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| "Is that an expansion in your pocket, or are you just pleased to see me?" |
With all that in mind here are February's games in which, for me, the taking part was the main thing.
Blood Bound: In a twist on what usually happens in hidden role games, the information gathering and deduction went well and the red team correctly identified and assassinated the leader of the blue team, only to find that the Inquisitor had placed a true curse on the red team's leader (an Alchemist; can you believe it?) and so had won the game himself. The moral of all this is to play with an even number of players. I hope that's clear.
Click Clack Lumberjack: A real guilty pleasure, despite my complete lack of motor skills and hand eye coordination.
Codenames: For some reason people aren't that good at judging whether they are the best person to take the role of giving the clues before they volunteer so to do.
Condottiere: As you know, I love this game.
Deception: Murder in Hong Kong: This is still good fun, but a pattern is starting to appear. If there are any more than, say, six players then the individual investigators start to feel that there is no risk in having a guess, so they do - and the game always ends very quickly.
Diamonds: "Goodness! What lovely diamonds." "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie." - Mae West again. This is a card game - with an only slightly modified normal pack of cards - spiced up with, unsurprisingly, some diamonds and some of those little cardboard screens that are all the rage at the moment. Personally I think the available strategies are a bit limited and are easily learned. It may be that replayability will only come from the luck of the deal. You'd be better off with Bridge or, a personal favourite, Solo.
Dragon's Gold: This is another game played with cards, gems and some of those little cardboard screens that are all the rage at the moment. It also involves negotiation, which was conducted at a pretty pitiful level of incompetence in the game that I played. My colour blindness made me even worse than everyone else; that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
Elysium: Good game with an interesting primary mechanism.
Geistesblitz 2.0: Involves the need for quick reactions and pattern recognition; I was no good at all.
Gold West: Straight up Euro, very thinly themed around prospecting for precious metals in the Old West. I liked it a lot.
The Grizzled: A co-op game about surviving the Great War. Great fun, but surely impossible to win at. I am assured that someone knows someone who claimed to have heard about a game which was successfully completed.
Hau La: A 3D shrub growing game which I like more than virtually anyone else, but at which I am no good.
Imperial Settlers: An interesting, but weakly themed, slightly asymmetrical engine-building game. I won, as Genghis Khan, by developing lots and lots of villages which didn't seem to make much sense. I enjoyed it though.
Inhabit the Earth: As with the similarly themed Evolution this is ostensibly based on Darwinism, but bears very little resemblance to anything that the man himself would recognise. This is the better game of the two though.
Isle of Skye: A nice, balanced game with interesting gameplay that doesn't outstay its welcome.
Lords of Waterdeep: I've always liked this game. For the first time we played the expansion which, to my astonishment at least, made the theme come slightly alive. Given that this game is notoriously abstract to play - despite all the garish artwork and attempts at backstory - that is noteworthy.
Murano: Another game I'd enjoyed on my first play and was glad see on the table again. As someone once said: "I'll try anything once, twice if I like it, three times to make sure."
Paperback: Er, ditto. This is like Scrabble, but fun.
Rattus: A game tastefully themed around the Black Death, which I played twice. The second time was with the Pied Piper expansion and the correct rules. It was getting the rules right which probably made the most difference. It's actually rather good: plenty of strategy especially as one approaches the endgame, everyone in with a chance right to the end and not too long a playing time. Recommended.
Red7: I bought a copy of this for myself because I wanted to try the advanced rules and, finally, I did. I think they improve what was already a good game, and certainly give players a lot more options to think about.
Ticket to Ride: This is a great game, and I can't for the life of me understand why some people turn their nose up at it. We played the Asia map and, to great effect, tried the team variant. It is so frustrating to watch your teammate blithely using your carefully collected cards to build a link from nowhere to nowhere.
Blood Bound: In a twist on what usually happens in hidden role games, the information gathering and deduction went well and the red team correctly identified and assassinated the leader of the blue team, only to find that the Inquisitor had placed a true curse on the red team's leader (an Alchemist; can you believe it?) and so had won the game himself. The moral of all this is to play with an even number of players. I hope that's clear.
Click Clack Lumberjack: A real guilty pleasure, despite my complete lack of motor skills and hand eye coordination.
Codenames: For some reason people aren't that good at judging whether they are the best person to take the role of giving the clues before they volunteer so to do.
Condottiere: As you know, I love this game.
Deception: Murder in Hong Kong: This is still good fun, but a pattern is starting to appear. If there are any more than, say, six players then the individual investigators start to feel that there is no risk in having a guess, so they do - and the game always ends very quickly.
Diamonds: "Goodness! What lovely diamonds." "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie." - Mae West again. This is a card game - with an only slightly modified normal pack of cards - spiced up with, unsurprisingly, some diamonds and some of those little cardboard screens that are all the rage at the moment. Personally I think the available strategies are a bit limited and are easily learned. It may be that replayability will only come from the luck of the deal. You'd be better off with Bridge or, a personal favourite, Solo.
Dragon's Gold: This is another game played with cards, gems and some of those little cardboard screens that are all the rage at the moment. It also involves negotiation, which was conducted at a pretty pitiful level of incompetence in the game that I played. My colour blindness made me even worse than everyone else; that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
Elysium: Good game with an interesting primary mechanism.
Geistesblitz 2.0: Involves the need for quick reactions and pattern recognition; I was no good at all.
Gold West: Straight up Euro, very thinly themed around prospecting for precious metals in the Old West. I liked it a lot.
The Grizzled: A co-op game about surviving the Great War. Great fun, but surely impossible to win at. I am assured that someone knows someone who claimed to have heard about a game which was successfully completed.
Hau La: A 3D shrub growing game which I like more than virtually anyone else, but at which I am no good.
Imperial Settlers: An interesting, but weakly themed, slightly asymmetrical engine-building game. I won, as Genghis Khan, by developing lots and lots of villages which didn't seem to make much sense. I enjoyed it though.
Inhabit the Earth: As with the similarly themed Evolution this is ostensibly based on Darwinism, but bears very little resemblance to anything that the man himself would recognise. This is the better game of the two though.
Isle of Skye: A nice, balanced game with interesting gameplay that doesn't outstay its welcome.
Lords of Waterdeep: I've always liked this game. For the first time we played the expansion which, to my astonishment at least, made the theme come slightly alive. Given that this game is notoriously abstract to play - despite all the garish artwork and attempts at backstory - that is noteworthy.
Murano: Another game I'd enjoyed on my first play and was glad see on the table again. As someone once said: "I'll try anything once, twice if I like it, three times to make sure."
Paperback: Er, ditto. This is like Scrabble, but fun.
Rattus: A game tastefully themed around the Black Death, which I played twice. The second time was with the Pied Piper expansion and the correct rules. It was getting the rules right which probably made the most difference. It's actually rather good: plenty of strategy especially as one approaches the endgame, everyone in with a chance right to the end and not too long a playing time. Recommended.
Red7: I bought a copy of this for myself because I wanted to try the advanced rules and, finally, I did. I think they improve what was already a good game, and certainly give players a lot more options to think about.
Ticket to Ride: This is a great game, and I can't for the life of me understand why some people turn their nose up at it. We played the Asia map and, to great effect, tried the team variant. It is so frustrating to watch your teammate blithely using your carefully collected cards to build a link from nowhere to nowhere.
On your recommendation, I ordered Condottiere. Looks very good. I am anxious to give it a try. Now, are few friends are needed...
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