inconsequential ruminations

Goodbye

• Bambuti: Lost Cities without the elegant simplicity.
• Bohnanza: Played it twice, and I cannot believe it is rated so highly. It’s just too long for what it is.
• Vom Kap Bis Kairo: There are far better pure auction games around, regardless of the cost.

Hello

• Executive Decision: It was only ?10 from eBay. It is as old as me and one of the only Sackson games people still talk about, so it’s probably good.
• “Die Macher”: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/1: It is rules heavy and four hours long, but it was cheap, so I think it will be worth a gamble for occasional play – considering it is rated so highly. I worry that it might be rather like “Ulysses”: amazon, in that all pundits have to say they love it, even though it’s unreadable.
• Cosmic Eidex: I’ve been looking for a deep card game for three. This looks like the best commercial option. I’ll have to try “Skat”: http://www.pagat.com/schafk/skat.html at some point.
• Wallenstein: Space is limited, but I had to make way for this. My mob will love it.

We had a quietly enjoyable game of Maya last Thursday. Our friend Daryl came over unexpectedly and Ness wanted to play. Maya seemed about the right length and suitable for three. Daryl is an old-school board gamer who has moved over to video games almost exclusively in the last decade. He has some old ones in his collection that I have never played:

• Diplomacy
• Civilisation
• Global Conquest
• Conquistador

They are all long, heavy 80’s style games. He certainly enjoys my lighter German fare, so he might be a regular at our table. Unfortunately, he lives in North London, which might as well be a different city it takes so long to travel here.

Maya
This is a welterweight area-majority game, based very loosely around populating Mayan pyramids. I was smug to see that I have visited all of them, except Copan.
The best thing about Maya is how tight the design is. It has the balance and symmetry of a typical Knizia. There were no rules problems. The components are good with thick cardboard counters and good illustrations. My only quibble is that the box is too big. It could be half the size. The game itself was fun. We fought tooth and nail to get the most blocks onto the pyramids in the best possible positions. There is plenty of skill and competition, especially in the blind-bidding phase. Normally, blind bidding is almost as dirty a word as “dice” to games pundits, but here it works well, as there are generous consolation prizes for losers and it is a minor part of game with no other luck. We enjoyed it and I would play again, but, for my tastes, it lacked a bit of spice. It would be perfect to play with people who object strongly to aggressive games but still might enjoy a thoughtful, skilful game.

It’s been All Quiet on the Board Gaming Front recently. It is partly because I am immersed in Neverwinter Nights, but mainly because I have instituted a new democratic games selection procedure for games nights. This is to stop the boys’ incessant moaning that I was always choosing new games. It’s been good in that the crew are happy, but it’s been bad in terms of wanting to write about games.

Tigris and Euphrates
We played this classic on Saturday and had a superbly vicious battle. Unfortunately, there’s nothing much original I can say about a game with 53 session reports listed at the Geek.

Ivanhoe
Last night, this did not go down as well as usual. I think the boys have finally realised that it is mostly luck. I enjoyed our two games, but I enjoyed finishing off the washing up during the breaks in play more. Having said that, there are subtle aspects of hand management that I still have to master.

Sticheln
After Mikko’s recent recommendation, we tried Sticheln when we were reduced to our usual three at the end of last night. As we had only three, it was easy to play using a slightly reduced Mü deck (45 cards – 5 suits from 0-8). It was definitely more successful than Drahtseilakt. It is quite a skilful game and there are plenty of non-obvious tactics available, especially as you can play any card to a trick. It is very similar to Bugami. I suspect Bugami is the better game, if only because regular cards and conventions are used – which makes it more accessible. I will have to play Sticheln a couple of more times before I pass judgement, but that’s a good sign. It could be that we need something a bit more involved than this to satisfy us. I will probably buy Cosmic Eidex, which looks richer.

I installed my first full video game for ages yesterday. A few years ago I was rabidly into video games, about as much as I am now into board games, but they got very samey and I hate how solitary they are. However, I decided I needed a release when I am bored of reading the web and there is nothing on television, so I installed Neverwinter Nights.

So far it has just what I hoped for:

• Beautiful graphics.
• Better interface than Icewind Dale.
• I feel refreshed and healthy afterwards, unlike after a long session with a first person shooter.
• It is easy to pick up and put down, unlike online shooters or hectic RTS battles.
• A rich storyline.
• Reasonable commitment requirements (40 hours) – unlike Everquest.

Last night we played four-player Tikal with the following Wolfgang Kramer variant I found at (the awesome) [Spotlight On Games]:

Provide a one-minute sand timer and 4×6 chips (in the four player colors). Each player receives the six chips in his color. As soon as the active player places his tile, the timer is started. If a player runs out of time, he turns in a chip and flips it again for another minute, etc. At the end of the game, any remaining chips are worth three points.

We used my G8 timer and, apart from the usual unintuitive setup hassles, it worked perfectly.

The game itself was good, but was far too hectic at this speed. We finished in just over an hour – double our normal speed. It was so intense that my friend and I had sharp words when he started a conversation with the others during my turn! This is not what our games nights are about. We’ll use the timer next time, but two, or two and a half minutes, per turn and one minute per played chip sounds sensible.

I have also warmed to the advanced auction version after this game. I always felt the auctions were a bit pointless in previous plays, but in this basic game, the winner and second placed player (me) drew many more temple and treasure hexes.

I just got whupped at a play-by-web game of Clans at the Cycloops.

I hate to sound like a moaner but it wasn’t very good. The web implementation was slick, but it was a poor choice of game. The whole point of Clans is that players have to figure out which player is assigned to which colour just from their moves. This is no fun in a PBW game, because you have to go back through the previous moves to see who moved which piece. In a face-to-face game, you get to see and remember the moves, so the bluffing is much more immediate and interesting. Otherwise Clans looks only moderately interesting, so I don’t think I’ll rush out to buy it.

[Updated 12 July 2004]

Puerto Rico
There’s *nothing* I can say about this that has not been said already. We had a blast.

Drahtseilakt
We were after an end of night closer for three people, but overdid it with the lightness. This is the easiest trick-taking game I’ve played. There is nowhere near as much skill as in a simple game of Whist. I won, maybe because I tried to get rid of my mediocre cards early, so I had more control towards the end of the rounds. Although we had fun, we probably won’t play this one much more. With two plays, I think I’ve done it all.

I am in the market for a skilful, vicious, fast game for three. Any suggestions?