February 14, 2007

Participants: Jon, Eyal, Elijah, Zack, Nadine, Adam, David K, Shevi, Gili, Binyamin, Rachel A

Rachel and I were a little late with dinner again, so Eyal sat around a bit while we ate. After that we taught him how to play Puerto Rico without actually playing. We also almost played Geschenkt.

Intrigue

Adam 148, Shevi 147, Elijah 115, Eyal 97

A game of outright lying and deal-breaking. Shevi had an opportunity to win at the end of the game but didn't take it because she considered the basic mechanics of the game to be cheating.

Wild Life

Zack 98, Jon 93, David 89, Nadine 85

Every time people come to the game group they clamor for the games that they want to play. Zack always wants to play Wild Life, Elijah always wants to play Cosmic Encounter, Adam always wants to play Modern Art, and so on.

When people don't agree on games, they then start hashing out what they are willing to play, but constantly change their commitments as they hear of new possibilities. It only proves that we should never play any outright negotiation games.

In this instance, we managed to cure Zack of his Wild Life obsession. Even with only four people, the game took three and a half hours. And it wasn't on my turns that the time went on (I took an extra minute for my last move, but that was all).

Frankly, after all the thinking by some people, and lack of thinking by me, the game progressed rather evenly. Nadine believes that the card draw is too luck dependent. I suggested that next time we divide the cards evenly among all players, letting them pick ala Torres.

Zack was finally tired of the game and just wanted it to end. But he said it was better with more players (5 or 6) since there was more competition that way.

Nadine adds:

On luck in Wildlife - the same as with many games of this type - with skilled players who know the game and optimize, luck, such as with cards, is more of a differentiator than play ability. And there don't seem to be different strategies, it's tactical, where most people would do the same thing in the same situation, unlike Puerto Rico where there's more worthwhile variability.

Zertz

Jon+, Binyamin

While I played Wild Life, I taught Binyamin how to play, and, like others in the game group, abstracts are not his thing. I gained a white ball advantage, and forced a few more exchanges, gaining whites each time for the win.

Cribbage

Gili+, Binyamin

Then Gili taught Binyamin this game. I don't think they finished it, but Gili was in the lead.

Settlers of Catan

Shevi+, Eyal, Gili

I didn't see this one.

Tigris and Euphrates

Binyamin 9, Adam 6, Elijah 4

I didn't see this one, either. Binyamin apparently had 9 in all colors.

Cosmic Encounter

Binyamin (Siren, Ethic)+, Elijah (Dragon, Pacifist)+, Zack (Entrepreneur, Grief), Adam (Extortionist, Delegator)

Another I didn't see. Apparently, Binyamin and Elijah compromised their way with each other several times to a double win.

Nerunner

David (Runner)+, Jon (Corp)

This time the game went more smoothly. We both removed cards from our basic decks to bring us down to minimum sized decks. We only had to look up one rule about Nodes.

David ran my R&D once, and then pulled agendas from my HQ three times to win. I managed to get two agendas fulfilled, so it was a close game.

David became a little disenchanted with the game after realizing that winning is partly due to luck, since running is so often blind - on hidden cards, and pulling cards at random out of HQ.

While of course there is a little luck in this, I still think that it is on par with, or even less of a problem than, the luck in Magic. So I am still quite enamored with the game. David is now asking to move onto the next CCG, Middle Earth.

[David: Two comments. First, Jon doesn't emphasize just how lucky I got in order to win. Though on one of my runs on HQ Jon had two agendas, typically HQ should average about one agenda out of 5 (rough estimate). So the chance of my getting three agendas from 4 runs is about one in 30. More to the point, the expected number of agendas one should pull on a run is 0.2, but the standard deviation is 0.4, twice as large as the expectation. That is why I say that there is so much luck involved. Magic also has luck in which cards get drawn, but NetRunner has the same luck in that regard, plus the enormous amount of luck involved in random runs.]

Puerto Rico

Eyal 53, Rachel 48+, Nadine 48-

This was Eyal's first game, so Nadine gave her usual tips and helps along the way. Eyal's novice moves threw Rachel off of her game. Between the two of these events, Eyal managed a newbie win.

Nadine adds:

I didn't give my usual tips and help along the way to Eyal. I had time to explain the game beforehand, and he understands games. I told him to ask if he had questions. Both Rachel and I restrained ourselves, even when he let me trade sugar early instead of forcing me to ship. But when I was going to have the opportunity to trade coffee, we explained to him what was going on, but at that point he didn't stop me because it would have caused him to lose goods. Most of the time he figured out the best role for himself. He did Craft somewhat frequently, but with 3 player it benefits both players more than in 4 or 5 player.

January 24, 2007

Participants: Jon, Nadine, Gili, Zack, Dylan, Adam, Eyal, Binaymin, Rachel

Eyal returns again, as does Dylan, but we push off roleplaying yet again.

Mykerinos

Jon 49, Nadine 46, Gili 30, Zack 25

This was our first play. For a review, see my blog entry.

In our game, I started by securing an x5 in black and brown. I didn't realize brown's potential until too late; I will correct this in the next game. I decided to pick up either first or second in three areas each round, and either first or second seemed about equal to me, since there is typically enough left over for second place that whatever first place chose, I simply chose something else equally good.

Another thing I sort of missed in my first game was the value of third and fourth place wins in the first two rounds, where cards are typically left over. Another thing to correct in the next game.

Regardless, I still pulled off a win of 49 points, to Nadine's 46. Zack, who only had a single x5, and Gili who had none, were not really in competition.

Caylus

Dylan 93, Eyal 76, Adam 69

Adam taught these two how to play. The game actually went fairly quickly ending around the same time as our Mykerinos game.

Poker

Adam, Dylan

While waiting a few minutes for us to finish Mykerinos, Adam and Dylan played a few hands of five card stud. Another first for the game group.

Princes of Florence

Gili 54, Jon 48, Nadine 46, Binyamin 45, Zack 36

Proving that most Jesters doesn't equal the win if you spend too much on them, and especially in a five-player game. The order of play was as follows, with me starting first. In our game, players may choose one profession out of two, instead of out of five, and the twenty-first profession is flipped up and available for recruiting but may not be purchased.

Jon	Zack	Gili	Binaymin	Nadine	Notes
Recruiter 800 Travel Profession	Jester 1200 Profession Opinion	Builder 700 Travel Profession	Lake 200 Profession Watch Maker [+2] (+3)	Forest 200 Profession Opinion	Second player is the one who can afford not to buy a profession in the first round (and if he doesn't, third player can also skip, and so on), but Zack bought, so everyone else did, as well. My Recruiter came cheaply, partly because others didn't recognize them as more valuable in a five player game (despite my warning).
Recruiter 700 Opera [+3] Choreographer [+0] (+3)	Builder 900 Laboratory [+3] Religion	Forest 200 Opinion Bonus	Jester 1200 Travel Bonus	Lake 200 Travel Bonus	I get a second cheap Recruiter. The professions were all gone last turn. Since I am last player, it is easy for me to take the three point bonus, while playing a work for cash. I still have five more works to play.
Prestige 200 Bonus Bonus	Forest 200 University [+3] Philosopher [+0] (+3)	Recruiter 700 Religion University [+3]	Jester 1100 Religion Poet [+0]	Builder 600 Opera [+3] Composer [+2]	I didn't realize that this was Binyamin's second Jester, or I would have bid one more time. Gili and Zack are both shy on cash at this point. There are eight more actions to go; I have five works to play, which leaves me three actions, and I have two bonus cards. At this point I figured three more bonus cards and then five works, each with a bonus. Except that I didn't think I would be able to get all my works out without a Jester or two. Also, my Prestige and Bonus cards both required me to have Lakes, as did half my works.
Lake 200 Bonus Religion	Jester 1100 Library [+3] Bonus	Prestige 200 Philosopher [+0] (+3) Workshop [+3]	Recruiter 900 Opinion Theater [+3]	Park 400 Laboratory [+3] Physicist [+3]	Zack and Binyamin both have two Jesters each, but they've paid high prices for them. Now Binyamin is also working on Recruiters. I get my first Lake, which is good, but I take Religion instead of a Bonus, thinking that the +3 for one of my works, plus potential +3 for something I recruit, is better than another Bonus. In this, I'm wrong, as I had plenty to recruit that used Lake and Travel, so I used Religion only for that one work, and a Bonus would likely have been at least as good or better. Gili fought briefly for the Park, and Zack is out of cash, again.
Lake 200 [+3] Mathematician [+4] Bonus	Park 600 [-6] Bonus Jurist [+6]	Prestige 200 Bell Maker [+6] Bonus	Builder 300 Cartographer [+4] (+3) Library [-3] [+3]	Jester 800 Chapel [+3] Bonus	Zack and Binyamin both pay the price for not having enough cash. I gain some cash and points carefully from my works. I'm starting to worry, because I know I can't play all of my works and I don't have the Jesters that I need. My second Lake helps both Prestige and Bonus. Even now, I don't see Gili sneaking up behind me.
Jester 400 Painter [+8] Watch Maker [+8]	Lake 200 Botanist [+10] --pass--	Park 200 Theologian [+10] Studio [+3]	Recruiter 600 Dramatist [+6] (+3) Tower [+3]	Forest 200? [+3] Organist [+7] (+3) Bonus	I was thrilled to get a Jester at this price, even though I still couldn't play my last work, yet. I was less thrilled when Binyamin picked up his second Recruiter.
Jester 400 Composer [+8] Physicist [+8]	Prestige 400 Alchemist [+11] --pass--	Park 200 [+3] Bonus Sculptor [+11]	Forest 400 Jurist [+10] Astrologer [+12]	Lake 200 [+3] Bonus Pharmacist [+14] {+3)	I was again thrilled to get a Jester, which finally allowed me to play my last work. However, Nadine took a second Lake which reduced my Prestige bonus from +6 to +3. Gili ended up unable to play both of her last works, so she took a bonus and played one of them. I thought that that was that. However, my Prestige card was worth only 3, Zack's was worth 7, and Gili's two cards were worth +13, which gave her first place.

Wildlife

Zack+, Binyamin

Binyamin and Zack wanted to play this, and Binyamin was only willing to play two or three players, since it was already ten o'clock. They played two player.

Tichu

Jon/Dylan 210, Adam/Gili 90

We played three hands. Dylan called Tichu in the second, but Adam went out first, which would have been the same result if Adam had simply called Tichu first. In the third hand, we both went out before our opponents.

Puerto Rico

Rachel 47, Jon 45, Nadine 41

The scores were predicted from our seating position, according to Nadine. However, the seating position is less relevant when we are using different buildings (and especially no Small Market), and when I screw up the classic opening by starting with Builder/Construction Hut.

We almost never play with Construction Hut, but I was playing with a four point building that gave +2 VP for each quarry you have, so for once the building was worth it. Unfortunately, still not enough to beat Rachel.

Nadine was able to man and produce indigo on the second turn thanks to the unusual opening. Both Rachel and I acquired early Hospices on our next plays, because Corn hadn't made a showing on any of the first three settlement pools, which implied that they would be readily available in later pools. This was correct, and combined with my Construction Hut, made Settler always productive for me.

Meanwhile, Rachel was using Hospice just as well. Nadine had early trading in Tobacco, and I followed it up with early trading in Coffee, but she was also able to secure Tobacco shipping (producing three each time), while I was never able to ship Coffee. Rachel took Tobacco as her fourth good type and acquire Harbor. Even though she ended with no big buildings, she had 31 shipping points to my 7, which was enough to clinch the victory.

January 10, 2007

Participants: Jon, Ben, David K, Shevi, Nadine, Gili, Adam, Zack, Binyamin, Eyal

Eyal returned for his second visit. With Zack barely speaking Hebrew, and Eyal speaking English, but much more comfortable in Hebrew, games are our meeting point.

And with only ten people, it's amazing how many games can hit the table
on a single game evening.

Feurio

Binyamin, Jon, Nadine

Binyamin came to me and asked me to see if I could find anything resembling tactics or strategy is this game that seems to get a lot of high praise on BGG. Knowing only that he doesn't see any, I gamely sat down and gave it a looksee.

The game consists of hexes numbered 1 through 6. Each turn, you flip over a tile and must place it at any location that has the highest numbered surrounding hexes. So where you can place the tiles is very limited, and sometimes give no choice at all.

Then you choose to put some of your meeples onto any one piece on the board that still has available space. Since you have a limited (but not very) number of meeples, you have to decided where to put them. Also, you may only put onto a hex the maximum of a) 2/2 the number on the hex, rounded up, or b) the number of free edges the hex has remaining. If a hex becomes surrounded, it does not lose the meeples it has already acquired.

That's it. At the end of the game, you score the numbers on the tiles under each of your herds divided by the number of the lowest tile that is not entirely surrounded by other hexes.

While this all sounds good on paper, I was forced to agree less than five turns into the game that Binyamin is entirely correct. While not entirely free of any tactics altogether (although entirely free of strategy), the barest amount that you have under your control is so pitiful, and your moves so forced, and the results so luck-dependent, that I literally stopped caring by the last third of the game, and couldn't even be bothered to count, let alone record, the scores.

It's just dull, and what decisions there are are effectively meaningless. The possibility that one could actually block your opponent, as opposed to simply taking the maximum score on each play, is a non-starter, and if it occurs was also beyond your control.

The only thing nice I have to say about the game is as follows: it's quick and easy to learn. The mechanic of how the hexes spread is a neat mechanic and fits the theme (fire spreading), but entirely doesn't work in this game.

San Juan

David, Shevi

Shevi has decided opinions about games. These two came and tried to get in a filler game, but abandoned it after a few rounds, because two others had also shown up, and because Shevi didn't like the game.

Santiago

Zack 94, David 91, Eyal 79, Shevi 70

Instead they played this excellent game. The rules are almost as simple as Fuerio, but boy is there a difference in game play!

Wildlife

Nadine 100, Gili 89, Adam 87, Binaymin 73

I sat down to start this game again, eager for another play, and this time with the correct rules (about herds). Halfway through the explanation Adam appeared, so we included him. After the explanation, Ben appeared, and I refused to turn it into a six player game, so I abandoned it to play with Ben.

In general, people liked the game, except Binyamin. This wasn't helped by the fact that Nadine had a mammoth herd on the board and was on her way to winning near the end of the game when Adam and Gili decided to spend upwards of 45 minutes taking a single turn in an attempt to find a way to break it up.

This resulted in Nadine getting rather bored, and Binyamin getting rather frustrated, and I can't say that I blame them. All in all, this extended the game to around 4 hours. For 4 players. Ouch.

Caylus

Jon/David+, Ben

So I sat down to play 2-player Caylus with Ben who had only played it once before and 3-player at that. We got going, and then David popped over from finishing his Santiago game, sad that he had wanted to play it. Since I wasn't really into it anyway, I got up, yet again, and let David take over for me.

This was David's first play with 2-players.

Princes of Florence

Zack 60, Jon 59, Shevi 52, Eyal 43

Instead, I got to teach three first-time player the joys of PoF. Luckily, Eyal could understand enough of my English to play the game. Shevi was initially fearful, but began to get into it. Zack and Eyal liked it already by the end of the first round.

The only real strategy tips I give is the approximate values for the auction items in the first few rounds, especially warning about the Jesters and Recruiters (the latter less so in a 4-player game). Zack took the first two Jesters for 1200 and 1300, while I took the next three or so for more reasonable prices.

Shevi took Builder in the first two turns for 900 and 1000, which I thought was rather excessive. Other than that, most other items went for fairly cheap, and several times several players took items for the minimum price of 200.

I had no real luck with my cards, but still played a fairly solid game, which seemed to be pretty good. Zack's win in the end was simply for having the 3 point bonus for best work as well as buying a Prestige card on the last turn for a full 8 points.

Settlers of Catan

Eyal 10, Zack 8, Jon 5

Shevi left, and I wanted a filler game for three. Since Eyal and Zack had played Settlers even prior to joining my club, this was one of the few games that we could get into and play through quickly. I started on reasonable places, including the only worthwhile brick hex, the 8, where the others were on 2 and 3.

The other players had more city starts, with high ore and wheat. That wouldn't have bothered me, as I shared their wheat and ore hexes as well. But wouldn't you know? 8 never rolled up except when the robber was on it - and I mean not once the entire game - whereas 3 rolled up at least half a dozen times in the first twenty rounds or so. Eyal even traded 4 bricks for something at one point.

I sulkily decided that my goal was simply to get to five points before the game ended, which I actually managed to do, with one round to spare.

Tichu

Adam/Jon 65, Nadine/Zack 35

There was discussion over whether to play Bridge or Tichu, and our population had difficulty figuring out how to do this.

We played one hand of Tichu here with no Tichu being called. While this game was going on, I simultaneously played Lost Cities with Binyamin.

David/Jon 50, Adam/Zack 150

And then I simultaneously played Tichu while playing Bridge. We played two hands here, and even though David and I "won" the last hand, we netted 0 points from the tricks.

Lost Cities

Jon 100 something, Binyamin 30 something

Known on BGG as the best two-player game or as the best game to play with your non-gaming spouse, I have to completely disagree with the former while reserving some judgment on the latter. As a gamer, this game is simply brainless. Oh, it's much better than Feurio, as the decisions you make are actually meaningful and the game includes both tactics and strategies. But they are not that deep, and can easily be absorbed by the end of the first game.

As a result, I was easily able to play this simultaneously with Tichu, win to boot, and not particularly care anyway.

Bridge

Ben/Beinyamin 400, Jon/Nadine 0

Ben and Bin made two games while Nadine and I went down in one. Bridge is still The card game, and Tichu is Bridge-lite - very lite. As light as can be an simple be a complex and interesting game. Well, maybe Team Hearts is even lighter, but no lighter than that.