Game Night Highlights
Once again, I find myself a few weeks behind in talking about what I've been up to. So, I'm going to lump the last three Hypermind Boardgame nights together and talk about the games I've been playing there...
Age of Gods - The November Game of the Month! I've played this game a total of 6 times now (3 this month), and it's definitely starting to fade a bit for me. Age of Gods tends to take people a bit by surprise, mainly because it's not just a normal light wargame. The game is a lot more about deciding if and when to reveal which races you control and how best to use your special ability and action cards. I've been encouraged at how close most of the games have been, as well as how the group strategy has seemed to advance throughout the month. Of course, the game is still ridiculously chaotic, and while it gives a rather unique play experience the first time or two, successive plays tend to all feel pretty similar. I'm trying to work on a full review of Age of Gods, so keep an eye out here at at BGG.
Dominion -
From one Game of the Month! to the next! After just three games of Dominion, I can see what all the fuss is about. Even with just the basic kingdom card choices, the game is terribly stimulating and exciting. The only real downside I've seen so far is that all the shuffling and card manipulation is vey fiddly. I really can't wait to try out some of the other recommended setups, and I can sense the excitement building among the other players in the group as well.
It's hard to talk about specific plays of the game, however, because there really is absolutely no narrative associated with it at all. The theme is totally irrelevant, and at no time do you ever feel like you're doing anything other than building a deck of cards. Of course, that activity alone is quite sufficient to entertain, so it's really not a big disadvantage. The only real question that I have is whether or not to sleeve my cards. Doing so would be very expensive (since I'd want to use nice ones) and would make storage a lot harder. but I'm already beginning to see some wear on the cards we've been using, especially compared to the ones that haven't been played with yet. We'll see...
Tribune: Primus Inter Pares - The most interesting game that I've played over the last few weeks has actually been Tribune. I've been interested in it since I noticed that it topped the Fairplay list at Essen last year, and just recently managed to get my hands on an English copy. In two plays, I've noticed a few things:
- There's a pretty steep learning curve, and the first game will probably be lost to just figuring the game out.
- While gameplay is relatively simple, understanding both the many victory conditions and how they are earned is a bit brain-burny.
- Games tend to end in ties (as far as earning victory conditions go), so be looking towards the point-based tie-breakers
More than anything else, this has tended to be the game that I'm thinking about throughout the week. I really like how you can choose the length of game that you want, and my favorite thing is that there are always multiple strategies that are viable each game. The game feels so modular, and seeing all the different options both for setup and strategy really leave me wanting to play this more and more. Hopefully, people will continue to give me opportunities to explore this cool worker-placement game.
Shadows Over Camelot (with Merlin's Company)
By Britt and Carol's request, we pulled out Shadows Over Camelot a couple of weeks ago, and the group playing was having so much fun that we played two games back-to-back! In a strange twist of fate, I had my first taste of being the traitor ever, and had that role in both games. I wasn't alone either time, however, since we were playing with the expansion and had 7 players at the table. The traitors won both games and neither was really close, despite Carol freakishly guessing both of our identities in the second game long before we actually did anything particularly traitorous.
Shadows was one of the first euro games that I ever played, and was my first coop game, and I've enjoyed it a lot ever since. I don't quite understand most of the criticism that people give it about not being tense, because that's what I like most about the game. The only real concern I'm having right now is that I fear the game may not be winnable with the addition of the Merlin's Company expansion, especially when there are two traitors in the game. I'd like to get a group of really experienced players together and have them work the game out to see if a win is possible or not.
Other Standouts
There were a few games that I played lately that aren't much to write home about, so I won't be mentioning them here. Instead, here are a couple of lesser-known games that worked out really well over the last few weeks:
- Castle Keep - This little Gamewright-designed childrens' game was a big hit when I pulled it out. The combination of a simple tile-laying game with a neat "take that" mechanic and a nice theme combined to make a really solid game. If you haven't played this yet, it's well worth the $15.
- Rat-a-Tat-Cat - Staying with the Gamewright games, we also had quite a bit of fun with this memory-based, push-your-luck card game. It's very simple, but worked really well as a little filler game.
Categories: Gaming Weblog, Hypermind BoardGamers
Tags: Dominion Castle Keep Age of Gods Tribune Shadows Over Camelot
Chris,
I agree with you regarding Age of Gods. I missed Age of Gods when it was first played and was happy that I could play it several times as a GoTM. I had a lukewarm feeling towards AoG after my first play, and that feeling went colder with each successive play. I did not care for the chaotic nature of the game that made it almost impossible to foment any real strategy. There were other niggling areas that bothered me, and thus, I gave the game an overall rating of 5 on the BGG scale.
I had a chance to play Dominion with Alton and Mark last Saturday. Wow! What a great deal of fun and a very deep game as well. I tend to not like card games (mostly b/c I've run into card players that have taken those games more seriously than I ever would---memorizing cards, etc.). Dominion's deck building mechanic was fascinating. I was wiped out in both games, but I tested two different play types in each game. The first game was a learning game, where I focused on building villages and what not in order to make a late game run. I finished with 41 pts to Alton's winning 51 point score. In the second game, I went after a few villages but hoarded militia to gain the +2 treasure and whittle Alton's and Mark's hands to 3 cards each time. Needless to say, Alton demolished Mark and me with 57 poitnts. I finished with a lowly 33 points. Mark's Remodel strategy worked especially well late in the game, when my militia were discarding his cards.
I picked up Dominion before leaving Hypermind and can't wait to get this to the table with Carol. I also can't wait to play at Hypermind on Tuesdays.
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"I did not care for the chaotic nature of the game that made it almost impossible to foment any real strategy. " - Silly Britt
See, I disagree completely with that statement. It's just that the strategy is not what you'd expect. The skills and strategy used in Age of Gods are more about bluffing, misdirection, and being opportunistic. The game is certainly chaotic and rewards good tactical play, but the opportunity for "real strategy" does exist in this game... at least for those with the "real intelligence" to see it.
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Let me give an example where I found absolutely no strategy available to me:
In two of the four games that I played as GotM, I attempted to keep the several 1 and 2 races around. Invariably, the other players demolished quite a few of the little guys. When those 1 and 2 races were distributed, I was left holding races that were out of the game. No lucky dice rolls brought them back, and I was forced to reveal my bigger races as I fought to acquire more points. In the end, I was eliminated from contention in both game b/c of factors that I could not control, could not expect and could not plan for. I don't dislike randomness in games, but in AoG the chaos, I believe, makes it nearly impossible for create a longterm strategy.
That said, I agree that bluffing and tactical play are quite strong in Age of Gods, but overall, I was left shrugging my shoulders in two of the four games. (I believe that I finished first and second in the other two games.)
I will play Age of Gods if others were interested, but I would not recommend nor suggest it.
At the end of the Age of Gods discussion, I simply did not like it.
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Britt, you ignorant slut!*
I'll concede the point that in several specific cases, there may be no viable strategy available. But based on the whims of luck and the choices of other players, that can be true in a lot of games. My point was that there is strategy involved in the game in general, which is pretty evident in the fact that I won or placed second in every game of it I played in October and November. And while I appear to like the game a lot more than you, like I said, I also grew tired of the gameplay by the end (or middle, really) of the month as well.
* SNL reference that hopefully everyone got
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"...in several specific cases, there may be no viable strategy available..."
Such as when you're playing a game with Ian. Talk about an unearned win on my part...
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