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.

Friend of Tao Mike Zarren gets profiled in the New York Times, because his job is better than most.

My favorite line?

As for what the Celtics know about their own and opposing players — well, that information is guarded like the crown jewels. Off the record and under duress, Zarren did reveal some valuable information, but we judged credible his threat to hunt us down and kill us if it were published.

As for the 4 National Quiz Bowl titles, you'd better believe it. He crushed the field on the Stage II tournament I ran, lo these many years ago.

As for local gaming, I've got a second game of Dry Gulch Junction in, as well as playing my (10th anniversary edition) El Grande, and new Blue Moon set. And some Race, of course.

I like Dry Gulch Junction, its a tight game; very streamlined. Once I organize my thoughts (and perhaps play another game or two), I'll write a review.

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.

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.

... 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.

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.

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.

If there's a game you'd really like to see me bring, let me know. (Nothing huge, like Starcraft).

Update: And here's a sign of the Apocalypse ... Race is my #2 game played in the last 30 days.

You know, now that I've pulled it out (just to play solitaire), I think it's too much. Scrabble doesn't need to be longer ... although you could play to a fixed score (say, 400 points) and just call it. Still, from a solo standpoint it's fine. I didn't finish the bag but put it away after 1100 points (33 turns).

Word of the evening -- AUGuRIeS (later I discovered GIAoURs). I also played my first nine letter bingo, UNTREATED.

We had our Strat-o-matic draft yesterday. I honestly have no idea how I did. Given our rules-set I have a pretty good (but fragile) team ... I should really trade for a pinch-hitter or defensive replacement. But we'll see. Anyway, for those of you who follow such things, my team is listed on the SABG blog. [Warning — Those with weak stomachs should not look carefully at my starting rotation. In case of quesiness, keep your eyes on the bullpen.]

We did a few 'pre-season' games to get a grip on the super-advanced rules (minus the supplemental stealing system, which seems copied straight from IRS regulations). Overall I like it ... the variety of what can happen is greatly expanded for a minimal cost of complexity (once you are used to the system, I suppose. It would probably seem much more complex without last season under my belt). Now that we've got the super-advanced rules, we've seen odd events (like 1-5-4 double plays, throwing errors, outfielders robbing home runs) as well as have the potential for a few really rare plays (like inside the park home runs).

The experience emphasizes how random sports are. Multiple-Gold Glove winning Derrick Lee had 7 errors last season (but he missed a few games so strat puts him as "on pace for" 8). He had three errors in one game, all through sheer random chance. Particularly brutal was a two base throwing error.

I also got in two more games of Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation. I really do have to try this with the drafting variant (or just the variant, at all). Still, I like this ... a good number of decisions compressed into a very small amount of time. Sure it has some Rock-Paper-Scissors ness, but that's fine in a small game.

The few games of race didn't provide any good panel fodder, though.

My one game of Race was interesting enough. (Oh, Linnaeus posted his thoughts about Race. And Mikko posted his review). But (amazingly), games were played.

New to me was Escalation! -- a Knizia game that I guess is in the climbing family. I suppose. You have a hand of six cards, which range 1-14 and a few specials. One player leads, and then each player must meld a higher total. A mild is one (or more) cards of the same value, and the total is just that. When one player can't meld, they take all the cards. Each card taken is one point, points are bad. After playing you refill, and once the deck runs out you play until one player empties his hand ... everyone else drops their hand into cards taken.

Well ... it's fast. Not bad, actually (perhaps better with fewer players?). But this felt slapped together. Basic idea, a few card specials, and go. My "some cards way better than others" pet peeve was off-the-chart. I mentally rebuilt the deck to narrow the range of card powers in five minutes, I'm sure Knizia could have done it if he wanted to. And, lets face it, the "Card game where we keep playing until the last gamer arrives" genre is just stacked like Pittsburgh's steel curtain.

Got in another Power Grid game with the expansion deck. I like it.

Two more games of Kutschfahrt included one game nearly deadlock. Several players each discovered an opponent, but made a supporting play (to throw said opponent off-kilter). Well, it worked as everyone kept saying things like "At least two of you are idiots." Deception can work, but it can backfire. I think the game works a bit better if everyone plays it straight. I would be very interested to see how a group that played this seriously evolved ... eventually you'd get to a point where people would end the game when they were 'almost' certain they were right (because waiting for certainty risks your opponents ending the game). Eventually you'd see people end the game when they had a reasonable shot (say 2/3rds). A winning strategy would be to make any claim that had a greater than 50% shot. Would the game be interesting at this point? (As a game, and not a theoretic device)? This would make an interesting project -- write computer players and evolve them. (I nominate ya'll).

Celebrities is still a good game.

(Is it just me, or is the Geek really slow these last few days?)

Now that I've got the option of gaming straight after work, the crowds at our gaming sessions have died down. (O tempora! O mores!).

Oh well, I got in a few games of Race and Vegas Showdown, which quietly continues earning a few plays each year. Every card came my way, ensuring my victory's hollowness. I still like it, though.

Meanwhile my Here I Stand PBEM sees the Protestants involved in a military fight. Fortunately I had English allies, since I'm not sure I remember the rules. I need the game to go longer to stand a chance of winning, as several players have a shot at victory this turn. We'll find out soon enough ...

I finally (finally!) managed to play the published version of Race for the Galaxy. Hopefully those games will last me until I get my copy. Also played Modern Art, and two more games of Kutschfahrt. These were played with the full set of cards (and six players). The five or so "advanced" cards do help flesh out the game (as they let you trade professions, and also pass item cards around the table). Now that our group has a few games under our belt, this moves along fairly quickly and a range of reasonable inferences means that we don't have to spend nearly as long deducing teams. There are still other options to figure out, though. One team lost because one player thought the obvious move was to keep a victory item, and the other thought it was correct to trade it to the 3rd person (to verify the association). It's tough to get a convention, because your opponents can (if they know where the victory items are) raid you to grab them.

But in any case, I've upped my rating of this game to an eight, and recommend it. I could see burning out on this (I've only played five times), but it's quite enjoyable and fast. Despite the fact that it plays up to 10, six or eight may be the sweet spot.

And no, I haven't bailed arguing about Taxonomy. OK, I have, but it was to play games. I like the (now obvious) definition that a race is a game where the end condition is also the victory condition.

A Session Report is on the SABG site, which has some mechanics.

First up -- a homemade set of Haste Worte. Basically, you get a minute to write down a list of things that meet the category ("Articles of clothing.") After the minute, everyone secretly bids a number (1-21). The lowest number reads first ... if, when it's your turn to read you can't come up with enough (previously un-named) items you get zero points, otherwise you get your bid (You only name as many items as you need). You play until someone reaches 20 points.

We used a home-made set, so I've no idea how the categories are in the original german. You could easily play this without buying a game. (I've told you everything you need to know). A reasonable party game.

Two high-larious games of Cash N Guns Yakuzas. I died in both. Apart from the fact that the Yakuzas have swords and shuriken (with their differences) and other special abilities, the game is completely changed by the introduction of teams. Teams get to discuss strategy after the opening deal (a team might get 3 special powers, and keep two) and at the halfway point. My partner and I used baseball signals to show/request specific targets (although we didn't think about how to show loading states until later). The Yakuza are fairly chaotic. They basically point in a direction (left or right) and, if they've played a "Bang" ("Clang") card, hit the next player in that direction. Of course, if people have dropped, that may be a Yakuza. As a compromise, they don't get cowardice tokens from dropping (they just get a "cut off your own finger" token ... every other finger is a wound!) Balanced? Who cares.

I enjoyed this, but I love Cash N Guns. Still, it felt quite different ... and took longer. (Maybe 30 minutes a game instead of 20).

Our second game of Kutschfahrt (with 8 players) pushed this solidly into the "interesting keeper" category. First of all, it handles 6-10 players (awkward numbers) and its novel. We may need a variant to prevent the situation where one player starts with their item (and never really wants to trade it then), but I'm not sure. (Perhaps deal out two items per player, keep one ... and you must keep a bag, if dealt). Still, not willing to make this a variant yet. What was interesting is that I don't think we went around the table 3-4 times before there was a certain declaration. If it hadn't been made, I was probably willing to make an 80% shot on my turn (fearing that I'd never get another turn).

This does feel like a flaw, in that if a player has a sure thing then other players will likely recognize this, and take a "decent odds" shot. Still, that keeps the game short.

Finally, we played World of Warcraft. I thought it was OK, although long (5 hours -- normal for a first game with six players, I hear). Like most RPG games, WoW is a race at heart ... level up faster, beat the bad guy. One interesting part (to me) is that you have two teams. That's nice ... if you invest 5 hours there will be multiple winners. It also allows for collaboration, planning, trading, and all that fun. Our game timed out, so we had a massive "Team vs Team" fight. It was fine.

The core mechanism is a "Every player gets 2 actions a turn." With the actions being "Move, fight, rest, train (get new spells/powers), or Explore the Town." [Town gives a small rest, the possibility for training, and maybe buying stuff. But, you have to be at a town." Each team has a few quests, which involve throwing a ton of dice. The combat system looked interesting enough. And, like many FFG games, there were a ton of cards so each game will be different (you have all the various characters, final bad guys, and random events).

One glaring flaw -- there are wandering monsters that are just as tough as the quests (tougher, actually). If they appear on you (or block your path) you have to fight them at the cost of 1 (or more) actions and potential death. And for this you get ... nothing.

I mean, why not just have a card that says "Lose a turn." It would be faster. Jacqui and I (on the same team) got killed by one of those that we should have beaten. So instead of losing 2 actions (each of us fighting) we lost about 8 (since we had to heal, move back, and then spend another action fighting them). Since a 3-player team only has 90 actions, that was basically a 10% penalty. I'm told the first expansions fixed this.

I actually like the fact that I could leave when it wasn't my turn. In a five hour game, that's not necessarily a downside. Still, there's some fixed-fun issues, and I think this would be better with 4. I'd play again ... but honestly, I was just as impressed with Talisman.

Another month come and gone.

Games played multiple times --

• Shadowfist (8) -- Not much to say here.
• Cineplexity (4) -- An odd little movie game, where you often must remember the minor elements (props, etc) instead of just actors, directors (although knowing those help, too).
• Crokinole (4)
• Strat-o-Matic Baseball (4) -- I snuck into the World Series (with the Mets, a team I took over mid-season) but still need to play it.
• Acquire (2)
• Rise of the Luftwaffe (2)
• Starship Catan (2) (I've been thinking about this, but don't have anything worth writing yet).
• 7 Ages (1) -- I'm counting this as multiple plays.

The rest: Antler Island, BattleLore, Beowulf: The Legend, Blood Bowl, Combat Commander: Europe, Cosmic Encounter, Dead Money, Die Kutschfahrt zur Teufelsburg, Factory Fun, Fast Figure, Funkenschlag Atolla Modulis, Galaxy Trucker, History of the World, Loopin' Louie, Phoenicia, Pop Belly, Shadows over Camelot, Shocking Roulette, Smarty Party, Spinball, Stage II, Taboo, Take it Easy, Talisman, Taluva, Ticket to Ride: Märklin, To Court the King, Union Pacific, Voltage.

In news around the web: Mixing CCGs with electronic pets? Brilliant! (My daughter spent a lot of time with here NintenDogs).

Valley games says that Hannibal should be on my doorstep early next week. I was charged for this in late Spring, I think. Better Late than Never.

I started a Geeklist for your favorite "Unrated" game.

(I just finished watching baseball and I can't sleep).

At our gaming session tonight we:

• Ran out of Smarty Party cards (the expansion). I guess we're done.
• Played Union Pacific. Haven't done that in a while.
• Played Acquire. Ditto.
• Played a new game ...

The new game is Cineplexity. Basically it's a movie trivia game. The judge flips up two cards. Whoever shouts out a movie that matches both cards wins the 'older' card. For example, if you have "Has Dustin Hoffman or Tom Hanks" and "Main character dies at the end" you have to meet both. (Note that Dustin Hoffman or Tom Hanks don't have to die, you can fulfill each card separately). In case of arguments, the judge decides (unless you have a reference handy). That's basically it, with some rules for getting stuck.

It's surprisingly hard, except when it's ridiculously easy (getting "Contains explosions" and "Stars Bette Midler, Barbara Streisand, or Bruce Willis" ... if Bruce wasn't there, then maybe we're talking difficult).

You may also have to reach into knowledge of older movies. Anyway, if you like films and party/trivia games, then this seems good enough.

And speaking of baseball ... I took over the Mets ("The Nigh Mets are my favorite.") and had my epic collapse tonight. We're now looking at the rules for a three-way tie. (Since I had a choice, I started Glavine in the final game, win and I clinch ... his choke wasn't as epic as yesterdays, but was still sad). So I may have a playoff game (or two), but the regular season of Strat-o is over.

Jacqui calls it "Bunco for boys" and she's right. As my opponent in tonight's series said: "This game destroyed what little respect I had for baseball managers." Your decisions matter, but in such a small probabilistic way that it's noise. (If we were playing with the super-advanced rules, then there would be more scope for judgment). But I still enjoy it (as a league, anyway). It's fun watching a 95% steal chance fail ... twice in one game. Or the 95% homer split fail, twice in one game. Both of which happened (different games).

We'll probably do a smaller (person) but more detailed league later on, and I'm looking forward to it.

Well, there's still one more day left until October, but I think I'm done gaming (with the possible exception of a baseball series).

• Shadowfist -- 19 games
• Phoenicia -- 6
• Castle -- 4
• Chess on the Loose -- 4
• Strat-o-Matic Baseball -- 4
• Glory to Rome -- 3
• No Thanks! -- 3
• Notre Dame -- 2
• Smarty Party -- 2
• Stage II -- 2
• Tichu -- 2
• To Court the King -- 2

[And I've played over 50 online games of Phoenicia.] BSW is no longer the first place I go to burn 30 minutes playing games ...

The games that got a single play this month include: Aargh!, Ark, Attika, Ave Caesar, Big Boggle, Britannia, Caesar and Cleopatra, Celebrities, China, Colossal Arena, Combat Commander: Europe, Cosmic Encounter, Gargon, Igel Ärgern, On the Underground, Password, Princes of Florence, San Juan, Struggle of Empires, Ticket to Ride: Märklin, Titan, Up For Grabs, Why Did the Chicken...?, You Must Be an Idiot!, Yspahan, Zooloretto.

One of the most game-filled months of recent memory, and only a few new games (Britannia, Zooloretto, and Up for Grabs).

is verboten. Apparently.

Actually, I learned one new (Public Domain-ish) game last night that wasn't bad. Michael called it Squabble (I think). You play with a standard Scrabble Set, using the letters only (no blanks). Players take turns flipping up one tile into the center. Whenever you see a word (4 letters or more) you shout it out and take it.

The trick is that you can steal words from another player. If you can use all the tiles in one (or more) of an opponents word(s) and any tiles from the center, you can steal it. (No variants of the formed word). You can also anagram your own word (to prevent stealing, since simple anagram counts).

For example, last night one player had SODA and Michael indicated he was waiting for R+L to show up together, so he could claim DORSAL. As the words get longer, they get harder to steal, and when the tiles run out (and people concede) then most words in front of them wins.

Fast, you are involved the whole time, and focuses on both on anagrams and long words. Not bad.

I also played several games that I hadn't touched in a while. A quick (3 player) game of Cosmic Encounter -- I should play with 4-6, but I'm glad I got this copy (Eon), even if another reprint was announced days later. Finally played my copy of Password, which I've had for years. Pulled out Gargon, and had an extremely tight game (86-86-85). Still, this really needs at least 4 players. And got in a play of Princes of Florence, using Steffan O'Sullivan's 3-player variant.

Also played some Party/Trivia games, and I'm beginning to realize just how few games have good questions. I've complained about Smarty Party before, but You Must Be an Idiot! seems to be aimed a bit low. I guess each card (which has four questions, you use two), tries to have four different categories, so you can pick two, but we normally deal out two cards (so you have 8 questions to choose from) and there are still times when I'm forced to ask a no-brainer. That makes it tough on the people dealt "Idiot" cards (who must try to answer incorrectly convincingly). Still, an enjoyable game, if not one I'll be buying.

Got in a longish gaming session, including the new Fantasy Flight Britannia. I'd never played the old game; but heard good things.

Now, we were playing the 3-player 'short' scenario since none of us had ever played before. This is fine for learning the game ... you only play 7 turns (instead of 16) and eliminate the special rules relating to the Romans. I also think it's unbalanced (particularly with new players). One player starts with 22 armies on the board, another starts with 7, the third starts with 11 or so. Now, the smaller armies do get some nice reinforcements as the game goes on, but those are roughly equal to the bigger armies invaders.

So it was a runaway. Still, the game only took a few hours (with rules) and we can hopefully try the full four player game sometime soon (aka 'this year').

Played a few more games of Phoenicia. I've now hit 25 plays, and still willing to pull this out once or twice a session. (Incidentally, our four player game used the random deal on turn one, and the eventual winner started with a '4'.

Also played Glory to Rome two more times. Not quite the hit of the year, but the sleeper title this year (ok, of 2005). The new edition (which changes quite a few cards, and hopefully comes in a better box) should be out soon. I'll be picking that up.

And we've started to run into issues with Stage II. Namely -- between our group we've played every card. Ah, if only the mythical expansion had been published. This really needs an update ... Hasbro, can you hear me? (I keep meaning to make a few new cards, but haven't gotten started).

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).