BoardGameGuru Blog

Neil Walter's Essen Review

2011-11-30T16:08:00.000Z

Essen Games Impressions 2011

This was my 13th trip to the show and from a games on show viewpoint, rather an unremarkable and disappointing one, not helped admittedly by the non arrival of games like Ora at Labora, TheVillage and Bullfrog Goldfield that were at the very top of my potential buy list. Apart from that I can report that production quality is up, prices are up, the icons are overwhelming and that the action selection mechanic is still going strong and shows little sign of waning. There were some good games there, but not any really stand out ones. Some of the higher rated games from the show such as ‘Trajan’ and ‘Eclipse’ I haven’t tried yet as Herr Feld’s offerings and multi player conflict/civ types are no longer first choices for me, but here are some thoughts on the ones I have tried:

Vanuatu

A game set in a South Sea Island paradise is not a setting you would associate with the meanest (brutal even) action selection mechanic you’re ever likely to come across. The potential for screwage when selecting your actions creates a lot of tension that I like. You can easily end up with no actions in a turn if you’re not careful. Believe me I know because I’ve been there! Has this put me off? Well no actually as it was all my own fault and could easily have been avoided and you just make a mental note for next time. The game is tactical and opportunistic and is essentially a race to claim (fish, treasure, goods) or place (huts, tourists, sand drawings) before anyone else. Position is important both in the turn order and where your boat is on the board. Vanuatu also features an unusual cash to vp conversion mechanic that can easily catch out the unwary. Nice artwork and thematically very strong for a euro, this is definitely one of the more challenging and original games from the show.

Walnut Grove

I thought this game evoked the Wild West rather well for a Euro. You set up a ranch, extend your lands and farm them, use the produce to feed your workers, or sell for cash and services (upgrades to your ranch and more workers to hire) in the local town. Not forgetting of course to keep sufficient back to keep the home fires burning. All good stuff. I also like the tension in the decision you sometimes need to make whether to keep produce or coins when you run out of space in your barns. Activities take place around the four seasons of the year, three of which can be conducted simultaneously, while the remaining one in Autumn of moving around the town is conducted in strict order. WG is for the most part a multi player solitaire but the simultaneous actions do keep the game moving along. I am comfortable with this in the hour time frame it takes to play, and there are sufficient things going on to maintain interest. I have enjoyed all my four games so far.

Pret a Porter

Don’t let the fashion theme put you off as despite all appearances this is a very good business game. Although there are plenty of options to choose from, perhaps too many, this isn’t a difficult game to play. Having to learn yet another set of icons is a pain and will make your first game comfortably drift past the two hour mark. But it’s worth the effort if you like economic type games. Tension comes from the continual pressure to get your buildings, employees, contracts, designs and materials all together in time for the fashion shows. All these are acquired using our old friend action selection. Cash is tight at the start and credit or emergency loans may be necessary. Third game in and it’s getting even better now with more familiarity. It’s also possible to make a comeback from a poor start so that is a further plus.

German Railways

This Queen remake of one of Winsome’s Essen 2010 bundle, Preussische Ostbahn is from the same stable as Chicago Express and they both share similarities in the way they handle the share buying and track builds. Notable differences are that the railways in GR each have different attributes which is good and also the way player actions are determined which most definitely isn’t good. Random draws from a bag to see if I get an action or not doesn’t do it for me I’m afraid, so very unlikely I’ll be playing this again. I’ll stick with Chicago Express.

Bullfrog Goldfield

One of my top games to try that was missing from the show. Fortunately I managed to get hold of a paper copy that I have since mounted and played. Good news is that it didn’t disappoint. BG is a heady mix of railway building, mining and share trading set in early 20th century Nevada. The stock market is volatile and the mines run the risk of depletion. Perfect planners look away now. Tension mounts as mines near exhaustion and investors agonise over whether to ditch their shareholding or risk holding on for another year. Great stuff! Looking forward to getting a real copy and hopefully it won’t be too long before they arrive. My best of show even though it wasn’t there!

Urban Sprawl

The core idea of town building with a dash of politics is certainly one that is very appealing to me, so I had high hopes for this game. Sadly it didn’t deliver on a number of levels. Downtime is excessive as it is not possible to plan between turns because the cards and the board position are constantly changing. You have no idea what cards will be available until your turn actually arrives. And when it does arrive any decisions were strictly limited to the cards currently on display. Swingy event cards also add an unwelcome dose of chaos that I don’t find acceptable in a 3 to 4 hour game. For a lot of the time I felt that I was a spectator rather than a player. As you’ve probably gathered I didn’t care for it too much.

Santiago de Cuba

A light and fun little game set in Cuba world. Ideal for family play but also with sufficient interest to keep a hardened gamer like me amused (ideal after 5 hours of 18xx). It very easy to explain with its simple mechanics, quick turns and playing time that comes in at between 45 and 60 minutes. There are icons to get acquainted with but not too many and you will have them down pat after a few turns. Good variability as action discs (Cuban workers and artisans) and buildings are randomly laid out for each game. Randomness comes in the form of dice rolled reflecting the demand for each good to be loaded on the ship in port. I particularly like the tactical manovering of the car around the circuit of actions especially when it nears the port. With a limited demand for goods, it’s generally better to be first there. In the crowded market of light fillers, this is a very good one.

Singapore

Just when you thought it would be impossible to design another game that features buildings, yet another one comes along to prove you wrong. Whereas in games like ‘Cuba’ for example where there are lots of other very interesting things going on in the game, here there is little else happening. You build buildings, collect resources, followed by conversion to other resources, cash and vps at other buildings. Repeat for 90+ minutes. That’s it. It works but sadly its one dimensional and not particularly exciting. Shame really as Peer Sylvester’s earlier King of Siam is a very good and original game that I enjoy, so I was expecting rather more from this. On a positive note, the game certainly looks great, components are excellent and the rules are short and easy to digest.

Last Will

An originally themed game with the object of getting rid of all your money based on the idea of the 80s film Brewster’s Millions. On looks alone this game is the business. The cards are gloriously illustrated that adds to the pleasure of playing. While the game play is interesting as you try and work out the best cards or combo of cards from various different types of decks to draft and play as actions, for me there was also a sense that the game lasted way too long for what it is. Admittedly this wasn’t helped with the constant reference to the rules for explanations of the icons and card effects. I feel the game falls in that uncomfortable slot of being slightly too complicated as a filler or family game and too long to maintain your interest. It’d be fantastic with a playing time of no longer than an hour, but it isn’t with four or more. However I do like and am happy to play Last Will provided it is with no more than three players.

Fortuna

Well Herren Rieneck and Stadler had to come unstuck sooner or later. To be fair to ask the designers of such great games as ‘Pillars of the Earth’, ‘Cuba’and ‘World without En’d to come up with another winner was probably asking a lot. What usually makes these two’s designs a fantastic marriage of theme and game play is conspicuously absent from Fortuna. Apart from the cool card swapping mechanic there is little else to recommend it. I don’t usually mind a bit of dice rolling but felt that the outcomes here just held sway a little too much for comfort. And the object of all this activity to race your citizen along your own track to the centre of Rome doesn’t exactly get the pulse racing either. Pass.

Show Manager

This re-release of Dirk Henn’s 90’s classic introduces the forerunner of the “unwanted cards slide down the track to a cheaper price” mechanic similar to the one revived in the recent release of Urban Sprawl. A set collecting card game with the twist that your hand limit of cards potentially forces you to put on a show with a less than ideal cast of artistes. Simple, quick and fun to play for gamers and family alike. Certainly one to look out for if it’s missing from your collection.

Helvetia

Another action selection game where you can marry off your boys and girls with partners in other villages (for extra benefits plus offspring) as the original feature, combined with the more familiar build buildings that produce resources to get more buildings and yet more resources etc….…you get the drift. It’s workmanlike and dull even right down to the brown hues of the graphics, a total contrast to Matthias Cramer’s more colourful and excellent earlier release, Lancaster. Unless you are looking to complete your collection with a game that features goats, I recommend you give this a miss.

Vanuatu

2011-11-12T22:15:00.000Z

I am still behind on my Essen 2011 games - there are lots still to be played, but having found Eclipse i'm quite happy to keep playing the same game!

The other stand out is another game that's not available - Vanuatu. The publisher has sold out and a reprint depends on distributors persuading the Krok Nil Douil chaps their is demand.

Oh my. This game is vicious - the whole hook and competition hangs around the action selection mechanic. And you can end up placing five action tokens and taking no actions if you have been very stupid, more likely you can end up only taking two whilst a smart opponent takes four - It creates an incredible tension and competition for scarce resources. Not only can you get screwed when selecting actions you can then get rear ended by the order that other gamers take theirs.

The rest is the usual sell stuff/collect stuff/deliver stuff (though thankfully simplistic without any flim flam)

The action selection is a stoke of genius - it has put my copy of Vasco Da Gama on the trade pile - a game for euro gamers who like it bloody in tooth and claw - and most certainly not for the squeamish or solitaire cube pusher

As of mid November 2011 this is one of my top 2 Essen pics.

Call off the search!

2011-11-01T21:23:00.000Z

...Because the perfect 4x, Ti3 space opera 'Lite', has been found. No need for gaming wild goose chases, no false reports of grail sightings at ZippoCon XXVI, no need for any more mixed metaphors. 'Eclipse' has just catapulted to the top of my Essen games pile, heck to the top of the 2011 pile - and this based on one incomplete 2 player game. Opening a lot of games can make me a little jaundiced about new releases, if not even cynical and having watched the hype for 'Eclipse' grow on the 'Geek, and from an unknown designer to boot, my response has been of the 'yea right' variety. Until I heard there were only 150 English language copies at Essen and then lemming mode kicked in and I immediately pre-ordered, if only to sell it on after the show to a friend who might want it. After queuing for what seemed like the whole of Friday morning at the show (25 minutes) I was close to abandoning the line but was persuaded not to - and how glad I am.

My bias is to Euro design but I do like a story and a bit of conflict. 'Eclipse' takes the best of Euro design and melds it into a Sci Fi universe, not quite Opera but certainly richly populated. What do I like so much that it makes the game my current squeeze?

1) Action selection - do one thing and on to the next player, limited down time (the curse of Space opera is that it can take a lot of pages of libretto until you get to sing). Repeat until you pass (and you can repeat the same action at no penalty) - then you can comeback in with half actions if anyone gets nasty whilst you were resting.

2) Resources v Actions - there is a balance between what you want to do and what you can afford to. Despite the game only lasting for 9 rounds (believe me it feels like 'only') you can vary the intensity of actions by saving betwwen turns, or trading between resources (especially for the Terrans)

3) The tech to upgrade ships cycle - This is the piece de resistance. There are a lot of juicy technology upgrades in the game - however at the beginning of the technology board is seeded with a small random set of advances (with more coming out each turn) - so you might see a mixture of expensive and cheap techs, or multiple copies of one of the techs (each player has to take a tech chit to benefit). It creates real tension in the timing of the 'Research' action (so often an uncontentious one) as there may only be one of the tech you need out or along the discount path you want (there are three branches of technology - but no prerequisite you just get a progressive discount on future purchases of techs from the same row). Once you have acquired the technology then upgrading is a separate action - just grab the parts that the tech. has entitled you too (well two pieces max) and place them in your ship templates. Customising your ships becomes a puzzle in itself, and your strategy in the game can be determined by a couple of synergistic early tech. grabs - in my one half game I had fire power but my opponent had manoeuvrability.

4) Upkeep is really simple - can I afford to pay for the actions I took in the last round?

The only down side to the game that I can see is that its not on general release yet

Essen - some very early impressions

2011-10-31T16:30:00.000Z

A couple of friends have asked what I have made of the Essen 2011 crop. The right answer should be – I don’t know yet, I have not played many of the games and I have certainly not played them enough to have formed an opinion. What I do have though is some early impressions
Overall they are positive _ i have only played one game I disliked (more on that later) and I have played a few I have liked, one or two I think I am going to love and there a couple waiting in the wings which are really exciting

Like last year (with Civilization the board game) the games that registered highest on the ‘OMG it’s here and I must have it!’ scale are not really Essen releases. The first was ‘Urban Sprawl’ – I was able to pick up my P500 copy (yes I know I am a retailer and can get them at cost but some GMT games have to be in my hands as soon as humanly possible). I enjoyed my one play –I was in a minority of one though. Its long, chaotic, requires constant reassessment of the board and you can get dented by the flip of card. Sounds familiar? It should being a Chad Jensen Euro, and it does feel a lot like ‘Dominant Species’ and though this has a theme I’m more interested my cagey and qualified assessment is that I think DS the better game. 'Urban Sprawl' is a game though I want to play again (and again) to get to know the cards, like 'Through The Ages' and 'Twilight Struggle' I expect the experience to get richer with more plays and more familiarity , my fear though is that I am going to struggle to find opponents.

The other OMG game was ‘Fame and Fortune’, the expansion to Civilization – I am yet to play it but the new powers, Leaders, investments etc look like it’s going to add loads more chromatic fun to one of my favourite games

The last OMG game was’ Ora et Labora’ and it was not at Essen in an English version. I did lean over the shoulder of some Germans playing the Lookout edition and I have one very big worry about the game – the cards are tiny, they go into your tableau but all your neighbours need to see them and what they do. This could kill the game stone cold dead for me if it’s going to be interrupted every 2 minutes by players leaning over the table asking ‘what does your buttery do again?’

Of the games I have played ‘Dungeon Petz’, ‘Last Will’ and ‘First Sparks’ have been the most impressive. No one seems to agree with me but ‘Dungeon Petz’ puts me in mind of a simpler and more streamlined ‘Vinhos’ – in this game though Pets are purchased, held in cages, entertained by imps and age. To score points you need to sell them and/or exhibit them. The rule book is a little intimidating but game play is quite smooth, the hook and genius of the game is the need to keep the Petz happy, fed, entertained and contained – and the card draw system that drives this is very clever

I have not been the other Vlaada’s biggest fan with ‘Shipyard’ and 200th Century falling a little flat for me; however i really like ‘Last Will’ – it’s an efficiency engine card drafting and playing game masquerading as ‘Brewster’s Millions’.

'First Sparks' is my favourite game from the green haired one since..oh Power Grid. The game is easy to teach and play and I predict will become a top gateway game – it’s not going to be loved by some Power Grid purists, but as a 45 minute family game it’s a smash

I have invested five evenings in learning the rules to ‘Mage Knight’ – the walkthrough (essentially the rule book) is 20 pages long but printed in a font that makes equivalent to most 40 page rule books. Martin Wallace took the build a deck mechanic of Dominion and turned into to use in a short war game, Chvatil has put the mechanic at the core of a beast of a game. I’m not sure game is the right phrase, as it feels more like a universe - It is huge ; complexity, flavour, variability. At its core though is the deck building mechanic which creates Euro style questions of players in an adventure game. I have only played the walkthrough first scenario and am looking forward to delving deeper into this game – though being so complex I’m not keen to ever have to teach the game again

At the opposite end of the complexity and size scale is Martin Wallace’s filler ‘Old men of the Forest’ ‘ it’s a delightful counter intuitive card game that left me feeling like I’d been to trying to pat my head and rub my stomach at the same time. All profits from this go to charity, so not only can you pick up a good game but you can also do some good by purchasing here.
Ever since ‘Glen More’ erupted from Nuremburg 2010 I have been watching the career of Mathias Cramer with interest. ‘Helvetia’ is his third game and one I need to play again to make my mind up on, the action selection and method of getting more meeples is really engaging – however the rest of the game is goods conversion and a race to get those goods to market which felt a little anticlimactic.

‘Welcome to Walnut Grove’ is my least favourite of the Essen release I have played; billed as Agricola meets Carcassonne it actually has only a superficial similarity to the two classics. I am not the biggest fans of solitaire optimisation games and in each of the eight rounds three phases of them are spent taking actions simultaneously without reference to the other players at the table. The other thing that left me lukewarm is that the eight year tiles in the game are always seen so once you know what to expect (they come out semi randomly) you are planning around them.

Though I am yet to play it I am tremendously excited by ‘Eclipse’ (from the same designer as WAlnut Grove), it’s another shot at the Ti3 lite game and this looks like it might be the ‘one’ – the Euro economics combined with Ameritrash combat look like a potent combination. The other touch I like is the semi-random way the techs come out each round.

I have two weekends of gaming coming up in November and games that are queued up for table time are Vanuatu, Eclipse, Civilisation plus expansion, Urban Sprawl, Pret a Porter, Air Show, Panic Station, Singapore, Mil 1049, Nefarious, Space Bastards, Trajan, and Core Worlds – that is about the order of preference as well. Six days of gaming should be enough to give them all an outing.

Essen wednesday

2011-10-20T06:11:00.000+01:00

Great journey - almost empty roads.

The story of the show on Wednesday is how many games are stuck in customs or 'hopefully' arriving on Thursday - I won't name them as I don't want to start a panic

Despite that I have already managed to collect all my White Goblin, CGE, Portal, Gen x, Rallyman and Sierras Madre games.

Looks like limited numbers at show means no Trajan, Tournay or Mil 1049 for shops which is a shame.

Great to see so many old friends at the Handelshof and around the halls - Wednesday is my favourite day at Essen

On a personal note v excited to see the Sid Meier Civ expansion here and will be picking one up today

Only played one game so far -a cute game which I can't remember the name of :)

Wrong again...

2011-09-29T15:35:00.001+01:00

The IGA multi player strategy award went to 7 Wonders - and well deserved too! Not my pick (if i ever get one right it will be chance) but a good choice.

As I predicted 'A few acres of snow' won the 2 player award - I suspect it was almost unanimous.

The next Counter magazine will have detials of the voting and it will be interesting to see how clear cut was the 7 Wonders victory and whether any other game on the 2 player list got a look in

The IGA nominees and a return to form for Euros

2011-09-16T17:12:00.001+01:00

After 2010's parade of ‘just above average’ the 2011 shortlist for the IGA is evidence of a return to form for Euro games. There are some genuinely strong contenders for the multiplayer award and a shoe in for the 2 player.I wrote a long piece on the 2011 nominees [link] bemoaning the quality or originality of the candidates - 2011 though is an impressive field.There are not many of the nominees that can be dismissed as also run but there are a couple of make weights; ‘Asara’ and ‘K2’ are the two that fail to make the cut. Both games are pleasant to play, and the closest to the family gamer end of the spectrum of the shortlist. In fact ‘K2’is a game I now only play with family, with gamers it falls flat as the congestion at the top of the mountain creates too many artificial situations. ‘Asara’ though is a most enjoyable 45 minutes, made entirely by the action selection mechanic. Despite the merits of both games they fall short of IGA winning pedigree.Last year I dismissed the eventual winner, ‘Age of Industry’, because it is an iteration of ‘Brass’. Despite that I am going to say that ‘Incan Empire’ is the next to miss the cut - it's almost the same game as Tahuantinsuyu, and Despites it's merits I doubt that that many of the jury have played this edition.I am delighted to see ‘Airlines Europe’ make the short cut - however I think it falls foul of both being part of a venerable chain of Alan Moon transport games.So that leaves seven. And I would not be suprised to see any of them as the eventual winner.‘London‘is the weakest of the candidates, it's Wallace treading water - however its very widely played and could benefit from vote transfers ala St Petersburg.I wonder if the underwhelming critical reception for ‘London’ was because its card play seems slow and cumbersome in comparison with 2011 Kennerspiel winner 7 Wonders? Here is a game that is instantly appealing, not going to suffer from not being played multiple times by the jury panel. Moreover the drafting mechanic is a very fresh take on the Civilisation building game. A strong contender, though it would have the shortest play time of any IGA winner and I have a feeling that might count against the game in some people’s eyes – it would break the mould of previous winners.‘Die Burgen von Burgen’ has last mover advantage; it was released in 2011 and is probably quite fresh in the mind of the jurists. It's a typical Feld game in that it has clever mechanics, is intricate and the first few games are a spent going up a steep learning curve. However, a little like ‘Macao’ the charm of the game wears off after repeated plays. The intricacies of the tile interactions are aimed inward, it's very much a solitaire experience. Moreover the combos start to feel like stutter steps without an overarching strategic arc to the game. Add in the wafer thin theme and the production values I would not be voting for this game - however like ‘London’ I can see this benefiting from the transferrable vote.I would love to see ‘Dominant Species’ win the IGA; it's the antithesis of ‘Die Burgen’, theme rich, interactive and with a real arc to the game. It might be too rich faire for some and I can’t quite see this as eventual winner. And then there were three.My own view of ‘Vinhos’ is skewed by having to teach the game in each of the four times I have played – there were so many rules questions throughout that I felt more like a moderator than a participant. It’s a game I admire more than like, and I feel there is too much of a wrestling match with the mechanics for this to be a truly great economic game – but its close and was obviously crafted with love for and fidelity with the subject matter. This could be the winner, but it does polarise opinion and that might just cause it to fall short.That leaves two – and it is a choice between the innovative ‘Troyes’ and the perfectly honed old school mechanics of ‘Navegador’. I like ‘Troyes’ but I love ‘Navegador’ – it’s the most elegant design of the rondel series. ‘Troyes’ feels a little rough around the edges in comparison. However, my personal opinion does not matter it the jury that counts – and I can see both of these picking up a lot of first or second place votes. My feeling? ‘Navegador’ by a nose for the multiplayer strategy 2011 IGA awardEvidence of the strength of this year’s field is the omission of ‘Sid Meier’s ‘Civilization: The Board game’, ‘Pantheon’ and the superb ‘Key Market’The two player award can be handed over now – ‘A Few Acres of Snow’ is a magnificent game, and regardless of the merits of the other games on the short list (none of which I have played – not I can I imagine many of the jurists will have played either). The two player nominees seem a bit lacking – no ‘Basilica’, ‘Yomi’, ‘Railroad Barons. If there were a market on boardgame awards I Would advise you to act on any of the above – I have a Zero percent record in predecition eventual winners

New Releases 19th July

2011-07-17T11:13:00.000+01:00

‘Olympos’ confirmed for next Tuesday, from Ystari and Philippe Keyaerts (Vinci, Small World and Evo), is a fast playing game of technology development, prayer and conflict set in Ancient Greece.

‘Grimoire’ has been printed in a new edition by Zman games, originally a Japon Brand design this was my fastest selling game from Essen 2010. Best described as a cross between ‘Citadels’ and ‘Fairy Tale’ this game has been a sort after cult classic, now everyone can own a copy.

‘Age of Industry Expansion one’ is a double sided board with maps of Minnesota and Japan.
Both are excellent with Japan players need to plan for the scarcity of home grown natural resources and on the Minnesota map Chicago dominates the board, with special rules for iron production and sales.

‘NightFighter’ from GMT and Lee Brimmicombe-Wood (‘Downtown’, ‘The Burning Blue’) , simulates the cat and mouse fights in the night sky above Germany and Japan. Game play is quick at under an hour for each scenario; and players take it in turns to control the night fighters or moderate for the other player

‘Case Yellow’, GMT and Ted Reicer, is a light simulation of the 1940 invasion of France.
Already in store is ‘Miskatonic Horror’ which contains additional game material for Arkahm Horror and its expansions.

The 2011 reprint editions of ‘Curse of the Dark Pharoah’ and ‘The King in Yellow’ are in stock.

Restocks

‘Olympus’ (with a ‘U’) was one of my top three picks from 2010 – its been reprinted and is back in stock as is ‘Cosmic Encounter’.

Bargain ‘Troyes’ is back and I have managed to pick up some very inexpensive German automobiles (its language independent and I will provide English rules

The Royal Society of Gamers Podcast

2011-06-15T16:49:00.001+01:00

I have a new favourite podcast. Checkout The Royal Society of Gamers Podcast.

A quick-and-dirty wargame taxonomy

2011-06-07T14:45:00.000+01:00

Most seasoned board game spotters don’t need binoculars to tell the difference between Fantasy Flight-produced Ameritrash and its European cousins, the Caylus family of luck-free games. On the other hand, the dizzying array of wargames can present problems for even veteran gamers.

In this entry, we’ll identify the main phyla of these games – their identifying marks, their habits, their mating rituals – and briefly discuss what makes them tick. Wargames aren’t as daunting as they may seem at first, and there’s at least one out there for nearly everyone.

Card-driven wargames

These games – often called CDGs – come in all shapes and sizes, some easy and accessible and others quite daunting. Typically, players will have a hand of cards that they can use to move armies around or give them actions; this can mean commanding individual troops (as in GMT’s Combat Commander), whole legions (as in Sword of Rome) or squads (Memoir ’44). The grandfather of this genre, Hannibal: Rome versus Carthage, has not only escaped extinction, it’s won legions of fans (and a few reprints) since it was released in 1996. The American company GMT Games is one of the biggest producers of this subtype - they make many (though certainly not all) of the best card-driven games, backed up with a superb attitude toward their customers.

Lighter card-driven wargames include the aforementioned Memoir ’44, its fantasy clone Battlelore, and the complex-seeming but easy-playing Maria, which uses an innovative system based on playing cards.

More complex card-driven games include the squad-level classic Combat Commander; the magnificent, deep World War I game Paths of Glory; and Successors, a truly brilliant and not-overly-long multiplayer game about the ills that befell the Macedonian empire after the death of Alexander the Great.

Block games

Block games can be recognised by the heft of the boxes they come in. Block wargames usually mean moving armies around a map, with each wooden block labelled on only one side and representing a unit of varying strength. Since your opponent can see how many blocks are in an advancing army but may not know exactly what kind of troops you’re moving, block games usually mean making careful decisions with only partial information. These games go out of their way to model the 'fog of war', the notorious difficulty military commanders face as they try to make the best decisions. Columbia Games is widely noted for its range of block wargames (which are usually heavy in more ways than one).

Notable block games include Hammer of the Scots, Bobby Lee and Richard III. Also, keep your eyes peeled in case Europe Engulfed if it comes back into print - it may be the best example of the genre.

Hex-and-counter wargames

If you’ve ever seen a few grizzled board gamers huddled pushing cardboard chits around on a board that’s divided up in to hexagons, this is what they were doing. (For mathematical reasons, hexagons are easily tiled, and offer finer control of movement and facing than would be possible on a mere grid.) While these games can frighten off anyone but the most dedicated grognard, the hex-and-counter crowd harbour a dark secret: these games are easier than they look.

Conflict of Heroes is a common gateway into the world of hex-and-counter gaming, as are most of Victory Point’s budget productions of extraordinarily fun games. For heavier fare, try SPQR or A Victory Denied.

Hybrid wargames

Some designers can’t just stick to one mechanic, and given the breadth of wargames out there, it shouldn't surprise anyone that plenty of mongrels populate the genre – and some hybrids are among the most acclaimed wargames available.
Commands & Colors: Ancients and its sequel, Commands & Colors: Napoleonics both use a combination of blocks and cards, while also behaving a lot like a simplified hex-and-counter game. While putting the stickers on the blocks can be a chore, the games themselves are history-buff heaven. They're an engaging way to while away the hours, picking up strategies from Caesar, Scipio and Boneparte himself without feeling like you're studying for a history A-level.

Many a nerd has engaged in internet fisticuffs over whether GMT’s card-driven Cold War game Twilight Struggle is a wargame at all. Players use cards as events but also to influence different countries’ disposition toward their chosen superpower. While learning TS can feel like a steep climb, it’s easy enough once you grasp your options, it's highly replayable, and as of this writing, users at Boardgamegeek have rated it the best game currently in production.

Eleven Games Every Family Should Own (Or, How to Train Your Gaming Ninja)

2011-05-31T15:38:00.001+01:00

Go on, admit it. When your first squalling infant emerged into the world, you celebrated, you looked fondly on as she took her first step, grew her first tooth... and yet, in the dead of night, you were already plotting to get her to join your hobby.

Here’s our suggestions for the first games that should hit the table, once your young turn ten or so. Use whatever rationale works best. Call them ‘Family Night.’ Call them a bonding activity. Because really, you know you’re training your ninja spawn, honing her skills so one day she can go out into the world and kill on her own... at the Agricola table.

[Note: if you’re not already a board gamer, you’ll be seeing the world this way just a few games in. Jump in!]

Ticket to Ride

Probably the ultimate family game, in Days of Wonder’s venerable Ticket to Ride franchise, you teach your children to take the cards their opponents need out of sheer cruelty, to sense and exploit weakness, and to block other players’ moves. Like Karate Kid’s Mister Miyagi might say, ‘Wax on, wax off!’

Settlers of Catan

Settlers of Catan is a game in which players build up settlements that score them resources on certain rolls of the die. There’s also a trading phase, so game ninjas-in-training can learn when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em, when to trade and when to hold out. The dice still play a big role in your ultimate fate, so young players can always blame their failures on luck.

Bohnanza

Not all beans are created equal. This light card game teaches young gamers the importance of scarcity, and acquiring the right bean at the right time. If your young student can master the art of trading a stink bean for a valuable one, then what are you doing reading this article? You should have them enrolled at La Sorbonne already!

No Thanks!

Every budding ninja needs to know her limits. In this push-your-luck game, players can either give a chip or take a card, but chips are important (and limited), and cards give negative points. No Thanks! features incredibly simple rules but strategy that takes a lifetime to master, and it’s a quick game, sure to satisfy even the most jaded sensei.

Carcassonne

Lurking inside every child gamer is a vicious beast, struggling to emerge and destroy! What makes the tile-laying game Carcassonne singularly appropriate for training young gamers is its scalability: it can be played casually, simply, kindly... but once players are past the basics, they can use meeples and tiles to destroy other players’ cities, to cancel each other’s farmers out, and to steal points out from under their opponents’ noses.

Bausack

Sneaking past an enemy daimyo’s forces requires swift, precise movements. Spend a few hours a week sharpening your students’ coordination with this block-piling dexterity game, and each hour will repay them tenfold... with the swift deaths of their enemies.

K2

Young shinobi all think they’re going to live forever. An experienced ninja is always aware of the possibility of defeat; that’s how they learn to value patience. Sometimes the long way around is best. K2 is perfect for imparting these lessons – players scale the world’s toughest peak, choosing their path up carefully, hanging back as long as they can while struggling to acclimatise to the thinning oxygen every step of the way. Sometimes players have to harden their hearts, and leave one of their team’s climbers behind – but to make a decent omelette, you have to break some yolks.

Blokus

The young trainee's mind should never be at rest, but there are times when an abstract, Tetris-like game is just what the doctor ordered. Blokus works well for two, three or four; it refines players' sense of spatial relationships, helping to develop IQ and grace under pressure. You don’t even have to know your Jackie Chan from your Koharumaru to enjoy this one.

Survive! Escape from Atlantis

Survive! is based on an ’80s-era classic in which players flee the sinking island of Atlantis while trying to keep track of their hard-won treasure amid the chaos. As the venerable Sengoku-era Ninja master Hachisuka Tenzo learned during his botched attempt on Takeda Shingen’s life, knowing how to escape in style can be as important as knowing how to get in.

Alhambra

Swift calculation, economy of movement, focus: these are the watchwords of the ninja. Alhambra is a city-building, tile-laying game that rewards those who can react to their opponents’ actions as efficiently as possible. Use Alhambra to refine your trainee’s tactical sense.

Zooloretto

The last step in the ladder before joining the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad (or playing Agricola). It’s a game about keeping animals in a zoo. Unfortunately for this metaphor, there’s nothing even remotely menacing about it.

Paul's 2010 review Part one

2011-05-20T11:38:00.000+01:00

I played 73 games released in 2010 which sounds like a lot until I consider the list of games I did not play. Overall 2010 was a good year, lots of games that I have enjoyed and played multiple times, they just fall short though of my personal criteria for greatness – which is a game I have, or can see myself, playing well over twenty times, Agricola, Through the Ages, Le Havre to name but three.

If there’s a theme running through my likes and dislikes it is inconsistency; this list won’t correlate with my Boardgamegeek ratings, the top five I submitted to Counter Magazine last week and most definitely not to any list I might write next week. It also reflects the fact that I would like to see Euro designers take a few risks and move away from the formulaic.

Onto the list and let’s start at the top – as I intend to cover all 73 games the summary for each game is brief.

1) Navegador – the best of Mac Gerdt’s Rondel series, and has the perfect, but not non confrontational, intense interaction that is the hall mark of a great Euro. There are many strategies to explore and they all seem to have a good chance of success if you are playing your opponents as well as the game.
2) Dominant Species – a brute of a game that bucks the orthodoxy of Euro design, though it’s really more a wargame than Euro. It requires players to accept and then manage chaos, muster huge amounts of concentration and be prepared to ride the roller coaster for three hours or more. Please Chad Jensen, give us some more!
3) Civilization – Purely as a game this should be lower on the list. However, it feels like I’m playing the greatest computer game ever with mates around the table. And it continues to surprise me with the wealth of strategic choices.
4) War of the Ring Collector’s Edition – Should a game be so high on the list when most of my time with it is spent staring in delight as the bits? Yes, the game itself is wonderful and this edition is a lot easier to play than the original
5) 7 Wonders – Once you have got beyond the first few games this a great game of balancing efficiency and counter drafting.
6) Inca Empire – It’s a reprint, but is a shining example of what Euro design should aspire to – clean, thematically coherent and interactive in a subtle, and in this game symbiotic, way.
7) Olympus – A Euro/Civ. game with some ‘take that’ – this game has the most interesting timing issues and the military side of the game means you cannot treat this as a multiplayer solitaire exercise.
8) We Must tell the Emperor – A gaming history Haiku of the Pacific campaign in 45 minutes. It’s so simple yet so tense and for such a short game captures the Japanese expansion and decline perfectly. This is about as long as I want to play a solitaire game which adds to the appeal
9) Defenders of the Realm – This is the first co-op I have loved, it feels like an adventure rather than a puzzle solving exercise, the side quests add a lot of fun and the garish board and components take me back to my gaming youth.
10) Merchants and Marauders – The world needs the perfect pirate game; this is a close as we have got so far. Despite the absence of parrot’s it has adventure in spades and so long as it’s played with said spirit of adventure it’s a captivating way to spend a few hours
11) Age of Industry – It makes ‘Brass’ playable with most gamers, rather than just the hard core. If there are regular map releases then this could be as successful as Power Grid.
12) Command and Colors Napoleonics – The first time I played Battledore I thought the system would be perfect for Napoleonic warfare and CCN is my favourite of the series to date.
13) K2 – It can get very gamey towards the top of the mountain, however its tense, original and popular with my family
14) Lords of Vegas – the spiritual heir to Acquire, demands players actively trade to impose some order on the dice rolling shenanigans. It also gets top marks for looks
15) SNCF (‘Paris Connection’) – If Chicago Express is a sub atomic particle of the Rail 'n Equity school of games, Winsome have found the quark with this gem. Its genius is its simplicity and I defy Mr Bohrer to reduce the formula further.
16) Irondale - John Clowdus is one heck of an original game maker, remarkably so as he only makes game that will fit in a Small Box. Irondale is tremendously challenging and I am sure one day a large publisher will snap up this protean designer
17) Circus Train – There is a wealth of game design talent outside the pool of usual suspects that publishers go to time after time for bland, rehashed Euros. Circus Train is evidence of this talent, if it were picked up by Days of Wonder and given a deluxe production job this would become a best seller. Eulogy over now, the game is reminiscent of coliseum with some point to point movement.
18) Key Market – Any game my wife likes and is willing to play has got to be good, any complex game my wife likes is great by default. The artwork, the speed and variability of play are the other attractions of this game
19) Grand Cru – Had I made this list three months ago this would have been higher up the list. I like the ‘Age of Syrah’ toughness of the game and the small incremental actions, however virtually no one else iIknow does – and this game needs all players to be engaged either wise it can fall flat. Most promising debut design from the multi-talented (Actor and Chef as well as board game designer) Ulrich Blum
20) Dominion Prosperity – My liking and admiration for Dominion has gone up year on year. ‘Prosperity’ adds some complexity and length to the game, though I am unsure about the length part being good, but the new cards add to the game
21) First Train to Nuremburg – Were it not for this being a reprint it would be a top ten game for the year. I like the 2 player game and the new rules, however the old map is easier to play on for this colour blind gamer
22) Firenze – a tower building game, with some special powers and a Thurn und Taxis constraint on having to keep the towers going up. It’s not as light as it first appears, and you feel faced with tough decisions from the outset
23) Asara – another tower building game, the hook being a great action selection mechanic which requires players to follow suit to take an action. The joy of the game is the hand management, the scoring and tower building pedestrian. This fills a light medium weight spot which I think it will keep in the rota for a few years
24) Workshop of the World – I like Ragnar Brother Games, the themes and the little idiosyncrasies in game design. This is one of their dryer offerings however, the auction mechanic is subtler than it first appears and the joy of the game is the constant revaluation of each route to you and your opponents
25) 1655 Habemus Pape – This auction game works so well because the sets you are bidding for, and their, interactions, tell a story. By the end you will be a lot more familiar with the Papal Election of 1655
26) Fires of Midway – Cracking tense two player game of bluff and hand management that captures the essence of Carrier Warfare in a rather unusual way
27) London – I enjoy every play but every play feels the same, its Wallace treading water and that a bit like Wagner writing a waltz, it just ain’t right
28) Troyes – played it five times, and it’s gone down in my estimation with every game. What appeared novel and genius at first is now just another pleasant way of building a Cathedral in a Medieval City.
29) Innovation - Like Troyes this has gone from being a top game to one I find mildly frustrating, when the cards come together for all players it’s a great game, but that seldom happens
30) Thunderstone Wrath of the Elements – Not got the finesse of Dominion, but the series gets better with each expansion and it’s a go to game when I fancy some solitaire dungeon crawling
31) Castle Ravenloft – An alternative provider of the Dungeon Crawl fix this is just a little too fiddly for me to hit the spot. I love the minis though and some of the character powers are OTT. ‘Wrath of Ashardalon’ is an improvement, but let’s save that for 2011’s list
32) Sun. Sea and Sand - The theme is bright and breezy and the choices pleasantly challenging in this Worker placement game. However, the charm has worn of after a few plays – I will probably enjoy it again after a longish break
33) Runewars – The action selection mechanic is great, there are a lot of options. I wish I could get a little more enthusiastic about the world of Terrinoth – it ain’t Miidle Earth and never will be
34) Dixit 2 – If anything the hypnotic artwork is even better in this expansion. This expansion is necessary to give Dixit longevity, especially if played a few times with the same group
35) Wars of the Roses – If you can put aside the fact this is a Euro squeezed into a theme, this is a solid area majority game with a nasty catch up mechanic through the drafting. The amazing production qualities make the game worth a look
36) Alien Fronteirs – Not the second coming, more like a well themed Euro for the Ameritrash market. Great dice, and if played at pace a good game
37) Key West – The fantastic bidding mechanics and the gaming geography of the Florida Keys provide the ‘hook’.
38) Mord Im Arosa – I can’t think of any other auricular/Euro hybrids. Not to be played whilst listening to AC/DC, but perfect for a late night filler at a convention
39) 11 Nimmt! – No game could be quite as random as it’s little brother, 6 , and this adds a little more strategy to the Nimmt! Family
40) Napoleon’s War 100 days – Lovely system hampered by bargain basement production values, also by the fact CC Napoleonics is sitting next to it on the shelf
41) Level X – This is the only Schmidt Spiel Easy line game i have played, and if this representative then i should try more. It’s a Yahtzee varaiant
42) Vinhos – I never want to teach this game again. I have played it four times and everyone has been a chore because of the constant need to remind players of how to play. Monster complicated, thematically rich – the verdicts out until I get to play a game without having act as a moderator every two minutes
43) 51st State – If this game was themed as European powers in the age of colonialism I think it could have been a stratospheric blockbuster. The Neuroshima setting does not work for the original card play
44) Pocket Battles – Orcs v Elves – I love the first game in the series; Celts v Romans. However Orcs and Elves need some rich gaming texture to make them entertaining, this is not the system for fantasy battles – back to the historical for the next game please
45) Wax – Further testament to John Clowdus’s seemingly bottomless well of creativity. A perfect game for three and a half hours on an Easyjet flight
46) Dominion Alchemy – I really like the potion addition to Dominion. It creates an extra choice that increases the early game options and for that the game is richer
47) Hotel Samoa – No one i know likes this game, which is a shame as the bidding system (high gets you hotel improvements, low gets the income paying tourists) makes each round very tense
48) Heroes of Graxia – The most ‘Magic’ like of the deck builders suffers a little because of the constant need to recalculate stuff.
49) Braggart – Folksy art and drinking gameplay – a good filler for three or four players
50) Rattus – I quite like the aim of escaping the plague and pushing towards the others. Need to play more as I suspect this would be much higher in my rankings with more exposure
51) Porto Carthago – This I need to play again as I remember neither liking or disliking the game
52) Forbidden Island – I am not a Pandemic fan, this has though has the advantage of theme and were I to game with the under 10s I am sure this would become a favourite
53) Don Quixote – I should not like this but I do, especially if the squares are called in a faux bingo voice.
54) Fresco – Looks lovely, thematically wonderful – the rest is almost a parody of the current state of Eurogames.
55) Junta Viva El Presidente – I wanted to like this knock about dice rolling negotiation game but it’s tedious in the extreme no matter how much you try and role play it
56) Seeland – Treading water for Kramer. Pleasant to play once or twice and looks great, but fairly forgettable
57) Poseidon – The errors in the rules are almost unforgivable in an 'entry level' xx game. My first game was a toxic experience, the second marginally better.
58) Leaping Lemmings – It’s like Herbert Von Karajan conducting Barry Manilow – if your bread and butter is the serious stuff (GMT) then stick to it
59) Regatta – Light and fluffy, a ‘Wings of War’ for the Cowes brigade
60) Titania – It’s hard to believe that the same designer created Goa. The game is so over dependent on the mistakes made by the player to your right and very little else. Looks a million bucks but the first HIG spring miss for a few years
61) Samarkand – It’s over before you get going and it really feels like the winner is randomly determined. Fun for the first two or three games, but frustrating beyond that.
62) Last Call the Bartender Game – The first time Wattalspoag have released a duffer. Far too much brain power required for a game about drinking, especially as it should be played when alcohol is in the vicinity
63) Travel Blog – I can’t see the point of this game, especially when compared to the ‘10 Days in’ series – this relies on geographic knowledge whereas in 10 days there is a game underneath the surface. Vlaada please stock mucking around and give us ‘Through the Ages Two’
64) Railways of the World The Card Game – Take all the fun out of Railroad Tycoon, add some cards and this is what you get. I can’ think of any train game that has had a good card game version – the upside for this is that it is better than Ticket To ride’s lamentable effort
65) Settlers of America – A wonderful host of ideas and mechanics shoehorned into a mono victory condition. The end game is excruciating and destroys any enjoyment to be hand in getting there.
66) Merkator – Rosenberg’s next game is not an auto buy for me; it might be unreasonable to expect another Agricola or Le Havre. This is a tedious exercise in cube pushing efficiency.
67) 20th Century – I need to play this game again as my first filled me with apoplectic loathing. I just hated the solitaire optimisation element of the game, to me the antithesis of fun – can’t we share the same board?. Most people tell me I am wrong so will play again
68) Founding Fathers – Unlike 20th Century I did give this a second go and it was worse than the first. Any attempt at planning is easily destroyed by the OTT cards. Why on earth let players build positions which can be ‘Wrath of God’ed out of the game. Armageddon resets were weeded out of Magic the Gathering ten years ago and have no place creeping into boardgame design
69) Puzzle Strike – Interesting game destroyed by the playing pieces and the terrible first set of rules
70) Ascension Godslayer – Deck building with the interesting parts taken out, ugly artwork and a totally unnecessary board.
71) Khan ¬– A blockbusting theme that hides the diriest of multiplayer abstracts
72) Le Grand Hameau – The cards are amusing but broken, and can spoil a nice game of Le Havre.
73) Nuns on the Run – A game about Nuns with LOS? Tedious record keeping, easy to make a mistake, about as amusing as life in a nunnery

Pantheon - 2011 Spiel Des Jahres winner?

2011-04-23T18:04:00.000+01:00

Its Spring time, and, as they have for the last few years, Hans Im Gluck has released a beautifully produced family game; a chunky box, lovely components and board and eight pages of rules. In 2008 it was ‘Stone Age’, followed a year later by ‘Finca, then last year saw ‘Titania’. The game (firmly aimed at the medium weight German family market) quality has fallen off year by year since the superb ‘Stone Age’, with ‘Titania’ being a bit of a flop (Rio Grande, wisely has not picked up this game for and English language release). No matter the game quality the games have looked lovely, and have been a joy to unbox. The latest HIG game bucks the trend, firstly because the eye candy quality is not up to the previous releases – but far more importantly it has reversed the declining gaming quality and is up there with ‘Stone Age’ as a great medium weight game that takes about an hour anda bit to play – so much so that I think this might be in the running for 2011’s main Spiel Des Jahres award. It may be no coincidence that this is the best in the series since ‘Stone Age’ – because it’s from the same designer Bernd Brunnhofer. Brunnhofer is not a prolific designer, before Stone Age his previous game was ‘St Petersburg’, so it’s quite a pedigree. ‘Pantheon’ I can report adds to his record of putting quality above quantity.
The game is set in a world after the ‘Stone Age’ (and a long time before ‘St Petersburg was built), when the early civilisations were forming, many gods were worshiped and tribes were building monuments to these gods. The aim of the game is to score points by recruiting gods, demi-gods and building columns.
Components and setup
The game is, mainly, played on a map of Europe, North Africa and the near East. A hexagonal grid is superimposed on the board. There are home hexes for each of eight nations (some, for example, Iberia a little distant from the real ancient geography) ,marked hexes for the placement of bonus tiles for each nation and hexes where only columns can be built. In each of the 4 player colours there are a supply of feet (used to move your tribe on the board) and 12 columns. Each player starts with four feet and three columns, the rest form a reserve which he can acquire throughout the game. Other game material includes a deck of cards; the cards are money, steps (used to place feet and columns on the board) and four different types of sacrifice cards. Four of the cards are drawn laid out on the table, Ticket to Ride style, the rest form a draw pile. There is a small special deck of money ranging in value from 2 to 5 in value (all money in the main deck is worth 1). There are 40 god tiles shuffled into a draw pile and a demi god tiles that are shuffled into two piles, one with values one to three and the second with values four to six. The lower value pile is placed on the higher value pile. Demi-gods sound exciting but they only score you points. Gods score points but also have one off or permanent benefits associated with them. There are four types of sacrifice tiles (misnamed because you never lose them) of the same ‘suits’ as the sacrifice cards and each type comes in two tiles , one value one and two on the reverse the other value three and four on the reverse. For a medium weight game there a surprising large number of bits and bobs that you need to play! And there’s more, there are forty hexagonal bonus tiles that are placed in a bag and will be later placed on the map. There are also six starting bonus tiles, eight nation tiles and a card for each nation. And lastly there is s the Big Foot and the Temple, wooden bits. I am a fan of Franz Vohwinkel’ artistic work but there’s something a bit uninspired and washed-out about the design here.
The aim – how do you score points
The game is played over six epochs, with a scoring at the end of the third epoch and the last. Victory points can be acquired in five ways; columns score you points with the point per column increasing with the number of columns you own; from 1 point per column if you only own one to 3 to the almost unachievable 4 points per column if you manage to get all 12 on the board. You also score points from demi gods – these tiles just have a victory point value on them and they can be acquired as a starting bonus, from bonus tiles on the board or from the god Pliasiris. Gods score you points as well, depending on which epoch you acquire them from; one point in the first epoch to six in the sixth and final epoch. Causing the end of an epoch scores you three points, and lastly one god gives bonus points at each scoring
Game play
At the beginning of the game players are randomly given a bonus tile (most are a one off bonus, a god, a demi god, a sacrifice tile, place a column, an extra foot and a column), five cards and four feet and three columns. At the beginning of each epoch the top card of the nation deck is flipped over, the temple marker is placed on the home spot of the drawn nation and then gods (number of players plus one) placed on the board as are bonus tiles from the bag (number of players plus one). Each nation has a ‘trait’ this is then executed. Most traits are beneficial, e.g. card draws, a sacrifice tile or a purchase action. Two of the eight countries are a double edged sword as they reset your hand size to seven, either giving a draw or making you discard. Players take actions in turn into the Epoch ends; which is caused by either the last god tile or bonus tile being claimed. This leads to a lot of variability in the length of each epoch; if the gods available each round are cheap and juicy and the bonus tiles all corkers then the epoch will fly by. If the gods are expensive and the bonus tiles stinkers then players may stock up on cards so it might be a longer epoch. However, a longer epoch will probably be followed by a shorter epoch as players will have a lot of cards to blitz the board or purchase gods. This unpredictability is one of the attractions of the game for me.
On their turn players choose one of four actions. They can take three cards, Ticket to Ride like, from the four on display, or from the top of the draw pile. Secondly they can take a movement action, which will allow everyone else to, Puerto Rico like, take the same action. Movement involves placing feet and columns on the board; the player who selected the action takes the big wooden foot which gives him one free step. He then can play as many step cards (worth two steps each) as he likes. Each step allows him to place a foot or a column on the board. They must start from the temple and form a continuous route back to the temple. If he places a foot on a bonus tile he takes the tile which is activated at the end of his movement action. The number of feet and columns that can be played is limited by the number he has in his personal reserve. Bonus tiles are either yellow or blue, with yellow tiles a one of bonus and blues permanent to be reused. They include demi gods, a free god from the draw pile, card draw, a money card from the special money deck or extra feet and columns, or free permanent steps to be used in future movement actions. He can also place columns, but only in the column hexes. There can be two feet and columns of different players in each hex, but the second foot or column costs two steps to place. The other players may also take a movement action, though they don’t get the free step awarded to the player who initiated the action. However, they may have free steps from bonus tiles or the god Vinthrad. They also may play step cards to place feet and columns. If a player does not place feet or columns on the board they take a card from the draw pile. The decision to take the movement action is a tricky one, you can leach of another player’s movement action but you are going to get second (or third or fourth) pickings of the available bonus tiles and column spaces. As the bonus for ending the round goes to the active player, it means that if the last bonus tile is taken by another player leaching then they are giving three vps to the player who initiated the movement action.
The third action is to buy stuff, and you pay for it with money cards and the god Stonkus (called so, I imagine because he is stonkingly powerful) provides a cash bonus for each buy action. You can buy as many items as you like up to what you can afford. Feet and columns cost one money each (you will need to supplement your starting feet and columns as soon as possible), Sacrifice tiles vary in cost depending on the level of the tile with level one tiles costing one money up to Level four tiles which cost ten money. You can also level up your tiles by paying the difference between the costs of the levels, for example levelling up a level one to a level two tile costs two. You can only own one of each type of tile. You can spend money to buy steps to immediately place feet and columns on the board at a cost of one money per step. This is a rather handy way of getting stuff on the board without giving the other players a free ride.
The fourth action is to take a god tile from the selection laid out at the beginning of each epoch. Each god has a cost in sacrifices. These can be paid for with either sacrifice tiles or cards or a combination of the two. The cost of each god is shown in the number of different types of sacrifices that have to be made (between one and four) and the number of sacrifices of each type that have to be made , for example Stonkus requires four types of sacrifice, with one being four , another three , then two then one. I can pay for that for ‘free’ if I have four sacrifice tiles of these values, more likely I will have to pay with a combination of cards and tiles, with the cards going to the discard pile and the tiles staying in front of me to be reused. Gods are good, but as I have found not essential to winning the game. The most immediate benefit a god gives is victory points, one in the first epoch through to six in the last. Gods, like bonus tiles, either provide one off or permanent benefits. You can own multiple copies of the same god. Permanent benefits help you throughout the games for example gives free steps, Stonkus free money, Detraccus two cards at the beginning of every epoch, Gaiviles helps you jump over occupied hexes on the board. The one off benefits might be another free god (super powerful in the last epoch as you score points or both gods) or the top card from the speciality money deck.
At the end of an epoch any unclaimed gods or bonus and god tiles are removed from the game and all players feet are returned from the board to their personal reserve. The game then moves on to the next epoch. At the end of the third and sixth epoch there is scoring phase where players score columns, demi-gods. The player with the most Victory points wins.
Why I like the game
Each action is simple, however from the four actions available to me each turn most of the time I find myself wanting to take all of them; Worried that if I grab some quick points I am going to sacrifice future gain, on the other hand concerned that the demi -god I am forsaking could decide the game if I don’t take him now. The decisions sit on that delicious cusp right between strategy and tactics and that’s where I like it best.
I have noticed a few comments that the game is too dependent on the luck of the draw – cards, gods, bonus tiles. For me that is missing the point of the game. – The random nature of the draw is one of the games strengths because it poses a new challenge game by game and epoch by epoch. The draw can mean that an epoch might be short or long (five juicy bonus tiles won’t be there for long), or it might be long with hard to pay for gods and weaker bonuses. The three points round ending bonus puts pressure on players to make moves rather than accumulate and you need to be looking for short term scoring opportunities as well as trying to grab gods that help your longer term plans. Making too many long term plans is a mistake in this game; it’s over before you know it and the random draw might militate against it so you need to keep flexible. You just have to play to it as you see it; with a sharp eye on the other players. You might not be seeing feet cards. No problem – you use money to buy map placement or you get yourself cards for a juicy god. One of the joys of the game is that it plays out differently every time and you can’t wed yourself to one strategy, e.g. it would be nice to aim for 12 columns at the beginning of the game however one the random draw of the countries might make it nigh on impossible and the other players are going to block you (well I am going to )
Unlike ‘Stone Age’ (which I love as a 2 player game) the full complement of four is the best number for Pantheon, there’s more potential for screwage on the board, some of the gods increase in value (especially the hex jumping god Gaiviles) there are less turns per player per Epoch which creates more tension. Three is also very good but two is the least enjoyable experience for me as you can pretty well do your own thing on the board (though that might be a plus for some gamers who want more control). I have played five games and none has lasted more than 90 minutes and I think it will come down to 75 minutes with four when everyone is up to speed.
‘Pantheon’ now sits on my shelf between ‘Stone Age’ and ‘World Without End’ as a go to medium weight Euro, for occasions when I like a little bit of unpredictability in my gaming. I understand that Rio Grande hare going to be publishing this in an English language edition later this summer

Neil Walters picks eight games from Essen 2010

2011-04-12T12:14:00.000+01:00

Troyes

Top notch euro game that utilises dice in a unique way. Dice by nature are random but Troyes has very little luck. I have played this half a dozen times and while high die rolls are generally more useful, I have never felt that my low rolls were having a major impact on how I was doing. The major feature is that everyone’s dice are available to all, at a cost naturally! You have to temper the natural tendency to persistently take your own dice that are free. Money can be tight but does not count for anything in its own right at the end of the game, so paying for dice is not as bad as it might first appear. It does matter though which and whose dice you choose and of course your gain is another player’s loss. The setting is the medieval city of Troyes that is divided into three sectors, military (red dice), civic (yellow dice) and church (white dice). The number of different coloured dice you roll is dependent on how many of your men occupy a particular area. The dice are used to undertake various actions such as booting out other player’s men replacing them with your own, building the cathedral, helping to get rid of enemy invaders or earning more cash. One of you main actions will also be to hire artisans from each of the city areas for their specific abilities that could help you achieve more VPs, cash or even give potential bonuses to your dice. There are 27 such artisans in the game (9 per area) but only 3 of these per area will be called upon for each game. In addition only one per area will be revealed in each of the first three rounds of the game. This gradual seeding is great for me as I don’t have to remember them all at once. Great replay value as each game will be different depending upon what combination of artisans appear. Two other excellent features are worth mentioning. Players can earn influence during the game, from fighting invaders or building the cathedral for example. Influence can then be spent to mitigate their own dice, such as re-rolls or flipping of dice as well as bringing on additional men to allow you to hire more artisans or claim another spot in one of the three game areas. I also like the way that the game system deals with the enemy invaders. Each round an additional two invader cards are introduced that can upset players plans but like a bad penny they will keep coming back each round to haunt you until the players eventually deal with them. There is an aspect of co-operative play here to get rid of the card if it affects everyone. No downsides to the game for me I can think of, so all in all, one of the best games from the Essen show.

Navegador

As a fan of the rondel mechanic, there was little chance that I was not going to like this game. For the uninitiated the rondel is a very clever but simple device for controlling all the player’s actions. It consists of a circle drawn on the game board divided into eight segments. With the exception of one particular segment, the Market action, which occurs twice, each of the other six are completely different. In your turn you advance your marker up to three segments (you can move further but it’s prohibitively expensive to do) and complete the action on the segment you finally decide to land on. There is no blocking so you have the freedom to plan your future moves as you wish. It also has the advantage that you can see what your fellow players are up to as well. Tension comes with those actions where there is an incentive to get to a particular segment first, as some actions have a limited number of resources or benefit to pick up, or the resources become increasingly more expensive as cheaper ones have already been taken. In my view it is one of the most innovative mechanics to have come out in the last ten years. It’s clean, simple and totally transparent with the added attraction of very little down time in play. Even in five player games it’s your turn again before you know it. But it’s not good enough having a great mechanic if the rest of the game doesn’t shape up. No fears here either. Set in the 15th century, you are a Portuguese explorer building a colonial empire. You can explore the seas and oceans going east, found colonies, sell sugar, gold and spices for profits to invest in ever more ships to continue your quest eastwards. Or not. You could also be that “stay nearer to home type” of explorer. After all sailing long distances is time consuming and expensive. So why not hang back a little and snaffle up a few colonies that the others have left behind, and perhaps build lots of factories to process the goods for lots of cash instead. Both alternatives might work and can work. I’ve seen both happen successfully. Along the way you can also build churches to recruit workers, shipyards to build your ships and also obtain privileges for instant cash and future victory point potential. It is a game of maximising the efficiency of your actions both in your selection on the rondel but also the volume of benefits you can manage to reap in a single turn. It is also a game where you have to keep a close eye on what the other players are doing, as the market for selling and processing goods is dynamic. Prices could easily have dropped by the time your turn comes round again. You need to be particularly aware of what your right hand neighbour is selling, and be prepared to adopt a flexible strategy. All this adds up to just my type of game. The components are excellent and the artwork on the board is the very best combination of great to look at and total clarity. To be honest, I’m really struggling to come up with any negatives to say about Navegador and instantly became a favourite from the Essen crop. There may be some, but if so they’re not immediately apparent to me. Navegador is not totally original of course, but my feeling is that there is a natural progression and improvement in the rondel series. In my view this is the best of the series so far and if you haven’t tried one before, then I think you should seriously consider treating yourself to this one.

Vinhos

After your first game of Vinhos, your head may be spinning from the overall complexity and volume of options, but trust me it does get easier! Thematically fantastic as I love wine... you don’t have to like wine to play, but it helps. You are setting up you own estate in Portugal which can accommodate four vineyards. Each vineyard specialises in one variety of grape (either white or red) from one of the eight wine growing regions of Portugal. Once you have decided on a particular grape variety for one of your vineyards you are stuck with it for good or bad for the rest of the game. You need to give thought to what variety you pick as your decision will have large bearing on how your game pans out. You only have 12 basic game actions in the whole game so you need to be focused on what actions are important as you can’t afford to waste them willy nilly. Each two game actions followed by a bank and wine production phase constitutes a game year, so six game years total make up the game. After years 3, 5 and 6 there is a wine fair where you must exhibit one of your wines for tasting and hopefully earn more VPs. Getting your wine production engine going as early as you can is a good thing. The main focus is getting at least three and possibly four vineyards up and running by the end of year 2. This will ensure that you get the volume of wine production for the rest of the game to earn money and VPs and the wine fairs. You will also need wine to exchange for additional actions above the basic twelve with help from your wine managers. A ready supply of cash is required to invest in infrastructure for your vineyards to enhance the quantity and quality of your wine, eg wineries, enologists and cellars. What I like about this game is the juggling act you have to perform to get the best advantage from your choice of actions. The timing and sequencing of your actions is crucial. You have a limited number of them and the order you carry them out is important. Depending on the game situation and your strategy there will be some actions you may not need at all in the entire game, but equally there will be other actions such as getting more vineyards that will be a must at some point. Also I think the game concept of cash in hand and separate bank account is inspired. It’s different and it works although it does add an extra layer of complexity that may not be to everyone’s taste. Going to the bank to draw out cash for future purchases costs an action. There are alternatives in the game to get more cash that don’t require an action but which is best? Possibly you may need to do both. It is these kinds of choices that really make the game interesting to play. Another example is where you can take an action to go to the wine fair early. You will get a choice of benefits up front for doing so but is it worth wasting a full action out of your precious twelve when you can just turn up at the fair for no action cost later? Make no mistake, this is a heavy euro game but one that has been lovingly put together by the designer over many years. And it shows. It may take up to half an hour to explain the rules to others but the time investment is worth it. The iconography on the board is very clear and to be fair once you’re under way it flows fairly smoothly given its depth. I recently played a four player with 2 noobs and it took roughly 2.5 hours, but I would say allowing 45 mins per player for your first game is about right. Experience of the game will be key in how you do and newcomers will be at a disadvantage as there is clearly a learning curve. There is a lot going on and it’ll take a few plays to sink in. A little randomness is thrown in, which is good as it keeps the game fresh and the players on their toes. This is in the form of weather that can add or deduct up to 2 from your wine production values. Fortunately the weather forecasts in the game are better than the ones you see on the telly as you are given advance warning at the start of a year of how production will be affected by the end of the year. So at least you have a couple of actions to try and mitigate the weather’s effects if you wish. With the exception of ensuring that you really must have at least three vineyards up and running by the end of year 2, there are many viable paths to pursue and for me exploring these is what makes Vinhos fun and interesting to play.

Rallyman

A new race game with lots of innovation and one that really gives the feel of what rally racing is all about. The dice mechanic is really clever with a push your luck element. Each die represents a gear (1st to 5th) that you can only roll once in your turn plus two acceleration dice that you can use anytime during your turn. Each die only allows you to move your car one space. Each die also has one or two hazards showing on the faces and if three turn up during your turn your car goes out of control with a subsequent loss of time. And time is what the game’s all about. Most car racing games are of the traditional first past the post type where you are directly competing against other cars to reach the finish line first. But in Rallyman the important thing is to achieve the best time when crossing the line. At the end of your turn you will receive a card corresponding to the gear you finished your turn in, ranging from 10 seconds if you’re in 5th gear, then down in 10 second increments to 50 seconds in 1st gear. At the end of the stage you will tot up all your cards for your final stage time. While it would be nice to drive continually along in 5th, there is always going to be those pesky corners to negotiate and how well you handle them will determine your final stage time. Typically your car will be approaching corners in gears 1 to 3 so a degree of advance planning is required to negotiate them without going out of control. You never feel that your fate is totally determined by the outcome of your die rolls. To some extent the game has a solitaire puzzle feel about it and it’s heaven for those who enjoy some forward planning. Like the real thing, the cars are run at intervals, so the first car away will get two full turns before the second car goes and so on. Some see the waiting around to have your turn as a weakness of the game but it’s one I don’t share. We are only talking about a few minutes here. Indeed I don’t mind going last as I can see how the other cars in front are negotiating the course and I can copy or make alternative plans as appropriate. The potential downside to going last is that the cars in front could possibly throw dirt into the corners that may force you to use a lower gear. During your turn you have the choice of throwing your dice in one of two ways. You can roll your dice one at a time that gives you the opportunity of stopping if there is a possibility you may crash if you continue. Alternatively you can take a chance and roll them all at once and by so doing earn seconds in the form of chips. This is a great feature and adds extra tension to the risk taking element of the game. These chips can either be save to reduce total time at the end of the stage, or used during a future turn in lieu of a die roll to offset any possibility of going out of control. I am a big fan of race games in general be they cars, horses, bikes, or whatever. However for me race games can sink or swim depending on how the random disaster features in the game are handled. It’s a fine line, but penalties have to be severe enough both to maintain tension in the game and keep true to the sport while at the same time not be so severe as to wreck a player’s chances especially early in the race. I think that Rallyman gets this balance right. You can assess the risk before throwing the dice, and also the time penalty for going out of control is one minute total for your turn i.e. just 10 seconds more than you would normally get if you were in 1st gear. In some circumstances you can lose the ability of rolling all the dice, but this will only last until the end of the stage. The game lasts three stages (each stage is about 20 mins long) and this is really the minimum you need to race to get the best from the game. Rallyman is very well supported online with dedicated six stage rallies such as the Monte Carlo and Corsica and I’m really looking forward to trying these out. I also notice that the designer always replies to any rules queries that crop up on the Geek. I really like this game and it is evident that the designer is a big fan of rallying. The boards provided with the game can be put together in a seemingly infinite number of ways so you will possible never need to play exactly the same stage twice if you so wish. Further variety is provided on the reverse of each of the four boards that shows the same track but in snowy conditions. You can even have a stage with both normal and snowy conditions. This will give you an interesting decision on tyre selection that is another aspect of the game that adds variety. A unique feature that this race game brings to the genre is that you never really know who has won the stage until the final count of your time cards. Rallyman brings a lot of totally fresh ideas to the table and has already established itself as one of my firm favourites.

Era of Invention

Era of Invention is a game about the development and production of inventions at the turn of the 20th century, for me thematically appealing and unusual as well. Although there is nothing significantly new in the game play, there is a subtle re-mixing of the usual ingredients that gives the game a different feel that I like. Describing how the game works is simply done. You place two action tokens (three in a 3 player game) one at a time in an empty slot in one of the six action areas on the board. Each action area has two slots available, so twelve slots all told. You then carry out those actions one at a time in any order. Both activities are carried out in strict player order. In addition, players also start the game with between one and five extra action tokens again depending upon the number of players. One of these can be used at any time and in any area after a regular action. Apart from the odd bit of end of turn tidying up and preparations for the following round that’s all there is to it. In a sentence, stick your tokens down and do the actions. Which for me is actually quite a pleasant change. The simplicity of the mechanics leaves you free to concentrate on the interesting bits such as deciding what your best selections will be bearing in mind what other players are doing, your position within the turn order and how best to manage your scarce resources. Turn order is important as first player rotates clockwise after each round. This means that the first player in turn one will be the last player is turn two, so there is definitely an element of forward planning required here, as actions that you would ideally like to take next turn will not necessarily be available. For me this adds to the challenge. The idea of the game is to turn your scarce resources into a combination of factories (to produce different resources), designing new inventions (for mainly VPs or possibly cash) and producing the aforesaid new inventions (for VPs or cash). It is not sufficient to concentrate just on one of these activities alone, but equally spreading your actions too thinly across all three activities will likely dilute your overall potential. There is a finite number of regular actions in the game so you need to make them count. Along with many other games, this is an exercise in efficiency and timing, and a very good one at that. I have seen a game won with loads of factories, and in contrast another where the winner has not bought or produced any factories at all. Some criticism has been levelled centred on games that people have played just the once with 5 players, and mainly around the assertion (misplaced I think) that players sitting in 4th and 5th position at the start of the game are at an acute disadvantage. While I don’t agree this is necessarily the case (two of my games have in fact been won by the player in 4th start position). It is fair to say though that the five player version is a lot more challenging to play and less forgiving on mistakes, but it plays very well for 3 or 4. I’ve really enjoyed my games so far and I’m looking forward to future plays.

After Pablo

This game has had a very low profile since its Essen release. I suspect that one of the reasons may have been down to its theme, namely the producing of cocaine by the cartels from Columbia and their subsequent sale to Mexico and the USA, so if that is a concern to you, read no further. This would be a pity because if you can get past the potential “bad taste”, After Pablo is actually a very interesting and well designed game. None of the individual mechanics are particularly new. There is a little bit of card drafting, area control, “take that”, auctions, attacking and the ability to take extra actions that we have all seen somewhere before, but not necessarily all in the same package. You will potentially be earning VPs both during and at the end of the game in a number of different ways. Such as from being the boss of either the Columbia or Mexican cartels, fighting other cartels, the smuggling and sale of cocaine, and the exchange of cash for luxuries that can be converted into VPs. The heart of the game and for me what makes it stand out is the function of the multi purpose cards. These show the portraits of various cartel members, eg assassins, politicians, guerrillas, etc together with their various abilities. Pretty much everything you do involves the playing of cards. If you use the card for fighting for example, you are giving it up for using its potential transport capability when smuggling drugs across the border. I like the fact that there are both different strategies to adopt but you also can take advantage of various one off tactical choices that can occur during the game. You also have a limited supply of influence markers at your disposal that are used to claim control of the Columbian and Mexican cartels and also to influence the DEA (extra actions). The random element to the game is how successful you smuggle or sell to the USA. The backs of the cards show either a blank alley or a police car. If the police car is revealed then one of your influence is “arrested” and in the normal course of events you will have to wait a lot of turns to get it back. But even this random element can be mitigated by the extra actions provided by the DEA. There is even more scope to the game than I have time to cover here, and there are plenty of options to consider and do. Thematically it has the feel of what I would imagine (naturally I only know what I read and see on the telly!) the illegal drug industry would be like. It can be played in around 90 minutes by 2 to 4 players, but I think it is at its best with 4.

K2

K2 is the world’s second highest mountain and reputedly one of the most challenging a dangerous to climb. Difficult to categorise this one as it’s not really a race game. It’s not the first man to the top either, but more of the highest you can possibly get and survive. Each player has two parties that begin the game at base camp with the overall objective of getting them as high up the mountain as you can whilst preventing the other players from doing the same. The higher up the mountain you climb, the more VPs you will earn, but if your party does not survive until the end of the game, those VPs are lost. There are two drivers to the game. The first is your own deck of cards that allocate movement and also improve your chances of survival. Each player’s deck is identical but individually shuffled. All the cards will be used at some point (indeed you will go through your own deck twice) but clearly the cards will come out in a different order each time. The second driver is the weather, which can be good, bad or worse depending upon the current altitude of your team. But you do get highly accurate advance notice, so a lot better than real life if you were really on the mountain. Players choose one from their hand of three cards and reveal them simultaneously. These will either allow your party to move or increase their survival rating. Priority for moving first rotates after each round of cards played. This is important especially when a party reaches nearer the top as the number of parties that can occupy the same place are strictly limited. There is nothing to prevent a party from reaching the top and staying there for the remainder of the game, weather permitting of course, thereby preventing anyone else reaching your ledge. Such behaviour is probably frowned upon in the mountaineering fraternity, but in game terms it works rather well and we like it! If the weather gets really bad you can always pitch your tent! I rather like the “push your luck” element as you consider how far up the mountain you can get away with and survive. You will also have to time your surge to the summit taking into consideration the future weather patterns, where your opponents are on the mountain and turn order. K2 is a highly original game with plenty to think about within a short playing time of around 15 mins per player. For those who want a tougher challenge, the reverse of the standard board shows the mountain with slightly more treacherous routes up in bad weather. The ultimate challenge is using the bad weather side with the alternative “bad weather” cards. I can’t wait to try it!

First Train to Nurenburg

FTtN is an updated version of Martin Wallace’s Last Train to Wensleydale. Along with the less colourful graphics, the new package includes a double sided board with the familiar Wensleydale map on one side and a new map set around Nurenburg on the other. The board also includes some additional iconography in the form of arrows that helps you identify pick up points for stone that greatly improves ease of play. The game also features a dedicated 2 player, 4 player as well as two different 3 player versions. Without beating about the bush I think this is one of MW’s finest games all time and a totally different style of railway game from his earlier “Steam” and “Rails” series. I’m not sure how he went about creating this but I think it’s a brilliant design. It has pretty much everything... bidding for influence, variable turn order for different phases, track building, picking up goods and passengers, securing the best rolling stock, takeovers of track, cash (in the form of investment cubes) management. Each game will play out differently on the board as the goods and passengers are seeded randomly at the start, so a different puzzle to solve as you try and work out potential optimal routes. The minor downside to this is that it will take slightly longer than average to set up before each game. One of the really compelling aspects about this game is the juggling act you have to perform with the influence tracks. All are potentially important, but you are forced to prioritise. The idea of the game is to build a network of tracks to link up to goods and passengers. The latter are transported on trains that are hired each turn to earn VPs and profit. Once the tracks have served their purpose you will then need to convert them into one of the major neutral railways, the Midland or the NER. Maintaining unprofitable track of your own ultimately costs you profit (end of game VPs) and also the ability to build future track as there is a limited supply to build with. Along with many features of the game this is a tricky balancing act. The game forces(!) you to diversify in many ways. For example there are two types of goods and also two different passengers, one for each of the two major railways. End of games VPs are earned for a set (one of each type) so there is nothing to be gained by concentrating on even just three. You will also need to keep an eye on how you spend your investment cubes. They are dual purpose, used both for bidding on influence and also for building your track. How much do you need to spend or possibly hold back for next turn? Influence is key to performing your actions and comes in the form of four different tracks. One determines the order you build track, another is the order you hire trains and ship goods and passengers and the final two represent the major railways and your ability to convert your defunct track. There is just one variable in play. Some of the influence up for auction each turn will be randomly drawn so if you are particularly desperate for one type, there is no guarantee that it will turn up. So in summary a great game in its own right and a railway game that has a totally different feel to any other ones I’ve played. And that’s a lot!

Next Steps in Board Gaming

2011-04-07T11:15:00.000+01:00

Once you’ve gotten a few of the most popular board games under your belt, there’re still whole worlds yet to discover!

Here are ten board games that the Board Game Guru thinks will provide you with plenty of good times at a slightly higher level of complexity than our “New to Board Games” recommendations. Ramp up your strategic skill level with these next steps.

1. 7 Wonders

7 Wonders provides as much strategic pleasure of much more complex civilisation-building games like Sid Meier’s Civilization, only without some of the drawbacks (like having to wait for your turn). It plays in about 20 minutes, and once you’ve mastered the fairly simple iconography, you’ll be building the Colossus and the Pyramids in no time at all! Plays well with any number of players from 3 to 7. Remarkably smooth and easy-to-learn.

2. Stone Age

An entry into the world of worker placement. Use your tribe’s members to gather resources, spending them on improving the fortunes of your stone age family. Gorgeous artwork; plays inside 60 minutes.

3. Fresco

A top-notch production. Like Stone Age, Fresco is a worker placement game, only here the theme is particularly unusual. Players are Renaissance artists whose aim is to complete the ceiling of their local cathedral in the most vibrant colours possible.

4. Airlines Europe

Airlines Europe is similar to the popular favourite Ticket to Ride in some ways, but a huge upgrade in others. It has the familiar route-building mechanics using cards, but it adds a stock game that has players buying routes to inflate the growth of each airline. Watch out, though – your opponents can sometimes sneak up behind you and take control of your company if you’re not careful...

5. Commands & Colors

If you liked Memoir '44 or think of yourself as a history buff, the Commands & Colors line of games from the high-end publisher GMT is essential. There are now two eras of warfare to play with, Ancient and Napoleonic. Reenact famous battles of Scipio and Hannibal, Napoleon and Wellington, Alexander the Great and, well, everybody... all with a smooth and relatively easy system of card play and dice rolling.

6. Pandemic

A classic of the burgeoning cooperative games genre, Pandemic has you curing diseases before they spread to neighbouring countries. The difficulty scales from fairly easy to maniacally tough, depending on preference – a great advantage that keeps Pandemic replayable. Plus, it’s great for any number of players from two to four.

7. Carcassonne: The City

An elaboration on a favourite tile-laying game, only this time you’re just building the city. But don’t be fooled, Carc: The City is tougher. Players have to position guards all along the city walls, and the better their guards’ vantage points, the more points they’ll get.

8. Lords of Vegas

The American company Mayfair makes some mighty fine games, and this is one of their recent masterpieces. With a whole lot of money that’s ready to burn, you buy casinos and strategically place them where they’ll earn the most money. You can even gamble away some of your profits in hopes of scoring enough cash to build the kind of massive casino that only a legend could put together...

9. Small World

Small World is a fiendishly nasty game that works well for any number of players from one to five. Players are in control of successive fantasy civilisations, controlling them as they’re born, flourish, and picking carefully when they die off... Each civilisation has two special advantages, and the many combinations of these abilities makes Small World endlessly replayable. There's lots of player interaction, and to win you'll have to spend quite a bit of time picking on your opponents, but the lighthearted theme keeps even younger players from taking their losses too seriously.

10. Neuroshima Hex

A tactical sci-fi game of tile laying and battle. Neuroshima Hex is a game of logic and timing in which each one of several factions has special powers that help them defeat their foes. The hard part is figuring out how to use each of your pieces to the best of their abilities. Don’t let the science fiction trappings fool you - this masterful Polish game has more in common with chess than Star Wars!

Once a few of these have hit the table, you'll be ready for just about anything.

Bartending Defenders of Olympus

2011-01-31T18:54:00.000Z

I enjoy writing and wish had more time for it. However, business calls and January was another stonking month for Boardgameguru. I thought the 20% Vat rate and the lack of stellar games would cause a slowdown in sales but no sign yet.

So onto games. My New Year (gaming) resolution was to rebalance my game playing towards the old and great away from the new and good. And despite only de-cellophaning three games it was a great month of gaming. Classics and older games played included Agricola, El Grande , Ra, Stone Ages (Lots) and Tribune. What i have enjoyed about playing older games is the perspective it gives you on newer releases; i think a mono diet of the latest releases can weaken the critical faculties if I am just thrill seeking from new games. A classic is acts as a reminder of what good games are meant to be.

Of the three games I opened this month 'Last Call : the bartender game' was the least enjoyable. It's nicely produced (cute booze bottles), however the game requires a little too much brain engagement for the time it's going to be played which is after a few drinks.

After listening to so many contributors to The Dice Tower put 'Defenders of the Realm' as their number one game of 2010 I thought I ought to give it an outing. I had been put off by reports of 1970's artwork and its similarity to Pandemic, then by the outrageous price of the expansion. 1970's artwork i can live with but not Pandemic. Despite 20+plays of the the co-op game i can say i am not a fan. It lacks theme (blue diseases are just not very scary), it feels more like a puzzle than a game and the specalists tend to push players into one role. I admire the game a lot - the mechanisms are innovative and clever its just one i will avoid (unsuccessfuly) if i can. Now 'Defenders of the Realm' shares the card driven 'crank up the badness' mechanism of Pandemic, it also borrows a bit from the 'creeping closer' mechanism from 'Castle Panic' - it is a whole lot more fun to play though. What makes it so is the theme and the pacing, you get a bit longer in DOTR to set your self up with cards and quests. Another difference is the characters - they are less specialised but have more interesting powers than in pandemic. The last and for me best change is that you dont spend any time trading cards - they are used to get you into the action of fighting the bosses.

'Olympus' might just be the slow burning star of Essen 2010. This is one vicious worker placement game, and thats what sets it apart from so many tech tree games of recent times. You really have to watch who is the bully in the group, turn order and actions remaining otherwise you will get clobbered. In this it reminds me a little of Through the Ages as you have to balance wanting to improve your Polis and your need to avoid having all your resources stolen by the table macho man. I fear that a lot of gamers will be put off after a first game because they will play it like the resource n' ramp up game it looks like and then see all there hard earned what and fish cross the table. However, a military strategy is not the only viable one (our Military player game last). Whay i like so much about this game is the tension between the need to produce resources and turn them into Vicory points and the need to avoid being screwed. It won't be for everybody but I am a fan.

More Essen games played

2010-12-20T18:55:00.000Z

'London' was my most aniticpated Essen game. I like Martin's designs, i'm a Londoner - what could go wrong? The interaction, or lack of it, is I think the biggest problem with the game. The other mechanics are clever and interesting enough to make it worth playing however in both of my games there was little scope for negative drafting as players are focused on their own cities. In both of my games i went brown for money, then bought boroughs then went for a clean up. Both times i was paying for cards with some great brown cards, which were sitting waiting for me on the next round. Maybe with expereince players won't aloow one player to dominate one colour; however i am not sure how they could stop without clogging their hand up with cards that don't fit their strategy. Both games were also three player affairs and i wonder if it would shine as a two player where you can interact more through the drafting. Regardless of my views its been a phenomenal seller; from my limited viewpoint the biggest selling Wallace release for years.

I had read about the obsucre 2004 hit Tahuantinsuyu but not played it. Were 'Inca Empire' not a reprint (all be it with a couple of small changes and swish Zman makeover) i think this might be one of the hit's of the show. The network and building part of the game are straightforward, but the aim of feeding of other players networks makes for the most enjoyable gameplay. The aim is be as parastical as possible, while minimising the efforts of the other players to do the same to you. The other delicious part of the game is the sun cards which benefit you and another or harm your opponents.

'Habemus Pape' from DDD Verlag is a departure in that it is not designed by the Kuhn brothers. The standard of the game is just as high as previous releases ('Uruk' and 'Wiege der Renaissance') from this publisher. Over about 20 auction rounds players are trying to have the most influence over the election of the Pope. It's simple to play with subltly different routes to victory and has always produced a close finish

Essen - serial,rather than parallel

2010-12-15T16:33:00.001Z

Last year I did the Essen releases in parallel - lots of game played once, and then the self same games played again. This year i have been getting to know the games one by one in some depth: -Partly because the pressure of work means i have not had neither the time or mental capacity to absorb new rules, and partly because i have enjoyed some games so much I have played them multiple times.

It's a bit early to pass judgement on the 2010 crop however i am going to stick my neck out and say. like 2009, its an 'average to good' year; with no 'bolt from the sky' new game.

The closest to a great game so far is Mac Gerdt's Navegador. It’s his fifth Rondel game and his best. I am have played it six times and no two games have followed the same course, mainly because the game provides a framework for the player's to engage with each and not with the game system. It’s a joy to be playing a game that demands you sepnd as much time looking at your opponents boards as much as your own and having to plan and adjust depending on the players to your left and right. The maimn cause of this is the market mechanism - which is one of the best i have seen on a boardgame because it lets you transact on both 'sides' of a commodity.

The complete opposite of a game that engages you with your fellow players is 20th Century. For long periods of the game players are self absorbed in their tableau micro managing the best placement of tiles. For me it's a complete turn off and a bore. Moreover it has a UK RRP of £50 which is extortionate for what you get in the box.

'Troyes', from new publisher Pearl Games, has a very interesting game driver in the use of dice. The mechanic is engaging and really requires players to use a different sort of thought process to progress. However, you are progressing along the well worn path of fighting off bad events, building a cathedral and secret bonus cards. Like 'Egizia' and 'Vasco Da Gama' from 2009 the mechanics make the game, and whilst that might make it a good game (one i have played five times so far) i wonder about its longevity.

'Grand Cru' is from new designer Ulrich Bluhm, is a fairly brutal economic game with a weakish wine theme; 'Age of Syrah' as one of my game partners quipped comparing it to Wallace's train game. The comparison is apt and i wonder if it's unforgiving nature has caused mixed reviews? The game is a procession of small, incremental actions that if got wrong caan cost you the game. There’s no catch up mechanism and if you make the (most common )mistake of incorrectly valuing a succession of tiles you are out before you started. I have played it three times, keep thinking about the game and want to play it more often.

When i get time i will post my thoughts on 'Incan Empire', 'Habemus Pape' and 'London'

Era of Inventions - a review by Neil Walters

2010-12-15T15:45:00.001Z

This is one of about a dozen games I had earmarked on my shortlist of highly probables before I went to Essen. I had already read the rules online so I had a good idea of how it played, and a game about the development and production of inventions at the turn of the 20th century was thematically appealing and unusual as well. I’ve now played this game three times, a 4 player and a 5 player twice. All have been different and although there is nothing significantly new in the game play, there is a subtle re-mixing of the usual ingredients that gives the game a different feel that I like. The box advertises a playing time of 90 minutes and for once such a claim is pretty much spot on.

Era of Inventions is a game for between 3 to 5 players that uses that quite recent favourite and well trusted euro mechanic of “action selection” (“worker placement” if you prefer). Describing how the game works is simply done. You place two action tokens (three in a 3 player game) one at a time in an empty slot in one of the six action areas on the board. Each action area has two slots available, so twelve slots all told. You then carry out those actions one at a time in any order. Both activities are carried out in strict player order. In addition, players also start the game with between one and five extra action tokens again depending upon the number of players. One of these can be used at any time and in any area after a regular action. Apart from the odd bit of end of turn tidying up and preparations for the following round that’s all there is to it. In a sentence, stick your tokens down and do the actions. Which is actually quite a pleasant change.

The simplicity of the mechanics leaves you free to concentrate on the interesting bits such as deciding what your best selections will be bearing in mind what other players are doing, your position within the turn order and how best to manage your scarce resources. Turn order is important as first player rotates clockwise after each round. This means that the first player in turn one will be the last player is turn two, so there is definitely an element of forward planning required here, as actions that you would ideally like to take next turn will not necessarily be available. For me this adds to the challenge.

The idea of the game is to turn your scarce resources into a combination of factories (to produce different resources), designing new inventions (for mainly VPs or possibly cash) and producing the aforesaid new inventions (for VPs or cash). It is not sufficient to concentrate just on one of these activities alone, but equally spreading your actions too thinly across all three activities will likely dilute your overall potential. There is a finite number of regular actions in the game so you need to make them count.

Two of the action areas relate to factories, one to buy factories and the other that allows you to produce with all the factories you currently own. Two more areas specifically relate to the inventions. The first is the design area where you make your claim for one of nine different inventions ranging from a typewriter up to an aeroplane; the latter takes more resources to develop but earns far more prestige (VPs) as you might expect. Players can also develop a secondary (upgrade) of the same invention for VPs and possibly cash later on if it is produced. An alternative action in this same area is to buy patents for instant and possible end of game VPs and also gives some protection if you opponents produce fakes of your own inventions. Each invention is represented by three cards (two real and one fake) and once developed these will be shuffled together into the mix of existing invention cards for inclusion in the next round. This is where the second invention area comes in. Seven invention cards are laid out in the ‘produce inventions’ area at the start of a round which are available for production by any player. A nice feature here is that you will earn extra VPs if another player produces one of your inventions. However one of the things that you cannot guarantee is that your own inventions will turn up. This random element might bother some, but is not an issue for me.

As to the final two action areas, one lets you buy groups of resources for cash while the other is an exchange mechanism for trading up your cash and/or resources in exchange for other resources, cash, VPs and even additional extra action tokens. As an alternative to exchanging, you could just acquire a ‘development cog’ (required for developing inventions) instead.

Along with many other games, this is an exercise in efficiency and timing, and a very good one at that. I have seen a game won with loads of factories, and in contrast another where the winner has not bought or produced any factories at all. But for some reason Era of Inventions has sadly been lost in the plethora of new Essen releases. Some criticism has been levelled centred on games that people have played just the once with 5 players, and mainly around the assertion (misplaced I think) that players sitting in 4th and 5th position at the start of the game are at an acute disadvantage. While I don’t agree this is necessarily the case (two of my games have in fact been won by the player in 4th start position), I do think it is unfortunate that new designer Anthony Daamen advertised the game for five players. Had he stuck to a 3 to 4 player format and posted a health warning if you wanted try it out with five (much as Uwe Rosenberg did with Le Havre) then I feel Eof I would be getting a more positive press.

It is fair to say though that the five player version is a lot more challenging to play and less forgiving on mistakes. Here you have 20 regular actions total plus just the one extra action token, whereas in a four player you have 16 regular actions and five extra actions. Without knowing the reason why there should be such a disparity, it is clear that the four player version allows far more flexibility not only from the increased number of extra actions available but also because there is less congestion for available action slots. In three player with its whopping 27 regular actions and three extra actions, I suspect that the game is likely to be even more forgiving to play. I’m now really keen to try the game with this number.

A final word on the artwork and components. The graphics are a touch on the wrong side of arty for my tastes. The action slots blend in with the artwork on the board and could have been a little more conspicuous. For clarity, some of the colour combinations on the wooden bits could have been better (the white and natural colour resource cubes for example), but you get used to it after a couple of games.

These minor reservations don’t detract and ultimately the game’s the thing. As a Winsome season ticket holder for many years, you’ll know what I mean. Hopefully the above will give you a good idea of whether the game is for you. I’ve really enjoyed my games so far and I’m looking forward to playing again soon.

Paul's note : Era of Inventions was published in a limited edition English run of 500 copies that sold out at Essen 2010. I am selling the German version, will provide English rules adn as the game is language independent thats all you need to get playing

Railroad Barons - a review by Nigel Buckle

2010-11-30T13:32:00.001Z

Usually I don’t bother to go into details of game mechanics in a review, but the rulebook for this game is so awful [Paul's note: there is a new set of rules available for download http://lookout-games.de/wp-content/uploads/RB_rules_new.zip] I think it is worth doing so in this case, just so the readers know which rules I was using to play the game that led to this review! I’ll give my thoughts first and then an overview of the rules after for those who are interested.

This is advertised as an 18xx game for 2 people playable in 45 minutes – and it comes in a small box. You get a deck of cards, some wood markers a stock price track and some nice paper money (although I’m sure many 18xx fans would substitute this for poker chips).

The rulebook that comes with the game assumes you know 18xx games, if you don’t it will be rather incomprehensible, and even if you do it will depend on which 18xx games you’ve played. It certainly took me a little while to figure out how to play. There is a revised rulebook on Lookout’s website – but even that is missing a rather crucial rule (you can pay for a railroad company from your own cash if your holding company has insufficient funds, but this is optional – a rather different case to most 18xx games).

I seriously doubt the 45 minute play time – unless both are a seasoned 18xx players and able to calculate income (you’ll have to make calculations such as 23 x 7 and so on) or have a spreadsheet or calculator to hand. Both games I’ve played have taken over 90 minutes.

If you are a fan of 18xx games and want the ‘experience’ of such a game for 2 players in a relatively (in terms of 18xx) short time this game is definitely worth a look – but it does depend what aspects of 18xx you like. If it is the laying of track and building up of routes then this game is not for you – there is no board play at all. Similarly if you like the stock manipulations you’ll likely to find the rather static stock market a bit lacking. What aspect of 18xx is covered then if it’s neither the stock market nor the track building! Well it’s the feel of investing in companies and making decisions about what trains (railways in this version) to buy, when to payout, when to take in and which shares to invest in.

There is an initial auction of investors (the replacement for private companies) – there are 5 but only 4 will feature in the game. Each has a cash value and a special power, because the game is only 2 players rather than an auction one player selects which investor (and in the advanced game the value) and the other player either takes the card for the special power OR the cash value, with the first player getting the other.

The train limit and company operations have been cleverly abstracted with a set of network tokens – you can permanently use one per operating round as a $10 boost to revenue (a bit like a station marker) or you use them to indicate how many railway companies you can purchase this round, or how many railway companies you can own at the end of the round. This is very slick – and different companies have a different number of tokens. It gives you some difficult choices, do you increase revenue at the expense of flexibility over manipulating trains (if you own two holding companies you can switch railways like you can switch trains in other 18xx games).

At the start of each stock round (you have a stock round then 2 operating rounds) to top railway company is removed from the game, so even if the players are not forcing a ‘train rush’ (railway rush in this case) the game will. Start of the game the railway companies are level ‘2’ and generate $50, once these first 4 have been purchased (or removed) then the ‘flip’ railways are available, these are level ‘2’ on one side and level ‘3’ the other, you decide which you want (the level ‘3’ costs more, and is not as good as a full level ‘3’). Once they are all purchased (or removed) then you have level 3, then flip 3/4. Once the first 4 (either flipped to its 4 side or a full level 4) is purchased or removed all the level 2 railways are obsolete and removed. Next are 4/5 flip, then 5, then 6 (which remove the level 3’s), then 8’s (which remove the level 4s). The 8’s are also flip cards – either a $800 railway wit $300 income or a $400 railway with $100 income.

Rather than the typical 20% director share and 8 10% shares, this game each holding company has a 40% director share, a 30%, 20% and 10% share - which makes for some interesting purchase decisions as you have a limit of 9 certificates so really want the higher % shares.

Overall, for a low component, low cost, very portable card game this is a surprisingly good take on the 18xx experience. I was pleasantly surprised – and keen to try it again, initially I thought the limited number of companies and simple stock market would lead to a very shallow game with little re-playability; but my first two games were very different, and we were using the ‘first game’ suggestion of fixed value for the investors. One component lacking is a priority marker, even though the rules refer to it (as does an investor card), we just used a pawn from my spares box.

I just wish the system was extended to support more players, as it is an interesting economic game. I recommend it for fans of games that need thinking and calculation, but be prepared to work through the rules several times before trying to play your first game!

Overview of the rules:

Setup – sort the railroads alphabetically. Each player gets $200. Auction 4 of the investors, the remaining one is returned to the box and both players get its printed value.

Game Play – Stock Round, followed by 2 Operating Rounds, until a Holding Company reaches $350 value, at which point the game ends at the end of that Operating round. Player with the most cash (in hand and share value) wins.

Stock Round – Remove a railway company (not the first round), then starting with the holder of the priority each player may first sell any number of shares they like (if the director sells the price drops 1 box, can’t sell if 50% of shares of that company are in the bank). Then may buy a share (but not in holding companies they’ve sold this round). First share bought must be the 40% director share. The company floats (so operates) when 50% is purchased. Certificate limit is 9.

Operating Round – Companies operate in a fixed order. First place tokens – 1 (maximum) can be converted to a network token, rest are either on a + space or a v space. Then calculate revenue = value of railways + any investor held + network tokens, revenue is either taken in (company receives all of it) or paid out to share holders. If paid out stock price increases one box. Then railways can be purchased and/or investors taken (one per + token), then railway limit is checked, company can hold one railway per v token (excess removed from the game).

Navegador - a review by Neil Walters

2010-11-27T09:53:00.000Z

As a fan of the rondel mechanic, there was little chance that I was not going to like this game. The only question for me then was, what does Navegedor add to the series, particularly compared to Hamburgum to which it more closely resembles in play, to make it worthwhile buying or indeed playing. Without knowing the precise answer why, I do feel this is a better game than its predecessor. The only thing that I can possibly pin it down on is that Hamburgum seems a tad too scripted in what actions you need to take to do well. From plays so far this certainly hasn’t been the case with Navegador. What I am absolutely certain about however is that I’ve already played Navegador twice as much as ever I did Hamburgum in the four weeks since its Essen release, so that must say something I suppose.

Many of you reading this will know the rondel series well, but for the uninitiated it is a very clever but simple device for controlling all the player’s actions. It consists of a circle drawn on the game board divided into eight segments. With the exception of one particular segment, the Market action, which occurs twice, each of the other six are completely different. In your turn you advance your marker up to three segments (you can move further but it’s prohibitively expensive to do) and complete the action on the segment you finally decide to land on. There is no blocking so you have the freedom to plan your future moves as you wish. It also has the advantage that you can see what your fellow players are up to as well. Tension comes with those actions where there is an incentive to get to a particular segment first, as some actions have a limited number of resources or benefit to pick up, or the resources become increasingly more expensive as cheaper ones have already been taken. In my view it is one of the most innovative mechanics to have come out in the last ten years. It’s clean, simple and totally transparent with the added attraction of very little down time in play. Even in five player games it’s your turn again before you know it.

But it’s not good enough having a great mechanic if the rest of the game doesn’t cut the mustard. No fears here either. Set in the 15th century, you are a Portuguese explorer building a colonial empire. You can explore the seas and oceans going east, found colonies, sell sugar, gold and spices for profits to invest in ever more ships to continue your quest eastwards. Or not. You could also be that “stay nearer to home type” of explorer. After all sailing long distances is time consuming and expensive. So why not hang back a little and snaffle up a few colonies that the others have left behind, and perhaps build lots of factories to process the goods for lots of cash instead. Both alternatives might work and can work. I’ve seen both happen successfully. Along the way you can also build churches to recruit workers, shipyards to build your ships and also obtain privileges for instant cash and future victory point potential. It is a game of maximising the efficiency of your actions both in your selection on the rondel but also the volume of benefits you can manage to reap in a single turn. It is also a game where you have to keep a close eye on what the other players are doing, as the market for selling and processing goods is dynamic. Prices could easily have dropped by the time your turn comes round again. You need to be particularly aware of what your right hand neighbour is selling, and be prepared to adopt a flexible strategy. All this adds up to just my type of game.

On the components front, the wooden and cardboard playing pieces are what you would expect of a modern euro game. The artwork on the board is the very best combination of great to look at and total clarity. To be honest, I’m really struggling to come up with any negatives to say about Navegador. There may be some, but if so they’re not immediately apparent to me. Navegador is not totally original of course, but my feeling is that there is a natural progression in the rondel series and on this evidence the games keep improving as they go along. If you liked Hamburgum, you will certainly enjoy Navegador. If you haven’t tried any of the rondel series before, then I think you should consider treating yourself to this one.

As a footnote, I also need to play Hamburgum again as well just to check it out and remind myself what it does different, perhaps with the new Antwerp expansion that apparently includes some new rules. If I do, I’ll let you know.

Guru note : I am in total agreement with Neil. Navegador is my most played Essen game, every game has evolved differemtly, all have come in at about 90 minutes. The best Mac Gerdts design so far.

Civilization the board game

2010-11-04T14:01:00.001Z

Thoughts, feelings and first impressions after three plays

I had a very long break from boardgaming, not long after Francis Tresham’s masterpiece Civilisation was released, throughout my twenty year long board gaming hiatus Sid Meier’s Pc series was my game of choice, and when I got back into board gaming iIfelt at home because so many of the choices, attempts at efficiency and conflicting prirorites i had enjoyed in the PC game were present in modern board games – and even better you got to play with real human beings. For me a board game of Civilisation is the perfect subject matter, marrying my love of this hobby with nostalgia for night long sessions in front of the PC racing to build my space ship before the Greeks.

Components

You have watched Drakkenstrike's video so you have a good idea of what to expect in the box. There’s lot of it, its nicely produced and when you get it on the table the overall effect if spectacular. The tiles create a varied landscape filled with cities, buildings, scouts and army figures. Each player needs a fair amount of space for their Civilisation card, pyramid, tokens and army unit cards.

Rule book

Its 32 pages long, its one of the best from Fantasy Flight that I have read and after your first game you won’t have to refer to it more than once or twice. The player aids that come with the game have a useful summary of actions and unit costs; I would like to have seen a player booklet with the techs, wonders and buildings described because until you know the game you are going to spend a lot of time leaning over the board looking at the options. I have printed out Kopernicus’s summary and I’d recommend doing the same, there’s a lot of information to take in and having a print out is much easier than constantly having to squint at the cards or put your arm pit in your neighbours face stretching across the table.

The game

The mechanics and actions are straightforward, however when you sit down to play the game you might now how to do it but you don’t know what to do with it. I was immediately struck by the similarity but difference with the computer game experience. You are in a very familiar world but whereas I might restart my sandbox Civilisation game on the PC on a whim, here you can’t – there’s almost instant pressure to get things right and your very visible opponents sitting a few feet away are plotting your downfall.

Each player chooses one of six civilisations to play, grabs there starting tile and slots on to the world of tiles. The Civilisations have different benefits and starting technologies, in the games i have played the winners have played to the strength of their civilisation, for example the Germans start with an extra two armies and gain a unit card whenever they unlock a tech that gives them a military upgrade - this points them towards a military victory, the Romans move up the culture track when they build a wonder or found a city so a cultural victory beckons. However, it’s not that straightforward, advancing towards all of the victory conditions provides its own benefit and putting all of your ‘meepeggs’ in one basket can backfire, i think it’s worth while keeping your options open until the finish line is in sight. A tech victory is within sight of all the players, and you are not going to progress quickly without adding to your pyramid so it’s one that you always have to keep moving towards. In my three games victory has come by Tech, Culture and Military – no one has got close to a coin victory and i suspect it’s the hardest to pull off.

I won;t going into detail about the game mechanics, suffice to say you build cities, trade with other players (this bit has been fun as players swap resources or agree who will be the beneficiary of a tech effect that helps two players), build stuff or collect stuff with your cities, move and fight, then research one tech. Repeat.

What’s obvious and what’s not

In my first game (and I have seen the same in people I have taught the game to) there seems to be some obvious things you need to do – like the computer game. The first thing is to get some buildings in the 8 square outskirts for your city to boost trade, hammers or culture. It also seems quite important to get technologies out as quickly as you can and to get the second city founded asap. Following these ambitions is not going to hurt you, however it’s not a disaster if someone has got a jump on trade production or hammers because there are two very powerful investments you can make for the future which are not obvious. The first is moving up the culture track, the first time i saw this very long long ladder to victory I wrote it off as too difficult to achieve and the action of devoting your city to the arts as time wasted that could be better spent on improving my industrial machine. I was wrong! Every step on the culture track rewards you with either a culture card or a great person. Both are powerful – and the further you get up the culture track the more powerful the cards become – they give you resources (more on these later), they allow you to swap techs, the can kill off opponents units, impoverish their lands. Moreover they are kept hidden so they have the advantage of surprise. ‘Great Persons’ work like buildings, there are six types and they really give a boost to the city they are placed in. The second thing you can do at the beginning is explore the map and take down the huts. The huts have a random resource which you claim when you move into a hut space and these resources can influence which techs you are going to want to research.

The three options you may take with your city is to build (a unit, a wonder or a building), ‘devote to the arts’ which collects culture tokens or collect a resource from within the city boundaries. In my first game I focused on buildings, however using one city as a feeder by collecting resources from its boundary or scouts you have sent out can feed other Cities Wonder building or culture leaps. Having a city surrounded by buildings helps with trade and hammers, but the resource effects on the tech cards can be a subtler and more efficient way of achieving the same end

What’s not obvious is the tech tree, there a mind boggling 36 to choose from, and most have multiple effects; either unlocking the advance that allows you to buy specific buildings or instantly upgrading them, unlocking new government forms, upgrading your army units, increasing your culture hand size, allowing you to spend a resource or multiple resources to some effect – some technologies do multiples of the above. You also have to plan in advance what techs you want to use, because the tech victory requires you to reach the fifth level of the pyramid your selections become more crucial the further you go up – choosing five out level one techs is not too difficult but you only really have three choices at level three and they must all count. I find myself constantly referring to what techs I have and the tech chart to plan it out as efficiently as possible, you don’t want too many duplicates so researching at techs that incrementally upgrade your units from 1 to 2 to 3 can be wasteful (unless of course there is another effect that you need). In all the games I have played I have missed a few opportunities at some point because by the time you are at level three you might have 6 or 7 resource fired options available to you.

The Czech elephant in the room

Should I face execution on the morrow my last request will be for a Steak and the gaoler to sit down for a game of ‘Through the Ages’. It’s my favourite game, my only 10. Civilization is the officially licensed game of the computer series, Through the Ages is its unlicensed heart and soul in board game form. They are very different games, with a different approach to creating the Civilisation experience; Fantasy Flight’s franchise game feels more like the recreation it is, ‘Through the Ages’ a re-imagining. Combat in Through the Ages is a brutal, Zero sum, affair, it can wipe you out of the game and sometimes it is difficult to spot it coming or prepare for it whereas in Civilisation you see it marching across the board towards you, you can delay it, you can build up, hell you might even get lucky with the card draw. What both games share is a tempo increase towards the end, in ‘Through the Ages’ you are seeding the deck with end game bonuses in Civilization the options explode as more techs layer on to your pyramid and you start to accelerate towards one of the victory conditions. The biggest difference between the two is the need to live within your means, in ‘Though the Ages’ there’s lots of it in Civilisation there’s none. Where TTA is closer to the Pc game in that you have to keep your population happy, fed and plan production so you don’t go corrupt – all when known to the PC devotee. In Civilisation these are taken out of the game, but it’s no bad thing as you have so much else to deal with and my thematic rationalisation is that all I do is set with the constraints of living of a balanced society. There are some small constraints in that if i can only build one starred building (Temple, Barracks, Market) in each city and the level two technology ‘Democracy’ prohibits me from attacking other cities (if only in real life....). In summary ‘Through the Ages’ feels like a Euro, Civilisation is a step closer to the dark side.

Flaws and the lack of them

I have not found any to be honest. It is, in part, a multiplayer wargame, so there is always the problem A bashes B then C bashes A and D has a right good laugh about it. There’s a steep to vertical strategy learning curve – for a four hour game this might be too much for the ‘play it twice’ and move on brigade, the flip of that is that after 3 plays and 12 hours I feel like I am scratching the surface and I want to dig deep into what this game has to offer. Another thing I have noticed slowing up play is the amount of counting trade symbols and hammers players have to do. You should be able to remember it from turn to turn but with so much else going on every turn is Groundhog Day. These are not really flaws, more reasons some people might want to steer clear of the game. I have not found the combat part of the game that exciting (apart from the end game capital city bash) , though it’s easy to grasp and does not take very long. I think given the game takes a long time to play its as good a system as could be fitted into a reasonable game length.

Conclusion

Fantasy Flight makes great games, but i don’t play them very often. I recognise that they are imaginative, often innovative and well produced. My problem is the subject matter – i am really not interested in the fortunes of the inhabitants of Terrinoth or the Warhammer universe, and though, for example, ‘Chaos in the Old World’is a stand out game I battle with indifference towards the’ Nurgle’ and friends. But I do care about the Egyptians, Romans and the rest, and the endless bits and pieces that accompany a big FF game make sense to me in Civilisation. I think Euro gamers whose gaming imagination is engaged by the historical and the real will enjoy civilisation – and if they have avoided FF games to date are in for epic treat. And the rest of the world you know already you are going to love this game

Essen and technology

2010-10-19T18:16:00.000+01:00

I have packed, counted my Euros and printed off my Spiel preview.Good to go.
For some reason the intro to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales keeps springing to mind, except its October showers not April though Spiel is a pilgramage of sorts.

Since my last post i have added Merchants & Marauders and After Pablo to the buy list. Merchants is on the list because i am still searching for 'the' pirate game and After Pablo because it looks very interesting ; both theme and mechanics wise. There are rumours that the new FF Civ game will be there and whilst i don't believe it i will be heading to the FF stand first thing Thursday morning. Its a shame that Vinhos won't make the shshow, however it will be welcome when it arrives later in November.

My Blackberry packed up last week so i changed up to a Iphone 4. Before i started playing with it i thought mobile phones were just for calls and emails. The Iphone has changed that - it really is amazing and is like carrying round a computer. Of course i downloaded loads of boardgame Apps :- Neuroshima Hex, Wabash, Samurai , Tichu and High Society. All are outstanding - especially Tichu. Apet from Wabash none of these are games that i play very often and i think a Iphone App is a great way of finding out if you like a game or not, or discovering games that i gave not played before. It might sound odd but i am not that interested in playing games that i love face to face against the computer. i don't think the medium is suited to longer games as the omotional investment tails off after 15 minutes or so.

If i have time i will post my first impressions of games i play in Essen.

Essen wishlist

2010-10-07T09:52:00.001+01:00

I imagine i am not the only one hitting the refrsh button on boardgamenews Spiel preview, searching for details of the lastest releases.

I have been reading the rules of Essen releases when they become available, and whislt they are not the best guide to how well a games going to play (last year i dismissed Endeavor, Vasco Da gama and Hansa Tuetonica after a rules read - big mistake) they, and the occasional word with play testers, are the only thing to go on.

So whats on my list

Category 'Will wrip it out of the hands of the seller on early Thursday morning'

Merkator
Poseidon
Navagador
Master of Economy
7 Wonders
Key Market
Vinhos
Grand Cru

London would be top of this list but its being delivered to Treefrog subscribers before Essen

Category '....Now rush to get these'

Norenberc
51st State
High Fronteir
K2
Luna
Porto Carthago

Category '2 hours till back to the hotel go grab'

German Railroads
First Train to Nuremburg
Charon
Baltimore and Ohio
Troyes
New Adlung Spiel
New bambus
.......

Friday will be spent loading up for the shop. Looking at the list, if this was a 'pick up and deliver' game i would not be doing very well - some purcahses can be combined and if i have paid for it it can be left till the afternoon. However, i plan playing on Thursday late into the night and there are on or two games that just must be played (7 wonders springs to mind twice)

There are a few titles which will get a Rio Grande or Z man Uk release within a few weeks of Essen so they are not on the list (Rio del Plata, Incan Empire) so they can wait.

My main aim is not to buy everything i see and come back with a bunch of games that will be played on a regular basis and not traded after a few months (i'm looking at you Megacorps...)

T for Two

2010-09-30T10:17:00.000+01:00

Hansa Teutonica is one of my fave games from last years Essen. Not every ones cup of tea though as it is an abstract masquerading as a trading type game.

I tried it as two player yesterday and it did not work as well as with four or five, in fact i'd say it was poor. The inrosuction of the marker that moves around the board means that if one player gets an action advantage they can keep the other player out of the upgrades they need; which spoils the 'rock, paper, scissors, stone' element of the game.

It reminds me that the previous i played was with three and that was poor as well - defiantely best with five or four where the different strategies balance each other out

PowerStruggle and SNCF

2010-09-30T08:46:00.001+01:00

Its a mighty fine night when you get to play two new games and both are 8+ raters. The first was 'Power Struggle', the last of my Essen 09 unplayed heavies and a game i have table dodged because after five rules reads i had not progressed beyond flumuxed. This time i was lucky emough to have a PS vet to teach. And what a game! Very reminscent of 'Tribune' in the victory conditions and bonuses for leadership of divisions the game also has a short play time. There is loads going on here, beating you arch enemy, maxing on income and board power, every choice demands the weighing up of five or more factors. Whilst there are similarities with Tribune game this has got a little more going on, in that the bribery action gives a creative feel to game play. I have said this about a lot of Essen 09 games, but this time i thinks its true : this is the pick of the crop. The next 35 minutes of game time was spent on one of Winsomes 2010 Essen pack - SNCF. I thought Winsome had gone as far as possible down this route by discovering sub atomic level train 'n equity games with Wabash, however with SNCF they have found the Quark :- 2 actions build track or trade shares from the same pool as the track cubes, games over when 5 of the 6 cube pools have gone. I prefer CE but its hard to think of a recently released game that packs such a punch in 30 minutes.

Age of Industry wins IGA and some (unfounded) rumours

2010-09-23T19:29:00.000+01:00

Congratulations to Martin Wallace for the IGA award to 'Age of Industry' - a very good game from a great designer. I am slightly surprised that it won because of its close resemblance to Brass, however in pure gaming terms I prefer it to most of the other games on the short list.

I was hoping that Dominion : Prosperity was a later September release - it looks like it might be as late as Essen, or even later. This is a shame because there is a pre-Essen gap for great game releases and it would have filled the slot nicely.

The rumour that I am most excited about is that Sid Meier's Civilization the board game might be a late October / early November release. For me, 'Civ' realised as a board game is the holiest of Holy Grails and the Upcoming Fantasy Flight release it number one on my wish list by some margin. Whilst I want this to be released yesterday a late October date is problematic; how am i going to fit in the time to play the other 40+ games arriving at Spiel?

A couple of Essen games will be in my hands before Spiele. 'London' by Martin Wallace (number 2 on my wishlist) will be sent out to arrive before the show and the new Kramer/Kieslng ; 'Asara' is out in Germany (without an English rules set unfortunately)

Heroes of Graxia - A review by Nigel Buckle

2010-09-06T17:46:00.000+01:00

This card game is marketed as a deck building game – I think this is a little misleading, but it certainly has elements that should appeal to players of trading card games (in particular Magic the Gathering).

I won’t repeat the rules or go into too many game play specifics; you can read the manual here:

You each play a hero (6 different, all with unique abilities) but everyone shares a common card pool to obtain cards for your playdeck as the game progresses. Unlike other deckbuilding games you do not randomise the available cards in stacks with a subset available for each game. Rather you divide the cards into 4 types – monsters, units, spells, equipment and randomise those, then during the game 4 cards of each type are always available and you select from just those. This makes setup and put away a breeze, unlike other games of this type where you have to sort the cards into individual stacks.

In Heroes of Graxia you have 2 actions in a turn, and during your turn you can buy as many cards as you can afford (into your discard pile), then discard any remaining cards, and then draw a new hand.

You win by having the most victory points – these are gained from defeating monsters and also from killing your opponents units.

Unlike other deck building games, this feels more like a Rochester draft, you have not got unlimited access to all the card types, rather you can pick from the ones available at the start of your turn. This means you have to adapt your game as you play, rather than work out how you are going to build your deck for this game and then do it.

This game has significant player interaction – the game actively encourages you to attack your opponents through the way victory points are collected and the bonuses to player vs player combat many items and spells give.

There is a definite learning curve, the temptation is to buy as many cards as you can afford each turn, but I suspect this is sub-optimal play, unless they are all cards that give you victory points. There is currently no way to remove cards from your deck – defeated units go to your discard pile, but there is one spell that allows you to steal a spell from your opponent as they cast it.

I like it, but the game is not perfect. You will find yourself adding up attack and defence numbers all the time, are you strong enough to kill that monster, how much damage will it do to you, what values your opponents have, how the spells and mercenaries in your hand will alter combat. This can get bit tiresome, especially as the values get large in the mid to end game, and asking your opponent what their values are is a signal you are considering attacking sometime soon. Possibly this can be overcome with a player aid tracking the values for each player and updated each turn. Multiplayer can be vicious, and players need to be careful they are not setting up an opponent to win, for example you attack one opponent leaving yourself damaged and weak to an attack from a 3rd. To stop ganging up each player can only be attacked once per round, once you have your turn you are then eligible to be attacked again – this means if you are badly damaged by an attack you may not have enough cards/actions to fully recover leaving you vulnerable to another attack by a different player. The game requires the players to ensure they don’t help another player too much.

The game is very portable and the art work although not spectacular is perfectly servicable and helps the theme. You get 6 plastic figures, each representing one of the heroes in the game, but they are totally superflous to the game.

Overall, it is a game that will stay in my collection and I expect to see being played regularly. If your gaming tastes include Magic the Gathering or similar CCGs, and are looking for a non-collectable card game with a strong drafting mechanic and don’t mind adding up values repeatedly during a game I’d recommend this one.

The best game played in 2010, IGA shortlist - and a jury fantasy

2010-09-04T13:04:00.002+01:00

On Wednesday evening i played the best game of the 200 odd i have played in 2010. It has everything you could want in modern Eurogame design ; multiple paths to victory, multiple game ending conditions, scarcity of time and resources, every action you take effects all the other players, the a seamless balance between strategy and tactics. We talk of ‘interlocking game mechanics’ as a hall mark of good game design , this game surpasses that ugly description and when playing i thought it was an Orrerry , so perfect did the mechanics fit together.

So what was this wonderful new game of 2010? Well I am being a bit misleading here, its only new in that I have not played it in 2010 (or 2009). First published in 2002 its ......Puerto Rico.

So having reminded myself of what the perfect Eurogame should look like i stated thinking about the shortlist for the International Gamers Awards and how these games matched up to the acme of modern boardgame design.

I think there are a lot of very good and worthy games on the list, but nothing that stands head and shoulders above its peers and none that should sit on the top shelf next to Puerto Rico. The awards are actually for games published in the year to June 2010 so there is some overlap with 2009 – though i think 2009/10 (for Eurogames) was consistently good but lacks the two or three stellar games that would make 2009/10 a great vintage, in bordeaux terms its a 1983 rather than a 1982. From the finalists (Last Train to Wensleydale, Egizia, Vasco Da Gama, Rise of Nations, Fresko, Age of Industry, Shipyard, Dungeon Lords, World Without End, Hansa Teutonica, Endeavor, Glen more) a case could be made for any of them to win. However if the three top games from the previous year were up for comparison (Le Havre, Automobile, Dominion) it would be no contest – each of these 2009 games would be a stand out, almost automatic pick, for best of year. And the same would apply if you were to introduce winners from previous years (Agricola, Through the Ages and Caylus). So the jurists have an interesting choice ahead of them and because they use a transferrable vote system there really could be any game winning the laurels (as St Petersburg did in 2004)

So on to my thoughts on the games - first i should qualify any negative comments by saying I own all of them (bar Shipyard which i traded) and would happily play all of them again many times (bar.....shipyard).

I have played all of the games on the shortlist at least three times. Indulging a fantasy that I am a jurist (and I had just played Puerto Rico before sitting down with my voting pencil) I would immediately strike two games from the voting ballot.

‘Shipyard’ (4 plays, Geek rating 5) great theme and mechanics can’t hide a game decided by unbalanced victory conditions – in the four games i have played the winner has, in every case, been the person who pulled the best combo of end game scoring bonuses.

‘Rise of Empires’ (5 Plays, Geek rating 5) is a poor implementation of a great idea. The ‘A/B’ turn mechanic is original; the rest of the game needed a lot more development to do the kernel mechanic justice

Two other games I’d find it difficult to vote for would be ‘Age of Industry’ and ‘Fresko’ – ‘Age of industry’ (5 plays, rating 8.5) because it’s a reworking of ‘Brass’ which got a stab at the award in 2008 and Fresko (4 plays, geek rating 8 ) because I am not sure what are you voting for ; the base or expanded game? Moreover whilst Fresko is a very good game it’s not a great one. The mechanics work with the theme better than any other game on the shortlist, but beyond that it’s not a stand out as a gamers game

Carrying on in reverse order the next two games I’d eliminate have great 'hooks' that it is a funky newish mechanic that engrosses me into the game, and I really enjoy playing both, but I think the games are beyond the hook fall just short of greatness. The first is Vasco Da Gama (5 plays, Geek raing 8) which is fun to play but after my fifth game i had not seen any variation in the way the games evolved. The action purchase mechanic though is great fun , however this is the whole challenge of the game and the roles selection, recruitment and ship movement lack the something that would move this game from ‘good’ to ‘great’.

The second is ‘Egizia’. ‘Egizia’s (3 plays) 'hook' is the Nile action selection mechanic. It’s great fun, full of the ubiquitous agonising choices. The rest of the game feels slightly Knizaesque with a splash of Stone Age. Unlike ‘Vasco’ there is multiple paths to winning this game. Unfortunately, like ‘Shipyard’ the difference between winning and losing can be decided by what end game bonus cards you draw and their synergy with previously drawn bonus cards.

The next to be struck off the list is ‘Glen More’ (3 plays) – it’s original and challenging, however with more than 3 players or with any players the slightest bit prone to AP it’s a write off. This game falls between two stalls, a fast paced tile laying game and a real brain burner. Because the luck of the tile draw can have a fairly big effect on the game then it should be a sort of gamers Carcassonne, instead it can outstay its welcome.

The last two games to be struck off are ones I love.

First up is ‘World without End’ (7 plays, geek rating 8.5) ; it’s a great experience game of the ‘bad things happening to you’ genre. However unlike, for example ‘In the year of the dragon’ the bad stuff can’t be planned for other than taking an efficient generalist approach. And you really need to know the events to avoid disaster. After seven plays of ‘World without End’ i can’t make my mind up if its a good game or not; i know I like playing it and maybe that should be enough.

‘Dungeon Lords’ (3 plays, rating 7) is as much fun as you can have playing a Euro. However, take the mechanics and imagine the theme, as say, castle building in 14th Italy to fight off Condottiere you’d have a run of the mill game which is just a little too fiddly. The theme and production make this game, I’m not sure it’s enough to be a game of the year.

So that leaves three games.

The two that don't quite make the pinnacle have a lot in common – they feel like ‘old school’ designs, b both are polished games that scale well, have multiple paths to victory and subtle player interaction.

‘Endeavor’ (11 plays, geek rating 9), with its feint echoes of Goa and Struggle of Empires ‘, is a pared down design that plays incredibly quickly.

‘Hansa Teutonica’ (5 plays, Geek rating 8) also has echoes of Goa, in Hansas’ case with a player ‘tech’ board, in Endeavor it is the buildings chose each round. ‘Hansa’ is a very simple idea but has multiple paths to victory and every game i have played has been quite distinct, with each strategy having an answer – almost a ‘rock, paper, scissors, stone Euro’, of these two I marginally prefer Endeavor. Why would these two great games not be my pick? Because though they are both wonderful they are clever remixes of older ideas

By process of elimination that leaves ‘Last Train to Wensleydale’ (3 plays, Geek rating 8) and of the games on the shortlist it’s the one I have played the least and the longest since I played it. I feel a little ambivalent towards ‘Wensleydale’ – in the games i played I thought some routes into the map were better than others, though that may be inexperience. On the other hand (i must qualify this by saying i am not much of a train gamer) it feels like a radically new approach to train game design.

Given my ability to predict awards and the transferrable voting system that ther IGA uses then don't be suprised to see shipyard win!

I can't think of any other games that meets the award criteria and that would be a winner here. If i had to pick 10 then i would sub in Chaos in the Old World (its a Euro!, but maybe not a Family strategy game...) for Shipyard and 'Imperial 2030' for 'Rise of Empires'.

In conclusion its a strong field full of games i am going to enjoy playing for years to come - but nothing as good as Puerto Rico.

Games that missed the shortlist that I think worthy of inclusion include Homesteaders and Assyria

S

August update

2010-08-21T11:12:00.002+01:00

I think one of the most important things about writing a blog is to keep it updated on a regular basis. This clashes with the most important thing about being a boardgame retailer - keeping on top of your orders. August has (so far) surpased June and July for orders. I am delighted the shop has been so successful - and especially proud of the boardgame geek survey results

However, the time invested in the business means less time for playing games; I think my 500 plays of 2009 is going to be a lot less in 2010. Not neccesarily a bad thing as less play time means (i hope) more focused game time. Last night Le Havre got it first 2010 outing - and it was way overdue. Having played it to death upon its 2008 release (15 games in a few months) i burnt out. Last nights game was a three player, which is Le Havre's sweet spot. Within 5 minutes of the start I had goosebumps running up my arms - the game is just head and shoulders above anything published in 2009 or 10. It was the closest finish i have seen , I tied with Alan How with Paul Heald not to far behind.

The beauty of Le havre is its simplicity (take stuff or use a building) , its pacing (it has a slow, then exponential growth) and its balance - if you make a false move, usually an overextension in the middle game you end up like a tight rope walker buffeted by winds, swaying back and forth to get back to an upright position.

Merkator, Rosenberg's follow up to Le Havre, will be released at Essen and this is top of my buy list. Hanno Girke, the publisher, has described it as 'Le Havre on Steroids' - that's good enough for me.

Who needs a holiday?

2010-07-22T13:31:00.000+01:00

I know i do. After the busiest two months for boardgameguru (with the exception of December 2009) since i started trading i am feeling a little in need of a break. I had been puzzled as to why June and July have been so busy - it's not been an excpetioanl period for new releases, and i thought we are at the start of the mother of all austerity drives in the nation's finances. The answer, i understand is that folks are cutting back on expensive holidays. So instead of an all inclusive in Ibiza we are camping in Cornwall, saving a grand or so, and spending a % of the savings on 'treats' - so hobby shops are not doing too badly. Moreover, i think people are buying more games to take on their holiday; perhaps not trusting to the British weather.

My 5 day holiday will be spent with my family in Rugby (long gone are trips to the airport). And with a nephew and niece waitng who lap up boardgames i have got to plan my packing quite carefully - last year they loved Finca, Livingstone, Carcassonne and Niagara. This year, a year older, i think it might be time to try them on some new stuff. So far i have ruled out Brass and 18xx but that leaves quite a few options...

Reading matter

2010-07-12T10:13:00.001+01:00

There are very few books about Boardgames. I should not be too suprised given the wealth of information on the net. However, one book that i have just got back into stock and have been reading and re-reading is 'Hobby Games : The Best 100'. It's 100 short (3 or 3 pages) articles by designers and publisher's about their favourite games by other designers. For such a diverse group of writers the standard is very high. Many of the games are celebrations of games from the writer's youth - i.e when they had time to play long games. It has made me re-evaluate how i look at some of the games listed, and even purchase a few. Thoroughly reccomended (as is it's companion book 'Family Games : the Best 100')

Not reccomended though is 'Things we think about games' - this book is a collection of 140 Pensees garnered from an internet site. The contributors are no less authoratative than the writers in the 'Hobby Games book' - its just that the internet wisdom does not translate to the printed page. Many of the 140 thoughts are one liners occupying a whole page - not exactly value for money, even more so when the pearl of wisdom is to 'Keep your nails trim' or to 'shuffle the discard pile just before needed' .May be these thoughts caused an interesting internet debate - on the printed page they just look shallow and pointless.

Age of Steam vs. Steam

2010-06-23T11:55:00.000+01:00

Not a match up - i did a rules match up some time ago. More of a sales report.

Since Steam has been released it has outsold Age of Steam by a factor of 35 to one at boardgameguru.

I am still to play Steam, having had my railway game thirst slated by a plays of AOS and Wensleydale last year. I have traded my copt of AOS away and i think the next time i want to play with the Choo Choos it will be Steam

Age of Industry - not Brass Lite!

2010-06-10T18:50:00.000+01:00

Played Brass 'Lite' - 'Age of industry' on Tuesday at London on Board , which meant i had to relearn how to play 'Brass', which did my head in. It was a very competitive game - with 4 players fighting over last place. Scott seemed to have the knack of building mines and Iron Works at just the right time which game hime a clear win . The rest of us demonstarted all the capitalist nous of the Luddites and the tactical skill of the Keystone cops. Martin and i had no excuse as we are Brass veterans - however the transferable skills were a hinderance, it felt like i was Tap Dancing in a Tango comeptition - they are both dance types after all :)

Off to play it tonight and try again.

I like it it a lot

Workshop of the World

2010-06-01T16:19:00.000+01:00

Two of my top ten games have canal construction and the early days of the Industrial Revolution as a central theme. The news that another was coming out, that is was a Ragnar design split in to two eras, a Railway and a Canal era, made me think instantly that the Ragnars were making a game similar to ‘Brass’ or'Canal Mania' - However it bears only a superficial resemblence to either game, and for ‘Brass 2’ we have ‘Age of Industry’ released on the same day as ‘Workshop of the World’ at the UK Expo on Saturday 5th June.

Contents and set up

The major industrial towns and cities of England, Wales and Southern Scotland are depicted on the map (hereafter referred to as ‘towns’); they are connected by rectangular Links in which players can build Canals and in the second part of the game Railways. Most connections between towns are of a one link length, some are two and these tend to be links between the areas at the fringes of the map. Each town has a number on it between two and four which denotes income when a connection is built from the town and also its industrial capacity. Each town is also colour coded to show its industrial output, Heavy Industry, Light Industry, Textile, Craft or Port. The board contains a demand track for each of these industry types. The board is surrounded by an income track (its money that wins this game, not VPs, thematically correct as I doubt many industrialists would trade a bent penny for a VP).

There is also a deck of 39 cards which are either town cards corresponding to a location on the board or wildcards which refer to a town of a 2, 3 or 4 capacity.

Game setup and play is very simple. Each player is given a set of double sided counters (one side Canal and one side Railway) and wooden industry cylinders in their colour , 50 money and two random (and kept secret) demand counters the demand counters correspond to the industries on the board. Six starting cards are separated from the deck, the deck is shuffled and, depending on the number of players, a number of cards are set aside (these have a space on the board as they may be used). The six starting towns which are shuffled and placed on top of the draw deck and a number equal to the number of players are drawn and placed on the board. We are now good to go.

Game Play

The first thing players do is look at their secret demand counters and simultaneously reveal one. This counter is placed on the demand track. (As no one owns any industry on the board yet or has won an auction I wonder why this was not just a random draw?). The second demand counter is kept and may be used at the end of the era, or during the second era.
Before I describe a game turn I better explain what you are trying to achieve. The aim of the game is to acquire as much money as possible, (as stated earlier there is no glory VPs in them dark satanic mills). You make progress up the income track each turn by building links on the board and, at the end of each era for links you have place on the board, with your largest contiguous link being worth two pounds per link, compared to shorter or solitary links which are worth one. You also get money for your industries which are placed in towns that have a demand for their corresponding industry types.

So on to the mechanics.

The number of turns in each era depends on the number of players; six with five players, seven with four and nine with three.

Each turn as many cards from the deck are laid on the board as there are players. Players then simultaneously place coins in their hands (you can bid zero) to bid for turn order. Bids are revealed and the turn order is decided by who paid the most, if there’s a tie (which there will often be) it’s decided on existing turn order (they paid for the order before so why lose it; there is no catch up mechanism in this game. It can be harsh if you value the auctions incorrectly)
Then, in turn order, players pay the amount they bid to the bank and pick one of the face up town cards, place one of their industry tokens on the town named on the card and then can build one or two links starting from that town or from the first link built. Canals cost £3 per link and in the second era railways £2 (this cost reflects the fact that, in real terms, Canals were more expensive to build than Railways). Income on the income track is scored for each town where you have an industry you have made link to with the links placed that turn. At the beginning of the game this will be just one town scored (for example if I take the card for Manchester and build one link to Liverpool then i will score £4 on the income track. If I have an industry in Liverpool as well then I will score £7).

This is one of the only parts of the game that I have found new players finding difficult to grasp that you only score for links built that turn, not for connections made using links built on previous turns. If you take a town card where all the links out of that town are already built then you have the option to either just place an industry on the town or discard the card and draw a card from the set aside pile ; described in the rule book as ‘a gamble is a gamble’. A couple of people I have played with felt this introduced a luck element into the game, however I believe this is factored out by the valuation you place on the cards on the initial selection.

The crux of this game is valuing the auctions correctly. This requires you to not only know what taking each town is available is worth to you but also what it is worth to the other players. If all of the towns are equal value to you then a low bid is fine, however if you need one and only one then you have to bid higher, however if that town is only useful to you then you might consider a lower bid. You might also make a small bid to keep you ahead in turn order looking ahead to potential tie breaks in the next round. Cash remaining at the end of the game is victory points. For the first six turns you only have 50 pounds to bid with and build links and you need to budget for this. You can raise additional cash by going back on the income track two spaces for a pound but this is a an uneconomic exchange. The game winner will be the person who has the best understanding of the value of the auctions.

At the end of an era the players receive cash equal to the score on the income track (which is then reset to zero), two for each link in their largest contiguous network of links and for each industry in a town that has demand for its industry (for example if I have two industries in ports and there are three demand tokens on the blue port track I will receive six pounds). Before the demand income is awarded each player has the opportunity to place their second demand token on the corresponding track. All of the canal links are removed from the board, however all the industries on the board remain.

The second, Railway era, then begins. All the town cards are shuffled together and the same number as the first era set aside. Each player receives two randomly drawn demand tokens and all players simultaneously select a token (this might be one retained from the first era) to place on the demand track.

The only difference from the canal era is that links, now railways cost only two pounds to place. Whilst the mechanics are the same the auctions have a different character in the second era because there will be a lot of industries on the board and the payoffs for building links is higher and the cost of building is lower. In the first era building a second link on your turn can be a loss making move (cost £3, payoff £2 or £1). In the Railway era the second link is likely to break even, and more importantly might just block a rival from placing a link they desperately need (to say join two railways networks into one contiguous network). Strategic placement of industries in the first era will pay off in the second; it can worth paying a little extra in the auction to keep your industries within easy linking reach for big payoffs in the Rail era And if it’s in the centre of the board you have set yourself nicely (assuming you have not overpaid)

Each town has a capacity of two to four industries, and should a player select a card where the capacity is reached he replaces another players industry with one of his own. This can happen early in the game (most likely in the two capacity towns), but is much more likely to happen towards the end. This adds another factor to add into the auction valuation.

When the Railway era finishes (there will be no more tows cards to draw), each player may place one more demand token and the scoring is calculated the same way as the first era. The player with the most money wins.

So what do I think of the game?

I like it. The rules are easy to understand and players quickly get a feel for the amounts they should be bidding in the auctions. I usually struggle with games that require an auction for turn order, especially where the bid will go the bank regardless of how successful my bid was. I don’t in this game because the immediate pay off for you bid is not to difficult to calculate, what takes a little longer to get a feel for is the strategic placement of you industries and the values other players will place on the cards available. This is not rocket science though and after a couple of turns most players will get a feel for the auctions. The game feels like it passes quickly, there can be a short delay as players decide on how much to bid, and occasionally if they have a tough choice from the town cards. The three games I have played have taken less than 90 minutes.

In the design notes the Ragnars have credited ‘Brass’ and ‘Canal Mania’ as an influence, however this game does not feel like either game and I am struggling to make to think of a game this closely resembles. If you are looking for a reprise of either of these games you are going to be disappointed. It’s lighter, the decisions are easier and the ripple effect between the eras is much less than in ‘Brass’. And the game, for a Ragnar design, feels far more abstracted than in previous games.

One of my gaming buddies likes heavier economic games did not like ’Workshop’ , however it was liked by gamers who like lighter games and most importantly it’s a hit with my wife who is my main gaming partner.

The game is for three to five players (there is a two player variant in the rules book which i have not tried yet). I think it plays best with four or five, the board is a bit more congested, it is harder to build a network and the fewer rounds with four or five players make each auction feel crucial to get right and therefore more interesting.

Production quality

The graphics are bright and clear. The production is not quite up to the standards of the most recent Ragnar games but it is functional and the bright colours help game play rather than get in the way. The rules are clear, short and unambiguous.

Niggles

I have seen players wildly over bid on the first turn of the canal era and this has crippled them. For a light to medium complexity game this might be a flaw if you are intending on playing it with casual gamers. I now advise new players to, if in doubt, underbid on an early round

The plastic coins provided with the game. The ten pound coins are only really used as money storage as they are too large to be held in small hands for bidding.

However, these are mild complaints and in balance I would recommend the game.

The game is available from the Ragnar website http://www.ragnarbrothers.co.uk/html/workshop_of_the_world.html

A winning streak, normal service and another good overlooked game

2010-05-24T19:20:00.001+01:00

I am very much of the school that 'it's the taking part that counts', and if i was not then there would not really be a school to belong to. My game victories are not too frequent, and if my performance at boardgames were to be say , imagined into a cricket team i'd bat number nine and only be allowed to throw down my Chinamen when the opposition had already passed 400. Neverthless i love games, with a real prediliction for ones i am bad at, or at least do badly at.

However, last week i had a purple patch. I won a game of 'Tigris and Euphrates' (proof that if a monkey could play chess for a million years it might beat Kasparov) against a seasoned pro, i then won a game of 'Power Grid' on BrettSpielWelt against a field of 500+ gamers, accidently won a game of Innovation and then a game of 'Giants'. Thnking that a 30 year long bad patch had come to an end, i challened my wife to a game of 'World Without End' - and that's when normal service was resumed. Losing by six points i complimented her on her strategy, to which she replied that she did not have a strategy, had been thinking about work throughout the game and had, effectively played randomly. Hubris is an unatractive quality, and thanks to Donna for reminding me of my boardgamng place.

'Innovation', if you don't know already, is the new game by Carl Chudyk (of GLory to Rome fame). Gameplay feels a bit like Glory to Rome (via Race for the Galaxy) but the game is more of a brain burner and quite unforgiving. Not having a copy i am insanely jealous of the foresighted 120 who picked up the pre-production copies that were printed. I predict this will the gaming sensation of 2010 when it comes out later this summer

On to the overlooked game - it's Giants by Mategot. Until recently i was selling this game at £14.99 and i now regret not keeping a copy. It's very good. The first thing you notice about the game is the lavish production, it has an attractive board (depicting Easter island) and imposing looking Moais that you are erecting for VPs. One grumble is that the scuplts of the workers, Priests and Cheifs are different (usually a good thing) but here it just added a bit of cinfuion to the board, you can tell them apart by colour and base shape but I would have preferred them a little more uniform.

The game itself is a hybrid worker placement/Pick up and deliver game with a twist of auction. Each round you auction Moais (which must be sculpted by your workers thus using them), you then place workers, your chief or your sorcere on the board. The workers are placed to help move your (and other players) moais to the VP squares surrounding the Island, the sorceror can be used to get you more workers, auction tokens, logs or a headdress for the Moais (extra VPs if delivered). The Chief can act as a strong worker or as a Sorceror under certain conditions. Both the cheief and the Sorceror can be used to reserve a juicy VP square for your Moai.

After your tribe has been place don the board you take it in turn to move the Moais and headdresses. This is one of the most intereting partsof the game, as it requires more than one worker to shift the larger (more VPs) Moais and to do so you may have to use hexs on network created by another player. Because there is no restiction on the number of workers, or from which player, that may occopy a hex, then coopartion is very likely. And you get rewarded for doing so, if i were to use another players worker to help move a Moai then they will score VPs.

The Moais starton one side of the island and can ne movced to VP squares sourrounding the island. The biggest payoffs come at the far side of the island and the larger the Moai (they come in three sizes) the bigger the VP multiple. Headress for the Moais (neet little scuplts - some of which look like Tommy Cooper's fez) start at the oppositbe end of the Island to the Moais and the points scored for headresses are highest on the opposite side (nearest the where the Moais start)

There is a delicious tension in the game; do i go the large paying Moais which will take a few turns to get there or try and score quick points and possibly end the game (it fisnhs after a certain number of Moais are built, depending on the number of players)quickly? There is alos a tension between building up your tribe to help socre the big moais or gettng them on the board quickly.

The only critcism of the game is that there are not many paths to victory. Its about scoring Moais and helping others move them, and whilst this might be intersting for a few games it might not have much long term replayability. Which is probably why it ended up in the bargain bin, as an RRP of £45 for a game that you will only play 3 or 4 times is a bit steep. Nevertheless, if you can find a cheap copy i'd snap it up. I only wish i had when the were sitting on the shelf at £15.

Hotel Samoa

2010-04-30T18:03:00.000+01:00

Of the few new games I have played in April Hotel Samoa is the one that has excited me the most, it's not the best game I have played this month (that's Fresco – but it’s a close call). The dynamics in the game are unusual and the auction at the heart of the game is a stroke of genius.
The premise of the game is that players are hotel owners on the paradise isle of Samoa (an island I’m particularly fond of - not because of I have ever visited but because of their bone crunching and free running Rugby Union team. One of their players carries my favourite nickname in rugby – ‘The Chiropractor’). Over a holiday season the hoteliers aim to make as much money as possible from tourists who flock to the island. Establishing the victor at the end of the game is simple, it's the player with the most money.

Each player starts the game with an eight room hotel, 25 Gold and 11 auction cards. The game is played over 12 rounds, or weeks, in which groups of tourists (Norwegians, Brits, Germans and Japanese) will arrive on the island (and depart) and on arrival will search for the cheapest hotel room. These tourists are represented by cards, with one card from each nation being randomly placed in the first four weeks, then in the second and the third. In each week players bid for tourists and hotel developments. Each player has an identical group of eleven cards from to choose to play each round. Each card has two values, one is used to bid on improvements for your hotel, the other is the price you are willing to offer rooms in your hotel to the tourists. The highest bids of improvements wins, but the lowest bid for tourists wins. The same card can ‘win’ in both auctions – if it’s used in to take a tile or tourists it’s discarded. This is rather important, but more on this later.
At the beginning of the round any tourists from a nationality that has arrivals leaves the hotel and catches the plane home. As tourists pay up front for the room, you want them to have as short a stay as possible. The plane that brings in a nationality of tourists will also take home any tourists of that nationality on the island. The only other way to hasten their departure is to play the ‘hotel closed’ auction card which is both a null bid and sends two tourists home from your hotel, or to purchase a tile that allows you (as a one off) to send two tourists home. A card from a tourist deck is drawn for each arrival and it will specify how many tourists arrive this week. The tourists are randomly pulled from their nations pile. On weeks six and twelve the number of tourists arriving is doubled

The build part of the auction is auctioned first and the winner can pay for a tile if he chooses, if he does not it passes to the next highest. The tiles either improve you hotel (an extra room, a luxury suite, a Swimming pool or give a one of action ; retrieve two discarded cards, send some tourists home...). Any tiles not purchased carry over till purchased
The winner of the tourist auction can take up to as many tourists as he can fill rooms, some tourists are rich; they pay double the room rate, some are celebrities – any tourists put in a room next to them pays double, some are lovers and will fit in a room with another lover and some will pay extra if the hotel has a swimming pool. If there are any tourists left after the winner has taken his pick, the next lowest card played entitles its owner to pick from the remaining tourists. If you win the auction but don’t like the look of the improvement tile or tourists you don’t have to take them – which means you can take the auction card back to your hand to use again in another round.

Each round a tie breaking card is moved clockwise and sits between the players. Players anti-clockwise of the card win tourist auctions and clockwise build tiles. Timing your card plays around the movement of the tie-break card is rather important.

Despite the fact the auction is a blind bid and if you can card count you are at a significant advantage I like this game a lot. Over the twelve rounds you are only going to win a few auctions, planning which ones is important However this needs to be balanced with not overpaying for tiles or under bidding for tourists, and most importantly taking advantage of your opponent’s mistakes. The game repays good timing, clever bluffing and being able to value the tourists and tiles correctly – there is no automatic catch up / ‘keep the scores close ‘mechanism and the final victory point tally can vary widely. Another thing I like about the game is that getting the timing right means you can reverse a large lead in the last couple of rounds.

The game’s sweet spot is at four players, it provides just the right amount of tension in the auctions, and with more a good memory helps. The game plays in an hour and I think it offers a lot for both geeks and family gamers

The Waste Land

2010-04-22T18:23:00.001+01:00

In gaming terms, April 2010 has been the crullest month since i started logging my plays on Boardgamegeek. We are 22 days into the month and i, to my horror, have only played eighteen games so far. In a normal month i would usually log between 40 and 50 games played, this month i don't think i'll reach twenty five. Whilst i'm feeling sorry for my (gaming) self i should also mention that i have not mamaged to write any game reviews for two months. i have about five reviews 'on the go' - on the go being two lines ending with 'great', 'good' or 'average'.

Of the new games i have played this month Fresco is (borderline)great. It was Greg Schlosser (i think) who described Fresco as a 'Eurogame 101', and that's an almost perfect summary. There's nothing original in the game, it's got worker placement, turn order manipulation, a market, conversion of one good into another.....however, the game is more than the sum of it's parts. One of the first things that came into my mind when i played Fresco was that it's the game Colonia 1322 should have been, Colonia also described by Greg Schlosser (again i think) as a 'parody of a Eurogame'. However, in terms of game weight and complexity Fresco is closer to Stone Age than Queen's bloated Essen 2009 offering.

One of the things i like about Fresco is that the theme is original and integrates with the mechanics seemlessly. Your workers are artists, helping to paint a fresko onto a cathedral ceiling, turn order choice effects the mood of your workers and going early (getting out of bed early in game terms) too often means one of them might just stop working. Their mood can be improved by a trip to the theatre or having a lie in, and if their mood improves sufficently then you might recruit another worker to your happy band. getting up early means you are first at the paint market, you will have have first choice but will have to pay a premium for the goods on offer. Strolling down to the market late morning will get you some bargains but all the paint you need might have been sold to the early birds.

One thing i particulalry like about the game is the goods conversion ; instead of the ubiquitous wood + stone = ...yawn you mix paints to make secondary colour paints (in one of the expansions you can futher mix to tertiary colours - though i think this might be straying into Colonia territory)

This conversion is easy to explain to non gamers. And what you do with the paints is simple to explain as well - you are painting a Fresko. The Fresko is dvided into a five by five aquare grid and tiles, with the required paints and the victory points awarded for completing a section printed on tiles that are randomly laid over the grid. Every worker you allocate to the Cathedral paints a section of the fresco, and if the bishop (a wooden figure you can pay to move around the grid) sees you paint the ceiling or is directly underneath the section being painted you score bonus points. The bishop is pleased that you have completed a piece of the artwork and grants you an income every turn for each piece completed.

and thats the joy of this game, you can explain the mechanics by telling the story of the game - there is no part where the mechanics disconnect with the theme. The other actions include painting portraits to help raise some cash and visiting the theatre to improve the mood of your workers.

The game comes boxed with three expansions, which is very generous of the publisher. I suspect that the original design of the game included the expansions as standard, they don't feel like a bolt on and whilst the bascic game is fine for family gamers and geeks alike, the expansions just pushes the comlexity up a notch.

Fresco has received some deserved Spiel des jahres speculation and i think it is worthy of the shortlist, though i doubt it will pip Tobago for the big one.

Top sellers

2010-03-23T15:58:00.001Z

I never quite trust the statistics produced by my webshop's software, however checking against other records my mistrust is misplaced.

My current best sellers (based on the last 90 days) are:-

1) Runewars
2) Agricola - Farmers of the Moor
3) Twilight Sruggle
4) Summoner Wars - Orcs v Elves (if i added in the other base set this would be no 1)
5) Municipium

Numbers 2 and 5 are no suprise because they are sale items - Esdevium (the UK distributor) has deeply discounted these games and i have bought them by the truck load and passed the savings on to my customers. Farmers is an excellent expansion for Agricola, to my shame i have only played it once, despite my having played the base game over 50 times. Municipium is, from gaming buddy reports, a decent game. It suffers by comparision with the Essen 2008 competition and a very steep RRP of £45. However, the cheap copies have all gone now. I have yet to play Runewars, depite excellent reports. I am not suprised Summoner Wars has been so popular - it's quick to play, easy to learn and could be described as 'Magic the Boardgame'. The new edition of Twilight Struggle seems to have brought a whole new generation of players to this amazing game, and i see it played a lot at my gaming clubs - which is unusal as 2 player games aren't common on public nights.

Without counting Dominion and its progeny, bubbling under the top 5 are Thunderstone (love it but it needs an expansion ASAP), Carson City (there seems to be a resurgence in interest in this game after initial so so reports, Hansa Teutonica, Dungeon Lords, Republic of Rome (see comment re TS above) and Vasco da Gama.

I'm sure Campaign Manager 2008 would be a top seller if i could get some more!

FITS and Ubongo

2010-03-14T17:46:00.000Z

Its not very often that I have FITS or ubongo in stock and to have on the shelf at the same time is a first.

FITS, short listed for the sdj last year, is (basically ) 'tetris the board game'. Ubongo follows the same principal of fitting odd shapes into a pattern but is played against the clock and has an additional game element as you collect gems, which gems you collect depending on how quickly (compared to your opponents) you complete the puzzle. Ubongo has spawned ubongo extreme and Ubongo 3d. Both add exponential levels of difficulty to what is a challenging game to start with. FITS ('fill in the spaces') has seen some unofficial expansions. When I first played FITS I thought it could benefit from a timer. Though having played Ubongo I am not so sure, as what makes Ubongo shine is having to complete the puzzle, shout 'ubongo!' And then select your gems. Of the two games I prefer Ubongo because it feels more competitive, FITS has a winner but works just as well solitaire, I have found both games to be very popular with non gamers who like the puzzle solving element of the games. However they are not gateway games, more of an end in them selves. The games prove popular, if relatively unknown, with gamers as warm up or warm down.

Carson City

2010-02-28T17:07:00.001Z

This game has been staring at me from the game shelf since Essen begging to be played. I don't know why it has taken 4 months to get it to table; maybe some unfavourable reports from my games group, maybe the plethora of new games that have grabbed my attention.

Well i regret the wait because i really enjoyed my first play. The first round or two were a bit odd because it is a worker placement game (with guns) I and my opponenets were playing it Agricola style i.e not contesting the action spots. Then half way through all hell broke loose and colts were drawn at every opportunity. We played with the Indian expansion, and first and second place went to the players who had chosen him twice as their role. The biggest cowboy in town came last. In the analysis afterwards (all new to the game) we felt that the game is going to take a few plays to fathom the strategies. The dominant cowboy did not bully the other players enough by nicking their income from buildings and the land grabbers did not change gear by using their income effectively. I keep thinking about the game, i particularly like the cash limits on the characters, the progressive cost of buying VPs and the interactions between the building types. I think the next time i try it it will be with the 'might is right' variant to eliminate the luck of the die rolls.

Thank the lord Counter magazine only comes out four times a year

2010-02-25T09:20:00.001Z

On the day my Counter magazine arrives i sit up till 2 reading, then lie awake thinking about whether i agree/disagree with the reviews. I think if it were a weekly i'd have to turn to sleeping tablets.

The February issue is my favourite as it lists the contributors top 5 games from the previous year - it always provokes a lot of mental debate about what my own top five would be (and when i have finished playing the highlight 2009 games i'll post them on this blog)

I was delighted that the editor of Counter, Stuart Dagger, selected 'A Brief History of the World' as his number one. It's retro, it's more about the experience than winning ,it eschews clever mechancics for straight forward game play - in short everything that a game should be.

War of the Roses - Can you judge a game by the components?

2010-02-23T12:22:00.000Z

War of the Roses arrived today and i have just had the best 'punching out the bits' experience i can remember. The box weighs about 4 Kilos and is just a litlle bigger than a standard bookshelf size game. So what's in there? Lead or gold? Gold! It might be only February but i think i can safely predict that this will win any award going for the best produced game of 2010. The quality of the components are staggering. The board is six folded, very thick and with superb clear artwork. Turn it over and it has a map of the historic battles of the subject matter. Each player has a screen and an order planning board - both are made from the thickest card, the player screens are huge with summaries of important rules and a history of the Wars. The chits and tokens are up to the same standard. The only niggle is that the picture of the Captain of Calais token is a scanned picture of some modern day bloke (Peter Hawes?). I'd hope that nonensense was not going to be repeated after the design mess of 'Heads of State'. I pray that the game play is as good as the bits!

War of the Roses - can you judge a game by the rules?

2010-02-20T11:12:00.000Z

The last time i read a set of rules for a ZMan published game deisgned by an Antipodean i dismissed the game as derivative, simplistic and poorly themed. The game was 'Endeavor' and how wrong could i have been - it's one of my top 5 from 2009 and i think it is a masterpiece of clear and simple board game design.

Now i have read the rules to 'Wars of the Roses twice' and and i am attracted and put off in equal measure. On the plus side it's about a period of history i find interesting (three years of studying the period did not put me off). It looks greeat. It has some intersting mechancis, especially the simulataneous move programming.

However, it's a Euro game (area majotity) with a bit of conflict thrown in and i'm worried that Euro mechanics and The War of the Roses are not amarriage made in heaven.

Secondly there are some historical inaccuracies that i find annoying. If you play with four then two players are Lancastrian and two Yorkist. It only matters for an area majoirty calculation and you can't confer with your 'partner' about tactics. Secondly for Area Majority calculation players get votes in Parliament - not in synch with political dymanics of the 15th century at all.

The other thing that worries me is that with the hidden planning but sequential actions that game play might be a bit too chaotic.

Despite my reservations i am still looking for a scuccessor to 'Kingmaker' and however remote the possiblity this is it i'll give it a go.

Zman and the UK distributor seem to have learnt form the pricing mistake of Peter Hawe's previous game, 'Heads of State', and have set a RRP of £49.99 for 'Wars of the Roses'. It's still on the pricy side but i hope it won't end up in the bargain bin with 'Heads of State' which was priced at a truly absurd £59.99. 'Heads of State' is an ok game, ironically well worth the £14.99 i sell it for, but a complete waste of money at full RRP.

RuneWars - A review by Nigel Buckle

2010-02-12T12:43:00.000Z

I won’t detail the mechanics of Runewars, you can look at the rules for that First impressions are this is a lavish game with a price tag to match, huge colourful box and expectation of lots of great components. That’s where the disappointment hits, opening the box to find the major element is air - you get a massive insert used to hold the large punchboards, with the pre-bagged minatures in protective cardboard ‘sleeves’ to the side along with the card decks. Once you’ve opened it all out you’ll discover a misprint for the elves and the cities has been fixed and an additional punchboard included. Read the punchboards before punching and make sure you keep the right bits. Then once you’ve punched it all out you’ll realise the huge box is unnecessary and the insert completely useless as you’ll struggle to get all the bits back in the box unless you turn it over or throw it away. However that’s the main disappointment for me - the huge box, both in terms of expectation of it being full to the brim with cardboard and plastic, and in terms of storing and transporting the game. Really it could have come in a Runebound sized box with no problem. Game wise there is quite a bit going on with various sub-systems all driven by a card flip mechanic, no dice here. The map is made up of geometric hexes, so each game will be a bit different, and most of the hexes are populated with neutral units that you can try to get to join your side (good luck with that) or attack. Each player controls a race, and they are all subtly different, which is nice. Each has unique units and resources, giving each a unique feel without having a pile of special rules. There are a bunch of heroes, all with their own unique power too. The game last 6 years (4 seasons per year) maximum and once you know what you are doing you can finish the game surprisingly quickly. Unlike other conflict games of this type the combat system is very straightforward and very quick, just fight 5 rounds (one per unit shape, often you’ll only resolve 2 or 3) and then see what units are left standing, side with the most wins. Central mechanic is all players simultaneously pick an action card for the season and they activate in order. This helps reduce downtime and increase tension - will your opponents be attacking, recruiting, or harvesting? In the early games it is easy to lose sight of the requirements to win - you need 6 runes and you start with 2. Heroes can find more by questing, winter will often bring 1 or more additional rune into play and you can take them from your opponents. Once everyone understands the pacing of the game things get quite tense as you have to optimise your actions, units and heroes - the game plays so fast it is hard to recover from a major disaster (such as losing a fight to a neutral you expected to win). For some people looking for a Leader/Personality dominated game where Heroes run around as the main focus this game will be a disappointment - you need your armies to win and most of your actions will centre around them and your empire. The heroes are a bit of a sideshow, but an important one - the runes they can collect are often what you need to win. What you have is an area control game with planning. You can only fight with your armies once a year (you activate an area, place a token in it and move units into the area - and they are then stuck there until spring comes along), meaning there are hard choices about when and where you attack and can you defend a counter attack back? What I like: Games will be different - at least for a while, the sides are different, the map is variable, the seasons have different effects, the heroes are different - and you can add in encounters as a variant adding more variety (or chaos, depending on your viewpoint). Combat feels epic, despite the fast resolution - do you use fast units that aren’t very good, or spell casters, or your big guns that might get routed before they even get a chance to fight? The card mechanic works well, and combat is over in a very short time. Deep game play without huge amounts of downtime - most of the ‘planning’ side of the game is done simultaneously with everyone thinking about card play at the same time. Then actual turns roll along fairly quickly. Simple mechanics - for all the elements the game includes: Different unit types, resources, strongholds, development, heroes, quests, duels, etc the actual rules and mechanics are remarkably simple. You will not need a pile of reference sheets and help cards to learn and play this game, but you will need a few games to learn what works and what doesn’t, how many units you probably need to win that battle etc. Objective cards - each player gets one and they are coded by alignment (half the sides are ‘good’ and half ‘evil’, the objective cards encourage you down one of those paths, do the objective get an oh so important rune as a reward. It is fun - early on you are beating up neutrals and building your empire, in the last couple of years you’ll be bumping into your opponents and possibly fighting over crucial territory. No long slow build up, if anything the game ends too quickly - but if you find that is the case the designer has included an ‘epic’ version which lasts 8 years and has you starting with less runes. There are multiple approaches to victory - build your influence and win that way (dominate the influence bids, grab the role cards, even use diplomacy to get neutral allies), concentrate on heroes, grab items, find runes, duel (and kill) your opponents heroes, concentrate on tactics cards for sneaky tricks, or just flood the map with units and grab territory. What I don’t: Box size and that the winning condition is just dragon runes, I would have liked to see more race and alignment specific victory conditions - the objectives go part of the way there, but more would be nice. The game is screaming out for expansions - if nothing else to help fill the huge box. You’ll get through most of the quest deck in a single game (as most of it is not used, you only include quests for the map tiles you are playing) and most are very similar, go to hex X, take an ability test (flip cards = the relevant attribute) look for successes. Multi-part quests etc would add variety. You’ll get through most of the season cards, and some effects are repeated, again I’d like to see more variety, even to the extent each player gets a subset of cards and picks which are included (so you know some of the possibilites and can adapt your strategy). More heroes, more races. For the hefty price tag I would have hoped for just a bit more in the original game. Overall, if you want a fast playing epic feeling fantasy conflict game you won’t go far wrong investing in Runewars - but if you are looking for a game where heroes are the main focus with armies in the background you probably need to look elsewhere.

Assyria and Homesteaders

2010-02-11T17:08:00.000Z

Homsteaders first. I'm now up to three plays and my ability to play the game is going down in proportion to how much my liking it is going up. It's the dang auction which is throwing me - twice a game i have a mental 'all in' moment and win an auction i did not want to win, then build a building i did not need. I think the key is to plan to pass in advance and don't panic if someone else picks up a cheap auction. You can score about 29 points by not participating in the auction (Advance up the RR track to the 3pt square, picking up a trade chit , a cowboy and a gold on the way, and score 1 pt a round on your Homestead, ) so scores in the early 40's (mine) are pretty lame. Never mind there's always another game.

Assyria. The theme put me off (as did a sight of the board at Essen) It's about ancient stuff - ziggurats, camels et al. However i opened a copy after a customer sang it's praises and i'm glad i did. It's got a nifty card drafting mechanic to feed your villages , the rest is fairly standard fare of sacrificing Vps for income, going for short term vp gains against longer term aims. However, it pulls together into a (for want fo a better word) solid Euro. I'm not sure whether my liking of the core drafting mechanic will stand up to repeated plays but i have enjoyed the two games (2 and 4 player) to date. Maybe a try before you buy.

Homesteaders

2010-02-08T15:37:00.000Z

I played Homesteaders twice over the weekend and i believe it lives up to the hype.

There are some production problems; there is damp in the box, the printing on the tiles is off set and the auction board feels like a week dead kipper.
However, the game is not priced at a premium and it is a debut from new publisher Tasty Minstrel. But most important the game play is fantastic.

At heart it is a classic 'turn stuff into better stuff with buildings and ultimately into loads of VPS' game follwing in the footsteps of Caylus and Le Havre. Homesteaders has a delicious twist - there is an auction for the right to build which adds a valuation to every planned building and conversion you plan to make. The twist is further spiced by the fact that there is one less auction than the number of players. One player will have to pass (they get something for passing ). The game is played over 10 auction rounds and you might be building between 5 and 8 times over the course of the game, so knowing at what point to pass but also not letting other players win the right to build makes the game very tense.

Thouroughly reccomended!

World Without End (a full review this time)

2010-02-04T19:14:00.000Z

As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods: they kill us for their sport’
‘King Lear’, William Shakespeare

A four player game of ‘World Without End’ would have driven the old king back out on to the blasted heath raving about event cards. At least he would have done so sat in my chair in a recent game; the only player to pay his dues at the end of a chapter? Check - next event card everyone loses their next action. Medical knowledge at a level ready to sweep the board? Check. Event gives everyone medical knowledge, next event makes all medical knowledge redundant. Never mind let’s build! Next event prohibits building for the chapter...and so on. The game can be very cruel to those who like to plan too far ahead or specialise. Thematically it makes sense - we are in the middle ages, subject to the whims of kings and priests, only one step away from having a bucket of night soil poured over our head that will pop out a goitre, bring us out in boils and give us bubonic plague. Life was tough and unfair in days of yore and so is this game. At least when played to full capacity with four players, but I’ll come back to this later.

‘World without End’ is designed by the same team that gave us ‘Pillars of the Earth’ and it is loosely based on Ken Follet’s follow up novel to his world wide best seller. I must confess to not having read either of these books; however the game makes you feel you are in the middle ages with snippets from the story used as flavour text on the event cards. The art work is instantly recognisable as the work of Michael Menzel, it’s a style I like as the board gives the game atmosphere -necessary when you are pushing cubes around. The rule book is one of the best written I have read and credit must go the original drafter and Patrick Korner the translation.

The board contains a space for an event card, a favour track, spaces for buildings, an area for Wool, Cloth, Wood, Stone (Hey it wouldn’t be a proper Euro without ‘em!). Six cards for each chapter are randomly drawn from the eleven available and are placed next to the board. The ‘Bridge’, the starting building project is placed on the board. Each player starts with two money and wool which they keep hidden behind a screen. Players also start with the same set of twelve action cards, four un built houses and two donation tokens. In this review i refer to all the tokens and cubes in the game as ‘resources’ the rule book only uses the term resources for Wood and Stone.

The game is played over 24 rounds which are divided into four ‘chapters’ of six rounds. Players take it in turn to be the active player, everyone gets to do something in a round but the active player has two extra steps. The active player draws the top event card turns it over and the event on the card is resolved.

The events come in two type’s; immediate effect, or stay in place for the whole of the chapter. Of the forty four events only twenty four will be drawn in the game. Most of the events are not going to make you happy, seventeen of them have a bad effect, for example players lose resources or a part of the game gets closed down. When they are in effect for the whole of a chapter they can be particularly nasty. A mere seven can be described as good or neutral, either giving resources, VPs for meeting a criteria or reversing the effect of some previous calamity. Five of the cards bring new building projects on to the board and fifteen offer the players the opportunity to make some kind of exchange; either a resource for a different type of resource, forgo an action for a benefit or resources or goods for victory points.

Next the player decides the orientation of the event card on the board. This is one of the cleverest mechanics of the game. Every event card has a resource on each of the four sides. The players receive the resource that points at them when the card is placed on the board. At this stage of the game the players are hunched over the board, holding their breath hoping against hope that they will get the one resource they need to either avoid end of chapter penalties or set up an efficient action later in the round. When deciding on the placement of the event card there are a few factors to consider; the first is the resource you need, the second is the favour track and the third (if you are able to remember what the other players have placed behind their screens) is screwage. The placement of the event card is usually greeted by one or more players with loud groans.

Each event card also has an arrow on one side. When placed the arrow will point to a number between zero and three which is the number of spaces the favour marker will move along its track. The favour track has ten spaces three of which give you resources, five victory points (dependent on what resources you hold or houses you have built) and two (‘outlaws’) cost you a gold to land on. You desperately need a grain to avoid chapter end penalties? Pay gold if the arrow moves you to the outlaw space. Another factor to consider when moving along the favour track is not setting it for a big points score by the player on your left. Another is that choosing zero and not moving the favour track does not get you a benefit on the track.

After the favour track has been resolved players take it in turn to play action cards. When a card is played another must be discarded, so it’s crucial to have some plan (however cruelly the gaming gods might treat it) for the chapter. The actions available are:
• to gain a resource (Grain, Piety, Wood/Stone), (three cards)
• repeat the last action you played
• convert wool to cloth
• sell cloth and wool at the market,
• move the favour track along one space and take the action
• build a house
• take rent from up to two houses
• building project
• donate to a building project
• medicine or gain one VP and a gold

Rent from built houses is the only way of guaranteeinga particular resource. To build a house players pay a gold and either a wood or a stone.(there are two houses for each resource type and one requires wood to build, the other stone). Each house has a ‘rent’ that will be one of stone, wood , gold, Victory points, Grain, Medical knowledge or loyalty tokens.In the games I have played house building is one of the first actions players have taken. There is also a space on the favour track that scores victory points equal to the number of houses a player owned.

Building projects allow you to build one or two sections of one of the projects o the board, the projects require either stone or wood and a player scores three points for each section built.

Players may also donate a gold towards the building project, the donation (marked by a token in the players colour) yields resources and victory points when the project is complete. For example the bridge gives one VP and three gold when complete. At the end of each chapter a section of each building is finished by the crown so timing donations well can be a cheap source of VPs or other resources. Five of the potential building projects arrive on the board by way of events. I have seen games where all five have arrived and some with only one. One building, ‘The Tower’, is automatically added to the board at the beginning of chapter three.

Chapter three sees another change in the town of Kingsbridge. The plague breaks out. Now the players get to be nurses and doctors and score VPs for curing the sick. Eleven plague tokens with a number between one and five are randomly placed face down on set spots on the board. Event cards in chapters three and four will reveal the plague tokens, they then can be cured. To cure a plague token a player needs medical knowledge; this can be gained from event card resources, events and house rents. The medical knowledge required is equal or greater than the number on the plague token. Multiple tokens can be cured with the same action, for example if a player has medical knowledge of five be could cure plague tokens with a value of three and two. Each token cured gains the player two points and each spot cured gives the player a resource or other benefit. Along with building projects curing the plague is the (second) best way of gaining points in the game (so long as the event that wipes all tokens off the board does not arrive too early in the game). Medical knowledge is not spent when curing; it stays with the player and can be used again.

Like Agricola the best way of scoring VPs is to avoid paying the penalty at the end of each round, so half of a player’s effort will be spent in avoiding having a shortfall at the end of each chapter. The ‘Mandatory Duties’ at the end of each chapter are two piety (you had to suck up to the church back in the middle ages) , two grain (they ate then as well) and pay tax to the crown (between two and five gold based on a die roll. For every piety you are short you lose three VPs, for every grain two and one VP for every gold. Not only that but you receive a penalty in the next round, without grain you don’t receive your income from the placement of the event card, without piety you have to discard a random action card and without gold you miss your next action altogether! Victory point penalties are doubled in the last chapter. The unpleasant after effects of not paying your dues can be negated by expenditure of a loyalty token, you don’t escape the victory point loss but the after effects are gone. Loyalty tokens can be gained from house rents and the event cards and there are two spots on the favour track that score you points for owning them.

Point scoring is incremental rather than exponential, more like Cuba than Le Havre. Trying to build a specialised engine to build up to a grand finale only has limited success, you are limited by only being able to take the same action twice in each chapter and that ‘house rents’ only give two resources. Moreover event cards can completely close down either building or medicine. In a first game it is easy to spurn easy points offered by the events in the hope of saving resources for later scores, my advice is don’t; those three points can seem like a lot at the end of a game in which fifty points (you start with eight) can be a winning score.

I think the big bugbear for a lot of geeks will be the lack of control in the game. In two player games you get to choose resources and use the favour track 12 times, in three player 8 times and in four players it’s six. There is a huge difference in the amount of control a player has between two and four players Because resources are finite they can and will run out in a four player game, it might be a viable strategy to hog grain or piety and cause your opponents to starve or get into trouble with the clergy. This makes it even harder to be master of your own gaming destiny, especially in a four player game. If I had to try and pigeon hole the game it would as an ‘Experience Euro’, the flavour text on the events are best read aloud to create a back drop for the nasty (or nice) thing that follows. In my opinion the control /game experience balance is best with three players. Planning in the game is difficult with so much effort going into paying duties and warding of negative events. However, careful planning and flexibility is required in the ordering of player’s actions , choice of discard is just as important as the action played.

The complexity is moderate - I’d put it at a 2.5 on the Geek scale, neophyte ‘Geeks have had no problem learning the game and there is a ‘baby steps’ intro version of the game if you want to ease yourself into it ,though I don’t think it’s necessary for gamers. It is a reminder that this game is aimed at the more complex end of the family game market, and should be judged with that in mind.

In conclusion I really enjoy playing this game, normally a lack of control puts me off but the combination of the mechanics, the requirement to keep balanced and respond to events make for an immersive game and two hours well spent.

Terra Prime

2010-02-02T21:14:00.000Z

Of the two Tasty Minstrel debut titles Homesteaders is the one i'm looking forward to playing the most. However, the theme for my games groups evening was Ameritrash and Terra Prime appeared closer of the two to the theme so it got played first. Having read that it is an ameritrash/Euro hybrid i would say you could strike out the ameri bit of the statement - it's a euro with a space theme and some colourful artwork. There is no direct conflict between the players, comeptition being for colonies, resources and technologies. Another canard to put to rest is the quality of the components - they are fine, and under £30 pretty good value for money.

The game does not have anything new to offer by way of mechanics. It's part pick up and deliver, part exploration. There appear to be a few strategies you can employ to win and by customising your space ship and buying technologies the game leads towards speclialisation, at least it does in a 3 player game. I suspect it will be more interesting with four or five players as the rare techs are gobbled up and it's more difficult to be an out and out specialist. Whilst not being particualrly original the game rattles along and does not overstay it's welcome at ninety minutes.

January's gaming

2010-02-01T14:18:00.000Z

If, like me, you log your game plays on Boardgamegeek you can keep track of games you have been playing. I was delighted to see, after a few quiet months at the end of 2009, that i'm back up to fifty games played in January, which includes twenty eight unique games and nine games that are new to me.

The highlights were Thunderstone, Die Aufsteiger, World Without End, Heroes of the World and Neue Heimat.

More Heroes of the World and Thunderstone

2010-01-28T10:24:00.001Z

I managed try Heroes of the World out on some gamers last night and it got a universal thumbs up. It was also the first board game i have won in January (or at least it feels like it). Now i must not let my enthusiasm for the game be lifted by a very occassional triumph. As an aside the name of the shop 'Boardgameguru' came about as an ironic reference to my performance over a weekend of gaming were i managed to come last in all seven games played. Back to the game - it is a light and tactical game and to be successfull your main prority is to set your self up to take advantage of what the player to your right does whilst not leaving anything for the player(s) to your left. I think an early wonder is quite good as well even if only to scare the other players.

I have now played Thunderstone multiplayer a few times and all i played with preferred it to Dominion. It could just be the 'cult of the new' but the theme seems to help the game rattle along and despite the low (overt) interaction we all enjoyed the game - especially when the 'Noxious Slag' reared her head in the dungeon. My only concern is that it's going to see a lot of table time and the variety in the game might wear thin before the expansion comes out in the spring.

Magic the Gathering

2010-01-27T11:58:00.000Z

Sometime in 1995 i had one of those 'Eureka' gaming moments when i was introduced to Magic. Within a week of ripping open my first booster i had a couple of thousand cards and went on to have my life dominated by making decks and playing them at tournements in and around London. I stopped being obssessed by the game some time in 1998 and gave up altogether a year or two later.

I played a Zendikar booster draft last night, my first exposure to a new set in a long time, and despite coming very last i thoroughly enjoyed it. It's amazing to that, after seventeen years, the game feels fresh and interesting. Having a boardgame 'habit' is bad enough for my wallet; i don't think i'll be rekindling my love affair with Green/White weenie decks.

Board Game Prices

2010-01-23T11:15:00.001Z

I have noticed when restocking games that prices are continuing to go up. The Combat Commander series now has a RRP of £59.99 ,Railways of the World £58.99 and Descent £69.99 These are just three examples. Without doing a detailed analysis i would guess that most mainstream games have increased in price by between 40% and 75% in the last 20 months. That is a huge increase compared to RPI. I am not going to speculate as to the reasons. I know board games sales have bucked the trend of the recession but i don't believe that the elastcitiy of demand is such that these increases are sustainable, especially in a market where good games are released week after week.

Infinite City

2010-01-22T13:06:00.002Z

Infinite City got it's first outing last night. I enjoyed the game, sort of Carcassonne meets Fluxx meets Dominion. The tiles are chunky and there are a lot of them with game play incredibly simple. Lay a tile, place a dobber on it then carry out the instructions on the tile. The game ends when someone has all their fifteen tokens on the table and then the person who has the most points wins - points awarded for areas over 3 continuous populated tiles and points on some buildings.

The actions on the tiles allow for a lot of screwage, it's difficult to plan too far ahead as your opponents will no doubt shift your men and break your areas. It seemed sensible to try and keep a few defensive tiles in your hands at all times and to forge alliances. I need to play it more before i make my mind up. I ducked out after the first game and two friends played again, which they abandoned after the first turn because one of them had a stella draw which resulted in them playing five tiles and having ten in their hand at the end of the round. Game over. I suspect three or four players might be the sweet spot - with five or six it might just be too anarchic.

Thunderstone - Dominion killer?

2010-01-21T11:41:00.001Z

I played a couple of solo games yesterday and was very impressed. The 'build a deck' mechanic of Dominion is, probably, the most interesting game mechanic of the last few years, and imitations were never going to take long to appear. Thunderstone borrows (steals?) the mechanic and uses it to make a fun dungeon crawl game. Like Dominion the main interaction between players is the race to the finish though there are interesting timing questions as you take the limited saupply of heroes. Thuderstone is a little rough around the edges and there are a few rules that are not clear without a reference to the Geek. However, it is a fine game and already has a first expansion scheduled for release in the Spring. I suspect that, like Dominion, the game will be even better with expansions

It does not have the finesse of Dominion, but Dominion does not have the fun of Thunderstone.

World Without End

2010-01-20T11:04:00.002Z

'As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods, they kill us for their sport'

King Lear must have played World Without End. I do like this game, i like it a lot but i am begining to wonder if it's a Euro man's snakes and ladders.

Planning in this game can be rewarded with what seems like cruel fate. Pay your dues at the end of chapter? Check, everyone else fails and then an event causes everyone to lose their action next turn. Build up medical knowledge seeing that everyone else ignores it? Check. Event gives everyone free medical knowledge. Ok what else can go wrong? Oh an event wipes out the plague a the begining of the fourth chapter...At least the event that wiped out a house got rid of that redundant medical knowledge generator

I think the lesson is to keep the plans flexible, be happy grabbing incremental point scoring opportunities and enjoy the ride. Everyone in my game got hit to a lesser or greater extent, and whilst it might feel like a lottery at times in all the games i have played the winner was the best player (not me!)

This game is not for the control freak, or the self pitying (Lear, were he a gamer, should definately avoid this one). It is a very tense two hours of crisis management played on a lovely board with quite a bit to think about.

Heroes of the World

2010-01-18T17:08:00.002Z

A friend from Spain is living with us at the moment and having never played a 'proper' boardgame before 2010 is now demanding a new game every night and has worked his (and mine) way through the Spiele Des Jahres winners of the last decade.

As a diversion from the relentless demand for Zooloretto and Carcassonne i tried 'Heroes of the World' as an introduction to area majority . Somewhere at the back of my mind i was hoping he'd like it and demand 'El Grande' or 'History of the World' next. Perhaps a little unrealistic...

Well he did not like it but i did. It's made by Sirius game who don't seem to have a website or to be very good at publicising their games. It's a shame as 'Heroes of the World' deserves a wider audience. Gameplay can be described as 'A briefer brief History of the World'. It has attractive components and the game is played on a map of the world divided into nine regions. Each region has either three or four boxes in which discovery tiles are placed. On a players turn he or she plays a historical leader card from his hand who has 'influence' in one or more regions on the board. The leader has ratings for how many population can be placed on the board, how many dicovery tiles are drawn form a bag and placed on a region, a conquest rating for bashing people and an income. The player gets to take all of these rated actions in the order above. All of the activities can only take place in a region where the leader has influence and when the discovery boxes are full a region scores - with the players with the most population in a region scoring points depending on the value of the discovery tiles (tiles vary in value from 0 to 4 - hte zero ones are great for screwage)in the region. Players can spend their income to buy Wonders of the World which provide a one off benefit or can buy VPS or to move population around.

The game is played in two epochs, the first ending when four regions have been scored and the second when eight regions have scored. There is a different deck of leaders ofr each epoch and a different set of discovery tiles. One of the best parts of the game is that at the begining of the game you are dealt two random leaders and on your turn you select a third from a face up pile or a random leader from the deck. This gives you a little bit of control, you can try and plan ahead or keep a portfolio of leaders to react to other players moves.

This is a light and quick game and is not going to appeal to those looking for a quicker version of '7 ages' or even, 'Endeavor'. It will appeal to family gamers and i think it would be an excellent purchase if you wanted to try and ween a teenager off 'Risk'. Just don't try it on my lodger....

BoardGameGeek new features

2010-01-18T16:42:00.000Z

The 'Geek has a couple of new cool features

The games tab now allows you to see the ranking of family games, gamer's games and light games. I hope that those new to the hobby will make use of the family and light games tabs because a lot of people see that Agricola is the number one ranked game, buy it and are then lost to the hobby.

The second is the ability to find a random game - hoping to unearth a gem i stumbled across this. Maybe not so cool after all.

New Releases : 19th January 2010

2010-01-16T11:27:00.000Z

We can call of the search as the last (and great) Essen releases are arriving in the UK next week

The first is Dungeon Lords from Czech Games Edition and Zman. It’s original, entertaining, and moderately complex – moreover, it's the most fun you will ever have playing a Euro. Vlaada's best since Through the Ages and one of the picks' of Essen 2009

‘Thunderstone’ is an adventure game that borrows heavily from the ‘build a deck’ mechanic of Dominion. Where Thunderstone differs from Dominion is that it adds some theme and narrative to the mechanic and I can’t wait to play this. Tom Vassels’ excellent video review can be viewed here

‘Infinite City’ is a tile laying game in which players try to control districts and buildings in the city,one commentator has described as ‘a cross between Carcassonne and Tigris and Euphrates’.

The last of the Essen releases is Cyclades, a strategy game that plays in an hour with gorgeous components. I drooled over this at Essen but as it comes in a rather large box i could not bring one home. This review is worth reading.

Panzer General : Allied Assault is a quick playing game of WWII using a unique blend of cards and a board game. It’s based on the Xbox live game from ubisoft. A review of the game can be found here

I have two new sets of expansions for Steam and Age of Steam from Bezier games. Both products contain three expansions, the first is ‘Alabama Railways, Antebellum Louisiana & Four Corner’ and the second ‘1867 Georgia Reconstruction, South Carolina & Oklahoma Land Rush’

For fans of Cash n Guns i have imported 'The Uzi expansion', originally a give away at Essen 2008 this was reprinted in a small edition. I also have a few German expansion cards (The Golden Eagle, the Saboteur, the Manipulator) for Planet Steam - if you like a set then please email me. They are £10 each inc. P&P.

New Releases : 6th January 2010

2009-12-31T12:32:00.000Z

Hi,

I hope you had a great Christmas.

I also hope that the quality of games in 2010 is a good as the new releases in the first week of the year. The following are expected to arrive in the shop next Wednesday 6th January

‘World without End’ by Rieneck and Stadler (Cuba and Pillars of the Earth) is a game for 2 -4 players using Ken Follett’s novel as its theme. Early reports are that this is an outstanding game, and it looks to be setting a benchmark for Euro’s in 2010.

‘Descent : Sea of Blood’ is a campaign add on for Descent. The second Advanced Campaign add on for Descent, Sea of Blood uses the same system as ‘Road to Legend’ but adds islands and the adventurers get their own ship to explore the new world.

‘Assyria’ is Ystari’s 2009 Essen release, It has slipped under the radar since Essen and i am looking forward to trying it – it looks like it continues the Ystari line of intricate Euros that require careful planning.

‘Piece o’Cake’ is the English language (Rio Grande) release of Jeffrey Aller’s excellent ‘Aber bitte Mitte Sahne’. This is a rather unusual game in which players collect pieces of cake by splitting cakes into sections and then take what’s left after their opponents have selected the sections they want. I like this game a lot and defy you to play it without feeling hungry by the end!

‘Krysis’ is a sci-fi themed Euro in which players compete for precious artifacts

‘Kingpin’ is a 2 player game themed in a noir comic world where gangster factions fight for dominance.

‘Summoner Wars’ has received rave reviews since its release in the States. It’s a two player tactical game in which players use cards to summon units, move them or create magic. The beauty of the game i apparently it’s easy to learn rules combined with superb balance between the different cards. The initial release is in two starter sets (Dwarves v Goblins, Elves v Orcs) , and will be followed by many expansions.

‘Path of the Zealot’ is the second battle pack for the excellent Warhammer Invasion Living Card Game

GMT have released a mounted map board for ‘Command & Colors’ owners

Queen games 2009 Essen releases have a UK general release next week – i have them in stock already and they include Chicago Express expansion (excellent!), Granada, Sultan and Nelly

I am adding items to the Guru sale – i have had restocks of Arkadia, Municipium, Sherwood Forest and Giants. I have also added a few wargames. It will be worth checking the sale page throughout January as i will be adding items on a regular basis.

I will be gaming in sunny Stockport next weekend at the excellent Stabcon convention. If any of you are attending and would like me to bring some new releases up or you'd like to meetup for a game a beer please email me.

Have a great new year!

Kutschfahrt zum Teufelsberg - a review by Martin Griffiths

2009-12-17T11:59:00.000Z

A review by Martin Griffiths

Kutschfahrt zum Teufelsberg (Coach Ride to the Devil's Castle) is a game I just got to like a whole lot more by losing it embarrassingly. It's a game of secret identities and variable player powers like Bang or Shadow Hunters, and shares the ability of those games to play well with six or more players. However, Coach Ride has the big advantage of not eliminating players half-way through the game.

Up to ten players represent characters aboard the aforementioned coach. At the start of the game, they are secretly divided into two teams: The Brotherhood of True Lies and the Order of Open Secrets. Each player also takes a character card, which has no real significance but gorgeous artwork, a secret profession card that will give them a special power upon revealing it, and an object from a deck, the rest of which remain in a draw pile. The aim of the game is to figure out who is on your team, and collectively acquire the objects your team seeks: three keys for the Order, three goblets for the Brotherhood.

Turns are simple. There are three options: attack a player; trade with a player; or declare victory. A declaration will end the game one way or the other. The player must name his team-mates, who between them must own the three necessary objects. If he gets it wrong, the other team wins. So what about the options that make up the bulk of the game? To initiate a trade, a player offers an object to another player, who looks at it and decides whether or not to accept the trade. If he accepts, he passes one of his objects back; if he refuses, the active player's turn is over. Some objects take effect only when traded away, such as the Secret Bags, which allow the player who gives one away to draw another object from the pile. Some have effects in attacks, and some are downright nasty: the Black Pearl cannot be refused but prevents the player holding it from declaring victory. One object even allows a player to ditch his team-mates and attempt a solo victory.

If you decide to attack, you declare the victim and put your character card 'sword-side' up, while the person being attacked puts his 'shield-side' up. Following round clockwise from the attacker, each other player flips his card to show whether he will join the attack or the defence. After everyone has revealed, players may add effects from objects and by revealing their hidden professions. Finally, a winner is determined or the conflict ends in a stand-off. A stand-off allows the attacker to draw an object from the pile, and is an important way of getting more objects into the game, but a decisive result is more interesting. The winner gets to either look at the team and profession of his victim, or to look at all his objects and choose one to take.

So far, so simple, but that doesn't begin to describe the feeling of paranoia you get when you start playing. Why's he attacking me again? Are those two on the same team? What is the meaning of being offered this object? The game usually starts quite cagily, as in the absence of any information, it's best to force conflicts to a stand-off and not risk giving vital clues to your opposition. But that's not always possible thanks to the special powers of the objects and professions, and soon some players will begin to know things. Then the game moves into a bluffing stage - if he knows who he is, but he also knows that I know... which brings us back to my embarrassing defeat. The (6-player) game had been moving along quite fast and through attacks I knew who two of my opponents and one of my allies in the Brotherhood were for sure. Then one of the remaining players passed me a goblet, the very object my team was seeking. Surely he must be a Brother too! Soon enough, I cockily declared the 'victory', only to be denounced by the deceitful member of the Order. It really brought home the subtletly of the game: the channels along which you can communicate with the other players are narrow, and there are plenty of ways of being exploited.

There are a couple of downsides to the game. With the wrong group it could drag on a bit and become repetitive, and the fix for odd numbers of players doesn't seem very elegant. But overall this is another excellent game from the Adlung-Spiele range. A tiny box, a low price, evocative artwork, and a great game to have around for larger groups.

Axis and Allies 1940 Pacific

2009-12-16T08:23:00.000Z

I have returned this product to the distributors as it is sub standard. It is billed by Avalon Hill as a premium product with De luxe components, however upon opening the box it became apparant thst the components are sub standard for even a medium priced game. Moreover it does not have all the pieces neccessary to play the game out of the box. This is not a moral judgement on my part, but a commercial one as i would anticipate a huge number of returns.

New Releases : 15th December

2009-12-11T18:59:00.001Z

This week’s UK new releases are:

‘Axis & Allies Pacific 1940 Anniversary Edition’ – it’s big and it’s clever and it’s in limited supply.

‘Ren Faire’ is a card game about dressing up, like ‘Gloom’ it is printed on super quality see through plastic.

‘Alhambra Big Box’ has the base game and all five expansions contained in one monster sized box.

‘Hammer of the Scots’ is released in a 3rd Edition – this has a nice ‘proper’ board.

and

Arkham Horror Dice

Some more Essen releases have arrived:

‘Filipino Fruit Market’, from Bambus Spiel – the masters of trick taking game design have created two games about life in a fruit market

‘Santa Timea’ - Argentum’s other Essen release (the first Hansa Teutonica is back in stock) is a trick taking filler

‘Strada Romana’ – from Games from Italy is a game about collecting and delivering goods between Rome and its principal port.

‘Climate Poker’ – It’s a trick taking game with a ‘Top Trumps’ like mechanism. Quite topical

‘Kazaam Dice’ – a follow up to last year’s acclaimed ‘Kazaam’ from Polish publisher Wolf Fang

‘Macao (German version)’ . It’s brilliant and with a translation of the cards (i will provide) easy to play

And ‘Bamboleo Pizza’ – which could be described as Jenga for adults.

I have had some juicy restocks just in time for Christmas: -

Long ships, Ubongo, Ubongo Extreme, Ubongo - The duel, Hansa Teutonica, Galaxy Trucker, Galaxy Trucker – Big Expansion, Bausack, Uruk and Trans Europa

I am hoping to get the Imperial to Imperial 2030 upgrade kit next week along with restocks of Imperial, Hamburgum and Le Havre. I will put them on the site when they arrive so keep checking back.

News

Dungeon Lords is looking like it might be released before Christmas but too late to be posted to arrive before Christmas, and in an limited initial run (with a wider releases in February)

Please email me if you would like to reserve a copy, and if you have already reserved a copy please could you confirm that you still want a copy.

Infinite City and Thunderstone are now looking like February 2010 (at earliest) releases

Christmas last posts

For DHL UK please order no later than the 19th December

For First Class please order no later than the 20th December

For Standard UK delivery please order no later than the 17th December

For Europe please email me, airmail (items under 2 Kilos) the last order date is the 10th December, for larger items or multiple game orders the last order date is the 14th December

I have been so busy over the last week that the only game i have played is Sorry Sliders! (and i found that mentally challenging)

Move over trains i want some Elves!

2009-12-10T22:14:00.006Z

As a hardened Eurogamer i am surprised to find myself recently drawn towards fantasy themed games. I can trace the origin to playing Middle Earth Quest in the summer and enjoying the evolving story of the game as much as the strategic gameplay.

And at Eastbourne last month (a bi-annual get together of Counter Magazine subscribers and writers - a veritable 'haj' for the Eurogamer) my highlights were a game of Dungeon Lords and then a five hour Descent Dungeon crawl. Now Dungeon Lords is a Eurogame camouflaged with fantasy colours. The fantasy theme adds humour and a story line to what would be an average game if it was about, say, defending a castle in medieval Italy. Thinking about it my geek rating of eight would go down to a seven or six without the Dungeon bit.

Descent though was a joy. Yes it is really a minatures game but it had just the right amount of fantasy and character development to keep me immersed for five hours without needing to take up role playing.

The conversion is now complete, i have just opened a copy of Tomb Ctyptmaster and can't wait to get it to table - and it looks like my first play of Last Train to Wensleydale is going to wait another week.

New Releases : 28th November 2009

2009-11-28T09:52:00.002Z

There are loads of new releases this week, some arrived yesterday and the rest will arrive on Tuesday 1st December

I’ll start with what has arrived now (and not on general releases in the UK)

‘Pony Express’ – A race game of dice rolling and bluffing from Funforge. Very attractive to look at and has received favourable reports.

‘Horsefever’ – is an Essen 2009 release, takes betting on horses in 30’s America as it’s subject and can be played as a family game or as a more serious affair.

‘Valdora Extra’ – An expansion for Valdora, it includes a two player ‘Duel’ Variant

‘1853’ – Lookout Games revamp of Francis Tresham’s classic

‘Seidenstrasse ‘– This is the first big box game from the creators of ‘Uruk’ and it looks like an elegant set collection game. This is a German game, I will provide English rules

‘Campanile’ – also from DDD Verlag, this is a reprint of a classic filler, This is a German game, i will provide English rules

‘Maria’ – Histogames follow up to the award winning ‘Friedrich’ is a cracking game, which (i am told) fixes some of the loose ends in ‘Friedrich’. I played this last weekend and despite being trounced by two grizzled grognards I loved the game. This is in very limited supply!

More ‘Hansa Teutonica’ have arrived – having just read Ted Alspach’s review here I am going to keep a copy for myself.

I have one copy of the Ystari Box – first person to reply gets it for £18 including postage. I will try and get some more next week.

New releases due on Tuesday 1st December

‘Letter of Marque’ is a pirate ‘n bluffing game from Brune Faidutti and Fantasy Flight

‘Skavinblight Threat’ is the first Battle pack for Warhammer Invasion LCG

‘Abandon Ship’ from Alderac Entertainment and Reiner Knizia is a family game in which players herd their rats off a sinking ship.

‘Tomb : Cryptmaster’ is both a standalone game and an expansion for ‘Tomb’

‘Steel Driver’ is a 2nd edition version of Martin Wallace’s 2008 hit train game. If you missed the Treefrog edition this is worth picking up.

‘Skyline 3000’ is a remake of ‘Capitol’ – this time set in the future and with the usual Zman gorgeous production

‘Start Player’ sorts out that age old problem – how to determine the start player. It’s quite amusing as well.

‘Steam Locomotive set’ is deluxe set of wooden trains you can use in ‘Steam :Rails to riches’

Notable restocks includes Richard III, Pandemic, Uruk, Loyang.

I played quite a few games last week and highlights were Greed Inc (i hope to restock next week), Dungeon Lords and Descent

However the best of the bunch was 'A brief history of the World' - it's a brilliant stream lining of the original game and is the best empire game i have played this year (hat includes Rise of Empires). It might not be quite so brief (at three hours) but in thr game i played we had a mixture of grizzled gaming vets and one player for whom this was only their third boardgame they have ever played.all loved it - and two orderd a copy on the spot. I can't reccomend it highly enough.

New Releases : 3rd November 2009

2009-11-01T11:25:00.002Z

The first of Rio Grande’s Essen releases hit the UK on Tuesday 3rd November

Tobago gets an official UK release from Rio Grande this week. Its top of my family game picks.

Carcassonne Wheel of Fortune is a standalone Carcassonne game, with a .. Wheel of Fortune

Jambo expansion 2 adds three new games elements to the base game

I was impressed by the description and look of ‘Longships’ (a Viking plunder and trading game) at Essen so i am importing some. They should arrive by the end of the week. If you would like to know more about this game there is an excellent review here.

There are three new releases from GMT

Command and Colors Ancients: Expansion four takes the action into the later Roman Empire

Command and Colors Ancients : Expansion five adds more players and new game play to the base set

Hellenes : The Peloponnesian War is a block game, recreating the struggle between the Greek city states.

Erosion from Sierra Madre games is back in stock. This is a quirky card game in which players attempt to build up mountain ranges, erode them and claim victory points by collecting the resulting debris. Highly recommended and in a way reminiscent of ‘Glory to Rome’

I have managed to play a few more Essen releases. ‘At the gates of Loyang’ (which i’m expecting next week) is a great game, a lot more tactical and quicker to play than the other games in Ewe Rosenberg’s ‘Harvesting’ cycle. ‘Dungeon Lords’ is fantastic, a hard core Euro with a fun theme. This is rather difficult to get hold of and i don’t expect to get any copies until its official UK release later this year. ‘Colonia 1322AD’ from Queen is a resource management game, with the twist that you have to vote on edicts during the different phases of the game. Quite intricate, this is for gamers who like long term planning. I’m expecting this to arrive in a few weeks.

Stronghold will be with me at latest by Thursday, i’m afraid my distributor has dragged their heels on getting this to me when promised (i.e before the official UK release on Tuesday). I will make sure that those of you who have pre-ordered a copy get it by the end of the week.

I am hoping that some copies of Carson City will arrive next week, along with quite a few other Essen releases. I will send out another newsletter when they arrive.

New Releases 27 October 2009

2009-10-27T13:21:00.002Z

‘Battlelore : Heroes’ is the first expansion for Battlelore since Fantasy Flight bought the system from Days of Wonder.

‘Witch of Salem’ is a co-operative game based Wolfgang Hohlbein’s Cthulhu novels. I played the German version of this some months ago and think it is a terrific game. It has an Arkham Horror feel to it, but plays in side an hour. The only comparable game of this length is Pandemic and Witch of Salem has a far more immersive theme. Highly recommended.

‘A Brief History of the World‘is the first Essen release to hit the UK. This is a revamp of the classic ‘History of the World’, the Ragnars have updated and streamlined the game play and added lovely new art work. If you are fan of the 1991 original or like sweeping games of map domination then this is an essential purchase.

‘Richard the III : Wars of the Roses’ from Columbia games is also released this week.

'In Memory of Day' is the latest Asylum pack for Call of Cthuhu LCG>

The Vixentor dice towers are back in stock Including some new designs) , these are the ‘Rolls Royces of dice towers; beautiful, handmade and sturdy designs.

I had a great time meeting gamers, designers and publishers at Essen. Over the coming months the Import section is going to have a lot of interesting games added to it. ‘Stronghold’ should be here later this week with others very close behind. I managed to play a few games and was blown away by ‘Shipyard’ from Czech Boardgames Edition. This is being released by Rio Grande in November. I also played Dungeon Lords and thoroughly enjoyed it, very different from Vlaada’s last two releases it is a complex Euro with a fun theme. Cwali’s ‘Basket Boss’ is a worthy follow up to ‘Powerboats’. I will be trying other releases over the coming days.

Edit : I played At the Gates of Loyang yesterday and it's fantastic, different from Agricola and Le Havre, pared down and faster but a great game.

Best wishes

Paul

New Releases : 6th October

2009-10-04T11:34:00.002+01:00

It’s a rare pleasure to be able to report that some games are actually being released ahead of schedule. Some of Alderac Entertainment Group’s Essen releases are out on Tuesday the 6th.

The most eagerly awaited is ‘The Adventurers’ – a hit at Gencon 09, this game gives you a ‘Indiana Jones’ adventure as you rush around a temple collecting treasure and avoiding traps.

‘Monkey Lab’ is for younger gamers who play monkeys trying to release fellow monkeys from the lab.

‘Arcana’ is a trick taking, bluffing diplomatic game set in a fantasy world.

Other Tuesday 6th releases include:-

‘Dungeon Twister 2’. It contains lots of miniatures, a new set of rules and backward compatibility with the original game and expansions

‘Samurai the card game’ is the third in the series of Knizia’s abridged versions of his classics.

‘Twilight Horror' is the first Asylum Pack in the Dreamlands expansion for the Call of Cthulhu Living Card Game

‘Scrappers’ from Privateer press is the last of the new releases.

Exciting imports arriving this week.

‘Rise of Empires’ will definitely be with me on Tuesday. It’s the Phalanx German version but is language independent and I will provide English rules and laminated player aids. The Mayfair English language version has been delayed to November at the earliest. Being a Martin Wallace fan I can’t wait to get this to table.

‘Tobago’ is arriving at the same time. A deduction game with gorgeous components Bruno Faidutti has talked of this being an early candidate for the 2010 SdJ. It is language independent and I will provide English rules.

‘Peloponnes’ is an auction /civilisation game from Bernd Eisenstein (half of the design team behind 2009’s best dice game ‘Alea Iacta Est’). The game will come bundled with it’s expansion and should be in the shop on Friday.

Special Offers

4 fab games added to the ‘offers’ section :- ‘Warrior Knights’ , ‘Garibaldi’ , ‘Dust’ and ‘Chicago Express’

Other news

If anyone bought Middle Earth quest from me and they need replacement figures please email me with the figures needed, FF have sent me some replacements.

Bucephalus games have released a host ot f new games this week. I don’t stock anything by this publisher because their games have received terrible reviews. However if there is any thing from their range you would like I would be more than happy to get hold of a copy at a very small mark up.

The postal strike is still causing havoc with royal mail delivery times. If you need a game in a hurry then choose DHL at the delivery method.

Warhammer Invasion Living Card game looks like it might be out in 10 days time.

‘Kursk’ the follow up to ‘Conflict of Heroes’ is shipping pre-orders soi hoping it will hit the UK soon. The same applies to the reprint of Command and Colours Ancients and its new expansions, four and five.

‘The War of the Roses’ from Columbia games should be no longer than a month away

Success equals less writing

2009-09-21T14:46:00.002+01:00

The shop has nearly been open a year and it's success has exceeded my expectations. So much so recently that i have not had any spare time to write any reviews I have started quite a few, just not managed to finish any. From recent releases :-

i like 'Erosion' by Sierra Madre a lot. The game has a similar feel to 'Glory to Rome' but without the mad combos (and you will finish the game knowing a lot more about gelogy than when you started)

'Castle Panic' was not the game i was hoping for, it lacks depth though i think it would be fun to play with young gamers.

'Ra : The Dice Game' is a big disappointment after the success of Modern Art the card game. The lack of an auction takes all of the interaction and tension out of the game.

'Day and Night' . The more i play it the more i like it and the more depth it reveals. It scratches a 'Magic the Gathering' itch whilst playing a clever abstract

'Ad Astra' feels like a Settlers/Puerto Rico hybrid. It's quite challenging and requires the ability to plan ahead and have flexibility in your plans to take advantage of others actions. Not for the analysis paralysis prone.

'Dice Town' - great closer, but has divided opinions in my gaming groups. I think people enjoy the game more if they go into their first play having a familiarity with poker hands

'Middle Earth Quest' - Brilliant strategy game, drips with theme and playable in 3 hours. I'm not a huge fan of 'War of the Ring' but i love this game.

New Releases : 21st September

2009-09-21T14:39:00.001+01:00

I’m on holiday from Tuesday 22nd September to Sunday 27th. Whilst away there is no one manning the shop so any orders placed will be shipped on Monday the 28th. I will be monitoring and replying to emails and confirming orders whilst away.

and to try and stop you looking at those nasty other games shops whilst i'm away i have put a small 5% discount in place for all purchases made between now and Sunday ,just enter the code KOSMOS

Batt’l Ka’os from Zman games is released next week.. It’s a tile laying game which sees Orcs and Knights fight it out over castle strongholds.

The Island of Doctor Necreaux is the first of AEG’s huge autumn release schedule. This is a co-operative card game for 1 -5 players.

The war gamers amongst you will be whipped into a sea of frenzy by two GMT releases this week.

The first is 1805 : Sea of Glory – a block game recreating the continental blockade that kept Napoleon from invading dear blighty.

The second is PQ17 – Arctic convoys. This game recreates the massive supply of goods by the Allies across the seas at the top of the world to aid the Soviet War Effort. The Nazis threw subs, surface raiders and planes at the convoys.

From rules read through both of these look like very interesting games

Caesar's Gallic Wars from Worthington Games completes the war games released this week.

Having listened to a few old Dice Tower Pod casts I have been brain washed into stocking the full range of Battleground Fantasy Warfare (they used to advertise in the show). It’s a miniatures game without miniatures, is expandable and a playable set costs a small fraction of a playable miniature army.

Battle for Hill 218 and Reef Encounter have been re-printed and are back in stock

Pandemic on the Brink is scheduled for release on Tuesday 29th September.

A few German copies of ‘Rise of Empires’ will be arriving on the 28th. Email me if you’d like one.

And last it’s the obligatory “go to another website and buy a game” section.

The game in question is “Where there is discord” a solitaire game recreating the retaking of the Falklands. The profits from the game are going to The Royal British Legion and the Argentinean equivalent. For a debut design and publishing effort the game looks amazing and has been receiving rave reviews. I have ordered a copy and am looking forward to getting this to table.

Have a great week

Paul

New Releases : 8th September

2009-09-08T11:58:00.002+01:00

Fantasy Flight, game issuing behemoth of the last month, has more to offer us:-

The latest off the production line is Ad Astra. A game of exploration and colonisation, Ad Astra despite it’s Ameri-Trash looks is, according to co-designer Bruno Faidutti, a Euro Game. This game looks like another excellent release from FF, from a rule read through it promises to be a tight economic / development game with a innovative action sequence.

Also from Fantasy Flight comes the Descent Quest Compendium, 16 Adventures penned by the both the designers of the game and other luminaries of the gaming world.

There are also three new pewter miniatures for the Road to Legend Descent expansion, released this week.

Endeavor, officially, hits the UK next Tuesday. Two copies saw night long action at my weekly gaming group, with players queuing up to get in a game. It’s hot stuff.

For family gamers comes ‘Order up’ from Z Man, a family pick up pizzas and deliver game.

There is one new war game this week and it is a stand alone game in the Panzer Grenadier series. ‘Fall of France’ has fifty scenarios recreating the six weeks of blitzkrieg it took Germany to conquer France.

Other news

Fantasy Flight is going to publish English language versions of Planet Steam and Bushido Way of the Warrior. If you don’t want to wait I have both of these language independent games available in their in their original language versions, Bushido is a sale item.

Pandemic : On the brink is rumoured to be released on September 15th

I have booked my trip to Essen, a fun/business trip my, aim is to secure games for the import section that are not going to have an immediate English language version by one of the big American publishers, and other gems. The aim is to have the games available for sale within 10 days of Essen finishing. If there is anything you’d like me to try and secure, or and suggestions for things I should be looking at, please email me.

Palastgefluster and Court of the Medici

2009-09-08T11:51:00.002+01:00

A comparative review by Martin Griffiths

Court of the Medici and Palastgefluster are both neat little card games that share a theme of intrigue in a medieval court. But how do they stack up against other games and each other?

Both games come in small boxes that contain nothing but a set of cards. Palastgefluster is in one of the tiny Adlung-Spiele boxes while CotM has some space for the cards to rattle around in. Both games have sets of cards in each player's colour depicting different members of the court: Jester, Lady-in-Waiting, King and so on. And in both games players take turns to play a single card from their hand onto the table. The biggest difference is that CotM is for 2 players only while Palastgefluster accommodates 3-5.

In Court of the Medici, each player takes their own deck, shuffles it, places the top four cards face up into the "Inner Circle" and then draws a hand of 5 cards. A turn will generally consist of playing a card and then drawing a card. Each member of the court has a value (between 0 and 15) and the cards can be played in various ways to try to increase your own presence in the court while eliminating your opponent's courtiers. At heart it is a mathematical game: when you play a card on to another card in the court to form a "conspiracy" you can then eliminate any other card or set of cards that has the same total. A few of the cards have special powers in addition to their numerical value. For example the Lady-in-Waiting can break up an "alliance" of courtiers while the Jester is a wild card. The game ends either when one player has been driven out entirely from the Inner Circle or when both players have drawn through their entire decks, with the winner given by the higher total of cards still in play.

After a few plays, the game seems very tactical. Your options are constrained by what you have in your hand, and you usually want to look for a way to get a card into play while eliminating one or more of your opponent's courtiers. The special powers add a few nice wrinkles, and the variable end conditions have made each game play quite differently. Sometimes it's an out-and-out war with courtiers being offed left, right and centre; sometimes there's more of a cat-and-mouse feel. As you may have gathered, the game isn't strongly thematic, but the gorgeous artwork taken from Medieval paintings and flavour text from Macchiavelli does help with that. All in all it's a very enjoyable 20-minute game that scratches the same itch as Battle Line or Lost Cities.

In Palastgefluster the sets of player cards are all shuffled together. Everyone starts with a hand of 6 cards, and the aim is to play cards one-by-one to the table in order to end up with six different characters displayed, thus scoring a point. If a player is forced to play a duplicate character, they automatically lose the hand and everyone else gains a point. The game is played to 4-6 points depending on the number of players, though if you have slow players you might want to set a time limit instead.

The different characters each offer a different ability, for example allowing you to swap displayed cards with another player or take back a previously played card into your hand. The clever twist is that the colour of a card played determines who is next in the turn order, so you might be able to play a string of cards at once or make another player take a turn when they really don't want to. Like CotM, it's a tactical battle, and it does seem easier to try to force someone else into an error than to go all-out for the solo win. This makes the scoring very close and it would be easy to end up with a tie. However there is a variant scoring system in the rules to make this less likely.

As the name implies, Palastgefluster is a German game but this is a bilingual edition. The player summary cards have an English translation and the character cards have icons to explain their special powers. The rules are also translated, for the most part reasonably well, and if in doubt there are some good player aids on boardgamegeek. The artwork is more cartoonish than Court of the Medici but still quite pleasant and the game will appeal to those who are fans of hand-management and a healthy dose of screwage.

I would be hard-pressed to say which of the two games I prefer, but as they both come in at well under a tenner and satisfy complementary numbers of players, there's no real need to decide!

New Releases : 2nd September

2009-08-29T11:47:00.001+01:00

First the bad news: Pandemic on the Brink has been delayed. It’s still scheduled as September which probably means the end of September

Endeavour should have a UK release on Tuesday the 8th September. I managed to secure some English copies of this marvelous game from another country – none remain though. I have recorded some first impressions on the blog.

Now the good news.

Railways of England and Wales, Martin Wallace’s expansion for Railroad Tycoon, is released on Wednesday. It contains both a Railroad Tycoon expansion and a new 18xx style ‘advanced’ game to play.

If you have not picked up Rails of Europe the other official expansion for Tycoon I am doing a combined deal on both the games in the Guru Summer sizzler section

The standard Axis and Allies game has received a re-vamp and face lift in a new edition:-

Axis and Allies 1942 it contains new units and rules adopted from the Anniversary edition (which is now out of print)

Night & Day is in stock. The box looks like it should contain expensive chocolates and the art work is splendid. I like the game – it is a hybrid of an abstract board game and Magic the Gathering like card play.

Musketeers is released by Fred imprint Gryphon games. A card game it is, described as an ideal game for younger players.

The Stars are Right ‘, an English version of Die Sterne Stehen Richtig, is a Cthulhu card game from Steve Jackson Games

I have added some more games to the Guru Summer sizzlers – A couple of highlights are Descent + and expansion of your choice for £69.99 and Rune Bound and expansion the Isle of dread packaged together for £49.99.

Not quite a sizzler but I am selling Ra : The dice game at £14.99

Back in stock

‘Birds on a wire’,’ ‘Keltis Kartenspiele’ (similarities to Lost Cities but with added spice and can be played with 4 players), ‘Horus’ and ’Tales of the Arabian Nights’

Endeavor : First Impressions

2009-08-29T11:10:00.002+01:00

What can i say? It has usurped the 2009 throne from Automobile

First Impression

I first read the rules about six months and thought it looked like a poor man’s Goa crossed with Struggle of Empires with a splash of Age of Empires 111. Well how wrong could I have been? It has some superficial similarities with these games but is more interactive than Goa and far shorter than Struggle. I already prefer it to both of these classics and I don’t think Age of Empires will get table time again until the new buildings come out.

Second impression

I have now played the game six times and keep wondering:-

‘What’s the catch?’ - The game seems, to my gaming taste (a nicely themed Euro with a splash of bash) so perfect that I am worried that after more plays it will reveal some imbalance or strategic shallowness I have not spotted yet and the spell will be broken.

Third impression

This game has an amazing 'depth' to 'time played ratio'. In a gaming era where the Holy Grail of game design seems to be to pack the maximum punch into the minimum play time Endeavor comes closer to this than the other contenders : - Stone Age, Dominion and Small World, to name but three. The 75 minutes play time leaves me feeling that I have played a much longer game. Usually I think that it’s a good thing if a four hour game skips by, that’s reversed with Endeavor. After 75 minutes I feel I have had a gaming experience as immersive as Struggle of Empires or Age of Empires but in a fraction of the time. And that’s another beauty of the game - it’s short playing time means it will see many plays as it does not need a whole evening to play.

Fourth Impression

It has huge replay ability because the 95 chits are randomly positioned at the beginning of the game and because there are strategic layers to unpeel as players see the synergies between early occupy choices with end game card draw choices.

It also seems to be a slightly different game with four and five players. Five player is more cutthroat, with competition for space that much harder. Four players there is a little more control over your own destiny. I have not played it with three yet; though I have a feeling it will not be as great as four or five (though I hope to be proved wrong)

Fifth Impression

I have read some where that it is hard to make a really bad decision in the game. I would think that a weakness in the game design but I don’t think that is true in Endeavor. I have noticed that sub optimal play hands a lot of good stuff to the player on your left . My first game the player on my left won partly because I played badly. After the early discovery games I think it will be best enjoyed played with gamers of a similar standard.

Things that some Geeks may not like

AP

The game can slow down towards the end when players are making multiple card draws. I have not seen gamers hamstrung by AP but the potential is there.

Theme

The theme may not be strong enough for some. For example, after a recent game I realized I could not remember the colonial areas I had focused on I knew where they were on the board but the fact that they were ‘Africa’ and the ‘Far east’ had not etched themselves into my experience of the game.

OCD

The board needs 95 chits. The game comes with some blank spares but if you are like me you are going to lose some. Every game set up so far has involved a search for the missing chit or city that does not have one. I find the set up anxiety inducing.

Who is winning?

It’s not completely obvious, in the first couple of plays, to see how well you are doing compared to the other players. Until players become familiar with the cards available in the different areas the end game can be decided by ‘accidentally’ picking the right one. But because the game plays so quickly this is not going to put you off playing again.

Kingmaking - or ‘I have a cannon and I’m going to use it’

I have seen it once in six games. I have lost a game because a new player made a sub optimal attack against one of my cities (he netted one point, I lost four). I don’t think it will happen when players are up to speed because attacking demands resources that can usually be used better elsewhere. The cost of attack means that it is worth it to secure efficient trade connections, protect your slavery cards from abolition and end game marginal point switches. You need to have the ability to 'shoot' - partly because it inhibits players from contesting juicy connections and gives you tactical flexibility.

‘Puerto Rico’ factor

Because the scores are so tight in a game less experienced players can, inadvertently, hand victory to some one else. I have benefited more than I have suffered from this, but it makes me think that it is especially the case with Endeavor that the game will be enjoyed by playing with players of a similar experience.

In conclusion this is my favorite released in 2009 and none of the reservations i expressed above have stopped me wanting to play the game continually

New Releases : 18th August

2009-08-19T09:33:00.002+01:00

First a thank you – August is shaping up to be my best month since I opened Boardgameguru and I really appreciate your business and the customers I have made from your recommendations

There are some interesting new releases this week.

Revolution! From Steve Jackson Games is a game of bluff and politics that plays in side 60 minutes. This is a theme I find appealing, having played a lot of Junta back in my youth.

Burger Joint from Rio Grande has arrived. It’s a neat two player game. I have written a review here. This is a scoop as, for some reason, this does not appear to be officially released yet.

Arimaa , an attractive abstract, from Zman games. According to the Z Man website it is simple to learn but with more potential moves than chess.

Ra has been reprinted by Rio Grande and is in stock

Imports

I have added Adios Amigos from Pegasus Spiele, a shoot e’m up party game that requires speed and a little mental arithmetic.

Hot

Middle Earth Quest has been taking up my table time since its release. It’s a great strategy game, not overly complex and after a couple of plays can be completed inside three hours. Nigel Buckle has written about one of these games here and has reviewed the game for the guru blog.

Linwood is on the way

Counter magazine have given me some back issues to give to customers. If you are not a subscriber to this excellent magazine and would like a sample copy please let me know.

Counter is to the ‘Geek what the Financial Times is to The Sun – accurate, informed and an essential read if you want to know about the best new games. The reviewers have, between them, hundred of years and thousands of games played in experience. It is published quarterly, contains (about) 80 pages of reviews, news and views and a subscription costs a mere £14 per annum.

Sale items

Despite having expanded my stock room I need to create some space for new releases, new imports and Essen (I am going to be offering customers an Essen purchasing service – more on this in the coming weeks) so I have added a few items to the sale area.

US publishers Game release schedule

Whilst European games companies gird their loins for Essen American companies keep pumping out great games through the summer and early autumn months. The dates are my estimates based on public information and communications with publishers adjusted by a hunch factor. Here are some of the offerings guaranteed to keep your gaming shelves groaning over the coming months:

Endeavor August

Pandemic : On the Brink August 24th

Axis and Allies : Spring 1942 August

Descent: Campaign Compendium August

Chaos in the Old World August 24th

Battlestar Galactica : Pegasus August 24th

Rise of Empires September ?

Conflict of Heroes : Kursk September

Command & Colors: Expansions Four and Five September

Command & Colors re-print September

D-Day at Omaha Beach September

PQ17 September

Witch of Salem (“Der Hexer Von Salem”) September

Railways of England and Wales September

A Touch of Evil : Heroes pack September

A Touch of Evil : Something wicked September

Battleground : Punic Wars September

Ad Astra September/October

1805 : Sea of glory October

Warhammer Invasion LCG November

Twilight Struggle Deluxe and upgrade kits November

Chorononauts is being re-printed in a new version November

Through the Ages reprint November

Washington’s war Autumn

Battlelore Heroes Autumn

JKLM (a British publisher, who march to a drum all of their own, syncopated Belgian Jazz comes to mind) are publishing games in sequence rather than parallel and have the following due:-

Tinner’s Trail – September /October

Ascendancy – Some time after that

Huang Di – Ditto

Paul

New Releases :11th August 2009

2009-08-10T17:42:00.003+01:00

New releases are two less than I told you on Monday. Fantasy Flight discovered that Chaos in the old World and Pegasus were due to be released in the UK last Friday and on Tuesday asked Esdevium the distributor to delay the release until the 21st of August (the American release). It's horrible to think of those shiny new games sitting un played in a dark warehouse.

However, Middle Earth Quest is here. As we have come to expect from FF it look’s stunning, but more importantly (based on a solo run through) it is a very good game. I can’t think of any designer who has had such a good recent run of outstanding games as Co-designer of MEQ Corey Konieczka. I am looking forward to my first game proper game later today.

The other new release of note is Ra: The Dice Game.

The original RA should be re-released this week or next week. It has been out of print for some time and if you are new to the hobby then I highly recommend this quick auction game.

I have played, the recently arrived, Masters of Venice four times this week and it is one of the best economic games of 2008/9. It has a hotchpotch of mechanics, none of which are original, and the victory conditions are a mixture of pick and deliver and wealth But it comes together to make a very immersive and interactive game. It has joined Le Havre and Automobile as one of my three top economic games released since Essen ’08.

I have added a few other games from the publisher of Masters of Venice, RnR games, three are party games Times up! Deluxe Edition, Times Up! Title recall and Pants on Fire. The others are Flea Circus and Overthrone.

‘Runebound’ has just been re-printed and I have added it to the range as well as the expansion ‘Isle of Dread’. Both are at knock out prices

‘Roll through the Ages’ is back in stock. The game now has an official print and play expansion -‘the late bronze age’. I have not played with the expansion yet but I am told that it is a must and adds length and depth to the excellent mechanics of the game.

I have also added some ‘Tea Cloth’ games from the Ragnar Brothers:

‘Viking Fury’ (republished by Asmodee as Viking Fury’) is an excellent game and as the Asmodee edition is now out of print this is the only edition available.

‘Backpacks and blisters’ and ‘More Backpacks and Blisters’ are games about hiking in the Lake District. One of the things I love about both games is that you can score victory points by drinking tea.

Coming soon

I am importing some copies of ‘Linwood’ from New Zealand’s Garphill games. I hope they will arrive in a week or so.

Railways of England and Wales is about a month away from a UK release according to Fred Distribution.

‘Pandemic: on the Brink’ and ‘Endeavor’ from Zman are both scheduled for August – with no definite dates I’m hoping it’s the back end of the month now.

Last but not least

I don’t often encourage you to buy a game from some one else but I have to make an exception for ‘The City of London Board Game’ – the profits from the game will go for very good causes, is designed by Jack Berkovi (whose pedigree includes ‘Nubble’) and was liked by my gaming group when Jack demod it at London on Board. I have copied below some information about the game and where you can get it.

“‘City of London’ game launched in aid of Lord Mayor’s Appeal Charities

‘City of London’ is a new board game launched and endorsed by The Lord Mayor’s Show company, in support of the Lord Mayor’s chosen charities for The Lord Mayor’s Appeal – St John Ambulance London (Prince of Wales’s) District and The Lord’s Taverners.

The aim of the game is to reach The Mansion House and become Lord Mayor of the City of London. However, to get there, players have to secure Ward seats, win elections, take on the role of Freeman and be the first Sheriff to progress to Lord Mayor. This is achieved by correctly answering multiple-choice questions about the City, its culture and well-known landmarks. The game is played on a map of the City, featuring its 25 Wards, Old Bailey, Guildhall, The Mansion House and other places on the route taken by Lord Mayor's Show.

Designed for 2-4 players aged 10 and above, ‘City of London’ is available at the special price of £25.00 if ordered in advance via www.lordmayorshow.org and collected from The Mansion House, or at the retail price of £29.99, post free. It's also available from Guildhall's Library and Art Gallery shops, St Paul's Cathedral shop and, from August, at Harrods, John Lewis and Peter Jones in London.”

Meuterer : A Pocket Full of Fun

2009-08-10T17:39:00.002+01:00

A review by Martin Griffiths

Meuterer is a fantastic little game that doesn't get nearly enough GeekLove, and I think that must be down to two things: it's 'only' a card game; and there's no English edition. So I thought I'd dispense with those objections first.

1. It's not really a card game. It doesn't have suits, number values, tricks or trumps. And it could very easily have been turned into a medium-box board game. You'd just need a board with 12 islands marked, island tiles to randomly place on them, a ship piece (like the ones in Age of Empires) and some gold doubloons to keep score with. So just think yourself lucky that you're getting all the gameplay of a board game for the price and size of a deck of cards.

2. It's not really in German. Yes, there's some German text on the cards, but it's mostly unnecessary. It's easy enough to tell the five types of goods apart by the pictures, so you only have to remember what the six different roles are. Kapitan for Captain and Maat for Mate aren't particularly difficult, and Meuterer for Mutineer is even the name of the game. English rules can be downloaded and printed right here on the 'geek.

So with those caveats out of the way, what's the game all about? Your intrepid crew of four (it can be played with three, but four is much better) are aboard a merchant ship, sailing round a chain of islands attempting to score points through profiteering and power struggles. The clever interplay between the trading system and the fight for the captaincy is what makes this game great.

Power struggles: One player will start as captain. The captain is a powerful role because he gets to choose which island to visit next and score points for successfully sailing there. On the other hand, the Captain is the only player who doesn't get to secretly choose from one of five other roles. Three of these roles are concerned with power struggles on the ship. If a player chooses the Mutineer, then there will be a fight for the Captaincy. The Mate role offers support to the captain and the Cabin Boy to the mutineer. If a mutiny is successful, the Mutineer becomes Captain and the Cabin Boy is rewarded for helping; if it fails the Captain stays in charge and the Mate gets one point plus however many the Captain offered as an incentive at the start of the round.

Trading: Each of the twelve islands that the ship can visit likes one of the five different goods (two islands are wild). Each player has 5 goods cards in their hand at the start of a round, and they can choose how many of these they will play before refilling at the end of the round. This gives players the option of selling goods this round, saving them to sell on a different island, or just discarding them in the hope of drawing better ones. Only the player who can sell most goods on an island will score any points. Two of the roles allow the players to ignore the fight for control of the ship and concentrate on profiteering. The Merchant gives a player maximum points for trading even if he only tied for most goods sold; while the Loading Master gives a player a choice of cards to pick from when refilling his hand.

The clever part: So far, so good, but what really makes the game tick is the way these two systems interact. The twelve islands are set out in a circle, and how far the ship moves round is determined by the number of cards that the Captain didn't play this round. If there's a successful mutiny, then the same applies to the Mutineer. So the Captain has to maintain a balance of playing the cards he wants to play while setting a course for a desirable destination. And because the cards are played out one at a time round the table there are some interesting tactical decisions for the other players. You don't get to choose your role until you stop playing cards, so do you play one ruby then grab the Merchant role, hoping no one has two rubies to beat you? Or do you discard a corn that you won't be able to sell this time to give yourself time to see what the other players offer up? Also, some of the cards are not goods at all but conflict cards that are used in the resolution of mutinies.

The game ends after eight rounds -- usually about 45 minutes to an hour -- and points are totalled up. Unfortunately there's no way of keeping score included in the box, so you'll have to use pen and paper. Whoever has been most successful at selling goods and exploiting the political intrigues will win the day. There's also an option for advanced players to add in a pirate ship that can plunder all the goods played in a round. All in all, I can't think of another game that packs as much into such a tiny box and low price. I find it a far better role-selection game than the much better-known Citadels as long as you have exactly four players.

Middle Earth Quest : A Review by Nigel Buckle

2009-08-10T10:54:00.004+01:00

A snap review after one play – prior to playing I’d downloaded the rules from Fantasy Flight’s website, so knew pretty much how to play...

There were 4 of us, one who arrived a bit late, so we had a quick run through of a couple of turn (including a combat) before he arrived, so I think we had some idea of how the mechanics worked but no real idea about strategy, nor detailed knowledge of the decks.

There is a definite learning curve on this game, and each side plays differently and you need to know the goals and abilities of both to do well – what you need to do to succeed and what you need to do to stop the other side.

I won’t dwell too much on mechanics, as you can get the details of those from reading the rules from the publisher’s website, rather I’ll cover the feel of the game and give my opinion on who would like it.

The game is set 17 years before Frodo leaves the Shire with the ring – so Gandalf knows the One Ring has been found (or at least has very strong suspicions) but everyone else is largely ignorant. Hero players represent characters recruited by Gandalf to protect the shire and try to hold back the advancing influence of Sauron (his influence over leaders, the emergence of monsters, etc), the Sauron player represents Sauron – advancing his plots to overthrow the Free People and recover his ring.

It is worth mentioning Fantasy Flight’s other big box Lord of the Rings game – War of the Ring. These two games approach the theme from different directions. War of the Ring is set later (Frodo and the ring are at Rivendell, and about to leave on the quest to destroy it) and the emphasis is on armies and hunting for the ring. Characters are important, but only for recruiting troops, leading armies or protecting/hunting for the ring. In Middle Earth Quest it is the other way around – armies are abstracted and the focus is on individuals exploring Middle Earth and Sauron expanding his influence out of his strongholds in Mordor, the Misty Mountains and Mirkwood.

I played Sauron, so I can’t really comment on the feel of playing as a hero – but as Sauron I found the game is strongly tied to the theme, my role is to dominate the Free Peoples in 3 ways. In military terms I have minions (such as the Ringwraiths) to move around and carry out my will – either hunt down the heroes, defend critical areas (usually ones that are linked to my active ‘plots’) or allow me to play particular plots. I also have monsters, which are similar to minions, but usually weaker – and a significant number are just rumours, but even rumours can slow and distract the heroes. And then there is influence, this represents my power spreading actoss the map, corrupting people and generally making the world more dangerous for the heroes. Free People havens are the annoyance – they prevent the spread of my influence and offer respite and healing to the heroes, and I there is little I can do to remove them (if you want a game where you burn down Lorien or over throw Minas Tirith, you need to play War of the Ring instead).

The game is long, and early games will be longer – I expect with repeated playing you could get the game down to the suggested playing time of 2-3 hours, and quicker with 2 or 3 rather than 4 players.

Setup is fairly quick – and all players can help, there are decks to sort and shuffle and then tokens to put on the map. The setup is variable depending which characters are chosen and which starting plot Sauron has. Each side has an overall objective – which is important for the strategy you follow. As Sauron you might be hunting for the ring, in which case you want to play plots that progress that side over others (so if you have a choice you’d rather capture and torture Gollum for news about your ring than corrupt Saruman or muster orcs in the mountains). Of course doing anything ‘bad’ is better than not – and keeping the enemies guessing what your actual goal is helps too.

There are some clever mechanics to restrict when you can do certain things – so the most powerful cards and minions only appear later in the game, and the events are set to help the side falling behind, if Sauron is winning then the events are more likely to help the Free People. Events are numbered and in three piles, and Sauron’s shadow cards and plot cards often have a shadow pool cost requirement. This means Sauron has to ‘waste’ influence placing it in a pool and the size of the pool is limited by the phase of the game – early on the maximum size is 4, preventing play of any shadow card or plot requiring 5 or more.

There is quite a bit of variety in the game – through the card mechanics, but what you actually do in a turn is a bit repetitive, if you don’t much like the theme or mechanics you will get bored playing this game fairly quickly.

The combat system is interesting – there are no dice, instead it is card driven, with the number of cards you have and can play limited by your abilities. The strongest combat cards sap you of strength quicker, so playing those you want to overwhelm your opponent quickly – low strength cards do less damage but with those you are wearing your opponent down and hope to exhaust them. Familiarity with the cards helps, but I found the combat tactically interesting – damage for the heroes is represented by putting their cards in an out of play pile, if all the cards end up there the player is defeated. Cards used in a turn go into another pile representing fatigue, cards in hand are what the hero can do (combat or movement) cards in the draw pile are life points and potential for future turns. This works well, and means at some points the hero players have to rest (get back the fatigued cards) or heal (get back the cards representing wounds) – but doing that advances Sauron’s plots.

Time is represented by the story track – the Free People’s marker just moves along 2 spots a turn, putting the game on a clock that will end it – Sauron has 3 markers, representing the hunt for the ring, corrupting the Free People and mustering armies/power – and they move along depending what plots have been put in play. The game ends when either the hero marker gets to the end of the track or all the Sauron markers reach a point or one gets to the end. And which side is ‘dominant’ (ie. winning the struggle) depends on how far advanced these markers are.

This means the Free People need to disrupt Sauron’s plots – and Sauron needs to protect them. The disruption is done by the hero’s spending influence, which they gain from questing or exploring parts of the map which are seeded with influence and characters from the events. Characters also suffer corruption (either voluntarily following a dark path to get a short term benefit, or as the character is targeted by Sauron through shadow cards or dangers while exploring). These corruption cards limit various character abilities and make the character vulnerable to some of Sauron’s cards – they can be removed, but to do that the character has to rest and expend valuable influence.

If you approach the game disregarding the theme then I think you’ll find it too long and repetitious for much enjoyment, but if you enjoy the theme then you’ll have fun and the time will fly by. There is a bit of downtime while players think about their actions, check cards etc - but some of that will reduce with familarity. As Sauron I didn't notice downtime much, as I was involved in each player's turn (being the enemy), but I could see players on the same side not having much involvement in the other players' turns unless they are playing very cooperatively and giving each other advice (downside to that is Sauron can listen in to what is being said)

So in summary – if you’re looking for a more character driven ‘adventure’ type game with a Middle Earth setting then get this, if you want to mobilise armies in Middle Earth or destroy the ring, go for War of the Ring instead.

This is not a traditional adventure game – characters do not amass piles of treasure and an armoury of weapons, nor do they power up to demi-gods. Most of the time you will be travelling around Middle Earth exploring areas, fighting monsters (for no reward other than annoying Sauron and freeing the world of foul beasts) and meeting with important figures (such as Dain, Theoden, Aragorn etc). You can train, which adds cards to your pile (which helps in combat and movement), you can get a few items (boats, horses, cloaks) which help you move around and you can improve your abilities a little bit, but this is not the main focus of the game. Disrupting Sauron by using influence to remove his plots and visiting areas to remove his influence is what you will be mainly doing – and occasionally be ambushed by minions and monsters.

Unless the Free People have the objective to kill the minions, you are usually better off avoiding combat, as it just at best makes you stop to rest more quickly at worst defeats you advancing one of Sauron’s story markers. But this is only after one game – a different mix of objectives and characters might change the approach, I’m not sure.

Are there any downsides – yes, unfortunately. The game isn’t great for the colour-blind; areas are marked with coloured dots (gems) to designate which card decks to use and which monsters chits to place. Fortunately they’re also named, so if you are familiar with Middle Earth geography the colour issue is much less significant. Some of the mechanics are a bit fiddly, you need to remember a few rules, and both sides have different rules to remember. The game is screaming out ‘expansion’ (or expansions), the area decks are rather thin, and we got through all the corruption and plot cards in our game, and some of the cards use general enough terms that reference very few cards. All this implies that an expansion is either planned or the game designed to easily allow for one to be made. Is this bad? Not if you only occasionally intend to play, the game out of the box will be fine for that, but if you intend to play regularly you’ll want to extend the cards and characters to give variety, meaning you’ll be investing in the expansion(s), adding to the cost of an already expensive game.

Finally, the plastic used for the figures is very brittle, we had 3 figures broken out of the box, and I’m sure most others will have the same, not good for a game costing this amount of money – why they didn’t use a softer plastic I don’t know.

Overall, based on my one play I bought a copy – and if you’re a fan of big box fantasy flight games or looking for a character based Middle Earth game I suspect you’ll do the same.

New Releases : 4th August 2009

2009-08-02T10:07:00.002+01:00

New releases this week include:-

Kingsburg : to Forge a realm an expansion for the strategic dice fest Kingsburg, to Forge a realm adds extra buildings, events, characters and new ways to handle the winter battles.

The Path of Y'ha-nthlei Asylum Pack for the Call of Cthulhu licing card game. This is the 6 th and last of the Summons from the Deep expansion series.

A re-print of Matt Leacock's Roll through the Ages will arrive this week as well. It went like hot cakes when released earlier this year and is a super quick dice rolling civ. game.

There are two new war game releases

The Kaisers Pirates from GMT has First World War German commerce raiding as it's subject. For 1 to 4 players, each player acts as both the German and British side

The second is Dead of Winter, the latest in the GMT series of "Great Civil War Battles"

I have added Worthington Games excellent wargames to the range

Imports

I have a few copies of the Pro-Ludo edition of Die Fürsten von Florenz ('The Princes of Florence'). It's almost language independent.

I have some English language edition Space Alerts from Czech Board Games. It's in English and a lot cheaper than the Rio Grande edition (and almost identical)

New additions include some nifty card games: - Byzanz, Palastgeflüster and Zauberschwert & Drachenei.

and the Jubilee edition of ' Elfenland' - it's in a metal box and would make an ideal birthday present.

I have added two games form Japon Brand 'Defenders of Clayart' and ' Goita'

'Ubongo' has been out of print in an English edition for some time so I have added the complete range. These are all German Kosmos editions and they are language independent.

On the horizon:-

Railways of England and Wales is out in the states, I hope that means we should see it this side of the Pond very soon.

Thanks to one of my customers I discovered that 'Masters of Venice' from R&R games does not have an English distributor. I am in the process of importing some, this complex Economic game should be here sometime next week and I am very much looking forward to playing it. Email me if you would like to reserve a copy.

'Burger Joint' by Jo Huber is due for release some time in August, I am hoping to have some next week. I have played this game a few times this week and it is a fast playing development game with lots of rather difficult choices. I like it - though it has not got much to do with hamburgers. I have written a review here.

'Ra the Dice game' should be with us the week after next.

My gaming this week has been a mixed bag. I tried TulipMania, was under whelmed but am assured it needs a few plays to appreciate the subtleties of the game. Other than that I have been dipping in to the back catalogue, Alhambra, Winner's Circle (again), Stone Age (many times) and Through the Ages. Through the Ages is one of my top three games, it's long and you can be hosed by the card draw but I find it totally immersive - Five hours of playing this feels like thirty minutes to me. I have played it over twenty times and can't see myself getting bored of it. I hope Fred Distribution get this re-printed as soon as possible so that more gamers can enjoy this fantastic game.

I'll have a Cube Burger to go and a side of Special Actions

2009-08-01T16:19:00.004+01:00

My purchasing ruminations start with theme and move on to asking: - is it a good game? And what better theme is there than the production of Burgers? (I am not forgetting that one player is on the Pizza side of the table I just won’t ever be that player). Oscar Wilde said 'I can resist everything except temptation', for me you can cross out ‘temptation’ and strike in the round patty of meat. I’m the only person I know who drooled through ‘Supersize Me’ and then had to the leave the cinema to grab a burger it all just looked so good.

So to say I was looking forward to this game is an understatement and this eager anticipation caused my initial disappointment. What do you produce in Burger Joint? Cubes ;White, Black, Yellow, Green, Brown and Red Cubes. Not Cheese burgers, not even a flaming Hawaiian Pizza - just cubes. What special actions can you take with your upmarket bistros? You can draw a cube, you can swap cubes, .Why not, at least, call the special actions something thematic like 'Chef’s Special' or 'Twofers'?. No we just get a diagram for each action with a picture of cubes being turned into other cubes.

That’s’ the bad news. Now I am going to have to reverse my earlier stated mantra and acknowledge that a game can be ok despite the theme and games about food have been the prime cause. My purchasing criteria and love of food led me to purchase ‘Wasabi’ which has theme imbedded in every square inch of card board. I have stopped playing ‘Wasabi’ though because I don’t think it’s a very good game (and every time I play by the time I have seen my initial menu I am on the phone to order some delivery Sushi..).

Now Burger Joint is actually a good game. It would have been much better themed as something to do with building mediaeval castles or the like, because the mechanics would fit that theme like a glove, the cubes could be stone or wood and the up market bistros could have been different types of workshops or markets. It’s a shame because the world (well me at least..) needs a thematically rich game about burgers.

The game

Burger joint is a two player game in which each player races to develop their chain of restaurants until they reach a total of twelve victory points earned from owning restaurants and position on development tracks. The game comes in an attractive small box . The rule book is well written, clear and unambiguous. The art work is fifties diners style.

Components

Each player has there own small board which has four columns. The first column is the ‘Publicity’ track. Progress on this track gives victory points; it also allows you to steal a cube from your opponent. The next three columns contain restaurants, your basic burger hut in the first then diners in the second and upmarket Bistros in the third. Each player starts with a basic burger joint and two diners. The diners produce cubes , each of the six diners produce the six different colours of cubes. Except they don’t they just give you first choice on cubes of that colour drawn out of a bag - More on this latter. Each built diner is worth one victory point. The third column contains the upmarket bistros, these temples of haut cuisine give victory points and special actions the lower the victory point value the better the special action. Above each column is the cost (in cubes) for building a new restaurant of that column’s type or advancing your publicity track.

There is another small board that is placed between the players. This board records victory points and is used by each player to warehouse their cubes and also to allocate the cubes that get produced in the game.

There are also 60 cubes in the six coulours, and development markers to show what you have built

How does it play?

The first thing that happens in a players turn is production. The player blind draws cubes from a bag. The number drawn is equal to the total number of diners and bistros built by both players up to a maximum of four per player. These cubes are then placed on the warehouse board. This board has a central area where cubes that be produced by both players diners and neither player are placed. The remaining cubes are placed on the side of the player who can exclusively produce the cube.

Players then take it in turn to select a cube. On the first turn players can only select a cube from their side of the board or those in the central supply. After each player has chosen one cube they can select from any of the remaining cubes. So if I am the only person who has a white producing diner and there is only one white cube I am guaranteed to get it if I want it. Players take cubes up to their diner production capacity. This part of the game is quite tense; you are always torn between taking a cube need and taking a cube to deny it to your opponent.

The second part of a players turn is taken up with trading and special actions. Trading can be carried out multiple times and involves swapping any three cubes for a cube of your choice and the special actions are the reward for building a particular Bistro. The special actions can be taken once only per turn and they are:-

1) Put a cube in the bag and draw a random cube
2) Put two cubes in the bag and takeout one of your choice
3) Draw a random cube
4) Place a cube in the bag draw a cube of your choice
5) Draw a cube of your choice

The more powerful the special action, the less VPs awarded for the owned bistro.

The third part of the turn involves building or buying publicity. The cost in number of cubes is the same for both players; however the colours required are different, except for Bistros. The diners are progressively more expensive to build. A simple burger joint cots two cubes, a diner four cubes and a bistro six. To build a diner you have to upgrade a burger joint, this has to be the lowest one on the burger joint column. To build a Bistro you have to upgrade a diner, though this can be any one you choose.

Publicity works slightly differently. The column has 10 spaces ranging from 0 victory points to four 4 VPs at the bottom. When you pay the cubes to advance down the publicity track you may also steal a cube from your opponent’s warehouse. If you choose publicity multiple times in a turn, after the first move and steal you have to choose between move and steal.

In the final phases of a players turn you adjust your victory points and discard cubes down to seven. If you have got the target 12 VPs you win.

There a lot of different ways of getting to the magic target. Each of the diners is worth one VP and as these are the engine of your game you are likely to have between four and six of these restaurants. The basic burger joints also give VPs but there are only 3 that do and these are spaced down on the column as you have to add Burger joints to the next available space and use them to upgrade to diners they are easy to lose. The publicity track is a source of VPs but requires some serious investment to get to the highest possible number of 4. The big VPs come from the Bistros. But the most useful ones have the least VPs. A bistro that allows you to select a free cube of your choice each turn gives you zero VPs. The Bistro with the most VPs gives no special actions at all.

Conclusion

For a small game there are a lot of different ways of winning and in the games I have played so far none of them have evolved in the same way. The ability to produce cubes and thus select them seems key to this game, I lost my first game by jumping to the bistros too early and the special actions not compensating for the lack of cubes. Neglecting the basic restaurants can also cause your production engine to slow down. The publicity track and the choice of which diner to build provides some interaction, though useful they only slow down your opponent they are not going to stop him. I enjoyed the game, and would describe it as a light weight Euro with some interesting choices. It’s a six out of ten for me it might have been a higher if the game actually had any relation to its theme.

New releases : 28th July

2009-07-27T11:32:00.001+01:00

Three new releases this week.

First of is Z man’s deluxe upgrade of the classic Tales of the Arabian Nights. If you have reserved a copy or pre-ordered it’s here on Tuesday, unfortunately I have sold out of my pre-order allocation. I will be getting some more on the 3rd of August, and am now accepting pre-orders for those.

The second is the long awaited Tulip Mania 1637.This debut design from noted game reviewer Scott Nicholson looks like a clever market manipulation game.

The third is RAF lion versus Eagle, an update of the classic solitaire game. This version allows for 2 player games as well as solitaire.

Added to the import section are 2 games from Japon Brand.

Cheaty Mages, a game where you control mages controlling fighting monsters – and employing some leger-demain to get your monster to the top. Gorgeous art work and English rules.

Robo-Tory, a two player abstract from R-eco, Fairy Tale and Traders of Carthage designer Susumu Kawasaki. Between me ordering and receiving the games Asmodee have announced they are releasing a ‘smart’ version of Robo-Tory. Such are the risks I take when importing games….

Other additions include Tiki Topple from the Schmidt Spiel Easy play line, Keltis Kartenspiele and Hoellenhaus.

Re-stocks include the sublimely silly Fluch der Mumie, Incan Gold (the Sunriver version) , Stone Age ,Acquire and the 5th expansion for the World Cup Game.

On the playing side, apart from an excellent prototype from Nigel Buckle (Incidentally now Tulip Mania has been published Ascendancy is one away from the top of the production queue at JKLM, behind Tinner’s Trail) I have mainly been delving into older Euro games, Stefan Feld’s Notre Dame and In the Year of the Dragon , Goa , Ra and my favourite horse racing game - Winner’s Circle.

Ra has been reprinted in Germany so I guess it’s likely to be getting an English reprint soon. If you are desperate to get hold of a copy I will happily import one. Another classic that has been out of print in English for some times is Princes of Florence. I am planning on importing a few German versions as it’s a game I’m often asked for and no English reprint seems to be on the horizon.

New Releases : 21 July 2009

2009-07-20T17:44:00.002+01:00

New releases are thin on the ground and include:-

Midevil Deluxe – it includes the base set and two expansions for the game that starts where Zombies left off.

The second new release is The Hell of Stalingrad – a card game that recreates the …you got it.

Tales of the Arabian Nights is now due next week – I will put it on the shop as a preorder when i am 100% certain of the date. It will be £35.99.

Re-stocks include

All of the Pitch car expansions.

And a re-stock of the fantastic Warriors of God – I don’t expect this to last beyond the end of the week and there are no more at the distributors.

From Germany I have had a re-stock of Fauna (according to the ‘Geek an English language version is about 9 months away), Perry Rhodan and Burgen-land.

Later in the week I am hoping to see a re-stock of Fluch der Mumie, 6 Nimmt! and Im Reich der Wüstensöhne and some new additions to the range including games from Japon Brand. They should be on the website later this week.

I have not had too much time for playing games this week as I have been fitting shelves to expand the stock room. I now have the space for a much wider range and welcome any suggestions for games you would like to see boardgameguru stock.

I have been playing a lot of Uruk: Wiege der Zivilsation at lunch time. Fun and frustrating – my colleague Alec beat me every time we played. Alec has reviewed Mecanisburgo for Tom Vassel’s Dice Tower Podcast, I’m hoping his next one will be of the excellent Hexer Von Salem (hint hint Alec)

Best wishes and happy gaming all

Paul

New Releases : 14 July 2009

2009-07-13T08:31:00.001+01:00

Most of the new the new releases this week are party games – it’s all about cracking open a party seven and putting aside the heavy stuff aside.( Note to self – must let Automobile sit on shelf for more than three days ….)

The first is ‘Gambit 7’, the rather uninspiring named ‘Commonwealth’ version of ‘Wits & Wagers’. I hope this is as good as the original, with a Lamont brother credited as a designer it promises to be good. ‘Wits and Wagers’ is the only game I have managed to get all my family (ages spanning nine decades) to play together. If you can guess which decade the person who thought ‘The Muppets’ was first aired on TV in 1856 it pays odds of 2 to 1……

The second is Tumblin’Dice (in a full and a medium sized portable version). This game sees 2 -4 players flicking or rolling dice on to scoring points on an attractive board.

Third is the fourth expansion for PitchCar – the ‘stunt car’ expansion adds a third dimension to the basic set.

Last of the party releases is ‘Are you the Traitor?’ from Looney Labs, a magical game of bluffing and deception.

There are also a couple of more serious games released this week.

The English language edition of ‘Sherwood Forest’ from Rio Grande will be with us next week.

And ‘Livingstone’ is released in an English edition by Playroom entertainment. I also have a few of the German (totally language independent) version from Schmidt Spiele left at a bargain price of. £19.99.

I have played Livingstone a few times – it shines as a game played with youngsters – they love the ‘Thebes’ like treasure bag.

‘Tales of the Arabian Nights’ is scheduled for release on Tuesday 21st July. It will be available for pre-order from the middle of next week.

Musings on Steam and it's cousins

2009-07-05T10:02:00.011+01:00

Boardgamers and trains seem to go together like ...train spotters and platforms. We do love a train game - all the way from Ticket to Ride to 18xx. I thought i had the train part of my collection sorted - Age of Steam, Railroad Tycoon, Ticket to Ride ,Steel Driver, Chicago Express, Canal Mania and Jet Set (the last two are train games masquerading as other forms of transport and 18xx a bit beyond me).

So when Steam was released i wished it well but assumed it was too similar to my other train games to be an essential purchase. Now i've read the rules i have changed my mind. It seems to fill a (small)gap that sits between Age of Steam and Railroad Tycoon (and it's expansion Rails of Europe). Actually the gap is small but quite important. Railroad Tycoon is lovely to behold, and in it's capital structure is forgiving enough for most boardgamers. However, the operation cards make it a bit of a lottery - especially in the base set. In a close game it can be very frustrating if the luck of the draw favours one player - whether a completed route bonus in the base set or a charter, hotel or build bonus in Rails of Europe that is more valuable to one player than another. In Age of Steam the game can be just too brutal to beginners. Goods growth, decided by dice, seems to to throw an element of luck into a game that demands crystal clear planning.

So Steam looks like the synthesis of design ideas and practical observations. For a start the prohibition on taking Locomotive as an action when maxed and the requirement to ship goods over at least half of your own track takes out two of the 'gamey' elements of Age of Steam. The change from Goods growth to City Growth also seems like an improvement of Age of Steam.

In basic Steam the brutality of the auction process and lottery of the operation cards has been replaced with an separate auction for roles - and this looks like a great middle ground for those of us who struggle with AoS but find RRT too simplistic and lacking some tension.

The other area i'm not unhappy to see changed is income reduction, again it seems too gamey. Having worked for eight years capitalisng the 'real' railways i have seen enough game playing at the expense of economic reality to want to see it in a board game. Instead we have a division in steam between victory points and income. This causes me a thematic problem - surely an economic game needs to reward money earned and invested? However, if i see the Victory points as the Net Present Value (in the same way that the final movement of goods cubes in Steel Driver is the Net Present Value of the companies networks) of my railway a the end of the game then it works.

I wonder how well my musings will stand up to actual play of Steam, but now having made them i am compelled to find out. There has been a lot of debate about the number of track tiles - that i most certainly can't comment on till i have played.

The Real Railway

The whims of government are the key to the real railways today. We can't do without a rail network but they can't survive in a free market. Hence vast public subsidy, a regulatory environment and decisions made on political expediency rather than the best movement of real cubes over a net work you have built. In fact there has been virtually no new track routes laid since the 19th century (CTRL excepted) - capital investment has been in signaling, renewals and systems to improve performance. Ownership of infrastructure and train operations have been separated into separate ownership and control. I wonder if there is a game to be made there?

New Releases : 7th July

2009-07-04T17:57:00.002+01:00

There are quite a few new releases from Zman this week, unfortunately one of them is not Tales of the Arabian Knights I am hoping this is no more than 2 or three weeks away . Given the box weighs in at a whopping 4 kilos fingers crossed the ship is not slowed down.

The first of the new release is Bridge Troll. You play a Troll balancing the need to charge travelers for use of your bridge, the need to feed (those travelers are quite tasty) and fight off adventurers (including Billy Goat Gruff) who are out to end your custodianship of the bridge (and your life).

The second is Long Shot, a family horse racing game that is beautifully produced. In this game you own and bet on horses to win races and then try to steer your mounts to victory using tactical and strategic cards. According to the box it plays in about an hour.

The third is Court of the Medici, a two player card game that pits you as a courtier trying to curry favour with the Grand Duke of Florence and eliminate your rival faction.

The Fourth is Babel 13, an expansion for Neuroshima Hex. The expansion adds two new armies, terrain tiles and campaign rules.

Mayfair has re-printed the classic crayon rail game EuroRails. The game has received a face lift and the Channel Tunnel.

I have added the collaborative card game Anima: Shadows over Omega to the range and its expansion (also a stand alone game) Anima: Beyond Good and Evil is released on Tuesday

Also released next week, and the first Risk game I have stocked, is Risk : Balance of Power, a two player game that sees players fighting over a map of Europe. I have heard good things about this game.

A batch of import arrived last week including Cavum (this is an international edition and includes English rules). Burgenland came and went. Big points and Finito are still in stock. I have also added the Pegasus Spiel special edition of David and Goliath (it comes in a rather smart metal box) and Ziegen Kriegen (can’t have enough games about goats).

I am expecting a re-stock of Small World on Tuesday. Bruno Faidutti has named it as his game of the year.

I have also had a re-stock of Vineta – which I have played a few times recently. It’s a, ‘anti’ area majority game, in which players are Norse gods throwing waves at Vineta (the Atlantis of the Baltic) to sink it beneath the seas. As a god you want to preserve part of the city and homes from destruction. The trouble is the other gods are trying to do the same thing. By clever card play you aim the waves at parts of the city you have no followers or interest in. The version i have been playing is the Winning Moves Deutschland edition which is far superior to the ugly edition which was released in English. It’s a light hearted and fun game that plays quickly and I think deserves a wider audience.

Masters Gallery - A Family Filler

2009-06-27T10:15:00.001+01:00

I’m a philistine. I’ve been to (well dragged round by my art appreciating wife) Momo, Tate Modern, and a few other torture chambers masquerading as temples of culture . It all has the same effect - I get a head ache looking at all those swirls, colour explosions, pictures that look like nothing more than the pavement after a particularly drunken night out. . I just don’t get it. It got so bad that half way round a Brigit Reilly exhibition I had to leave the gallery to lie down - I was just about to throw up.

Go one stare at this for two minutes and see if your lunch stays down

Give me a picture with real things in, people and landscapes, even a bowl of fruit. I can look at one of those for at least ten minutes with out sweating and reaching for the Tylenol .

That’s the same way I feel about Masters Gallery vis a vis Modern Art. I admire Modern Art as a game design and I want to like it but I’m terrible at it. I suspect any game that has inspired geeks to write mathematical valuation formula that makes Black-Scholes look like the two times table is something that is going to be beyond me. So the news that a de-auctioned version of Modern Art was being released with pictures of old masters intrigued me. My initial reaction was ‘Ha, Modern Art for Dummies!’. And whilst Master’s Gallery takes the rocket science out of Modern Art it adds a great deal of game play and not only for the Modern Art challenged. It turns an auction game into a set collection game.

Master’s Gallery is a recent release in the treadmill of Gryphon bookshelf games. It comes in a small box that fits nicely along side the other games in the series. It consists of 100 cards, five place holders for each of the five ‘masters’ (Vermeer, Van Goch, Degas, Renoir and Monet) and ninety five cards divided unequally between the five starting with 21 Van Gogh down to 17 for Vermeer. The cards are made of good quality stock, though I would recommend sleaving them as mine are showing small sings of wear after ten games. The rule book is well written and easy to follow.

Game play is deceptively simple. The five place holder artist cards are placed on the table, Two to five players are dealt a stating hand of 13 random cards and an artist card is drawn and placed face up on the table. Each player takes it in turn to place a card from their hand on to the table in front of them. The round ends immediately when a sixth artist card is played on the table with the initial random draw counts towards the six. Cards are then scored, and a new round starts with players receiving more cards (except for the fourth and last round when no more cards are dealt) and another random card from the draw pile placed on the table. The game finishes after four rounds with the points being tallied and a winner decided.

Some of the cards allow special plays. One allows the player to immediately lay as second card of the same artist face up, the second allows a second card of any artist to be played face down (., another allows the player to draw a card, another has all players simultaneously playing a card from hand to the table and the last allows a 2 point award token to be added to one artist (and each artist can only have one of these tokens place on them).

The scoring at the end of each round is simple. The face down cards are turned up and the artists who has the most cards played (tie breaks are broken in favour the artist which have the fewest cards in the deck) receives a three value token the second a two and the third one. Players then multiply the artist cards (that came in the first three) in front of them by the total value of the points tokens for each artist. Tiles points on the artist place holder cards are cumulative and therefore some artists become more valuable than others as the rounds progress.

Key to success in the game is planning ahead, and trying to draw other players into scoring artists that you can score in later ( and more valuable) rounds. The ‘special’ cards add some spice to the game and timing when to play them can be crucial though I have seen some one win without drawing any throughout the game.

In a few areas Master’s Gallery falls down compared to Modern Art, first the table banter is missing from Master’s Gallery, players don’t talk up the value of their hideous pictures. You can get the hideous pictures in Master’s Gallery’s sister game Modern art the card game (and its a few bucks cheaper). The other area is that you can win in Modern Art without buying many pictures, just selling stuff at inflated prices. In Master’s Gallery you have to play a card each turn. Another concern I have is scalability the game is great with three or four players, Ok with two and poor with five. With five players the rounds finish so quickly you do not have time to play many cards and try and influence the outcome of the ranking. Despite these reservations I whole heartedly recommend the game for families and those who like the idea of Modern Art but not the valuation.

Comparisons with Modern Art are inevitable howeverthese are two different games that share a theme and some mechanics. Master’s Gallery is set collection and manipulation Modern Art other is a valuation and arbitrage game. Both have their place, though if both are on offer I will be found, wearing my dunces’ cap, sitting at the Master’s table.

New Releases : 13th June 2009

2009-06-13T10:39:00.002+01:00

With the Expo last weekend this weeks UK board game releases are non existent.

However I did pick up a new game at the Expo and it is a corker - Fzzzt! a simple card game that uses the build a deck mechanic from Dominion. I have written a review here. Everyone I have shown the game to buys it and i have had to re-stock afte ronly 4 days. Only 1500 copies were printed and I doubt they will hang around.

Imports

Rather a lot of games arrived in the shop this week, some new, some restocks.

Hab & Gut is a stock market game in which 3 to 5 players attempt to earn as much money as possible from buying, selling and manipulating stocks. What makes the game interesting is that players have limited market knowledge in the form of cards that will manipulate the market (up or down) which only they and their immediate neighbour to right and left can see. There is a further twist in that not only are players out for themselves the player who has donated the lowest amount to charity at the end of the game immediately loses. This game has been receiving a lot of hype on the 'Geek.

We have another two games from rising design star Jeffrey Allers the first is ….aber bitte mit sahne (everyone loves cake?)And the second Circus Maximus (a game about ticket touting in ancient Rome, comes in a metal tin).

I also have El Presidente an expansion forCuba, this is the German version

Boardgamenews has a couple of articles about recent German games here and here.All of these games are stocked by BoardGameGuru

Other games added to the imports range include Kreta from Stephan Dorra, Kutschfahrt zum Teufelsberg (a team game), Die Saulen von Venedig, Via Romana and Bushido.

I also have had a restock of Diamond's Club, which is one of my favourite Essen 2008 releases. From Rudger Dorn it has a feint flavour ofGoa, with an ingenious resource selection mechanism and many subtle paths to victory. It plays inside 90 minutes and works for both gamers and as a gateway.

Games added to the range include Golfprofi and Master Builder

Automobile failed to arrive this week - I am promised it will be with me on Monday. I played it for the second time this week and it confirmed my opinion that it is a great game - for me the best release of 2009 so far by a country mile.

'Prolific' is a double edged word, in the context of Balzac or Haydn it's a good thing, for 'Prince' not so. Recently Reiner Knizia has fallen into the 'Prince' category and his recent (prolific) releases have not been automatic purchases. However, one recent game is a complete return to form, if not in the style we are accustomed to. FITS is a simple work of genius, Tetris meets 'Take it Easy'. It's a huge hit with gamers as a filler and all non gamers I have introduced it to and it's back in stock.

Fzzzt : The perfect filler

2009-06-08T17:22:00.004+01:00

When ever I switch on’ Britain’s Got Talent’ I expect to be wowed by the opera singing, super dancing , multi instrument playing candidates. But it’s always the cute young contender warbling their way through ‘My boy lollipop’ that gets my vote - and the same thing happened at the 2009 UK Games Expo. Expecting to come away star struck by the big hitters one gem stood out for me and that was the new card game Fzzzt! from Surprised Stare.

Fzzzt! is a card game about a futuristic production line as imagined by a bunch of 70's computer programmers. 2 -4 players compete over five rounds to assemble a deck (Dominion comparison coming up later...) of point scoring robots, and to produce widgets from machines of varying complexity.

Each player starts with the same hand of a mechanic and three robots. These cards will be used to bid in auctions to buy new robots which will form part of the players deck, production cards which the players place in front of them which will give them bonus points (or negative points) at the end of the game and Frzzt! cards which give minus points at the game end but are useful for bidding for new cards in the mean time.

The robot cards have four values on them. The first is their worth in a auction (they range from zero to five , the second is there victory point value at the end of the game, the third is the component (or components) they can produce for production cards and the fourth shows how many cards are revealed at auction.

After each player has received their four starting cards a random start player is decided. He becomes the 'Chief Mechanic' - the rule book recommends that a spanner is given to the 'Chief Mechanic' - failing that the game box will do. The remaining cards are shuffled to form a draw pile and eight cards are drawn and placed in a row (the ‘Conveyor Belt’). The first card in the row is turned face up and the fourth value is checked - additional cards from the Conveyor Belt are turned up depending on the value and the range is from 0 to all 8.

All players simultaneously bid for the first card on the conveyor belt with one or more of their hand cards placed face down on the table. The winning bid is the highest total value of power symbols. Ties are broken b in favour of the player holding the 'Chief mechanic' spanner, otherwise by the closest player clockwise to the chief mechanic. The losing player in the tie becomes the new ‘Chief Mechanic’

All cards used to bid, and any card won, are placed in a players discard pile - ala Dominion. Unlike Dominion players, at this point, don’t draw a new hand of cards until all players have run out of cards. You want that uber robot a lot? Well use three cards to bid and you will end up missing out on later auctions as you won’t have a card to bid with. When all players have run out of hand cards they shuffle their discard pile and draw a new hand of six cards (or less if their discard pile contains fewer than six cards). These card auctions continue until all eight cards from the row have been won. If the next card to be auctioned in the row is face down it is turned face up and it’s Conveyor Belt value is checked to see how many cards are revealed.

If the card won is a production card it is placed in front of the player. The production cards have component symbols on them (that match symbols on the robots) that are need to produce a widget at the end of the game and the victory points value of producing a widget. They range from the basic one oil needed for three points to the advanced which needs all four types of components (Oil, Cog, nut , bolt - I did say this was the future as imagined by COBOL programmers) which gives thirteen points.

After the eighth card in the conveyor belt has been auctioned all players can place one of their robots from their discard pile and hand on a corresponding production card. Only one card can be placed per round on each production card and they can not be switched around later. From this you will gather there is no point hanging on to your hand cards towards the end of an auction and that placing low power cards on a production unit is a good way of thinning out the weak robots from your deck. But beware! - if you can’t produce a widget from your production card you lose victory points equal to the bonus points of the card (think Ticket to Ride).So you might really want to get the zero power robot out of your hand because it is no use for auctions, however it can produce any one of the components and might be best saved till the end of the game when you can place it on any production card where you are short of a component.

After everyone has placed robots on their production cards they shuffle their discard pile and draw six new cards. Eight more cards are placed on the conveyor belt and the auctions start again. The game ends when the last card of the last conveyor belt has been auctioned.

Players then allocate Robots to their production cards to produce bonus point widgets. A production card can produce multiple widgets if his has multiple, sets of robots on it. Players score points for the value of their robots and the value of any widgets produced and takeoff the value of any production card that has not produced a widget (i.e. has an incomplete set of robots on it).

The game plays in about half an hour and provides some difficult choices for the players, on the one hand you want to have as powerful a deck as possible to win auctions but you must balance that with the need for less powerful robots which help you produce victory points in the end game. The auctions are quick and tense and require you to second guess the needs of the other players as much as your own requirements. Because there are a lot of ties in the auctions use of the ‘Chief Mechanics’ ability can be a boon or a disaster. As some one who feels that Dominion is multiplayer solitaire the auctions in Fzzzt! really work well to create engagement with the other players. More over there is no repetitive shuffling injury!

Fzzzt! Is a perfect filler; quick to learn and play with some depth to the game play. I thoroughly recommend it.