We played a bunch of games on Monday... mainly quick, fun ones. Here they are!
Fjords
This was played by Brad and Fenwick (me!). This was Brad's first time playing, but the rules are fairly straightforward, and can be explained in a few moments. I love it when I can explain a game in terms of other games -- "The tile placement is a lot like Carcassonne." So we were up and running quickly. It's not surprising, this is a game by Franz-Benno Delonge who made TransAmerica/TransEuropa two of our favorite games in Game Club. We also pop out another of his -- Big City, a somewhat more obscure offering, but is amazingly beautiful and fun. (It's TOTALLY out of print, but Valley Games is in the process of making a reissue with new buildings! Oh, man, I'm probably going to have to buy that...) Unfortunately FB Delonge lost his battle with cancer last September. He was 50 years old. He's a great game designer -- makes me wonder what great games are now lost to us...
But I digress! Fjords gameplay takes place in 2 phases. Phase 1: Building the fjord. It's a simple "draw a tile, add it to the play area" mechanic. You have the option of placing one of your 4 starting houses on the tile you place. Your territory will be radiating out from those during phase 2.
Phase 2: You take turns placing small discs showing your territoty spreading out. Once a tile is claimed, it cannot be claimed by your opponent, and can block his/her ability to spread further. Careful planning, and careful claiming of territories is crucial to winning.
At the end of the game, Brad controlled 18 tiles, and Fenwick had 14. Brad wins! AND he only used 3 of his 4 starting places to do it.
Zombie Fluxx
This is turning into one of our new favorite fillers. Good near the start of game club as people are wandering in. People can join in or drop out (joining in is easier) basically at any time. The gameplay is rather chaotic and random. And there are Zombies. And, occassionally, you are forced to groan like those very Zombies.
Just like any Fluxx game, the rules for winning change as people play different cards. It often causes people to imagine that it is a hard game, when it is one of the simplest and silliest games we play. One of the niftiest things (in my opinion) of this Fluxx game is that the Zombies are a sort of NPC in the game, and they can actually win!
This was played by Brad, Sam, and Fenwick. Any of the three of us would be just as happy winning, or having the Zombies win. The Zombies did not, however, as Brad made his escape. Brad wins again!
Elk Fest
Cathy Willms called to say she was coming with Steven, so Brad and Fenwick (me!) knew we had a few minutes to kill. Elk Fest is perfect to fill that space.
This is a dexterity game where you flick 'stones' to allow your moose to get across a 'river'. It is definitely reminiscent of high school cafeteria tabletop games involving quarters and paper footballs.
The bits are remarkable -- beatiful wooden pieces. The gameplay is OBVIOUS -- just one look at the bits, and you know how to play. It's funny and frustrating and tense. It's amazing how much you have to adapt to how your opponent plays. I hate to attribute any kind of strategy to a game based on FLICKING, but it sneaks in.
Fenwick would have won if he'd had the opportunity for one final flick, but, just in time, Brad wins yet again!
Pecking Order
We had a few more minutes, and I suggested a new one to Game Club: Pecking Order. This is one by Richard Garfield, famous for created the massively popular Magic: The Gathering CCG. It was also published by Immortal Eyes games, which is a spin-off of Winning Moves -- an American game company. Immortal Eyes is an attempt to make more Euro-style games (less random, more resource management). Pecking Order is their first game.
This is a two-player game. Each player has an identical set of cards: birds valued 1 to 12, and a Jaguar. There are spaces on a board placed between you with different values. On your turn, pick a card, and put it face down next to a space on your side. If there is a bird opposite it, a challenge occurs. The bird which was there first is revealed. If it's number is less than or equal to the bird just placed, it is removed from the board. Otherwise, the new bird is removed. A jaguar instantly removes both himself, and the bird in conflict.
Once all the pieces are placed, the value of the perches is added up -- higher total wins.
Fenwick had 26. Brad had 37. Oh, look, once again Brad is the winner!
I see me playing this game quite a bit, if I can talk people into it -- quick and tense. There's a decent balance of luck and psycho-strategy.
Bull in a China Shop
This is a BIG Game Club game over the past few months. It's another simple and quick game. This game has the PERFECT blend of elements that make Game Club happy: 30% luck, 30% strategy, 30% screwage, 10% painful, very painful, choices. And it's done by Michael Schacht, a game designer I am growing to REALLY enjoy.
We can get a new person up and running on this thing in 2 minutes, but mostly we don't have to because so many of us have played it.
Each person has a shop of fine china. On your turn, if you have money you can buy china from the table, if not, or if you choose, a bull can come through and trash your store. You get money for that, so you can buy new china on later turns. Four times in the game you score in different ways -- you have to plan for those different scoring schemes.
At the end it came out like this: Steven had 44 points. Brad had 48. Cathy Willms had 70. Fenwick had 71, eking out the win by a point!
Incan Gold
Kaylin and Rachael came by, and requested Incan Gold. This is Game Club classic gold. It takes little effort to convince us to play this game. The accidental interaction between players is wonderful -- you are always trying to outthink both the other players and the cards. Each of you are adventurers wandering into dangerous temples. Each turn you can decide to go forward or not. Every step can bring treasure or danger. Every one of those steps makes the decision to take another step more and more painful. The more people that bow out, the greater the possible reward, but the risk of dying in that temple rises, as well. Ever card that gets turned over is a thrill.
Six of us ventured into the temples...
Kaylin left with 12 treasures. Rachael had 14. Steven had 19. Brad had 22. Fenwick had 34. But Cathy Willms easily ended the richest with 52 treasures!
For Sale
For Sale comes out quite regularly. Again, it follows the theme of the day -- simple to learn, quick to play, tough decisions.
It has 2 parts -- an auction round, where you buy properties, and a blind bidding round where they get sold. 20 minutes, and this game is done...
Here's how the real estate moguls fared... Steven had $33,000. Rachael had $37,000. Fenwick had $40,000. Brad had $41,000. Kaylin had $49,000. Cathy Willms wins with $50,000!!
Cartagena
OK. Just kidding. This didn't get played. Cartegena II was accidentally grabbed, and was quickly put back in its box.
I forgot to mention to Kaylin and Rachael that they could just play it the old fashioned way -- you don't need to play with the new crazy rules.
There is a score card filled out for this, so I figured I should still mention it.
OH! On the back of that card is also written the following...
Kaylin is pretty awesome I think! Also she has really small handwriting!
Horochsen
This is new-ish, but will definitely be a keeper for a while. The anguish of Rage, the simplicity of Yummy, and the excitement of Incan Gold. All in a game that can be learned in a few minutes, and played in a few more. It scales perfectly for 3, 4, 5, or 6 people. We played with 5.
There were a couple new folks for the game, and it really takes one full game to get the hang of it... we played 2 full games.
After the two were tallied: Steven had -28 (Not as bad as it sounds, it can be hard to stay positive in this game!). Cathy had -7. Brad had 5 (that's surprising -- he usually does a LOT better). Sam had 24 (a consistent "12" in each game). But Fenwick won with a ridiculous 116!
Farkel
We finished up with a classic -- Farkel. Sam had to go, so it was down to 4 of us. WE knew time was a little tight, so we decided to play to 7500 instead of the classic 10000.
Farkel brought me bakc to enjoying dice. It should be a casino game somehow -- I would go to Vegas. It's all about pushing your luck, and feeling the excitement!
We were all destroyed by the deft hands of Steven.
End scores: Brad had 3000. Fenwick had 3650. Cathy Willms had 4250. And Steven crushed us with 7600.
Another good game day. This one seemed more about quantity than quality, but there shall be other summer days for the lengthier strategy games...
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