2012.05.19
Posted in Board Games at 5:02 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
Recently I had a chance to try out The Manhattan Project for the first time. In this game, you are competing against other players to build nuclear bombs the fastest. It’s a worker-placement game with some interesting mechanics and player interaction possibilities. I enjoyed the game a lot, and it seems like the strategy runs a bit deeper than is first apparent. It’s possible to “block” the spaces on the board for numerous turns, which means players without the appropriate buildings on their personal boards won’t be able to take certain actions unless they use the espionage options.
Its also possible to attack the other players directly, and destroy / disable some of their production capacity, although we were playing a 3-player game which provided a large deterrent to attacking: the third player (not involved in the initial conflict) would be free to bomb the heck out of either of the two players who were fighting before they could recover. The game includes rules about making binding pacts that are meant to alleviate this, but as I felt I had a bit of a lead, it was never in my interest to make such a deal. My opponents were too timid to gang up on me and bomb me back to the pre-nuclear age (which they probably should have).
As a result of that peculiarity, I’m not sure I’d play the game the same way next time. As it was, it felt like there was a huge opening and mid-game phase where you had to build up a huge amount of machinery, then a rather predictable end game where it was just a race to produce the bombs themselves. If we had attacked each other I feel like the game would have been more interesting and enjoyable, but without conflict it felt a little flat to me.
Overall, I’m still undecided. I want to try it again (and next time with more conflict). If you like worker placement games,The Manhattan Project is worth a look in my opinion, although I don’t know if it will displace Caylus or Dominant Species on my list.
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2012.03.18
Posted in Board Games at 11:57 am by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
A couple of weekends ago, I managed to play the Avalon Hill classic Dune for the first time. We played two games over the course of an afternoon, which isn’t nearly enough to give a detailed review, but it’s enough for some first impressions.
The Dune theme really comes through in the game, and the mechanics make a lot of sense when viewed through the lens of the theme. The rules aren’t terribly complex either, but the political and strategic dimensions to the game add their own complexities which i found quite enjoyable.
The actual gameplay, though, fell a little flat for me. Maybe it’s because the group was willing to wage expensive wars over every single spice blow, but playing the game first as the Fremen and second as the Harkonnen, in neither case did I ever really have any capital to use for anything useful. I know the Bene Gesserit players also had the same problem in both games. As a result of the intensity of the early battles, the games both ended on or before turn 5, which meant that I didn’t get an epic sense of the game like I do from games like Twilight Imperium.
Upon reflection, it’s not that Dune is a bad game (far from it), but it’s just not a game I’m going to want to play all that often. In terms of political games, I’d much rather play something like Battlestar Galactica. And although Fantasy Flight has re-themed and tweaked Dune as a new game (Rex), I don’t have any desire at all to pick up a copy. I don’t think feel like the mechanics of Dune translate well to the new theme, and as a whole I just can’t see playing the game very often. Given the thematic richness of Dune, I’d rather play that than Rex.
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2012.02.21
Posted in Board Games at 8:53 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
This past weekend I played both Liberté and Power Grid: The First Sparks for the first time.
Liberté
Liberté is an election / area control game themed during the French Revolution. The players are supporting three factions (the revolutionaries, the moderates, and the royalists) in the French elections. Some provinces are higher stakes than others, and these tend to get quite interesting as the players try to advance their factions. One of the interesting twists is that you’re free to back different factions in different provinces, and in fact, there are many good reasons you might want to do this. The game can end in 3 possible ways, which I also found interesting, because the three possible end conditions are scored differently. If you invest a lot of energy in gaining victory points, it’s definitely in your interest to prevent the royalist counter-revolution from happening (in which case your victory points don’t count for anything). Likewise, if you’re behind in victory points, one of the other game-ending conditions may still be a viable path to victory.
A few criticisms: First, the theme is somewhat evident throughout the game, but there are definitely parts where it feels a little thinly-pasted-on. I don’t mind this since I play plenty of eurogames and abstract strategy games, but some people might not like this aspect of the game. When you compare to an election-style game like Twilight Struggle, the theme definitely doesn’t seem as rich. Second, and more importantly, the rules are difficult to read and understand. Some parts of the rules would have benefitted greatly from the inclusion of an example or two, but sadly, there weren’t any. We stumbled through the first game, not 100% positive we played the rules properly, although I think we did pretty well.
All that aside, I did enjoy the game and I do want to try it again now that I see how the rules are set up. I’m also very curious to see how interesting it gets with 5 or 6 players, where I think it will really shine, assuming the rules are easier to teach to someone else than they are to learn from reading the rule book…
Power Grid: The First Sparks
If you’ve played the original Power Grid, The First Sparks will feel very familliar, all the way from start to finish. Each player controls a prehistoric tribe of humans, and your goal is to gain tools and knowledge, which allow you to hunt and gather food more effectively, which allow you to spread your tribe across the board. In each turn, there’s an auction for technology (tools and knowledge), followed by hunting / gathering / feeding your tribe, following by spreading out your tribe.
Unlike Power Grid, food is a resource that you spend like money for all things, including the auctions. Another big difference is that the “income” phase in The First Sparks happens in the middle of the turn, rather than immediately before the auction phase, so some different strategies are needed.
In many ways, The First Sparks feels like a better spiritual successor to Power Grid than Power Grid: Factory Manager was. It’s a more direct implementation of the original mechanics, and retains the same feel as the original, although many things are simplified and streamlined. This isn’t to say the game is a gateway game. It’s definitely more accessible than Power Grid, but still not nearly as easy to get into as a game like Ticket to Ride or Carcassonne. It sits somewhere in the middle, and I could see it being a good game to get players into before exposing them to a heavy euro like Power Grid, Caylus, or Puerto Rico. I give it a big thumbs up, and would like to see how it scales to more players.
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2012.02.05
Posted in Board Games at 8:48 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
I picked up the anniversary edition of Puerto Rico this weekend, since I didn’t already own the game and since it was the easiest way to get the game and both of its expansions. The publisher has stated this edition will not be re-printed, so I thought it best to act quickly.
In addition to including the expansions, the components are of higher quality – all of the cardboard is thicker stock, the doubloons are actually metal coins, and the wooden bits are a little nicer and easier to handle. The artwork has also been redesigned and illustrations added to the building tiles, which are all very nice touches.
I’m pretty impressed with the component quality, although the price was somewhat steep. I know I’ll enjoy playing this edition though, as I always found the cardboard bits and the wooden colonist markers a little fiddly to handle in the original edition. Plus, it’s Puerto Rico, which is still an absolute classic after 10 years.
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2012.01.13
Posted in Board Games at 10:17 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
This week I had a chance to play the Legendary Asia map for Ticket to Ride for the first time. I wound up squarely in last place, partly due to bad luck on card draws, and partly due to a few mistakes. Had I had better luck I would have finished third.
One of the more interesting aspects of this map are the mountain routes which require you to sacrifice additional rail cars from your supply for some additional points. Assuming you don’t get too ambitious with your route planning, I would now consider this to be very advantageous in almost every way. It’s not obvious at first until you consider some of the details.
First, each car you sacrifice in this manner is worth 2 points. The “break-even” point is a route of length 5 (where each car is worth 2 points). Shorter routes all give you less bang for your buck, and this map only has a very small number of routes that are 5 or longer. The other, more important effect is that it brings on the end of the game faster, and gives you a better chance to catch your opponents short.
To give a specific example, there are some routes of length 2 which require a 2 car sacrifice. You only need to play 2 cards to claim the route, and you will get 6 points as well as be 4 cars closer to triggering the end of the game.
Now that I understand this aspect of the map better, I’ll definitely not make some of the same mistakes next time. As for the luck, well, let’s just say I had better draw locomotives a little more often if I want to claim a few ferry routes…
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2011.12.29
Posted in Board Games, Family, Friends at 9:12 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
I’ve been doing some gaming over the past few weeks. It’s been a mix of old and new.
Flash Point: Fire Rescure is the “new hotness” as Jason puts it (pun intended), and he got me a copy for my birthday. To date, I think this one is only available to people who backed it on Kickstarter, which is a shame because it’s a fantastic cooperative game. The mechanics fit the theme really well, and the game moves along with relatively little downtime. The difficulty is adjustable but so far it feels about right at the regular difficulty level. You’re not going to win every game (it’s been close every game so far, either winning or losing), but it doesn’t grind you into the dust like Ghost Stories always seems to. I’ve only tried the two maps that come with the base game, and haven’t yet attempted the expansion maps which appear more difficult.
As for older games, I played all three of the following with various members of my family over the break:
- 6 Nimmt (Category 5 in English)
- Carcassonne: The City
- The Settlers of Catan
I have played all of them before, but I was the only one at the table who had played them. 6 Nimmt went over predictably well, and we got pretty goofy by the end of the game (a couple of glasses of red wine may have contributed). Everyone had fun, and we all agreed the light tactics were just the right level for what we wanted that evening.
Mom and I played a couple of games of Carcassonne, and though it took her a little bit to see the strategies, she enjoyed playing the game and came pretty close to beating me both games. This is still my favorite incarnation of Carcassonne to play, and the chance to play it with mom reminded me of why.
Finally, Settlers of Catan hit the table. My sister wound up winning quite handily, and although it’s still far from my favorite game, I enjoyed this play of it more than previous plays. The dice still hated me as they always do, but I started to at least get a bit of momentum in the mid-game. It proved to be too little, too late as mom was challenging me for the longest army while my sister had somehow managed to get 4 of the VP cards in the development card deck. I ended up in second place, but there was a lot of back and forth to get there (I was in last for the majority of the game). I’d be willing to give this one another try, although I will stick to my vow to never play it with the 5/6 player expansion ever again.
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2011.12.10
Posted in Board Games at 1:21 am by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
Last night, Thebes hit the table for the first time in about a year. It’s a very unique game, and if you haven’t tried it yet, you should.
What was interesting about last night was watching Rafael, who had never played before, play the game. He got into it in a way that made me think, “yes, this is IT!”
He took crazy risks (let’s dig for 4 weeks, drawing 3 discs) and they paid off. He drew the discs out of the bag and slapped them down on the table, counting them as he went. He watched with interest as Jason draw from the bag and found nothing but rubble. He managed to get second place in his very first game.
For me, it was a lesson in why we play board games in the first place. Everyone had a good time, and I got to witness a first-time player totally get into the game and play it the way it’s meant to be played – on the edge of a razor, tensely drawing discs from a dig site in hopes of striking it rich. Although I wouldn’t classify Thebes as a push your luck game in terms of the core mechanic, when you go on a dig and you have to decide how long to spend a the site, there is a definite push your luck element to it, and it never fails to draw people into the game completely.
Although I eventually won the game, watching Rafael play was my reward. This is what board games are all about.
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2011.11.20
Posted in Board Games at 10:53 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
On Thursday it was game night as usual. We decided to pull out Acquire, followed by Rheinlander.
Even though I have seldom won Acquire in the past, everything went my way this game, and I won very handily, with a nearly $20,000 differential with Craig who took second place. The group generally seemed to be preferring to hold stock rather than liquidate, which worked in my favor (I think Tower got acquired 4 times, with a nice payout to me each time). I also managed to maneuver things such that Continental was re-founded well out of harms way in the corner of the board, giving me time to focus on my long-term buy and hold hotel (Festival). I got a lot of dirty looks when I founded Continental where I did, but it’s probably the one move I made that most directly led to me emerging victorious.
I didn’t win at Rheinlander, but did manage a second-place finish, by far the best I’ve ever done in that game. I feel like I’m finally beginning to understand the strategy in that game, something I never really felt I had a grip on at all previously. My score was about double my previous personal best score (41 points this game, I think my previous best was 22 or 23 points). We don’t play this one that often, but it’s nice to finally feel like I can play it competitively.
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2011.09.19
Posted in Board Games at 8:11 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
This past weekend I tried out 7 Wonders for the first time. Although I would classify it as multi-player solitaire in a lot of ways, it’s an excellent game. It’s one of the most enjoyable games I’ve played recently to use a card-drafting mechanic, and it plays fast and furious even with a large compliment of players.
In the game, each player has a unique monument that grants them a slight special power. There’s nothing truly devastating, and they all seem pretty balanced, but they add a nice variety to the game and help to ensure that no two games play alike.
The interesting options and many paths to victory also make it a game that has some good replayability, and the simple, straightforward rules and quick play time make it a lot more accessible to casual gamers than a lot of games.
While it doesn’t have the depth of other multi-player solitaire games like Agricola, it’s one I can see hitting the table a lot more often, and it’s also a game I could see busting out with my family.
I don’t own a copy, but will likely track one down in the near future.
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2011.06.18
Posted in Board Games at 12:44 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
My friend Jason recently bought Tichu, which quite frankly puzzled me. In numerous past discussions he mentioned that he didn’t enjoy ladder-climbing games, and here he now owns a copy of Tichu. We played a 4-player game on Monday, although we played a short game (only to 500 points).
Craig and I won handily vs. our opponents, and I could tell during the game that Jason wasn’t enjoying it at all. I found that I sort of enjoyed playing a ladder climbing game with partners, although if we want to play a card game there is quite a list I’d reach for before Tichu personally. Apparently Jason felt this even more strongly; I suspect he’ll never again play Tichu.
This isn’t to say that Tichu isn’t a good game. Of all the ladder climbing games I’ve played, it and Gang of Four are easily my favorites and better than the majority of the rest; that said, not everyone wants to play a ladder-climbing game.
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