January 5
Libertalia (Chris, Davina, Matt, Morph, Zoe)
I’d known Matt really wanted this one, so when his sister asked what he wanted for Christmas I recommended it – and having played and enjoyed it before, perhaps a little selfishly! We all enjoyed it and it seemed our one previous play put us in good stead: Zoe played well again, as she had when we played at Eastbourne, this time winning it well on 82 ahead of me on 74 and the others clustered about another 10 points behind. Zoe will be pleased to hear that now Matt owns it, it can come off my wishlist too!
Bohnanza (Chris, Matt, Morph, Zoe)
I can see this one getting much more cutthroat and tactical in the long run, but for now we’re all playing pretty nice and I got some great deals I probably shouldn’t have been able to get away with for a haul of 20 points (Zoe 15, Morph 14, Matt 10). It’s a really good game and I’m glad morph owns it, as its one I enjoy playing on occasion but don’t feel the need to own.
Cards Against Humanity (Chris, Matt, Morph, Zoe)
Very drunken, and again fun, but I got some duff cards and I think everyone was a bit more tired than drunk so it didn’t spark in quite the same way as before. We played to five and Matt won it by one from everyone else – except me, who didn’t get a single point. Perhaps we’ll be house ruling dumping unfunny cards in future!
January 6
Space Dogsbody (Carl, Chris, Howie)
I find it interesting that despite the fact I’ve got a huge wall of games, the guys actually requested a print-and-play on standard A4 card and with clip art graphics. As I’ve said before, this could really be a hit if released. I got the booster as my start item and it really does give you a boost; I think our last three games have been won by the booster player. That said, it’s probably because it’s the one that adds the most obvious strategy – in time, I think several of the other starter items will really show their worth. I’m actually starting to think about pimping this out a little bit myself.
King of Tokyo (Carl, Chris, Howie)
A surprise gift from my Secret Santa (as it wasn’t near the top of my wishlist), I’m a fan of the simplicity of this little push-your-luck game. That said, I tend to push it a bit far – but when it’s this short, who cares? Last out, Carl won it.
King of Tokyo (Carl, Chris, Howie)
Ooh, déjà vu – last out, but this time Howie won. I’m not sure they were overly impressed with the game though and I’m a little bit worried it won’t really find a place in any of my groups. We’ll see.
January 7
NEWUruk: Wiege der Zivilisation (Chris, Zoe)
This was a Secret Santa gift and it’s a cracker. Took a while to get to grips with the rules version I printed off, but once we got going it was great fun. I won a really close game 26-25 but my mind was racing at the end with all the possible strategies. I’m looking forward to playing this one a lot more – it’s fascinating.
NEWBarista (Chris, Zoe)
This comes with lovely components but no game. Roll four dice, get dealt four cards and hope they match what it said on the dice. If not, draw and discard (with a couple of predictable action cards thrown in – reroll die, steal card etc) until someone does match them and wins a point. Utter shite. Zoe won three hands in a row to take the win – I’m just glad I didn’t win any, as it would’ve prolonged the tedium. One plus point: I like the colour of the ‘3’ rating on BGG and don’t get to use it nearly often enough (its illustrious company: Poo, Monty Python Fluxx and Thunderstone).
January 8
Uruk: Wiege der Zivilisation (Andy, Carl, Chris)
I thought the guys would enjoy this one and so it turned out. Once you get through the first couple of rounds you really start to see the cogs beginning to turn – an amazing amount of game for such a small box. I predict this will be one of my most-played of 2013, as it seemed to play well as both two and three-player due to the lack of conflict – but then you have the auctions too, for that bit of spice. It was very close, with Andy pipping me by a point (22-21) and Carl just behind us on 17.
January 9
King of Tokyo (Chris, Zoe)
I may well be destined for a long, sorry string of defeats at this one! It certainly isn’t much of a two-player game, but I wanted to introduce it to Zoe so we gave it a quick go. Suffice it to say I pushed my luck and lost – I see a pattern emerging… And again, Zoe didn’t see too excited about the game. We’ll have to see if Morph and Davina take to it, otherwise it might hit the trade pile very quickly indeed.
January 12
Space Dogsbody (Andy, Carl, Chris)
I knew Carl liked this and Andy hadn’t played, so out it came again. It was a fun game and one I thought I played well in; using my initial upgrade (bunks) well by picking up a tourist who wanted to see some action and then stocking up on lasers to pick off the pirates. Luckily I got to exactly 50 cash on a round where neither of the other guys was in a position to increase their haul, leaving them on 38 (Carl) and 28.
Plato 3000 (Andy, Carl, Chris)
This was new to the guys and went down surprisingly well. Andy had a terrible start, scoring -7 in round 1 and 5 in round 2, but fought back into contention by the end. I grabbed the win on a lucky last card play that put me over 100 (104) ahead of Carl (92) and Andy (84). While this isn’t as big and clever as Glory to Rome – the game I got it free courtesy of – I get the feeling Plato 3000 will be seeing a lot more plays. It riffs really nicely on the rummy mechanism, adding a level of complexity by giving different ‘suits’ special actions if they’re in your tableau. The steam punk art is really nice too; the only letdown is the typically crappy CGF card stock (like the original Glory to Rome).
January 13
Maori (Chris, Zoe)
Always a winner, this 30-minute brain burner is one of my favourite quick two-player experiences. Beautiful and elegant, when played with two it’s random enough to keep you guessing but strategic enough that you feel the player that played best tends to win. I was wobbling early on this time, especially after Zoe completed a lei, but I managed to get huts on all my islands and overwhelm her 38-34 almost purely on double-scored trees.
Ticket to Ride: Switzerland (Chris, Zoe)
Hardcore rules, as always, but for a change – I won! After no Switzerland wins for me in 2012 (0-7), I picked one off straight away in 2013. In fairness I managed to get really easy cards that meant all my routes ran from Austria to France, while dumping cards late in the game on the six-long route to grab 15 points happened to scupper Zoe’s chance of completing her last ticket. Shame, hehe. I scored over 100 for the first time in a while, with Zoe back around 70.
January 14
Uruk: Wiege der Zivilisation (Chris, Paul, Rich)
Another play of this wonderful little card game saw Guru Paul squeak out the narrowest of victories, 21 to our 20s. I found out tonight there is a new edition on the way, which I hope doesn’t change things too much – either making it worse, or meaning I have to buy another edition!
Courtier (Chris, Paul, Rich)
This AEG title is part of its new Tempest range, alongside the fantastic Love Letter. Unlike some I like the art of this new series, but unfortunately this game really missed the mark for me. It has a lot of luck, which I have no problem with, but unfortunately it also pretends to be a tactical game. You try to build towards something, but the nature of the game means the board can completely change (and I mean completely) before your next turn. There are six VP cards you may win on your turn (the checking of which makes the game drag horribly), and planning to try and get them seems to be what you’re meant to do, but the wholly random nature of the game means it amounts to nought. Instead you’re left vying for control of districts to get you bonus actions, while spreading your self thin in the hope luck goes your way and the right VP cards flip over at the right time. Rubbish. Paul won on 47.
January 15
NEWCorners (Brett, Chris, Matt, Tony)
Designer tony Carr had brought his latest prototype along; a simple abstract played on a seven-by-seven grid. Each player has a stack of tiles which are split into quarters, each of which has a number from 0-3. Players place them on the grip and score points for the sides that are touching other tiles, making corners more valuable (as you score two sides – or perhaps more – instead of just one. The first game showed promise but was a little underwhelming as there was a little too much luck in the tile draw and starting from the centre left little room for interesting choices.
Corners (Brett, Chris, Matt, Tony)
After much debate, game two started with the tiles being evenly distributed and with each of us laying our first tile out near the corners (a bit like Ingenious) to increase early game choices. It worked much better, with the debate switching to tile numbering rather than mechanisms. I look forward to seeing how this one develops.
Unpublished prototype x2 (Brett, Chris, Jim)
We played two mini card games Brett had brought along. The first didn’t do it for me, but worked very well – it was very abstract and I got no warmth from the mechanisms; but the second was really, really nice – a quick, light filler of hidden information where you’re trying to get the right pair of cards to complete a magic trick. I look forward to playing it again soon, with any luck.
January 16
Race for the Galaxy (Andy, Carl, Chris)
A big week of games continued with our first Race night of the year. Everyone was a bit rusty and it showed in the scores, with Andy’s solid 54 (finished in style with a 30-point consume) more than enough to comfortably beat me (34) and Carl, who ended on our equal worse score of all time – 13. He now holds best (86) and worst score titles!
Race for the Galaxy (Andy, Carl, Chris)
I pulled a nice win out of the bag in game two, powering to a quick 69 with a rare goods produce/consume tableau and a six-pointer to match, as well as a constant flow of VPs thanks to prestige points. Andy (34) and Carl (33) didn’t get much going at all.
Race for the Galaxy (Andy, Carl, Chris)
The last game of the night saw a rare draw, with Andy and me duking it out with very similar rare/novelty goods strategies. We ended up o 44 each after joking midgame we’d probably get the same points, die to our similar tactics. Again Carl just didn’t get going, completing a terrible night for him with a 23.
January 20
Reiner Knizia's Decathlon (Chris, Zoe)
We hadn’t played this fun little push-your-luck dice game for ages and as Zoe was ill she wanted to play something where her brain didn’t need to get involved! If you like this kind of dice game I’d thoroughly recommend it; I’d have been happy with this if I’d paid for it, so the fact it’ a free print and play rules sheet (from Knizia’s website) makes it more than a bargain. Unfortunately this wasn’t the closest of games, as I’d pretty much won it before the final event thanks to a big win early on. Zoe pulled back to within 13 points with three events to go, but I won it 220-202 in the end.
January 22
Unpublished prototype (Chris, Matt)
This was my second look at Matt’s work-in-progress Civ-style card game and it really seems to be taking shape. We played 75% of a game then had a good chat about it, talking through a few changes that I’m looking forward to seeing implemented for next time, hopefully next week. The game has a lot going on, with each card being usable in multiple ways. There are some interesting and innovative things in there which I think could be very popular.
January 23
Uruk: Wiege der Zivilisation (Andy, Carl, Chris)
This was our second game of Uruk and this time everybody ‘got’ it, making for a really interesting mix of tactics. There’s a lot of game here and it was interesting to see just how differently we all ended up. I went what I’d think is a pretty standard route, finishing with five cards out and my best score to date of 27. Carl got a small engine going early and nailed a load of cheap stones but struggled to make it count at the end, finishing with a good 24 with only four cards ever in his tableau. Andy went the bonus route and finished with six cards but never really got his production going, ending on 21 due to a lack of stones. A really good game though and one that I’m sure will be a regular in the 2013 rotation.
Ra (Andy, Carl, Chris)
Our first Ra of the year proved to be a real classic. There were four points in it going into the final round and it remained too close to call throughout. It came down to me gambling on one last tile from the bag and blowing it, pulling the last Ra tile and blowing it. This meant I had the lowest total in bidding tiles when I could’ve won it, leaving me last on 38 and making Carl the winner on 42 – just one ahead of Andy on 41. I worked out that during the game I’d taken -16 points in negatives!
January 26
Uruk: Wiege der Zivilisation (Chris, Zoe)
This was our second game and a might close one. We both got some good benefit from god tiles while I got hit with a village-destroying disaster, but I just managed to sneak it 30-29. We both saw some really interesting combos come up we hadn’t seen before, hence the improving scores, and I was excited to see this week that an expansion/reprint is planned. We’ll probably need some new cards in future, as I can see Uruk getting g played to death over the next few months. My favourite combo today was probably Ziggurat with Aqueduct, burning unused cubes to gain cards before restocking to four cubes.
Jaipur (Chris, Zoe)
After Zoe hammered me in round one (69-49), things swiftly swung back my way with a 70-55 and a closer epic 76-63 in the final round. I’m a little surprised this one gets such high marks, as there’s really not much to it – but that said, I’ve really enjoyed my plays to do date without really seeing any depth to the game. Jaipur is still a keeper though, for sure.
Jambo (Chris, Zoe)
Ouch. I tend to do pretty well at Jambo but I got my ass handed to me here, losing 60-47. I got a small market out before I needed it, never had more than two cards in my hand and basically played terribly. Zoe bided her time, got a hand together and thrashed the pants off of me. It might have been different if I’d pulled a few offensive cards, but none of the animals I picked up came along at the right time – and the way I was burning cards, it was hardly surprising. Hopefully I at least learnt a lesson.
January 28
Uruk: Wiege der Zivilisation (Chris, Matt)
Matt and I met up with the intention of talking about a new game we’re thinking about co-designing, but just ended up shooting the breeze and playing a few games. As Matt is into the idea of civ building card game I thought I’d introduce him to my current favourite, Uruk. He soon got the hang of it and just pipped me to the win on the final turn, 34-31. It’s been interesting to see how the scores have been rising from around 20 at first to around 30 now.
NEW Innovation(Chris, Matt)
We then moved on to a game I’d wanted to play for ages, Innovation. While I enjoyed the mechanisms I found it a little too luck based – but that’s probably because I got hammered. The splaying idea is a clever one, but I just didn’t get the cards that allowed me to do it enough – leaving Matt with the advantage in most symbols. Then he started stealing my scoring cards and it was all over in a very unsatisfying manner. I’d certainly like to play it some more to see how things change once you get used to the differing categories, as I’m sure it very much benefits those who know what’s coming later. I think I’ll end up preferring it Glory to Rome, although I’m not compelled to buy it after this first play. Maybe later though…
January 30
Race for the Galaxy (Andy, Carl, Chris)
I managed to record my third and fourth midweek Galaxies wins out of five games so far this year – chuffed. In fairness, I got a lot of luck in both games. In the first I went yellow and nailed not only the prestige lead throughout but also three of the three-point tiles, plus a large haul of alien worlds for a fast 66 Andy 43, Carl 40).
Race for the Galaxy (Andy, Carl, Chris)
Next I went rebel and again got the cards I needed. I again got and kept the prestige lead, but only won by racing to a full tableau on 49 – Andy (38) was fast catching me on a produce/consume hand. Carl again failed to get anything going – this has to be his leanest streak in a year.
Revolution! (Andy, Carl, Chris)
We hadn’t played Revolution for ages and I’m not really sure why, as we all enjoy it. This was probably one of our closest games to date, with it going down to the final round. I got to play the spy in the last round but was just too far out of it to get the win – which I instead gave to Andy (on 168) after he persuaded me switching with Carl was my only chance. I don’t think I had a chance either way, but well done him for convincing me! Carl was just behind on 159 with me on 154.
Libertalia (Chris, Davina, Matt, Morph, Zoe)
I’d known Matt really wanted this one, so when his sister asked what he wanted for Christmas I recommended it – and having played and enjoyed it before, perhaps a little selfishly! We all enjoyed it and it seemed our one previous play put us in good stead: Zoe played well again, as she had when we played at Eastbourne, this time winning it well on 82 ahead of me on 74 and the others clustered about another 10 points behind. Zoe will be pleased to hear that now Matt owns it, it can come off my wishlist too!
Bohnanza (Chris, Matt, Morph, Zoe)
I can see this one getting much more cutthroat and tactical in the long run, but for now we’re all playing pretty nice and I got some great deals I probably shouldn’t have been able to get away with for a haul of 20 points (Zoe 15, Morph 14, Matt 10). It’s a really good game and I’m glad morph owns it, as its one I enjoy playing on occasion but don’t feel the need to own.
Cards Against Humanity (Chris, Matt, Morph, Zoe)
Very drunken, and again fun, but I got some duff cards and I think everyone was a bit more tired than drunk so it didn’t spark in quite the same way as before. We played to five and Matt won it by one from everyone else – except me, who didn’t get a single point. Perhaps we’ll be house ruling dumping unfunny cards in future!
January 6
Space Dogsbody (Carl, Chris, Howie)
I find it interesting that despite the fact I’ve got a huge wall of games, the guys actually requested a print-and-play on standard A4 card and with clip art graphics. As I’ve said before, this could really be a hit if released. I got the booster as my start item and it really does give you a boost; I think our last three games have been won by the booster player. That said, it’s probably because it’s the one that adds the most obvious strategy – in time, I think several of the other starter items will really show their worth. I’m actually starting to think about pimping this out a little bit myself.
King of Tokyo (Carl, Chris, Howie)
A surprise gift from my Secret Santa (as it wasn’t near the top of my wishlist), I’m a fan of the simplicity of this little push-your-luck game. That said, I tend to push it a bit far – but when it’s this short, who cares? Last out, Carl won it.
King of Tokyo (Carl, Chris, Howie)
Ooh, déjà vu – last out, but this time Howie won. I’m not sure they were overly impressed with the game though and I’m a little bit worried it won’t really find a place in any of my groups. We’ll see.
January 7
NEWUruk: Wiege der Zivilisation (Chris, Zoe)
This was a Secret Santa gift and it’s a cracker. Took a while to get to grips with the rules version I printed off, but once we got going it was great fun. I won a really close game 26-25 but my mind was racing at the end with all the possible strategies. I’m looking forward to playing this one a lot more – it’s fascinating.
NEWBarista (Chris, Zoe)
This comes with lovely components but no game. Roll four dice, get dealt four cards and hope they match what it said on the dice. If not, draw and discard (with a couple of predictable action cards thrown in – reroll die, steal card etc) until someone does match them and wins a point. Utter shite. Zoe won three hands in a row to take the win – I’m just glad I didn’t win any, as it would’ve prolonged the tedium. One plus point: I like the colour of the ‘3’ rating on BGG and don’t get to use it nearly often enough (its illustrious company: Poo, Monty Python Fluxx and Thunderstone).
January 8
Uruk: Wiege der Zivilisation (Andy, Carl, Chris)
I thought the guys would enjoy this one and so it turned out. Once you get through the first couple of rounds you really start to see the cogs beginning to turn – an amazing amount of game for such a small box. I predict this will be one of my most-played of 2013, as it seemed to play well as both two and three-player due to the lack of conflict – but then you have the auctions too, for that bit of spice. It was very close, with Andy pipping me by a point (22-21) and Carl just behind us on 17.
January 9
King of Tokyo (Chris, Zoe)
I may well be destined for a long, sorry string of defeats at this one! It certainly isn’t much of a two-player game, but I wanted to introduce it to Zoe so we gave it a quick go. Suffice it to say I pushed my luck and lost – I see a pattern emerging… And again, Zoe didn’t see too excited about the game. We’ll have to see if Morph and Davina take to it, otherwise it might hit the trade pile very quickly indeed.
January 12
Space Dogsbody (Andy, Carl, Chris)
I knew Carl liked this and Andy hadn’t played, so out it came again. It was a fun game and one I thought I played well in; using my initial upgrade (bunks) well by picking up a tourist who wanted to see some action and then stocking up on lasers to pick off the pirates. Luckily I got to exactly 50 cash on a round where neither of the other guys was in a position to increase their haul, leaving them on 38 (Carl) and 28.
Plato 3000 (Andy, Carl, Chris)
This was new to the guys and went down surprisingly well. Andy had a terrible start, scoring -7 in round 1 and 5 in round 2, but fought back into contention by the end. I grabbed the win on a lucky last card play that put me over 100 (104) ahead of Carl (92) and Andy (84). While this isn’t as big and clever as Glory to Rome – the game I got it free courtesy of – I get the feeling Plato 3000 will be seeing a lot more plays. It riffs really nicely on the rummy mechanism, adding a level of complexity by giving different ‘suits’ special actions if they’re in your tableau. The steam punk art is really nice too; the only letdown is the typically crappy CGF card stock (like the original Glory to Rome).
January 13
Maori (Chris, Zoe)
Always a winner, this 30-minute brain burner is one of my favourite quick two-player experiences. Beautiful and elegant, when played with two it’s random enough to keep you guessing but strategic enough that you feel the player that played best tends to win. I was wobbling early on this time, especially after Zoe completed a lei, but I managed to get huts on all my islands and overwhelm her 38-34 almost purely on double-scored trees.
Ticket to Ride: Switzerland (Chris, Zoe)
Hardcore rules, as always, but for a change – I won! After no Switzerland wins for me in 2012 (0-7), I picked one off straight away in 2013. In fairness I managed to get really easy cards that meant all my routes ran from Austria to France, while dumping cards late in the game on the six-long route to grab 15 points happened to scupper Zoe’s chance of completing her last ticket. Shame, hehe. I scored over 100 for the first time in a while, with Zoe back around 70.
January 14
Uruk: Wiege der Zivilisation (Chris, Paul, Rich)
Another play of this wonderful little card game saw Guru Paul squeak out the narrowest of victories, 21 to our 20s. I found out tonight there is a new edition on the way, which I hope doesn’t change things too much – either making it worse, or meaning I have to buy another edition!
Courtier (Chris, Paul, Rich)
This AEG title is part of its new Tempest range, alongside the fantastic Love Letter. Unlike some I like the art of this new series, but unfortunately this game really missed the mark for me. It has a lot of luck, which I have no problem with, but unfortunately it also pretends to be a tactical game. You try to build towards something, but the nature of the game means the board can completely change (and I mean completely) before your next turn. There are six VP cards you may win on your turn (the checking of which makes the game drag horribly), and planning to try and get them seems to be what you’re meant to do, but the wholly random nature of the game means it amounts to nought. Instead you’re left vying for control of districts to get you bonus actions, while spreading your self thin in the hope luck goes your way and the right VP cards flip over at the right time. Rubbish. Paul won on 47.
January 15
NEWCorners (Brett, Chris, Matt, Tony)
Designer tony Carr had brought his latest prototype along; a simple abstract played on a seven-by-seven grid. Each player has a stack of tiles which are split into quarters, each of which has a number from 0-3. Players place them on the grip and score points for the sides that are touching other tiles, making corners more valuable (as you score two sides – or perhaps more – instead of just one. The first game showed promise but was a little underwhelming as there was a little too much luck in the tile draw and starting from the centre left little room for interesting choices.
Corners (Brett, Chris, Matt, Tony)
After much debate, game two started with the tiles being evenly distributed and with each of us laying our first tile out near the corners (a bit like Ingenious) to increase early game choices. It worked much better, with the debate switching to tile numbering rather than mechanisms. I look forward to seeing how this one develops.
Unpublished prototype x2 (Brett, Chris, Jim)
We played two mini card games Brett had brought along. The first didn’t do it for me, but worked very well – it was very abstract and I got no warmth from the mechanisms; but the second was really, really nice – a quick, light filler of hidden information where you’re trying to get the right pair of cards to complete a magic trick. I look forward to playing it again soon, with any luck.
January 16
Race for the Galaxy (Andy, Carl, Chris)
A big week of games continued with our first Race night of the year. Everyone was a bit rusty and it showed in the scores, with Andy’s solid 54 (finished in style with a 30-point consume) more than enough to comfortably beat me (34) and Carl, who ended on our equal worse score of all time – 13. He now holds best (86) and worst score titles!
Race for the Galaxy (Andy, Carl, Chris)
I pulled a nice win out of the bag in game two, powering to a quick 69 with a rare goods produce/consume tableau and a six-pointer to match, as well as a constant flow of VPs thanks to prestige points. Andy (34) and Carl (33) didn’t get much going at all.
Race for the Galaxy (Andy, Carl, Chris)
The last game of the night saw a rare draw, with Andy and me duking it out with very similar rare/novelty goods strategies. We ended up o 44 each after joking midgame we’d probably get the same points, die to our similar tactics. Again Carl just didn’t get going, completing a terrible night for him with a 23.
January 20
Reiner Knizia's Decathlon (Chris, Zoe)
We hadn’t played this fun little push-your-luck dice game for ages and as Zoe was ill she wanted to play something where her brain didn’t need to get involved! If you like this kind of dice game I’d thoroughly recommend it; I’d have been happy with this if I’d paid for it, so the fact it’ a free print and play rules sheet (from Knizia’s website) makes it more than a bargain. Unfortunately this wasn’t the closest of games, as I’d pretty much won it before the final event thanks to a big win early on. Zoe pulled back to within 13 points with three events to go, but I won it 220-202 in the end.
January 22
Unpublished prototype (Chris, Matt)
This was my second look at Matt’s work-in-progress Civ-style card game and it really seems to be taking shape. We played 75% of a game then had a good chat about it, talking through a few changes that I’m looking forward to seeing implemented for next time, hopefully next week. The game has a lot going on, with each card being usable in multiple ways. There are some interesting and innovative things in there which I think could be very popular.
January 23
Uruk: Wiege der Zivilisation (Andy, Carl, Chris)
This was our second game of Uruk and this time everybody ‘got’ it, making for a really interesting mix of tactics. There’s a lot of game here and it was interesting to see just how differently we all ended up. I went what I’d think is a pretty standard route, finishing with five cards out and my best score to date of 27. Carl got a small engine going early and nailed a load of cheap stones but struggled to make it count at the end, finishing with a good 24 with only four cards ever in his tableau. Andy went the bonus route and finished with six cards but never really got his production going, ending on 21 due to a lack of stones. A really good game though and one that I’m sure will be a regular in the 2013 rotation.
Ra (Andy, Carl, Chris)
Our first Ra of the year proved to be a real classic. There were four points in it going into the final round and it remained too close to call throughout. It came down to me gambling on one last tile from the bag and blowing it, pulling the last Ra tile and blowing it. This meant I had the lowest total in bidding tiles when I could’ve won it, leaving me last on 38 and making Carl the winner on 42 – just one ahead of Andy on 41. I worked out that during the game I’d taken -16 points in negatives!
January 26
Uruk: Wiege der Zivilisation (Chris, Zoe)
This was our second game and a might close one. We both got some good benefit from god tiles while I got hit with a village-destroying disaster, but I just managed to sneak it 30-29. We both saw some really interesting combos come up we hadn’t seen before, hence the improving scores, and I was excited to see this week that an expansion/reprint is planned. We’ll probably need some new cards in future, as I can see Uruk getting g played to death over the next few months. My favourite combo today was probably Ziggurat with Aqueduct, burning unused cubes to gain cards before restocking to four cubes.
Jaipur (Chris, Zoe)
After Zoe hammered me in round one (69-49), things swiftly swung back my way with a 70-55 and a closer epic 76-63 in the final round. I’m a little surprised this one gets such high marks, as there’s really not much to it – but that said, I’ve really enjoyed my plays to do date without really seeing any depth to the game. Jaipur is still a keeper though, for sure.
Jambo (Chris, Zoe)
Ouch. I tend to do pretty well at Jambo but I got my ass handed to me here, losing 60-47. I got a small market out before I needed it, never had more than two cards in my hand and basically played terribly. Zoe bided her time, got a hand together and thrashed the pants off of me. It might have been different if I’d pulled a few offensive cards, but none of the animals I picked up came along at the right time – and the way I was burning cards, it was hardly surprising. Hopefully I at least learnt a lesson.
January 28
Uruk: Wiege der Zivilisation (Chris, Matt)
Matt and I met up with the intention of talking about a new game we’re thinking about co-designing, but just ended up shooting the breeze and playing a few games. As Matt is into the idea of civ building card game I thought I’d introduce him to my current favourite, Uruk. He soon got the hang of it and just pipped me to the win on the final turn, 34-31. It’s been interesting to see how the scores have been rising from around 20 at first to around 30 now.
NEW Innovation(Chris, Matt)
We then moved on to a game I’d wanted to play for ages, Innovation. While I enjoyed the mechanisms I found it a little too luck based – but that’s probably because I got hammered. The splaying idea is a clever one, but I just didn’t get the cards that allowed me to do it enough – leaving Matt with the advantage in most symbols. Then he started stealing my scoring cards and it was all over in a very unsatisfying manner. I’d certainly like to play it some more to see how things change once you get used to the differing categories, as I’m sure it very much benefits those who know what’s coming later. I think I’ll end up preferring it Glory to Rome, although I’m not compelled to buy it after this first play. Maybe later though…
January 30
Race for the Galaxy (Andy, Carl, Chris)
I managed to record my third and fourth midweek Galaxies wins out of five games so far this year – chuffed. In fairness, I got a lot of luck in both games. In the first I went yellow and nailed not only the prestige lead throughout but also three of the three-point tiles, plus a large haul of alien worlds for a fast 66 Andy 43, Carl 40).
Race for the Galaxy (Andy, Carl, Chris)
Next I went rebel and again got the cards I needed. I again got and kept the prestige lead, but only won by racing to a full tableau on 49 – Andy (38) was fast catching me on a produce/consume hand. Carl again failed to get anything going – this has to be his leanest streak in a year.
Revolution! (Andy, Carl, Chris)
We hadn’t played Revolution for ages and I’m not really sure why, as we all enjoy it. This was probably one of our closest games to date, with it going down to the final round. I got to play the spy in the last round but was just too far out of it to get the win – which I instead gave to Andy (on 168) after he persuaded me switching with Carl was my only chance. I don’t think I had a chance either way, but well done him for convincing me! Carl was just behind on 159 with me on 154.