by Steph
Hi ALL!This has been one of the best weeks I have had for a while - well since Essen... :D
I got to game ALL WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday morning I woke up bright @ The Gathering and early to work on the blog last week. It took a good long while but I got it done. :D As soon as I was able I headed downstairs to play ALL THE GAMES. I only managed to get in 9 games since a few last a bit on the longer side than I might have liked but I still had a greatttt time playing anyway!
First on the table was Coal Baron the Card Game called Glück Auf: Das grosse Kartenspiel. New to me!
I was excited to play this- since I was able to take pictures even though it is in prototype form (please keep that in mind) and I could write about it!
This simulates the board game very well. It plays in just about the same amount of time- They both play great. I could see requesting either game. I guess it is not getting as well received here but I very much enjoyed it over many of the other prototypes I played.
This is a worker placement game that allows you to buy cards that are coal, coal cars, locomotives, contracts, and a whole lot of bonus cards for end game scoring. Every player has a hand of workers. If you have a worker card with "5' workers you can not play it on a stack of cards the doesn't have a 4 already there. So each stack starts at 1 and then next player can play 2 workers there to utilize the space etc. It is very much like the board game in that regard.
If you pick up coal you add it to your coal line- first in first out. You can take the action to transfer your loads to the coal cars but you must match the symbols printed on both the coal and cars. So, you have to plan for these. If you collect all the same color locomotive that is better so when you ship you can ship all of one type of locomotive.
In order to ship you must be able to fulfill a contract per train you are sending. There is a whole bunch of other scoring you can work towards that I won't get into but after 5 rounds(in a 4p game) I was left very satisfied. I utilize all my workers best I could to complete my mini goals I was working towards.
So we played 4p and I was doing a slow start. I picked up a few contracts that required 4+ loads in order to complete. So I didn't actually ship anything until round 3 and 4. I managed to get out 4 trains by the end of the game and completed a bunch of missions I was aiming to complete.
The other guys were working on other paths and shipping smaller loads for fewer points but collecting a bunch of points from the end game bonus cards- more so than I was.
In the final round I ended up spending the majority of my workers on collecting end game cards since I was left with no other options. I had no coal, coal cars or locomotives or contracts to work on. Seemed silly to try and do it all in one turn. No tot mention shipping it. I did a very nice game and I actually won with 66 points. Everyone was right on my train lower to mid 60s. So it was a very close game!! I was so excited I won!
While the game is very different from Coal Baron, I felt they did a great job with the style and mechanics. There is one thing I would change to make it even more-so like the board game. That is I would have stacks of cards with only one revealed. There is an action space that allows you to look at the top 4 cards of any stack and take one. But, in this game you MUST put the cards to the bottom of the stack. In Coal Baron you can choose to add them to the top or bottom. I think that would be a nice parallel to the board game. It would be super easy to do! I would and will at least try it when I buy this game.
Very enjoyable!
Next on the table was a game we picked up for Dan at BGB called Mops Royal. New to me!
This is a simple simultaneous tile placement game. (My fav!!) It is colorful and cute as heck. The differences between the boards lie with the starting tile. Each player gets a different starting tie randomly selected from their own stack. Then going forward one person draws a tile and everyone follows suit by finding that exact tile and placing it on their board. At the end each player will have a 5x5 board and hopefully a lot of points to win the game.
Each turn the tile is drawn and you must place it. You can then CHOOSE to score a configuration or not. In order to score you have to have the configuration all in the same color or type. Each color has each type so there are 6 colors and symbols.
The patterns are on the score board and the larger the configuration you complete the more points you get. When you score the catch is you have to flip over a tile so it like ruins your whole board. It is usually the dead middle tile and most obtrusive. You have to plan wisely.
I played very poorly it seemed that game. I did end up losing but we were all within like 3 points Ron first to last so I didn't lose THAT badly. It is adorable game and I don't know where Dan find these things but he does- somehow. I will be happy to play it again. Very cute and it has my most favorite mechanic! :D
Next up to the table was 3 p game of Quadropolis. We were teaching Ron. We went for the expert side since that is how Dan learned and he's Dan. I think Ron was board since he made a huge meeple pyramid :P He was very cool nonetheless.
The expert side offers more tiles to play with and a whole other scoring possibility. It also improves the factory scoring.
This game I went for the full on city buildings. I went for the new building the skyscraper. It offers nothing but points for the most you can get and the tallest. You can get 30 points if you have a level 5 high (5 rounds) skyscraper and it is in a patch with 6 other skyscrapers. I did this and my other sky scrapers were level 1's but I manged to get a TON of points from that! It was about all I was doing but it worked well! I was highly disappoints since I wanted to build them all around the factory to score max points but in the final round it didn't come out where I could fill the space next to the factory I had saved for it so I didn't get the max points I wanted to get.
Ron went full on wharves and got about a billion of them. Scored a ton of points for them. We actually ended up tied. CURSE RON! He won since he had the most meeples on the board afterwards. So, I guess you have to try and aim for meeples if you think you will end up in a tiebreaker. :( Of course he ties with me- That is so unfair.
It is a great game. I can say I like both the classic and the expert version. I think they are both challenging in their own way. I liked the classic just as much as the expert. There is more wiggle room with the experts than classic. I actually had a much harder time with the classic since your area is smaller and you have to plan much better. In the classic mode there are A LOT more opportunities to screw and mess with your neighbors and it is very tight. Definitely more my speed than the advanced. In the advanced version it is easy peasy to place your tiles and correct or change your focus. The classic mode is much more unforgiving- even with the action markers. I have to play them both again.
Great game!! I need it!
Next up I had scheduled to meet up and play Mombasa with new friend Bruce. I dragged Scott and Ron along for the ride for a 4p game. I am pretty sure this was the biggest hit of the con. I had seen it everywhere all of the time. Very very popular.
I taught the game- and I am actually quite good at teaching this game. I wasn't surprised since I have been teaching this one a lot recently. Bruce said I did a very nice job teaching. :)
It was a slow start since there is a lot to process in the initial game. Through the game Bruce was focused on the cape town track. he pushed hard for it and worked on getting the company boosted on the map. He choose not to partake in the diamond and book industry. I was focused more on pushing Mombasa track this game. I did what I could with the cards I had. It is so important to get the cards with the shares I can't even tell you! It could make or break your game.
Ron was working on a bit of everything. He was a mesh of ideas. No real focus but points here and there.
Scott did a good job with his books getting 30 points. Not the greatest but he was proud since he never accomplishes the books very well.
I really thought Bruce had the winning title at the end. He scored- 98 points in the cape town shares. 98!!! I knew I was doing well but I didn't expect that well... Bruce ended up losing with 107 points. I was WINNERRRRRRRRR @ 119 points!! It was a SUPER close game and a couple more shares for anyone would have won them the game.
We all played very evenly this game. I mean I have lost a game with 119 points so I really didn't think I was winning that one. I usually end up 120-150 depending on the board evaluation. This is such a great game. I love how final scoring works and totally surprises me! It is wonderful!
It took just about 2 hours so that was perfectly good for a newbie learning. Great game!
Courtesy of Bruce
Next up on the table was 5p game of Ponzi Scheme. New to me!
This game was being played a lot during the week and I was finally excited to play it. I think it is great that Tasty Minstrel Games picked it up! I will have to definitely wait for that one!
This game greatly manipulates the feeling of a ponzi scheme. I guess Ron played his first game and it lasted a while and our game only lasted 4 rounds. So, there can be a nice -ish game or a very mean game. Of course I was in the very mean game.
On your turn you have to take a card from the display. If you take a level 1 then you must take a NEW building tile. If you take a level 2 card then you must take a 2nd tile of a colored building you already have and same for the 3rd level and 3rd tile. You must do this action. The cards show the amount of money you get and the amount of money you MUST pay when it gets around to it. The higher the level the higher the interest rates. Crazy! If there are 5 red cards then at the end of the round the market crashes and the notch spins 2 spaces. This brings the cards closer to payment. If it reaches or exceeds a card you must pay in full the interest rates and then they are placed back on your wheel in the appropriate space- you will have to pay them again. It is mad crazy!
After you take a card for income you have the option of passing some number of money to another player and they can take it and give you a building tile you asked for or they can match your money and take that color you have in front of yourself.
That is essentially the game. If you ever go bankrupt then you lose the game and a winner is calculated.
In our game it was just crazy. It was a bit of an asterisk game because we didn't removed the crashed cards once it crashed the first time. No one removed the red cards when they had the chance and they kept piling up. Since we forgot to removed the cards it crashed twice in a row and ended up being the final round anyway. We played 4 rounds. It went pretty quickly but Scott and I were learning it and were a bit hung up on what to offer and try to get for what price. It is a funny game.
Becky won that game for the tied victory. But she won the tie breaker because she took more risk with the higher interest rate.
That was a fun game. I look forward to playing it more once it gets published in the US! Very cool!
A fast game of Liar's Dice. It was something fast before some folks went to dinner. Lexi and Will hadn't played before and were interested in a fast dice game.
This is a fun game I always seem to lose. I am just a terrible liar and always seem to be wrong. I guess there is a variant that Scott knows that if you are down to one die and you lose but the lose is to an accurate guess then you don't lose you last die. I duno- Lexi should have been out many turns earlier and I ended up with one die pretty soon after. I should have lost by normal rules. But we kept up with how we were playing. It was a roll off between me Will and Ron and then Will was out and then Ron was out. I somehow managed to win that game of Liars Dice! What!?! that is maddness!!
I never win this game! I suck! hahha It was cool even though I am not sure about that gathering of Friends variant for the tourney they have. I really need to get a copy of this game. Or make my own. Something! It is a great game!
So, I had wanted to play Elysium. Will and Lexi were interested in learning it and I don't get to play this game enough.
We played without the red,yellow and blue decks. Playing with the white and black deck might have been a mistake. There were a LOT of opportunities to get more cards in play and a lot of planning and reading for Lexi. She had about a billion cards and was pretty overwhelmed with options. It lasted about an hour longer than I wanted the game to last. It only got long and longer between turns as the game went on. I think I might have lost interest and focus around round 4.
Ron ended up destroying us. By that I mean he scored over 105 points. I was sitting around the normal 70 mark and the other were just over me. I think I ended up losing it all or Will might have. It was close between the 3 of us and Ron was 40 points ahead. It was just a wow. I was hungry- so it is why i was losing interest- perhaps. I still very much enjoy that game- but over 2 hours of play time is just a bit much for me and any game.
Stupid Ron is stupid! 100+ points are you kidding me. We failed a whole lot that game in not stopping him.
Geoff couldn't make it to the Gathering this year and we missed him like crazy. He asked me to look out for his good friend Dave. When I ran into Dan and Dave it seemed like the perfect time to play a game of Tichu. The one game Dave was actually carrying around with him. Imagine that!
I don't think Dave wanted to pair up with me since he didn't want to cut the cards for partners. It worked out, I got to play with Ron who I think I play best with even if we are both aggressive players. He knows me best and can predict what I might do.
This game we were on fire. GT call and then like 5 more tichu's. We were getting all of the good cards. I sort of messed up when we needed only 45 points and called Tichu. I really thought I would have it but then we got set. So it went on for an additional 2 or 3 rounds before we finally won. But they were pretty far behind catching up ever so slightly each hand with all of the left over points from the round. Ron and I weren't scoring well in that regard but still better than them!
Crushed them! 2 weeks in a row for me! Missed you Geoff!! :heart:
With the same 4p we walked around the room and I asked Dan if he would explain 7 Symbols, and 7 Nations. New to me!
A game I heard was awesome and really was interested in trying. I believe a Japanese game that was getting a bunch of play on Monday nights but I never managed to get in a game.
It is a trick taking game with 7 colors and 49 cards. You do the math. Each suit has a different display of numbers. I think Red had 2-7 and A which is the only difference since there is a letter and not a number. the A beats the all cards it is the super trump of the game. Otherwise you deal all cards and the left over card declares what the trump will be for the round. I forget the exact distributions for the colors but some suits went like 6-12 or 7-13 etc.
So you also play partners in this game. Dave was cursed to be playing with me due to where he sat.
It has a unnique scoring. You don't want to collect books but if it has a 7 you do. The round ends when someone gets 4 x7s or 7 books. You must follow suit if you can. And then you score points when teh round is over. Team that got 4 7s gets points = to 4 - the number of 7s the other team gets +1. If your team gets 7 books then the the otehr team gets your cards in hand and they gets all of the 7s from the hands and what they have played minus the 7s your team had and I forget if it was +/- 1 after that since it never happened that I can recall.
First team to 7 points wins.
Dave and I were getting the WORST cards. I was consistently getting no trumps and very low cards. I never knew when to play my 7's if my p had the card card or not. It was very hard to gauge what the correct play was. I of course very much liked this game. But, the first 2 rounds were taken by Dan and Ron (who had both played the game before...) and they were at 6 points. The 3rd rounds we finally got a couple points but the final round had them easily winning.
It is a cute game and I would really like to try it again soon. It didn't wow me but it did interest me into more games.
Tuesday seems like forever ago now, thank goodness I wrote down what I played. I remember the game thanks to my photos! We started the morning with the wonderful new game from Pretzel Games called Junk Art. New to me!
If you like Flick em up then you will probably like this. This is one for my shelves. It is a stacking game with many colorful blocks. Dexterity to a T. What is so great and unique about this game is that you are playing 3 different mini games and then the game is up. We had to play 2 games since it was just so great.
I think there might be 15 scenarios or so fir the different games. Some are speed games, some are play a card at a time until someone falls. Some might be stack to the highest you can using the cards you are given. It is all crazy. It comes with a tape measure.
It is just pure fun! We had to play 2 games. This was one of my favorite new games played. I love dexterity and I love stacking challenges. Unfortunately, a piece was missing when we played so we were a card short and I couldn't accurately complete a scenario. It was an asterisk round. I think I should have beaten Ron. We actually needed all the cards and it was down to me and him and I couldn't' place the last piece since we didn't have it.
I think I won the first game and he won the second game. We had played with 5 players. I can't wait to own this. I think they said it was going to be a GenCon Release! Yay!
Scott had found a newer game called Flying Kiwis. New to me!
We were on a dexterity kick and this was like a 5-10 minute game. We actually played it 8 times. We played winner is the one to make it to 3 wins first.
This game you flick the kiwis into the pens. If you get 4 kiwis in a square configuration then you auto win. Otherwise you get the stacks of kiwis if your player color is on top. Most kiwi's win!
It is an ADORABLE game. Wicked cute and I just KNOW Riley will own it.
I won the first game! I was on a roll! I didn't manage to win the next 7 games before it ended. That is not even fair. They all figured out how to play and I just kept losing! Almost certain Scott won that game- but I am not sure. ;)
Wonderful game I would play it anytime.
We were on a HUCH! & friends- streak so we played one more dexterity game called Tornado Ellie. New to me!
This game we played on easy. It is set matching and attempting to spin the tornado without making it fall over. We just used the easy track and realized after it was over it would have been SO MUCH harder with the advanced track.
The tornado is pretty stable using the easy mode. We were doing a good job. When playing a card you have to match the same type of animal or play more than the number on the already played cards with a card from your hand. Then you must spin the board to the next player. If you can't play then you must stack the tornado higher based on the top card of the draw pile. Then you have to take another turn first stacking it up again. If you don't have the required piece you lose and hte game ends. If the deck ends then game is over and most left over pieces wins. Sets of 3 score extra.
It is a nice fun little game. Not the best ratings on the geek but I give it a solid rating where I would definitely play again. I would really like to try it on the harder track. I think cards would have been falling a lot more than they were. pretty cool game.
I didn't win but Scott DEFINITELY lost! :) We made it thought the stack of cards but Scott made it fall like 3 or 4 times. I only made it fall one time.
hehe
Courtesy of Jeremy
A couple quick games of Qwinto before we headed to lunch.
I had to teach Jeremy but he figured it out quick enough. The first game we played was one of the best games I have ever had. I Managed to score all rows very VERY well and ALL my pentagons with awesome values. I ended with 84 points. What! So good!!
The second game we played I don't really want to talk about it. I think I only scored 14 - soooo not great. I managed to end that game too!!! With 4 X's... really bad.
Always happy to play this one.
So, Scott was looking for a game and I have been wanting to play The Voyages of Marco Polo. I knew he would be interested.
I have really been on a Marco Polo kick lately. I really like the new characters and the gift tiles. Probably too much. I ended up getting the gift character so that was SWEET and eventually I got the gift income additionally.
For some reason I talked Ron into taking the character that provides the free spaces. AND I thought the rule was you had to place a die on it but NOPE you just get a bonus free action to use a card as you see fit and count it as if you had a 6 die roll. What the heck! When I played that i was using a die to do it. Ugh! Reading the rules is hard.
SO yeah, Ron used that to the best of his ability and totally destroyed us. He was over 25 points a head of me at the end of the game/ I am not even sure I broke 50 points- it was quite bad! Scott was somewhere in the middle and Ron- well yah.
It was a good but frustrating game. I mis-played one round and it ruined me for the rest of the game. Things like that are total bummers. And, I get overly mad at myself for making bad choices.
I seriously like the game though and I was happy to play!
I heard the name Antoine Bauza mentioned and say the IELLO folks going to teach the game Oceanos. New to me!
I had to learn it. I love 7 Wonders and I was itching to play this new prototype. The Iello guys are awesome and I ended up getting to play with Zee and Jason from The Dice Tower so that was cool. (awesome guys by the way!)We played 5 player and it is a very light card game for set collection and somewhat push your luck for card draws.
There are 3 rounds and you are diving down to the depths of the ocean. You are searching for sets of different animals in each layer of sea. You are also looking for crystals to upgrade your subs! Points are awards at the end of each round for various fish collections.
As the round goes each player will get to be first 1 time. Each time cards are handed to everyone but the starting player and the other choice to keep 1 and hand the left over to the start player. The start player then gets to keep one. At anytime your fuel allows you to keep 2 cards and pass none. If your ship is upgraded then you might be drawing 3 keep 1 giving the other player more cards to choose from, potentially.
It is a very fast game and easy to play and teach. This will be in my collection. it is beautiful and this was only the prototype! I was so happy I got to learn it.
Zee absolutely destroyed in this game. I was upgrading my ship in all the wrong places at all the wrong times. It was just a mess for me. I ended up losing pretty bad. And I still very much enjoyed it!
Definitely easier than 7 wonders and could be a great gateway game. Plays fast and is super cute! Cant wait for the gencon release!
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Next up was my second game of Dynasties: Heirate & Herrsche. (see last week for full commentary).
This game I was teach 2 others and re teaching a lady who had already played. It worked out well. I could easily remember all of the rules and we had a very close game.
I was working on trying to get majorities in all of the areas. It wasn't working so well and every time I made a marriage I would roll the crappiest dice combos. Where if they other were rolling they had VP's of 5 and 6 and I was say, 1 and 2. Also they were getting babies and end card points rolls. I was just getting a cube. Ugh it was about as bad for me as it could have been.
The lady was at 0 points at the end of age 1. But she caught up majorly by playing a bunch of cards and getting a lot of end points. She ended up winning that time. I think she was like 100 points or something crazy. I think I was around 80. Jeremy was SO CLOSE he was about 1 point behind her. It was a super close game for them. I messed up- but I blame the teaching.
I think this is a very nice game. I will very much like to play it again soon. Unclear if I will be owning it. I had a lot of fun with that and the dice are the bomb!
Since it was Tuesday- it only felt fitting to play a game of Fields of Arle.
I think I was getting tired but I taught the game to Jon who was also a new badge to the Gathering. Very cool.
He said he wasn't the biggest Uwe fan but he did like a few of his games. He was interested in trying out Arle with me. I definitely helped him a bit too much in this game. I never know when ot shut up or show the possibilities. Anyway- Jon ended up beating me at my own game with 116.5 to my 115.5 So- I haven't ever taught a newbie this game and had them score that high.
Ah well- I live and I lose it is okay. He played a good game. He mimicked a lot of what I was doing and got a 4 point vehicle in the first round so he was already shipping when I was shipping. I think it is key to start shipping as soon as possible.
He did and he did very well with it!
Love this game he very much enjoyed it by the end too. He really liked the mindful decisions and the planning he had to do. He said he would play it again sometime- that is all I love to hear! :D
Happy to play with Jon. He also loved the googly eyes! Some guy walked by and shrugged at them. So It made me happy when Jon was super happy about them! :D Who wouldn't like googly eyes! Cmon crazy!
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I am not gonna lie. I think one of, if not my favorite, new to me game was played next until late in the morning. I think we played 10 times and ended up leaving for sleep around 1 am. This game is a new game called Happy Salmon. New to me!
This game is a variation of Pit. There is no trading or anything but lots of people around a table shouting. You are trying to get rid of all of your cards in your deck first. You are looking to high 5, fist bump, switch places, or happy Salmon with another player.
Here is this AWESOME video! I can't tell you how much fun this is. But, it is and I could just laugh all day and play this. Hilarious! We even play a silent variant but, that wasn't as fun.
I was so excited I was able to purchase the game once they were leaving the con. Yay!! Now I can inflict all my gaming friends with this amazing game! :D
So, Wednesday morning I was up and ready to game but I was running on little sleep. I ended up teaching Karuba bright and early.
It was fine. It is a light game easy to play and teach. A couple others had played before but I was teach Jon. I totally mis-judged my placement on the board and I ended up spending too many tiles on the paths and not making it work. I did manage to get 2/4 guys in the temples but it hardly seemed good enough.
Sure enough Stephan ended it on the last tile draw by getting his 4th guy in the temple. He destroyed us. I think I managed 3rd with 14 points but it was nothing to brag about. Really not my best play.
Always happy to play it even if I talk a lot of game and end up face planting. hahaha Great game!
We were finding the next game and I mentioned Bomarzo. New to me!
I had wanted to play it since it had been displayed around the room and looked like an interesting game. Mina was going to teach but forgot a lot of the rules so ended up not bringing it. Jon said he had played before and was interested in trying it again. He had to recall most of the rules from the book so it was a bit of a slow teach as it would be.
Its okay we had an interest and were patient. Steffan stayed for the game and we picked up a 4th who I believe was Jasen.
This is a fairly simple game with interesting choices. Cards are double sided and you have to get them in play and upgraded to get the bonus income/ ability. The end scoring is triggered by your playing. None of the stone gods score unless you put cards under them. There are 9 gods and all scoring for different things. You want to be working towards collecting the most of that things. Some are symbols and some are just money or food. High score wins which is actually a very low score of like 10. All ties are friendly AND then 2nd place would score as well.
That is the only major gripe I had with the game. Friendly scoring. I duno- I was really loving the game up until then. all my hard work when I get 3 points and everyone else is tied gets 2. Just isn't so great for me.
In this game I worked on pushing the temples. I had a card bonus that let me do that easier than the basic action. By doing this I was wasting my turns and not focusing on the really important things like getting more cards played down and working my tech track. It was just all around bad. I ended up pushing the gods harder than I should so everyone could just pass me in whatever track I was on and ended up taking my victory.
To no ones surprise I lost. It was still a close game I had 7, Steffan was 8 and Jon and Jasen were @ 9 for the tied win. Not many points to be had here. I would try for something else next time. It works very nice and has a worker placement mechanic like Coal Baron but with resource cubes and a worker. It is very nice and you have to manage it all perfectly.
I am really interested in playing this again. It is not going on my buy list but I am happy I got to play and would play again.
:star::star::star:
Since Ron had joined us I asked him to teach me IKI. New to me!
Ron had played months and months ago in prototype form. I had the chance but I am weary about prototypes and ended up not trying it out.
Ron recalled a lot of the rules but had to check on some updated ones. I have seen many bloggers around here really enjoying this game so I was definitely interested in trying it. This also had a rough start but we figured it out and got to playing the market place game.
It is a very beautiful game and has a lot of nice things going on. It really felt like a market place since we were running around the board collecting materials and, (clearly) hiring fire fighters.
In the game there are 3 fires and they start in a random corner on the board. You can't predict where they would start but when they happen you want to have enough fire fighters so your stalls don't burn. That is the craziest part of the game. Interesting mechanic but it might be too random for some people. Just have your fighting ability maxed out and you are good to go. It is just a small portion of the game. The real mechanics lie in the advancement around the board. There are 4 steps 3,2, and 1 steps around. You want to be moving faster. The more times you "pass go" the faster your stalls advance and retire. Once your workers in the stalls retired they are just season income for you and you can move on to the next worker. It also gets them off the board away from any potential fires.
If you are just moving 1 step that is also very beneficial since you get first pick at the new hires for market place stalls. They provide some income of points or goods.
At the end of each season we have to feed our workers on the board and we score points for sets of colors in the same regions.
So, this was this was somewhat of an asterisk game since some of the cards were not clear. It looked like one space advancement but it was still 3 and then the worker comes off the board. They were just doing 1 and then the worker comes off. This would have been more detrimental to Jon and Jasen. But the fact that I won means it was OK. I didn't break the rules. ;) It was certainly in their favor and not mine. So I was very happy when the game turned for me in the final season. There was a final fire and the only corner of the board that would be safe for me burned everyone else. One stall had enough protection but Ron lost a seriously high building and so did Jasen so I ended up winning the game because of that.
There is some end scoring and I was able to pick up an awesomely high valued building that gave me like 28 points or something.
I really enjoyed this game and I look forward to my next play. There is a bunch of interesting things going on and I really felt like I was running around the market place. It helps that I won, not gonna lie.
I don't think I will be looking to pick this up, but you never know what happens in math trades! cool game- a bit long for me. I think the next game will be shorter- at least I hope so.
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When we came back I wanted to try out Bézier Games, Inc., new game from Ted Alspach called Colony. New to me!
This game was actually a remake of the Japanese game called Age of Craft. I hadn't played that game but a few friends who had. I can't compare the two but I can comment on this one.
I have to say I liked it a lot more than Machi Koro or Favor of the Pharaoh. This is a dice game that you roll and draft on your turn. You have a warehouse to hold dice from round to round if you didn't want to use them all. But, you are trying to buy cards for teh value and get points. First person to some number of points depending on player count wins!
Some cards might be attack cards, others might manipulate your dice or spend dice to gain the die roll you want. Some might provide provide additional dice on your turn to use.
It is a very simple game but has a box of cards for tons of replay value since you can have a different set up each time. It is a very nice game. I can see it getting play as much as Roll for the Galaxy per say.
In my game I was the one to get the pirate ship early and start the attacking as soon as I could. Everyone got the protection and only when Bianca had to duck out and Ron sat down did he buy the Pirate ship. We have that sort of bond, you see.
he started attacking but it was too late. I was already into the set collection and getting a bunch of points per turn.
I was happy to take the winning title on this game when we were complete. We had a fun time playing but I had a fun time trying to beat up on others!
This was a great game- I can see putting this one in the collection since I don't have the other dice games I mentioned besides Roll for the Galaxy.
Cool game!
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Iello had another game I wanted to learn called Sea of Clouds. New to me.
They were just starting this game and Stephan let me take his seat.
This is a new game coming out like next week. It is a very easy set collection game. Also with amazing art. Iello is really stepping up their game and their art. Art is really the first hint I notice. This was a finished copy of the game and it was lovely.
In this game there are 3 cards in the middle. On your turn you can look and take the first card. If you want it you can take it. If you don't then you put another card on top and move to the next one in line and do the same. The stacks get juicer if people keep passing. Only max of 3 cards can be on a stack then coins get added.
There are a set number of rounds and some rounds here is war between players. You want to try and build you crew up to beat your neighbors in this war. You also want to be collecting hidden run bottles and visible treasure cards. There are some artifact cards that affect your tableau. Could be 2 point or might be -1 to combat. Etc.
In out game I felt pretty hosed being 3rd player. Start player was always the same person and I think that should have been passing. For whatever reason it seemed the kid after me would pass and then the lady would then pass giving the guy to my right a bunch of cards and potentially money. This left me with little to no options on my turn and rinse and repeat. It seemed to be the case.
I lost every battle there where never any crew cards I could take so I went for rum and collection. It really went quite sour for me. I lost baddddddly I wasn't even close to winning. On the plus side I very much enjoyed this game.
I look forward to I king this one up. The game play is nice and the one thing I didn't like could be altered to just changing start player per round. I really liked how easy it was and It will play well with many of the gamers I play with. My family would also like that a bunch too.
Very cool game.
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Next up I was wondering around since Ron joined an eclipse game. I joined this table in the hall that was all looking at a computer and laughing. I guess it is pretty much like mad libs. We played three different games hosted by jackbox.tv. I think it was quip lash, and fibbish were the titles. Players log in on their phones by going to a website and putting in the code. They are then prompted with questions to answer.
It was a hilariously fun game to play. I was loser out of the 8 or 9 players we had. I had some good responses but ultimately I am just terrible at these types of games. We all have fun and it is great since players can join whenever and start playing. I will have to look into getting that. It is. Lot of fun.
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I was wondering around and found a space for me in an Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King game. I made the 5th player but it worked out ok. Most everyone had played before so we started pretty quickly.
I was playing with Chris from Asmadi Games and Dave Chalker. They were both pretty great to game with. We got to talking and Chris wants to create a new gaming con for like 3k people in the Boston area. I am all for it. I hope he can get that up and running. It would be so cool if he did. I think the area needs something like that huge.
So this game was just awful for me. I could not keep my tiles and I could not score any points. This might have been my worst play every of this game. I didn't even break 50 points!! Uh hit was embarrassing. I was working for a lighthouse in the final round when I had first buy but there were none! C'mon really!! Ugh it was a mess. Haha I have no idea who actually won since I was so disappointed with my playing. I still had a great time chatting up Chris.
Still a fun game! One of my favorites from last year.
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The final game of the night was one that looked interesting called Imhotep. New to me!
I saw the box and wanted to play it. I know Peat had liked the game so I definitely wanted to try it. It looks like it should be dexterity with all of those huge cubes. It is a very light game and was actually very nice to play later in the evening. We just played the basic side and I suggest just skipping to the advanced side. The basic side was a bit dull.
We were just learning and figuring it out. I was playing with Niki, Lincoln from game night videos and Henning was reading the rules for us. The was awesome to play with them! I could tell they were already getting pretty wiped and were tired.
This game is about scoring the most points. Shocker. You do this by collecting cards for end game scoring or working on the pyramids/ walls/ obelisks. You get pointed from placing your cubes on these monuments. Some pay out then and here some pay out at the end for majority.
On your turn you can places a cube on a boat (sized 1-4 spaces big), move a full boat/mostly full determined by the boat size, or take 3 cubes. Once all the boats on display have been moved the rounds ends and you do it again continuing to grow that board and the monuments as you go. After so many rounds the game is over and you do final scoring.
There are other cards to draft that get you bonus actions which are cool and help you control your destiny better.
This game can be vicious if you let it be. See an opportunity to screw over another and take it. Sounds like me...
We were playing a pretty mediocre game here. None of them seemed to be backstabbing players so it was all in all a nice game of take this boat here and get some pints. Let Henning take all of the end game points. Haha I didn't manage to get on any one point engine but I was trying to be aggressive in my play. I eventually got cut off with what I was doing but I tried!
I don't think I won that game it was likely Henning with all of his points at the end. We ended up looking at the backside of the boards to see what the challenges would be. They definitely seemed interesting and I would want to play again to try them.
Seemed like a very fun game and I think it will work well for many homes. It looks abstract but it is not really. I suppose it can be a little bit but for the most part it's a cool game that most people would play, I would think.
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It was brought to my attention that my posts were a tad long. Joe said I should split the week up with 2 posts. I know he is correct. My one blog post for the gathering would be so long. I still tagged everything. If you got here from a tag that wasn't mentioned then it will be in my second post. Please stay tuned I will be working on that post over the next few days and hope to finish it as soon as possible.
Thanks!
Thanks for reading! Please stop by for part III!
-Steph