Double or Nothing - August 5, 2006

I can't tell you how disappointed I was with this new offering from Knizia and Uberplay. My research before buying had indicated that it belonged in the press-your-luck genre of games. When I read someone comparing it to Diamant (a real crowd-pleaser in my home) I knew I had to check it out.

Hmm. Yes, you do have to press your luck. But the system is so abstract that it's difficult to care. The game has a unique deck of cards that create "lines of suits" across the table. A line is only complete if it is represented in every card placed on the table thus far. Look at the picture for an example. Going from right to left, notice that the diamond suit is the only one with a continuous line. Spades and hearts crapped out after the first card, and clubs died after the third. The object of the game is to take the points you're offered (the total value of all the suit icons represented in all the current complete lines) or take your chance and draw a card. In the above example, if the player doesn't take his six points (six diamonds showing), he can take a chance and draw another card. If a diamond doesn't show up, he's toast.

Once a player is out, he's out until all players either crap out or score. This involves turning your player token from IN to OUT (something we all habitually forgot to do). The last player standing has a mildly interesting dilemma. He must draw two cards. If he scores, he gets double. If he busts, he gets nothing. Double. Or Nothing. Get it?

I dunno, it just didn't grab me. One core problem is that the deck is SO non-standard that it's difficult to calculate your odds at any given time. The best you can say during any draw is that your odds of success are at least 25%. Unless you study the wildly irregular deck, it's really difficult to calculate your outs.

Double or Nothing is an example of a game that works perfectly, but doesn't inspire or impress. This felt like a game that Knizia designed in the margins of his notebook while working on some other game.

Rum & Pirates - August 5, 2006

Rum & Pirates wasn't exactly welcomed with open arms at the 2006 Gathering of Friends. The incredible buzz surrounding a new Alea game is usually something to behold during that magical week in April. Unfortunately, Rum & Pirates didn't appeal to a majority of the attendees. In fact, after looking at the board I wasn't especially excited about playing, particularly when I heard about how much die-rolling was involved. Take a look at that board and be honest -- doesn't it look like your typical roll-and-move nightmare?

I'm here to tell you I was wrong, wrong, wrong. Okay, I admit the game does not have the depth of, say, Puerto Rico, Princes of Florence, or even Taj Mahal. And yes, it does have alot of dice rolling. ALOT. But you know what? All of the players thoroughly enjoyed it. We laughed thoughout and really had a pleasant time.

I think the issue is that Alea isn't especially known for this kind of game. I have to admit that it puzzles me. To me, the Alea brand typically represented games for gamers. Putting Rum & Pirates in Alea clothing is kinda like showing Seinfeld on The History Channel. Not something you'd expect.

The play of R&P comes in two parts. There's the boardplay, and then there's fighting for bunk space, which occurs off the board. On the board are several (and I do mean several) different ways to score points. Most of them involve rolling a die, but all of them involve using your limited supply of pirates to move. The more you move, the more pirates you must use, and the fewer you will have to fight for bunk space. Once a player decides to move his remaining pirates off the board, he places them next to the ship to wait for the second half of the phase. This phase is called the wrangling phase and thematically what you're doing is scuffling around trying to find the best place to sleep. In the bunk is best, on the hammock is second best, and the mast is reserved for the player who comes in third. Everyone else sleeps on the floor, I guess. Without going into how the wrangling phase works (it's unusual but simple), you want to have more pirates than your opponents, and you want to place them later in the phase.

The game lasts five rounds -- boardplay + wrangling = 1 round. Once you're done you tally up your points and the best man wins.

I recommend Rum & Pirates for anyone who wants a good family game that promises a rollicking good time. Oh, be forewarned though -- this game is better the more pirates you have at the table. I tried a two-player game with my son and the game felt rather flat. This game needs lots of energy for it to perform at its best.

Arr!

Die Macher - August 5, 2006

Four of us sat down to play Die Macher. There was Kevin, Dave, Jim and me. I was the only one who had played it (twice before) but we all had read the rules ahead of time so everything went fairly smoothly. We finished our game in just over three hours. Pretty impressive for three newbies and a veteran.

And, as it should have been, the veteran won. But it didn't come easily. In fact, I thought I was out of it coming out of the fifth election. I had put all my hopes and dreams into the fourth election, which I won by a landslide. Unfortunately, my wad was pretty well shot after that. I performed fairly well in election #6, but not enough to overcome the others. Kevin slaughtered all of us in election #7, and actually made up alot of ground. But not enough, as he eventually realized.

My main competition after election #4 was Jim. His very respectable strategy was to make strong showings in all of the elections, without necessarily winning them. Where the rest of us had peaks and valleys, Jim maintained a strong position consistently. It would have won him the game. Except for the National Opinion Board.

Doing well in the regional elections allows you to manipulate the National Opinion Board, and having a strong correlation with the National Opinion Board at the game can give you huge bonus points. This is where playing with newbies paid off for me. Not because I did anything particularly clever, but because both Jim and Dave let me carry the National Opinion. Jim neglected it, and Dave unwittingly pushed it in my favor. My narrow victory came at the expense of the others' inexperience. Hey, I'll take a win in Die Macher anytime, though.

Final Scores:
325 Stephen
318 Jim (see? very close)
263 Dave
246 Kevin

I can honestly say that this was one of the most satisfying games that I've played in a long time, and not just because I won (I didn't expect to win at all.) The game just has such seamless mechanics. It really isn't that complex -- there are just ALOT of simple things you need to do each turn. I highly recommend this and look forward to it hitting the table again soon.

July Game Day 2006

July Game Day - July 1, 2006

Location: Duane & Steve's Place

At the Table: Alec, Brad, Dave, Duane, Jake, Jim, Ken W, Kenney, Kent, Kevin, Lisa, Snoop, Steve, Valerie

On the Table: Alibi, Attika, Blokus, Bridges of Shangri-La, Carcassonne, Category 5, Citadels, Cleopatra and the Society of Architects, Giganten, Kill Dr. Lucky, Power Grid, Princes of Florence, Puerto Rico, Santiago, Settlers of the Stone Age, St. Petersburg (x2), Ticket to Ride: Marklin, Torres

Another spectacular get-together. Thanks to Duane and Steve for hosting. It was Casa Tortilla-- I think everyone had their own bag! First of all, I'd like to welcome Brad back after a long absence. And I'd like to welcome Kent to his first monthly meeting. Hmm. Ken, Kenny, Kent... One of you is going to have to get a cool nickname. Like 'Snoop'.

Games Presented in alphabetical order (for your protection):
Winners in [ ].

ALIBI
-------
[Kevin] 38
Kenny 21
Lisa 9

I think Kevin brings this because he knows he's the only one who has a shot at winning. The last time I played I felt like a blind man with sunglasses in a dark room. In this game you're supposed to be deducing *something*. What, I have no idea. One day I'll have to break out my home-made copy of Black Vienna -- the only deduction game that I've enjoyed to date (and that includes Sleuth, by my hero, Sid Sackson)

ATTIKA
---------
[Jim]
Brad
Duane
Snoop

This is another one that is available to us at BSW. It has its roots in the connection family of games, but can also be won by playing all of your tiles to the board. Of course, once I remarked how unlikely a connection win would be in a four-player game, Jim did just that. I think this game will have some replay value, but I'm not sure how much. Once all players have the hang of things, it seems to be just a game of putting out little fires until eventually one comes along that just can't be contained. Right now it's a 6 for me and it could go up or down.

BLOKUS
---------
[Ken W] -12
Kevin -14
David -20
Kenny -27

Just to show you how far removed I am from the zeitgeist of American gaming -- this game bores the pants off me, but many people love it. It's not entirely unpleasant and, like Ubongo, I can play it every now and then. (But at least Ubongo has a pulse!)

BRIDGES OF SHANGRI-LA
------------------------------
[Duane] 20
Snoop 19
Brad 19
Jim 18

This is a Colovini, multi-player abstract, ostensibly about students travelling from village to village gaining wisdom in order to become masters. To say that it received a cool reception would be a great understatement. Some of the bits are *still* thawing out. Table talk consisted of remarks about how much people were not enjoying the game. I thought it was okay, but not stellar. There are better multi-player abstracts out there. This one has trade pile written all over it.

CARCASSONNE
------------------
[Alec] 90
Snoop 77
Valerie 70

This game is like an old shoe. Not particularly impressive, but very comfortable.

CATEGORY 5
---------------
[Alec] 47
Jim 54
Kenny 55
Snoop 55
Dave 61
Steve 66
Ken 67
Kevin 67
Duane 92

This game's getting rather old-shoey as well. Don't get me wrong, I used to LOVE it, but I don't get especially excited about playing it anymore. Still, it has its place as a fine closer when there are alot of people who have refused to go home.

CITADELS
------------
[Kent] 33
Steve 25
Alec 22
Lisa 22
Jake 16

The Faidutti classic. I wasn't in this one, so I can't tell the story of how Jake came in last place.

CLEOPATRA AND THE SOCIETY OF ARCHITECTS
--------------------------------------------------------
[Jim] 45
Kent 38
Dave 34
Duane 42
Brad 33

This is the game the fellas were playing when I walked in. Everyone playing seemed to really love it. I don't think it will ever be regarded as one of DOW's better games. It has some fabulous bits, but they exist purely for show and don't add anything to the gameplay. They scream, "Pay No Attention to That Game Behind the Curtain." The face-up/face-down card deck element is very nice, though. I look forward to seeing it in a game I enjoy.

GIGANTEN
------------
[Snoop] $119,500
Brad $118,000
Duane $88,000
Jim $98,500

Since I'm the one who usually writes these session reports, they tend to become little essays on the games I dislike. Okay, I didn't entirely dislike Giganten, but there wasn't a whole lot to love, either. Although it was a satisfying win, I felt like I came by it not entirely through skill, but by little gifts I received along the way. For instance, a die rolling in my favor, or someone bowing out of an auction when they could have (unknowingly) won it for one more dollar. Sure, luck plays a part in many of the games I enjoy, but here I felt like I got way more than my fair share. The game's fault? I'm not sure.

KILL DR. LUCKY
-------------------
[David] The Killer
Kent
Valerie

One of the all-time greats!

POWER GRID
---------------
[Jake]
Steve
Kent
Kenny
Lisa
Ken

Kent, Steve, and Jake were all within $10 of each other.

PRINCES OF FLORENCE
---------------------------
[Duane] 61
David 50
Kevin 49
Brad 40

A wonderful game. Even better than Kill Dr. Lucky. I'm disappointed I didn't get a chance to play this one.

PUERTO RICO
----------------
[Kenny] 53
Ken 47
Lisa 40
Kevin 32
Steve 29

The notes say that this was only Kenny's 2nd time playing, and Ken's first. I'm taking partial credit for Kenny's win since I advised him to go with the corn strategy. Actually, I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to play this one as well.

SANTIAGO
-------------
[Kevin] 175
Brad 169
Duane 157
David 159

I can't say anything about this one. A report, please?

SETTLERS OF THE STONE AGE
-----------------------------------
[Jim] 10
Alec 6
Snoop 6

This was part of my promise to Alec that I would try to get one game of Settlers in with him. I played this one several years ago when it first came out, and I don't own it (which I guess should tell you something). Still, I had more fun playing it than I remember it being, which is good. Jim trounced us by marching through Europe uncontested and gaining lots of valuable prizes. I went for an Australia strategy, but then I remembered that I wasn't playing Risk. Shit.

and now presenting the TSG FLAVOR OF THE MONTH...
ST. PETERSBURG (1)
------------------------
[Ken] 74
David 67
Kenny 64
Kevin 58

Just to show you that I *can* be wrong on occasion, St. Petersburg was a game that I had absolutely no interest in for years. I played it when it first came out and considered it dull and vastly overrated. Fast forward a few years, and now I sorta get it. I guess there's an argument to suggest that I have a reason for liking it, since it's available at BSW. Also, it should be noted that the Aristocrat strategy failed to win either game on Saturday.

ST. PETERSBURG (2)
------------------------
[Steve] 118
Duane 95
Ken W 90
Snoop 73

It's well-documented that the Mistress of Ceremonies is an *extremely* powerful card. Maybe too powerful. Guess who got *both* of them? (Hint: It won't me)

TICKET TO RIDE: MARKIN
------------------------------
[Lisa] 166
Jim 164
Alec 156
David 142

Alec was not harmed during the playing of this game, but I believe he was threatened a few times.

TORRES
----------
[Jake] 293
Kenny 192
Kevin 191
Kent 184

Jake had the best stacks.

Damn, looking back on it, I missed out on Torres, Power Grid, Princes of Florence, *and* Puerto Rico. What the hell?!?!

See y'all next month, ya hear?