Zombie Town and the Catacombs of Cloud 9
As I may or may not have mentioned before, Gwen is in the final stages of getting a new student system implemented where she works (the cashier's office of UNC-Chapel Hill), so she's working late a lot and stressed out to the end of her rope. What that means for me and Tuesday night, however, is that I can't get there "on time" for the near future. Instead, I took Samantha home, fed her, bathed her, and had her ready to spend some quality time with Gwen when she finally made it home. So it was right at 8pm before I walked myself into Hypermind to join the festivities. Thankfully, it wasn't too long before a few of us congregated to play a quick game of...
Cloud 9 [GeekDo]
Chip had pointed out that we played this wrong the first few times we played it. I know, I know... I apparently can't read the rules to a simple party game. I thought that a player was the pilot for an entire balloon ride, rather than switching after each roll of the dice. So we played with the "correct" rules, and I think I like my... "variant", I'll call it, better. The real way makes for a quicker and bigger scoring game, but the decisions seemed to be a little simpler to make.
And since the scores for each trip seemed to be bigger, more people made identical decisions along the way and ended up in a 4-way tie at 55 points. I suggested another trip to break the tie, but they instead decided to call it a tie and declare that Chip and I were (the) losers.
Time: 18 minutes
Score: Tie (Chris, Graham, James & Michelle) 55, First Loser (Me) 39, Bottom Feeder (Chip) 33
Ratings: Chris 8, Graham 7.5, James 7, Michelle 8, Me 7.5, Chip 8
Zombie Dice [GeekDo]
After the general disappointment of Cthulhu Dice, I wanted to try out Zombie Dice because I'd heard that there was actually more of a game involved in it. Thankfully, there really is. We actually had a lot of fun with it, what with us all getting our faces blown off by shotgun blasts and everything. And Graham declared this the "night of the sound effects" because I felt compelled to provide relatively appropriate sounds to go along with most every action both in Cloud 9 and this game.
This game also ended in a tie between Chip and Michelle, but they did consent to a "roll off" round, which Chip won by racking up 5 additional brains.
Time: 16 minutes
Score: Chip* 20, Michelle* 19, Graham* 8, Me* 8, Charles* 7
Ratings: Chip 7, Michelle 7, Graham 6.5, Me 6.5, Charles 6
Like I said, this was pretty enjoyable for what it is. For such a simple and quick game, though, the rules were very poorly written (in terms of clarity), which is just ridiculous. But I like the theme and the custom dice, and I'll probably find lots of opportunity to pull this out in the future.
Dice Town [GeekDo]
Apparently being in some kind of dice-game frenzy, we next pulled out one of my new birthday games, Dice Town. I made the mistake of using my money a little too freely early on, and wound up without the ability to keep more than one die (which requires a dollar to do) for most of the game. I was pretty frustrated about that, but still managed to keep myself in the running by frequently going to Doc Badluck with an ace, which let me steal a gold nugget from all the other players.
Michelle collected lots of parcels of land, though, and was swimming in money for most of the game. Charles made a big move early to collect a lot of gold, and then picked up some good cards to back it up later on. But the difference was made by Michelle being the Sheriff in the last round, when she was able to collect a bribe by those vying to be the next Sheriff that gave her the last point she needed for the win.
Time: 39 minutes
Score: Michelle* 31, Charles* 30, Me* 27, Chris 19, James* 11
Ratings: Michelle 8.5, Charles 9, Me 7, Chris 6, James 7
I had heard a lot of good things about Dice Town before I asked for it, and overall I'd have to say I'm a little disappointed after my first play. Part of that is probably due to being so constrained throughout a lot of the game by my lack of funds. But I also acknowledge that running out of money was at least partly my own fault, and that there was still a mechanism that kept me in a position to actually finish in a close 3rd place despite how my game went. So I'm definitely up for giving this some more play to see if turns out to be even more fun.
Catacombs [GeekDo]
I added Catacombs to my wishlist at the last minute before my birthday, and was a little ambivilent about actually getting it. Scott Nicholson and others had raved about it, but the whole premise of a dexterity/flicking dungeon crawl game still sounded a little bit too goofy and gimmicky to be
very good. After one play, however, I'm a total believer!I managed to get all the pieces cleaned, dried, and stickered on Monday night, and was a little surprised when a number of people mentioned wanting to try it out. Between the theme, the quirky premise, and the decent BGG buzz, I ended up with a full complement of players going into my Catacombs. I played as the Sorcerer, which was recommended in the rules as the best one for a first-time play. Michelle was the Thief, David was the Barbarian, Charles was the Wizard, and Kenny was the Elf. I love how "Elf" is a class, just like in good ole' red-box D&D!
The first room was a joke, and the heroes walked through like it was nothing. In the second, the two Cerberi (???) did some pretty good damage, especially to the barbarian and wizard (who made an accidental, cross-board jump that actually damaged one of the monsters by grazing it from above). They picked up some decent items from the merchant, and then moved through the next two rooms suffering modest but mostly insignificant damage, which they helped mitigate in the Healer's room.
Michelle lines up a shot!
The last "regular" room held three Ghouls, which can incapacitate adventurers on a hit. Since one way for them to lose is for all of them to become incapacitated, this worried them a lot. Charles therefore teleported David's barbarian into the middle of them and he did a big ragey, chain-attack to take out two of them. He then suffered a lot of damage from everything else eating his face, but it still worked out pretty well for them.
In the last room, however, it didn't go so well. While my two Cerberi fell quickly, my Fire Demons and Giant Scorpions did some massive damage while the Sorcerer itself caused some havoc as well. The Barbarian fell quickly after making a last-ditch rage attempt into the heart of my side of the board, depsite some excellent use of the Wizard's shield spell and a well-summoned skeleton. he Thief and Elf followed soon after, mostly due to a continual string of fireballs from my surviving Demon. And with a demon still on the board (who is immune to missile attacks and fireballs), there was very little chance that the Wizard alone would be able to defeat it. The Sorcerer got into the mix then, and soon all the heroes lay dead at my feet!
Time: 95 minutes
Score: Me* (Overseer - Sorcerer) Win!; Adventurers (Charles* - Wizard, Kenny* - Elf, MIchelle* - Thief & David* - Barbarian) Lose
Ratings: Me 8, Charles 9.5, Kenny 8, Michelle 8.5, David 8.5
As I said above, Catacombs impressed the heck out of me! Mostly, it's because everything works. The theme is nice, even if it's a bit generic fantasy. But the powers of the characters and monsters all feel right, and seem to be pretty well balanced. Similarly, the layout of the catacombs appeared to be pretty well-crafted and balanced.
The heroes use strategery, but still fall under the withering gaze of my Sorcerer...
And more than anything else, the game felt decidedly not-random. If anything, the "skill" of the imaginary characters in the game were tied to actual, physical prowess of the players as they attempted to flick their pieces around the board. And the game was still plenty tactical as well, because there are always decisions to make about how you position your men, how you want to move them and your opponent's pieces, and how you can set yourself up for a better move in the future.
We did run across a few questions that took us a little time to figure out or decide on, many of which were covered in the FAQ and errata sheet that I found at BGG. There's even an "official" set of variant rules already available from Sands of Time Games, which really opens up a few new options both for catacomb construction and other little twists. It's also primed for all sorts of expansions, especially for new monsters and boards, but also for additional and expanded rules. I definitely look forward to trying it again soon, and think that it may quickly become one of my favorites!
Other Games Played
The Golden City
Time: 43 minutes
Score: Chris* 70, Chip* 68, Graham* 64, Charles* 52
Ratings: Chris 7.5, Chip 7.5, Graham 7, Charles 8
Hive
Time: 16 minutes (for 2 games)
Score: Britt - 2 wins, Kenny - 0 wins
Ratings: Brit 8, Kenny 8
HomesteadersTime: ??
Score: Alton* 51, Chip* 43, Tom 34
Ratings: Alton 8.5, Chip 8, Tom 8
Macao
Time: 126 minutes
Score: Ken 75, Alton 74, Tom 55, Britt 42
Ratings: Ken 9, Alton 8.5, Tom 9, Britt 4.5 (methinks there be a bit of sour grapes...)
Martinique
Time: 38 and ?? minutes
Game 1: Chip* 56, Britt* 40
Game 2: Michelle* 71, Jon 55
Ratings: Michelle 7, Chip 5, Britt 5
Race for the Galaxy
Time: 30 minutes
Score: James 62, Chris 52
Ratings: 10's
Zooloretto
Time: 38 minutes
Score: Graham 26, Chris 21, Michelle* 21, Charles* 19, Alton 11
Ratings: Graham 8.5, Chris 8, Michelle 8, Charles 8, Alton 8.5
* First play for that Person
Posted by Chris Norwood at 6/24/2010 5:01 PM 
Categories: Gaming Weblog, Hypermind BoardGamers
Tags: Fillers Dice Town Catacombs
Categories: Gaming Weblog, Hypermind BoardGamers
Tags: Fillers Dice Town Catacombs
Whoa, 4.5 for Macao? Yowch.
Unsolicited Origins Report:
I go to Origins on Saturday, for the second time. It turns out Wednesday is just the set up day, with a bit of pick up gaming and a few, but not many, scheduled games. No exhibitors open though, which is really something I was counting on. My trip from Cincy to Columbus wasn't a total wash though, I got the line waiting — for my badge and buying tickets to scheduled games — out of the way. Registration line is a nightmare. My calves ached most heartily. Kind volunteers though.
I got tickets to play Nuns on the Run and Cleopatra and the Society of Architects. Wanted to get into a game of Ad Astra but it was sold out. Between those games, a glorious US v. Ghana football match and whatever demo'ing I can waltz into in the Exhibitor's Hall, it should be a packed day. Hope to come back to NC with something fun for the group to play.
Wish I could've played Catacombs! Glad it was a hit.
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I am so freaking jealous. I've been trying to get to Origins or GenCon for years, but life conspires against me.
If you're interested, I'd love to have you do a guest post about your Origins experience. Just email it to me and I'll post it...
And don't worry about Catacombs, it'll come to game night a lot.
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There was no sour grapes in the 4.5 for Macao either.
I've played it twice. My first play score was a 6.
Having played it a second time, I will not play it again. The game played in 2 hours, but it felt more like 6 for me. I do no care for the game mechanics, but most importantly, I was bored by Macao.
I am glad that I gave it a second play b/c I was concerned that I did not fully grasp Macao, having missed a few rules, during the first play. The second play solidified my initial opinion.
Plus, after having played Martinique, which I rated a 5, I felt like I played lousy games nearly all night. I am craving some good gameplay.
Thus, I am bringing Steam, Ideology, Galactic Emperor, Acquire and Long Shot with me to the next game night.
I am interested in playing Catacombs.
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It's just so weird. I play Macao and 2 hours feels like 45 minutes. The game is so similar to Agricola, yet you love one and hate the other. Maybe you've just cast your lot with the 'Gric, and Macao just doesn't click for some reason. I'd definitely be up for Steam, Ideology, or Acquire sometime soon, but it'd be easier to play with you if you'd stick around a little later, especially since I won't get there until late again probably for another couple of weeks.
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I had to leave earlier this past week b/c of an early morning doctor appointment on Wed.
For the next game night, I can and will stay later.
Chris, I would love to also play Descent again!
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I give Macao a 6 too, Britt. The dice rolling really kills it for me, just like Settlers. I've heard the "but it affects everyone the same" argument, but that's trash: if I pick cards that need double blue, double red, and double green and those numbers only ever come up 1s then I'm going to get screwed, not everyone else. At least Settlers has the trading mechanic to try to get you back into the game (and the fishing expansion helps too).
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Yeah, but you chose to draft cards that required double colors, or at least chose not to move yourself on the wall so that you'd have a real choice about cards. You put yourself in a position to accept more risk by taking cards that are harder to activate. And then there's always the possibility of getting a card that gives you extra cubes or claiming a joker tile from one of the dark quarters in the city, so that you can activate that card either way.
Heck, it's no different than Race for the Galaxy, really. The way the cards come up may totally suck for the strategy you've chosen. You can mitigate the effect of the card draw on your game, but in the end, you can't do well if you don't get the cards you need. And I'm pretty sure you like Race, right?
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No, it's a lot different than Race, because Race doesn't have a system that actively punishes me for its own randomness.
If I can't clear out the cards on my tableau in Macao I eat a three-point penalty even if it wasn't any fault of my own thanks to the dice flat-out not cooperating. Two cubes of one color and one of another shouldn't be a significant barrier (and if you look at the cards a large portion of them have this sort of requirement or similar 3/1s or 2/2s). This often combines with the penalty for not having cubes on a turn, as many times you'll have to make a choice between supplying a specific turn or being able to activate a card I want to use. Then I have to deal with playing catch-up because everyone else is claiming tiles in the town while I'm obviously not doing anything other than moving along the wall or sailing a boat full of nearly worthless goods.
If I don't draw the cards I need in Race I can usually still do SOMETHING to still gain points (or at least gain more cards). I never LOSE points for whiffing on a phase (barring takeovers).
Then there's the fact that I can usually play at least three or four games of Race (even with the slower final expansion) in the time it takes to play one game of Macao. I'm a lot more forgiving of randomness in a game where it evens out over multiple short plays.
In short, get your oranges out of my apple bin.
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I know this argument isn't going anywhere, so I should just stop. You and Britt don't like Macao much, and that's cool. You certainly don't have to or anything.
But for the sake of argument, let me finish by making a couple of other points:
1) It's all a matter of points. Macao "punishes" you for a few things, but you can also think of them in reverse, which would be that you have the ability to "earn" 6 points every turn by having some cubes available when you turn your windrose and and for having an empty spot on your tableau). If, however, you could use the same investment of cubes or whatever to earn more than 3 points on that same turn, then it would be a better choice to do the other thing.
2) And if you're just plain unable to earn those 6 points because of luck, then you're still investing your cubes in some other pursuit (which is, despite your denial, the same type of thing you'd be doing in Race). You may not have any goods right now, but if you get further into the shipping lanes and pick up a nice good later on, you're still closer to delivering it than you were before (and therefore don't have to waste cubes moving as far then). If you lose three points for not having any cubes right now, but instead get 6 cubes on a later turn, you may actually be able to do more on that turn than you would have been able to do now. The idea of "punishment" makes it seem worse than it is, because in the end, it's just a matter of where you think you can use your resources to earn the most points.
3) Just because Race doesn't "punish" you for wiffing on a turn, it still doesn't mean that you're not losing out on the opportunity to score some points that turn. So, in effect, it's the same. You aren't going to have as many points as you could have had, and it was because the luck of the game wasn't kind to you.
4) Time. Well, that's totally legit. If the game isn't fun and feels like it drags, then time is a huge deal. Like I said, though, I've never felt like Macao is too long, because it always flies by for me.
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Alton had already kicked off Sound Effect Night during Zooloretto, where he proceeded to make animal sounds every time someone put one in a truck.
And I picked up Fresco and played it tonight...it's definitely a solid game, though the rules aren't the clearest in the world for the first play.
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Ouououououououououou ERRRRRRRR!
BTW I would love to play Fresco.
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Ka-BLAM! Do-de-do-do-do...
I'll bring Fresco next week! And who knows, it may even be the SdJ winner by then!
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Tom bring back Homesteaders I would love to play again...
BTW I want you to try a game of Sodbusters with me... I have enjoyed the solo game alot... I want to see what you think of it.
Also let's get a game of Carson City played in the near future... as well as let me teach you and any others Race for the Galaxy.
So many games to play again and again... so little time to do it with friends.
I so hope they have a FLGS in the after-life.
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Catacombs really impressed me, at the beginning I was concerned with the flicking mechanic but in the end it was alot of fun. I think you could easily turn it into a continuous game if given the proper thought
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