Settlers of Catan, Alien City
November 22nd, 2004Settlers of Catan – Dragonslayers
The boys wanted something familiar, but I managed to persuade them to play a variant from the Settlers Book.
Dragonslayers is basic Settlers of Catan, but with the robber replaced by a dragon. The dragon starts in an extinct volcano in the middle of the board. Once everyone has moved the dragon moves randomly, in one of six directions and up to six hexes, wrapping around the board when she hits the end of the world. If she lands on a hex occupied by players’ buildings, she takes a resource card from them. These are placed in the centre of the board and are given to whoever defeats the dragon. You defeat the dragon by throwing a die equal to or under the number of soldiers you have played. This means that at the start, you always lose to the dragon, but by the end, at least one or two players have a good chance. Winning the fight earns one victory point and allows the winner to take three cards of his choice from the card on the volcano hex.
Overall, I was not keen on the scenario. Settlers really needs the leader taming abilities of the robber, which is actually reversed here. The person with the most soldiers, not only gets the Largest Army card, but also wins big bonuses from beating the dragon. Of course, I was probably embittered by having a nightmare of a game. I ended with three victory points, only managing to build a single settlement. My brother froze me out after 15 minutes, so I spent the next 45 minutes wanting the game to end. There is no question that this is the biggest problem with Settlers. I think I prefer the elimination of Monopoly. At least then, you can go away and do your own thing until the game ends.
Alien City
I managed to persuade my friend to play Alien City with me, to make up for my disappointment with Settlers. It is played with a piecepack and Icehouse pyramids together. Maybe because of the extra pieces, this is the richest piecepack game I have played.
The theme of Alien City is simply of trying to build a city with the various pieces. You have to link up towers (Icehouse pyramids) with domes (piecepack coins) on a bed of piecepack tiles. The piecepack tiles are laid suit side up, and these suits restrict your building options.
Ultimately, Alien City is a variant of Fresh Fish, designed for only two players. The mechanic of establishing unbreakable routes on a gradually more constricted board is the same. What makes Alien City superior is that you decide, as the game progresses, where the start and end of the routes will be as you go along. The combination of the piecepack and Icehouse looks great, in fact better than Fresh Fish itself. The theme also worked well with the look of the game and the game mechanics. The rules are well written, although verbose in places.
Alien City is now my favourite piecepack game. Hanging Gardens is good too, but I cannot see it getting as much play. More importantly, it is my favourite two-player no-luck game as well. The basic concept is complex, but it is clear once grasped. Its appeal reminds me of Tigris and Euphrates, which is about the highest praise I can give.