May 6 Game Day

MAY 6 GAME DAY

Greetings,

A big honkin' group of gamers showed up at my brother's place on Saturday. Let's get started, shall we?

On the table: All Wound Up, Covert Action, Domaine, Il Principe, Pickomino, Samurai, Struggle of Empires, Tichu, Ticket to Ride: Marklin, Traumfabrik, Vegas Showdown

At the table: Alec, Duane, Everett, Jake, Jim, Ken, Lisa, Snoop, Steve, Valerie

[Note: I'm recovering from a nasty cold, so these descriptions are going to be short and sweet.]

In Alphabetical Order [for your protection]:

Winner in [ ]

ALL WOUND UP

Players: [Steve], Alec, Everett, Valerie

This was going on in the other room while the *men* were playing a REAL game (Struggle of Empires). All I know is that there were some wind up figures waddling across the board. My only real thoughts were: "I can't believe it's taking so long."

PROTOTYPE

Players: Snoop, Jim, Steve, Duane, [Alec], Jake

A prototype from Jacob Davenport. I don't want to post a description online because it is still in development.

DOMAINE

Players: Ken, Lisa, [Duane], Steve

This is the streamlined version of Lowenherz from Klaus Teuber. I've played Lowenherz several times and love it, but I cannot honestly recall whether I've played Domaine. Lowenherz is more cut-throat, and Domaine removes some of that tension. Still, everyone seemed to like it well enough.

IL PRINCIPE

Players: Snoop, Val, [Jake], Jim, Alec

What a disappointment. You can read my comments elsewhere on this forum so I won't repeat them. I will mention that my sister came into the room when we were starting this game and she had a friggin' parrot with her. That would have been fine except that the damn bird swooped down onto the board just as we were getting started and everything scattered. Thank goodness we weren't in the middle of our game, else it would have been impossible to reassemble. Sheesh.

PICKOMINO

Players: Everett, [Steve], Valerie, Alec

Dice-rolling filler from Knizia. Has a Can't Stop element to it. I'd rather play Can't Stop.

SAMURAI

Players: [Jim], Alec, Snoop, Jake

I taught this classic to Jake, since it was on his to-try list. Its brilliance did not disappoint. This is a wonderful game that scales beautifully for 2,3 or 4 players. One of my all time favorites.

STRUGGLE OF EMPIRES

Players: [Duane], Jake, Snoop, Jim, Ken

The BIG game of the day. I had been looking forward to this for so long, but it ended up being just a bit too much for me to handle (not the game's fault). You can read my other comments elsewhere on this forum.

TICHU

Players: Jim & Lisa vs. [Jake & Snoop]

Ah, now we're talking. Unfortunately, our opponents didn't have a very good time, as the final score was 1025 - 75. You can read my further comments elsewhere on this forum.

TICKET TO RIDE: MARKLIN

Players: [Alec], Steve, Valerie

The third rendition of Ticket To Ride. Alec has told me that this is his favorite version -- which makes sense since he is undefeated at it (2-0). So far I prefer the original.

TRAUMFABRIK

Players: Lisa, Jim, Duane, Everett, [Snoop]

Traumfabrik is affectionately known as the *fourth* game in Knizia's bidding trilogy (Medici, Ra, Modern Art). Much the same as Rheinlander is the *fourth* game in his tile-laying trilogy (E&T, Through the Desert, Samurai). At any rate, Traumfabrik is one of Knizia's best themed games -- you're trying to score points by producing the best films. The bidding evolution is very cyclical -- the winning bid is evenly distributed between the other players. In other words, if you win an auction now, it may be awhile before you win another. I paid a heavy price early in the game but it helped me snag the Best Picture vote two turns in a row. It also won for best Comedy, which pretty much sealed the deal for me. Lisa came close, though.

VEGAS SHOWDOWN

Players: [Alec], Jake, Val, Ken, Steve

Vegas Showdown is AH's attempt to Euro-ize their games. As I see it, Vegas Showdown is an attempted middle ground between Knizia's AMUN RE (which I don't like) and Kramer's PRINCES OF FLORENCE (which I do). I can't say I found it all that exciting, but it's nice that AH is moving in this direction. I was SHOCKED that Alec won the game so handily. He's a decent little gamer, but I would have thought Vegas Showdown would have been too conceptually abstract to maintain his interest. A proud papa, I am.