Sitting in an airport with a lot of time to kill, I went browsing through the bookstore, and was amazed at just how much there was devoted to sudoku. To the best of my knowledge, this particular puzzle was a rarity over here less than 5 years ago, and now, there are sudoku puzzles in magazines, sudoku books, sudoku electronic games, sudoku Rubik's cubes, and even a couple sudoku boardgames. How this relatively simple puzzle took off and became such a phenomenon is a mystery to me, but some marketing person somewhere clearly knows what they're doing.
It got me thinking about other games that are so simple you can put them together and play at a fraction of the cost, and yet people buy retail games, showing that the market indeed likes prettier bits. How about a few examples?
Can't Stop: I saw this dice game, and I knew my wife enjoyed press-your-luck type games, but saw the price tag of some $30 to get the commercial game with a mountain diagram and some little climbers. The game was simple enough, though, so I printed out one of the many grid substitutes available online, grabbed 4 dice and some buttons, and we were able to play easily. Sadly, she didn't really enjoy the game, but trying it first saved us $30.
Pickomino: Another simple game to duplicate, this needs 8 dice and some index cards numbered 21-36, with 1-4 worms on them...I cobbled it together, and we played. She found she liked it, and while we could quite easily have continued playing with this, it just didn't have the same tactile feel as the wooden dice with worms replacing 6s, and the domino tiles to take. We happily parted with $25, and have gotten plenty of play from this filler.
Skip-Bo: is basically the playing card game Spite and Malice with an extra deck...of course, I didn't know it at the time, or I would have likely bought some other game....
No Thanks!: for a while, Geschenckt simply wasn't available in the states, so I had no choice but to put the game together with some index cards numbered 3 to 35, and some buttons again. We liked it enough that we bought the game when it arrived in stores here.
Category 5: is a deck of cards numbered 1-104...again, not hard to duplicate...but again, we bought it....
So that puts me in the camp of buying games, although I could easily have played a home-made version for next to nothing. Why did I buy them? Quality of the bits? Support for those who designed and marketed the game? Gullibility that the 'real game' was better? Guilt over 'stealing' by playing the game without a purchase?
To tell the truth, I don't really know for sure. I'd like to say I believe in supporting the hard work of designers, but more likely, my motive wasn't that altruistic. I mainly like the look and feel of the produced game more than a bunch of handwritten index cards or computer printouts. This is likely why I've never tried any of the print & play games...or maybe I'm just lazy :) Of course, a pretty, colorful, well-produced game is also easier to entice other people to play, and in the end, who cares how much money you saved if you have nobody to play with?
Enjoy our hobby, and support those who help to keep it alive!
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Gaming Villainy
I've been reading and catching up on things, and I came across an article by Valerie Putman over on BoardgameNews.com titled "There is No Villain in Monopoly." She had been inspired in the title and subject because of someone on Survivor defending his actions on the show. Frankly, I felt they both had a point, in that when playing a game, even a political one like survivor, it seems silly to proclaim someone a villain just because they are treating the game as a game rather than the communal love-fest that so many contestants want it to be. I haven't watched Survivor in a long time, but I remember the pirate-themed one when Johnny "Fairplay" played on his opponents' sympathies to win the challenge to visit with a loved one from home by arranging months before the game to have his best friend pretend his grandmother had died. Hey, it's helped kids play hooky for years...why not use it to win a game in which emotional manipulation is part of the rules?
Of course, justifying Survivor plays or repeating Valerie's article is not what I'm here to do. I'm in kind of a listing mood, so based on paying attention to what people complain about, here's a run-down of broad types that are regarded, at least a little bit, as gaming "villains". I probably fall into some of these categories; I think we all do at some time or another -- how many do you match?
I think that's enough for this post length...what gaming villains have you run across in your time in the hobby? Which ones have you been? All of us have our little quirks that can get on others' nerves. What matters is that we can relax and enjoy a game anyway.
Of course, justifying Survivor plays or repeating Valerie's article is not what I'm here to do. I'm in kind of a listing mood, so based on paying attention to what people complain about, here's a run-down of broad types that are regarded, at least a little bit, as gaming "villains". I probably fall into some of these categories; I think we all do at some time or another -- how many do you match?
- The Cheater : This one pretty much had to top the list, as breaking the rules just to say you won a game which has no real relevance in the grand scheme of things is the most heinous of gaming crimes. "Wow, buddy, another 20....you're just on a roll tonight! That puts you, what, 100 points ahead of everyone else?" If you want to win that badly, why not just put some effort into learning to play the game well?
- Mr. Intensity : This type simply takes the game entirely too seriously. They are likely to explode over any socializing around the game, talking about the game, sub-optimal moves by any player, or even just accidentally drawing a card from the wrong deck while you're learning the game. If they're not doing well, their anger at themselves becomes palpable, ruining the fun for the rest of the players as well, who don't want to see them explode.
- Chicken Little : This is the player who is convinced they're going to lose any game they sit down to, no matter whether it's new to them or not. They declare in various ways throughout the game about how poorly they're doing, complain about almost every turn if it doesn't immediately benefit them, and takes offense whenever any other player messes up their plans, directly or indirectly. Sometimes this player may actually be in the lead, but they are often so focused on how close other players are to winning that they don't recognize that they are even closer. Being so vocal about how bad they're doing makes other players almost want to throw the game, or otherwise play at less than their best, and feel guilty for winning.
- Chaos Incarnate : Similar to Chicken Little, except they don't get depressed about losing. Rather, they think that since they're going to lose anyway, what they do doesn't matter, so they make nonsensical movements every turn.
- The Thinker : This is the player afficted with analysis paralysis...no matter what game you're playing. You could be sitting around a game of The Great Dalmuti, in which case your only two decisions are: 1) do you have the same number of cards but with a lower number? And 2) do you want to play them now or pass? Particularly frustrating to play light games with, if placed in a medium or heavy-weight game, the Thinker can quickly cause every other player to start debating playing another game on the side while the slow player takes their turn.
- Don Juan : This is the one who regards the game club as simply a quieter cocktail bar. Any new female player (and only female players) becomes their target, to "help" their game, flirt with, or otherwise try to draw their attention to the person, not the game. This player can often ensure that the game group consists solely of men, yet they are often the most vocal about "how few women play games."
- The Eurosnoot : Often someone fairly new to the boardgame hobby, they've been introduced to European games, and got caught up in how different they are from every game they played before. From that moment, all games from America are automatically crap, because all they've ever played from America are the traditional children's games that no longer interest them. Even years into the hobby, this person will stubbornly rant on and on about the virtues of eurogames above all else.
- The Ameritrash Enthusiast : This player is the exact opposite of the Eurosnoot, in which they will scoff at wooden cubes and "pasted-on-themes," declaring all eurogames to be dull and lifeless. Like the Eurosnoot, this gamer can and will gleefully rant about the superiority of their games.
- The ADD Twins : So named because there are two varieties of the short-attention-span nemesis. First is the one who will only play filler games - if it goes longer than 30 minutes, they will begin huffing and fidgiting in boredom, perhaps making poor moves just to get the game over with. The other, more common, twin is the one who never plays the same game twice. Ever. This player thrives on new experiences, but has no interest in getting to know the depth and nuance of any game.
- The Amnesiac : Sad to say, but once in a while, the rules and basic strategy of a game just won't stick in the head of this player, and no matter how many times they play a given game, how patiently it is explained, or how simple it is, they will always play poorly and ask for constant reminders of the rules and advice on what to do next. Every time they play this game, it is like they are playing for the first time. This player and newbies play into the woe of the Blame-Assigner.
- The Blame-Assigner : Maybe they only learned one winning strategy to a game and use it exclusively, maybe they have no concept of probabilities and luck management, but when this player loses a game, it is always due to an outside factor, never their poor play. Perhaps it is because they sat on the wrong side of a weak player, perhaps they drew the wrong cards, or maybe they were sick and couldn't think. Regardless, they cannot see that perhaps the other players were better at the game, only that something outside their control must have caused their loss.
I think that's enough for this post length...what gaming villains have you run across in your time in the hobby? Which ones have you been? All of us have our little quirks that can get on others' nerves. What matters is that we can relax and enjoy a game anyway.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
They're called "Family Games," After All...
Well, here we are right smack in the middle of the holiday shopping season, and people are scrambling for gifts, which makes a pefect time for testing the waters with a game, to see if we can gain more regular opponents to play with. So like many other blog writers at this time of here, it's time to chip in with my suggestions for ideas of games to give, or at least to play with your family and friends, assuming you can tear them away from their thousandth viewing of "It's a Wonderful Life" or whatever else is on TV.
An excellent beginner's game, touted by many as THE gateway game, is the Ticket to Ride series, released by Days of Wonder. The original Ticket to Ride is simple, drawing colored cards and playing them in sets to claim routes on a map of the United States and Canada. Ticket to Ride: Europe added a little more balance by splitting up the long and short routes, as well as ferries and a few other features. Ticket to Ride: Märklin added a passenger mechanic. Any of these games are fun to play, and I suspect it has to do with the way that the pieces are placed on the board to easily see your growing network...each time you build a route, you can really feel like you've made progress. This makes for an excellent family game.
Other good connection games include either TransAmerica or TransEuropa, in which your goal is to connect five cities on a map, using a network that begins as individual, but becomes a shared network as the game progresses. A turn is ridiculously simple - either place two tracks on single lines attached to your start marker, or place one track on a double line. Believe it or not, I also had success teaching Railroad Tycoon to gaming beginners, despite the increased complexity.
If connection games aren't your thing, there are plenty of other good ones that are easy to teach and enjoyable to play. Niagara catches your eye with its little canoes, plastic gemstones, and the waterfall from the board hanging over the box. Simply put, you race down river to retrieve gems, and fight your way back upriver to make sure you keep them, while the river moves forward, pushing you all toward the falls looming at the end. Three different winning combinations of gems prevent one player from completely locking others out of contention. Pirate's Cove is seen by many as purely luck, especially with so much dice-rolling combat, but at it's heart, it's really a game of reading your opponents and anticipating their moves. If you're skilled at this, you might never get into combat for the entire game and just keep racking up the fame points. But the reason this game really shines at a family gathering is the chance to play up the fun of being pirates, with light-hearted combat and cool little ships to move around the board, not to mention the chance to gang up on famed pirates such as Blackbeard or Captain Hook. Cleopatra and the Society of Architects is also a fairly simple game -- either draw cards or build something, while trying to avoid collecting corruption tokens. This game is also designed to make use of the box itself and looks beautiful toward the end of the game. Very simple, rich in theme and looks....a good choice for family gaming.
A little-heralded game that I also enjoyed after buying it on impulse, having never played it, is Attika. This simple resource-development game is easily accessible to newcomers. You either draw 2 tiles (one at a time) from your building type stacks and place it on your mat or build it immediately, play 3 previously mat-placed buildings, or draw cards to pay for buildings. Buildings cost less depending on board placement, and you win by either connecting two points with your buildings, or being the first to build all your buildings. There's a bit more detail, but that's the basic idea. I've played this game many times since then, and I love it from 2 all the way up to 4 players, and it does an excellent job of introducing the resource-management concept to beginning gamers.
Card games are also a big hit...with fewer bits, people are usually more willing to learn a card game than a board game...I've had success with San Juan, Coloretto, Category 5, and The Great Dalmuti.
San Juan is basically Puerto Rico's little brother, in which you are spending cards from your hand to build cards from your hand, earning cards for your hand by selling goods which are also cards from the deck. Players select a role and everyone gets to take an action, while the role selector gets to take that action a little bit extra. The deck of cards represent money, buildings, and production goods, and while it's a bit deeper than many other card games, I've found that people catch on relatively quickly, and it's a great way to introduce them to the role selection concepts of Puerto Rico.
Coloretto is a much simpler game of collecting sets of various colors. On your turn, you can either draw a card from the deck and put it into a group, or you may claim a group and all the cards in it. The decisions can be tense as you draw a card that's good for you, but risk an opponent taking it before your next turn. Your score is determined by your top three colors, minus any other colors you've collected, on a pyramid scoring scale.
Category 5 is another gem, in which players each choose a card from their hands, reveal them simultaneously, and then place them on a layout according to 4 simple placement rules. Your goal is to use these rules and choose your cards carefully in order to avoid being forced to take rows of cards, especially since the negative point value of the cards varies. Also known as "6 Nimmt," Category 5 is the English-language version (makes the rules easier to read), also called "The Hurricaine Game". My wife couldn't resist -- she took it to FEMA to play at the Christmas party. With only a few players, the game can be very strategic, while larger groups add a lot of chaos, so that your play may not produce the results you'd expect.
The Great Dalmuti is a simple climbing card game, in which the goal is to play all your cards in specific combinations and run out -- if you'd like a more complex climbing game, Tichu is a very popular choice. The cards in The Great Dalmuti are simply ranked from 1 to 12, with a number of cards in each rank equal to the bumber of the rank (there are only four 4's , for example). Additionally, there are 2 jokers, which are ranked 13 if played singly, or are wild when played with other cards. A player leads with a set of matching ranked cards (ranks are high numbers - most common and thus lowest - up to low numbers - more rare and thus worth more). Following player may then play the same number of cards, but of a higher rank (lower number) than the previously-played set (Beat four 12s with four 11s, which can be beat by four 10s, etc.) The winner has the next lead. Part of the fun in this game is the musical chairs aspect -- as players go out, their "ranking" for the next hand changes based on the order one went out, from "Great Dalmuti" all the way down to "Lesser Peasant". With a required exchange (taxation) of cards at the beginning of each hand, the lower ranks can find it hard to go out and advance their station, which leads to plenty of silly trash-talking. I love this game, although it really needs at least 5 players.
Any of these make an excellent stocking-stuffer, as do dice games. Some of my favorites include Pickomino, Cosmic Wimpout, and Cloud 9, all of which are good press-your-luck games.
For word games, Palabra is my hands-down favorite. Our deck has gotten so much use the laminate on the cards is beginning to peel off. Fairly simple to teach, point-earning options other than playing a word so you don't have to waste a turn if you don't have good letters, and a bit of take-that with point-cancelling cards and the ability to steal points with letters that match those played by an opponent make this a word game that has become virtually the only one we still play.
If you have a big family, party games such as Apples to Apples are simple and fun to play, although I have been in games where other players took some of the silliness out of the game by being too logical about the winning cards. A couple of previously-mentioned games, Category 5 and The Great Dalmuti are a lot of fun with large groups. Pass the Bomb works for just about any number of players, requiring quick thinking and the ability to remember your vocabulary under pressure. I'm also intrigued by Luck of the Draw, in which everyone draws a picture from a word or phrase drawn from a deck, then the drawings are shuffled and several humorous category cards are drawn. Players then vote to award the drawings for being recognized as "Best use of White Space", "Most Likely to be Confused as a Mess the Cat Made", "Had Way Too Much Time", and others. Much like Apples to Apples, play this game lightly, don't take it seriously, and you probably won't be able to help but to have fun.
Well, I think that's enough evangelizing for now...I feel like a host on the Home Shopping Network...enjoy the holidays, spend some quality time with your family, and just see how much fun you can have when you turn off the TV for a while.
An excellent beginner's game, touted by many as THE gateway game, is the Ticket to Ride series, released by Days of Wonder. The original Ticket to Ride is simple, drawing colored cards and playing them in sets to claim routes on a map of the United States and Canada. Ticket to Ride: Europe added a little more balance by splitting up the long and short routes, as well as ferries and a few other features. Ticket to Ride: Märklin added a passenger mechanic. Any of these games are fun to play, and I suspect it has to do with the way that the pieces are placed on the board to easily see your growing network...each time you build a route, you can really feel like you've made progress. This makes for an excellent family game.
Other good connection games include either TransAmerica or TransEuropa, in which your goal is to connect five cities on a map, using a network that begins as individual, but becomes a shared network as the game progresses. A turn is ridiculously simple - either place two tracks on single lines attached to your start marker, or place one track on a double line. Believe it or not, I also had success teaching Railroad Tycoon to gaming beginners, despite the increased complexity.
If connection games aren't your thing, there are plenty of other good ones that are easy to teach and enjoyable to play. Niagara catches your eye with its little canoes, plastic gemstones, and the waterfall from the board hanging over the box. Simply put, you race down river to retrieve gems, and fight your way back upriver to make sure you keep them, while the river moves forward, pushing you all toward the falls looming at the end. Three different winning combinations of gems prevent one player from completely locking others out of contention. Pirate's Cove is seen by many as purely luck, especially with so much dice-rolling combat, but at it's heart, it's really a game of reading your opponents and anticipating their moves. If you're skilled at this, you might never get into combat for the entire game and just keep racking up the fame points. But the reason this game really shines at a family gathering is the chance to play up the fun of being pirates, with light-hearted combat and cool little ships to move around the board, not to mention the chance to gang up on famed pirates such as Blackbeard or Captain Hook. Cleopatra and the Society of Architects is also a fairly simple game -- either draw cards or build something, while trying to avoid collecting corruption tokens. This game is also designed to make use of the box itself and looks beautiful toward the end of the game. Very simple, rich in theme and looks....a good choice for family gaming.
A little-heralded game that I also enjoyed after buying it on impulse, having never played it, is Attika. This simple resource-development game is easily accessible to newcomers. You either draw 2 tiles (one at a time) from your building type stacks and place it on your mat or build it immediately, play 3 previously mat-placed buildings, or draw cards to pay for buildings. Buildings cost less depending on board placement, and you win by either connecting two points with your buildings, or being the first to build all your buildings. There's a bit more detail, but that's the basic idea. I've played this game many times since then, and I love it from 2 all the way up to 4 players, and it does an excellent job of introducing the resource-management concept to beginning gamers.
Card games are also a big hit...with fewer bits, people are usually more willing to learn a card game than a board game...I've had success with San Juan, Coloretto, Category 5, and The Great Dalmuti.
San Juan is basically Puerto Rico's little brother, in which you are spending cards from your hand to build cards from your hand, earning cards for your hand by selling goods which are also cards from the deck. Players select a role and everyone gets to take an action, while the role selector gets to take that action a little bit extra. The deck of cards represent money, buildings, and production goods, and while it's a bit deeper than many other card games, I've found that people catch on relatively quickly, and it's a great way to introduce them to the role selection concepts of Puerto Rico.
Coloretto is a much simpler game of collecting sets of various colors. On your turn, you can either draw a card from the deck and put it into a group, or you may claim a group and all the cards in it. The decisions can be tense as you draw a card that's good for you, but risk an opponent taking it before your next turn. Your score is determined by your top three colors, minus any other colors you've collected, on a pyramid scoring scale.
Category 5 is another gem, in which players each choose a card from their hands, reveal them simultaneously, and then place them on a layout according to 4 simple placement rules. Your goal is to use these rules and choose your cards carefully in order to avoid being forced to take rows of cards, especially since the negative point value of the cards varies. Also known as "6 Nimmt," Category 5 is the English-language version (makes the rules easier to read), also called "The Hurricaine Game". My wife couldn't resist -- she took it to FEMA to play at the Christmas party. With only a few players, the game can be very strategic, while larger groups add a lot of chaos, so that your play may not produce the results you'd expect.
The Great Dalmuti is a simple climbing card game, in which the goal is to play all your cards in specific combinations and run out -- if you'd like a more complex climbing game, Tichu is a very popular choice. The cards in The Great Dalmuti are simply ranked from 1 to 12, with a number of cards in each rank equal to the bumber of the rank (there are only four 4's , for example). Additionally, there are 2 jokers, which are ranked 13 if played singly, or are wild when played with other cards. A player leads with a set of matching ranked cards (ranks are high numbers - most common and thus lowest - up to low numbers - more rare and thus worth more). Following player may then play the same number of cards, but of a higher rank (lower number) than the previously-played set (Beat four 12s with four 11s, which can be beat by four 10s, etc.) The winner has the next lead. Part of the fun in this game is the musical chairs aspect -- as players go out, their "ranking" for the next hand changes based on the order one went out, from "Great Dalmuti" all the way down to "Lesser Peasant". With a required exchange (taxation) of cards at the beginning of each hand, the lower ranks can find it hard to go out and advance their station, which leads to plenty of silly trash-talking. I love this game, although it really needs at least 5 players.
Any of these make an excellent stocking-stuffer, as do dice games. Some of my favorites include Pickomino, Cosmic Wimpout, and Cloud 9, all of which are good press-your-luck games.
For word games, Palabra is my hands-down favorite. Our deck has gotten so much use the laminate on the cards is beginning to peel off. Fairly simple to teach, point-earning options other than playing a word so you don't have to waste a turn if you don't have good letters, and a bit of take-that with point-cancelling cards and the ability to steal points with letters that match those played by an opponent make this a word game that has become virtually the only one we still play.
If you have a big family, party games such as Apples to Apples are simple and fun to play, although I have been in games where other players took some of the silliness out of the game by being too logical about the winning cards. A couple of previously-mentioned games, Category 5 and The Great Dalmuti are a lot of fun with large groups. Pass the Bomb works for just about any number of players, requiring quick thinking and the ability to remember your vocabulary under pressure. I'm also intrigued by Luck of the Draw, in which everyone draws a picture from a word or phrase drawn from a deck, then the drawings are shuffled and several humorous category cards are drawn. Players then vote to award the drawings for being recognized as "Best use of White Space", "Most Likely to be Confused as a Mess the Cat Made", "Had Way Too Much Time", and others. Much like Apples to Apples, play this game lightly, don't take it seriously, and you probably won't be able to help but to have fun.
Well, I think that's enough evangelizing for now...I feel like a host on the Home Shopping Network...enjoy the holidays, spend some quality time with your family, and just see how much fun you can have when you turn off the TV for a while.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Hurrah! I Taught Tichu!
As always, I thankfully slept in on Black Friday, while people lined up for early morning sales -- my wife mentioned that on her way to work that morning (she has to be there by 6:30am), she saw a line that went completely around a Best Buy. Alas, the one place that didn't seem to be having a sale with ridiculously low prices was the one store I did happen to go by that day -- my FLGS. Sadly, I wouldn't have had much to pick up anything -- just paid a bunch of bills (darn my responsible nature!) and wouldn't gain more till a week later, but this isn't the place for me to whine about bad timing.
What I did go there for was a gathering that had been put together on Meetup.com, to play boardgames in the back room. Sadly, I wasn't able to stay very long, but I did get to play a couple games of Tichu and one of Yspahan before I had to leave. I'm glad I finally got to play Tichu with 4 players, as the game really shines....the 3-player rules as included in the box feel clumsy, and I'm never fond of playing an phantom hand, much less one that is open. Later during the weekend, I did try a different 3-player variant for a few hands, and we agreed it retained the feel of the game with only a minor modification, although it does come off a bit more cutthroat.
3-Player Tichu Variant
Modify the deck by removing the Dog and the 2s....since there are no partners in this game, the Dog is unneccesary, and the removal of the 2s gives a deck of 51 cards, which can conveniently be dealt out fully 3 ways, each player ending up with 17 cards. Should you wish to break up the deal for Grand Tichu calls, break at 10 cards, then deal the remaining 7.
Gameplay is as normal for Tichu, although naturally, the Mahjongg card cannot be used in a straight, given the missing 2s (unless the Phoenix is also used). As the two people I was playtesting with are still getting the hang of using combinations, I have not yet added in card passing with them, but I feel that one should pass 1 card to each of the other two players, as normal.
Last player out must give their hand and tricks to whomever went out first -- yes, this means a player with a zero score. When a trick is won with the Dragon, it is given to either one of the other two players.
What I did notice is that if one player is weak strategically and hasn't yet learned to manipulate the tricks, they will likely remain with a zero score over and over again. Three players of equal experience should not see this problem. Also, with 17 cards in hand, bombs are more likely....I normally rarely see them come into play, but while testing, I saw one each hand.
Overall, it seemed to work pretty well, so those of you out there having trouble finding a 4th for Tichu, give it a try and let me know what you think!
I'll post a review of Yspahan soon -- overall, I enjoyed it and it has now been added to my Wish List :)
What I did go there for was a gathering that had been put together on Meetup.com, to play boardgames in the back room. Sadly, I wasn't able to stay very long, but I did get to play a couple games of Tichu and one of Yspahan before I had to leave. I'm glad I finally got to play Tichu with 4 players, as the game really shines....the 3-player rules as included in the box feel clumsy, and I'm never fond of playing an phantom hand, much less one that is open. Later during the weekend, I did try a different 3-player variant for a few hands, and we agreed it retained the feel of the game with only a minor modification, although it does come off a bit more cutthroat.
3-Player Tichu Variant
Modify the deck by removing the Dog and the 2s....since there are no partners in this game, the Dog is unneccesary, and the removal of the 2s gives a deck of 51 cards, which can conveniently be dealt out fully 3 ways, each player ending up with 17 cards. Should you wish to break up the deal for Grand Tichu calls, break at 10 cards, then deal the remaining 7.
Gameplay is as normal for Tichu, although naturally, the Mahjongg card cannot be used in a straight, given the missing 2s (unless the Phoenix is also used). As the two people I was playtesting with are still getting the hang of using combinations, I have not yet added in card passing with them, but I feel that one should pass 1 card to each of the other two players, as normal.
Last player out must give their hand and tricks to whomever went out first -- yes, this means a player with a zero score. When a trick is won with the Dragon, it is given to either one of the other two players.
What I did notice is that if one player is weak strategically and hasn't yet learned to manipulate the tricks, they will likely remain with a zero score over and over again. Three players of equal experience should not see this problem. Also, with 17 cards in hand, bombs are more likely....I normally rarely see them come into play, but while testing, I saw one each hand.
Overall, it seemed to work pretty well, so those of you out there having trouble finding a 4th for Tichu, give it a try and let me know what you think!
I'll post a review of Yspahan soon -- overall, I enjoyed it and it has now been added to my Wish List :)
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Sorta Spooky Story
BOOOOM!!!
Everyone at the table jumped at the sudden cacaphony of noise as the lightning flashed and thunder virtually exploded over our house. The constant rush of white noise from the deluge pouring over the land was punctuated more and more by the flash-bang concussions of static electricity. It was the worst storm any of us had ever seen; it was a miracle the lights were still--
"Aw, damnit!" arose a shout as we were abruptly plunged into darkness.
"Hang on, lemme find a flashlight and then I think I have some hurricaine lanterns around here somewhere."
I stumbled through the house, my path lit by the faint glow of my cell phone as I gathered the needed items and returned to the table. Soon, the room was alight with flickering shadows as tiny flames danced in their prisons, lending a great deal more mood to the already oppressive sound of the storm beating the earth into submission.
"Okay, whose turn was it?"
"Mine, I think," Angela said as she shakily rolled the dice and prepared to move her figure. I rubbed her back comfortingly -- she doesn't like thunderstorms to begin with, and this one seemed determined to show us what a thunderstorm was really all about.
"Hm, I think there's a yellow quest in your range," Brandy piped up, pointing out the appropriate hex. "The way you've been rolling, it should be an easy couple of experience points for you."
"Sounds good to me," Angela grinned, moving to the hex and drawing the quest card. "Uh-oh, Razorwing attack."
A faint sound amidst the storm caught my ear for a moment. "Did I just hear squeaking?"
"Aw, probably mice running from the rain," Brandy stated confidently.
"Yeah, probably. Okay, sweetie, roll to deal with the attack."
Angela picked up the dice, her face a mask of shadows as she grinned and rolled. And missed!
"Sorry, sweetie, take a hit," I said, reaching for one of her life counters.
"Grr...okay, now melee combat," she frowned. "At least that's a better roll."
scrape, scrape, scrape
"What was that?"
"I dunno....something out in the rain?"
"Maybe it's Rob's cat."
"Aw, poor thing! Can you go out and check while I roll?"
"Okay, but it's staying in the garage if it needs shelter -- we don't need to deal with a bunch of cats fighting all evening."
I could hear Angela rolling behind me as I opened the door, expecting to see a sodden black and white cat at our front door. What I saw instead, or think I saw, was a pair of glowing red eyes as a giant winged shape swooped out of the watery darkness, fangs bared.
"Ha! Take that!"
FLASH! BOOOM!!!!
Another lightning strike, this time much closer, blinding me for a moment. I blinked until I stopped seeing spots and peered again into the void, but saw nothing.
"Well? Do you see his cat?" The girls called from the table.
"Uh...no. Nothing there," I said carefully. "Must be hearing things."
-----
Sheesh....wonder what would have been there if we'd been playing Cleopatra and the Society of Architects......
Everyone at the table jumped at the sudden cacaphony of noise as the lightning flashed and thunder virtually exploded over our house. The constant rush of white noise from the deluge pouring over the land was punctuated more and more by the flash-bang concussions of static electricity. It was the worst storm any of us had ever seen; it was a miracle the lights were still--
"Aw, damnit!" arose a shout as we were abruptly plunged into darkness.
"Hang on, lemme find a flashlight and then I think I have some hurricaine lanterns around here somewhere."
I stumbled through the house, my path lit by the faint glow of my cell phone as I gathered the needed items and returned to the table. Soon, the room was alight with flickering shadows as tiny flames danced in their prisons, lending a great deal more mood to the already oppressive sound of the storm beating the earth into submission.
"Okay, whose turn was it?"
"Mine, I think," Angela said as she shakily rolled the dice and prepared to move her figure. I rubbed her back comfortingly -- she doesn't like thunderstorms to begin with, and this one seemed determined to show us what a thunderstorm was really all about.
"Hm, I think there's a yellow quest in your range," Brandy piped up, pointing out the appropriate hex. "The way you've been rolling, it should be an easy couple of experience points for you."
"Sounds good to me," Angela grinned, moving to the hex and drawing the quest card. "Uh-oh, Razorwing attack."
A faint sound amidst the storm caught my ear for a moment. "Did I just hear squeaking?"
"Aw, probably mice running from the rain," Brandy stated confidently.
"Yeah, probably. Okay, sweetie, roll to deal with the attack."
Angela picked up the dice, her face a mask of shadows as she grinned and rolled. And missed!
"Sorry, sweetie, take a hit," I said, reaching for one of her life counters.
"Grr...okay, now melee combat," she frowned. "At least that's a better roll."
scrape, scrape, scrape
"What was that?"
"I dunno....something out in the rain?"
"Maybe it's Rob's cat."
"Aw, poor thing! Can you go out and check while I roll?"
"Okay, but it's staying in the garage if it needs shelter -- we don't need to deal with a bunch of cats fighting all evening."
I could hear Angela rolling behind me as I opened the door, expecting to see a sodden black and white cat at our front door. What I saw instead, or think I saw, was a pair of glowing red eyes as a giant winged shape swooped out of the watery darkness, fangs bared.
"Ha! Take that!"
FLASH! BOOOM!!!!
Another lightning strike, this time much closer, blinding me for a moment. I blinked until I stopped seeing spots and peered again into the void, but saw nothing.
"Well? Do you see his cat?" The girls called from the table.
"Uh...no. Nothing there," I said carefully. "Must be hearing things."
-----
Sheesh....wonder what would have been there if we'd been playing Cleopatra and the Society of Architects......
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
I've Been Drawn Into the Nexus
I had the opportunity last night to play a game that I'd seen on the shelf and dismissed many times, as wargames just don't hold much interest for me. Of course, that would be simply because I haven't yet had an enjoyable wargame experience. In the wargames I've tried, the play consisted of:
Needless to say, my experiences with the wargame genre in general haven't made the best impression. My available time is usually the span of an evening, while it seems many wargames require a large portion of the day. This is not to put down anyone who plays them, but just an explanation of why they aren't really my cup of tea.
Until last night.
Last night, I was introduced to Nexus Ops, which isn't so much a wargame in feel as small, squad-based tactical combat. The game we played (albeit to only 6 points instead of the normal 12) took only about an hour and a half, including rules explanation. The game play reminded me a bit of the Strategy RPG genre of video games, such as Final Fantasy Tactics or Disgaea. Combat was extremely simple and quickly resolved, and your turn was primarily tactical movement to hold various places, a bit of quick combat if a space was contested, then collect money for mines you held. Here's a quick run-down:
The board is randomly laid out from shuffled tiles into a basic hexagonal pattern, at the center of which is a raised piece referred to as a monolith. Exploration tiles (which contain either mines worth 1 or 2 rubium (money) per turn, or one-time free unit activation, or sometimes both) are laid out over each space except the monolith, and each player begins with a home base consisting of a rock hex, a fungoid hex, and a crystal hex. The rock hex on the base has a level 3 mine, and the other two spaces have level 2 mines. The rest of the board is made up of these three types of terrain, as well as magma, and of course, the monolith.
Each player is given a different color of army, but starts with no pieces on the board. Units must be purchased at the beginning of the turn and always move out from the player's home base. All players have the same units in their pool. The different pieces are:
Each player begins with a small amount of money. The first player has the least (I think 8) and each following player has a little more than the one before, to compensate for the first-turn advantage. A player's turn consists of the following sequence:
And that's the turn -- it goes pretty quickly, and nobody is left waiting too long. Energize card are the rule-bending cards, adding bonuses to die rolls, special movement, extra money, or other such things.
The mission cards are an interesting idea, as the game is played for victory points by accomplishing missions, not for simply killing off the other players and being the last person standing. Some missions are to defeat a particular unit type, while others are to win a battle on a particular type of terrain. Still others encourage more than one combat -- for one point (or was it two?), I "started trouble" by fighting a battle in two different hexes on the same turn.
The game is over as soon as someone has the required number of points. There are also rules for team play.
As I said before, so many of my wargame experiences left a bad taste in my mouth that when I saw this box on the shelf, I simply kept overlooking it due to lack of interest. After playing the game, the small-scale tactical combat with simple mission-type objectives turned around my opinion. I'm still not interested in large-scale wargames, but I'm putting Nexus Ops on my wish list, and now I'm curious to see what other fast-playing wargames might have a similar feel to them.
- Light Mechanics and Unbearably Long Playing Time - e.g. Risk - get armies, place armies in your countries, attack neighbors until you're tired of rolling dice, then watch them roll back over you on their turn...lather, rinse repeat for several hours)
- Complex Mechanics and Lots of Cross-Referencing - e.g. Starfleet Battles - check your engines, make your move, acquire target, fire, figure out which section of the ship you hit, then which subsection, did it actually get through the shields and armor, what were those to-hit modifiers for difficult shots, how many points of damage did you do, did it affect other systems on the ship, etc.
- Uneven Turn Lengths - This wasn't even due to analysis paralysis. The chosen scenario (with fog of war blindness, so I didn't see his forces nor he mine) had me entrenched to hold an area and my opponent with dozens of units to move each turn. Since I was just trying to hold my position and repel his forces as they became visible, my turns took some 5 minutes or so. Meanwhile, he had so many pieces to move and think about for placement that his turns literally took an hour and a half EACH TURN. after the first half hour, I actually left the room and hung out on the computer, telling him to come get me when it was my turn).
Needless to say, my experiences with the wargame genre in general haven't made the best impression. My available time is usually the span of an evening, while it seems many wargames require a large portion of the day. This is not to put down anyone who plays them, but just an explanation of why they aren't really my cup of tea.
Until last night.
Last night, I was introduced to Nexus Ops, which isn't so much a wargame in feel as small, squad-based tactical combat. The game we played (albeit to only 6 points instead of the normal 12) took only about an hour and a half, including rules explanation. The game play reminded me a bit of the Strategy RPG genre of video games, such as Final Fantasy Tactics or Disgaea. Combat was extremely simple and quickly resolved, and your turn was primarily tactical movement to hold various places, a bit of quick combat if a space was contested, then collect money for mines you held. Here's a quick run-down:
The board is randomly laid out from shuffled tiles into a basic hexagonal pattern, at the center of which is a raised piece referred to as a monolith. Exploration tiles (which contain either mines worth 1 or 2 rubium (money) per turn, or one-time free unit activation, or sometimes both) are laid out over each space except the monolith, and each player begins with a home base consisting of a rock hex, a fungoid hex, and a crystal hex. The rock hex on the base has a level 3 mine, and the other two spaces have level 2 mines. The rest of the board is made up of these three types of terrain, as well as magma, and of course, the monolith.
Each player is given a different color of army, but starts with no pieces on the board. Units must be purchased at the beginning of the turn and always move out from the player's home base. All players have the same units in their pool. The different pieces are:
- Humans - Cost 2 to activate, move one space per turn, fights last (sixth) in combat, only hits on a 6 or better on a 6-sided die. Capable of mining if present on a space containing a mine you control.
- Fungoid - Cost 3 to activate, moves one space per turn, fights fifth in combat, normally hits on 5 or better, but 4 or better on fungoid hexes, and 6 or better if on crystal spaces. Capable of mining if present on a space containing a mine you control.
- Crystal Warrior - Exactly the same as the fungoid, except it fights better on crystal hexes and worse on fungoid hexes. Fights fourth in combat.
- Rock Strider - Costs 6 to activate, moves one space per turn (two if the first or second space of movement is a rock hex), fights third in combat, and hits on 4 or better. This is the first of the three large units. Only the large units may move onto the monolith.
- Lava Leaper - Costs 8 to activate, moves one space per turn (two if "leaping" from a magma hex, which can jump over enemy units - usually you must stop movement if you enter an enemy-occupied hex), fights second in combat, and hits on 3 or better. Normally, the defender chooses which unit is removed if a hit occurs from the attacker. If the lava leaper hits with a 5 or better, the attacking player chooses the unit to remove.
- Rubium Dragon - Costs 12 to activate, moves one space per turn (if moving off the monolith, may fly to any hex on the board), fights first in combat, and hits on a 2 or better. Also may choose to attack an adjacent hex after moving and before normal combat (no counterattack is allowed from the defending hex for this ability), which hits on a 4 or better.
Each player begins with a small amount of money. The first player has the least (I think 8) and each following player has a little more than the one before, to compensate for the first-turn advantage. A player's turn consists of the following sequence:
- Activate new units and play start-of-turn Engergize cards.
- Move units.
- Reveal exploration tiles. If a mine is indicated, a mine token is placed. If a unit is indicated, the player places a unit of the appropriate type in the hex the tile was at. Exploration tiles, once revealed, are removed from the game.
- Resolve combat on contested hexes with (if any).
- Roll a die for the pieces in the order mentioned above. Each unit only gets one attack on a given player's turn. Units which are at the same position in the attack order attack simultaneously.
- The defending player for each attack chooses which unit is lost in the event of a hit, except if the attacking creature is a lava leaper which rolled 5 or better.
- After all unit types on the hex have made their one attack roll, check the status of the hex. If more than one player still has pieces on the hex, the space remains contested, and mines on the hex (if any) may not be used this turn.
- If only one player still has pieces on the hex, they have won the battle. The defeated player (if it's not their turn) gains an Energize card, which grant special abilities.
- The winning player may take and play a 1-point "Win a Battle" red-mission card OR play a red mission card from their hand of Secret Mission cards (if accomplished), AND may play any white-mission cards they may have accomplished. In other words, you can play as many white-mission cards as you complete them on your turn, but ONLY one red-mission card per turn.
- Roll a die for the pieces in the order mentioned above. Each unit only gets one attack on a given player's turn. Units which are at the same position in the attack order attack simultaneously.
- Collect money from mines you control (those which only have pieces of your color -- any other player's pieces indicate the hex is contested and may not be mined) and have human, fungoid, or crystal warrior units. Large units cannot mine.
- Draw one secret mission card. Accomplishing the goal only counts after you've drawn the card -- if you destroyed a rock strider in an earlier battle, and later draw the "Slay Rock Strider" mission, you don't get to lay the mission card down until you slay another one.
- If you control the monolith (only pieces of your color are present there), you gain 2 Energize cards.
And that's the turn -- it goes pretty quickly, and nobody is left waiting too long. Energize card are the rule-bending cards, adding bonuses to die rolls, special movement, extra money, or other such things.
The mission cards are an interesting idea, as the game is played for victory points by accomplishing missions, not for simply killing off the other players and being the last person standing. Some missions are to defeat a particular unit type, while others are to win a battle on a particular type of terrain. Still others encourage more than one combat -- for one point (or was it two?), I "started trouble" by fighting a battle in two different hexes on the same turn.
The game is over as soon as someone has the required number of points. There are also rules for team play.
As I said before, so many of my wargame experiences left a bad taste in my mouth that when I saw this box on the shelf, I simply kept overlooking it due to lack of interest. After playing the game, the small-scale tactical combat with simple mission-type objectives turned around my opinion. I'm still not interested in large-scale wargames, but I'm putting Nexus Ops on my wish list, and now I'm curious to see what other fast-playing wargames might have a similar feel to them.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
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