yet meaty game that manage to avoid most of the things I typically dislike about themed card games.
I can't remember the name of my starting planet this time (epsilon?), but there was a dose of military and consumption in the opening hand. I became fixated on building a particularly cool 6 building and therefore fell behind on the cards I was playing. Kozure, on the other hand, was a machine. When he ended the game (with twelve cards played) I was still at eight.
The Kaiser's Pirates
This was a new game purchased recently by Kozure. It's a card game about pirates and the merchant ships they raided. Players look after three pirate ships and three merchants, and try to make as many points as possible by having their pirates attack and sink other player's merchants. The actual gameplay is fairly reminiscent of others we've played. It's essentially a "take that" style game, with the good and the bad which comes with the territory. A bad hand can probably screw you over, and the free for all nature of attacks could probably make it hard for a player who gets picked on to compete. The game has a couple of good ideas which try to overcome the inherent randomness of card games... the most important of which is that each card has multiple functions ensuring that there is typically at least one useful way to use each card. I thought it was cool that each ship has it's strength represented by a mix of die types (1d6, 1d8 and 1d10, for ex.), highest single roll determines the value, so you can get an idea of the odds but you'll never really know until the bones are rolled. A variety of attack types and special abilities are represented by a similar system.
We only got through a partial hand, so I can't really say too much about it. On the surface, I'd say I liked it about as much as Zero!, Airwar: Pacific or Naval War... similar war themed card games we've played in the past.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Shiny and New (In the Year of the Dragon, Race for the Galaxy)
I've been pretty good about not buying new games lately, so when I went to Waterloo on business I took advantage of the occasion to drop by one of the best game stores in Ontario... J&J Cards. I walked out with In the Year of the Dragon and Race for the Galaxy...
In the Year of the Dragon
I'm a sucker for a good strategy game, so when I heard that the Alea release was a good one I knew I'd eventually succumb to temptation.
First impressions weren't so good. There are a lot of pieces, and it takes a fair amount of sorting to set things up. Also, the whole thing is really bland looking. To top things off, the components are definitely lower quality than earlier games in the series (thinner counters, board warp). Oh well. Kozure in particular seemed put off by the presentation, and I could feel he wasn't particularly looking forward to playing it.
Luckily, the rules are short and the included player's aids are very helpful (though they have to be the tiniest ones I've ever seen... is that a 2 point font?)
So, we're in China and it's the Year of the Dragon. Each player needs to recruit the right workers in order to weather the hardships of the year ahead. Unfortunately for the players, it's going to be a brutal year.
Without getting into too much detail about the rules, each game round (one of twelve "months") consists of:
1) Choosing from a series of potential actions
2) Hiring a worker (which will make you more effective at various actions in the future)
3) Weather the calamities of the month.
A part of me was afraid that playing a game about surviving a series of disasters would be kind of... you know... depressing. Luckily, although the game is far from a cakewalk the process is engaging and fun. You see the year ahead right at the start of the game so you you try to hire the right people at the right times to succeed and prosper despite the hard times. the workers may not survive long, but whatever.
On a purely mechanical level, there's a couple of nice things going on. The choice of workers is the meat of the game, but turn order is almost as important. Wouldn't you know it, the better the worker, the less it helps you go first. It's a simple problem, but it works really well. Similarly, the way actions are split is very effective at forcing players to be flexible (which is an interesting problem when things get as tight as they do in this game). It feels like Princes of Florence with the passive aggressive tendencies of Puerto Rico.
In our first session, I tried to manage a small series of three buildings throughout the game, and tried to avoid going for cash at all costs (though I was in for a rude awakening when I discovered that the following month's event was a tribute of 4 Yuan to the emperor). I focused on getting victory points through dragons and scholars. For 99% of the game, things looked good for me. Unfortunately, the endgame bonus points for buddhas put Bharmer 2 points ahead for the win.
From the reactions at the end, I'd say it was well received. I wouldn't say it's exceptional or anything, but it was very good. Looking forward to playing again.
Race for the Galaxy
A while back, Puerto Rico was made into a card game called San Juan. I had hoped that it would bring the fun of the Puerto Rico game system while removing the fiddliness of the setup and some of the gameplay. It more or less worked. The loss of the shipping aspect of the game was a bit of a shame, but my biggest dissapointment was the loss of the player interation. In comparison to it's bigger brother, the card game was a bit muted (particularly with 4). It's a very good game, but not as much as I'd hoped for.
Then along comes another game by one of the designers of San Juan. In fact, it's more like another version of the same game. Rumour has it that it's quite a bit more complicated, but also more satisfying. Sounded good to me.
Race for the Galaxy shares much of the same rules as San Juan, but the devil is in the details. For example, roles are selected simultaneously and secretely instead of sequentially. That doesn't sound like a big deal, but it makes a big difference in gameplay because you spend a lot of time guessing and second guessing what the other players will pick (can I assume he'll pick settle so I don't have to?). This otherwise small detail made me feel much less like I was playing a multiplayer solitaire game than I often do with San Juan.
In a way, it feels like Race isn't so much adding to San Juan as stripping LESS from Puerto Rico. Shipping is back. Goods of various types are back (or, more specifically, they mean more than just picking up a different amount of cards). A few things are new, such as the concept of controlling worlds (through discovery or military conquest).
Anyway, the additional complexity is manageable and the game works well. The cards have an iconography which seems difficult at first, but I think it will likely become easy soon enough. As in San Juan, getting to know the cards is essential to really understanding the strategy, but in this case getting to know the cards and their combinations will take a while (and it's kind of fun anyway).
Bharmer built the fastest and won the game, but my New Spartan empire of military conquest and alien tech. came quite close despite having built much less. I feel like there's quite a bit to explore here... I'm looking forward to it.
In the Year of the Dragon
I'm a sucker for a good strategy game, so when I heard that the Alea release was a good one I knew I'd eventually succumb to temptation.
First impressions weren't so good. There are a lot of pieces, and it takes a fair amount of sorting to set things up. Also, the whole thing is really bland looking. To top things off, the components are definitely lower quality than earlier games in the series (thinner counters, board warp). Oh well. Kozure in particular seemed put off by the presentation, and I could feel he wasn't particularly looking forward to playing it.
Luckily, the rules are short and the included player's aids are very helpful (though they have to be the tiniest ones I've ever seen... is that a 2 point font?)
So, we're in China and it's the Year of the Dragon. Each player needs to recruit the right workers in order to weather the hardships of the year ahead. Unfortunately for the players, it's going to be a brutal year.
Without getting into too much detail about the rules, each game round (one of twelve "months") consists of:
1) Choosing from a series of potential actions
2) Hiring a worker (which will make you more effective at various actions in the future)
3) Weather the calamities of the month.
A part of me was afraid that playing a game about surviving a series of disasters would be kind of... you know... depressing. Luckily, although the game is far from a cakewalk the process is engaging and fun. You see the year ahead right at the start of the game so you you try to hire the right people at the right times to succeed and prosper despite the hard times. the workers may not survive long, but whatever.
On a purely mechanical level, there's a couple of nice things going on. The choice of workers is the meat of the game, but turn order is almost as important. Wouldn't you know it, the better the worker, the less it helps you go first. It's a simple problem, but it works really well. Similarly, the way actions are split is very effective at forcing players to be flexible (which is an interesting problem when things get as tight as they do in this game). It feels like Princes of Florence with the passive aggressive tendencies of Puerto Rico.
In our first session, I tried to manage a small series of three buildings throughout the game, and tried to avoid going for cash at all costs (though I was in for a rude awakening when I discovered that the following month's event was a tribute of 4 Yuan to the emperor). I focused on getting victory points through dragons and scholars. For 99% of the game, things looked good for me. Unfortunately, the endgame bonus points for buddhas put Bharmer 2 points ahead for the win.
From the reactions at the end, I'd say it was well received. I wouldn't say it's exceptional or anything, but it was very good. Looking forward to playing again.
Race for the Galaxy
A while back, Puerto Rico was made into a card game called San Juan. I had hoped that it would bring the fun of the Puerto Rico game system while removing the fiddliness of the setup and some of the gameplay. It more or less worked. The loss of the shipping aspect of the game was a bit of a shame, but my biggest dissapointment was the loss of the player interation. In comparison to it's bigger brother, the card game was a bit muted (particularly with 4). It's a very good game, but not as much as I'd hoped for.
Then along comes another game by one of the designers of San Juan. In fact, it's more like another version of the same game. Rumour has it that it's quite a bit more complicated, but also more satisfying. Sounded good to me.
Race for the Galaxy shares much of the same rules as San Juan, but the devil is in the details. For example, roles are selected simultaneously and secretely instead of sequentially. That doesn't sound like a big deal, but it makes a big difference in gameplay because you spend a lot of time guessing and second guessing what the other players will pick (can I assume he'll pick settle so I don't have to?). This otherwise small detail made me feel much less like I was playing a multiplayer solitaire game than I often do with San Juan.
In a way, it feels like Race isn't so much adding to San Juan as stripping LESS from Puerto Rico. Shipping is back. Goods of various types are back (or, more specifically, they mean more than just picking up a different amount of cards). A few things are new, such as the concept of controlling worlds (through discovery or military conquest).
Anyway, the additional complexity is manageable and the game works well. The cards have an iconography which seems difficult at first, but I think it will likely become easy soon enough. As in San Juan, getting to know the cards is essential to really understanding the strategy, but in this case getting to know the cards and their combinations will take a while (and it's kind of fun anyway).
Bharmer built the fastest and won the game, but my New Spartan empire of military conquest and alien tech. came quite close despite having built much less. I feel like there's quite a bit to explore here... I'm looking forward to it.
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