Larry recommended Peloponnes (and I did notice his review of it). As for his other points...
Endeavor is also quite good, for those who are fond of Euros.For the games that haven't been released yet, I seek out the prototypes that you avoid, Brian, so I can attest that Fabrikmanager, Macao, Dungeonlords, Campaign Manager 2008, and Burger Joint are all very good. BasketBoss appeals to me, since it's an approach to sports gaming (a GM building a team where the players' abilities change with time) that I've tried a few times in the past with my own designs
First off: I only avoid prototypes while I'm at conventions. I'm perfectly willing to waste a few hours of normal gaming time on a prototype. (You may remember I tried the Leaping Lemmings prototype). So if you want to send me a copy of your great prototype, fine. (I have turned down a few review copies recently, but no prototypes).
But that doesn't stop lots of people from putting up their Essen decorations early, and while my general strategy of not being an early adopter has served me well, that's no reason not to window shop.
I'm glad to see AEG trying to break into board games, even though I have no reason to think I'll like their catalog (since, you know, I haven't investigated it until just now). There's a soft spot in my heart of L5R (although I haven't played much this decade).
JKLM's Ascendancy? Well, a space empire and whatnot in a few hours would be nice. But I went through the Civ in two hours grail search. Lots of dead knights, there. Some good treasures, but no grail.
So, this is the open question thread? Any games at Essen making you squee like a child? Fabrikmanager? That unknown game with 25 copies only? What?
]]>I see no reason to consider Le Havre a "multiple paths to victory" game. So (contra Larry) I see no reason why moving this critical path to the front (and the corresponding freedom to the end) magically relieves Puerto Rico of the same charge. My gut is that Through the Ages is similarly front loaded.
If you want to say that PR isn't 'one way to win' because my description is too vague, that's a different charge. ("Focus on getting early income, usually via a high value trading good" isn't nearly as specific as "stockpile cole, convert ship"). Also, PR and TtA give you a greater percentage of "non-scripted" actions ... its not a binary decision.
I feel that LH gives you relatively few unscripted actions, in comparison. Certainly the fact that after 10 games of PR I was in no way tired of it speaks that it is more free-form.
And all those games are still interesting if everyone knows the secret.
As for the other comments, I've no idea if Automobile really falls into this category, or is just a pure tactical optimization game.
Update: The lesson, as always, is to "smoke the crack" to get comments flowing.
]]>Am I done with Le Havre? It certainly seems like it (haven't played it in four months). While I agree that it's a better design than Agricola, the relative sameness of the buildings (from game to game) means that its easy to exhaust the novelty ... and since I think there is one true path to victory in Le Havre, well, there you go.
Should Automobile have won? All my concerns for Le Havre count double against Automobile, but I've only played twice, so I could be wrong. (Note -- that was rhetorical humility only. I'm not wrong. After a few more plays the strategic interest will be sucked dry).
Should Dominion have won? It's tough to argue against a game that I've played several hundred times (online). Clever design (and novel), lots of fans. Theoretically a worse design than either of the other two games, but enough variety to overcome it, and probably the only game of the three likely to hit 25+ hours of enjoyment.
Of course, BSG surpassed that before Pegasus came out, so that tells you who I would have voted for.
Speaking of BSG (and I am, now) -- I've been thinking about Variants. I think I'd like to play with random destinations ... you randomly roll between using the Kobol card and New Caprica card during the sleeper phase. And I'd like to see Pegasus ship enter and leave the game; this mirrors the show, to be sure, but as it stands Galactica isn't rarely threatened with destruction. Off the top of my head, I think
Overall these change will make things harder for humanity, but given that our balance is at 50/50 that doesn't bother me (unless testing shows I've misjudged things).
]]>Regarding KFC's "Double Down" sandwich (which uses Chicken Breasts instead of bread) ... Nathan Rabin writes:
Like grief, the Double Down is experienced in stages]]>
I've also recently sent off a cheque for more acquisitions ... Pegasus, Arabian Nights, Fits, Shadow Hunters and Say Anything. I suspect I'm done for a while (although I could be talked into a few more titles).
Our group has been discussing the need to reboot a few games ... I think we'll be aiming for Here I Stand, War of the Ring, Indonesia. I was recently thinking about "Games I should play again" and those were the obvious choices (along with Combat Commander). I should want to play Paths of Glory again, but it's second tier, due to length. Replaying 3-6 hour games just seems better than 10+ hour games. 7 Ages appears on our list, which douses that theory in cold water. But destroying the Incas with a volcano amuses me more than watching the Central Forces slowly succumb to attrition.
]]>For Roll through the Ages, thinking about Lou's complaint (regarding medicine) and my wife's amazing ability to roll only Grain or Coins in the early game led me to consider a variant -- Pestilence costs you 1 VP for each city past your starting one. Thoughts? (Since I'm convinced you can't really win unless you get to 5-6 cities in a timely manner, this slightly helps the person who is late to that parade ... but perhaps I'm wrong about the 5-6 city thing).
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