Secret Santa 2009

It's that time of year for board gamers:

  BGG Secret Santa 2009


And yes, I'm already signed up.  I suppose more than a few people might pass this year with a tough economy, but I've always found that BGG-SS has saved me money.  From the moment I sign up I try very hard not to purchase any games.  That means almost 3 months of not spending any dough on games except the one I purchase my target.  I think that's a fair deal.

I did concede to shipping to the USA only this year.  I've done a couple overseas ships in the last couple years.  It's really not too bad, usually I just buy from an internet store over there.  The money conversion rate and the VAT when shipping over boarders is a little rough.


Anyway, one of the fun sides is setting up your own wish list so people can get you something.  I can't really highlight Essen releases since they won't be available over here.  Instead, you get to go through what's available and pick from that.  Also, your selections should be "Ticket to Ride"ish in value.  So here's what I've got listed:


Fairy Tale

I love this game.  I just included it in a trade as filler, so I need another copy back now :)


Steam Barons

I haven't gotten to play much Steam.  But this has a really cool USA map and sweet train meeples.  Yea, it also has the whole 18xx style investment rules, but I really don't think I'm going to go there.  I just want to see Indianapolis back on the map :)


Zombiegeddon

I got to try this game out at GenCon.  The actual game play is pretty darn sweet.  The components are complete crap.  Still, it's not too expensive.  If I did get it, I can see myself making a hobby out of generating a replacement set of bits.  It wouldn't be too hard :)


Burger Joint

It doesn't look quite as deep as I was hoping, but there are still a couple different strategies to try.  And it is a focused two player economic game.  So... yea, I'll give it a nod.  Besides, Joe Huber is a nice guy.


Villa Paletti

I realize it's only a little above Jenga, but dang it, it does still sound fun.  It's one I could get the family to play. Although really I just want to spend the dough and snag the full sized PitchCar.


I'm not actually going to put Dominion Seaside on the list.  I like my chip version of the base two sets, and frankly the preview cards have sucked a lot of ass.  It seems like most RioGrande games are jumping the shark after a single expansion these days.




Side blurb on Equilibrium

So I did get a set of public score cards made up and printed last night.  I went with "9 VP for 8+ Red" style.  So really, in 2-player, it becomes "9VP if you have 8+ and your opponent doesn't" which still seems reasonable to me.

If it works out, I'll have to rebalance the different strategies again.  In particular I'll probably have to make the bonus for 5+ of 3 colors much larger.

I also tried just adding the new cards instead of replacing something, bringing the deck size up to 60 cards.  I'm hoping the extra cards will squeeze out a couple more turns in each game.