The Tao of Gaming

Apart from Bridge and Rock Band, a few other games have managed to hit the table.

Notre Dame remains a nice middle-length game from last year. Requires a little bit of thought, but isn't really taxing. The sad part (for me) is that N.D. seems to have a 'one-true path' to victory. Actually, it's more of a "one path to avoid." Early game victory points are rarely worth forgoing resources for. (In last night's game, I got 5 VPs in Turn 5, doubling my score, and won by a dozen points).

In the "Blast from the past" category (one that's showing up more often) is "Two Hedgehogs #$(*ing in the dark." [One point of Geek-cred to any who explains where I got that title from]. I've no doubt that the sheer number of included variants means that there's one combination of 2+ variants that makes this the greatest game ever made. Sadly, the sheer number of included variants and my rate of play means the universe will end before I'll discover it. So I've settled for just owning an amusing filler.

I don't remember the last game's name, but it's a "Think of objects the fit the category." Everyone gets 30 seconds to write down the answer, and then secretly bids a number they think they can read. Players read from low-number to high (with ties broken clockwise by the moderator, who moves around the table). And it's boggle-style. Once someone says an answer it's done. But whoever bid lower gets to score it. If you make your bid, you get it. If not, get zero. This scoring could be transported to any boggle-style game.

I should play Ticket to Ride:1910 more often. I slightly prefer Marklin, but 1910 has a much simpler setup. I also tried a second game of Nexus Ops, which works by giving plenty of incentive to expand and attack, and (almost) no incentive to turtle. Other designers should take note.