inconsequential ruminations

We had a bit of a mediocre games night yesterday. The European Cup semi-finals got in the way, and the games were average. On the bright side, I have now won at least £12, and possibly £20, in my office sweepstake, if Portugal win; we had the usual good amount of banter and one winning player had not won for months, so it was good to see him beat his jinx. I’m determined to play some meatier games soon, which should improve things.

Quo Vadis
This 1992 negotiation game from Reiner Knizia has interested me since I started getting back into games, so when I saw it cheap I jumped at it. I am not sure if this is his first published game, but it is certainly one of them. Looking through the credits, it was interesting to see Andreas Seyfarth and Franz Vohwinkel. It’s not Vohwinkel’s best work. The box and board are just about OK, but the senators figures and laurel counters are horrible.

The game itself is clever, but we found it a little dry. Maybe people were not in the mood for a serious negotiation game? I liked the way that you have to balance moving towards the senate and picking up laurels on the way, while keeping an eye out for what the other players are doing. If I say that they best thing about it was how short it was, you might think that I hated it, but I didn’t. There is a lot of game packed into half an hour.

My main problem with Quo Vadis is the boring theme and ugly presentation. Rette Sich Wer Kann is very similar, but offers a much more fun theme that encourages role-play and laughter, even if the mechanics are maybe not quite as clever as Quo Vadis.

I will certainly try it again when we are more in the mood. I think it will improve with more playings, although I can’t see it becoming a favourite.

Can’t Stop
I knew this one was always going to be a gamble. I have never really liked the lighter games that Spielfrieks rave about, and this has always been on the lightest end of that scale. I felt I had to get it because:

1. It is a Sid Sackson classic and I have heard so much about it.
2. It was only £10.
3. I do not have any jeopardy dice games and wanted to try one.

I think this will be perfect for 8-10 year olds. It’s fun to throw dice, the components are colourful and it teaches you about probability. For those who already understand the probability bell-curve, it’s less exciting. I’ll keep it around until Oscar is older. Perudo/Liar’s Dice is still the best dice game I have played.