Since I'm still so new to the hardcore boardgaming community, it's still really cool to me to play brand new games, especially when they have received as much good press as Notre Dame and Arkadia have.  So I thought I'd share my initial impressions of both of these fine games after my first plays of each.

I've listened to several Podcasts that have discussed the basic gameplay of Notre Dame, so when Ian pulled it out at Game Night last evening, I was all over that hot gaming action.  We had four players, with three of us being completely new to the game.  The board setup is really cool, with the different neighborhoods that fit up next to the variable central pieces (depending on the number of players).  The iconography was a little confusing at first, but as I began to understand the game more, the different symbols became second nature to interpret.  Chip had printed out some player aids from BGG, but I don't think that many of us looked at them much after the first couple of rounds.

The card drafting mechanic is really interesting.  It worked really well for me in the first two phases of the game, but in the third I just didn't get anything I wanted.  I don't know if it was just the random draw of the cards that screwed me over, or if John was hate drafting me better as the game progressed.  The only problem I have with this mechanic is that I think the direction of the pass should switch each time (to the left, right, left, etc.).  But that's a really minor point.

The game was extremely close with Ian coming from behind to beat me by one point (50 to 49).  Chip was only one point behind me, and John was just 4 points behind him.  And what impressed me more than anything else was how we all used widely different paths to get those points.  Chip and Ian were very conservative in limiting their rat track, then boomed in the late game to score lots of points.  John and I "let ourselves go" as far as the rats went, but both of us used the park to gain extra VP's for most of the game.  Chip and I used the Carriage/Messages mechanic pretty extensively, while John scored lots of points from Notre Dame and Ian concentrated on the VP-gaining building (whatever it's called).  I really thought I had the game wrapped up, but there was one or two rounds when I didn't have money to hire one of the characters available, and then I probably lost about 8 or 10 VP to the rats throughout the game, so all it would have taken would have been to tighten my play up just a little in one of these areas for me to have won. 

There's still obviously a lot I need to figure out and experience with this game, but I'm terribly excited about it and can't wait to get my hands on a copy.  My initial rating is a solid 8.5, with strong tendencies to be upwardly mobile.

I also got in my second play of Arkadia last night.  I had been able to get in a 2-player game on Saturday, and then last night I participated in a 4-player session.  I absolutely loved the way the 2-player game went, but I fear that my success in that game ruined me for the multi-player version.  While the game is essentially the same, the pacing is completely different.  With more players there is a lot more chaos involved, both in completing buildings and in the market manipulation mechanic.  So opportunities should be taken as soon as they are presented, because they will most likely not still be there by your next turn.  I started playing the game the same way I played my first game and got caught up in making long-range plans were impossible for me to put into action.  In fact, I only scored twice in the game (plus the final scoring), and many of my builders never produced any real benefit.  

In other words, while the 2-player game is very strategic and controlled, the 4-player game is almost completely tactical and can be very chaotic.  I still liked the game a lot (even though I got smacked around like a red-headed stepchild), and just want to play it again fully realizing the dramatic difference in gameplay that you get with different numbers of players.  I'm also sure that there's a ton that I just need to learn about basic strategy and all as well, so I hope I can get in a few more plays (with 2, 3, and 4 players) really soon.

As far as ratings go, I would have given it a 9 after my first 2-player game, but the concerns I saw in the 4-player game would have me rate it at an 8 or lower, so for now I'm going to also give it an 8.5 and see how the next few plays go.