Life has been interfering with getting any new posts out from me. My new job, which is second shift, interferes with me writing and playing games to write about. In fact, Christmas was the last time I got any decent time of game playing. I have been reading and watching movies or television. So I thought why not write about some other things than just board games.
My new job currently is through a temp agency and they placed me at a local business called Magnus Integer. We manufacture car interior parts such as headliners and doors. It consists of me pulling cloth tight over pins and then pushing a button to lower the bonding machine. The job is mind-numbing and boring. I am so desperate for work and money, I had to settle for this job. Kids, go to college and get a career and not a job like me. The only benefit I can see to this job is with the set hours everyday, I can go back to school and take classes towards something I would rather do for the remainder of my working days.
So to keep my writing chops in tune, I was thinking of some new subjects and ideas to write about. Tell me what you think. The bold words below are titles I am thinking of naming my different posts. Some of these exist but by titling them, I can make it easier to link them on the side.
New Ideas for the blog.
Dusting off the disks – A look back at movies in my DVD collection and if they should stay or go.
Turn the page – A look at books and comics I am reading with my thoughts.
The list – I’ll pick a subject or a suggested subject and make a list of my ten favorite.
Plucky Plank – A recap of board games gatherings and my thoughts of games played.
I plan to implement these soon and to put a new post up at least once a week.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Saturday, January 19, 2013
The Plucky Plank: BLOB gets Legendary
This month’s recap of the BLOB is going to be different. I am going to try a new layout with a section on brief overview of game play and not a regurgitation of the rules. There are multiple places online to find the rules. The main focus is going to be about my thoughts of the game. My opinion of the game is based off my initial play, so if you are looking for more analysis into the games, I am not the best choice. I think most of us can decide if a game is fun after one play and if the investment of time into further plays is something you want to do. I also will not be recapping the moves during the game because I can’t remember what I did during the game and don’t take notes beyond final scores.
One of my favorite people to play games with is leaving soon. As a “Snowbird” he likes to hibernate in Florida for the cold Michigan winters. Have fun fishing in the tropical sun Tom and see you in the spring. I also ate way too many sweets this time but it is so hard to resist all the colorful Christmas cookies and cupcakes.
Legendary: a Marvel Deck Building Game BGG Link
Game summary
Using a starting deck consisting of SHIELD Agents and Troops, players recruit Heroes to strengthen their decks to attack villains and ultimately defeat the Mastermind behind the whole scheme. Defeat the Mastermind 4 times successfully and the player with the most Victory Points wins. However if the Mastermind’s scheme is successful, then all the players lose.
What I think
I ended up playing it 3 times and with 3 and 4 players. So you can imagine if I played it that much, I enjoyed the game. I got excited drafting heroes into my deck and the “abilities” of the heroes made sense for the character. For instance, Iron Man helps draw cards which makes sense because it is information gathering or calling for reinforcements as the leader. The Superheroes were the draw to the game for me. I liked immersing myself into the theme and got frustrated when the Mastermind would win. So like most cooperative games, I wanted to play it again to try and win. The game really is cooperative only when the heroes lose otherwise the player with the most victory points wins.
The villains can be a bit annoying early in the game as you watch the Villains march across the board because your deck isn't strong enough to attack. This can put you behind with certain scenarios where the game wins if a certain number of Villains or Bystanders are in the escaped area. Since the deck is random, you may get Henchmen, which are easier, or Villains that are just too powerful.
The Heroes can also frustrate you because again of the randomness of the draw deck, certain Heroes are absent and you could purchasing a card just in the hopes of getting something better to the market. It kind of reminded me of Ascension and was one of the reasons I disliked Ascension but at least the Villains and Heroes are separate decks and you always seem to be able to do something each turn. The icons and artwork are great and easy to understand. The Icons are easy to distinguish and become very intuitive after a few turns.
To me, Legendary plays like every other deck builder out there. Draw a hand, play cards, discard and draw a new hand. It also suffers from what I call “unbalanced turns”. What I mean is one player can cycle through his entire deck for a 5 minute turn and the remaining players can complete their turns in under a minute. I am sure a few of you are saying “What is wrong with that?” and to that I say it disconnects me from the game and makes the game drag on too long. It was one of the reasons I ended up never playing Dominion again or at least not with competitive players.
I thought Legendary was fun and I got sucked into the Superhero theme. I cheered as we defeated the Mastermind and was the first one ready to retry when we failed. Although, Legendary doesn’t bring anything new to the deck building genre but the theme is lacking in board games and is welcome by me.
Scores
Game 1: Tom-20, Kearn-10, Joe-11, Chris-15 vs. Red Skull
Game 2: All Players lose vs. Dr. Doom
Game 3: Tom-30, Kearn-10, Scott-28 vs. Dr. Doom
Alien Frontiers BGG Link
Game summary
For those unfamiliar with Alien Frontiers, the game uses dice as ships which you dock at different stations on the board to earn resources, expand your fleet (more dice) and colonize the planet. There are also Artifacts (cards) which give you abilities to manipulate your die or other players dice. The game ends when a player places their last colony on the planet. The player with the most victory points wins. A player scored 1 VP for each colony on a territory, 1 VP per territory you control (majority of the colonies on a territory), 1 VP for controlling the territory with the Positron Field and 1 VP each for possessing Alien City or Alien Monument card.
What I think
Alien Frontiers is still one of my favorite games and the Faction expansion adds some nice new powers and choices for the players to use each game. If you want to use a neighbor’s faction, you end up paying the resources to the owner of the faction. You really have to weigh if it will be more beneficial to you to use the faction. We choose randomly so in our game, one faction was more valuable and used more often so that might be a drawback. I also didn’t use the new Agenda cards so I can’t comment on them at this time. I think it is a must buy for fans of the game.
Scores
Game 1: Chris-4, Joe-10, Kearn-3
Loopin’ Louie BGG Link
Game summary
A simple game, each player has a chicken coop with three chicken disks. Louie flies around the board and knocks the chickens down. You can prevent this by using your paddle to make Louie jump over your chickens. The last player left with chickens wins.
What I think
Loopin’ Louie is easily one of the most silly, addictive and entertaining games I have ever played. It is such a simple game that causes laughter and rowdy good times with children and adults (especially with some adult everages).
Scores
4 plays and everyone won once.
Tahiti BGG Link
Game summary
The goal of the game is to collect crops and fish from the neighboring islands in your canoe and return them to the home island. For each full set of crops or favorite foods (secret tiles handed out during the set-up) collected earn points at the game end. The game is divided into two phases, the first is the Exploration phase and the second is the Depletion phase.
What I think
The game is a simple and leisurely game of grabbing cubes from one location and returning them to the home island. The toughest decisions in the game were cube placement and what islands to place the depletion tiles on because both would directly affect your opponents. I liked the reef as it made you choose between the most direct paths but you could risk the loss of a good or to take the longer path. I enjoyed the quality game pieces and beautiful Polynesian art. The game was a bit basic for me and I think it could get stale after multiple plays, but I could easily see its charm for families or new gamers.
Scores
Game 1: Liam-15, Kearn-21, Eric-25, Chris-24
Schotten Rennen (Scots Race in German) BGG Link
Game summary
This loosely themed racing game with dice and luck in Scotland has you rolling dice each turn. If your roll is equal to or higher than the printed number on the tile, you progress forward. If the roll is lower, you can use a risk token to role the yellow die and add the result to your total. If it is higher, you continue on. If it still is lower, you go all the way back to the start. At any time you can stop and pass the dice locking you into the current tile. The first player to cross the finish line wins.
What I think
The game is a total dice chucking, press your luck and mock your fellow player’s bad dice rolls kind of game. Also heading back to start didn’t put you out of the race. I went back several times and caught up quickly. It fit the bill for the type of game we wanted to play at the time and I enjoy these types of games. Sometimes you just want some light fun and laughs. Kilts are optional.
Scores
Game 1: Winner – Ken; Losers- Liam, Eric, Kearn
Trajan BGG Link
Game summary
This is a very simplistic summary to a deep and strategic game supposedly set in ancient Rome. Players move cubes around an action tray which allows them to take actions on matching areas on the main board. The player with the most points at the end wins the game.
What I think
Trajan is a complex game with many options to score points. Some options of where to go at certain points in the game are obvious but it can create some long thinking moments if you want to maximize your points each turn. I noticed the most contested areas in out game were the shipping area and the senate. Getting in earlier than the other players to use a boat and score on the more profitable side is a huge plus and the disappointed look on their face is a nice bonus. By influencing the senate you choose first and dictated who got what bonus tile for the end of game scoring.
My favorite part of the game was the use of the personal action tray. I enjoyed planning out my turns by moving cubes of certain colors to each area to help me move them later in an upcoming turn or to match Trajan tiles next to the cup. Each turn I contemplated this to avoid clumping to many cubes in one cup, because each cube you move moves the game clock and that brings the demands of the people. If you can’t meet the demands you end up losing points.
I like a good theme and this game has none. As I said above, supposedly sent in ancient Rome, but at no point did I feel I was influencing the people of Rome. In my mind was moving this cube two spaces gives me the military option and the ability to grab the 10 victory point area. The game can also drag out if you or the other players contemplate your move too long but I find that to be a problem with many games that offer multiple choices each turn.
I am a theme junkie and criticize games often for being too dull and theme less. Games that feel like number crunching/ spreadsheet tasks and you try to eliminate all least productive options and maximize your points. There are those elements in Trajan but the personal action tray just squashed that voice in my head. I admit that sometimes I judge games too quickly and I would have missed out on a fantastic game. I want to play this again.
Score
Game 1: Tom-111, Kearn-115, Chris-112, Scott-95
One of my favorite people to play games with is leaving soon. As a “Snowbird” he likes to hibernate in Florida for the cold Michigan winters. Have fun fishing in the tropical sun Tom and see you in the spring. I also ate way too many sweets this time but it is so hard to resist all the colorful Christmas cookies and cupcakes.
Legendary: a Marvel Deck Building Game BGG Link
 |
| Starting Cards |
Using a starting deck consisting of SHIELD Agents and Troops, players recruit Heroes to strengthen their decks to attack villains and ultimately defeat the Mastermind behind the whole scheme. Defeat the Mastermind 4 times successfully and the player with the most Victory Points wins. However if the Mastermind’s scheme is successful, then all the players lose.
What I think
I ended up playing it 3 times and with 3 and 4 players. So you can imagine if I played it that much, I enjoyed the game. I got excited drafting heroes into my deck and the “abilities” of the heroes made sense for the character. For instance, Iron Man helps draw cards which makes sense because it is information gathering or calling for reinforcements as the leader. The Superheroes were the draw to the game for me. I liked immersing myself into the theme and got frustrated when the Mastermind would win. So like most cooperative games, I wanted to play it again to try and win. The game really is cooperative only when the heroes lose otherwise the player with the most victory points wins.
The villains can be a bit annoying early in the game as you watch the Villains march across the board because your deck isn't strong enough to attack. This can put you behind with certain scenarios where the game wins if a certain number of Villains or Bystanders are in the escaped area. Since the deck is random, you may get Henchmen, which are easier, or Villains that are just too powerful.
The Heroes can also frustrate you because again of the randomness of the draw deck, certain Heroes are absent and you could purchasing a card just in the hopes of getting something better to the market. It kind of reminded me of Ascension and was one of the reasons I disliked Ascension but at least the Villains and Heroes are separate decks and you always seem to be able to do something each turn. The icons and artwork are great and easy to understand. The Icons are easy to distinguish and become very intuitive after a few turns.
 |
| Mid game vs the Red Skull |
I thought Legendary was fun and I got sucked into the Superhero theme. I cheered as we defeated the Mastermind and was the first one ready to retry when we failed. Although, Legendary doesn’t bring anything new to the deck building genre but the theme is lacking in board games and is welcome by me.
Scores
Game 1: Tom-20, Kearn-10, Joe-11, Chris-15 vs. Red Skull
Game 2: All Players lose vs. Dr. Doom
Game 3: Tom-30, Kearn-10, Scott-28 vs. Dr. Doom
Alien Frontiers BGG Link
 |
| New Factions |
For those unfamiliar with Alien Frontiers, the game uses dice as ships which you dock at different stations on the board to earn resources, expand your fleet (more dice) and colonize the planet. There are also Artifacts (cards) which give you abilities to manipulate your die or other players dice. The game ends when a player places their last colony on the planet. The player with the most victory points wins. A player scored 1 VP for each colony on a territory, 1 VP per territory you control (majority of the colonies on a territory), 1 VP for controlling the territory with the Positron Field and 1 VP each for possessing Alien City or Alien Monument card.
What I think
Alien Frontiers is still one of my favorite games and the Faction expansion adds some nice new powers and choices for the players to use each game. If you want to use a neighbor’s faction, you end up paying the resources to the owner of the faction. You really have to weigh if it will be more beneficial to you to use the faction. We choose randomly so in our game, one faction was more valuable and used more often so that might be a drawback. I also didn’t use the new Agenda cards so I can’t comment on them at this time. I think it is a must buy for fans of the game.
Scores
Game 1: Chris-4, Joe-10, Kearn-3
Loopin’ Louie BGG Link
 |
| Louie is coming for your chickens! |
A simple game, each player has a chicken coop with three chicken disks. Louie flies around the board and knocks the chickens down. You can prevent this by using your paddle to make Louie jump over your chickens. The last player left with chickens wins.
What I think
Loopin’ Louie is easily one of the most silly, addictive and entertaining games I have ever played. It is such a simple game that causes laughter and rowdy good times with children and adults (especially with some adult everages).
Scores
4 plays and everyone won once.
Tahiti BGG Link
 |
| Island tiles |
The goal of the game is to collect crops and fish from the neighboring islands in your canoe and return them to the home island. For each full set of crops or favorite foods (secret tiles handed out during the set-up) collected earn points at the game end. The game is divided into two phases, the first is the Exploration phase and the second is the Depletion phase.
 |
| Player Board |
The game is a simple and leisurely game of grabbing cubes from one location and returning them to the home island. The toughest decisions in the game were cube placement and what islands to place the depletion tiles on because both would directly affect your opponents. I liked the reef as it made you choose between the most direct paths but you could risk the loss of a good or to take the longer path. I enjoyed the quality game pieces and beautiful Polynesian art. The game was a bit basic for me and I think it could get stale after multiple plays, but I could easily see its charm for families or new gamers.
Scores
Game 1: Liam-15, Kearn-21, Eric-25, Chris-24
Schotten Rennen (Scots Race in German) BGG Link
 |
| On your Mark........ |
This loosely themed racing game with dice and luck in Scotland has you rolling dice each turn. If your roll is equal to or higher than the printed number on the tile, you progress forward. If the roll is lower, you can use a risk token to role the yellow die and add the result to your total. If it is higher, you continue on. If it still is lower, you go all the way back to the start. At any time you can stop and pass the dice locking you into the current tile. The first player to cross the finish line wins.
 |
| Neck and Neck to the end! |
What I think
The game is a total dice chucking, press your luck and mock your fellow player’s bad dice rolls kind of game. Also heading back to start didn’t put you out of the race. I went back several times and caught up quickly. It fit the bill for the type of game we wanted to play at the time and I enjoy these types of games. Sometimes you just want some light fun and laughs. Kilts are optional.
Scores
Game 1: Winner – Ken; Losers- Liam, Eric, Kearn
Trajan BGG Link
Game summary
This is a very simplistic summary to a deep and strategic game supposedly set in ancient Rome. Players move cubes around an action tray which allows them to take actions on matching areas on the main board. The player with the most points at the end wins the game.
What I think
Trajan is a complex game with many options to score points. Some options of where to go at certain points in the game are obvious but it can create some long thinking moments if you want to maximize your points each turn. I noticed the most contested areas in out game were the shipping area and the senate. Getting in earlier than the other players to use a boat and score on the more profitable side is a huge plus and the disappointed look on their face is a nice bonus. By influencing the senate you choose first and dictated who got what bonus tile for the end of game scoring.
My favorite part of the game was the use of the personal action tray. I enjoyed planning out my turns by moving cubes of certain colors to each area to help me move them later in an upcoming turn or to match Trajan tiles next to the cup. Each turn I contemplated this to avoid clumping to many cubes in one cup, because each cube you move moves the game clock and that brings the demands of the people. If you can’t meet the demands you end up losing points.
 |
| Action Tray |
I like a good theme and this game has none. As I said above, supposedly sent in ancient Rome, but at no point did I feel I was influencing the people of Rome. In my mind was moving this cube two spaces gives me the military option and the ability to grab the 10 victory point area. The game can also drag out if you or the other players contemplate your move too long but I find that to be a problem with many games that offer multiple choices each turn.
I am a theme junkie and criticize games often for being too dull and theme less. Games that feel like number crunching/ spreadsheet tasks and you try to eliminate all least productive options and maximize your points. There are those elements in Trajan but the personal action tray just squashed that voice in my head. I admit that sometimes I judge games too quickly and I would have missed out on a fantastic game. I want to play this again.
Score
Game 1: Tom-111, Kearn-115, Chris-112, Scott-95
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
The Plucky Plank: Hulk X-90 SMASH!! or how to program your robot to fall in a hole. - 11/10/12
Greetings and salutations my loyal readers. I am sorry about the lateness of this report but job searching and family medical problems held it up. I am so grateful to have a distraction like board games at times to keep me sane. Enough of Debbie Downer, lets look at the games played last month by me and my fellow B.L.O.B. members.
Roborally
I arrived in time to join 7 others for a massive game of Roborally. I was handed a nicely painted mini and laughed at my green robot with purple highlights. His name is Hulk X-90 and I just couldn't resist saying "Hulk Smash!".
So what happens is each turn you are dealt a certain number of cards each turn. These cards are what you use to program your robot. The cards have arrows that show straight,right,left or backward and you place them face down on your robot card to show your planned movement. This brings about one of the funny parts of the game as you watch everyone twist and turn their bodies or hands to make sure they are turning their robot the right direction. After everyone is done, players flip their cards over and based on the number in the upper corner determines the player turn order.
The organized chaos now begins. Robots start to move and if another robot is in your way, you push it in the direction you are moving. You more than likely just messed up your opponents plans and they will curse your name. There are plenty of hazards on the board from fire to pits. There are also conveyor belts that move and twist your robots or walls that impede your movement. The goal is to get your robots to the various flags on the board. They are numbered and you have to stop on each flag in order. If at any point you die, falling down the pit or by driving off the board, you can restart at the last flag you touched. Sort of like a re-spawn point in video games. After all movement is resolved, you get to fire a laser and any robot in your line of sight takes a point of damage. Damage is bad because at a certain point it forces you to keep a direction card locked in your program area. This means that every round until you repair you are stuck going a certain direction.
We were playing with 8 people and the game began to drag and certain players interest waned looking at what other games were about to start. We also dropped the race from 4 flags to 2 since several players dropped out. What did I think? I like deciding my path for my robot and hoping no one else interferes with my plans. I like the elements on the board, like flame throwers, that also need to be part of your plans. Now I also felt the game was starting to drag on as only two of us had gotten to the first flag after an hour. The game can also be hard for some people spatially as they get lefts and rights confused because of the robots orientation. That said, I would like to play this again, maybe with less people and on a tighter map.
Play time with rules: 2 hours 35 minutes
Final Scores: 2 Flags-Joe;1 Flag-Mary,Chris,Kearn;0 Flags-Mike,T,Blade,Sam
Stock Car Championship Racing Card Game
This is a game I can't believe I played. If you know me, you know I hate NASCAR and that people consider it a sport. I don't want to start a rant so I will discuss the game. The game has a predetermined number of laps and a deck that simulates the track. Players use cards to pass, block, draft or challenge the other racers. I chose the Tide car because I wanted a clean win.
So a typical turn goes like this. You flip the top card of the track deck over and a lap count is on the card. There also can be hazards too. From the cards in your hand, you have to discard cards that add up to be equal or greater than the lap count. If you can't, you are considered out of gas. After that we determine player order. It is based on the speed rating shown on the top of the card in your discard pile. Action cards let you try to pass other cars either inside or outside. The car you are passing can attempt to block you. Once everyone goes new cars are drawn and you start all over again until the lap count is met.
We were playing a pimped out version with the Hot Wheels and I personally liked it better than generic cards. This game didn't do much to improve my opinion of stock car racing but it was a bit more fun than I thought it would be. The game is random due to the cars and some of the high lap counts can leave you short of Action cards useful to you during your turn. Also shorter races don't leave you to much time to advance very far. It was a fun distraction but I don't know if I would play it again.
Play time with rules: 45 minutes
Final Placement: 1st Chris, 2nd Tom, 3rd Rhonda, 4th Joe, 5th Kearn, 6th Mike
The New Era
Are you looking for a game that captures the feel of Mad Max, then you might want to try New Era. In New Era you each play a faction, set on supremacy of the new world. You do this by gaining control of locations you discover or by influencing your rival factions locations. The game starts each round with a draft of face-up cards. Each person ends up drafting 2 cards and then 1 card off the top of the deck. You have some options available to you but nothing too brain burning.
Production comes next which gives you resources, workers, cards or victory points to use in the Action phase which is next. There are a lot of actions to choose from such as develop locations, take faction actions, trade cards or get workers. You keep preforming one action until you have to pass. Once passed, your locations are closed to the other players, which is a nice way to protect your buildings from being conquered or other players workers. After everyone passes, you check to see if anyone has reached 33 points (we totally missed this phase) if they do the game ends. If not proceed to the cleanup phase, basically get rid of anything unused and pass the first player token to the left.
I really enjoyed this game and after a round of play grasped the game. You have to plan ahead with your locations to help you get more resources each turn. Using neighbors locations is key to help when you can't get the card yourself. The number 3 is everywhere in this game. You can't have more than 3 of anything on or under a card and only 3 places for your location cards. The symbols in the game aren't overwhelming and become intuitive but can be a turnoff to certain players. I am tired of all the card based games but I found plenty to enjoy here. New Era is a solid game that I would play again anytime.
Play time with rules: 1 hour 30 minutes
Final Scores: Tom-64,Mike-25,Rhonda-46,Kearn-55
I also want to say congratulations to Rhonda and Mike who recently got engaged. You could always catch the two of them chatting, giving each other back rubs or holding hands. It's cute and I wish them the best.
Roborally
I arrived in time to join 7 others for a massive game of Roborally. I was handed a nicely painted mini and laughed at my green robot with purple highlights. His name is Hulk X-90 and I just couldn't resist saying "Hulk Smash!".
So what happens is each turn you are dealt a certain number of cards each turn. These cards are what you use to program your robot. The cards have arrows that show straight,right,left or backward and you place them face down on your robot card to show your planned movement. This brings about one of the funny parts of the game as you watch everyone twist and turn their bodies or hands to make sure they are turning their robot the right direction. After everyone is done, players flip their cards over and based on the number in the upper corner determines the player turn order.
The organized chaos now begins. Robots start to move and if another robot is in your way, you push it in the direction you are moving. You more than likely just messed up your opponents plans and they will curse your name. There are plenty of hazards on the board from fire to pits. There are also conveyor belts that move and twist your robots or walls that impede your movement. The goal is to get your robots to the various flags on the board. They are numbered and you have to stop on each flag in order. If at any point you die, falling down the pit or by driving off the board, you can restart at the last flag you touched. Sort of like a re-spawn point in video games. After all movement is resolved, you get to fire a laser and any robot in your line of sight takes a point of damage. Damage is bad because at a certain point it forces you to keep a direction card locked in your program area. This means that every round until you repair you are stuck going a certain direction.
We were playing with 8 people and the game began to drag and certain players interest waned looking at what other games were about to start. We also dropped the race from 4 flags to 2 since several players dropped out. What did I think? I like deciding my path for my robot and hoping no one else interferes with my plans. I like the elements on the board, like flame throwers, that also need to be part of your plans. Now I also felt the game was starting to drag on as only two of us had gotten to the first flag after an hour. The game can also be hard for some people spatially as they get lefts and rights confused because of the robots orientation. That said, I would like to play this again, maybe with less people and on a tighter map.
Play time with rules: 2 hours 35 minutes
Final Scores: 2 Flags-Joe;1 Flag-Mary,Chris,Kearn;0 Flags-Mike,T,Blade,Sam
Stock Car Championship Racing Card Game
This is a game I can't believe I played. If you know me, you know I hate NASCAR and that people consider it a sport. I don't want to start a rant so I will discuss the game. The game has a predetermined number of laps and a deck that simulates the track. Players use cards to pass, block, draft or challenge the other racers. I chose the Tide car because I wanted a clean win.
So a typical turn goes like this. You flip the top card of the track deck over and a lap count is on the card. There also can be hazards too. From the cards in your hand, you have to discard cards that add up to be equal or greater than the lap count. If you can't, you are considered out of gas. After that we determine player order. It is based on the speed rating shown on the top of the card in your discard pile. Action cards let you try to pass other cars either inside or outside. The car you are passing can attempt to block you. Once everyone goes new cars are drawn and you start all over again until the lap count is met.
We were playing a pimped out version with the Hot Wheels and I personally liked it better than generic cards. This game didn't do much to improve my opinion of stock car racing but it was a bit more fun than I thought it would be. The game is random due to the cars and some of the high lap counts can leave you short of Action cards useful to you during your turn. Also shorter races don't leave you to much time to advance very far. It was a fun distraction but I don't know if I would play it again.
Play time with rules: 45 minutes
Final Placement: 1st Chris, 2nd Tom, 3rd Rhonda, 4th Joe, 5th Kearn, 6th Mike
The New Era
Are you looking for a game that captures the feel of Mad Max, then you might want to try New Era. In New Era you each play a faction, set on supremacy of the new world. You do this by gaining control of locations you discover or by influencing your rival factions locations. The game starts each round with a draft of face-up cards. Each person ends up drafting 2 cards and then 1 card off the top of the deck. You have some options available to you but nothing too brain burning.
Production comes next which gives you resources, workers, cards or victory points to use in the Action phase which is next. There are a lot of actions to choose from such as develop locations, take faction actions, trade cards or get workers. You keep preforming one action until you have to pass. Once passed, your locations are closed to the other players, which is a nice way to protect your buildings from being conquered or other players workers. After everyone passes, you check to see if anyone has reached 33 points (we totally missed this phase) if they do the game ends. If not proceed to the cleanup phase, basically get rid of anything unused and pass the first player token to the left.
I really enjoyed this game and after a round of play grasped the game. You have to plan ahead with your locations to help you get more resources each turn. Using neighbors locations is key to help when you can't get the card yourself. The number 3 is everywhere in this game. You can't have more than 3 of anything on or under a card and only 3 places for your location cards. The symbols in the game aren't overwhelming and become intuitive but can be a turnoff to certain players. I am tired of all the card based games but I found plenty to enjoy here. New Era is a solid game that I would play again anytime.
Play time with rules: 1 hour 30 minutes
Final Scores: Tom-64,Mike-25,Rhonda-46,Kearn-55
I also want to say congratulations to Rhonda and Mike who recently got engaged. You could always catch the two of them chatting, giving each other back rubs or holding hands. It's cute and I wish them the best.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
The Plucky Plank: I-con what? Not I-con, it's U-Con.
U-con originally started at the University of Michigan in the student union building from 1988 - 2010. I personally didn't care for the union building, the multiple floors and poorly labeled rooms gave everything a disjointed feeling. I believe the amount of attendants also forced then to find a new location. The last two years, the convention has been in two different hotels, the Metropolitan of Romulus Mi in 2011 and the Marriott of Ypsilanti in 2012.
Now before I go into the games I played, I want to make a few critiques about the convention this year. First, I didn't like the poorly labeled and laid out convention. As you entered the lobby, there were no signs to direct you where to go, only the front desk for sign up. Second, ill informed employees/volunteers of the convention. When asked questions about the location of the board gaming area, I was directed upstairs and also to the left of the front desk. There wasn't any board gaming on the second floor, only role-playing and miniatures. Third and final, was once I found the board game room, there were no open tables for free gaming. We ended up taking over a table with an event that had passed and had nothing left for the day we were there. These are all fixable but I had to vent about them none the less.
Greeting you as you entered the center was a huge balloon dragon created by Tim Thurmond, The Balloon Sculptor. As you can see, this massive dragon winds its way up the staircase. On the landing above, Tim was blowing more balloons and making what I assume were swords for a few children.
It was also great to see so many familiar faces from my local gaming groups. Especially since it allowed me to capture a picture of Skaboy (his nom de plume) dressed as a french maid for the costume contest. I will post the picture for all to see and sorry Dave, you have no say. Muhahahaha!
Rapa Nui
One of my other favorite areas of U-con is the free gaming area. Tom brings a stack of the latest and greatest games for all to try. I dragged my friends along and we started the day off with Rapa Nui. The interesting part of this card game is the four stacks of cards. Each turn you must remove a card from the piles but the revealed card underneath scores. For instance if a goods card is revealed then any player with the same good in front of them would gather the good. If it is a priest or a statue, the player is awarded points instead. The other optional task on your turn is to play a card from your hand. The card has costs to play but if you can play multiple copies it allows you to take more than one card for the turn. The game continues until the stack of cards is depleted.
This game falls into the light category as your options each turn are simple. You also can't plan to far ahead each turn since you don't know what cards will be available. Although it does become obvious what cards will be taken by the other players. In our game, the other players stopped taking the cards above the priest card. I was the only player with priests in play and it benefited me greatly. Other cards avoided during play would have benefited the player following the current player. Such as if I take the woodsman, it would leave a rapa nui for the next player.
It is a shame this game is only available in German because it would be a nice family game. I would also like to try it with two since it might become more strategic.
Play time with rules: 45 minutes
Final Scores: Chad-21,Gregg-28,Kearn-46,Christian-35
Seasons
Seasons has the feel of a collectible card game with drafting and could easily be my new addiction. I really enjoy the subtle nuances of the game. Players start with drafting cards by taking one and passing the hand to the player on the left. There is a preset hands recommend for new players but honestly anyone who played games like Seven Wonders or Magic the Gathering can pick this up easily. This draft probably is one of the longer moments of the game as players read the text and decide on which cards to keep. With repeated play, I can see this going faster.
The seasons have these great chunky dice (Photo Courtesy of cnidius) that are rolled and each player drafts a die. The symbols become second nature as you play, the symbols represent energy, extra cards and crystals. The different seasons have different colored dice and during certain seasons some of the energies are not available on the dice, so plan accordingly. After 3 years pass, the game is over and the player with the most crystals wins. After several plays and a few online plays, I really like the flow of Seasons. I could see this game sticking around and with a few expansions.
Play time with rules: 60 minutes
Final Scores: Brian-85,Gregg-106,Kearn-159,Christian-165
Vinhos
At this point, I wanted to play a heavy game and Vinhos fit the bill. Vinhos at first glance is an overwhelming game and then a half hour of rules. Tom did a great job explaining everything but after some point I just want to play and figure things out. As you do play, you see the beauty in the layout of the board.
As you can see the board has a square that you move your pawn to and take the respective action. It varies from buying a winery, exporting wine, selling wine or going to the bank or banco. Then you also have to prepare for the wine show where it pays to show a good wine. The complexity of the game eventually unfolds and becomes easier to understand. I found myself scoring better each turn and planning ahead to maximize my points. Now there were a few areas I neglected like the exporting area, which would have helped my overall score but to me that will be the joy of more plays. I also enjoyed that the theme fit the game and it is a theme I haven't played before. The game is a bit solitary as most of your interaction comes in the wine show but I was okay with that. I want to also thank my friends for playing this with me and slogging through this lengthy game.
Play time with rules: 3 hours 20 minutes
Final Scores: Tom-70,Gregg-49,Kearn-55,Christian-76
Smash Up
My brain needed a cool off and I suggested my other new favorite, Smash Up. I enjoy how different this game plays every time just by having different combos each game. I drafted the tricksters and ninjas, Christian had pirates and zombies, Gregg went with wizards and dinosaurs and finally Tom had aliens and robots. My goal this game was to be annoying with the tricksters and sneak a few points from the ninjas.
I would have gotten away with it to if not for those resurrecting zombies. I would do my best to put them in his hand but a turn later they were back. Everyone seemed to enjoy the game but we didn't get to finish because the hall had to be closed for the night. I look forward to the new factions but even without them, Smash Up has plenty of replays in the base set.
Play time with rules: 35 minutes
Sort of Final Scores: Tom-9,Gregg-11,Kearn-12,Christian-14
Livingstone
At this point it was after midnight and the crowd started to thin out. My two friends called it a night but Dave (sans costume) was not about to let me go. He said we had to play a game together. Somehow we managed to get 5 people despite the Werewolf competition. Nikki suggested a game of Livingstone and gave us a quick overview. The game is just about having the majority of tents in a row to score endgame points. The other part of the game was digging for stones. The plastic pieces are nice a chunky with a good heft to them. Just avoid the white stone.
Two other game pieces to explain are the cards and treasure chests. The cards allow you to break rules and place more tents or score more points for your gems. Treasure chests are where you deposit money for the queen. You must give money because at the games end, the player with the least automatically lose. It's pretty harsh and Suzette suffered a crushing loss because of her lack of donations. Livingstone is an okay game and falls more into the family game category. I wouldn't say no to another play but I wouldn't suggest it myself.
Play time with rules: 40 minutes
Final Scores: It was late and I forgot to write them down.
That concludes my day at U-Con and despite a few problems, it is a nice local convention. I doubt I would ever go more than one day but the day price is reasonable and you can play a variety of games. So if you ever find yourself in Michigan around late October, come and join us.
Now before I go into the games I played, I want to make a few critiques about the convention this year. First, I didn't like the poorly labeled and laid out convention. As you entered the lobby, there were no signs to direct you where to go, only the front desk for sign up. Second, ill informed employees/volunteers of the convention. When asked questions about the location of the board gaming area, I was directed upstairs and also to the left of the front desk. There wasn't any board gaming on the second floor, only role-playing and miniatures. Third and final, was once I found the board game room, there were no open tables for free gaming. We ended up taking over a table with an event that had passed and had nothing left for the day we were there. These are all fixable but I had to vent about them none the less.
Rapa Nui
One of my other favorite areas of U-con is the free gaming area. Tom brings a stack of the latest and greatest games for all to try. I dragged my friends along and we started the day off with Rapa Nui. The interesting part of this card game is the four stacks of cards. Each turn you must remove a card from the piles but the revealed card underneath scores. For instance if a goods card is revealed then any player with the same good in front of them would gather the good. If it is a priest or a statue, the player is awarded points instead. The other optional task on your turn is to play a card from your hand. The card has costs to play but if you can play multiple copies it allows you to take more than one card for the turn. The game continues until the stack of cards is depleted.
It is a shame this game is only available in German because it would be a nice family game. I would also like to try it with two since it might become more strategic.
Play time with rules: 45 minutes
Final Scores: Chad-21,Gregg-28,Kearn-46,Christian-35
Seasons
Seasons has the feel of a collectible card game with drafting and could easily be my new addiction. I really enjoy the subtle nuances of the game. Players start with drafting cards by taking one and passing the hand to the player on the left. There is a preset hands recommend for new players but honestly anyone who played games like Seven Wonders or Magic the Gathering can pick this up easily. This draft probably is one of the longer moments of the game as players read the text and decide on which cards to keep. With repeated play, I can see this going faster.
Play time with rules: 60 minutes
Final Scores: Brian-85,Gregg-106,Kearn-159,Christian-165
Vinhos
At this point, I wanted to play a heavy game and Vinhos fit the bill. Vinhos at first glance is an overwhelming game and then a half hour of rules. Tom did a great job explaining everything but after some point I just want to play and figure things out. As you do play, you see the beauty in the layout of the board.
Play time with rules: 3 hours 20 minutes
Final Scores: Tom-70,Gregg-49,Kearn-55,Christian-76
Smash Up
My brain needed a cool off and I suggested my other new favorite, Smash Up. I enjoy how different this game plays every time just by having different combos each game. I drafted the tricksters and ninjas, Christian had pirates and zombies, Gregg went with wizards and dinosaurs and finally Tom had aliens and robots. My goal this game was to be annoying with the tricksters and sneak a few points from the ninjas.
Play time with rules: 35 minutes
Sort of Final Scores: Tom-9,Gregg-11,Kearn-12,Christian-14
Livingstone
At this point it was after midnight and the crowd started to thin out. My two friends called it a night but Dave (sans costume) was not about to let me go. He said we had to play a game together. Somehow we managed to get 5 people despite the Werewolf competition. Nikki suggested a game of Livingstone and gave us a quick overview. The game is just about having the majority of tents in a row to score endgame points. The other part of the game was digging for stones. The plastic pieces are nice a chunky with a good heft to them. Just avoid the white stone.
Play time with rules: 40 minutes
Final Scores: It was late and I forgot to write them down.
That concludes my day at U-Con and despite a few problems, it is a nice local convention. I doubt I would ever go more than one day but the day price is reasonable and you can play a variety of games. So if you ever find yourself in Michigan around late October, come and join us.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
The Plucky Plank: Limon vert dans les châteaux de Bourgogne (Thanks Google Translate) - 7/28/12
To quote Jimmy Hendricks 
This month at BLOB, I played a game I have been excited to try (The Castles of Burgandy), 2 games of slight interest to me (Ground Floor and Scripts & Scribes: the dice game) and 1 I knew nothing about (Inca Empire). I also try to start my blog with a witty scene but I am at a loss this month on what to write. So Mr. Hendricks quote sums it up for me.
Ground Floor
My Saturday started with a 6 player game of this recently funded Kickstarter game called Ground Floor. Tom backed it and put together a play test version of the game. So I will hold off on any comments of the components. After a lengthy overview of the game, we randomly received a play mat with a starting Technology upgrade. My upgrade was the Assembly tile which lets me make a supply cube for 2 times.
So before I go to deep into the game session report, I want to explain a few basics of the game. Basically you have a staff that is represented as time and you use the time to gather information, money, goods, and employees to expand your company. Information and money are the two main currencies of the game and you need plenty of both. You get both by selling goods on the market, forecasting the future market and through expansions of your business. The game ends after 9 rounds of when a player builds their 5th floor. This is an economic game at heart.
I managed to snag an empty floor and a free T.I. early in the game. I opted to go for building my 5 floors before anyone else. I got off to a nice start but I kept myself too money shy, which hurt me because I wasn’t able to get more workers. So I started selling goods and using the Consulting area to score cash and info. Then I started build more of my remodels to shave time off certain tasks and stretch my workers time out more. Finally, I got some more employees but missed out on a few expansion floors that I wanted.
Slowly we ended up grinding the game out to the ninth round. I managed to grab my 5th floor in desperation for more prestige points at the end. I misunderstood that you needed 3 information and 3 money to equal 1 pp. I would have scored more points by not getting my 5th floor. C’est la vie.
After one play, what do I think of the game Ground Floor? First, I don’t think this is a worker placement, I think it is more of a resource management game. Very rarely was I blocked from any location or felt I was taking the next best option for me. Secondly, I will never play a 6 player game of this again. The game lasted 4 hours and I was ready to be done after 2. I realize that 5 of us never played before but it just dragged at certain points. So to be fair to the game, I want to try it again but with fewer players. If it still drags, then I can’t see me playing this again.
Playtime with rule explanation = 41/2 hours
Chris-46,Mike-45,Joe-42,Rhonda-40,Kearn-39,Tom-32
Scripts and Scribes: the Dice Game
After the lengthy Ground Floor, a few of us wanted a game of lighter fare; Enter Scripts and Scribes. I have played Biblios many times and enjoy the game. So when I saw a dice version was due out, my interest was peaked. Would it be as fun as the card game?
So the goal is the same as the card game, collect resources and gold. The person who controls the majority of a resource, scores points and whoever has the most points in the end, wins. The auction is done differently and if you win it, you can get a good leg up on your competition. The game ends when one person’s marker is at the top of the Abbot track or if 3 player markers reach the top of 1 or more resources or if a player removes 4 of his markers from the board.
Rolling the dice and grabbing what is best for you out of the available dice is a basic turn. My goal was to be diverse and try to snag as many points from different resources. I succeeded as a fellow player realized from the last role I was going to win. He cussed and had a small tirade about his hatred of random dice rolls. I felt it was unnecessary, but some people just have to vent their frustration. Personally, I felt I played very well and made the best of my choices. I felt the game is a fun filler game just like the card version. I just don’t know if the differences justify owning the card and dice version of this game.
Playtime with rule explanation = 40 minutes
Chris-25,Mike-26 ,Kearn-41,Tom-15
Inca Empire
After the dice fest and a few slices of pizza, we were ready to tackle a new game. My options were Ninjato or Incan Empire. I own Ninjato and played it, I thought I would check out Incan Empire. I was told it is a route building game without trains. Ooooooo!. Tom wasn’t far off, since after the rule explanation roads were important to open up areas of the map. The card placement on the side board was also an interesting tactic. Some of the cards could really hamper your opponents.
The first question I had was could you block other players from accessing areas on the map. You could but the game had a card that let you build wild roads and get around being blocked. It still didn’t stop me as I constructed plenty of roads to the north. Your turn consists of building a road and then taking an action, which include build an extra road, build a garrison, city or tier. All of which get you victory points.
My strategy to close off the North was caught quickly and soon I was no longer alone. I quickly realized conquering areas was nice but I needed to build and connect to other buildings on the board. So I started heading south, connecting to garrisons and cities. Then things got nasty. My opponents played cards in my sector that only allowed me to build one road instead of two. Another nasty card made you spend two extra workers to build a city. Normally it takes 6, now with that card it was 8.
Revenge was mine because I returned the favor by destroying roads in disputed areas. Roads can be built in an area you control but can extend into areas you don’t control. So the card allowed me to wipe those roads out and destroy their connections to buildings. Muhahaha! I did notice that Tom, our teacher, was just killing us with connections. He sat back and built his roads as the rookies battled each other. By the time I noticed, there was no possible way to unseat him as number 1. The final round, we played with the variant with the hidden ship so we were not sure when the game would end. I just built roads trying desperately to score more VP.
My strategy paid off and I managed to barely grab second place by a point. For a game I knew nothing about and was not keen to play, I actually enjoyed the game. It had enough confrontation to be interesting but at the same time it wasn’t a huge brain burner. Incan Empire surprised me and I would enjoy playing it again.
Playtime with rule explanation = 2 ½ hours
Tom-147,Kearn-132,Mike-130,Jim-131
The Castles of Burgundy
My last game of the night was Castles of Burgundy, a game high on my play list. The goal of the game is to use your dice to build your kingdom and after 5 rounds the player with the most points wins. You claim different hex tiles from a community board and eventually place them on your own kingdom board. Since it was our first play, we played the beginners boards. I decided I wanted the silvering so I could purchase the black tiles in the center. So by turn three, I had claimed all of my mines and finished the section.
After that a few knowledge tiles came out that worked well with items I already had on my board. The one I choose gave me 3vp for each good I sold and by the end game; I ended up selling all 6. Then I managed to get the knowledge tile that gave me 1vp for each good sold. So I figured by the time the end game came around, I would be set with plenty of end game points. So the rest of the game, I continued to gather goods, sell goods and fill in more areas of my kingdom.
It was a race between Chris and I in the end to see who built the better kingdom and scored the most points. Chris was scoring a lot with animals and finishing sectors on his map. I was sure it was going to be close and it was as Chris just edged me out by 10 points. When it comes to games of the “Euro” type, I don’t get excited to play them. I just don’t get excited to play a game where I am a farmer or a landowner. The Castles of Burgundy was fun and engaging as each turn rolled by and I would have played another game immediately afterwards.
Playtime with rule explanation = 1 ½ hours
Chris-196,Kearn-186,Jim-144
The End
I enjoyed the variety and depth of games, even if I played fewer games this month. I was thrown by the cursing during a simple die filler game and added a new name to my list of players to avoid. Other games played were Innovation, Power Grid, Ninjato and Dominion. Thanks for reading my blog and remember they are only games so have fun.
“Even Castles made of sand, fall into the sea, eventually.”
This month at BLOB, I played a game I have been excited to try (The Castles of Burgandy), 2 games of slight interest to me (Ground Floor and Scripts & Scribes: the dice game) and 1 I knew nothing about (Inca Empire). I also try to start my blog with a witty scene but I am at a loss this month on what to write. So Mr. Hendricks quote sums it up for me.
Ground Floor
My Saturday started with a 6 player game of this recently funded Kickstarter game called Ground Floor. Tom backed it and put together a play test version of the game. So I will hold off on any comments of the components. After a lengthy overview of the game, we randomly received a play mat with a starting Technology upgrade. My upgrade was the Assembly tile which lets me make a supply cube for 2 times.
So before I go to deep into the game session report, I want to explain a few basics of the game. Basically you have a staff that is represented as time and you use the time to gather information, money, goods, and employees to expand your company. Information and money are the two main currencies of the game and you need plenty of both. You get both by selling goods on the market, forecasting the future market and through expansions of your business. The game ends after 9 rounds of when a player builds their 5th floor. This is an economic game at heart.
I managed to snag an empty floor and a free T.I. early in the game. I opted to go for building my 5 floors before anyone else. I got off to a nice start but I kept myself too money shy, which hurt me because I wasn’t able to get more workers. So I started selling goods and using the Consulting area to score cash and info. Then I started build more of my remodels to shave time off certain tasks and stretch my workers time out more. Finally, I got some more employees but missed out on a few expansion floors that I wanted.
Slowly we ended up grinding the game out to the ninth round. I managed to grab my 5th floor in desperation for more prestige points at the end. I misunderstood that you needed 3 information and 3 money to equal 1 pp. I would have scored more points by not getting my 5th floor. C’est la vie.
After one play, what do I think of the game Ground Floor? First, I don’t think this is a worker placement, I think it is more of a resource management game. Very rarely was I blocked from any location or felt I was taking the next best option for me. Secondly, I will never play a 6 player game of this again. The game lasted 4 hours and I was ready to be done after 2. I realize that 5 of us never played before but it just dragged at certain points. So to be fair to the game, I want to try it again but with fewer players. If it still drags, then I can’t see me playing this again.
Playtime with rule explanation = 41/2 hours
Chris-46,Mike-45,Joe-42,Rhonda-40,Kearn-39,Tom-32
Scripts and Scribes: the Dice Game
After the lengthy Ground Floor, a few of us wanted a game of lighter fare; Enter Scripts and Scribes. I have played Biblios many times and enjoy the game. So when I saw a dice version was due out, my interest was peaked. Would it be as fun as the card game?
So the goal is the same as the card game, collect resources and gold. The person who controls the majority of a resource, scores points and whoever has the most points in the end, wins. The auction is done differently and if you win it, you can get a good leg up on your competition. The game ends when one person’s marker is at the top of the Abbot track or if 3 player markers reach the top of 1 or more resources or if a player removes 4 of his markers from the board.
Rolling the dice and grabbing what is best for you out of the available dice is a basic turn. My goal was to be diverse and try to snag as many points from different resources. I succeeded as a fellow player realized from the last role I was going to win. He cussed and had a small tirade about his hatred of random dice rolls. I felt it was unnecessary, but some people just have to vent their frustration. Personally, I felt I played very well and made the best of my choices. I felt the game is a fun filler game just like the card version. I just don’t know if the differences justify owning the card and dice version of this game.
Playtime with rule explanation = 40 minutes
Chris-25,Mike-26 ,Kearn-41,Tom-15
Inca Empire
After the dice fest and a few slices of pizza, we were ready to tackle a new game. My options were Ninjato or Incan Empire. I own Ninjato and played it, I thought I would check out Incan Empire. I was told it is a route building game without trains. Ooooooo!
The first question I had was could you block other players from accessing areas on the map. You could but the game had a card that let you build wild roads and get around being blocked. It still didn’t stop me as I constructed plenty of roads to the north. Your turn consists of building a road and then taking an action, which include build an extra road, build a garrison, city or tier. All of which get you victory points.
My strategy to close off the North was caught quickly and soon I was no longer alone. I quickly realized conquering areas was nice but I needed to build and connect to other buildings on the board. So I started heading south, connecting to garrisons and cities. Then things got nasty. My opponents played cards in my sector that only allowed me to build one road instead of two. Another nasty card made you spend two extra workers to build a city. Normally it takes 6, now with that card it was 8.
Revenge was mine because I returned the favor by destroying roads in disputed areas. Roads can be built in an area you control but can extend into areas you don’t control. So the card allowed me to wipe those roads out and destroy their connections to buildings. Muhahaha! I did notice that Tom, our teacher, was just killing us with connections. He sat back and built his roads as the rookies battled each other. By the time I noticed, there was no possible way to unseat him as number 1. The final round, we played with the variant with the hidden ship so we were not sure when the game would end. I just built roads trying desperately to score more VP.
My strategy paid off and I managed to barely grab second place by a point. For a game I knew nothing about and was not keen to play, I actually enjoyed the game. It had enough confrontation to be interesting but at the same time it wasn’t a huge brain burner. Incan Empire surprised me and I would enjoy playing it again.
Playtime with rule explanation = 2 ½ hours
Tom-147,Kearn-132,Mike-130,Jim-131
The Castles of Burgundy
My last game of the night was Castles of Burgundy, a game high on my play list. The goal of the game is to use your dice to build your kingdom and after 5 rounds the player with the most points wins. You claim different hex tiles from a community board and eventually place them on your own kingdom board. Since it was our first play, we played the beginners boards. I decided I wanted the silvering so I could purchase the black tiles in the center. So by turn three, I had claimed all of my mines and finished the section.
After that a few knowledge tiles came out that worked well with items I already had on my board. The one I choose gave me 3vp for each good I sold and by the end game; I ended up selling all 6. Then I managed to get the knowledge tile that gave me 1vp for each good sold. So I figured by the time the end game came around, I would be set with plenty of end game points. So the rest of the game, I continued to gather goods, sell goods and fill in more areas of my kingdom.
It was a race between Chris and I in the end to see who built the better kingdom and scored the most points. Chris was scoring a lot with animals and finishing sectors on his map. I was sure it was going to be close and it was as Chris just edged me out by 10 points. When it comes to games of the “Euro” type, I don’t get excited to play them. I just don’t get excited to play a game where I am a farmer or a landowner. The Castles of Burgundy was fun and engaging as each turn rolled by and I would have played another game immediately afterwards.
Playtime with rule explanation = 1 ½ hours
Chris-196,Kearn-186,Jim-144
The End
I enjoyed the variety and depth of games, even if I played fewer games this month. I was thrown by the cursing during a simple die filler game and added a new name to my list of players to avoid. Other games played were Innovation, Power Grid, Ninjato and Dominion. Thanks for reading my blog and remember they are only games so have fun.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
The Plucky Plank: Bad Color! Bad, Bad Color! Green attracts Those We Do Not Speak Of. - 6/23/12
S:Mother, when is dad coming home?
M:I've been dreading this day. Your father isn't coming home.
S: Why mommy?
M: You remember when your brother entered the church to become a friar?
S: Yes.
M: Well, in exchange of your brothers admittance, we had to take a plague cube. Your father happened to be of the first generation and since time drifted past the bridge, he choose to sacrifice himself.
S:sobs
M: But don't feel to sad, he will always be remembered in the village chronicle.
S: So it's my brothers fault daddy's dead?
M: Ummmmmm.......
Pirate Fluxx
I got a bit forgetful this month and missed taking some pictures of a few games. Sorry.
While waiting for other to show up, Rhonda suggested killing time with Pirate Fluxx. I was surprised a few of the players had never played Fluxx. The rules are so simple that we started playing after a brief overview. At one point, we had to talk like pirates to draw extra cards and Rhonda got the Captain's Hat and we could only refer to her as Cap'ian. The game ended quickly as a forced goal play caused another player to win.
Fluxx will always be a humorous distraction to me and with all the various themes, there is surely a Fluxx for you.
Playtime with rule explanation = 15 minutes
Shawn-Won; Chris,Rhonda,Zach,Jerry and Kearn-Lost
Maharani
Maharani was taught to Chris and I by teacher extraordinaire, Tom. The game is just a simple tile laying game where you score points for your meeples and tiles. In the begining, the game was very close point wise as each of us looked for the optimal play with the available tiles. As you can see above in the picture, I (yellow) started off placing tiles in the area closest to me. I was so focused on majority in that area, I missed placing any tiles or workers in the quadrant directly above.
Once I figured out my folly, I tried to work my way into the other areas of the board. Unfortunately, I was too late and Chris ran away with the remainder of the game. I did manage a narrow finish in second but a whopping 20+ points behind first. So what did I think of my first play? I liked it. The whole time I was playing, I kept thinking my wife would really like it. There is tile placement and meeples which are similar to her favorite Carcassonne.
I really enjoyed the wheel which changed the orientation of the tiles. You had to decide to place the tile as is in the quadrant it was adjacent too or use one of your 4 coins to place it in a different quadrant or forgo a meeple and turn the tile in a different direction. Maharani is an enjoyable quick light game that looks spectacular when it is finished. I can see this being a good couples game and I will report how it plays with two in the future.
Playtime with rule explanation = 1 hour
Chris-98,Tom-69,Kearn-76
The Resistance
Zach talked all of us into trying a game of the Resistance. I had always been curious about the game and was eager to try it. The rules are simple but the the meta game, Whoa! The tension was almost instantaneous as every one eyed each other. The first mission went off without a hitch, the second had a fail. What!?! We had a spy. Now the fun revved up, new people were choosen and failed. Then another fail, the third try passed and the assembled team went on the mission. Another fail card!
I was the last to pick the team and I thought I had it all figured out. Wrong! I drafted the two spies and we lost. NOOOOOOOOO! The game was fun and strangely addicting. I enjoyed trying to deduct the spies by watching for tells.
Playtime with rule explanation = 30 minutes
Shawn and Rhonda-Won; Zach,Jerry,Chris and Kearn-Lost
Alien Frontiers
More people finally arrived and I joined Eric and his son Liam for a friendly game of Alien Frontiers. Pairs eluded me for several turns, so I started collecting ore and alien tech cards. A few nice dice manipulators and I was on my way to adding more dice. I have a particular pattern of colony spaces I prefer to grab. Liam preferred to pick on his father which I tried to take advantage of but Eric is just too crafty of a player.
I managed to take a lead in points and solidified my controlling interest in certain territories. I was about one turn away from winning when Liam played his last colony sooner than I thought he would and instead winning himself. Alien Frontiers is not for people who like little to no interaction. You will be constantly cursing your opponents names as they block out space stations you need. I personally love sweating out where to put my dice each turn.
Playtime with rule explanation = 60 minutes
Liam-10,Eric-9,Kearn-8
Defenders of the Realm
After last months play of Defenders, I wanted to try again now that I understood what we did wrong. The game started off slow with none of the generals moving and minor minion placement. We kept the minions in check and each of us kept going for rumors at the inns. Sapphire moved twice is a row and several minions tainted several locations. The easy manageable game became a nightmare. Eric and I fought Sapphire and defeated him but emptied our hands of our cards. Liam cleaned up a few minions that looked menacing and once again the board looked manageable.
Balazarg fell next and we were on our way to fighting Gorgutt after a recharge of cards at an inn. Then the bad luck sunk in. One location became overrun and a chain reaction of minions and tainted land ended our run for victory. The game was more challenging this time but I still think it is manageable with the right characters and of course good dice rolls. I am not burned out on co-ops yet and Defenders is a solid game with great retro art.
Playtime with rule explanation = 100 minutes
Eric,Liam and Kearn - Lost; The evil - Win
The Speicherstadt
I had become the odd man out and was waiting for two 5 player games to finish. Thankfully I was waiting long as 2 new people showed up and we decided to play a shorter game while waiting for the others to finish. The Speicherstadt fit the bill. Ken (owner of the game) taught us the rules and we started bidding. I had a simple strategy, I wanted to stay competitive with firemen and avoid the negative points when the fire cards showed up. My second goal was to make everyone else pay more if they really wanted the cards for auction.
For those of you unfamiliar with Speicherstadt, there are cards with show firemen, shipps with goods, contracts and buildings. You use your meeples to bid by placing the meeple above the card you want. When everyone is done, the auction begins. The price you pay is equal to the number of meeples on the location. You either pay the price or pass, once passed the next player gets to decide. This continues until all the cards are resolved and then a new set comes out. Watch out for the fire cards, too few firemen and you take negative points. Goods on ships are used to fulfill contracts which are worth victory points at the games end.
Back to our game, Ken and Bill always seemed to have more money than me, but a few key cards slipped into my hands at low prices. The auctions were tight and from my point of view, we all seemed evenly matched for endgame points. The game ends with the last fire card and Bill and I scored our points while Ken suffered the negative points. Points were added up and we ended in a tie. I had more money left over and won the tiebreaker. I played Speicherstadt before and enjoy its simple mechanisms. The real fun is in the placement of your meeples and driving the prices higher for your opponents.
Playtime with rule explanation = 35 minutes
Ken-31,Bill-25,Kearn-31
Village
Our final selection of the night was the Village. I have been curious about the game since I watched an Essen video about it. Tom taught us the rules and it seemed pretty straightforward. The game seemed to be like many other worker placement style games. The main difference would be the time element and the numbers on the meeples. I started off placing a worker at the wedding and adding more workers to the farm. It always seems to me, that more workers are a must. I am not 100% sure if they are as necessary in the Village.
The game moved right along with everyone gathering cubes and goods. I focused on the Church and marketplace storing up VP chits for the endgame. I also kept sacrificing my meeples at key moments to fill the book and hopefully score lots of points in the end. What I failed to do was use the Travel section of the board. A grave mistake since there are lots of points to be made up there. Tom and Ken seemed to be doing good most of the game while Bill and I seemed to be chasing them all game. It ended close with Tom scoring the most points.
Overall, the Village doesn't change to much from the typical worker placement model of games. The generational aspect of the game makes for some interesting choices of when to sacrifice or keep them for a life cycle longer. Also this has to be the first euro game with workers I have played where food is of little to no importance. Your choices are plenty which means multiple paths to victory and repeated plays.
Playtime with rule explanation = 95 minutes
Ken-53,Bill-29,Tom-54,Kearn-46
The End
We had competition this week from MichCon, but still managed to have a nice turnout. Other games played were Innovation, Core Worlds x2, Black Gold, Natulius and Pret-a-Port. Until next month, keep gaming and remember to have fun.
M:I've been dreading this day. Your father isn't coming home.
S: Why mommy?
M: You remember when your brother entered the church to become a friar?
S: Yes.
M: Well, in exchange of your brothers admittance, we had to take a plague cube. Your father happened to be of the first generation and since time drifted past the bridge, he choose to sacrifice himself.
S:sobs
M: But don't feel to sad, he will always be remembered in the village chronicle.
S: So
M: Ummmmmm.......
Pirate Fluxx
I got a bit forgetful this month and missed taking some pictures of a few games. Sorry.
While waiting for other to show up, Rhonda suggested killing time with Pirate Fluxx. I was surprised a few of the players had never played Fluxx. The rules are so simple that we started playing after a brief overview. At one point, we had to talk like pirates to draw extra cards and Rhonda got the Captain's Hat and we could only refer to her as Cap'ian. The game ended quickly as a forced goal play caused another player to win.
Fluxx will always be a humorous distraction to me and with all the various themes, there is surely a Fluxx for you.
Playtime with rule explanation = 15 minutes
Shawn-Won; Chris,Rhonda,Zach,Jerry and Kearn-Lost
Maharani
Maharani was taught to Chris and I by teacher extraordinaire, Tom. The game is just a simple tile laying game where you score points for your meeples and tiles. In the begining, the game was very close point wise as each of us looked for the optimal play with the available tiles. As you can see above in the picture, I (yellow) started off placing tiles in the area closest to me. I was so focused on majority in that area, I missed placing any tiles or workers in the quadrant directly above.
Once I figured out my folly, I tried to work my way into the other areas of the board. Unfortunately, I was too late and Chris ran away with the remainder of the game. I did manage a narrow finish in second but a whopping 20+ points behind first. So what did I think of my first play? I liked it. The whole time I was playing, I kept thinking my wife would really like it. There is tile placement and meeples which are similar to her favorite Carcassonne.
I really enjoyed the wheel which changed the orientation of the tiles. You had to decide to place the tile as is in the quadrant it was adjacent too or use one of your 4 coins to place it in a different quadrant or forgo a meeple and turn the tile in a different direction. Maharani is an enjoyable quick light game that looks spectacular when it is finished. I can see this being a good couples game and I will report how it plays with two in the future.
Playtime with rule explanation = 1 hour
Chris-98,Tom-69,Kearn-76
The Resistance
Zach talked all of us into trying a game of the Resistance. I had always been curious about the game and was eager to try it. The rules are simple but the the meta game, Whoa! The tension was almost instantaneous as every one eyed each other. The first mission went off without a hitch, the second had a fail. What!?! We had a spy. Now the fun revved up, new people were choosen and failed. Then another fail, the third try passed and the assembled team went on the mission. Another fail card!
I was the last to pick the team and I thought I had it all figured out. Wrong! I drafted the two spies and we lost. NOOOOOOOOO! The game was fun and strangely addicting. I enjoyed trying to deduct the spies by watching for tells.
Playtime with rule explanation = 30 minutes
Shawn and Rhonda-Won; Zach,Jerry,Chris and Kearn-Lost
Alien Frontiers
More people finally arrived and I joined Eric and his son Liam for a friendly game of Alien Frontiers. Pairs eluded me for several turns, so I started collecting ore and alien tech cards. A few nice dice manipulators and I was on my way to adding more dice. I have a particular pattern of colony spaces I prefer to grab. Liam preferred to pick on his father which I tried to take advantage of but Eric is just too crafty of a player.
I managed to take a lead in points and solidified my controlling interest in certain territories. I was about one turn away from winning when Liam played his last colony sooner than I thought he would and instead winning himself. Alien Frontiers is not for people who like little to no interaction. You will be constantly cursing your opponents names as they block out space stations you need. I personally love sweating out where to put my dice each turn.
Playtime with rule explanation = 60 minutes
Liam-10,Eric-9,Kearn-8
Defenders of the Realm
After last months play of Defenders, I wanted to try again now that I understood what we did wrong. The game started off slow with none of the generals moving and minor minion placement. We kept the minions in check and each of us kept going for rumors at the inns. Sapphire moved twice is a row and several minions tainted several locations. The easy manageable game became a nightmare. Eric and I fought Sapphire and defeated him but emptied our hands of our cards. Liam cleaned up a few minions that looked menacing and once again the board looked manageable.
Balazarg fell next and we were on our way to fighting Gorgutt after a recharge of cards at an inn. Then the bad luck sunk in. One location became overrun and a chain reaction of minions and tainted land ended our run for victory. The game was more challenging this time but I still think it is manageable with the right characters and of course good dice rolls. I am not burned out on co-ops yet and Defenders is a solid game with great retro art.
Playtime with rule explanation = 100 minutes
Eric,Liam and Kearn - Lost; The evil - Win
The Speicherstadt
I had become the odd man out and was waiting for two 5 player games to finish. Thankfully I was waiting long as 2 new people showed up and we decided to play a shorter game while waiting for the others to finish. The Speicherstadt fit the bill. Ken (owner of the game) taught us the rules and we started bidding. I had a simple strategy, I wanted to stay competitive with firemen and avoid the negative points when the fire cards showed up. My second goal was to make everyone else pay more if they really wanted the cards for auction.
For those of you unfamiliar with Speicherstadt, there are cards with show firemen, shipps with goods, contracts and buildings. You use your meeples to bid by placing the meeple above the card you want. When everyone is done, the auction begins. The price you pay is equal to the number of meeples on the location. You either pay the price or pass, once passed the next player gets to decide. This continues until all the cards are resolved and then a new set comes out. Watch out for the fire cards, too few firemen and you take negative points. Goods on ships are used to fulfill contracts which are worth victory points at the games end.
Back to our game, Ken and Bill always seemed to have more money than me, but a few key cards slipped into my hands at low prices. The auctions were tight and from my point of view, we all seemed evenly matched for endgame points. The game ends with the last fire card and Bill and I scored our points while Ken suffered the negative points. Points were added up and we ended in a tie. I had more money left over and won the tiebreaker. I played Speicherstadt before and enjoy its simple mechanisms. The real fun is in the placement of your meeples and driving the prices higher for your opponents.
Playtime with rule explanation = 35 minutes
Ken-31,Bill-25,Kearn-31
Village
Our final selection of the night was the Village. I have been curious about the game since I watched an Essen video about it. Tom taught us the rules and it seemed pretty straightforward. The game seemed to be like many other worker placement style games. The main difference would be the time element and the numbers on the meeples. I started off placing a worker at the wedding and adding more workers to the farm. It always seems to me, that more workers are a must. I am not 100% sure if they are as necessary in the Village.
The game moved right along with everyone gathering cubes and goods. I focused on the Church and marketplace storing up VP chits for the endgame. I also kept sacrificing my meeples at key moments to fill the book and hopefully score lots of points in the end. What I failed to do was use the Travel section of the board. A grave mistake since there are lots of points to be made up there. Tom and Ken seemed to be doing good most of the game while Bill and I seemed to be chasing them all game. It ended close with Tom scoring the most points.
Overall, the Village doesn't change to much from the typical worker placement model of games. The generational aspect of the game makes for some interesting choices of when to sacrifice or keep them for a life cycle longer. Also this has to be the first euro game with workers I have played where food is of little to no importance. Your choices are plenty which means multiple paths to victory and repeated plays.
Playtime with rule explanation = 95 minutes
Ken-53,Bill-29,Tom-54,Kearn-46
The End
We had competition this week from MichCon, but still managed to have a nice turnout. Other games played were Innovation, Core Worlds x2, Black Gold, Natulius and Pret-a-Port. Until next month, keep gaming and remember to have fun.
Friday, May 25, 2012
The Plucky Plank: Green Slime on the Runway - 5/19/12
The fog hisses from the machine as colored lights dance through the haze and the rhythmic electronic beats thump from speakers above. Fabrics in vibrant colors and phony smiles are worn by women as they flaunt the newest designs of the season. Sweat beads on the foreheads of the designers, as they try to gleam some sort of reaction from the crowd. Will they be a success?
This month, I played an interesting mix of themes and games from classic fantasy to the fashion industry. Before I get to that, I wanted to take a moment to thank Chris Norwood from Gamerchris.com. He helped me with some answers to blog writing and photos questions I had. Check out his blog, he has an artistic eye for game photography and I enjoy his game session reports.
Defenders of the Realm
I started the day teaching 3 new players Defenders of the Realm. They all had played Pandemic, so basic game play was quickly understood by all. At first, the bosses didn't move as we all traveled around the map finishing quests or gathering extra cards from the inns. After a few turns, our sorceress and cleric choose to attack the demon general. Bad dice rolls hurt them and they failed to kill the demon general. As they healed, our rogue went after the orc general with 11 dice and only hit him 3 times due to rolling to many 1's.
A few turns later, the Demon general and Orc General were one step away from Monarch City and the Undead general was two spaces away. All looked bleak. The wizard joined the cleric and finally succeeded in slaying a general, the Dragon. He had not moved at all but we were heavy with blue cards. What ended up working out for us was a few quests that halted generals moves and a few well timed All's quiet. Soon the rouge killed the Orc general and the cleric and wizard teamed up again to slay the Demon general. One full round later, the Undead general fell and the game was won.
Defenders of the Realm is a good game but I find it to easy. I never lose and I thought this game was going to be my first loss. Since I am always teaching the game, I only play the basic version. I hope to try Defenders at a higher difficulty and see if there is a challenge. If not, I can see my interest in playing this game waning.
Playtime with rule explanation = 3 hours
Group Win!
Bohnanza
5 of us started...... bean farming. ZZZZZZZZZ! Huh? What?!!? Theme aside, I like this game. It's a fun set collecting/negotiating card game. Only Rhonda was new to Bohnanza so after a short explaination of the rules, away we went. Trades and donations in the first few rounds were nice and generous. Once a few people had their third field, the trades became tighter or were renegotiated to benefit one player. You could tell it was going to be a close game as coin piles looked to be equal around the table. It wasn't long before the we were through the deck three times and points were tallied. Suzanne managed edge a win by 1 point. Shenanigans!
Playtime with rule explanation = 1 hour
Suzanne-13,Jim-12,Rhonda-10,Kearn-10,Meri-9
Prêt-à-Porter
Now to my game of the day (thus the intro and title this month). Shawn and I were new to the world of high fashion and after a short overview of the game, we started designing clothes. At it's core, Prêt-à-Porter is an economic game with a few familiar mechanisms such as worker placement and area control.
We began placing our 3 markers in turn around the board. I will admit, several aspects of this game went over my head in the beginning. I failed to recognize the importance of certain employees or buildings. I also was a bit lost on how the loans worked and avoided taking them. I decided to focus on capturing one of the four areas our clothes were critiqued on in the shows. I choose PR with some light influence towards quality and trendy. After that I just choose to focus on buildings and employees who could help me achieve those goals.
Now clearly Zack and Mark had played before as they both knew exactly which employee or contracts to snag. They also were showing upwards of 5 outfits in the fashion shows, while the best I achieved was 3. So grabbing fabrics and new outfit patterns, I struggled and scraped to finish third in the game. You add up all of your money and stars you win from the fashion shows and the highest points wins.
When all the fabric had settled, Zack ended up in a commanding lead. He managed to snag quite a few victories in quality and second in PR. Looking back at my play, I know more plays and familiarity of the cards will help in multiple plays. My goal was to just earn more each show and not go into debt. I feel I accomplished those goals and hope with further plays to improve more.
This is a complex game with multiple paths to victory and iconography that once learned is intuitive. Not since Power Grid has an economic game grabbed me. I was ready to play it again but that wasn't meant to be. The area control and worker placement are so minor in this game. Very rarely did I fell blocked out of a location or that the remaining choices were poor. Prêt-à-Porter you have captured me and I must play you again.
Playtime with rules explanation = 2.5 hours
Zack-263,Mark-219,Kearn-218,Shawn-150
Hamburgum
The night was winding down and the players count dwindled into the few die-hard. The next choices of game was Dominion and I bowed out immediately and so did Suzanne. Looking through the stacks for something to play, she suggested a game with beer, bells and churches. I was intrigued and we proceeded to set up Hamburgum. The rules were quite simple and we began to play.
I opted to collect goods and start earning money so I could start building churches and guilds. Suzanne was on the same path so I felt I was making the right choices. I soon was building churches and gaining victory chips which influenced my guild choices. The interesting thing is when you build these guilds, you lower the price you will get when you sell the goods but you are collecting more of the goods. I started falling behind Suzanne as she started collecting multiple victory points for all of her boats in the harbor.
A few finished churches and a few scored guild tiles and I was right back within a few points. I choose to stop her control of the harbor and built multiple ships and forced her out. Around and around the rondel we went until all guilds and churches were built. My takeover of the harbor and guild control of sugar and beer proved to work and I won the game. I enjoyed Hamburgum and felt it played well with two players. I imagine the game has a much different feel once more players are added. This was my first time playing a rondel and I would like to try a few of the other games that have that mechanism.
Playtime with rule explanation = 1.5 hours
Kearn-192,Suzanne-165
A few of the other games played were, Nuns on the Run, Coreworlds x2, Mil, Sid Meier's Civilization, Five Crowns, Fluxx Pirates, Lemonade Stand, 7 Wonders, Penny Arcade and Dominion. Any players who wish to comment on the other games please do. I was surprised at the good turn out since warm weather has finally hit Michigan. We will see as summer comes how we fare.
This month, I played an interesting mix of themes and games from classic fantasy to the fashion industry. Before I get to that, I wanted to take a moment to thank Chris Norwood from Gamerchris.com. He helped me with some answers to blog writing and photos questions I had. Check out his blog, he has an artistic eye for game photography and I enjoy his game session reports.
Defenders of the Realm
A few turns later, the Demon general and Orc General were one step away from Monarch City and the Undead general was two spaces away. All looked bleak. The wizard joined the cleric and finally succeeded in slaying a general, the Dragon. He had not moved at all but we were heavy with blue cards. What ended up working out for us was a few quests that halted generals moves and a few well timed All's quiet. Soon the rouge killed the Orc general and the cleric and wizard teamed up again to slay the Demon general. One full round later, the Undead general fell and the game was won.
Playtime with rule explanation = 3 hours
Group Win!
Bohnanza
Playtime with rule explanation = 1 hour
Suzanne-13,Jim-12,Rhonda-10,Kearn-10,Meri-9
Prêt-à-Porter
We began placing our 3 markers in turn around the board. I will admit, several aspects of this game went over my head in the beginning. I failed to recognize the importance of certain employees or buildings. I also was a bit lost on how the loans worked and avoided taking them. I decided to focus on capturing one of the four areas our clothes were critiqued on in the shows. I choose PR with some light influence towards quality and trendy. After that I just choose to focus on buildings and employees who could help me achieve those goals.
Now clearly Zack and Mark had played before as they both knew exactly which employee or contracts to snag. They also were showing upwards of 5 outfits in the fashion shows, while the best I achieved was 3. So grabbing fabrics and new outfit patterns, I struggled and scraped to finish third in the game. You add up all of your money and stars you win from the fashion shows and the highest points wins.
When all the fabric had settled, Zack ended up in a commanding lead. He managed to snag quite a few victories in quality and second in PR. Looking back at my play, I know more plays and familiarity of the cards will help in multiple plays. My goal was to just earn more each show and not go into debt. I feel I accomplished those goals and hope with further plays to improve more.
This is a complex game with multiple paths to victory and iconography that once learned is intuitive. Not since Power Grid has an economic game grabbed me. I was ready to play it again but that wasn't meant to be. The area control and worker placement are so minor in this game. Very rarely did I fell blocked out of a location or that the remaining choices were poor. Prêt-à-Porter you have captured me and I must play you again.
Playtime with rules explanation = 2.5 hours
Zack-263,Mark-219,Kearn-218,Shawn-150
Hamburgum
I opted to collect goods and start earning money so I could start building churches and guilds. Suzanne was on the same path so I felt I was making the right choices. I soon was building churches and gaining victory chips which influenced my guild choices. The interesting thing is when you build these guilds, you lower the price you will get when you sell the goods but you are collecting more of the goods. I started falling behind Suzanne as she started collecting multiple victory points for all of her boats in the harbor.
A few finished churches and a few scored guild tiles and I was right back within a few points. I choose to stop her control of the harbor and built multiple ships and forced her out. Around and around the rondel we went until all guilds and churches were built. My takeover of the harbor and guild control of sugar and beer proved to work and I won the game. I enjoyed Hamburgum and felt it played well with two players. I imagine the game has a much different feel once more players are added. This was my first time playing a rondel and I would like to try a few of the other games that have that mechanism.
Playtime with rule explanation = 1.5 hours
Kearn-192,Suzanne-165
A few of the other games played were, Nuns on the Run, Coreworlds x2, Mil, Sid Meier's Civilization, Five Crowns, Fluxx Pirates, Lemonade Stand, 7 Wonders, Penny Arcade and Dominion. Any players who wish to comment on the other games please do. I was surprised at the good turn out since warm weather has finally hit Michigan. We will see as summer comes how we fare.
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