2008.03.03
The King in Thebes
Jason, Chris, Meela, and I played a four-player game of Thebes on Saturday. The game was very satisfying and a lot of fun. I managed to win with 59 points, but it was a very tight race – Chris wound up with 57 points and Meela had 55. In the end it was luck that saved me – I managed to sneak in a 5-point exhibition on my penultimate turn that jumped me from third to first.
The more games of Thebes I play, the more I appreciate it. There is a strong luck element to the game, but like most games that feature luck, it feels like a more skilled player will win more often than less skilled players. There were many points when I felt like I wasn’t doing as well as the others, but I focused on making the most of each turn, taking the best choice that presented itself.
Chris pushed his luck at the end by going fishing for a seventh Congress card, which he did manage to find due to his persistence, and it nearly won him the game. It would have had I not also pushed my luck and turned up a 5-point exhibition I was able to do.
Part of the trick to Thebes is knowing when to take a risk and push your luck, and when to simply make the best of what’s available at the moment. I haven’t fully figured it out yet, but I’m getting there.
After supper, Jason and I took on Yog-Sothoth in a game of Arkham Horror, using the King in Yellow expansion. We wanted to toughen the game a little, so we played with the expansion in Touring Performance style. We decided not to use a Herald, though, because we didn’t want it to be too tough.
Ahem. We got our asses handed to us. We lost the game in about a dozen turns, hitting Act III of the play. I had managed to close only a single gate, and couldn’t seal it.
What really sucked is that I had a really cool character with neato weapons and things for a change. Of course, that hardly mattered when I spent two of my turns delayed in Other Worlds, and then got smacked by some random mid-level monster because I couldn’t roll the dice to save my life. 3 successes on 8 dice is a bit of a challenge (slightly below the odds), but I managed to roll 0 successes on 6+ dice several times during the game. If only I had been playing Axis and Allies instead. Sigh.
So, a mere 60 minutes after setting up the game, we were shaking our heads and putting it away. We’ll get you next time, Yog.
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