The Tao of Gaming

I got to try Zooloretto. Not bad. Good. I could play it again. I wouldn't fret unduly if I didn't.

I finally got in another game of Struggle of Empires ... unlike my NC group here people drive their peasants hard; two nations hit 19 unrest (and I, sadly, came in second worst at 14, losing by 4).

We also played Castle. Castle is one of those games that I rarely think of, but enjoy when we play. Like earlier sessions, we played twice. Apart from the usual variant ("You may not draw a card if you have as many cards as you started with in hand") I think I should errata the Merchant so that you can't play him the turn you go out. (I now see this is an official variant).

(Rather than link to BGG, I've decided to link to my comments on the games) The multiples:

• Phoenicia -- 12
• Strat-o-Matic Baseball -- 8
• Caylus Magna Carta -- 6
• Roma -- 5
• Shadowfist -- 5
• Notre Dame -- 4
• Tichu -- 4
• Augsburg 1520 -- 2
• No Thanks! -- 2
• Smarty Party -- 2
• Stage II -- 2

And the onesies: Colosseum, Control Nut!, Diamant, Dune, Flaschenteufel, Leaping Lemmings, Mah-Jongg, Power Grid - Italy/France, Ra, Ticket to Ride: Märklin Edition, To Court the King, War of the Ring - Battles of the Third Age, Why Did the Chicken...?

A few games I hadn't commented on. The WotR expansion seemed reasonable enough. Colosseum struck me as "Too many notes." Not bad, but could be tighter.

I finally broke Why did the Chicken out for our game night (which often has party or trivia games). This is basically "Balderdash" with jokes. You have a question "What happened when the BLANK dated the BLANK?" and two nouns to fill in the blanks. Everyone gets two minutes to write up punchlines (as many as they want), and a single player judges (ala Apples to Apples). Two jokes win, each winner getting a card (to score). Play with each player judging once (or more, I suppose).

Bruce Vilanch we are not.

After two "jokes" I was ready to punt, but we got better. The last joke ("Why did the pirate want to become a rabbit?") got several credible entries ... feel free to leave yours in the comment.

Anyway, you now know enough to decide to buy it or avoid it.

I suspect I'll play it a few more times, but I think I prefer Beyond Balderdash.

I've actually got a fair amount of gaming in over the last week or so (including plenty of Phoenicia, but that pushes any strategy thoughts I have further back ... I keep losing).

I've got distractions "In Real Life," not enough to keep me away from the table (I doubt nothing short of death will do that), but leaving me with little to write. Hence snippets.

I finally got my set of Critical Shift for Shadowfist. This is immensely satisfying, as I haven't playtested the game for years so the new cards are fresh. (I also enjoy the freedom to snarl "Who playtested that?") I built my first new deck in about six months, and the local scene is going fairly strong. On the other hand, I find it frustrating because the game isn't (mainly) in stores and the new set did not include starter decks, which help grow the game. Shadowfist is under its third owner (Daedelus, Z-Man and now Shadowfist Games), which shows dedication and staying power...

I'm hoping to get my (freshly acquired) copy of Britannia on the table soon. The new version looks nice, the rules read quickly, and it's a (near) classic.

I missed the announcement last week that Math Trades have been solved. (I have enough computer science to be able to dimly grasp the basics, but the finer points elude me). Perhaps a theorist in the audience can enlighten me ... but isn't the "math trade" problem isomorphic to a variant of the traveling salesman, which is a 'serious' problem in mathematics. [The solver has published several books on high-level CS]. Anyway, perhaps of interest.

Anyway, open thread -- what's new on your table? Any good?