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?
Why, I did.
If you followed the discussion on the group, you will have noticed that there were several cards with, ahem, strong differences in opinion.
I haven't actually bought any new cards yet. Still waiting for some spare cash to float my way. Not that there's a lot of people around here to play with anyway. There's a PGL in San Francisco right now, but they play week nights, and good luck getting into the city around 6:30pm. So I'm waiting til cards appear on Gatling. Good to hear someone somewhere is playing, though.
isn't the "math trade" problem isomorphic to a variant of the traveling salesman
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No, the traveling salesman problem requires that you find a circuit through the network, while the math trade problem is trying to find a <b>matching</b> (which is a group of links in the network such that no point in the network is touched more than once). This ensures that the same person can't trade the same game more than once. Chris' clever step to ensure that a person doesn't trade a game and get nothing in return was to divide each item into two parts (a sender and a receiver) and then connect each of these pairs together (so that the sender of Game A is connected to the receiver of Game A, and so on). This means that a maximum matching (where each point of the network is touched <i>exactly</i> once) is always possible (since, at the very least, you can always pair up each sender with its receiver). Now that that's done, you just put weights on each link (making the sender-receiver pairs very expensive to discourage their use) and run a minimum cost matching algorithm (these aren't trivial, but they are NOT NP-complete). The algorithm will try to find a matching with the fewest number of expensive sender-receiver pairs and that will be a solution which maximizes the number of trades. As a bonus, you can try to maximize trader satisfaction by putting weights on each proposed trade. Very slick!
Actually, not following this at all has been refreshing. The comment came up last night "Who playtested this?!?" was made, in fact, by the lead playtester in San Antonio.
And thanks for the others for the pointers on the trade software.
Well, I just got Beowulf &On the Underground...
With 2 plays of Underground in a week or so (one with a "rules mishap"), I'd say this is one is a success. I'm not sure how good of a game it is - but I really like the whole "building track lines" thing.
Our play on Monday night of Beowulf was my 2nd time - I played it a couple of years ago &couldn't get it out of my head. It had some of the "chicken bidding" from Taj Mahal but the Risk mechanic allowed you to try for something without getting totally hosed (as in Taj). I didn't do any better at the game, but the reception from my fellow gamers was more positive this time around.
Finally, Braeden &I just finished a Battlelore/Call To Arms scenario, using the Goblin Band. It's actually a very powerful little monstrosity... yikes.
BattleLore has fallen into the "big box 2 player game" trap. I'm tempted to sell my copy.
Interesting comparison between Beowulf and Taj, as I really like Beowulf and really hate Taj. I'll have to ponder that to see what the difference. It may be the risk mechanism (as you mention), but they do have the same 'fixed wagering' issue I identified as Taj's weakness. Must find a way to weasel my way out of that inconsistency.
And I haven't played Fairy Tale recently, but I should....
If Wishes Were Fishes isn't bad. I need to play a couple more times to firm up my opinion.
Pax Romana has also hit the table, we still haven't gotten past the learning scenario.