The Tao of Gaming

Got in three new-ish games.

King of Siam is a partnership abstract with no communication. 'Abstract' means that I'm not likely to play it again, although the 'partnership' part intrigues me. But I'm working on squashing that thought.

Oregon has you placing meeples (w/Cowboy hats) and buildings on a grid. Each 2 rows (and three columns) are grouped by a symbol, and you playing two symbols (one for row, one for column) gives you 12 (or six) potential placements. I didn't particularly care for it, but it wasn't bad. I may play it again.

Stone Age was good enough to play twice, and I think I'd play it another 10+ times, but then I'd be done. It uses a "place your workers" idea, but there's no order to resolving places and you can place one group at at a time. (Six of the spaces allow multiple workers, with most of them capping it at seven).

Anyway, it reminds me (in my reaction, not mechanisms) to St. Petersburg (also by Tummelhoffer, or part of him). I'll explain more later.

I won 3 out of 5 games of Race yesterday, lost a close one and came in second (with 43 points) by over 15 points. Guess which one was a tournament game? Ah well, more cake for me.

Detailed thoughts later:

Memo to self -- when Ted Alspach's decaying body finally washes ashore on the Olentangy, loudly proclaim that I did not murder him for his nice copy of Wabash Cannonball. Ditto David Fair/Agricola.

I had put a "I'll trade for this" on Wabash, figuring that the reviews were a fast, brutal economic game with the feel (if not the rules) of the more cut-throat 18xx games. It delivers all that and more. Little downtime, important decisions, no luck, auctions, and complex stock valuations. Amazing.

I stopped playing Age of Renaissance even though it's fun. Why play a 5+ hour game when one or two card deals will decide it. This flaw clearly applies to Agricola -- both games saw the person with the better starting hand run away with it. Still, I enjoyed AoR the first dozen times I played it ... and Agricola is only 1/2 as long. I think most of the people who obsesses over this recognize the flaw and I'm not sad about it ... yet. Ask me in another 10 games.

Everything I've ever written about Brass is suspect. I don't know if we got any rules right. More later.

I'd never heard of Palastgefluster, but it's another good little game in a tiny box. Only got to play half a game, but I'll probably pick this up. It's only $6, after all.

I've noticed a nice (and commendable) trend of upgrading games you love with custom components (see -- estate sale of tragic victims, above). I think I'll have to look into this. I'm definitely moving towards fewer, better games.

More later.

... while waiting for a lunch group ...

Just tried Airships, yet another new dice game. (Are dice the new hot thing? Are they the old hot thing, like retro? Anyway, Airships was amusing, but it seemed like one or two early busts killed you. To be fair, you rarely win if you get a Jester in Court the King. This has manipulate dice powers (to very the type of dice you roll), but no dice manipulation powers. You just want to roll high. One local vendor sold out (and not many other games), so I guess the buzz is reasonable.

Late night/Kids game -- Rattlesnake. You have to put (reasonably strong) magnets on a small board without having them snap together or roll off. Did I mention they were ovals? Yes? Did I mention powerful? If you try to slowly lower a new magnet in the others start shivering and shimmying, which resembles a pit of snakes...

Played a prototype baseball game. Nice, and had a hell of a game.

Another quick/amusing/fast game was Jamaica.

I think I may pick up Galaxy Trucker ... I keep playing it once a day instead of trying new games. We'll see if Jacqui likes it. Played several more games of Agricola, including several two player games to explore specific issues. Full review post-Gathering.

For now, lunch.

Back home and with the final totals...

• Race for the Galaxy 12 (Not counting expansion games)
• Agricola 6
• Race for the Galaxy: The Gathering Storm 6
• Glory to Rome 5
• Galaxy Trucker 4
• RattleSnake 3
• Stone Age 3
• Unpublished Prototype 3
• Brass 2
• Celebrities 2
• Jamaica 2
• Liar's Dice 2
• Wabash Cannonball 2
• Airships - The Flying Giants 1

And the games that got a single play ... Breaking Away, Die Kutschfahrt zur Teufelsburg, Halali, Hamburgum, Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage, King of Siam, Marrakesh, Oregon, Palastgeflüster, Password, Phoenicia, Poker, Pyramidos, The Hanging Gardens, Titan.

More thoughts about the actual quality of the games later this week.

Looking back on the games I played ...

• The dogs that didn't bark in the night ... I turned down chances to play Tribune, Change Horses, The Ticket to Ride Card Game, and countless others. In general, I had my full curmudgeon on for any game I wasn't specifically looking for.
• I pretty much stuck to my "No Prototypes" rule, which continues to serve me well. I did try one game that was described as "like Race for the Galaxy." It's not bad, but I wouldn't suggest it enter a vice-presidential debate, if you know what I mean.
• You know, by not actively trying to play every new game (some of which are fairly old), I had a pretty good time. On the other hand, I wouldn't mind trying Cuba, In the Year of the Dragon, etc etc etc
• I was pretty good at the flea market, getting rid of 10 or so games and only buying one. The prize table? The 10th anniversary edition of El Grande, and some Blue Moon expansion decks.

Individual Game thoughts:

• Brass -- I could play this again, but it's off the purchase list.
• I ordered Wabash Cannonball. Very heavy, for such a fast game.
• I'm tempted to buy Galaxy Trucker ... but my wife doesn't like it. Onto the "Want" list ... we'll see if I can trade for it.
• No other new game even makes it onto the want list (remembering that I've already ordered Agricola). I probably could trade for a few of them, but I'm not desperate.
• Oops. Palastgefluster probably goes on the want list.
• That being said, I'd play almost any game again ... I'd probably beg off Hamburgum, but I just don't like those Rondel games.
• Jamaica was the prettiest (published) game. All of the cards can be laid out to form a diorama. Who knew that all pirates had huge schnozzes? Game play is OK.

I'll review Wabash in a few weeks, after I've gotten my copy and played a few more times.