Games at David's: Hollywood Blockbuster
January , 2007
I had to take last month's edition of this game night off, but was happy to be able to make it for the first event of the new year. I was a little late due to wrestling practice obligations, but kept myself away from the computer and made it down to Dave's in decent time.
When I got there, Scepter of Zavandor was running with, I think, six players. Larry was teaching Tigris & Euphrates to two other gamers, and David had Taj Mahal on his table. I watched the T&E game for a while, but found I didn't want to think hard enough to actually analyze what was happening, and instead settled in to see if I could get a bit of the flavor of Taj Mahal, another RK game, which I haven't played.
I didn't read the rules, and I didn't get that full of an impression of TM. It seemed to me that the players were accumulating card sets, then expending those cards in built-up groups in an effort to win bids for choice of actions in the round. Those actions would score a player points, generally based on previous choices, but sometimes just straight up bonus points. These actions also seemed to involve the placement of a palace, which could score points based on connections. I, like Dave, own and enjoy many RK games, and TM certainly looked worth a shot. Hopefully, I'll be around at some future event when this gets off the shelf.
The T&E game ended, and the groups mixed a little. I sat down with David, Julia, Keith, and Sy for Hollywood Blockbuster. Larry, Carli, and someone else pulled out Puerto Rico.
HB is yet another RK game, this one with a theme of producing movies, built around a fairly straight auction mechanic. The action takes place over three rounds, during which there are several bidding phases and a couple "parties", in which players simply pick items. Each player has several films they are trying to complete. Each one requires different elements - stars, sound, special effects, a director, etc. Some require several of one and none of others. Once you've completed a film, you can take another. There are a limited number of films that can be completed, so it's to ones advantage to get them done (unfinished films don't score). Points are awarded for the first film of each of the three types to be completed, as well as the strongest film each round. At the end of the game, the films are worth points based on the quality of the elements - how good the director/stars/effects/ etc. are. Additional points are awarded for the best film of each type, as well as the overall best and worst films.
I wanted to complete at least one film every round, which I did. I managed to score one of the first completed bonuses, as well as one of the strongest of the round bonuses. In the end, I had completed, I think, five films, and I managed to grab one of the "best of" awards. I had finished more films than anyone else, and managed a victory, with David in second.
I liked this game. The auction was almost too straightforward - just a plain progressive bid. The game provides you with relatively light but important decisions about what you need to acquire, but there is a little added element of keeping track of what other people need and trying to block them. The game also has a decent social element, as you interact in trying to influence people to spend money, and joke about the actors (who's names are parodies of the names of real actors) have been put in which films. Another nice offering from Mr. Knizia, and a welcome reprint. This would be a nice Euro-intro for people who like movies and party games.
It seemed weird to only play one game, but it was getting a little late, and, being a weeknight and having work in the morning, I called it quits. The PR game had ended, and Scepter broke up while I was getting ready to go, with Dan emerging victorious.
GG, GL
JW
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Games at Snoozefest's: Ligretto, Snapchen Jagd (I'm pretty sure I spelled them both wrong, but I'm too late, and too lazy, to check)
Saturday, January 13th
After a long day of coaching wrestling at the DSA Duals, I managed to keep myself from logging on to World of Warcraft, and made my way through the woods to Snoozefest's house. Note - If I can, I'm going to start trying to refer to people by their BGG screenname, just to keep things sort of private.
Gaming was well underway by the time I got there, with the six players present involved in Havoc: The Hundred Years War. I haven't played this, so I took a look at the rules and tried to absorb a bit of the game.
This game involves card selection and set building, picking blind from a deck and choosing from a set of face-up cards. Basically, you are trying to build a six card poker hand, with six poker suits numbered 1-18 (I think). There are also a few "dogs", which are zero value cards that act as a wild card for the purpose of suiting. There are a series of battles of the Hundred Years war to be fought (8,iirc). Each battle commences when a player decides to start it, on their turn. Players elect to withdraw from the battle or start a hand. In the end, the player with the best hand wins, and gets the victory points. In most cases, there are points for people who finish in some of the other places. Once all the battles have been fought, the war is over and vps are calculated. This was actually a fairly fun game to watch. I think Sarah won, and I'm not sure of the placings after that.
We took a bit of a break for people to get food and drink, and divide into a couple of groups. Mary had some games she was hoping to play and review, so one table sat down with her new copy of Drive. Ravindra and Sarah and I broke out the Ligretto decks for some frenetic card-slapping.
I've played this a couple times before, and its really the kind of game I'm not that good at - requires constant attention and good memory, combined with lightning reflexes. It's also the kind of game that Sarah, someone who seems constantly focused and full of energy, should be dominant in, and that she was. The game ended Sarah-Ravindra-me, with me being pretty far behind. Although I don't feel I'm going to be really competitive at this game, I actually like it a lot as a sort of warm-up, or maybe something to get you going after a long heavy game - gets the mental juices and the blood flowing, so to speak.
After Ligretto, we were looking for another not so heavy or lengthy game, to keep us on time with the other group. Ravindra pulled out Snapchen Jagd, a trick taking game with six suits. Maybe playing Havoc reminded him of this. I've played several interesting variants on trick taking games over the last year, and this is another that I've enjoyed quite a bit. In SJ, you pick an initial number to be your "good number". Each card you take that matches goes in the good pile, which scores you positive points. All other cards you take go in the negative pile, counting against your score at the end. After each round, you are allowed to discard one number of which you have at least 3 cards. If you have more than 3, you can put the excess in your good pile, and that number becomes your new good number. After the final round, you can do this twice. It was fun trying to get my head around a strategy for taking cards - at first I just tried to avoid every trick, but you can't win without taking something! Finally I got a mental list of the numbers I was trying to build, and started acquiring tricks to work on scoring. In the last round, I got very lucky, taking several tricks with aces, scoring me a lot of points. In the end it was Me-Ravindra-Sarah.
It was fairly late, and I was a little tired, so I decided to call it a night and head home. It was a nice, relaxing evening of gaming, and reminded me that I have to start trying to pick up some of these unique trick-taking games.
GG, GL
JW
Saturday, January 13th
After a long day of coaching wrestling at the DSA Duals, I managed to keep myself from logging on to World of Warcraft, and made my way through the woods to Snoozefest's house. Note - If I can, I'm going to start trying to refer to people by their BGG screenname, just to keep things sort of private.
Gaming was well underway by the time I got there, with the six players present involved in Havoc: The Hundred Years War. I haven't played this, so I took a look at the rules and tried to absorb a bit of the game.
This game involves card selection and set building, picking blind from a deck and choosing from a set of face-up cards. Basically, you are trying to build a six card poker hand, with six poker suits numbered 1-18 (I think). There are also a few "dogs", which are zero value cards that act as a wild card for the purpose of suiting. There are a series of battles of the Hundred Years war to be fought (8,iirc). Each battle commences when a player decides to start it, on their turn. Players elect to withdraw from the battle or start a hand. In the end, the player with the best hand wins, and gets the victory points. In most cases, there are points for people who finish in some of the other places. Once all the battles have been fought, the war is over and vps are calculated. This was actually a fairly fun game to watch. I think Sarah won, and I'm not sure of the placings after that.
We took a bit of a break for people to get food and drink, and divide into a couple of groups. Mary had some games she was hoping to play and review, so one table sat down with her new copy of Drive. Ravindra and Sarah and I broke out the Ligretto decks for some frenetic card-slapping.
I've played this a couple times before, and its really the kind of game I'm not that good at - requires constant attention and good memory, combined with lightning reflexes. It's also the kind of game that Sarah, someone who seems constantly focused and full of energy, should be dominant in, and that she was. The game ended Sarah-Ravindra-me, with me being pretty far behind. Although I don't feel I'm going to be really competitive at this game, I actually like it a lot as a sort of warm-up, or maybe something to get you going after a long heavy game - gets the mental juices and the blood flowing, so to speak.
After Ligretto, we were looking for another not so heavy or lengthy game, to keep us on time with the other group. Ravindra pulled out Snapchen Jagd, a trick taking game with six suits. Maybe playing Havoc reminded him of this. I've played several interesting variants on trick taking games over the last year, and this is another that I've enjoyed quite a bit. In SJ, you pick an initial number to be your "good number". Each card you take that matches goes in the good pile, which scores you positive points. All other cards you take go in the negative pile, counting against your score at the end. After each round, you are allowed to discard one number of which you have at least 3 cards. If you have more than 3, you can put the excess in your good pile, and that number becomes your new good number. After the final round, you can do this twice. It was fun trying to get my head around a strategy for taking cards - at first I just tried to avoid every trick, but you can't win without taking something! Finally I got a mental list of the numbers I was trying to build, and started acquiring tricks to work on scoring. In the last round, I got very lucky, taking several tricks with aces, scoring me a lot of points. In the end it was Me-Ravindra-Sarah.
It was fairly late, and I was a little tired, so I decided to call it a night and head home. It was a nice, relaxing evening of gaming, and reminded me that I have to start trying to pick up some of these unique trick-taking games.
GG, GL
JW
Friday, January 19, 2007
Holiday Gaming: Lost Cities, Hey! That's My Fish, San Juan, Gulo Gulo, Citadels
So, WoW has really eaten up a lot of my ambition to leave the house and game, as of late. We'll see if that changes tonight, as it's third Friday of the month, and timt to head for Rick's.
The first couple weeks of the holidays I was sick/recovering, and Kristin and I were in full on stay-at-home mode, induced by the cancellation of our planned trip to Norway. We played a few games of Lost Cities, and she stomped me. Mainly, I remember that I was just a little too willing to start expeditions that I didn't have enough cards to make profitable - and then I never drew them. A fun game, as ever, theme and ease of play ensure that it hits the table over it's strategically deeper cousin, Battle Line, at least in our house.
We made it back to my parents' place in Illinois in early January. I received a couple games as Christmas presents: Lost Valley and Streetsoccer. Unfortunately, neither, as yet, have been played. I managed a quick trip out to the Leupold's shop in Coralville, which was great. It's nice to see that they've been successful, and it was a real pleasure to see old friends like Jerod, Jeff, Cam, etc.. I also traded in some Game of Thrones CCG cards (useless to me now as nobody plays here), and picked up a couple things, including a Power Grid expansion map and Hey! That's My Fish.
Saturday we sat around during the day with my family, and ended up playing four games of H!TMF. Interestingly, my mother won them all. Not normally a strategy game player, she excelled in keeping her penguins going, and picking up higher value ice floes. It says a lot to me, about a game, when my dad will play it three times, back to back. I'm very happy to have acquired this. H!TMF is a light abstract strategy game for 2-4 players, in which you lay down ice floe tiles, each of which has a value (in fish) of 1-3. You take turns moving a penguin, capturing the tile that you leave. You can move as far as you want, in any direction, in a straight line, but can't move over/onto missing tiles or other players' penguins. Once nobody can move anymore, the player with the most fish wins. It plays very quickly, and has a good level of thinking for people in the mood for something light, but not empty. There's a lot to plan for, to try to keep your penguins active, while trying to get small areas cordoned off that only you can move into and score.
Sunday, some old friends from Riverdale stopped by for chatting and gaming. Grahm showed up first, toting a Christmas present his daughter had received, Gulo Gulo, which I had never played. We ran through a round, with me snatching victory (pun intended). Gulo Gulo is a great little kids game, that involves movement down a path which is performed by picking the right colored egg out of a bowl. It has some light strategic decision making elements, a fun dexterity component, and good colors. It's apparently a big hit with Anna, and I'd love to pick up a copy for my sister's kids.
Dave showed up, and we ran through Gulo Gulo again, with Grahm winning. Dave has large hands, which proved to be a bit of a disadvantage, although his aggressive "flick" technique did work out well.
We played a couple games of H!TMF, both of which I won. I managed a big solo area in one of these games, basically because Dave was nice and didn't strand my penguin someplace else, first.
We played, I think, two games of San Juan. I can't remember who won. I think Dave won one, and then maybe I won one.
The finale of the night was Citadels. We all played with two characters. The game ran fine, but bogged down a little bit with people trying to remember the abilities and taking some time drafting. Dave also got the shaft pretty hard over the first three turns, souring him to the game a bit.
Overall, not too much to report here. Looking forward to game night tonight, when I'll take along, I think, Torres and Union Pacific.
GG, GL
JW
So, WoW has really eaten up a lot of my ambition to leave the house and game, as of late. We'll see if that changes tonight, as it's third Friday of the month, and timt to head for Rick's.
The first couple weeks of the holidays I was sick/recovering, and Kristin and I were in full on stay-at-home mode, induced by the cancellation of our planned trip to Norway. We played a few games of Lost Cities, and she stomped me. Mainly, I remember that I was just a little too willing to start expeditions that I didn't have enough cards to make profitable - and then I never drew them. A fun game, as ever, theme and ease of play ensure that it hits the table over it's strategically deeper cousin, Battle Line, at least in our house.
We made it back to my parents' place in Illinois in early January. I received a couple games as Christmas presents: Lost Valley and Streetsoccer. Unfortunately, neither, as yet, have been played. I managed a quick trip out to the Leupold's shop in Coralville, which was great. It's nice to see that they've been successful, and it was a real pleasure to see old friends like Jerod, Jeff, Cam, etc.. I also traded in some Game of Thrones CCG cards (useless to me now as nobody plays here), and picked up a couple things, including a Power Grid expansion map and Hey! That's My Fish.
Saturday we sat around during the day with my family, and ended up playing four games of H!TMF. Interestingly, my mother won them all. Not normally a strategy game player, she excelled in keeping her penguins going, and picking up higher value ice floes. It says a lot to me, about a game, when my dad will play it three times, back to back. I'm very happy to have acquired this. H!TMF is a light abstract strategy game for 2-4 players, in which you lay down ice floe tiles, each of which has a value (in fish) of 1-3. You take turns moving a penguin, capturing the tile that you leave. You can move as far as you want, in any direction, in a straight line, but can't move over/onto missing tiles or other players' penguins. Once nobody can move anymore, the player with the most fish wins. It plays very quickly, and has a good level of thinking for people in the mood for something light, but not empty. There's a lot to plan for, to try to keep your penguins active, while trying to get small areas cordoned off that only you can move into and score.
Sunday, some old friends from Riverdale stopped by for chatting and gaming. Grahm showed up first, toting a Christmas present his daughter had received, Gulo Gulo, which I had never played. We ran through a round, with me snatching victory (pun intended). Gulo Gulo is a great little kids game, that involves movement down a path which is performed by picking the right colored egg out of a bowl. It has some light strategic decision making elements, a fun dexterity component, and good colors. It's apparently a big hit with Anna, and I'd love to pick up a copy for my sister's kids.
Dave showed up, and we ran through Gulo Gulo again, with Grahm winning. Dave has large hands, which proved to be a bit of a disadvantage, although his aggressive "flick" technique did work out well.
We played a couple games of H!TMF, both of which I won. I managed a big solo area in one of these games, basically because Dave was nice and didn't strand my penguin someplace else, first.
We played, I think, two games of San Juan. I can't remember who won. I think Dave won one, and then maybe I won one.
The finale of the night was Citadels. We all played with two characters. The game ran fine, but bogged down a little bit with people trying to remember the abilities and taking some time drafting. Dave also got the shaft pretty hard over the first three turns, souring him to the game a bit.
Overall, not too much to report here. Looking forward to game night tonight, when I'll take along, I think, Torres and Union Pacific.
GG, GL
JW
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