inconsequential ruminations

Peter is not the only one who has found the pickings slim. My job has got very busy, which is good on the whole, but also one of my most reliable friends has stopped coming to games nights completely. I can normally get three guys along, but a fourth is hard to find and that leaves no backup when one of the other two cannot make it.

We did play Elasund the other week. I enjoyed it, but it felt rather bland. I will definitely play it again, but I don’t want to say much about it until I understand it properly. Initially, 6/10. For now I much prefer Domaine.

My most enjoyable gaming experience recently was Nuggets. This is a nice light area influence game with secret tile laying. Bruno Faidutti likes it a lot and even made it one of his 2004 runners up for his game of the year. I played this late in the evening with Vanessa and my brother and we all enjoyed it very much even though we were tired.

I have been struggling with my PBEM games recently. Unmoderated, complex games are a bit too much for me at the moment. I playtested A Victory Lost on Vassal, which I was enjoying a lot until we realised we had a vital rule wrong. Restarting it really took my enthusiasm away. I have also been trying to learn 1825 at FWTWR. I feel lost in it. The extra hassle of PBEM makes learning games a lot less appealing.

On the other hand, my PBW games have been very enjoyable. I played Richelieu and Hansa at Mabiweb. I preferred Richelieu. It is short, tight and competitive. I could well buy it. Hansa is OK, but is a bit too abstract for me. Somehow it reminds me of Mancala in the type of around-the-corner lookahead thinking it requires.

I am also playing Samurai with Chris Brooks, amongst others. I am getting wiped out, but again, it’s enjoyable. The difference is that these PBW games all have the rules enforced, and you can try moves out before committing them, so serious rules mistakes are difficult to get into and turns are much faster.

I have a games day tomorrow, so the drought is almost over…

This entry was posted on Friday, June 23rd, 2006 at 16:26 and is filed under boardgames.