I'm going through a bit of withdraw. I've missed a month of game days at the local meet up on Sundays. Basically this means I haven't played an 90min+ gamer's game in that long of time.
I'm thinking it's definitely time to rectify that this weekend. My first choice of game would be Endeavor. That's one I just haven't gotten to the table since GenCon. Bad me.
After that would be Imperial. I've only played that Gem once and have been dying for a chance to go at it again. And I still want to upgrade to Imperial 2030. My wife is going to give me so much crap about that one.
I also think I'm going to re-instate the family game day once a month at my house. It's true we end up playing mostly fluffy things, but some meaty things still pop up. Most of my wife's family are big Acquire heads from way back and are always up for a game of that. I also have some people that humor me with games of Ra.
But at the same time the family is always up for some Wits & Wagers or Say Anything!. (Which on an odd note. I went to a client's office building and saw workers walking around the hallways carrying a copy of Say Anything. I don't know if it was team building or lunch fun; but either way it was awesome!)
Anyway, hopefully by Monday I'll have some actual gaming to talk about :)
Friday, October 30, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Interruptions
Sweet. Just had a fire alarm in the office. Best part of it? The door at the bottom of the stair well was locked. That's right. We piled an office building into the stair well, went to the bottom, and couldn't get out. We had to go back up a floor, out to an ESCALATOR, and then go out the front door. Sweet job people. Sweet job. At least it appears it wasn't a real fire.
Anyway, Essen is over. All hail mary, Essen is over. Didn't really see too much come out that I just got to have. I did see a whole lot of solid reporting though. I'm always amazed at the number of people who take the time to write about all the games they tried. It's no small thing to do so I'm very thankful to them all. I know some people on BGG get tired of all the Essen geeklists. But c'mon, my use of BGG is pretty much:
1. Shoot the shit with friends
2. Find new cool games I want to try
And essen geeklists completely fill in #2.
I also spent some time last night mocking up a player mat for the chip version of dominion. Mainly just because I tend to lay my "hand" out on the table when playing with chips. And without defined play areas I tend to mix up the action cards I've played with the chips still in my hand. You can check out an ugly version of it HERE.
If I like playing with it after a few more tests then I'll probably add a little color and some logos to give it a little more polish.
Anyway, Essen is over. All hail mary, Essen is over. Didn't really see too much come out that I just got to have. I did see a whole lot of solid reporting though. I'm always amazed at the number of people who take the time to write about all the games they tried. It's no small thing to do so I'm very thankful to them all. I know some people on BGG get tired of all the Essen geeklists. But c'mon, my use of BGG is pretty much:
1. Shoot the shit with friends
2. Find new cool games I want to try
And essen geeklists completely fill in #2.
I also spent some time last night mocking up a player mat for the chip version of dominion. Mainly just because I tend to lay my "hand" out on the table when playing with chips. And without defined play areas I tend to mix up the action cards I've played with the chips still in my hand. You can check out an ugly version of it HERE.
If I like playing with it after a few more tests then I'll probably add a little color and some logos to give it a little more polish.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Dominion Seaside - I was wrong
I spent some time this weekend making a nice set of Chips for Dominion Seaside.
And then spent a couple games exploring just the Seaside action cards.
Okay, I was wrong. It's actually quite the interesting expansion. The duration cards add some flavor and uniqueness to the expansion.
The idea of a duration card is that it sticks around for one extra turn. Most of them are worded something like:
Now and Next Turn: +$2
So you get $2 and $2 next turn. Now, before someone goes, "that's better than a gold"! No, no it's not by a long shot. Why? Because you want to have critical turns in Dominion. You are unlikely to ever reach a point when you can draw $8 every turn. In fact, you'll probably never hit a point you draw $7 every turn (although this stuff is possible with a tiny chapel deck.)
What you'll probably do is end averaging $6 per turn. But $6 isn't enough to get a Province. But you're only getting an AVERAGE $6 per turn. In reality you're probably alternating having a $4 turn followed by a $8 turn. You want that streak-ness. And to get it, it's always better to have Gold. Why? Because that's going to clump $3 of buying power into a single turn.
So why all this rambling? Because I'm trying to point out the weakness of duration cards. Duration cards spread their power over a couple turns. They help you have a couple *slightly* above average turns instead of an explosive turn followed by a boring turn. Unfortunately that means you might be reaching $7 two turns in a row instead of $6 one turn and $8 the next.
Even so, the Duration cards are fairly priced. The Caravan is a Laboratory spread over two turns, and it costs $4 to the Laboratory's $5. The jump form $4 to $5 is quite large in cost (See the rational for the "Feast" card) so you can see that the Laboratory isn't nearly as powerful when it's spread over two turns. But then again, the Caravan doesn't cost as much.
And then the obvious glitch, that if you hit a reshuffle with the Caravan in play then it's going to sit out on one cycle of your deck.
Anyway, if you get a chance to try Seaside, I highly recommend it.
And then spent a couple games exploring just the Seaside action cards.
Okay, I was wrong. It's actually quite the interesting expansion. The duration cards add some flavor and uniqueness to the expansion.
The idea of a duration card is that it sticks around for one extra turn. Most of them are worded something like:
Now and Next Turn: +$2
So you get $2 and $2 next turn. Now, before someone goes, "that's better than a gold"! No, no it's not by a long shot. Why? Because you want to have critical turns in Dominion. You are unlikely to ever reach a point when you can draw $8 every turn. In fact, you'll probably never hit a point you draw $7 every turn (although this stuff is possible with a tiny chapel deck.)
What you'll probably do is end averaging $6 per turn. But $6 isn't enough to get a Province. But you're only getting an AVERAGE $6 per turn. In reality you're probably alternating having a $4 turn followed by a $8 turn. You want that streak-ness. And to get it, it's always better to have Gold. Why? Because that's going to clump $3 of buying power into a single turn.
So why all this rambling? Because I'm trying to point out the weakness of duration cards. Duration cards spread their power over a couple turns. They help you have a couple *slightly* above average turns instead of an explosive turn followed by a boring turn. Unfortunately that means you might be reaching $7 two turns in a row instead of $6 one turn and $8 the next.
Even so, the Duration cards are fairly priced. The Caravan is a Laboratory spread over two turns, and it costs $4 to the Laboratory's $5. The jump form $4 to $5 is quite large in cost (See the rational for the "Feast" card) so you can see that the Laboratory isn't nearly as powerful when it's spread over two turns. But then again, the Caravan doesn't cost as much.
And then the obvious glitch, that if you hit a reshuffle with the Caravan in play then it's going to sit out on one cycle of your deck.
Anyway, if you get a chance to try Seaside, I highly recommend it.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Essen 2009 Craze
Yea, it's smack in the middle of the Essen game fair. Lots of good reporting going on around the intertubes. Probably my favorite report each year goes on over at the G@mebox:
Kulkmann's G@mebox
So everyone is going to pound on the big releases. I thought I'd mention a couple without much fanfare:
Priests of Ra
Supposedly pretty much Ra with two sided tiles. When you draw them, you choose the side. Pretty cool really. I *think* it would add a little more room for strategy. More likely it would just add an extra decision every turn. Beyond "Auction or Draw". Still, I'm a sucker for Ra related.
Mow
I really wanted a copy when it was released last year. But the import premium was just too much. I still believe that if a game is good enough it will eventually get a domestic release. Well, it hasn't hit domestic YET, but it did get picked up by a big publisher and has really been making the rounds this time.
Fzzt!
This one has been available for a little while. You can order it on the cheap from the company's website. It's a definite "Deck Building" spinoff. It's auction driven, and some worry about a runaway leader. Meh. It does it Ra style where you keep going until everyone has run out of resources, so everyone will probably get something.
Anyway, busy day at work so back to the grindstone for me.
Kulkmann's G@mebox
So everyone is going to pound on the big releases. I thought I'd mention a couple without much fanfare:
Priests of Ra
Supposedly pretty much Ra with two sided tiles. When you draw them, you choose the side. Pretty cool really. I *think* it would add a little more room for strategy. More likely it would just add an extra decision every turn. Beyond "Auction or Draw". Still, I'm a sucker for Ra related.
Mow
I really wanted a copy when it was released last year. But the import premium was just too much. I still believe that if a game is good enough it will eventually get a domestic release. Well, it hasn't hit domestic YET, but it did get picked up by a big publisher and has really been making the rounds this time.
Fzzt!
This one has been available for a little while. You can order it on the cheap from the company's website. It's a definite "Deck Building" spinoff. It's auction driven, and some worry about a runaway leader. Meh. It does it Ra style where you keep going until everyone has run out of resources, so everyone will probably get something.
Anyway, busy day at work so back to the grindstone for me.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Lunch Gaming
So I've been playing cards at lunch for over 4 years now. I only started logging my plays this year. I felt bad about inflating them in the past, but then I decided that was silly.
We have a stockpile of just plain decks of playing cards. We go through them on a semi-regular basis since we play them right after eating on a sometimes grimy table.
So, what games are hits and misses for us?
Spades
This is the one we can most agree upon. It's not quite bridge, but it's still an advanced trick taking game. It requires accurate bidding and careful play. It can be hard for newbies to pick up because it is hard to differentiate when you should try to set the other team or when you should just dodge bags. It's that lovely grey area that makes it such a great game.
Tichu
This one has really only taken off this year. I introduced it a little after Christmas. I had to do it in bits since the whole rules are rather intimidating. We play without the special cards, but it doesn't lose much IMHO. It also works passably well as a three player game.
My fellow actuaries still have niggles with bomb priority. We've mostly switched to "bomb on your turn".
Sheepshead
Probably the best 5 player game we've come up with. I'm so-so about it. There is some strategy. The bluff on figuring out who the partner is makes up most of the game. The card play isn't *that* complicated. It is interesting that some hands you just are going to have high point value cards that can't take any tricks. For those hands the whole play for you is just figuring out who to give the points to.
Euchre
No. Not the 4-player version. That one's just too simple for our tastes. The double deck 6-player bidding monstrosity of Euchre. 3 Player teams and whole lots of bluff. You pretty much have to bid more than you can take and count on your partners for 1 (or 2 or 3). It's quite a bit of fun.
Oh Hell
Haven't played much of this one in awhile. Mainly because it's everyone for themselves. Much more fun to be on teams like all of the above games. (Even with shifting teams like sheepshead.) Still, it is a challenge and always fun when you play down to 1 card.
We've played a few more in our day. Such as Big Three, Cribbage etc. The only one we haven't tried that I'd like to give a go would be:
Casino
A game firmly in the "fishing" family of card games. But this one is tailored for a standard deck of playing cards. It also works well with partners. Hrm hrm hrm.
We have a stockpile of just plain decks of playing cards. We go through them on a semi-regular basis since we play them right after eating on a sometimes grimy table.
So, what games are hits and misses for us?
Spades
This is the one we can most agree upon. It's not quite bridge, but it's still an advanced trick taking game. It requires accurate bidding and careful play. It can be hard for newbies to pick up because it is hard to differentiate when you should try to set the other team or when you should just dodge bags. It's that lovely grey area that makes it such a great game.
Tichu
This one has really only taken off this year. I introduced it a little after Christmas. I had to do it in bits since the whole rules are rather intimidating. We play without the special cards, but it doesn't lose much IMHO. It also works passably well as a three player game.
My fellow actuaries still have niggles with bomb priority. We've mostly switched to "bomb on your turn".
Sheepshead
Probably the best 5 player game we've come up with. I'm so-so about it. There is some strategy. The bluff on figuring out who the partner is makes up most of the game. The card play isn't *that* complicated. It is interesting that some hands you just are going to have high point value cards that can't take any tricks. For those hands the whole play for you is just figuring out who to give the points to.
Euchre
No. Not the 4-player version. That one's just too simple for our tastes. The double deck 6-player bidding monstrosity of Euchre. 3 Player teams and whole lots of bluff. You pretty much have to bid more than you can take and count on your partners for 1 (or 2 or 3). It's quite a bit of fun.
Oh Hell
Haven't played much of this one in awhile. Mainly because it's everyone for themselves. Much more fun to be on teams like all of the above games. (Even with shifting teams like sheepshead.) Still, it is a challenge and always fun when you play down to 1 card.
We've played a few more in our day. Such as Big Three, Cribbage etc. The only one we haven't tried that I'd like to give a go would be:
Casino
A game firmly in the "fishing" family of card games. But this one is tailored for a standard deck of playing cards. It also works well with partners. Hrm hrm hrm.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Fins Circling Dominion
Well, they finally released the rules for Dominion Seaside. You can download them HERE.
So... what do I think? Meh. Pretty much Meh.
Biggest disappointment? Additional components. Each player now gets 3 player mats. Additionally, there are a bunch of cardboard "coins" and cardboard "embargo" tokens. This was a card game right? What happened to sticking with cards?
Other disappointment? Way too many cards that "+1 Action, +1 Card, Small Side Bonus". I just don't find these "cycling" cards all that interesting. All too often you would have just been better off buying a dang Silver instead of them. (What, you'd rather play the cycle card and draw another Copper... good for you.)
Duration is the new big card type. What does that mean? It's a PITA card the remains in play until your next turn. Kind of a "quasi-permanent". That just sucks the simplicity of "dump everything into your discard".
Also, how many questions some up about the dang Throne Room? Every new set has a mess of interactions that confuse even the seasoned gamer. Who let that dang card get into the base set?
So, what cards actually look like fun?
Ambassador -
"Reveal a card from your hand.
Return up to 2 copies of it from
yourhand to the Supply.
Then each other player
gains a copy of it."
I would buy the Ambassador just to clear out coppers and shove coppers into my opponents. That's just being very harsh on their efficiency.
Warehouse-
"+3Cards
+1Action
Discard 3 cards."
Very nice card. With 3 extra cards in hand, I know I'll have 3 I'd like to discard. Only costs 3 even. Sucks that it takes your hand size down to 4, but it does leave you an out for when you draw action cards with it.
Explorer-
"You may reveal a Province card
from your hand. If you do, gain a
Gold card, putting it into your
hand. Otherwise, gain a Silver
card, putting it into your hand."
Probably a win more card. But it does make sure that you keep your deck full of big money. The more I think on it though, it's definitely a "win more". (In that if you are fulfilling it's requirements, you're probably already winning, so you should have spent the resources on something that would get you into a winning positions.)
Anyway, I'll still probably mock up a few to put on my chip version.
I'm very sad there's only one more VP/Action card. Those were my favorite.
So... what do I think? Meh. Pretty much Meh.
Biggest disappointment? Additional components. Each player now gets 3 player mats. Additionally, there are a bunch of cardboard "coins" and cardboard "embargo" tokens. This was a card game right? What happened to sticking with cards?
Other disappointment? Way too many cards that "+1 Action, +1 Card, Small Side Bonus". I just don't find these "cycling" cards all that interesting. All too often you would have just been better off buying a dang Silver instead of them. (What, you'd rather play the cycle card and draw another Copper... good for you.)
Duration is the new big card type. What does that mean? It's a PITA card the remains in play until your next turn. Kind of a "quasi-permanent". That just sucks the simplicity of "dump everything into your discard".
Also, how many questions some up about the dang Throne Room? Every new set has a mess of interactions that confuse even the seasoned gamer. Who let that dang card get into the base set?
So, what cards actually look like fun?
Ambassador -
"Reveal a card from your hand.
Return up to 2 copies of it from
yourhand to the Supply.
Then each other player
gains a copy of it."
I would buy the Ambassador just to clear out coppers and shove coppers into my opponents. That's just being very harsh on their efficiency.
Warehouse-
"+3Cards
+1Action
Discard 3 cards."
Very nice card. With 3 extra cards in hand, I know I'll have 3 I'd like to discard. Only costs 3 even. Sucks that it takes your hand size down to 4, but it does leave you an out for when you draw action cards with it.
Explorer-
"You may reveal a Province card
from your hand. If you do, gain a
Gold card, putting it into your
hand. Otherwise, gain a Silver
card, putting it into your hand."
Probably a win more card. But it does make sure that you keep your deck full of big money. The more I think on it though, it's definitely a "win more". (In that if you are fulfilling it's requirements, you're probably already winning, so you should have spent the resources on something that would get you into a winning positions.)
Anyway, I'll still probably mock up a few to put on my chip version.
I'm very sad there's only one more VP/Action card. Those were my favorite.
Friday, October 16, 2009
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.
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.
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