Truly an epic gameday, Jake's farewell meeting was not without a great deal of fun. Some new games were played, as well as many oldies-but-goodies. An appearance by club favourite Guitar Hero was also made later in the evening, assisting to make this meeting the longest meeting in Game Club history, and one of the most fun.
Sword and Skull
There were a LOT of people at the meeting, so two games ran simultaneously at first. Mike 1, Chris, Sean and Steven played an epic game of Swords and Skulls, yet another "lively game" involving pirates. Many pirate games are played by the game club, not the least of which is Loot, a simple card game. To my knowledge, this is the first board game on the subject that the Game Club has yet played.
I didn't get a chance to play this game so I don't know much about it. It's a boardgame that seems to touch on the economic, political and idealogical complexities of being a pirate locked in a seventeenth-century struggle between life, death, and the Pirate King.
That, or it's an excuse to shout "Arrr!" while battling opponents for treasure.
All in all, Mike 1 claimed victory, as both Chris and Steven had to leave.
Christina, Cathy Wilms, Jake, Mike 2 and TJ all had time enough to play three games while the pirates went about cavorting and capering.
Beat the Buzzard
A very simple card game, Beat the Buzzard is a favourite along with Zeus on the Loose as ways to pass time when waiting for larger games to start. So we began with this fun little game. It's easy enough to learn in moments. Players have cards numbered 1 - 15, and are competing for cards that range from -5 to 10. No matter what card you're bidding for, high numbers are good, as in the case of positive numbers, high card wins. In the case of negative numbers, however, which take points away from your score, the low card "wins", and takes the card. It's a game of double-super-secret-reverse psychology, and one that can muddle the mind of the most nefarious bidder.
In the first game, Mike 2 captured many small numbers, leading to his triumphant victory over the rest. In the second game, TJ's capture of just a few high numbers lead to a narrow win.
Intrigue
According to Sean, this game is "all about the screwage." Soon, we would all learn exactly why. Each player has four rooms in their Castle, valued at $1ooo, $3ooo, $6ooo and $1o,ooo each. These rooms pay money to whomever's specialists are located in them. Each player has four different specialists at their disposal, and two of each of them, making for a total of eight different workers than can be employed by their opponents. The ultimate goal, of course, is to have the most money. Each castle, however, MUST have one of each of the four specialists under its employ, forcing you to make deals in order to secure a good spot in the castles, while also not giving away your prized 1o,ooo to someone who will end up betraying you later.
According to the rules "everything is allowed." And that means everything. For instance, if one were to apply to a castle, and offer that castle's owner $2o,ooo for the room that pays $1o,ooo, there is no stopping that castle's owner from taking the money and then throwing the other person's opponent to the wolves, if his castle is already full. Payment is received each turn for the rooms you control, so as is often touted, the key to this game is location, location, location. As well as a lot of betrayal, betrayal, betrayal.
In the end, Christina took victory with a whopping $14o,ooo. Trailing her were TJ and Cathy with $138,ooo and $121,ooo respectively. Jake and Mike 2, sadly remained far below with $98,ooo and $49,ooo each. Mike 2 had been evicted from every player's castle by the end of the game, so for the last few turns he earned no payment, clearly spoiling any hope of victory.
Continuo
Continuo is an interesting game with similarities to Aquarius and even Blokus. Your goal is the most points. To do that, you lay cards out in a particular fashion so as to connect a lot of similar coloured blocks. Each card consists of patterns of blocks of different colours, of which there are plenty of variations. Points are scored based on the grouping of colour each round.
In the end, TJ walked away the winner with 151 points, well ahead Jake and Cathy's 125, Mike 2's 119, and Chrissy's 115.
With that, the game of Sword and Skull came to a close. Chris left to retrieve his car, and Cathy, Steven and Chrissy left to celebrate the latter's birthday.
Wayfinder
Upon Chris' return, a game of Wayfinder began. Wayfinder is like Mancala on several types of pure Colombian cocaine. Four differenly coloured resources begin on each square, and the ultimate goal is, in effect, to have the most *stuff* of your colour on each square. The way this is acheived is movement akin to Mancala. From your starting position (chosen at the end of a previous round), a player picks up every gem-like resource token in the square, and makes a straight-line or right angle away from it, in any direction he is able, and drops one in each square he passes. For example, If one square has five tokens, it can only move five spaces.
Additionally, if any square ends up with only one different colour, that colour becomes the only colour that can ever go into that space. Once five of the same colour control a square in that way, that colour is allowed to replace them with a hut, which is counted for points at the end of the game.
All in all, a very fun game, but very difficult to keep track of what's going on all over the board all at the same time. Jake wo with 129, Sean took second with 118, TJ held third with 110, and Chris wept from last place with a mere 84.
Infinity
This was a game that Chris had bought from the dollar store a long time ago, but had apparently never played. The idea is interesting: form the Universe from the Beginning to "Destiny", by laying tiles on different arms of the Galaxy, creating planets and moons and eventually Life.
Many aspects of this game intrigued the players, including one rule allowing you to freely draw from your discard pile, or from that of the person to your left. Infinity is also the first game with an instruction manual to include "Black Hole" as a verb. (ie Black Holed)
A very interesting and very fun game that will probably find its way to more meetings in the future.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Good summer game day.
Well, it has been raining for more than a week around here. Good weather to sit inside and play games!
Tuesday, June 27th was a game day that had us playing new games and meeting new people. We played for our usual 7 hours...
Some of the regulars were not in attendance, which was unfortunate. But we will chronicle what we've done, so they can see what they missed...
Players: Mike and Chris
I was setting up for game day, and Mike got there before anyone else. So, Chris and Mike dove into the 2 player games while waiting for people to show up. Deflexion is a good one with which to start!
I don't know why I like this game. I am such an anti-fan of games like chess, checkers, or backgammon. Abstract strategy games are rarely ones I likely, and I am always bad at them. But, if you throw in a laser, somehow that makes it all OK.
Deflexion is interesting in many ways -- first of all, your pieces are somewhat scattered all over the board; both players' bits are intermingled around the board. Also, the laser is unconcerned with whomever's mirror it hits -- you can use your opponent's pieces against him (or her)! You have to be careful not to eliminate yourself from the board. The game shares a few elements of other games, but it has a real personality all its own. The fact that the game is designed with pieces that look ancient and modern at the same time is brilliant! Ancient Egyptian forms together with metallic-colored plastic, mirrors and lasers -- it looks wild.
Mike and I played 2 games. Mike won the first game nicely. In the rematch, Chris managed to pull off the win.
We were comfortable with one win each, so after those 2 games, we moved on.
Players: Mike and Chris
This is a fun, simple, two player game. It's really a tic-tac-toe variant... you are trying to get 4 pieces in a row that share a common attribute. The twist: the other player chooses what piece you play. It's a tiny little change to most games, and it's enough to make the game have a personality all its own.
We played a sort of practice game so that I could show Mike how to play.
Then we played 3 actual games. Chris won twice, Mike won once.
Players: Mike and Chris
We knew people would be coming soon, but we decided to get in one more game before the crowds arrived. I picked up the game Quivive (not exactly sure how to pronounce that -- I make it rhyme with 'survive') over the weekend, and hadn't gotten a chance to play it yet.
It turns out to be another simple/clever game. The game board is made up of circles. Each player has a token to control (you can play with up to 5 players -- with just 2 players, each person controls 2 tokens). A move consists of moving one of your tokens, and removing a circle from the board. If you are unable to move at the beginning of your turn, you are eliminated from the game. You want to be the last one left. Very simple.
We played one game. Mike won. In fact, Mike shut Chris out -- removing BOTH of Chris' pieces without having any of his own removed!
Players: Mike, Christine, Laura, Chris
By the time we had finished Quivive, an old Game Club friend, Christine, had come by. And she brought her friend Laura. Now we have 4 people!
I remembered Christine being a fan of Blokus, and since she had been there, I had picked up a copy of Gemblo, which shares a lot of rules with Blokus -- the main difference: Blokus is based on squares, Gemblo is based on hexagons. The hexagons provide a MUCH wider possibility of moves. The hexes are supposed to represent different colored gems, and it's obvious.... It is one of the most beautiful abstract strategy games I own.
Laura was out first, but she did really well for her very first game at Game Club ever... Christine and Mike battled it out for second. Chris had paved the way to make sure he had room for most of his stuff...
Final Scores:
Chris wins!!
Players: Sean, Christine, Laura, Chris
Mike had to go, but Sean was arriving at this point, so we jumped into a game of Quiddler. We've played Quiddler so much, there's likely no need to explain how it's played here. Let's go right to the scores:
Sean wins with a comfortable lead!!
Players: Sean, Christine, Laura, Tom, Chris
Right near the end of Quiddler, Tom came by. Tom is an avid game player who heard about our game club, and decided to come check it out. We have a lot of overlap in the games we know, but there is certainly a lot we can teach each other.
One of the easiest and craziest games we play is "Quo Vadis?". I know it is one of Sean's faves, and certainly one of mine, as well. We were the only two to know how to play, but we quickly brought Christine, Laura, and Tom up to speed. The main rule: be a politician. You need help to get ahead. Make promises to others, and then decide whether or not you'll actually keep them. It's wonderfully back-stabby.
You collect 'laurels' as you go throught the game. The person with the most laurels wins. If there is a tie, the first person to make it to the end of the gameboard takes the win.
Here's the laurel count at the end of the game:
So here we stand with a tie between Sean and Chris. However, Chris was the first one to make it to the last room -- Chris wins with the tie breaker rule!!
Players: Brian, Sean, AJ, Tom, Chris
Christine and Laura had to run, but they were replaced by Brian and AJ.
Another newish purchase I had made was a game called "Oasis" by Alan Moon (the Ticket to Ride guy). It has been out for a couple years, and has lots of little wooden camels (not as many as Through the Desert, but still a bunch). You also have little followers with which you can claim an area (in a tiny little way, that's like Carcassonne). When the game ends, each area on the board has a commodity or product that is associated with it. You multiply the amount of those products you have with the size of its associated area to get a score.
The clever part of the game is that it begins with each player offering cards with areas and products to all the other players. You don't get to keep your own cards! But, if you are chosen first, you get to pick first the next round. SO, in order to get the best place in the next round, you often have to give up great things THIS round. It's an amazing game mechanic that I am surprised has been picked up in other games.
It was as fun as I'd hoped.
Here's how the scores came up:
Brian wins with a giant margin! Tom noted that on the scoring track, Brian actually LAPPED AJ!
Players: Don and Chris
Don and I (Chris) have had an ongoing Deflexion rivalry for a while. I am in a big slump, though, losing the last 5 games in a row.
Today did not grant me any relief at all. Don won 3 more games in a row. Sheesh.
Players: Tom, Sean, Brian, AJ (later replaced by Chris)
As Don and I were playing Deflexion, Tom pulled out Ys, one of the games he had brought to show us.
It's a bit hard to describe -- there's a lot going on on the board. It is sort of a blind bidding game, but it has market-demand elements, like in Queen's Necklace. You bid on gems, but can also bid to change the value of gems. The gems most in demand are worth the most points... but their value changes throughout the game.
Another interesting bit is that it's a SEMI-blind bidding game. You make two bids per turn, one is blind, the other is visible. So people have a little inkling of what you are doing.
There are a lot of intricate rules, as well as cards that allow you to make some interesting changes to the game play. You really have to go through the game once to get a flow of the action. Once you do, you'll see that the game is remarkably clever, without being too cumbersome.
AJ started playing, but had to split. So, about 1/2 way through the game, Chris pinch hit for him.
After the final gems were scored, this is how the score track stood:
No one was running away with the win, and we really didn't know who was going to come out ahead until the very end.
This may be a good way to review the game: the day after we played it, I bought it. It's really that good.
And then we broke up for the day!
Tuesday, June 27th was a game day that had us playing new games and meeting new people. We played for our usual 7 hours...
Some of the regulars were not in attendance, which was unfortunate. But we will chronicle what we've done, so they can see what they missed...
Deflexion
Players: Mike and Chris
I was setting up for game day, and Mike got there before anyone else. So, Chris and Mike dove into the 2 player games while waiting for people to show up. Deflexion is a good one with which to start!
I don't know why I like this game. I am such an anti-fan of games like chess, checkers, or backgammon. Abstract strategy games are rarely ones I likely, and I am always bad at them. But, if you throw in a laser, somehow that makes it all OK.
Deflexion is interesting in many ways -- first of all, your pieces are somewhat scattered all over the board; both players' bits are intermingled around the board. Also, the laser is unconcerned with whomever's mirror it hits -- you can use your opponent's pieces against him (or her)! You have to be careful not to eliminate yourself from the board. The game shares a few elements of other games, but it has a real personality all its own. The fact that the game is designed with pieces that look ancient and modern at the same time is brilliant! Ancient Egyptian forms together with metallic-colored plastic, mirrors and lasers -- it looks wild.
Mike and I played 2 games. Mike won the first game nicely. In the rematch, Chris managed to pull off the win.
We were comfortable with one win each, so after those 2 games, we moved on.
Quarto!
Players: Mike and Chris
This is a fun, simple, two player game. It's really a tic-tac-toe variant... you are trying to get 4 pieces in a row that share a common attribute. The twist: the other player chooses what piece you play. It's a tiny little change to most games, and it's enough to make the game have a personality all its own.
We played a sort of practice game so that I could show Mike how to play.
Then we played 3 actual games. Chris won twice, Mike won once.
Quivive
Players: Mike and Chris
We knew people would be coming soon, but we decided to get in one more game before the crowds arrived. I picked up the game Quivive (not exactly sure how to pronounce that -- I make it rhyme with 'survive') over the weekend, and hadn't gotten a chance to play it yet.
It turns out to be another simple/clever game. The game board is made up of circles. Each player has a token to control (you can play with up to 5 players -- with just 2 players, each person controls 2 tokens). A move consists of moving one of your tokens, and removing a circle from the board. If you are unable to move at the beginning of your turn, you are eliminated from the game. You want to be the last one left. Very simple.
We played one game. Mike won. In fact, Mike shut Chris out -- removing BOTH of Chris' pieces without having any of his own removed!
Gemblo
Players: Mike, Christine, Laura, Chris
By the time we had finished Quivive, an old Game Club friend, Christine, had come by. And she brought her friend Laura. Now we have 4 people!
I remembered Christine being a fan of Blokus, and since she had been there, I had picked up a copy of Gemblo, which shares a lot of rules with Blokus -- the main difference: Blokus is based on squares, Gemblo is based on hexagons. The hexagons provide a MUCH wider possibility of moves. The hexes are supposed to represent different colored gems, and it's obvious.... It is one of the most beautiful abstract strategy games I own.
Laura was out first, but she did really well for her very first game at Game Club ever... Christine and Mike battled it out for second. Chris had paved the way to make sure he had room for most of his stuff...
Final Scores:
| Laura | Chritine | Mike | Chris |
| -21 | -15 | -13 | -8 |
Chris wins!!
Quiddler
Players: Sean, Christine, Laura, Chris
Mike had to go, but Sean was arriving at this point, so we jumped into a game of Quiddler. We've played Quiddler so much, there's likely no need to explain how it's played here. Let's go right to the scores:
| Laura | Christine | Chris | Sean |
| 184 | 201 | 219 | 249 |
Sean wins with a comfortable lead!!
Quo Vadis
Players: Sean, Christine, Laura, Tom, Chris
Right near the end of Quiddler, Tom came by. Tom is an avid game player who heard about our game club, and decided to come check it out. We have a lot of overlap in the games we know, but there is certainly a lot we can teach each other.
One of the easiest and craziest games we play is "Quo Vadis?". I know it is one of Sean's faves, and certainly one of mine, as well. We were the only two to know how to play, but we quickly brought Christine, Laura, and Tom up to speed. The main rule: be a politician. You need help to get ahead. Make promises to others, and then decide whether or not you'll actually keep them. It's wonderfully back-stabby.
You collect 'laurels' as you go throught the game. The person with the most laurels wins. If there is a tie, the first person to make it to the end of the gameboard takes the win.
Here's the laurel count at the end of the game:
| Tom | Christine | Laura | Chris | Sean |
| 14 | 16 | 16 | 21 | 21 |
So here we stand with a tie between Sean and Chris. However, Chris was the first one to make it to the last room -- Chris wins with the tie breaker rule!!
Oasis
Players: Brian, Sean, AJ, Tom, Chris
Christine and Laura had to run, but they were replaced by Brian and AJ.
Another newish purchase I had made was a game called "Oasis" by Alan Moon (the Ticket to Ride guy). It has been out for a couple years, and has lots of little wooden camels (not as many as Through the Desert, but still a bunch). You also have little followers with which you can claim an area (in a tiny little way, that's like Carcassonne). When the game ends, each area on the board has a commodity or product that is associated with it. You multiply the amount of those products you have with the size of its associated area to get a score.
The clever part of the game is that it begins with each player offering cards with areas and products to all the other players. You don't get to keep your own cards! But, if you are chosen first, you get to pick first the next round. SO, in order to get the best place in the next round, you often have to give up great things THIS round. It's an amazing game mechanic that I am surprised has been picked up in other games.
It was as fun as I'd hoped.
Here's how the scores came up:
| AJ | Sean | Tom | Chris | Brian |
| 42 | 81 | 96 | 110 | 148 |
Brian wins with a giant margin! Tom noted that on the scoring track, Brian actually LAPPED AJ!
Deflexion
Players: Don and Chris
Don and I (Chris) have had an ongoing Deflexion rivalry for a while. I am in a big slump, though, losing the last 5 games in a row.
Today did not grant me any relief at all. Don won 3 more games in a row. Sheesh.
Ys
Players: Tom, Sean, Brian, AJ (later replaced by Chris)
As Don and I were playing Deflexion, Tom pulled out Ys, one of the games he had brought to show us.
It's a bit hard to describe -- there's a lot going on on the board. It is sort of a blind bidding game, but it has market-demand elements, like in Queen's Necklace. You bid on gems, but can also bid to change the value of gems. The gems most in demand are worth the most points... but their value changes throughout the game.
Another interesting bit is that it's a SEMI-blind bidding game. You make two bids per turn, one is blind, the other is visible. So people have a little inkling of what you are doing.
There are a lot of intricate rules, as well as cards that allow you to make some interesting changes to the game play. You really have to go through the game once to get a flow of the action. Once you do, you'll see that the game is remarkably clever, without being too cumbersome.
AJ started playing, but had to split. So, about 1/2 way through the game, Chris pinch hit for him.
After the final gems were scored, this is how the score track stood:
| Brian | AJ/Chris | Tom | Sean |
| 64 | 73 | 79 | 84 |
No one was running away with the win, and we really didn't know who was going to come out ahead until the very end.
This may be a good way to review the game: the day after we played it, I bought it. It's really that good.
And then we broke up for the day!
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Summer means fewer posts
Hey there! OK, we haven't been keeping up with our posting. We actually have just been meeting weekly with less recording of data and picture taking. But we are still playing!
Actually, on June 20th we had a little twist. Instead of sitting and playing, we decided to go a little more kinetic. I (Chris) dragged in my Dance Dance Revolution mats. And we did a little of that. But I also brought in my Guitar Hero stuff! That was were the fun was. We had some new people come by, so it turned into a recruitment gimmick, to some extent!
Here's just a couple pics from guitar playing...
This is Sean and Ben rocking out to Ozzy Osbourne.
As is this.
Here's Rich and Jake.
And this is too...
Guitar Hero: Best Game EVER.
Cheers!
Actually, on June 20th we had a little twist. Instead of sitting and playing, we decided to go a little more kinetic. I (Chris) dragged in my Dance Dance Revolution mats. And we did a little of that. But I also brought in my Guitar Hero stuff! That was were the fun was. We had some new people come by, so it turned into a recruitment gimmick, to some extent!
Here's just a couple pics from guitar playing...
This is Sean and Ben rocking out to Ozzy Osbourne.
As is this.
Here's Rich and Jake.
And this is too...
Guitar Hero: Best Game EVER.
Cheers!
Saturday, May 13, 2006
More pics
Here's some shots from Monday, May 8th. This was a day of gaming during finals week. It was not an official meeting, just a brain break. A couple people had just finished some tests, so they were pleased to get in some games. Jake even left early because he had to study for a test on Tuesday.
BIG CITY
This is our Big City.
Here's a closeup looking down a road.
This is the scoreboard at the end.
This is who won.
(You may call him "Erick". It was his first time playing and he SLAUGHTERED Sean and Chris.)
Monsters Menace America
This is a pretty fun game. Each person controls a monster and uses it to ravage the United States. Each person also, inexplcably, controls a branch of the military. It isn't super-strategic, but it has a little bit of strategy. There is a lot of luck in rolling a bunch of dice... The dice rolls remind me a little of Risk.
The best part of the game is the bits! There are great models of the monsters, and the miltary units have nice detail. The board is HUGE, the cards are high-quality with amazing illustrations, and the cardboard hexagons that indicate that a city has been 'stomped' are top notch.
The board near the begining of the game...
A couple monsters with some military units...
The giant Eyeball nervously peers at approaching military units...
Godzilla prepares to fend off the army...
This is the victor! Notice that the two planes are IN MID-AIR when it was taken. That is not Photoshopped -- I counted to three, the planes were thrown, and the pic was snapped. A one-in-a-million shot.
A couple monsters with some military units...
The giant Eyeball nervously peers at approaching military units...
Godzilla prepares to fend off the army...
This is the victor! Notice that the two planes are IN MID-AIR when it was taken. That is not Photoshopped -- I counted to three, the planes were thrown, and the pic was snapped. A one-in-a-million shot.Quicksand
Quicksand is a silly little game, quick to learn, and quick to play. The basics are this: each player controls a game piece which, through playing cards, gets moved through the game board to the end. First player to the end wins. Sounds simple, and it is.
But there IS a couple twists -- first, you have a small hand of cards, and you HAVE to play at least one card per turn, which may move your pece forward, or may move an opponent forward. Next, each person's pawn remains secret! You only know who you are playing as -- you don't know who your opponents may be. You try to keep your identity secret by not being too obvious about which pieces you are trying to move.
It's a cute, speedy little game!
Here's a part of the game board...
Green wins!!Quo Vadis?
Quo Vaids? is a wonderful game of strategy and politics. You need to move your pieces into strategic places, but, possibly more importantly, you have to sweet-talk the other players into helping you win. Sound like a difficult task? It is. But it's a fun one. This is one of my favorites -- I knew nothing of it when I bought it and was amazingly surprised at the simplicity of instructions, but depth of strategy and creativity.
Players manuever and manipulate their way to the top...
These are the players who made it to the final room of the Senate.Ticket to Ride: Marklin edition
Ticket to Ride has been winning all sorts of awards for a couple years now, and a couple spin-offs the original have come out. This map of Germany is the newest version. The authentic-looking German map (the German names of cities are used) is huge and beautiful, and the small plastic trains are beautiful and plentiful. It probably has the most bits of any game I own.
You try to build trains that fulfill secret goals of train routes. You get points for each train made, as well as for completing those routes. You can also get points for sending a passenger along one of your routes.
You build trains by playing sets of cards.
At first glance, the sheer size of the board, the number of pieces, and variety of choices seems daunting, but the game is really simple to learn, but has many choices to give it plenty of depth.
This is the board with a few trains built...
The red player was the winner!
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Some pictures from last week
Hey there! We haven't updated the blog in little a while... it's been a busy time here as we end the semester.
Last Monday (May 1) was our last official meeting of the semester. We didn't even record results, we just took a few pictures. We did start playing around noon -- got kicked out of the Student Center around 10:30 -- moved to the local diner, and kept playing until midnight. TWELVE HOURS OF GAMING. We are sick.
Anyhoo... here's some pictures from the game playing on May 1st...
This is the first time we've played a game called Big City. I've had it for a while, but the rules seemed kind of daunting. It has some of the coolest bits of any game I have ever seen.
You all add building to a city and get paid for building it. Buildings next to parks get bonus points. Commercial buildings in the City Center get bonus points, whereas Residences at the outskirts get bonuses. There are a lot of rules like that which seem confusing at first, but each player gets a quick reference guide to help remember them. It's really not very hard...
There is a nifty sort of twisty in the strategy. You see, there are many buildings that can't be built until City Hall is built. Many bonuses are provided by placing Streetcars. Parks improve value of adjacent buildings. New neighborhoods may be placed to extend areas on which to build. Placing these items provides the gamer who places them ABSOLUTELY NO POINTS. So it is a bit of a struggle -- you want to place those to help yourself, but it costs you a turn to place them, AND they can potentially help the other players as well. It's a tough choice.
At the end of the game, you have a very satisfying city layout.
The below picture shows a cool street-level view. Alas, the streetcar suffered minor derailment right before the picture was taken...
Blokus. We love Blokus.
I do remember this game of Dvonn. Erick shut me (Chris) out completely. I had NONE left. He made me take these pictures to make it permanently recorded on the Internet.
Settlers of Catan rocks. We all love it. The above picture is my Windows Wallpaper.
It has an awesome board layout.
It is strategic and fun. Just the right blend of strategy and luck.
Zeus on the Loose is a game by Gamewright. It is sort of the like the first half of a round of Cribbage. It's kind of nifty and very fun. And has a very cool Zeus figurine.
And here is me with Challah bread in my mouth.
And here is TJ wearing a hat celebrating Steven's birthday.
CHEERS!
Last Monday (May 1) was our last official meeting of the semester. We didn't even record results, we just took a few pictures. We did start playing around noon -- got kicked out of the Student Center around 10:30 -- moved to the local diner, and kept playing until midnight. TWELVE HOURS OF GAMING. We are sick.
Anyhoo... here's some pictures from the game playing on May 1st...
This is the first time we've played a game called Big City. I've had it for a while, but the rules seemed kind of daunting. It has some of the coolest bits of any game I have ever seen.
You all add building to a city and get paid for building it. Buildings next to parks get bonus points. Commercial buildings in the City Center get bonus points, whereas Residences at the outskirts get bonuses. There are a lot of rules like that which seem confusing at first, but each player gets a quick reference guide to help remember them. It's really not very hard...
There is a nifty sort of twisty in the strategy. You see, there are many buildings that can't be built until City Hall is built. Many bonuses are provided by placing Streetcars. Parks improve value of adjacent buildings. New neighborhoods may be placed to extend areas on which to build. Placing these items provides the gamer who places them ABSOLUTELY NO POINTS. So it is a bit of a struggle -- you want to place those to help yourself, but it costs you a turn to place them, AND they can potentially help the other players as well. It's a tough choice.
At the end of the game, you have a very satisfying city layout.
The below picture shows a cool street-level view. Alas, the streetcar suffered minor derailment right before the picture was taken...
Blokus. We love Blokus.
I do remember this game of Dvonn. Erick shut me (Chris) out completely. I had NONE left. He made me take these pictures to make it permanently recorded on the Internet.
Settlers of Catan rocks. We all love it. The above picture is my Windows Wallpaper.
It has an awesome board layout.
It is strategic and fun. Just the right blend of strategy and luck.
Zeus on the Loose is a game by Gamewright. It is sort of the like the first half of a round of Cribbage. It's kind of nifty and very fun. And has a very cool Zeus figurine.
And here is me with Challah bread in my mouth.
And here is TJ wearing a hat celebrating Steven's birthday.
CHEERS!
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Game Day 4/17
We were supposed to do nominations today, as well as propose games for the Game Club to buy. But the games were just too good. We forgot to actually have a meeting.
Deflexion
Players: Jake and Rob.
Jake wins!
Primordial Soup
Players: Scott, Jay, Chris, and Angie.
Angie had to go early. But she was clearly pounding the snot out of the rest of us. Her commanding lead would have assured her win in another turn or two. We quit the game at this point, confident at the ultimate outcome of the game.
Angie wins!
Blokus
Players: Sean, Nolan, Jake, Joe (1st game), Rich (2nd game)
While the above game was going on, a couple games of Blokus were going on.
Jake wins game 1!
Jake wins game 2, actually going out! Sean was close in second, with one 4-square piece left over.
Rumis
Players: Jake, Rich, Sean, Nolan.
The Coriconcha board was chosen. Here's how the scores went down...
Jake wins!
Jake, in just 3 short games, increased his win rate by quite a bit...
Mesopotamia
Players: Scott, Jay, Don, Chris
Scott delivers his offerings first... Scott wins!
The only other item of note -- Don was kind of pinned int one corner of the board. His first foray into the rest of the board had him sending one of his followers out to get some lumber. On the next turn, Jay moved a gang into the square Don was on, stole the lumber, and made a hut out of it.
Bohnanza
Players: Jake, Nolan, Sean, Rich
Scores...
Rich wins, with a nice margin.
Ringgz
Players: Jake, Sean, Nolan, Rich
Scores...
Jake wins game 1.
Sean and Nolan win game 2.
Jake, Sean, and Nolan win game 3, in a 3 way tie, in a HUGE scoring game for Ringgz.
Fluxx
Players: Christine, Scott, Jay, Sean, Nolan, Chris, Jake (only in the first game).
We played 2 games of Fluxx.
Game one ended with a gloating Chris waiting for his turn, confident of winning, and making it obvious to those around them. His confidence and gloating was oozing around the board; especially fueled by all the new players...
On the turn before his, Nolan played his Brain card, and the "Brain (no TV)" goal card. Nolan wins!! Chris is humiliated!!! He weeps openly!!!!
Game two was going along well with a "Draw 3" and "Play 5" and "First Play Random", which was all sorts of fun, until Jay was forced to play "Rocket Science". Christine had recently played "Brain" and "Rocket", which is exactly what Rocket Science means. Christine wins!!
Unexploded Cow
Players: Christine, Scott, Jay, Nolan, Chris
Possibly the coolest concept in gamedom, Unexploded Cow is a fun romp. Goofy, mad cows that explode in a variety of ways. What could be more fun?! It's less gruesome than it sounds.
Here's the final money count:
Christine dealt with her cows the best! She also won the pot with the most city points. Christine wins!!
Coda
Players: Christine, Chris, Nolan (for 2 games, then he left)
We needed a quick game, since Nolan was doing some homework, and was going to head off to class in about 20 minutes. Coda fit perfectly.
Nolan, even though he was doing homework at the time, won the first game.
During the second game, even though Nolan (perhaps distracted by his homework) had 2 numbers in the WRONG order, Christine managed to guess them. Even with this, Chris managed to win game 2!
Then Nolan headed for class (which ended up being cancelled... he comes back later).
Chris and Christine continued playing 2-player Coda.
Christine won game 1! It was actually a shut out -- she eliminated ALL of Chris's tiles without him guessing ONE of hers.
Chris won game 2.
Christine won game 3.
BuyWord
Players: Christine, Nolan, Chris
This was last year's Games Magazine's "Game of the Year". It's one I've been looking to buy for a while. I like word games, I like strategy games, and games with fake money are kind of fun.
Turns out this is a fun one! It's pretty clever... You have the opportunity to buy letters, and then have to use those letters in longer words to make a profit. It's a unique concept, really. And one of the last games created by Sid Sackson, who is really a legend in game design.
Here's how the game turned out:
Christine wins!
Nolan pointed out that she started out strong. After the game, it was obvious that this is the best way to go. You have to start out strong. At the end of the game, you are fiddling around with the dregs of the alphabet.
Pass the Pigs
Players: Sean, Jon, Christine, Mike, Nolan, Chris
We had a few new people. Again, we were looking for a quick game. We also had a bunch of people. "Pass the Pigs" came up as a good gateway game. It takes little knowledge to play, and it's easy to help the new players. You just roll the pigs, and the people who know what is going on can tell you how well you're doing.
Here's the result:
Nolan got 100 first. NOLAN WINS!
Not that it really matters in the standings, but we kept playing... Chris came in 2nd, Sean came in 3rd... and then we quit.
"Pass the Pigs" is a silly game, for sure, but it has a few strategic elements (as long as you don't "pig out" instantly). It is a good way to introduce new folks to the world of gaming... AND it's portable. And you get to chuck pigs around the table. What could be better?
Quo Vadis
Players: Sean, Christine, Jon, Nolan, Chris
I love this game. It is really one of my favorites. It is a Reiner Knizia, which instantly makes it a candidate for one of my faves. Knizia makes wonderful games -- simple to learn, but they always have a twist.
This game is political. 100% poltical. I am a political junkie, so I am instantly attracted. When you play, you need to strategically place your senators, and make lucrative deals with the other players. You need to come up with deals. The deals help you, but they can also help those you deal with. The twist is -- once the deal is made, there is no responsibility for anyone to honor the deal. This IS the game. If it weren't for this gameplay element, the game would be moribund, at best. The dealing is an amazing element, and the risk of the deal falling through makes this game have a psycho-strategy unlike any other we have ever played before.
The end of the game was tremendous in this regard!
Nolan was near the end... everyone but Nolan and Jon had entered the final room, which is required to be considered for victory in the game.
Nolan asked for Sean's vote, offering 6 laurels. At this point, Christine suggested that she would do it for 4 laurels, but Nolan ignored the offer.
Sean wanted the points ahead of time. Nolan said "No". Before the deal completely fell through, Nolan offered to give Sean "Half now, half after the vote." He gave Sean 3 laurels, and Sean added them to his collection, and immediately told Nolan that he would NOT vote for him. So now Nolan was out three laurels, and was stuck.
He then turned to Christine and made the same offer -- 6 laurels for her vote. She offered the same counter-offer as Sean - "Half now, half after the vote." Nolan handed over 3 laurels, and Christine did the same as Sean -- NO VOTE.
Now Nolan is out SIX laurels for NOTHING. He said, "FINE! I'll give you FIVE laurels for your vote!" Christine says. "OK, you have my vote." Nolan moves into the senate, and then KEEPS the 5 points promised, filling the senate.
It really didn't matter, since Christine was walloping all of us. But it was still a hysterical end to a super-strategic game, and really illustrated how political this game is. ESPECIALLY at the end when there is little to lose.
Scores:
Christine wins!! By a HUGE margin.
Deflexion
Players: Jake and Nolan
Jake wins!
Settlers of Catan
Players: Jake, Nolan, Chris, Sean, Christine, Jon
Jon had to leave before finishing. His pieces remained on the board until we voted to remove them.
The end of the game... the scores for the remaining players went like this...
After Jake stole the "Longest Road" award from Sean, it was only a matter of time...
Jake wins!!!
Deflexion
Players: Jake and Rob.
Jake wins!
Primordial Soup
Players: Scott, Jay, Chris, and Angie.
Angie had to go early. But she was clearly pounding the snot out of the rest of us. Her commanding lead would have assured her win in another turn or two. We quit the game at this point, confident at the ultimate outcome of the game.
Angie wins!
Blokus
Players: Sean, Nolan, Jake, Joe (1st game), Rich (2nd game)
While the above game was going on, a couple games of Blokus were going on.
Jake wins game 1!
Jake wins game 2, actually going out! Sean was close in second, with one 4-square piece left over.
Rumis
Players: Jake, Rich, Sean, Nolan.
The Coriconcha board was chosen. Here's how the scores went down...
| Jake | Rich | Sean | Nolan |
| 19 | 9 | 16 | 6 |
Jake wins!
Jake, in just 3 short games, increased his win rate by quite a bit...
Mesopotamia
Players: Scott, Jay, Don, Chris
Scott delivers his offerings first... Scott wins!The only other item of note -- Don was kind of pinned int one corner of the board. His first foray into the rest of the board had him sending one of his followers out to get some lumber. On the next turn, Jay moved a gang into the square Don was on, stole the lumber, and made a hut out of it.
Bohnanza
Players: Jake, Nolan, Sean, Rich
Scores...
| Jake | Nolan | Sean | Rich |
| 7 | 8 | 4 | 11 |
Rich wins, with a nice margin.
Ringgz
Players: Jake, Sean, Nolan, Rich
Scores...| Jake | Sean | Nolan | Rich |
| 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 2 | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 |
Jake wins game 1.
Sean and Nolan win game 2.
Jake, Sean, and Nolan win game 3, in a 3 way tie, in a HUGE scoring game for Ringgz.
Fluxx
Players: Christine, Scott, Jay, Sean, Nolan, Chris, Jake (only in the first game).
We played 2 games of Fluxx.
Game one ended with a gloating Chris waiting for his turn, confident of winning, and making it obvious to those around them. His confidence and gloating was oozing around the board; especially fueled by all the new players...
On the turn before his, Nolan played his Brain card, and the "Brain (no TV)" goal card. Nolan wins!! Chris is humiliated!!! He weeps openly!!!!
Game two was going along well with a "Draw 3" and "Play 5" and "First Play Random", which was all sorts of fun, until Jay was forced to play "Rocket Science". Christine had recently played "Brain" and "Rocket", which is exactly what Rocket Science means. Christine wins!!
Unexploded Cow
Players: Christine, Scott, Jay, Nolan, Chris
Possibly the coolest concept in gamedom, Unexploded Cow is a fun romp. Goofy, mad cows that explode in a variety of ways. What could be more fun?! It's less gruesome than it sounds.Here's the final money count:
| Christine | Scott | Jay | Nolan | Chris |
| $2550 | $2300 | $1100 | $1600 | $2450 |
Christine dealt with her cows the best! She also won the pot with the most city points. Christine wins!!
Coda
Players: Christine, Chris, Nolan (for 2 games, then he left)
We needed a quick game, since Nolan was doing some homework, and was going to head off to class in about 20 minutes. Coda fit perfectly.Nolan, even though he was doing homework at the time, won the first game.
During the second game, even though Nolan (perhaps distracted by his homework) had 2 numbers in the WRONG order, Christine managed to guess them. Even with this, Chris managed to win game 2!
Then Nolan headed for class (which ended up being cancelled... he comes back later).
Chris and Christine continued playing 2-player Coda.
Christine won game 1! It was actually a shut out -- she eliminated ALL of Chris's tiles without him guessing ONE of hers.
Chris won game 2.
Christine won game 3.
BuyWord
Players: Christine, Nolan, Chris
This was last year's Games Magazine's "Game of the Year". It's one I've been looking to buy for a while. I like word games, I like strategy games, and games with fake money are kind of fun.
Turns out this is a fun one! It's pretty clever... You have the opportunity to buy letters, and then have to use those letters in longer words to make a profit. It's a unique concept, really. And one of the last games created by Sid Sackson, who is really a legend in game design.
Here's how the game turned out:
| Christine | Nolan | Chris |
| $350 | $325 | $278 |
Christine wins!
Nolan pointed out that she started out strong. After the game, it was obvious that this is the best way to go. You have to start out strong. At the end of the game, you are fiddling around with the dregs of the alphabet.
Pass the Pigs
Players: Sean, Jon, Christine, Mike, Nolan, Chris
We had a few new people. Again, we were looking for a quick game. We also had a bunch of people. "Pass the Pigs" came up as a good gateway game. It takes little knowledge to play, and it's easy to help the new players. You just roll the pigs, and the people who know what is going on can tell you how well you're doing.Here's the result:
Nolan got 100 first. NOLAN WINS!
Not that it really matters in the standings, but we kept playing... Chris came in 2nd, Sean came in 3rd... and then we quit.
"Pass the Pigs" is a silly game, for sure, but it has a few strategic elements (as long as you don't "pig out" instantly). It is a good way to introduce new folks to the world of gaming... AND it's portable. And you get to chuck pigs around the table. What could be better?
Quo Vadis
Players: Sean, Christine, Jon, Nolan, Chris
I love this game. It is really one of my favorites. It is a Reiner Knizia, which instantly makes it a candidate for one of my faves. Knizia makes wonderful games -- simple to learn, but they always have a twist.This game is political. 100% poltical. I am a political junkie, so I am instantly attracted. When you play, you need to strategically place your senators, and make lucrative deals with the other players. You need to come up with deals. The deals help you, but they can also help those you deal with. The twist is -- once the deal is made, there is no responsibility for anyone to honor the deal. This IS the game. If it weren't for this gameplay element, the game would be moribund, at best. The dealing is an amazing element, and the risk of the deal falling through makes this game have a psycho-strategy unlike any other we have ever played before.
The end of the game was tremendous in this regard!
Nolan was near the end... everyone but Nolan and Jon had entered the final room, which is required to be considered for victory in the game.
Nolan asked for Sean's vote, offering 6 laurels. At this point, Christine suggested that she would do it for 4 laurels, but Nolan ignored the offer.
Sean wanted the points ahead of time. Nolan said "No". Before the deal completely fell through, Nolan offered to give Sean "Half now, half after the vote." He gave Sean 3 laurels, and Sean added them to his collection, and immediately told Nolan that he would NOT vote for him. So now Nolan was out three laurels, and was stuck.
He then turned to Christine and made the same offer -- 6 laurels for her vote. She offered the same counter-offer as Sean - "Half now, half after the vote." Nolan handed over 3 laurels, and Christine did the same as Sean -- NO VOTE.
Now Nolan is out SIX laurels for NOTHING. He said, "FINE! I'll give you FIVE laurels for your vote!" Christine says. "OK, you have my vote." Nolan moves into the senate, and then KEEPS the 5 points promised, filling the senate.
It really didn't matter, since Christine was walloping all of us. But it was still a hysterical end to a super-strategic game, and really illustrated how political this game is. ESPECIALLY at the end when there is little to lose.
Scores:
| Sean | Christine | Jon | Nolan | Chris |
| 12 | 21 | 12 | 7 | 11 |
Christine wins!! By a HUGE margin.
Deflexion
Players: Jake and Nolan
Jake wins!
Settlers of Catan
Players: Jake, Nolan, Chris, Sean, Christine, Jon
Jon had to leave before finishing. His pieces remained on the board until we voted to remove them.
The end of the game... the scores for the remaining players went like this...
| Jake | Nolan | Chris | Sean | Christine |
| 10 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
After Jake stole the "Longest Road" award from Sean, it was only a matter of time...
Jake wins!!!
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
slight bloggy gap...
Hey there!
We haven't been posting in a while. This is the busiest time of year for students and Astronomers (me!), so we have only had time to squeeze in 10 to 12 hours of gaming a week, with no other time for Blogging.
I thought, since I had 10 minutes to spare, that I would get some game reports up.
This morning, April 10, Jake stopped by. We had about 20 minutes to play a couple games. ONLY 20 minutes?!?! No problem. We played Lost Cities twice, and Gobblet twice.
Lost Cities is one of the first games we ever played, and remains a favorite whenever a 2 player game is needed. It was my first introduction to Reiner Knizia, who has turned out to be one of my favorite game designers (as well as the favorite of millions of game players throughout the world). The gameplay is very simple, but the strategy ends up being deep.
Each player is embarking on virtual archeological expeditions. Once you start an expedition, by playing cards, you have to cover your expenses (get at least 20 points - numbers on the card tell you the number of points). Only cards with a greater value than a card already on the table can be played (i.e. -- you can put a "5" on top of a "3", but not the other way around).
It's really a very simple game mechanic -- play a card with a greater value than one you've played before of that color (or just discard a card), then draw a card. The key is deciding when to begin an expedition -- rarely will you have 20 points worth of an expedition when it begins -- you just about always have to take an educated gamble. Before you begin an expedition, you can also play multiplier cards, which multiply your score at the end (whether your final score is positive OR negative -- those can come back and cause you real pain!).
Jake did quite well, winning both games...
You have up to 5 expeditions to work on. Jake got his highest scoring game (42 points) using only THREE.
Our other, somewhat more recent, favorite is Gobblet! It plays like tic-tac-toe on steroids. I'm amazed at how simple it is, but provides an incredible amount of strategy. We're pretty evenly matched. It's impressive how we can each start with an advantage in a game and it just swings back and forth. You can feel supremely confident at one moment, and with just one gobble ("KRRROOOOWF!" <-- I make that chompy sound every time I gobble a piece. It never gets old. Really. It doesn't.) the advantage switches back.
In what may be a great illustration of the balance of our power in this game: Chris won the first game, Jake won the second.
Jake will be posting text of yesterday's HUGE game day soon!! And I will then post the pictures!
Here's a preview: the quote of the day was...
-- "It's between My Body and Michael Jackson?"
-- (horrified tone) "WHAT is between your body and Michael Jackson??"
Cheers!
We haven't been posting in a while. This is the busiest time of year for students and Astronomers (me!), so we have only had time to squeeze in 10 to 12 hours of gaming a week, with no other time for Blogging.
I thought, since I had 10 minutes to spare, that I would get some game reports up.
This morning, April 10, Jake stopped by. We had about 20 minutes to play a couple games. ONLY 20 minutes?!?! No problem. We played Lost Cities twice, and Gobblet twice.
Lost Cities is one of the first games we ever played, and remains a favorite whenever a 2 player game is needed. It was my first introduction to Reiner Knizia, who has turned out to be one of my favorite game designers (as well as the favorite of millions of game players throughout the world). The gameplay is very simple, but the strategy ends up being deep. Each player is embarking on virtual archeological expeditions. Once you start an expedition, by playing cards, you have to cover your expenses (get at least 20 points - numbers on the card tell you the number of points). Only cards with a greater value than a card already on the table can be played (i.e. -- you can put a "5" on top of a "3", but not the other way around).
It's really a very simple game mechanic -- play a card with a greater value than one you've played before of that color (or just discard a card), then draw a card. The key is deciding when to begin an expedition -- rarely will you have 20 points worth of an expedition when it begins -- you just about always have to take an educated gamble. Before you begin an expedition, you can also play multiplier cards, which multiply your score at the end (whether your final score is positive OR negative -- those can come back and cause you real pain!).
Jake did quite well, winning both games...
| Jake | Chris | |
| Game 1 | 38 | 12 |
| Game 2 | 42 | 35 |
| TOTALS | 80 | 47 |
You have up to 5 expeditions to work on. Jake got his highest scoring game (42 points) using only THREE.
Our other, somewhat more recent, favorite is Gobblet! It plays like tic-tac-toe on steroids. I'm amazed at how simple it is, but provides an incredible amount of strategy. We're pretty evenly matched. It's impressive how we can each start with an advantage in a game and it just swings back and forth. You can feel supremely confident at one moment, and with just one gobble ("KRRROOOOWF!" <-- I make that chompy sound every time I gobble a piece. It never gets old. Really. It doesn't.) the advantage switches back.In what may be a great illustration of the balance of our power in this game: Chris won the first game, Jake won the second.
Jake will be posting text of yesterday's HUGE game day soon!! And I will then post the pictures!
Here's a preview: the quote of the day was...
-- "It's between My Body and Michael Jackson?"
-- (horrified tone) "WHAT is between your body and Michael Jackson??"
Cheers!
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