Two afternoons of games this weekend, now that everyone is recovered from their various lurgies.
Saturday:
Aqua Sphere: a point salady Field game involving programming robots on a submarine and fighting octopuses.
Broken and Beautiful: a drafting and set collecting game themed around kintsugi, which I believe is a Japanese practice of mending pottery in such a way that the cracks are highlighted and become a feature of the piece(?). Quite like Sushi Go, but you have to manage which of your items you will allow to break so that you can repair them and have them be worth more.
Age of Steam: played on the Finland map which is super awkward! There are impassable lakes everywhere which lead to a lot of convoluted routes.
Sunday:
Cloudspire: second play of this. We managed to knock an hour off the play time and we all played the same faction again, so we had a vague idea of what to do. Iām still suspicious that this is really a two-player game since it feels a bit wonky with three.
Dungeon Mayhem: a very quick take that card game themed around D&D. Takes about 10 minutes which is the perfect length for this sort of game (in my opinion).
Hiroba: multiplayer sudoku with area control? I had no idea what I was doing but it was pretty quick and is happily play again.
Ohanami x3, introduced this to my mum and she rather liked it. Iām definitely in danger of running out of scoring sheets though!
Skulls of Sedlec x2
Hats x2, introduced this clever little card game to a mate before game night. Itās super interesting but how to play it well is quite tricky, as you can only play cards by first swapping cards with the display. That extra step of getting a card into play is kinda key to the game. I still havenāt got it figured out after four games. I look forward to maybe one day getting there though!
Potion Explosion, won a game of this one - itās still good fun. The cardboard display does make me sad to have the plastic one for Gizmos though Cardboard it turns out is considerably superior in this caseā¦
For Sale
Bohnanza, man the pacing of this is so much better without the expansion cards (Wax and Coffee, chiefly). Three times through the deck now seems a sensible length rather than dragging out the game.
Some game by Knizia involving a ship seesaw and balancing weights.
Bandito on āhardā, which we apparently won way faster than the owner had ever seen before.
Innovation, where globalisation won the day.
And then I sat around for hours waiting for someone to play anything I was remotely interested in before I gave up. At least I had a couple of interesting chats.
Last Thursday saw a 3 player game of Cthulhu Wars as @lalunaverde already posted. Really excellent fun! I think I could have held on to a win but for a rules snafu on my part and the cheeky LLV getting 4 sixes on only 11 dice to kill my great old one . This stopped me marching on to fight the desecration train of the eventual winner, the Yellow Sign. As previously alluded to the game saw more strategies emerge. Was good to give Black Goat a whirl. Of the base game factions theyāre the one I understand least.
Yesterday a new player joined the treehouse for games that Mr Verde knows via a games club. So 4 players 18Mex and it was excellent. Radically different to our previous game in board development and pace. The opening auction was keenly contested so only an unappealing minor company went cheap, so itās nice to see that progress, I feel weāre finally getting to a level of knowledge where Iām no longer hating waterfall auctions to start this game.
Pleasingly I won after being in a tight spot. I dragged myself out of the mire with a hard fought stock round where I heavily trashed La Lunaās holdings and filled my portfolio with a selection of the strongest shares. A hard fought victory is always more satisfying than a stroll in the park. I got to follow this up with a round of maxing out on shares that didnāt count against limit, I think that revenue was nearly the difference between me and second. And last stock round I got myself holding none of the stocks not getting a price bump which was icing on the Mexican train cake. Possibly should have not defended a choice so another player didnāt get a second yellow and maybe I could have, should just keep my mouth shut in future. Also should have been braver in my all change stock round. I think these games can really benefit from bold and decisive actions. They do entail the risk of bankruptcy but also increase the chance of victory, such is the high wire act of these ruthless train games. Also with the familiarity with the title at the table even one new player meant play time was āonlyā 4.5 hours. I think we may well play a few more 18Mex before getting some repeat plays in of a different title. Something a touch more operational maybe.
I really like the idea of it and I enjoy the challenge of trying to come up with a clue (which is weird cos I find Codenames really stressful!) but the people Iāve played it with seem to have decided they just need to come up with a cast iron clue for ONE word and youāre sorted.
I played some Mists Over Carcassonne at level 4. I havenāt won on this level yet (I tend to get bogged down trying to construct a Big Olā City Of Points and not get to finish it in time) ā but if I was close then Iāve been carrying on after losing so that I can get the satisfaction of completing something, even if itās officially a loss.
Iāve also been playing Cribbage against my laptop, and having an unusual streak of good luck with the cards which I expect cannot continue for much longer, but which has been very pleasing.
On Sunday, my wife, her brother, and I played Lords of Waterdeep with the Undermountain expansion. I was dealt Larissa the builder as my Lord, so I had a feeling the game was not going to go my way.
I was right.
I jumped into a bit of an early lead with some decent quests, and was lucky enough to get Placate the Walking Statue which gave me a building when completed, and also a quest from the expansion that gave me every building in the Buildersā Hall, so that was helpful. That said, I ended the game with only 6 of my possible 9 buildings, either lacking money to afford one, or someone beat me to the space.
I had a desparate last ditch effort to stay in the game when I picked up a 25 point quest and I had a building where I could place three adventurers from my tavern in three different spaces to get 10 points. However, my brother-in-law then used an Intrigue card to take the one wizard I had, which I needed for the quest, so with not enough turns left to do both, I opted for the quest.
My wife won, having an expansion lord which gave her 5 points for each accomplished quest worth 10+ points, and her brother was in second, his lord giving him 4 points for each Undermountain quest he completed and building he owned. Scores were 224, 218, and 202.
Then yesterday my wife and I played Star Wars the Deckbuilding Game, where I had a pretty resounding victory, despite the 3-2 score. The Death Star paid off, taking out her cap ships with resources so the attack could all go to her base.
Last week-end I moved a few small boxes with games over to the house.
I played a a couple of Ark Nova solos on BGA during work breaks and tonight I sat down for a Revive solo.
I think I played all the rules right, I learned to place the meeples in the cities only, I learned the distance rules and all that but I got such a high score I am doubting myself. I finished all the tracks, placed every single one of my playing pieces on the mapā¦ reached all 4 scoring corners. My strategy was to get a ton of bonus slots filled first and then use combo-cards that allowed me to either play other cards for āfreeā (only card plays count toward the action limit) or play multiple cards in my maximized card slotsā¦
Met up to celebrate a friendās birthday today and play a few games.
Skull King - Itās ā¦ fine. Baffled itās so popular when youāre basically acting on zero information and the scoring is impossible to keep track of unless youāre the one writing everything down. Goes on way too long for what it is.
Solidified my opinion that trick-taking is much like deck-building for me, in that itās fine as a mechanism in a larger game, but I donāt like it as a game by itself (unless thereās a particularly clever twist to it).
One Night Ultimate Werewolf - Much the same as it always is. I donāt mind it, but I have hidden role games I like more.
Monikers - After an attempt to play the Blockbuster game fell apart because my friends are tiny newborn babies and hadnāt heard of a lot of the films (I can forgive not knowing Kes, but Flash Gordon??), we switched to this.
Lots of laughs as usual (how the hell would anyone mime āIdris Elbaā?), though there were a few sticking points, such as how none of them knew Hercule Poirot.
My gaming group has essentially dissolved for various reasons, so itās been lots of solo and BGA games or various Warhammer Age of Sigmar stuff since one of my best friends is consistent with playing (Iām dropping hints on stuff like Kemet, JotL, Root and Pax Pamir) . Warhammer: Underworlds has been great fun. Itās not what I expected, and itās very different and less fight than I thought. You can really shoot yourself in the foot being too aggressive, and sometimes youāre going to grab more points avoiding conflict or stalling it than you would risking going after someone and not following through. I donāt care for deck construction too much, so itās also nice that it has pre-built decks you can just grab and play. The minis are also just so well designed and fun to look at (especially painted)
Iāve played several solo games of Pax, and I think the solo system has been pretty consistent. Every now and then something feels very arbitrary, but itās pretty easy to run. I know some folks really donāt care for the solo, so I may have just been lucky with my experiences.
Multiple games of Resist!. Soooo good. Every decision is meaningful from the very first and thereās a delicious sense of constant tension, much like Maquis, that combines with the wonderful art to create a really impactful experience. Itās so easy to set up and so quick as well. Really has me wanting to get my hands on Castle Itter and Soldiers in Postmanās Uniforms.
I grabbed Nemoās War 2nd Edition in a math trade and I am in love with it. Iāve only played twice so far on lower difficulty to get a handle on it, but itās great. That first game I felt like the board was sparse and that it would be a cake walk, but holy cow does it escalate quickly. Itās not super complex, but that rulebook does some weird things that make it take longer to get into than it should.
On BGA Iām only 5 games away from 100 games of Carcassonne Hunters and Gatherers. My preferred Carc, and Iām still in love with it. Lots of Tigers and Pots as always. Iām always playing El Grande. Itās brilliant and I am bad at it. Akropolis has grabbed me recently as well.
Other than that, my partner and I have played some Mandala and Long Shot the dice game. Mandala is always a great time, and Long Shot is more fun than I think it really has any right to be.
There is an app for scoring Skull King (I think its Skull King on Android and Skull Keeper on Apple). It does make it easier.
I really didnāt enjoy my first play of it, but have gone back to it and really enjoyed it (and bought it). It is really chaotic though so I could see why it wouldnāt be for everyone.
I, my family, and my gaming group all love Skull King. Weāve had some great moments with it. And youāre not acting on zero information, especially as the hand sizes increase. You know how many of each card there are so you can make some judgements on what is out there, based on what you have in your hand. There is also turn order - if youāre last, that mermaid is pretty strong but if youāre first, chances are someone has a pirate so youāve got to think about when it is best to use it - Iāve given tricks to players specifically so I can play later in the turn order the next round because it provides better information. So yes, there is limited info but you can make some educated guesses.
And the scoring is easy enough - just quickly read out the scores every round.
But at the end of the day, if it doesnāt click with you, then it doesnāt click!
My main problem with the lack of information is when youāre placing bets at the start of a round. Iām mainly comparing this to Cat in the Box, where the cards available is very straightforward and you also have (some, depending on turn order) information on how strong other players think their hands are.
I found that I get better with betting in trick-taking in general with more plays. The value of the card can depend on where you are on the turn order. So, a Pirate has a solid value if youāre the leading player, as the only card that can beat it would be the Skull King itself.
My issue with Skull King though are the special cards themselves. The colour cards are almost useless at latter rounds.
Thank you for normalizing this.
Knowing itās supposed to be this painful helps. Iāve only done explore as well. I canāt even imagine the more fighty motives. I mean, HOW??
I had one hand which was 4,5,6,6,6 for 21 points, plus 8 in the box making 29 vs their 6, shooting me into the lead.
A few hands later the computer also had a round of 29, and was close to catching up.
It came down to me on 108 with the deal, and them on 106 and scoring their hand first. I had 5,5,7,7 in my hand and we turned up a Q, so I figured I was in with a good shot, but it could go either way. They led a 3, I played 7, and to my glee they also played a 7 for 2 points so I played my other 7 for 6 points which meant I knew I had enough for the win!
They then played the other 7 for 14 points and the game. They didnāt even need to score their hand. Ridiculous :ā)
Cardboard it turns out is considerably superior in this caseā¦
. This stopped me marching on to fight the desecration train of the eventual winner, the Yellow Sign. As previously alluded to the game saw more strategies emerge. Was good to give Black Goat a whirl. Of the base game factions theyāre the one I understand least.
