by Steph
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!
Well it was last week. I hope and trust you all got to play lots of games during the holiday weekend- If you are into that kind of thing.
Monday night game group as usual.
We started off strong with a Japanese game I had heard good things about called
Jungle Rumble. I love these little Japanese games. Totally into them.
I am fortunate to have gaming friends who are too- that buy them for me to try! *Thanks guys!*
This was a really super cute game with all the kitties and they are awake to perform actions then they go to sleep! I am pretty sure I need a kitty!
So in our 4 player game we each choose one action to take. There are 5 available actions and they all may only be chosen 1 time in the round.
As the active player you can use the action as many time as you have awake kitties. Every other player may do the action only 1 time or wake a sleeping kitty up.
All kitties used for actions are immediately put to bed. You must pay 2 food per kitty at the end of your active turn. Each Farm you have connected to water produces 1 food generation.
As one of the actions you can recruit a new kitty to work or become a shopkeeper. If they are shopkeeper they can hold either food or shiny things. You can add 1 item per shopkeeper and it must be the same type as they are collecting already. They will score extra points at the end of the game.
I did really well in this game. I got ALL THE SHINY THINGS!! It was very fun and I will happily play that again anytime. I think it was a close race. I might have come in 2nd which is OK cause I still did awesome.
I think this would be a great game for really anyone also families!
:nostar::nostar::nostar:Sticking with more Japanese games we took out
The Edict of King Budeaunia. I Hadn't seen that one yet.
In the game you are digging for treasures in hopes of pleasing the king. There are 3 layers of rocks to dig through. There might be monsters to fight or $$ to find.
Further you dig down the better the rewards. You can also Higher helpers that perform actions better or a guard that help fights a monster. You can investigate a stack 3 layers and nothing will happen but you can plan for the future. Since there are 6 stacks to start you have to try and remember everything you learned and see peoples reaction to their findings.
It is a bluffing game with some push your luck. There are 2 10vp tiles once they are gone the game is over. Fortunately for me I dug in the same spot twice and found both of the 10 vp tiles in a row... I was the best!
I have to say I was glad. I am terrible at bluffing games and I don't think I have to play that one again. No one did any fighting though. Not sure what that part of the game was all about. perhaps our game just ended too quickly. I duno!
:nostar::nostar::nostar:Since we enjoy it a few weeks ago we pulled out
Rolling Japan. This game is so hard! I think it replaces Qwixx for me. Qwixx has gotten old to me maybe I have over played it too much.
This is a refreshing new dice game. It proves to be very challenging. We also played again with the Rolling Tokyo map. It is a shorter game but it is just has hard if not more so. Crazy!
Totally recommended! I lost both games this time. I should have just stayed the winner from the last game. Hahah no I will still like to play it more.
:nostar::nostar::nostar:Bill wanted to try
Take it Higher!- I hadn't ever played
Take it Easy! so we opted to play that one first.
It is an abstract trying to get all the lines to match up.
SO MUCH MATH. Ugh I am terrible at that part. On the Plus side... I kicked butt! I am amazing at that game!
It was very fun! I think we played 2 times... Dan? I am pretty sure we played 2 games of this. It is fast. I enjoyed it a bunch!
:nostar::nostar::nostar:So we gave
Take it Higher! a shot after that. These had more sides to get the points with and you had to try and launch the rockets... So if you complete a color row you can send a rocket flying in that color- provided you don't have any other rockets in that row already.
It was quite a challenge to make it all work. It was great fun!
I enjoy these Take it games.
If you like that kind of abstract you will like it! Again it also helps when you destroy everyone at it. I got like 380 vps I think.
:nostar::nostar::nostar:Last game of the night for us was
Colors of Kasane.
This is a game I really enjoy. I would really like to own this I think it is so interesting how the cards get played.
What you think the other players are going to do.
It is definitely a top filler game for me. It only takes 1 minutes to play and it is so much fun. Do you push you luck for possible big melds next round or do you play what you got now?
I love that!
really fun!
I love those buttons!
[ImageID=2319628 medim]
Finished TIED at 20 points. I think I won cause I always win!
My melded cards Played all 12 gets you bonus 2 points
:nostar::nostar::nostar:Sadly, On Tuesday we only played some games online including Star realms and Deus. We do that a lot!
Wednesday we ended up losing power at about 9pm so we didn't get much gaming in that night. We lost power for 22 hours! It sucked! I don't recommend that.
:nostar::nostar::nostar:Thursday! Thanksgiving!I went up to Maine to visit my parents and grandparents for some turkey. Ron was going to his families T-giving.
We still had no power so I left super early int he AM to get up to Maine- We had gotten about 6 inches of snow that night I think? maybe a few more. Stupid snow storm.
After all the glorious food to eat I ended up teaching grandpa, Nick (my brother) and my dad
Riff Raff. As I expected they had a great time with the game. My grandpa is so funny! I wish he lived closer!
We played the game 2 times and I am pretty sure I killed it in both. haha That game is so much fun.
:nostar::nostar::nostar:After my grandparents left I taught Nick
Star Realms. We played 3 games of this before Nick was like- No more!
I kicked his ass too hard it seems. I am really really good at live gaming of this game. The Ipad though- is a different story.
:nostar::nostar::nostar:Before Nick took off I taught him and my parents
Coloretto. My dad caught on right away and swept us clean in the first game. He only collected 3 colors and creamed us all.
He wasn't so fortunate in the second game. He got one of every color at least and combined scores were very close. I think my mom did very well destroying us in the second game with colors she wasn't so proud to have collected.
I love this little game.
:nostar::nostar::nostar:The last game played of the day with just my parents was
Doodle Quest.
My mom works with kids daily and she killed it in the first game. She loved it! She wants to get it for the before school program that she handles.
the second game I got my stride back and won by a few points. Dad was just terrible at this game. We said no scribbling but he wouldn't listen.
:nostar::nostar::nostar:Friday was a game day. We arrived as the guys were mid game. Ron and I played a 2 player game of
Nations: The Dice Game.
I liked it a bit more as a 2 player game. It still doesn't shine for me as a game. It is not terrible. It still just might be best with 3 players- a player count I have not played with.
I like that it plays so quick. Some interesting choices. Nothing groundbreaking.
Verdict I still love Nations and would rather just play Nations.
Ron beat me by 1 point. grrrrrGRRR
:nostar::nostar::nostar:Once they finished the game upstairs we split into 3/3. I followed the
The Staufer Dynasty game downstairs for that game of 3 players. I had only played it 5 players at that point and I wasn't sure 3 players would be any good. I love the game with 5 players so I was so happy to find that 3 players was just as awesome and still very enjoyable. The more I play this game the more I love it.
I can't wait to get my own copy- all in good time...
There is so much replay value in this game because the boards change the bonus card change- EVERYTHING changes!
I can't say enough good things about this game. I love it!
:nostar::nostar::nostar:The game upstairs was mid game and other gamers showed up.
We settled on 5 player game of
Keyflower. I should have just said no. 5 players is way too many. 3 is probably the best # to play with.
After that tedious game- it was the worst game of Keyflower I have ever played. I had such a terrible time I would be OK if I never played that game again.
It is a shame since I like the game well enough. The game we played was just so long and no one was paying attention and turns lasted forever. Just freaking play- people!
Ugh I never want to play Keyflower again- after that. Maybe 3 players one day- Maybe.
Not for a very long time, needless to say.
:nostar::nostar::nostar:I needed to play a different game with different players ASAP. So I played
Deus.
So this was a strange game of Deus. We taught Evan the game and the 3 of us already knew how to play. In any case we let Evan turn out a million points a turn. The game went on as long as the game could do. All cards were given to players and played down. I had 3 complete rows of colors and 3 temples by the end. I was a close second place to Evan.
I think the scores were like 77 to 73 to 60 to 45- Something like that. We were all trying to keep the game alive and get points in game rather than end it. Scott should have ended it sooner. He had a strong lead and had he sucked up the -3 to end it many turns sooner it would have been a different story.
This game is so amazing I love it! I need this game NOWWWWWWWWW it is such a good 2 player game too.
Ron and I have been playing online nightly a game a night of Deus. We are about evenly matched at this game. I might have a slight advantage since I play it more than him.
:nostar::nostar::nostar:After that game I wasn't really feeling it. That Keyflower game ruined me. I was also very tired from T-giving and that stuff so we headed out to try and catch a movie. All the movies were sold out so that was lame. We gave up and just went home. It was OK since we had all day gaming Saturday to look forward to!
:nostar::nostar::nostar:Saturday! All day gaming!
We started the morning off by teaching Michelle/Justin and Craig
Castles of Mad King Ludwig. This was a game I told Michelle she would like and she went and bought it without question.
She trusts me!
I was right she loved it! Justin loved it more! I am happy I made a good suggestion. Craig really liked it and the math and the strategy on how to price rooms and how they all fit together.
It was a hit with the gamers!
I can't wait to get my copy.
Craig won because I was helping him too much.
This was my castle- fully equipped with The Bottomless Pit and The Hole!
:nostar::nostar::nostar:Michelle was so excited to play
The Palaces of Carrara last week she waned Justin to learn. So we took that out next and I taught Justin and Craig how to play. I went first cause it is the tough spot to be.
We all played and as normal there was a very slow beginning and very fast ending. They were like WAHT! haha it is always surprising.
I actually ended it this time and won by a mere 2 points to Justin. It was a close race. I think we got around 70 and michelle was 50 and poor craig was last... so sad! not! (Craig wins all the games all the time so I was happy to not have that happen this time! Cause I am mean!)
First player again.
:nostar::nostar::nostar:We played 2 fast rounds of
Red7 after that with the no draw pile rules. Red7 still the most powerful card in the game I won the first game with that. I did not, however, win the second one with that. Yes, I got it 2 times in a row. I swear I didn't deal it!
:nostar::nostar::nostar:I wanted to learn a new game so I jumped into a 5 player game of
Sheriff of Nottingham. It has been getting a lot of hype around here and I knew I at least wanted to try it. You definitely need the right group of players which we had. I am a terrible liar.
In the game you get to be a sheriff for a couple rounds each player. When you are the sheriff everyone will be putting cards into a little pouch and declaring what they put in there. They have to all be declared as the same type i.e. 4 chickens in the bag or 3 breads. The Sheriff can take bribes to open other peoples pouches or bribes to not open theirs. You could be honest and put all the same type in the pouch. There are also contraband items that are far more valuable if they make it through the Sheriffs hands and back into yours.
There is a cost of course. If you get caught with not the same type of goods and or contraband then you must pay the sheriff the value at the bottom of the card. If you were Honest but the Sheriff didn't believe you to be then he must pay you what the cards read at the bottom.
Definitely a cute clever game of who you think you know etc.
More of a party type game. I didn't really come away from that game with much. I don't think I have to play it again. I can see why it is popular and I was happy to have played it once. It is not a game for everyone.
There was a tied with me and Joe C for the win at 162 points. Since Joe didn't lie once... He was the winner with less contraband than me. I think he also may have cheated a few times... That is debatable since Pete didn't read the rules well enough. ;)
Michelle was a close 3rd with 161 points and the other 2 players were still close with 155 and 157.
Really tight game. That's really good makes it more intense at the end. :D
:nostar::nostar::nostar:Immidately after that new game we jumped into a 4 player game of
Historia. Joe C had read the rules and was confident he could do a decent job explaining. Michelle, Pat and I were ready to go. We knew it would be a long endeavor but we agreed. I think rules took about 40 minutes to mingle through- With various questions and clarifications.
We actually timed game play. We were averaging 45 mintues per age (3 ages) but the last age went a bit longer. I think it was more like an hour+. I think gameplay was 2.5 hours min with us all learning and figuring things out. Not too bad. I was expecting that.
This was a recently delivered KS game that Joe C had backed. We didn't realize that each color had different abilities until age 3 where we started comparing leaders we used and it didn't make sense. So, That would have been good to know. I will always pick red anyways cause red is the best.
Anyways- the game has a lot of cool ideas going on. There are 4 rounds in an age and 3 ages. We have a hand of cards that perform actions/ Improved actions when the technology is learned. The board is sweet with come cool colors and huge chart of technology and military. There is also a mini map of the world to conquer as you see fit.
partial board pic
As you gain more military knowledge you move up in the chart. When you boost your tech knowledge you move right on the chart. So quickly you will see the tech advances is so powerful because you can use the better abilities on the cards the farther you go. But, a higher military is good too if you have a leader card that give you great bonus vps for it and you can easily overtake on the mini map. (unless you are Joe C all alone in USA land and can't fight anyone until he uncovers navigation.)
At the beginning everyone gets 1 card to play and perform an action (until you uncover 2 action cards per turn in the tech tree).
Everyone picks face down and in player order the actions take place. Player order is determined by highest vps goes last and so on. Once the card is played down it stays down, much like Concordia. There is a card to pull back
some cards (not all) which also triggers round ending. This card can only be played once you have played AT LEAST 3 other cards down.
Rounds can be as short as 1 turn each because not everyone will pull back cards at the same time and some rounds might go on a while because someone declares round end. It really varies on what people are trying to do.
Once the round end is triggered and everyone plays their turn then the upkeep of the round happens. get back some cards/ score vps based on where you are on the tech track/ etc. 2/4 rounds are small scoring and 2/4 have a lot more scoring and cube generation to take care of before the next round.
You really have to watch what cards you are playing because you might not get them back for a while. There are temple cards which I disliked totally. I would be okay if they were removed from the game. It seemed way too fiddly with them and I just didn't get it.
I was going for area control in the mini map and this hurt me so bad because I was in the lead the entire game and going last. I stuck with it since I had already started it- but it was in general a bad idea. Going last was a terrible idea. Many rounds even if I wanted a temple I didn't get one due to 3 other players all buying them up. :shake:
Of course in the last 2 rounds I was losing so I was going first for them- when those are the rounds you want to GO LAST! To get last say. Oh man it was just a mess for me towards the end. I came in last maybe 20 points below everyone else. It was a bit of a wreck. Whatever area I had control over a few rounds back were taken away and there was nothing I could do- having gone first. A bit unbalanced there I think. Joe C had like 50 thousand temples to activate on his turns and I had 2, maybe.
The final age turns were taking a lot longer or so it seemed. And I was liking the game less and less.
I don't hate the game. I would really like to play it again with Joe and give it another chance now I know what a bit of everything does. I won't press so hard for the territories and hopefully not go last every damn turn. I want to look at all the different variable leader abilities and see what other strategies I can come up with.
The board is awesome and the card mechanism is pretty fun. It has a lot going for it and I an rooting for it! It just has some problems with the mini map and turn order. So we will see if I can get in another play this week or next to see how I feel after a second play.
I liked it.
:nostar::nostar::nostar:After that I wanted some easy games and Ron taught them all Imperial Settles. I was happy to play 4 rounds of
Abluxxen. I enjoy this game- I have to get it soon! it was good to play more than 1 round and be done. I feel like this game needs at least a few rounds to get into it. We played 4 rounds and best combined score won. ME! I never win that game! I am usually in the negatives. That was a good surprise. I might be catching on to how to play better.
Neat little card game.
:nostar::nostar::nostar:I wanted something else short-ish while they finished the IS game. So we played a 3 player game of
My Happy Farm. I was happy to learn a new game. Sad to learn this one. This was just a terrible game. Even if it is meant for kids- Hey I like a lot of kids games! This one you start with unhappy animals in your farm. You make them happy by feeding them. You need to grow the seeds to make the food in order to feed the animals and get more points and grow them bigger.
Maybe if the game was 20 minute shorter... I think our game lasted like 40 minutes or something insane. Wow- bad. Will not be playing that again. haha
I lost.
:nostar::nostar::nostar:Sunday Ron and I got in a few games before the Football happened. (football ruins fun gaming time :p)
I wanted a hefty game so I requested
Le Havre.
I actually got some grain and got the Church building and used it to the max. I think 5 times!
I haven't ever played this game so well before! I got an awesome special card that allowed me to use grain as 2 energy when shipping goods. I had 4 boats and I think I shipped like 4 or 5 times in the game. I was doing awesome! Ron, as he always does got all the buildings. I had the wharf and shipping line (which is what really matters to me).
In the end we counted up and I got 221!! My best game to date! Ron got 173 I was thrilled to have creamed him so hard!! YAYY!! It was my day! I owned him!
Vote if you like the image!:nostar::nostar::nostar:We had some time before the game started so we played a fast game of
Star Realms LIVE. Man I am so good at that game LIVE I seem to always win! Crushed him down. I still have 30+ life left. Sorry bout your luck! :D
As always I am still addicted to the app so you should invite me to a game if you want a challenge! UN: punkin
:nostar::nostar::nostar:After the football I was still feeling the WINNER in me so I suggested we play a game of
Five Tribes a game I have never won in 2 player version. I am actually not sure I have won at all... It is so hard!
This time I went for the merchant cards. I collected (by the end) a set of 8 and a set of 6 we never saw the gold come out. I had 5 slave cards and used them to boost my blue score at one point to get 40 vps then and there. It was amazing. Ron collected all the palaces with help of the Djinns but it was no match for me!
I might be figuring this game out finally!
Final scores were 235 to 178. Owned him! Best game yet for me! amazing I haven't ever gotten close to a 200 score before. It felt so good! Yesterday was my day for games!
We even ended the night with an online game of Deus. I creamed him in that too! LOVE IT! Tonight is my night to lose- I can feel it. haha
:nostar::nostar::nostar:My Secret Santa showed up this morning! He was amazing to me. I must have been very good indeed! All games on the wishlist and I am so excited! Amazing! I hope to get them all played this week!
I was generously given
Legacy: Gears of TimePagodaSultaniyaCity of Iron: Experts and EnginesI can't tell you how excited and thankful I am to BGG community! It has been an amazing year!
Thanks for reading!
Until next week!!
