We were three players again, so my plans to pick Cosmic Encounter and Space Alert were dashed. Instead, I chose Fury of Dracula and Entdecker.
Fury of Dracula
Kozure and I have been Dracula numerous times, so Shemp tried his hand as the count for the first time. After the usual rules recap (man, this game has a lot of rules), we started the search. Kozure and I decided after a few turns that Drac was likely in the east... and a bit of searching there revealed his trail as we had hoped. Shemp managed to elude us for a while, but didn't manage to leave the east. Cornered by our four investigators, he tried to escape to sea. Unfortunately for him, I had stormy seas in hand and I was 99% sure I knew which sea space he was in. Even more unfortunate (for Shemp, anyway), after I picked correctly he revealed that to get back to land he needed to cross his path! After losing the blood and clearing his trail, we knew exactly where he was and we closed in for the kill. Outnumbered, outequipped and forced to fight during the day the vamp was slaughtered over the course of a few combats. At 1.5 hours, this was likely the shortest game of Fury of Dracula ever.
This game is interesting because while there is definite room for skill, strategy and cunning, the order that the cards come out can create situations that heavily favour one side or the other. In this case, the only "mistake" Shemp made was to leave himself no way out if he was ever forced to return to land. If I didn't have that card, he would have made a perfect escape and we would have lost him.
While it wasn't a normal session, it was still fun. I wonder whether Shemp will want a rematch next week?
Entecker
Entdecker is a game that I picked up in a math trade, and which exemplifies the problem with good games that don't stand out. For whatever reason, even though the game is enjoyable it lacks a certain spark. I mean, the theme of sea exploration is well captured by the mechanics, the idea of the players creating the regions to be scored is one I quite like and there is no denying that the seascape created in the game is quite attractive. Still, it's ultimately a Carcassonne and El Grande mash-up, a VP fest. As Kozure pointed out, it's also a little long for what it is.
It does work though, and I do do enjoy playing it.
Even though Shemp hadn't yet played it, he did very well. He snagged a couple of big islands, and my attempts to come in 2nd in as many islands as I could didn't pay off. When the native huts where all tallied, he beat me by about a dozen points.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Backstabstract (So Long, Sucker! x2, Cosmic Encounter x2)
It was Shemp's pick, and it was positively Luchian: He did a search on BGG for the word "Backstabby" and then selected 5 games from the list it returned. In the end it didn't matter, we played two sessions of two of the games instead.
So Long, Sucker!
This is an abstract backstabby game (or "Backstabstract", if you will) which was co-designed by John Nash, the mathematician featured in "A Beautiful Mind".
It's simple on the surface, as abstracts often are. It's a chip placement game, but with a heavy emphasis on cutting deals a la Intrigue.
We played two games, and lots of deals were made. Moves can be planned several turns in advance, and frequently a whole sequence of turns would be proposed between two players to achieve a certain nefarious goal. Our group showed a particular knack for living up to the letter of the agreements, but not the spirit: loopholes in agreements where gleefully exploited (not that the game forces players to live up to agreements, but it's more fun to do it this way). Kozure masterminded his way to the top in game 1, and Shemp edged me out in game 2.
Cosmic Encounter
I have the new Fantasy Flight version of this game from the late 70s/ early 80s. I had high hopes for it as a light, fun game with lots of negotiation, backstabbery and variety.
The goal in cosmic Encounter is to get your ships on 5 of the other player's planets first. The basic structure of the game is that on your turn you draw a card which instructs you regarding which player to attack. Then, alliances are made on the offensive and defensive side, each main player chooses a card from their hand and the highest total (number on card + number of ships) wins. If you win as the attacker, you and your allies get to set up a colony on that player's planet. If you win as the defender, your planet is safe and your allies get to draw cards or recuperate destroyed ships as compensation.
This basic structure is livened up by the fact that each player represents a race which has a unique, game changing power. Also, the attack deck is peppered with "flares" which are limited versions of all the race powers in play (which become "super flares" in the hands of the correct race). Finally, in addition to the attack and flare cards, there are "negotiate" cards which allow... negotation.
In our first game, I was the "observer" race. My power was that my allies don't die in battle. I thought it sounded intriguing, and on the very first turn I asked Shemp to help me in a battle under the pretense that "he had nothing to lose". Beleiving this to be true, he committed a large part of his army of flying saucers to my cause. Little did either of us know, but there are cards in the attack deck which cancel the use of a race power. Kozure, playing the "Zombie" race, prevented me from saving Shemp's ships when I lost. Shemp never recovered. Although Kozure was easily dominating the game, Bharmer spied an opportunity to sneak his way to 4 colonies on his turn, giving him the win.
I think we all had a good time, and it was short enough to try again so we did.
In our second game, I player "The Loser". This race has the ability to reverse the winning conditions in a battle (i.e. a win result means "lose", a lose result means "win". Kozure was "The Oracle" which forces battling opponents to reveal their card before the Oracle reveals hers. Shemp was a race that grew in strength when it won a battle, and grew even more when it lost. Bharmer had a power which allowed him to keep a full hand at all times.
For whatever reason, we struggled on a couple occasions to figure out how certain powers interact. There was a situation where I, as the Loser, reversed the win conditions to a battle with Kozure, the Oracle. I reversed the win conditions but he only had a negotiate, so what happens then? We ruled that the negotiate card would normally lose and collect retribution, so if reversed he should win and collect retribution. Another example: If the Oracle has her super flare, which allows her to stop a combat and send the attacking aliens home, but when attacked she has no encounter cards left and should therefore draw a new hand. When I looked at the timing listed on the cards afterwatrds, it was clear that the hand needed to be discarded and re-shuffled (the artifact can only be played in the "resolution phase", which occurs after both players have chosen their cards).
The struggle to interpret cards led to more downtime for the other players. Also, we seemed to get more greedy because players were refusing any allies during most of the combats. As a result, it was substantially less fun than the first session.
I won by converting a combat in to negotiations and proposing a simple exchange of colonies with Kozure, who didn't notice it would win me the game (it was late and everyone needed to leave, so it was okay, right?).
If we can keep the game length down, get comfortable enough with the rules and interactions that sessions don't devolve into interpretation parties and ratchet up the negotiations and backstabbing, I think this could be a great game (that is a lot of "ifs", however). The powers really do have a major impact on the feel of the game, and negotiations are similarly affected. There isn't a large number of items to negotiate for other than allowing bases on planets, which is a touch disappointing. However, the impact and interaction of the race powers means that while in each individual game there may not be a lot of depth in deal making, the kinds of interaction, negotiation and backstabbing that are likely to take place are going to be fairly different from game to game. That's a good thing in my book.
It was fun. Looking forward to trying it again.
So Long, Sucker!
This is an abstract backstabby game (or "Backstabstract", if you will) which was co-designed by John Nash, the mathematician featured in "A Beautiful Mind".
It's simple on the surface, as abstracts often are. It's a chip placement game, but with a heavy emphasis on cutting deals a la Intrigue.
We played two games, and lots of deals were made. Moves can be planned several turns in advance, and frequently a whole sequence of turns would be proposed between two players to achieve a certain nefarious goal. Our group showed a particular knack for living up to the letter of the agreements, but not the spirit: loopholes in agreements where gleefully exploited (not that the game forces players to live up to agreements, but it's more fun to do it this way). Kozure masterminded his way to the top in game 1, and Shemp edged me out in game 2.
Cosmic Encounter
I have the new Fantasy Flight version of this game from the late 70s/ early 80s. I had high hopes for it as a light, fun game with lots of negotiation, backstabbery and variety.
The goal in cosmic Encounter is to get your ships on 5 of the other player's planets first. The basic structure of the game is that on your turn you draw a card which instructs you regarding which player to attack. Then, alliances are made on the offensive and defensive side, each main player chooses a card from their hand and the highest total (number on card + number of ships) wins. If you win as the attacker, you and your allies get to set up a colony on that player's planet. If you win as the defender, your planet is safe and your allies get to draw cards or recuperate destroyed ships as compensation.
This basic structure is livened up by the fact that each player represents a race which has a unique, game changing power. Also, the attack deck is peppered with "flares" which are limited versions of all the race powers in play (which become "super flares" in the hands of the correct race). Finally, in addition to the attack and flare cards, there are "negotiate" cards which allow... negotation.
In our first game, I was the "observer" race. My power was that my allies don't die in battle. I thought it sounded intriguing, and on the very first turn I asked Shemp to help me in a battle under the pretense that "he had nothing to lose". Beleiving this to be true, he committed a large part of his army of flying saucers to my cause. Little did either of us know, but there are cards in the attack deck which cancel the use of a race power. Kozure, playing the "Zombie" race, prevented me from saving Shemp's ships when I lost. Shemp never recovered. Although Kozure was easily dominating the game, Bharmer spied an opportunity to sneak his way to 4 colonies on his turn, giving him the win.
I think we all had a good time, and it was short enough to try again so we did.
In our second game, I player "The Loser". This race has the ability to reverse the winning conditions in a battle (i.e. a win result means "lose", a lose result means "win". Kozure was "The Oracle" which forces battling opponents to reveal their card before the Oracle reveals hers. Shemp was a race that grew in strength when it won a battle, and grew even more when it lost. Bharmer had a power which allowed him to keep a full hand at all times.
For whatever reason, we struggled on a couple occasions to figure out how certain powers interact. There was a situation where I, as the Loser, reversed the win conditions to a battle with Kozure, the Oracle. I reversed the win conditions but he only had a negotiate, so what happens then? We ruled that the negotiate card would normally lose and collect retribution, so if reversed he should win and collect retribution. Another example: If the Oracle has her super flare, which allows her to stop a combat and send the attacking aliens home, but when attacked she has no encounter cards left and should therefore draw a new hand. When I looked at the timing listed on the cards afterwatrds, it was clear that the hand needed to be discarded and re-shuffled (the artifact can only be played in the "resolution phase", which occurs after both players have chosen their cards).
The struggle to interpret cards led to more downtime for the other players. Also, we seemed to get more greedy because players were refusing any allies during most of the combats. As a result, it was substantially less fun than the first session.
I won by converting a combat in to negotiations and proposing a simple exchange of colonies with Kozure, who didn't notice it would win me the game (it was late and everyone needed to leave, so it was okay, right?).
If we can keep the game length down, get comfortable enough with the rules and interactions that sessions don't devolve into interpretation parties and ratchet up the negotiations and backstabbing, I think this could be a great game (that is a lot of "ifs", however). The powers really do have a major impact on the feel of the game, and negotiations are similarly affected. There isn't a large number of items to negotiate for other than allowing bases on planets, which is a touch disappointing. However, the impact and interaction of the race powers means that while in each individual game there may not be a lot of depth in deal making, the kinds of interaction, negotiation and backstabbing that are likely to take place are going to be fairly different from game to game. That's a good thing in my book.
It was fun. Looking forward to trying it again.
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Excess vs. Restraint (Glory to Rome x2, In the Year of the Dragon)
Kozure hates having to pick games when it's just three players. This was one of those nights (It was just me, Kozure and Shemp).
Glory to Rome
Shemp hadn't particularly enjoyed this when he was introduced to him in October, so I can't imagine he approached this session with much enthusiasm. Luckily, with a bit of experience under his belt the game's interaction appeared to "click" this time and I think he became a fan.
Our first game saw Shemp attempt to build the forum and face the same fate that befell Kozure when he tried that many moons ago... Kozure and I collectively froze the supply of merchants and patrons in the pool. Unfortunately, he appeared to be in the lead in points as well, so we were a little stymied on the best way to steal the victory. He had a viscious combination going (I don't recall it exactly, but I believe it had to do with using the power of the client he was placing into his clientelle, whch activate half a dozen cards as well). I completed a few quick buildings, hid a bit of treasure in the vault and then completed the catacombs to end the game. I had focussed on getting rubble and wood into the vault, gambling that I'd get easy majorities since no one else would bother. Not only did that not happen, the 1 value material meant my haul there was particularly low. I came in last, while Shemp actually did win.
We played again, though this time I fared much better. This time it was I who built the killer combos (though I nearly didn't get the chance... Kozure nearly ended the game early while he had the lead. I did something one round before he was going to do it that prevented it from happening, but I don't remember what). I had a building, the gate, which allowed my unfinished marble buildings to use their function. Marble buildings are amongst the most powerful, so this is quite an advantage! I then started 2 important marble buildings: One that made my merchant clients into wilds (Ludus Magna), one that allowed me to play multiple cards out of my hand to "follow" the lead role multiple times (Palace). I also had a completed concrete building (The storeroom) which allowed all my clients to act as labourers if I wanted.
So, essentially, I was sweeping all the materials in the pool and then using my three craftsmen and my two wilds (the merchants) to build lots of stuff. Heck, just having those two wilds and being able to "think" every turn and still act twice was incredibly powerful. Every time I play this gam, I'm tempted to say that a different card is too powerful, and this time I feel that way about the gate (incomplete marble buildings still give their power). I imagine that we are just scratching the surface with the crazy combos... I would expect that experienced players set up some pretty ridiculous chains of events.
Anyway, I won.
In the Year of the Dragon
We *almost* played a third game of Glory to Rome, but Kozure elected to play this instead (ok, I suggested it). I followed a path I typically avoid: building up my number of palaces and trying to hold on to a large number of workers. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get the food I needed in time on two occasions and it really hurt my chances. Still, I did okay with the rest and I was keeping pace on the military track (unlike last game). With Shemp and Kozure being equally aggressive in military and VPs, it was a very competitive game to the very end. In the final tally, Shemp's large roster of buddhas gave him the lead over my large clientele. He won.
As an aside, Shemp purchased a dragon tile in the eighth month. I mentioned that it would only give him four points, but he purchased it anyway. You'll never guess how many points he beat me by...
(four)
Glory to Rome
Shemp hadn't particularly enjoyed this when he was introduced to him in October, so I can't imagine he approached this session with much enthusiasm. Luckily, with a bit of experience under his belt the game's interaction appeared to "click" this time and I think he became a fan.
Our first game saw Shemp attempt to build the forum and face the same fate that befell Kozure when he tried that many moons ago... Kozure and I collectively froze the supply of merchants and patrons in the pool. Unfortunately, he appeared to be in the lead in points as well, so we were a little stymied on the best way to steal the victory. He had a viscious combination going (I don't recall it exactly, but I believe it had to do with using the power of the client he was placing into his clientelle, whch activate half a dozen cards as well). I completed a few quick buildings, hid a bit of treasure in the vault and then completed the catacombs to end the game. I had focussed on getting rubble and wood into the vault, gambling that I'd get easy majorities since no one else would bother. Not only did that not happen, the 1 value material meant my haul there was particularly low. I came in last, while Shemp actually did win.
We played again, though this time I fared much better. This time it was I who built the killer combos (though I nearly didn't get the chance... Kozure nearly ended the game early while he had the lead. I did something one round before he was going to do it that prevented it from happening, but I don't remember what). I had a building, the gate, which allowed my unfinished marble buildings to use their function. Marble buildings are amongst the most powerful, so this is quite an advantage! I then started 2 important marble buildings: One that made my merchant clients into wilds (Ludus Magna), one that allowed me to play multiple cards out of my hand to "follow" the lead role multiple times (Palace). I also had a completed concrete building (The storeroom) which allowed all my clients to act as labourers if I wanted.
So, essentially, I was sweeping all the materials in the pool and then using my three craftsmen and my two wilds (the merchants) to build lots of stuff. Heck, just having those two wilds and being able to "think" every turn and still act twice was incredibly powerful. Every time I play this gam, I'm tempted to say that a different card is too powerful, and this time I feel that way about the gate (incomplete marble buildings still give their power). I imagine that we are just scratching the surface with the crazy combos... I would expect that experienced players set up some pretty ridiculous chains of events.
Anyway, I won.
In the Year of the Dragon
We *almost* played a third game of Glory to Rome, but Kozure elected to play this instead (ok, I suggested it). I followed a path I typically avoid: building up my number of palaces and trying to hold on to a large number of workers. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get the food I needed in time on two occasions and it really hurt my chances. Still, I did okay with the rest and I was keeping pace on the military track (unlike last game). With Shemp and Kozure being equally aggressive in military and VPs, it was a very competitive game to the very end. In the final tally, Shemp's large roster of buddhas gave him the lead over my large clientele. He won.
As an aside, Shemp purchased a dragon tile in the eighth month. I mentioned that it would only give him four points, but he purchased it anyway. You'll never guess how many points he beat me by...
(four)
Friday, January 23, 2009
Two "Dumbs" don't make a "Smart" (Zombie Fluxyx, Space Alert x3, In the Year of the Dragon)
Taste is a funny thing.
Obviously, everyone has their preferences. When it comes to games, I personally enjoy a pretty broad spectrum of types of games: Strategy, thematic, silly, wargames, party, light/ heavy...
and...
cooperative/ competitive
With the exception of Lord of the Rings, the cooperative genre is relatively young. LOTR has been a polarizing game for us, as it has been in the larger gaming world. I love it, Kozure, Bharmer and Luch like it well enough (I think), and Shemp hates it. Now that cooperative and semi-cooperative games have become fashionable, it seems that we've had a chance to determine how the group *really* feels about the genre. Reactions have been mixed, but generally speaking I'd say it's not been terribly successful.
We've played LOTR, Shadows over Camelot, Pandemic, Battlestar Galactica and, this week, Space Alert (I've also played Red November, though not with WAGS). Of these, Pandemic has been the most successful at pleasing everybody. LOTR and Battlestar Galactica was well liked by approximately half the group, Shadows over Camelot I got rid of because after a few plays I lost all interest.
Shemp summed his feelings rather well when he mentioned that in most games he looks forward to the interaction of the various play styles of each player. The gameplay of cooperative games ultimately revolves around efficiently managing incoming crisis, which in turn largely defines the kind of reaction you can take. For this reason they are more about sharing a common experience, muting individual play style and eliminating a certain type of player interaction. It's worth noting that Shemp is also not a big fan of non-cooperative games that have little interaction, for much the same reason (Race for the Galaxy and Agricola have been two recent examples).
Still, because it's so peculiar, I had no idea how the group would react to Space Alert... it turns out the answer was "meh" from Shemp and Kozure (the jury is still out on Bharmer or Luch's reaction since they weren't around).
Me? I really liked it.
Space Alert
Space Alert is a cooperative game that places the players in the unfortunate role of a hapless crew tasked with the responsibility of defending a spaceship, the Sitting Duck, for 10 minutes while it maps an uncharted sector of space. It's worth mentioning that he setting is nicely integrated into the rule book, which is quite humorous and reminds me of old "Paranoia" material. To defend the ship, the players have a number of laser cannons, rockets, battlebots and shields. However, the guns and shields need power, and managing and distributing power is crucial to ensure that *heaven forbid* the shields run out and the guns fail to fire.
The "gimmick" is that the game literally lasts 10 minutes... players listen to a CD which informs players of the various threats that appear (and when). It also tells players when the different phases start and end, etc. During that time, players must program their character's actions RoboRally style (a combination of "move around the ship" and "push this button" instructions) in an attempt to counter the threats and prevent them from destroying the ship. The problem is that the time limit, the cards dealt, the logistics required to make things work and the inherently inefficient nature of oral communication makes this a rather chaotic and difficult endeavor. After the 10 minutes are up, the programmed cards are revealed one by one to see what really happened, and to discover if the crew succeeded... or if the ship has been destroyed.
Thankfully, the game is designed to ease players into the chaos through several introductory scenarios that gradually introduce the various functions of the ship, and the rules of the game. The first two we played were only 7 minutes long, asking us to program 7 actions in that time. In both cases, 3 threats appeared. Guns and shields are in play, but none of the other subsystems are. We did alright: We lived through the first scenario and narrowly failed he second.
Our last play was also an introductory one, but slightly more advanced. Rockets are introduced. We discover that the ship has a screen saver which needs to be toggled frequently to avoid interruptions to other important subsystems (like, umm, lasers). Advanced threats are now placed in the mix. Damage is no longer represented by generic cubes, instead replaced by chits that identify damage to specific components of the ship (which, of course, means that they will malfunction). Oh, and we now have 10 minutes to program 13 actions.
We got pasted.
Please keep in mind that because we were only 3 players, we had to control an "android" which is essentially a fourth player that we all share in programming (we named it "Luch"). Since we were not particularly skilled in programming our own actions, managing an extra player was difficult.
We screwed up many times. On one occasion, I screwed up twice and they ended up cancelling each other into a good move (though we still came to the conclusion that two dumbs don't make a smart). Other times, we weren't so lucky.
When I play the game, I find the planning period to be tremendously fun. I like attempting to coordinate a number of actions under the time pressure. I like that I never really have a sense that I know what's going on (for example, because I haven't had a chance to read the descriptions of the incoming threats). I like that I'm planning with other players to accomplish specific tasks, but that I'm not sure it will work out even if the plan itself is solid (this could happen either because a player miss-programmed their actions, because a part of the ship took damage and part of our plan becomes impossible due to malfunctioning equipment, etc). It follows that since I like the planning phase due in part to the unpredictability, I like witnessing how the actions play out (just as in RoboRally). I feel satisfaction when the plan (or dumb luck, or more likely a combination of both) comes together, and I find it funny when things screw up.
When it's over, whether we win or not I immediately want to play again and try to do better. It's very nice that the game ramps up the difficulty over time, because it keeps the game challenging and frantic.
Anyway, as I said Shemp and Kozure weren't wowed by it. They found that the programming cards too often limited your actions, that too often you just couldn't do anything coherent with what you had. I suppose their is nothing stopping us from introducing a variant where players get more cards every phase, or maybe that each player starts the game with a preconstructed deck of actions
Zombie Fluxx
I had never played a fluxx game before, but it sounded novel, silly, short and easy to play so I thought I'd take a chance on it. Fluxx games are all similar in that they start with just a few simple rules (draw a card then play a card) and no goal. Over the course of the game, as cards get played, new rules get added and goals are introduced. For example, you mighy play a card which says :"New rule: Draw 3 cards instead of 1". From then on, all players draw the new amount of cards. Similarly, if a Goal card is played a winning condition is added to the game... for example "The first player with 3 zombies wins". Only one goal card can be in play at a time, though, so the goal will change over the course of the game. The game therefore goes on until a combination of cards played lines up with the goal on the table.
I purchased the Zombie version because it seemed more fun to me, but now I wonder whether the theme might turn off the type of people I'd be likely to play this with. I think Shemp and Kozure thought it was... fine. Shemp's wife, Hilaria, doesn't often play games with us but did play a hand of this. Not sure what she thought of it (though I didn't get a sense she was a big fan). I thought it was decent, and can definitely see enjoying it over beer when looking to just kill time.
In the Year of the Dragon
We haven't played this in a while, and that's really a shame because I truly enjoy this game. It's definitely my favorite new pure euro that I've played in quite a long time. In the past I've done quite well at the game, but this time I struggled to keep up on the people track so the early lead I got in VPs was quickly eroded. Kozure, who managed to stay well in the lead on the person track throughout the game saw his strategy pay off about 3/4s of the way through the game... surpassing me and winning with a convincing lead.
Great game.
Obviously, everyone has their preferences. When it comes to games, I personally enjoy a pretty broad spectrum of types of games: Strategy, thematic, silly, wargames, party, light/ heavy...
and...
cooperative/ competitive
With the exception of Lord of the Rings, the cooperative genre is relatively young. LOTR has been a polarizing game for us, as it has been in the larger gaming world. I love it, Kozure, Bharmer and Luch like it well enough (I think), and Shemp hates it. Now that cooperative and semi-cooperative games have become fashionable, it seems that we've had a chance to determine how the group *really* feels about the genre. Reactions have been mixed, but generally speaking I'd say it's not been terribly successful.
We've played LOTR, Shadows over Camelot, Pandemic, Battlestar Galactica and, this week, Space Alert (I've also played Red November, though not with WAGS). Of these, Pandemic has been the most successful at pleasing everybody. LOTR and Battlestar Galactica was well liked by approximately half the group, Shadows over Camelot I got rid of because after a few plays I lost all interest.
Shemp summed his feelings rather well when he mentioned that in most games he looks forward to the interaction of the various play styles of each player. The gameplay of cooperative games ultimately revolves around efficiently managing incoming crisis, which in turn largely defines the kind of reaction you can take. For this reason they are more about sharing a common experience, muting individual play style and eliminating a certain type of player interaction. It's worth noting that Shemp is also not a big fan of non-cooperative games that have little interaction, for much the same reason (Race for the Galaxy and Agricola have been two recent examples).
Still, because it's so peculiar, I had no idea how the group would react to Space Alert... it turns out the answer was "meh" from Shemp and Kozure (the jury is still out on Bharmer or Luch's reaction since they weren't around).
Me? I really liked it.
Space Alert
Space Alert is a cooperative game that places the players in the unfortunate role of a hapless crew tasked with the responsibility of defending a spaceship, the Sitting Duck, for 10 minutes while it maps an uncharted sector of space. It's worth mentioning that he setting is nicely integrated into the rule book, which is quite humorous and reminds me of old "Paranoia" material. To defend the ship, the players have a number of laser cannons, rockets, battlebots and shields. However, the guns and shields need power, and managing and distributing power is crucial to ensure that *heaven forbid* the shields run out and the guns fail to fire.
The "gimmick" is that the game literally lasts 10 minutes... players listen to a CD which informs players of the various threats that appear (and when). It also tells players when the different phases start and end, etc. During that time, players must program their character's actions RoboRally style (a combination of "move around the ship" and "push this button" instructions) in an attempt to counter the threats and prevent them from destroying the ship. The problem is that the time limit, the cards dealt, the logistics required to make things work and the inherently inefficient nature of oral communication makes this a rather chaotic and difficult endeavor. After the 10 minutes are up, the programmed cards are revealed one by one to see what really happened, and to discover if the crew succeeded... or if the ship has been destroyed.
Thankfully, the game is designed to ease players into the chaos through several introductory scenarios that gradually introduce the various functions of the ship, and the rules of the game. The first two we played were only 7 minutes long, asking us to program 7 actions in that time. In both cases, 3 threats appeared. Guns and shields are in play, but none of the other subsystems are. We did alright: We lived through the first scenario and narrowly failed he second.
Our last play was also an introductory one, but slightly more advanced. Rockets are introduced. We discover that the ship has a screen saver which needs to be toggled frequently to avoid interruptions to other important subsystems (like, umm, lasers). Advanced threats are now placed in the mix. Damage is no longer represented by generic cubes, instead replaced by chits that identify damage to specific components of the ship (which, of course, means that they will malfunction). Oh, and we now have 10 minutes to program 13 actions.
We got pasted.
Please keep in mind that because we were only 3 players, we had to control an "android" which is essentially a fourth player that we all share in programming (we named it "Luch"). Since we were not particularly skilled in programming our own actions, managing an extra player was difficult.
We screwed up many times. On one occasion, I screwed up twice and they ended up cancelling each other into a good move (though we still came to the conclusion that two dumbs don't make a smart). Other times, we weren't so lucky.
When I play the game, I find the planning period to be tremendously fun. I like attempting to coordinate a number of actions under the time pressure. I like that I never really have a sense that I know what's going on (for example, because I haven't had a chance to read the descriptions of the incoming threats). I like that I'm planning with other players to accomplish specific tasks, but that I'm not sure it will work out even if the plan itself is solid (this could happen either because a player miss-programmed their actions, because a part of the ship took damage and part of our plan becomes impossible due to malfunctioning equipment, etc). It follows that since I like the planning phase due in part to the unpredictability, I like witnessing how the actions play out (just as in RoboRally). I feel satisfaction when the plan (or dumb luck, or more likely a combination of both) comes together, and I find it funny when things screw up.
When it's over, whether we win or not I immediately want to play again and try to do better. It's very nice that the game ramps up the difficulty over time, because it keeps the game challenging and frantic.
Anyway, as I said Shemp and Kozure weren't wowed by it. They found that the programming cards too often limited your actions, that too often you just couldn't do anything coherent with what you had. I suppose their is nothing stopping us from introducing a variant where players get more cards every phase, or maybe that each player starts the game with a preconstructed deck of actions
Zombie Fluxx
I had never played a fluxx game before, but it sounded novel, silly, short and easy to play so I thought I'd take a chance on it. Fluxx games are all similar in that they start with just a few simple rules (draw a card then play a card) and no goal. Over the course of the game, as cards get played, new rules get added and goals are introduced. For example, you mighy play a card which says :"New rule: Draw 3 cards instead of 1". From then on, all players draw the new amount of cards. Similarly, if a Goal card is played a winning condition is added to the game... for example "The first player with 3 zombies wins". Only one goal card can be in play at a time, though, so the goal will change over the course of the game. The game therefore goes on until a combination of cards played lines up with the goal on the table.
I purchased the Zombie version because it seemed more fun to me, but now I wonder whether the theme might turn off the type of people I'd be likely to play this with. I think Shemp and Kozure thought it was... fine. Shemp's wife, Hilaria, doesn't often play games with us but did play a hand of this. Not sure what she thought of it (though I didn't get a sense she was a big fan). I thought it was decent, and can definitely see enjoying it over beer when looking to just kill time.
In the Year of the Dragon
We haven't played this in a while, and that's really a shame because I truly enjoy this game. It's definitely my favorite new pure euro that I've played in quite a long time. In the past I've done quite well at the game, but this time I struggled to keep up on the people track so the early lead I got in VPs was quickly eroded. Kozure, who managed to stay well in the lead on the person track throughout the game saw his strategy pay off about 3/4s of the way through the game... surpassing me and winning with a convincing lead.
Great game.
Labels:
In the Year of the Dragon,
Space Alert,
Zombie Fluxx
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Off to India (Maharaja, Taj Mahal)
Just as fast as Bharmer returns... he is gone.
But before he left, he dictated we play two games he felt hadn't been on the table recently enough: Maharaja and Taj Mahal.
Maharajah
We played another session of "the game Bharmer always wins" and, well, he won. We did our best to stop him, though... in fact I'd say we did a much better job of spreading out and working the whole board than we usually do (as opposed to collectively going from one scoring city to another). There were lots of people who struck out on their own to claim the central palaces in non-scoring cities while manipulating the maharaja track to maximize the scoring opportunities. Still, Bharmer managed to always be in the right place at the right time: Always grabbing the cheap third place scoring when it was available, always sneaking in to get first or second when it really mattered, always somehow ahead of the pack in palace construction. Luch did manage to give him some competition by keeping up with the palaces, but when Bharmer finished the game by building his last two Luch was nowhere near ready to do the same.
This type of game is normally right up my alley, but I simply can't wrap my head around it to find a winning strategy. I certainly see the possibilities, but not fast enough. I'm starting to feel like there would be a way to succeed at Maharajah that would be primarily based on denying other players their actions, but I'm just guessing.
Taj Mahal
This is a game that I often win at, but it seems that tonight was not going to be my night. I started out decently enough, but seriously floundered in the end. If memory serves, I didn't do anything at all in the last 2-3 palaces!
I prefer Taj with 4 players, and this week's game cemented that for me. One less player makes the game shorter, and players are much less likely to get completely shafted in the auctions.
I think Shemp won the game, with Kozure just a few points behind (but it's pretty fuzzy in my head, so I could be wildly off on that)
But before he left, he dictated we play two games he felt hadn't been on the table recently enough: Maharaja and Taj Mahal.
Maharajah
We played another session of "the game Bharmer always wins" and, well, he won. We did our best to stop him, though... in fact I'd say we did a much better job of spreading out and working the whole board than we usually do (as opposed to collectively going from one scoring city to another). There were lots of people who struck out on their own to claim the central palaces in non-scoring cities while manipulating the maharaja track to maximize the scoring opportunities. Still, Bharmer managed to always be in the right place at the right time: Always grabbing the cheap third place scoring when it was available, always sneaking in to get first or second when it really mattered, always somehow ahead of the pack in palace construction. Luch did manage to give him some competition by keeping up with the palaces, but when Bharmer finished the game by building his last two Luch was nowhere near ready to do the same.
This type of game is normally right up my alley, but I simply can't wrap my head around it to find a winning strategy. I certainly see the possibilities, but not fast enough. I'm starting to feel like there would be a way to succeed at Maharajah that would be primarily based on denying other players their actions, but I'm just guessing.
Taj Mahal
This is a game that I often win at, but it seems that tonight was not going to be my night. I started out decently enough, but seriously floundered in the end. If memory serves, I didn't do anything at all in the last 2-3 palaces!
I prefer Taj with 4 players, and this week's game cemented that for me. One less player makes the game shorter, and players are much less likely to get completely shafted in the auctions.
I think Shemp won the game, with Kozure just a few points behind (but it's pretty fuzzy in my head, so I could be wildly off on that)
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Welcome to 2009 - CYLON!
Introduction
Herein lies a twisted tale of deception and surprise. Enter if you dare.
Third game of Galactica for me, Agent Easy and Luch, but Bharmer and Shemp weren’t around for the introduction in December. The three of us who have played before feel pretty comfy with the rule set and strategies, so after what I think is a pretty concise and clear rules explanation, we set up and begin a five player game.
First player is determined. It’s one of the new players, "Bharmer". He’s never seen the re-imagined show, though he’s familiar with the rag-tag fleet concept from the old one. He picks Gaius Baltar. I open my mouth to say something, but then I think - ‘this will probably make it more fun for him’, so I close it. Political leader category down. He stares at the picture of everyone’s least favourite ladykiller for a little bit and says - ‘he’s a pretty good looking guy. Sorta looks like me.’ Surprisingly, this is pretty accurate.
Next player, "Luch" takes Chief Tyrol. Good: safe and important support role is covered.
I ("Kozure") take Starbuck. I’ve previously played Apollo and Tigh, but I gravitate towards pilot types anyway and I figure we need one.
Next player takes Saul Tigh. "Shemp" hasn’t played before and has seen neither the old nor the re-imagined series. He asks whether the Battlestar and the Vipers are intentional Star Wars rip-offs or if it’s just a coincidence. I explain in as short a time I can the whole Star Wars - Battlestar Galactica - Star Trek: The Motion Picture relationship. Short story, yeah, they’re rip-offs. Curiously, he takes Tigh because "he looks like John McCain," which is funny because Shemp’s political views are almost diametrically opposed to McCain.
The choice of categories is pretty wide open for the final experienced player, "Agent Easy". I figure it would be best to take Roslin so that the newbie won’t have to make the political decisions, but I try not to influence people about their character choices unless there’s an obvious hole in our skill card set. There isn’t, really - we’ve got piloting covered with Starbuck, tactics with Starbuck and Tigh, engineering with Tyrol and Baltar, politics with Baltar and Tyrol, leadership with Tigh and Starbuck. We’re a little weak in politics and leadership, since Baltar is more likely to "go toaster", but I figure we can handle it. Agent Easy picks Sharon ‘Boomer’ Valerii. I’m a little surprised, since that makes for two people with higher chances of being the cylon, but whatever. Easy says he wants to try his hand at piloting, so I don’t argue.
Turn order, in case you’re keeping track, is: Baltar > Tyrol > Starbuck > Tigh > Boomer. I make a comment that the seating and character choices may end up being very problematic if Baltar and Boomer turn out to be the cylons.
Loyalty deck is shuffled and dealt. I’m a toaster. Frak me. Well, I’ve only been one once before, so this should be fun. Tigh is the Admiral. Baltar is President.
Skill cards are drawn, board is set. We’re good to go.
Act I - "Uh, I think we should jump now."
The first few turns are pretty typical. I jump into a viper to fight off the raiders doing my best to be a good little human. Unfortunately (or fortunately, from my point of view) the first three crises we draw are green-yellow, and we whiffle on them all, despite the fact that I’m actually contributing greens when I can so as not to draw suspicion. I’m doing a little mental happy dance that the pathetic survivors are getting pummelled so early on, but the skill card draws seem to show (inconclusively) that someone else is sabotaging. It could just be poor initial card draws as well, so I’m not convinced there’s another cylon yet.
We’ve lost morale and food, but we’re not doing horribly. A jammed assault puts more contacts on the Dradis, but we... er... the humans are holding their own despite the onslaught. We’re slowly advancing the jump track, a few more crises with a mixture of successes and failures. By the time we reach the -1 jump, there are a lot of raiders in the air as well as heavy raiders and both basestars. It’s starting to get hairy. Good... good.
It’s bad enough that there is general consensus we should try the early jump. I offer to throw in a card to add +2 to the die roll. The jumping player rolls an 8 so he would have made it anyway without my card helping. There’s the usual relieved sighs as the board is cleared. We jump to a deserted system (jump progress 2). Safe... or so the puny humans thought.
Act II - "Toga Party on Colonial One!"
After the jump, someone draws a Virus crisis, so we have a boarder. My turn’s up next. I say, truthfully, that the boarder is a threat but we should also get some CAP out there. There is grumbling around the table. I shrug and say "OK, I’ll hit the Armory, then." Unluckily, I roll a 7 and kill the cylon boarder. Frak. I figure that should throw some of the heat off me, though.
Everyone is suspecting Baltar quite a bit, mostly for some slightly odd behavior before the first jump. There’s a little suspicion on me, for reasons I can’t make out, since I’ve been almost choirboy-innocent for every action - I haven’t even tried to sabotage anything yet. A player turn or two later though, I actually screw up trying to sabotage a crisis check being conducted by Tigh that would probably make me stand out like a neon light if he had actually counted the cards he put in.
Tigh asks me about which cards I put in. I say I put in leadership cards. He says "card..s?" emphasizing the ‘s’. I realize in a heartbeat that I actually only put in one piloting card and the only other pilot, Boomer, has curiously abstained from the check after I threw in, but to correct myself would be doubly suspicious, so I say as earnestly as I can "yeah, two cards." There is a single piloting card as well as two other cards which sabotage the check. Tyrol had also abstained, so all of the leadership cards must have really come from Tigh or the destiny deck, and there were too many for all of them to be from the destiny deck.
I see a moment of suspicion flash over his face, but curiously he gathers up the cards and puts them in the discard without comment. The rest of that portion of the game is mostly quiet as players gather cards and scout, and the next jump happens without much incident. I use my Destiny ability to bury a pretty tough morale crisis (though I know there are worse coming, I don’t complain when a consensus is reached that we should do it anyway). We do lose a few points on morale and food, but population and fuel are where we’d expect. At one point, something happens, I can’t recall what, which tips suspicion on Baltar into the red, and he gets brigged. He makes some initial pathetic attempts to get out, but fails. The only thing that stands out in my mind is we failed a few times as a result of piloting cards that I didn’t put in, so I’m guessing that Boomer is the other cylon. At the same time, Tigh strangely jaunts over to Colonial One on the pretext that we’ve been doing poorly on Political checks, so he wants to pick up some cards there. Strange. Tigh is spending maybe one turn in three being drunk. He announces jokingly that there is a toga party on Colonial One. Another stand out is two Riot crises in a row, which is hard to cope with.
Act III - "Secret Cylon would be a good band name."
Coming out of the next jump into a cylon ambush (now making our jump progress 5) ["Thanks, Admiral," we chorus], I immediately want to get out into space again to fight my (fellow) Cylons to put on the best possible show of loyalty. The loyalty cards are dealt in the Sleeper Phase and Boomer is brigged per her character card (there is some confusion during the sleeper phase when I realize I put the sympathizer card in when I should not have. We resolve it by removing Tyrol’s revealed sympathizer card and giving him the remaining loyalty card).
I launch, but Tigh is after my turn and I note, out of the corner of my eye, that he and Boomer exchange glances for a moment as if agreeing on something. On Tigh's action, I’m brigged - it’s almost futile for Starbuck to try to avoid being brigged by Tigh, but I have to do something. No one helps me stay out. I guess I haven’t been convincing enough and Tigh and Boomer have decided I’m a toaster. Them being right doesn’t make it any less annoying.
Another cylon attack crisis. The Galactica takes damage but is quickly patched by Tyrol. Starbuck, Boomer and Baltar are in the brig. A launch raiders icon comes up in one Crisis, a second cylon attack in the next. The Galactica has a mass of contacts on her starboard front quarter - this is literally the most raiders, heavy raiders and cylons I've seen on the board, ever. Suddenly, Boomer reveals on the second turn of her internment and offs herself, popping up cackling on the Resurrection Ship.
With tonnes of raiders on the board and Cylon-Boomer puppeting them from the Cylon Fleet, things hit the fan quickly. We lose three Civvies in short order with only redshirt vipers out there - two of the Civilian ships turn out to be the double resource ones. We have three damaged vipers and one destroyed, the rest are in the air. Once again, I’m cackling internally, all the while playing the innocent injured party. Morale is at "2" - all the other dials except population are also in the red - 3s and 4s.
President Baltar finally manages to spring himself from the Brig using a combination of high skill cards and the card that reduces the target difficulty. Starbuck is the only one left in the brig.
Then we have a crisis check. I put in my card which would help the humans, just so that it would be apparent that I’m still innocent and would have time to put in the coup de grace at just the right moment. The revealed Cylon-Boomer has already spent a bunch of his skill cards in other crises, so he doesn’t spend any on this check. We should pass.
The cards are revealed. Three spoiler cards. Crisis failed. Sabotaged again.
I’m gob-smacked. I’m the only other possible cylon other than Boomer, but with the cards distribution as it turns out (I can’t remember the distribution or the participants), the only possible culprit is Tigh. I figure someone frakked up royally and played the wrong colour, but no-one owns up. I say nothing.
Finally, we get to a point where the next crisis will kill us if it hits morale, the fleet is being decimated and we’re nowhere near jumping. It’s my turn. I languish in jail, claiming to be unable to spring myself (entirely true, actually). Tigh’s turn the crisis card flips - it’s the one that is a -2 morale hit if failed. Somehow it gets around to me and I’m the only one who can help it succeed. Obviously I deep-six the check with a high off-suite card and the humans surrender due to morale being in the toilet.
I look up. There are five confused faces. I flip my loyalty card. Cylon...obviously. Boomer is already revealed, but dutifully shows two "you are human" and one cylon card. Baltar flips. Both human. Tyrol flips. Human. Tigh flips... Cylon.
I blink. There are one too many cylons.
I reach over and grab Tigh’s card. Yup. We read it right. Boomer’s card we saw earlier. Mine is right too.
Baltar says, in a wounded voice, "Uh, I thought there was only supposed to be two cylons."
I am baffled, "So did I," I say apologetically.
We never do figure out how it happened, but apparently I somehow shuffled an extra cylon card into the initial deal. This is especially baffling (and galling) to me because I thought I took extra care with preparing the Loyalty deck because the first four-player game we had with a different guest player-teacher, he accidentally left a cylon card out, and we were missing a cylon as a result.
Nonetheless, the evidence is there: I obviously frakked up the Loyalty deal somehow. Three of the five players had been cylons from the very start. The humans never had a chance.
Herein lies a twisted tale of deception and surprise. Enter if you dare.
Third game of Galactica for me, Agent Easy and Luch, but Bharmer and Shemp weren’t around for the introduction in December. The three of us who have played before feel pretty comfy with the rule set and strategies, so after what I think is a pretty concise and clear rules explanation, we set up and begin a five player game.
First player is determined. It’s one of the new players, "Bharmer". He’s never seen the re-imagined show, though he’s familiar with the rag-tag fleet concept from the old one. He picks Gaius Baltar. I open my mouth to say something, but then I think - ‘this will probably make it more fun for him’, so I close it. Political leader category down. He stares at the picture of everyone’s least favourite ladykiller for a little bit and says - ‘he’s a pretty good looking guy. Sorta looks like me.’ Surprisingly, this is pretty accurate.
Next player, "Luch" takes Chief Tyrol. Good: safe and important support role is covered.
I ("Kozure") take Starbuck. I’ve previously played Apollo and Tigh, but I gravitate towards pilot types anyway and I figure we need one.
Next player takes Saul Tigh. "Shemp" hasn’t played before and has seen neither the old nor the re-imagined series. He asks whether the Battlestar and the Vipers are intentional Star Wars rip-offs or if it’s just a coincidence. I explain in as short a time I can the whole Star Wars - Battlestar Galactica - Star Trek: The Motion Picture relationship. Short story, yeah, they’re rip-offs. Curiously, he takes Tigh because "he looks like John McCain," which is funny because Shemp’s political views are almost diametrically opposed to McCain.
The choice of categories is pretty wide open for the final experienced player, "Agent Easy". I figure it would be best to take Roslin so that the newbie won’t have to make the political decisions, but I try not to influence people about their character choices unless there’s an obvious hole in our skill card set. There isn’t, really - we’ve got piloting covered with Starbuck, tactics with Starbuck and Tigh, engineering with Tyrol and Baltar, politics with Baltar and Tyrol, leadership with Tigh and Starbuck. We’re a little weak in politics and leadership, since Baltar is more likely to "go toaster", but I figure we can handle it. Agent Easy picks Sharon ‘Boomer’ Valerii. I’m a little surprised, since that makes for two people with higher chances of being the cylon, but whatever. Easy says he wants to try his hand at piloting, so I don’t argue.
Turn order, in case you’re keeping track, is: Baltar > Tyrol > Starbuck > Tigh > Boomer. I make a comment that the seating and character choices may end up being very problematic if Baltar and Boomer turn out to be the cylons.
Loyalty deck is shuffled and dealt. I’m a toaster. Frak me. Well, I’ve only been one once before, so this should be fun. Tigh is the Admiral. Baltar is President.
Skill cards are drawn, board is set. We’re good to go.
Act I - "Uh, I think we should jump now."
The first few turns are pretty typical. I jump into a viper to fight off the raiders doing my best to be a good little human. Unfortunately (or fortunately, from my point of view) the first three crises we draw are green-yellow, and we whiffle on them all, despite the fact that I’m actually contributing greens when I can so as not to draw suspicion. I’m doing a little mental happy dance that the pathetic survivors are getting pummelled so early on, but the skill card draws seem to show (inconclusively) that someone else is sabotaging. It could just be poor initial card draws as well, so I’m not convinced there’s another cylon yet.
We’ve lost morale and food, but we’re not doing horribly. A jammed assault puts more contacts on the Dradis, but we... er... the humans are holding their own despite the onslaught. We’re slowly advancing the jump track, a few more crises with a mixture of successes and failures. By the time we reach the -1 jump, there are a lot of raiders in the air as well as heavy raiders and both basestars. It’s starting to get hairy. Good... good.
It’s bad enough that there is general consensus we should try the early jump. I offer to throw in a card to add +2 to the die roll. The jumping player rolls an 8 so he would have made it anyway without my card helping. There’s the usual relieved sighs as the board is cleared. We jump to a deserted system (jump progress 2). Safe... or so the puny humans thought.
Act II - "Toga Party on Colonial One!"
After the jump, someone draws a Virus crisis, so we have a boarder. My turn’s up next. I say, truthfully, that the boarder is a threat but we should also get some CAP out there. There is grumbling around the table. I shrug and say "OK, I’ll hit the Armory, then." Unluckily, I roll a 7 and kill the cylon boarder. Frak. I figure that should throw some of the heat off me, though.
Everyone is suspecting Baltar quite a bit, mostly for some slightly odd behavior before the first jump. There’s a little suspicion on me, for reasons I can’t make out, since I’ve been almost choirboy-innocent for every action - I haven’t even tried to sabotage anything yet. A player turn or two later though, I actually screw up trying to sabotage a crisis check being conducted by Tigh that would probably make me stand out like a neon light if he had actually counted the cards he put in.
Tigh asks me about which cards I put in. I say I put in leadership cards. He says "card..s?" emphasizing the ‘s’. I realize in a heartbeat that I actually only put in one piloting card and the only other pilot, Boomer, has curiously abstained from the check after I threw in, but to correct myself would be doubly suspicious, so I say as earnestly as I can "yeah, two cards." There is a single piloting card as well as two other cards which sabotage the check. Tyrol had also abstained, so all of the leadership cards must have really come from Tigh or the destiny deck, and there were too many for all of them to be from the destiny deck.
I see a moment of suspicion flash over his face, but curiously he gathers up the cards and puts them in the discard without comment. The rest of that portion of the game is mostly quiet as players gather cards and scout, and the next jump happens without much incident. I use my Destiny ability to bury a pretty tough morale crisis (though I know there are worse coming, I don’t complain when a consensus is reached that we should do it anyway). We do lose a few points on morale and food, but population and fuel are where we’d expect. At one point, something happens, I can’t recall what, which tips suspicion on Baltar into the red, and he gets brigged. He makes some initial pathetic attempts to get out, but fails. The only thing that stands out in my mind is we failed a few times as a result of piloting cards that I didn’t put in, so I’m guessing that Boomer is the other cylon. At the same time, Tigh strangely jaunts over to Colonial One on the pretext that we’ve been doing poorly on Political checks, so he wants to pick up some cards there. Strange. Tigh is spending maybe one turn in three being drunk. He announces jokingly that there is a toga party on Colonial One. Another stand out is two Riot crises in a row, which is hard to cope with.
Act III - "Secret Cylon would be a good band name."
Coming out of the next jump into a cylon ambush (now making our jump progress 5) ["Thanks, Admiral," we chorus], I immediately want to get out into space again to fight my (fellow) Cylons to put on the best possible show of loyalty. The loyalty cards are dealt in the Sleeper Phase and Boomer is brigged per her character card (there is some confusion during the sleeper phase when I realize I put the sympathizer card in when I should not have. We resolve it by removing Tyrol’s revealed sympathizer card and giving him the remaining loyalty card).
I launch, but Tigh is after my turn and I note, out of the corner of my eye, that he and Boomer exchange glances for a moment as if agreeing on something. On Tigh's action, I’m brigged - it’s almost futile for Starbuck to try to avoid being brigged by Tigh, but I have to do something. No one helps me stay out. I guess I haven’t been convincing enough and Tigh and Boomer have decided I’m a toaster. Them being right doesn’t make it any less annoying.
Another cylon attack crisis. The Galactica takes damage but is quickly patched by Tyrol. Starbuck, Boomer and Baltar are in the brig. A launch raiders icon comes up in one Crisis, a second cylon attack in the next. The Galactica has a mass of contacts on her starboard front quarter - this is literally the most raiders, heavy raiders and cylons I've seen on the board, ever. Suddenly, Boomer reveals on the second turn of her internment and offs herself, popping up cackling on the Resurrection Ship.
With tonnes of raiders on the board and Cylon-Boomer puppeting them from the Cylon Fleet, things hit the fan quickly. We lose three Civvies in short order with only redshirt vipers out there - two of the Civilian ships turn out to be the double resource ones. We have three damaged vipers and one destroyed, the rest are in the air. Once again, I’m cackling internally, all the while playing the innocent injured party. Morale is at "2" - all the other dials except population are also in the red - 3s and 4s.
President Baltar finally manages to spring himself from the Brig using a combination of high skill cards and the card that reduces the target difficulty. Starbuck is the only one left in the brig.
Then we have a crisis check. I put in my card which would help the humans, just so that it would be apparent that I’m still innocent and would have time to put in the coup de grace at just the right moment. The revealed Cylon-Boomer has already spent a bunch of his skill cards in other crises, so he doesn’t spend any on this check. We should pass.
The cards are revealed. Three spoiler cards. Crisis failed. Sabotaged again.
I’m gob-smacked. I’m the only other possible cylon other than Boomer, but with the cards distribution as it turns out (I can’t remember the distribution or the participants), the only possible culprit is Tigh. I figure someone frakked up royally and played the wrong colour, but no-one owns up. I say nothing.
Finally, we get to a point where the next crisis will kill us if it hits morale, the fleet is being decimated and we’re nowhere near jumping. It’s my turn. I languish in jail, claiming to be unable to spring myself (entirely true, actually). Tigh’s turn the crisis card flips - it’s the one that is a -2 morale hit if failed. Somehow it gets around to me and I’m the only one who can help it succeed. Obviously I deep-six the check with a high off-suite card and the humans surrender due to morale being in the toilet.
I look up. There are five confused faces. I flip my loyalty card. Cylon...obviously. Boomer is already revealed, but dutifully shows two "you are human" and one cylon card. Baltar flips. Both human. Tyrol flips. Human. Tigh flips... Cylon.
I blink. There are one too many cylons.
I reach over and grab Tigh’s card. Yup. We read it right. Boomer’s card we saw earlier. Mine is right too.
Baltar says, in a wounded voice, "Uh, I thought there was only supposed to be two cylons."
I am baffled, "So did I," I say apologetically.
We never do figure out how it happened, but apparently I somehow shuffled an extra cylon card into the initial deal. This is especially baffling (and galling) to me because I thought I took extra care with preparing the Loyalty deck because the first four-player game we had with a different guest player-teacher, he accidentally left a cylon card out, and we were missing a cylon as a result.
Nonetheless, the evidence is there: I obviously frakked up the Loyalty deal somehow. Three of the five players had been cylons from the very start. The humans never had a chance.
Labels:
Battlestar Galactica,
Five player,
Rule errors,
Session
Monday, December 29, 2008
2008 Thoughts
I consider 2008 to be an excellent year in new and "new to us" games.
New games:
Race for the Galaxy, Glory to Rome, Agricola, In the Year of the Dragon, Pandemic, Perikles, Phoenicia, Battlestar Galactica, Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear!, Thebes.
New to Us games:
Imperial, Hollywood Blockbuster, I'm the Boss!, In the Shadow of the Emperor, Pillars of the Earth, Wings of War, Atlantic Star, Medici.
New to my collection, but unplayed at WAGS
Red November, Space Alert
With the exception of Phoenicia, I would consider them all good to very good (well, Atlantic Star was a little bland, but it certainly wasn't bad). That's a pretty good success rate!
The first few years for me at WAGS were about catching up to the backlog of great german style games already released (the Alea line, Knizia's catalogue, the top 10 at BGG, etc). Last year was mostly about finding good/ great games that filled in niches that were kind of lacking (Last Night on Earth = horror, Jungle Speed = filler, Blue Moon City = casual strrategy, Dungeon Twister= well themed abstract, Nexus Ops = a better Risk). This year, I felt a little more in tune with the cult of the new at BGG, because I had caught up with most of what I wanted to try, and my game collection covered most of the bases I wanted it to (well, I'm still looking for a great civ type game, and a great negotiation game).
This is my take on the trends in this year's crop of new games:
1) Space seems to be the new renaissance Italy for game settings.
2) Cooperative games have become all the rage, and/or games that play well solo (often the same, but not always).
3) Pure German type games are starting to be a hard sell. Games that are mainly exercises in manipulating clever mechanics for victory points are starting to feel a bit "samey". I have already played a number of these, I already own a number of these, and although I still *love* them... I don't feel a burning desire to discover more. This year, the only successful new game that fits the classic mold is In the Year of the Dragon. Agricola sort of fits, but to me it feels like something different... which brings me to my next point:
4) The most significant change I've noticed this year is the gradual takeover of cards as the driving mechanic for game design. From Agricola to Dominion, Race for the Galaxy to Space Alert, the main innovation this year seems to be that strategy games are meeting card games in the middle. This happened in wargames with the introduction of CDGs (card driven wargames) and ameritrash games have used this tactic for quite some time. Did the trend in other types of games coincide with the rise of Magic the Gathering? I can't really say, but the impact is starting to cross-over to german games. The advantages of cards are obvious: base mechanics can be simple while the card powers can add chrome. Theme becomes much easier to convey through the use of imagery/ flavour text/multiple specific events or actions on the cards. The downside, however, is that cards bring their own share of issues: randomness, lack of balance between the cards, over-reliance on the cards to make the game interesting, etc. and some of these run in direct contradiction to what german games were all about.
For me, Agricola is the poster boy for this shift. Since Agricola has been such a big deal this year, I'll dwell on this one for a bit.
At it's core, Agricola is akin to being asked to make the tallest possible pile from a bunch of random objects. Your goal is to efficiently use what is at your disposal to make that tall tower. In the game, you are just picking from the vast selection of actions available, and trying to make those points add up to as many points as possible. The only thing Agricola brings to the table of game design is an enormous pile of cards. This takes an otherwise perfect information game and gives each player a different set of additional things to consider (or, to get back to the previous analogy, their personal pile of random objects to use to build their tower). Don't get me wrong, I like Agricola. The process of efficiently ordering what is in front of you can be enjoyable, but that doesn't change the fact that there is very little in the way of clever game mechanics underneath it all... which was previously the hallmark of german games (well, that and brevity, which is also AWOL here). Still, the immediacy of the theme combined with potentially endless combinations of cards has come together to make a game popular enough to unseat Puerto Rico as the #1 game on BGG... unbalanced cards and all. I can't help but think that Agricola is a sign of things to come, but that ultimately a better game will come that combines cards and great and interesting game mechanics will soon do it better.
So, crossover games, wargames and card games have been more interesting to me this year. With the exception of Perikles, none of the following games would have been possible without cards as the central mechanic.
Perikles is primarily a euro, but there are some definite elements of wargames in the design. When I played it earlier this year, Ireally enjoyed how the various elements came together, and I felt that the players had enough influence in the game that the die based combat was fun rather than frustrating.
Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear! is a wargame that integrates an action point system and a quest for brevity, simplicity and economy that feels heavily influenced by euro design principles. I've played this mostly outside of WAGS, but I really like it. The action point system it uses, particularly the concept of Command Points vs Action Points, is brilliant.
Race for the Galaxy and Glory to Rome have used the same basic system as San Juan/ Puerto Rico to make a card game that almost feels like a boardgame. Although there is an issue with the "multiplayer solitaire" nature of the gameplay in RftG, I still quite enjoy playing it. I like that the expansion to RftG allows for solo play, but I haven't had a chance to test it out very often. I personally find playing Glory to Rome more fun, but I do like both. RftG does a really remarkable job of minimizing the inherent problems with card games, particularly the card balance and randomness issues. Glory to Rome, as much fun as it is, doesn't even try.
Battlestar Galactica takes primarily from the ameritrash side (long, lots of chrome, huge swings of luck resulting from the order cards come out, etc), but the result has clearly been polished by some euro sensibilities (much like Fury of Dracula, also by FFG). The traitor mechanic and the way players are forced to deal with a growing number of emergencies over the course of the game is very similar in theory to Shadows over Camelot, but the implementation is significantly more successful. The game system breeds suspicion and yet provides many means to keep the traitor's identity secret. Based on my single play, it seems like a winner. I do wish it was shorter, though.
Pandemic is a great, quick, euro style cooperative game. The way the deck reshuffles to amplify the danger is simple but very clever.
Space Alert captured my imagination with the promise of a cooperative version of Robo-Rally that plays in just 10 minutes. I played the intro scenario solo and I'm not quite sure what to make of it yet. I suspect we will be screwing up very badly because there is a lot to take in, and not a lot of time to take it in with... hopefully it will at least be funny! There are only 10 or so soundtracks that come with the game, but since the soundtrack primarily tells you when to draw from a deck of cards and what to do with them, the game should stay fresh and variable.
I currently have the new edition of Cosmic Encounter (the grand daddy of games where a basic system meets a deck of powers) in my sights. II suppose it's possible Magic the Gathering was inspired in part by this game. Regardless, it looks like a really fun negotiation/ war game. I'd also love to try Chinatown, since I'm still looking for a great deal-making game (though I'm the Boss! was quite a lot of fun a few weeks ago).
Ticket to Ride continues to be the most popular game to play with friends and family outside of WAGS, but Hollywood Blockbuster, Wings of War and Nexus Ops gave it a good run for it's money this year. Occasional wargaming with Kozure has been a great deal of fun and a nice change of pace.
I can only hope that 2009 is as good a year as 2008 was.
New games:
Race for the Galaxy, Glory to Rome, Agricola, In the Year of the Dragon, Pandemic, Perikles, Phoenicia, Battlestar Galactica, Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear!, Thebes.
New to Us games:
Imperial, Hollywood Blockbuster, I'm the Boss!, In the Shadow of the Emperor, Pillars of the Earth, Wings of War, Atlantic Star, Medici.
New to my collection, but unplayed at WAGS
Red November, Space Alert
With the exception of Phoenicia, I would consider them all good to very good (well, Atlantic Star was a little bland, but it certainly wasn't bad). That's a pretty good success rate!
The first few years for me at WAGS were about catching up to the backlog of great german style games already released (the Alea line, Knizia's catalogue, the top 10 at BGG, etc). Last year was mostly about finding good/ great games that filled in niches that were kind of lacking (Last Night on Earth = horror, Jungle Speed = filler, Blue Moon City = casual strrategy, Dungeon Twister= well themed abstract, Nexus Ops = a better Risk). This year, I felt a little more in tune with the cult of the new at BGG, because I had caught up with most of what I wanted to try, and my game collection covered most of the bases I wanted it to (well, I'm still looking for a great civ type game, and a great negotiation game).
This is my take on the trends in this year's crop of new games:
1) Space seems to be the new renaissance Italy for game settings.
2) Cooperative games have become all the rage, and/or games that play well solo (often the same, but not always).
3) Pure German type games are starting to be a hard sell. Games that are mainly exercises in manipulating clever mechanics for victory points are starting to feel a bit "samey". I have already played a number of these, I already own a number of these, and although I still *love* them... I don't feel a burning desire to discover more. This year, the only successful new game that fits the classic mold is In the Year of the Dragon. Agricola sort of fits, but to me it feels like something different... which brings me to my next point:
4) The most significant change I've noticed this year is the gradual takeover of cards as the driving mechanic for game design. From Agricola to Dominion, Race for the Galaxy to Space Alert, the main innovation this year seems to be that strategy games are meeting card games in the middle. This happened in wargames with the introduction of CDGs (card driven wargames) and ameritrash games have used this tactic for quite some time. Did the trend in other types of games coincide with the rise of Magic the Gathering? I can't really say, but the impact is starting to cross-over to german games. The advantages of cards are obvious: base mechanics can be simple while the card powers can add chrome. Theme becomes much easier to convey through the use of imagery/ flavour text/multiple specific events or actions on the cards. The downside, however, is that cards bring their own share of issues: randomness, lack of balance between the cards, over-reliance on the cards to make the game interesting, etc. and some of these run in direct contradiction to what german games were all about.
For me, Agricola is the poster boy for this shift. Since Agricola has been such a big deal this year, I'll dwell on this one for a bit.
At it's core, Agricola is akin to being asked to make the tallest possible pile from a bunch of random objects. Your goal is to efficiently use what is at your disposal to make that tall tower. In the game, you are just picking from the vast selection of actions available, and trying to make those points add up to as many points as possible. The only thing Agricola brings to the table of game design is an enormous pile of cards. This takes an otherwise perfect information game and gives each player a different set of additional things to consider (or, to get back to the previous analogy, their personal pile of random objects to use to build their tower). Don't get me wrong, I like Agricola. The process of efficiently ordering what is in front of you can be enjoyable, but that doesn't change the fact that there is very little in the way of clever game mechanics underneath it all... which was previously the hallmark of german games (well, that and brevity, which is also AWOL here). Still, the immediacy of the theme combined with potentially endless combinations of cards has come together to make a game popular enough to unseat Puerto Rico as the #1 game on BGG... unbalanced cards and all. I can't help but think that Agricola is a sign of things to come, but that ultimately a better game will come that combines cards and great and interesting game mechanics will soon do it better.
So, crossover games, wargames and card games have been more interesting to me this year. With the exception of Perikles, none of the following games would have been possible without cards as the central mechanic.
Perikles is primarily a euro, but there are some definite elements of wargames in the design. When I played it earlier this year, Ireally enjoyed how the various elements came together, and I felt that the players had enough influence in the game that the die based combat was fun rather than frustrating.
Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear! is a wargame that integrates an action point system and a quest for brevity, simplicity and economy that feels heavily influenced by euro design principles. I've played this mostly outside of WAGS, but I really like it. The action point system it uses, particularly the concept of Command Points vs Action Points, is brilliant.
Race for the Galaxy and Glory to Rome have used the same basic system as San Juan/ Puerto Rico to make a card game that almost feels like a boardgame. Although there is an issue with the "multiplayer solitaire" nature of the gameplay in RftG, I still quite enjoy playing it. I like that the expansion to RftG allows for solo play, but I haven't had a chance to test it out very often. I personally find playing Glory to Rome more fun, but I do like both. RftG does a really remarkable job of minimizing the inherent problems with card games, particularly the card balance and randomness issues. Glory to Rome, as much fun as it is, doesn't even try.
Battlestar Galactica takes primarily from the ameritrash side (long, lots of chrome, huge swings of luck resulting from the order cards come out, etc), but the result has clearly been polished by some euro sensibilities (much like Fury of Dracula, also by FFG). The traitor mechanic and the way players are forced to deal with a growing number of emergencies over the course of the game is very similar in theory to Shadows over Camelot, but the implementation is significantly more successful. The game system breeds suspicion and yet provides many means to keep the traitor's identity secret. Based on my single play, it seems like a winner. I do wish it was shorter, though.
Pandemic is a great, quick, euro style cooperative game. The way the deck reshuffles to amplify the danger is simple but very clever.
Space Alert captured my imagination with the promise of a cooperative version of Robo-Rally that plays in just 10 minutes. I played the intro scenario solo and I'm not quite sure what to make of it yet. I suspect we will be screwing up very badly because there is a lot to take in, and not a lot of time to take it in with... hopefully it will at least be funny! There are only 10 or so soundtracks that come with the game, but since the soundtrack primarily tells you when to draw from a deck of cards and what to do with them, the game should stay fresh and variable.
I currently have the new edition of Cosmic Encounter (the grand daddy of games where a basic system meets a deck of powers) in my sights. II suppose it's possible Magic the Gathering was inspired in part by this game. Regardless, it looks like a really fun negotiation/ war game. I'd also love to try Chinatown, since I'm still looking for a great deal-making game (though I'm the Boss! was quite a lot of fun a few weeks ago).
Ticket to Ride continues to be the most popular game to play with friends and family outside of WAGS, but Hollywood Blockbuster, Wings of War and Nexus Ops gave it a good run for it's money this year. Occasional wargaming with Kozure has been a great deal of fun and a nice change of pace.
I can only hope that 2009 is as good a year as 2008 was.
2008 Year end stats
2008 was another great year at WAGS.
Here's a rundown of what was played (I haven't included anything played outside of WAGS, even if it has been recorded in the blog). I'll talk a little bit more about my impressions in a future post.
9 plays
Race for the Galaxy (7 base game + 2 with The Gathering Storm expansion)
5 plays
Glory to Rome
4 plays
Agricola
3 plays
Imperial
In the Year of the Dragon
Pandemic
Perikles
Phoenicia
Ra
Railroad Tycoon (1 base game + 2 with Rails of Europe expansion)
2 plays
Blue Moon City
Colossal Arena
Diamant
Entdecker
Fairy Tale
Goa
Hollywood Blockbuster
I'm the Boss
In the Shadow of the emperor
Jumpgate (prototype)
Last Night on Earth
Pillars of the Earth
PowerGrid
Princes of Florence
Puerto Rico
Shogun
The Kaiser's Pirates
Transeuropa
Wings of War
Zooloretto
1 play
A Game of Thrones
Aladdin's Dragons
Atlantic Star
Battlestar Galactica
Beowulf
China
Citadels
Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear!
Corn (prototype)
Die Macher
El Grande
For Sale!
Funny friends
High Society
Jungle Speed
Mall of Horror
Medici
Nexus Ops
Plunder
RoboRally
Santiago
Sid Meier's Civilization
Taj Mahal
Thebes
Tigris and Euphrates
To Court the King
Traders of Genoa
Transamerica
Vegas Showdown
Wildlife
Zombie (prototype)
So, there you have it. 110 sessions played of 61 different games. 31 of those different games played more than once, 30 played a single time.
The fact that Race for the Galaxy was the most played game doesn't surprise me. The fact that Glory to Rome beat out Agricola for #2 does.
The fact that El Grande, my favorite game, is only here once makes me sad. Luckily, just about my entire game collection got played (though not all at WAGS). Although I am aware that it's getting very big, there isn't anything really gathering too much dust.
Notably missing, however: Carcassonne/ Antike/ Fury of Dracula/ Tikal/ Through the Desert/ Duel of Ages
Here's a rundown of what was played (I haven't included anything played outside of WAGS, even if it has been recorded in the blog). I'll talk a little bit more about my impressions in a future post.
9 plays
Race for the Galaxy (7 base game + 2 with The Gathering Storm expansion)
5 plays
Glory to Rome
4 plays
Agricola
3 plays
Imperial
In the Year of the Dragon
Pandemic
Perikles
Phoenicia
Ra
Railroad Tycoon (1 base game + 2 with Rails of Europe expansion)
2 plays
Blue Moon City
Colossal Arena
Diamant
Entdecker
Fairy Tale
Goa
Hollywood Blockbuster
I'm the Boss
In the Shadow of the emperor
Jumpgate (prototype)
Last Night on Earth
Pillars of the Earth
PowerGrid
Princes of Florence
Puerto Rico
Shogun
The Kaiser's Pirates
Transeuropa
Wings of War
Zooloretto
1 play
A Game of Thrones
Aladdin's Dragons
Atlantic Star
Battlestar Galactica
Beowulf
China
Citadels
Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear!
Corn (prototype)
Die Macher
El Grande
For Sale!
Funny friends
High Society
Jungle Speed
Mall of Horror
Medici
Nexus Ops
Plunder
RoboRally
Santiago
Sid Meier's Civilization
Taj Mahal
Thebes
Tigris and Euphrates
To Court the King
Traders of Genoa
Transamerica
Vegas Showdown
Wildlife
Zombie (prototype)
So, there you have it. 110 sessions played of 61 different games. 31 of those different games played more than once, 30 played a single time.
The fact that Race for the Galaxy was the most played game doesn't surprise me. The fact that Glory to Rome beat out Agricola for #2 does.
The fact that El Grande, my favorite game, is only here once makes me sad. Luckily, just about my entire game collection got played (though not all at WAGS). Although I am aware that it's getting very big, there isn't anything really gathering too much dust.
Notably missing, however: Carcassonne/ Antike/ Fury of Dracula/ Tikal/ Through the Desert/ Duel of Ages
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Even older skool (I'm the Boss!, Medici, Atlantic Star)
JayWowzer was back for a surprise visit as he wraps up some of his loose ends in Toronto. He offered to bring some games, and Luch picked a number of games we hadn't ever played before. Although I had never heard of Atlantic Star, the other two have long been on my list of games to try.
I'm the Boss!
We started the evening with I'm the Boss! This is a 15 year old game by Sid Sackson which has a lot of lovers and haters on BGG. Having played it, I can see why.
The board features a number of spaces, each featuring a deal that can be made. Players start the game as one of the wealthy characters that can get involved in the deals. An example of a deal would be "Cashman + either Dougherty or Goldman split 3 shares". Theoretically, that means that the player with the Cashman card would negotiate with either the player with the Dougherty or the Goldman card to decide how to split up the share and complete the deal. Problem is that everyone else wants to get in on the deal, too. I haven't yet mentioned that all players get a hand of cards, and that those cards contain events such as "Cashman goes on a trip". Cashman can't very well participate in a deal is she's off on a trip, now can she? Not coincidentally, other cards represent relatives and friends of the various characters that are more than willing to step in and make a deal in the place of a suddenly unavailable character. There are also cards that allow a player to steal a character card away from someone else, "I'm the Boss!" cards that change who is in the position to decide if a deal is made, and "Stop!" cards that cancel a card being played.
The way it usually plays out is that the acting player (the "boss") lands on a space and proposes a deal to one or more players. counter proposals are made, other players try to get in on the action by sending some of the characters involved on trips and suggesting their own related characters instead. If a deal seems particularly lucrative, someone else might take control of the turn to cash in, but of course someone else might play a "stop" card, or play a card that makes him the boss!
Sound chaotic? It is.
But it's fun, too. At first, we weren't sure how to handle the negotiations. It felt mean interrupting a deal in progress. There was a reluctance to participate in negotiations with someone that had displaced someone else. That soon passed. I should say, however, that in the first few deals there was more focus on trying to railroad the deal maker but as the game progressed it became much more about screwing the other participants in the deal OR becoming the boss.
We enjoyed the game so much we played twice in a row. You'll have to search long and hard through the blog to find another game in recent history that was played twice in a row. Shemp immediately declared he wanted to buy it.
Our first game was a learning experience. I wasn't really sure why being the boss was an advantage, I was missing opportunities to put my hat in the ring at the right time, etc. However, everyone else was likely having similar problems. On what turned out to be the last turn, I closed a really lucrative deal and it put me in first place. It felt a little random, but no matter.
In our second game, I played with a bit more purpose. I snagged three character cards and was using them to underbid everyone with the intention of getting small amounts from a lot of deals in the game (in this game, when you use your character card instead of cards from your hand, they are not used up so you can afford to bid lower). I felt like it was working ok, but I missed out on a really big deal and split my earnings with Luch a few too many times. He won.
Medici
Next up was Medici. This is a Knizia auction game that is commonly compared to Ra... now that I've played it I'm not surprised. Although the two games are substantially different, they are very similar in feel and weight.
In Medici, players are traders trying to accumulate wealth through shrewd acquisition of spices and other goods. Just like Ra, however, the theme is rather thin. The result is a somewhat mathematical set collection game, but fun in it's own way. Here, the tiles have two attributes: colour and value. Points are scored for leading in number of tiles in each colour and for having high total values of all tiles in the current set. After three rounds, the players with the most points wins. One interesting twist is that players bid for the lots using the points they've accumulated, so excellent set collecting can be undone by overbidding. Another interesting aspect is that the 5 tile maximum means that, for example, once you've taken a lot with three tiles you are excluded from subsequent 3 tile lots, since you only have two spaces left. This restriction was used to good effect on a number of occasions by players who would effectively block a player from getting a tile they needed by growing the lot to a bigger number of tiles than that player could take.
My first impression is that Medici is simpler to understand than Ra, largely because the scoring is easier to grasp. I'd also say it's a little less fun, because the "push your luck" element in Ra is more compelling in my mind. Still, it was a good game that I'd happily play any time.
Luch destroyed us in this game. He simultaneously had the highest lot totals and climbed colour ladders as fast as the rest of us. I didn't notice at the time, but he must have been auctioning fairly conservatively as well. Shemp and I had a few notable turns where we dramatically overbid (20!). I think I finished tied for third place, which was decent considering how badly I was trailing for most of the game.
Atlantic Star
The final game for the evening was Atlantic Star, a card game about completing cruise itineraries (apparently it is mechanically identical to Showmanager, a game about completing plays).
It's a pretty simple system. There are 5 different routes to try to complete, and each turn you choose a card that represents one leg of the trip from the 4 cards available. Each route can only be completed once by each player, and once it is completed it is added to a chart in order of VPs accumulated. The game system is such that all players will complete all their routes on the same turn, and that is when the game ends.
I don't know. It was fine, but not exceptional. There was some tension in hoping that cards that worked particularly well with your hand would make it to you without getting chosen by another player... but there isn't much that can be done about it either way. Completing routes early is an advantage because ties are broken by the first player to have completed the route.
Luch once again demolished us. He managed a number of high scoring routes, though I couldn't tell what he did that was different than what I was doing. Anyway, it was nice way to end the evening.
A particularly fun evening of gaming. JayWowzer, it is unfortunate we won't be seeing you too often in the future... It's been great gaming with you.
I'm the Boss!
We started the evening with I'm the Boss! This is a 15 year old game by Sid Sackson which has a lot of lovers and haters on BGG. Having played it, I can see why.
The board features a number of spaces, each featuring a deal that can be made. Players start the game as one of the wealthy characters that can get involved in the deals. An example of a deal would be "Cashman + either Dougherty or Goldman split 3 shares". Theoretically, that means that the player with the Cashman card would negotiate with either the player with the Dougherty or the Goldman card to decide how to split up the share and complete the deal. Problem is that everyone else wants to get in on the deal, too. I haven't yet mentioned that all players get a hand of cards, and that those cards contain events such as "Cashman goes on a trip". Cashman can't very well participate in a deal is she's off on a trip, now can she? Not coincidentally, other cards represent relatives and friends of the various characters that are more than willing to step in and make a deal in the place of a suddenly unavailable character. There are also cards that allow a player to steal a character card away from someone else, "I'm the Boss!" cards that change who is in the position to decide if a deal is made, and "Stop!" cards that cancel a card being played.
The way it usually plays out is that the acting player (the "boss") lands on a space and proposes a deal to one or more players. counter proposals are made, other players try to get in on the action by sending some of the characters involved on trips and suggesting their own related characters instead. If a deal seems particularly lucrative, someone else might take control of the turn to cash in, but of course someone else might play a "stop" card, or play a card that makes him the boss!
Sound chaotic? It is.
But it's fun, too. At first, we weren't sure how to handle the negotiations. It felt mean interrupting a deal in progress. There was a reluctance to participate in negotiations with someone that had displaced someone else. That soon passed. I should say, however, that in the first few deals there was more focus on trying to railroad the deal maker but as the game progressed it became much more about screwing the other participants in the deal OR becoming the boss.
We enjoyed the game so much we played twice in a row. You'll have to search long and hard through the blog to find another game in recent history that was played twice in a row. Shemp immediately declared he wanted to buy it.
Our first game was a learning experience. I wasn't really sure why being the boss was an advantage, I was missing opportunities to put my hat in the ring at the right time, etc. However, everyone else was likely having similar problems. On what turned out to be the last turn, I closed a really lucrative deal and it put me in first place. It felt a little random, but no matter.
In our second game, I played with a bit more purpose. I snagged three character cards and was using them to underbid everyone with the intention of getting small amounts from a lot of deals in the game (in this game, when you use your character card instead of cards from your hand, they are not used up so you can afford to bid lower). I felt like it was working ok, but I missed out on a really big deal and split my earnings with Luch a few too many times. He won.
Medici
Next up was Medici. This is a Knizia auction game that is commonly compared to Ra... now that I've played it I'm not surprised. Although the two games are substantially different, they are very similar in feel and weight.
In Medici, players are traders trying to accumulate wealth through shrewd acquisition of spices and other goods. Just like Ra, however, the theme is rather thin. The result is a somewhat mathematical set collection game, but fun in it's own way. Here, the tiles have two attributes: colour and value. Points are scored for leading in number of tiles in each colour and for having high total values of all tiles in the current set. After three rounds, the players with the most points wins. One interesting twist is that players bid for the lots using the points they've accumulated, so excellent set collecting can be undone by overbidding. Another interesting aspect is that the 5 tile maximum means that, for example, once you've taken a lot with three tiles you are excluded from subsequent 3 tile lots, since you only have two spaces left. This restriction was used to good effect on a number of occasions by players who would effectively block a player from getting a tile they needed by growing the lot to a bigger number of tiles than that player could take.
My first impression is that Medici is simpler to understand than Ra, largely because the scoring is easier to grasp. I'd also say it's a little less fun, because the "push your luck" element in Ra is more compelling in my mind. Still, it was a good game that I'd happily play any time.
Luch destroyed us in this game. He simultaneously had the highest lot totals and climbed colour ladders as fast as the rest of us. I didn't notice at the time, but he must have been auctioning fairly conservatively as well. Shemp and I had a few notable turns where we dramatically overbid (20!). I think I finished tied for third place, which was decent considering how badly I was trailing for most of the game.
Atlantic Star
The final game for the evening was Atlantic Star, a card game about completing cruise itineraries (apparently it is mechanically identical to Showmanager, a game about completing plays).
It's a pretty simple system. There are 5 different routes to try to complete, and each turn you choose a card that represents one leg of the trip from the 4 cards available. Each route can only be completed once by each player, and once it is completed it is added to a chart in order of VPs accumulated. The game system is such that all players will complete all their routes on the same turn, and that is when the game ends.
I don't know. It was fine, but not exceptional. There was some tension in hoping that cards that worked particularly well with your hand would make it to you without getting chosen by another player... but there isn't much that can be done about it either way. Completing routes early is an advantage because ties are broken by the first player to have completed the route.
Luch once again demolished us. He managed a number of high scoring routes, though I couldn't tell what he did that was different than what I was doing. Anyway, it was nice way to end the evening.
A particularly fun evening of gaming. JayWowzer, it is unfortunate we won't be seeing you too often in the future... It's been great gaming with you.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Cyclops. Cylon. Cyclon. (Battlestar Galactica, Zombie game prototype)
Just as one american guest Wagster, JayWowzer, slowly ends his visits to Canada, another comes along. Mvinarcik, a BGG user from Ohio( I think) joined us this week and brought along his copy of Battlestar Galactica.
Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica is a cooperative game with a traitor similar to Shadows over Camelot. Players play the various characters from the show as they try to work together to defend Galactica from the incoming cylons, hunger, demoralization, infighting, etc. However, some of the characters might be cylons working against them... suspicion ensues.
In my opinion, the game works much better than SoC did. There is much more going on, and the system builds in possibilities for subterfuge on the part of the hidden cylons. We made a few errors in our first game which led to an easier than normal game (we accidentally had fewer cylons than the game called for), but even though we won the game by the skin of our teeth. The whole package is very thematic and appears to be an excellent adaptation of the source material into a game. My only complaint is that the game is long at 2-3 hours, and from what I read it's unlikely to get shorter. Not a big deal, but it will limit how often it gets out.
I played Tyrol the deck engineer, Luch played Helo, Mvinarcik played Laura Roslin and Kozure played Lee Adama. After Helo came back from the colonies, he quickly took the title of Admiral from Lee. Clearly drunk with power, Helo then proceeded to steal the title of president from Roslin. We were obviously suspicious of him. Of course, until then Roslin had been doing nothing but drawing Quorum cards and doing nothing with them. We were obviously suspicious of her, too.
When Roslin suggested it was dangerous for all this power to be in the hands of one man, I didn't know who to vote for. They were both suspect in my book.
Lee and Tyrol where both fairly obviously on the side of the humans, because they were working tirelessly to defend and repair the ship. In fact, I came to the conclusion that trying to play the game without Tyrol on the human's side would be significantly more difficult. Unfortunately, as we approached Kobol Lee decided he liked the cylons after all and switched sides. Perched far away on a cylon baseship, Cylon lovin' Lee did his best to take us down to no avail. We made the jumps we needed and made it home.
We had very little space combat, and no cylons boarded the ship. I suspect our game was atypical, or that there is a substantial variability in the way things swing from game to game. That's a good thing in my book.
I had a good time with this one. I look forward to playing again in the future.
We finished up with a play of a prototype zombie game that Kozure is working on. Since it's a prototype, I won't talk about it much.
Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica is a cooperative game with a traitor similar to Shadows over Camelot. Players play the various characters from the show as they try to work together to defend Galactica from the incoming cylons, hunger, demoralization, infighting, etc. However, some of the characters might be cylons working against them... suspicion ensues.
In my opinion, the game works much better than SoC did. There is much more going on, and the system builds in possibilities for subterfuge on the part of the hidden cylons. We made a few errors in our first game which led to an easier than normal game (we accidentally had fewer cylons than the game called for), but even though we won the game by the skin of our teeth. The whole package is very thematic and appears to be an excellent adaptation of the source material into a game. My only complaint is that the game is long at 2-3 hours, and from what I read it's unlikely to get shorter. Not a big deal, but it will limit how often it gets out.
I played Tyrol the deck engineer, Luch played Helo, Mvinarcik played Laura Roslin and Kozure played Lee Adama. After Helo came back from the colonies, he quickly took the title of Admiral from Lee. Clearly drunk with power, Helo then proceeded to steal the title of president from Roslin. We were obviously suspicious of him. Of course, until then Roslin had been doing nothing but drawing Quorum cards and doing nothing with them. We were obviously suspicious of her, too.
When Roslin suggested it was dangerous for all this power to be in the hands of one man, I didn't know who to vote for. They were both suspect in my book.
Lee and Tyrol where both fairly obviously on the side of the humans, because they were working tirelessly to defend and repair the ship. In fact, I came to the conclusion that trying to play the game without Tyrol on the human's side would be significantly more difficult. Unfortunately, as we approached Kobol Lee decided he liked the cylons after all and switched sides. Perched far away on a cylon baseship, Cylon lovin' Lee did his best to take us down to no avail. We made the jumps we needed and made it home.
We had very little space combat, and no cylons boarded the ship. I suspect our game was atypical, or that there is a substantial variability in the way things swing from game to game. That's a good thing in my book.
I had a good time with this one. I look forward to playing again in the future.
We finished up with a play of a prototype zombie game that Kozure is working on. Since it's a prototype, I won't talk about it much.
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