Sunday, January 31, 2016

Toys’R’Us

            I have to be careful with how many games I get and keep.  There are only so many times you can rearrange things to sneak that one additional box in.   Each game I get must have a purpose, a genre or mechanic I’m missing, or perhaps one that my wife or Game Night crowd will play.  Still there are games that rarely get to the table, but I’m unlikely to ever get rid of.  Ones such as Aliyah, which is basically Jewish Trivial Pursuit, that we sometimes broke out to take a break from card games at my grandmother’s house.  Diplomacy, which I’m usually short of playing by about 6 willing players, but I’ve not quite given up hope.  Then there is the only monopoly I own: Toys’R’Us: Times Square Edition.  Why this version of this maligned game?  Well…
            It was the summer before my junior year of college when I first invited my then girlfriend to visit my home in New York for the first time.  She arrived on her first flight ever, 25 minutes early, a thing that I didn’t even know was possible at the time*. 
*Still don’t really.  What is this early of which you speak? 
New York City proved to be overwhelming for the girl who grew-up surrounded by cornfields.  I eagerly showed her what I loved about New York, which also could be paid for by a broke college student, but had limited success.  Pizza and bagels were just pizza and bagels.  A Broadway show of Into the Woods resulted in money flying out of my hands faster than it ever had before, but to her it was, “meh.”  Plus having a girlfriend over was a new thing for me, and my family didn’t quite know how to deal with it, which led to some awkwardness and unpleasantries.
The 2nd day we spent in the city we ventured into Times Square. Filled with lights, people, and phrenic activity, she was anxiety ridden, overheated and becoming miserable.  I was frustrated by my inability to impress… And then, walking down the sidewalk, I realized she wasn’t next to me, and turned around to look for her.  I remember thinking, “wait, why is she stopped with an awestruck expression?”  I don’t remember what I asked next, but it doesn’t really matter as there is no question with an expected answer of “There is a Ferris Wheel!  In a toy store!”  I stood there baffled, as she repeated the proclamation, or at least the words of it she could stumble out, with the wide-eyed wonder of a child who had seen their favorite character in real life for the first time. 
            In front of us was the flagship Toys’R’Us, a 5 story building with a Ferris Wheel inside.  At the very front of the store, all the floors were cut-out, creating a soaring ceiling.  This multi-leveled opening allowed the large, elaborate Ferris Wheel to rein as focal point.  Each car had a different theme: M&M’s, Cabbage Patch Kids, Geoffrey, Toy Story and many more famous toys all had their own cars.     
We ventured into the store, by way of a foot path, which formed a little bridge over the open area where the Ferris Wheel presided.  We explored, finding a Candy Land themed candy section, a slushie machine on the tiny top floor, and giant lego sculptures, while she alternated between saying, “wow” and “how cool is that.” I insisted we ride the Ferris Wheel, because really, I was awed but mildly irritated that all it really took to entertain her was a $3 carnival ride. 
In the fourteen years since, we have ventured back into that store several time on subsequent trips, a refuge from the big angry city.  On one of those trips I picked up the monopoly game to give as a present. 

Sadly, Toys’R’Us has now closed that location for good, taking our special spot with it.  No one else will get to be amazed by the sight of a Ferris Wheel in a toy store.  Still, we have our memories and a monopoly game with its own mini Ferris Wheel.    And you never quite know when we will stumble across something new that gives my wife that sense of wonder and leaves me utterly confused.





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Sunday, January 24, 2016

Splendor


The IOS App.  This way we can play Splendor without bothering to get out of bed

 I enjoyed my first play of Splendor immensely. I thought my wife would like it and that it would fit  perfectly into my collection.  So I did what any loving frugal husband would do.  I bought it for a  Christmas present for friends, who happened to want to try it right away.  My wife really enjoyed it  and asked if we could acquire it. Sure I said, budget to pick the next game we purchase.  Who says chivalry is dead? 

Publisher:

Space Cowboy

Designer:

Marc Andre

Elevator Pitch:


Each turn you may take chips, purchase a card with said chips, or reserve a card and get a wild chip.  Cards purchased each provide a permanent chip that makes future purchases cheaper.  Acquire 15+ points through buying card with points or matching the colors of nobles and you will be victorious.  

Personal Impression:

I like games with engine building mechanisms. You start by acquiring small things, which in turn help you acquire progressively bigger and better things.  Splendor is that mechanism distilled into its own game.   It is simple and fast to teach and play, yet retains diverse paths to victory.  The balance of the cards has been perfected to the point that what you want to do always feels like it’s just out of reach, leaving each game as a challenging puzzle of how you are going to make do.   





Good for People who Grew up Playing:

Poker.  Not for the people who enjoyed the complex strategies and interactions of the game.  More for people who really like playing with their chips.
  
Ease of Learning:

The rules are so short that I always think I'm forgetting to mention something.  It should only take a couple of turns for anyone to get the hang of the basics.  The learning curve however, is surprisingly steep.  It is difficult to balance between getting cheap cards to build your engine, going for points, and achieving nobles.


Fidgety Index

Extremely high quality poker chips are fun to play with, though the occasional opponent may not appreciate being unable to quickly tell what you're holding.


Universal Theme:

Well there are pictures of historically real people, but that's about it.  You are collecting gems, but would make no difference if it was changed to anything else.


Player Count and Length:

Works well with 2-4 though the game plays differently depending on the count. Getting a few high point cards is more viable with four players, while there is more direct interaction with two.  Game takes about 20-30 minutes.

Expansions:

There are a few noble promo cards, but there are currently no expansions and none are really needed.

Spin Offs:

None

Introducing the Game to New Gamers: 

Don't purposely block what your opponents are doing and perhaps even go out your way to avoid doing so. 

Apps:

Very well done with viable AI opponents, a user friendly interface and a challenge mode that offers all sorts of interesting scenarios.  It only does pass and play mode for now, but even so, it has become our most common way to play the game.  The game’s only downside is that it drains the device’s battery rapidly and has a tendency to make it overheat.


Links:

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Catan


CATAN:


The groom's cake from our wedding.  7 flavors of geeky goodness.

Catan has played a pivotal role in my gaming life.  It was my gateway game, the one that let me discover the wonder of the modern gaming experience.  It also has been the most effective game I found to share that sensation with others.  Catan won me a trip to Origins in Ohio and with better dice rolling luck might have taken me to a castle in Germany.  It was present at our wedding as an edible delight.  We own numerous Catan games and accessories, including a plastic gaming board, playing cards, and even plushies of all the Catan resources.  Yeah, we like Catan.

Publisher:

Asmodee (formerly Mayfair)

Designer:

Klaus Teuber

Elevator Pitch:

Players work on colonizing the island of Catan, by collecting resources and using them to build roads, cities, and settlements.

Personal Impression:

I don’t get to play Catan much anymore, but I’m still happy to join in whenever it is suggested.  While some of the rating is nostalgic, I still really enjoy the gameplay.  I love the dice rolling, rooting for the gods of probability to stay home, so you can get that key 2 with a city of ore.  The multiple paths to victory feel very different, I can win by circling the board with roads and settlements, or stay local and build up cities and perhaps a grand army.  The variable board setup make games feel very different as a resource might be plentiful one game, but scarce the next.  Not all game sessions are as fun, sometimes you get trapped and have nothing to do, the dice decide to hate you, or the resource trading is painfully protracted, but I find those less enjoyable sessions a small minority. 

 
Good for People who Grew up Playing:

Monopoly
  
Ease of Learning:

Turns are pretty simple, you roll dice, collect resources, and then optionally play a card, make trades or build/buy one of four things.   Winning is simple too, get 10 points by doing the half of dozen or so things that score.  There is more to it than of course, but not so much that new player won’t be able to understand what is going on.


Fidgety Index

Wooden settlements, road, and cities let you build a mini metropolis.


Universal Theme:

Gathering resources and building up a civilization on an empty island isn’t exactly relatable, but it matches up with the gameplay well.  Turning resources into buildings is logical except perhaps when you manage to make a road entirely out of sheep.




Player Count and Length:

3-4. Can increase the range to 2-6 with expansions and variants, but best to stick to the original numbers.  Game takes about an hour and a half, but can be longer if players take the trading aspect little too seriously.

Expansions:

Chances are you have heard of Catan even if you are not a gamer.  This means Catan has been wildly successful and spun-off countless expansions and variants.  The lists below thus aren’t complete, but should contain all the main items.

Seafarers adds scenarios that involve exploring islands around Catan.  I like being able to discover and claim new hexes as well as the increased usefulness of sheep for shipping lanes, though it does lengthen the game some.

Cities & Knights is many people’s preferred way to play Catan, but it does add length and complexity to the base game, as well as a bit more direct conflict.  The main additions are knights to protect you from barbarian invaders and commodities that allow the purchase of city improvements.   Seafarers is good if you want more of the same while Cities and Knights is good for a little different feel.

Traders and Barbarians is less a full on expansion and more a compellation of stuff, some rereleases of promos or mini expansions and some new.   It includes rules for 2 players and is compatible with just the base game or the other expansions as well. 

Explorers and Pirates  is the newest large expansion, Explorers adds five new scenarios to the game.  Play involves three islands instead of one with two needing their landscape to be discovered.  It also replaces cities with port settlements and provides gold to compensate for rolls where players get no resources.


5-6 Player expansions, available for the base game and the above expansions as well as Starfarers.  Good if you have larger groups of people, but extra players slow down the game considerably, so it might be best to split into multiple games.
  
Spin Offs:

Starfarers of Catan:  Catan in space!  Has overdeveloped and fragile pieces, but man are they cool.  Instead of building on an island, you are colonizing the galaxy, establishing trade with alien federations, and fight pirates.  Gameplay is a tad more repetitive than the original, but it is a fun change of pace.  Plus those pieces.

Starship Catan:  You Must Fight!  The 2 player version of Starfarers, you get build up your ship and complete missions.  Cool in concept, but painfully slow, which led me to eventually trade it away.

Star Trek Catan:  Good for the person who sees Catan and says, “that looks okay, but do you have anything geekier.”

Catan Adventures:  These games are ostensibly new games with limited crossover to Catan.  Currently there are two-- Canadmir:The First Settlers and Elasund: The First City.

Catan Histories.  A series of games based on historical time periods.  There are currently four: Settlers of the Stone Age, Settlers of America: Trails to Rails, Struggle for Rome, and Merchants of Europe.  These games still have Catan elements, but vary greater than other spin-offs. I have only played the first two, and was left unimpressed.  Trail to Rails was particularly disappointing.  It is a neat looking map, Catan hexes over America, but the game elements were not integrated well, and it ended being a monotonous drawn out affair.   

Settlers of Canaan:  A biblical licensed spinoff, play as a tribe of Israel and build the wall of Jerusalem along with your regular Catan duties.

Settlers of Zarahemla:  Similar is Canaan except for Mormonism and building a temple instead of a wall.

Catan Card Game:  Has an expansion that adds more decks.  Makes Catan into a 2 player game where you draw cards from communal decks and build a tableau of settlements and buildings in front of you.  You can choose to use different themed decks that alter gameplay or even build your own customized decks.  It isn’t as good as the board game, but if you only have 2 people it will provide some of the same feel.

Rivals of Catan:  A redesigned and streamlined version of the Card Game.  I prefer it as it removes some of the clunky rules from original and greatly speeds up gameplay.  Two expansions, Age of Darkness and Age of Enlightment provide themed decks similar to the original.

Struggle for Catan:  Another card game, but this one supports multiple players and the lack of dice makes it less luck dependent than Rivals.

Catan Dice Game:  Available in a deluxe version.  A quick filler, closer to Yahtzee than it is Catan.

Simply Catan:  Designed to help you learn Catan by starting with a simpler version and allowing you to work your way up to the full game.

Kids of Catan:  A version for kids that strips the game of any interesting decisions.  Might be useful as a teaching tool, but probably not much value beyond that.

Catan Junior:  A better attempt at developing an enjoying game for children.  This one simplifies the rules and keeps more of the Catan feel and strategy.

Catan Geographies:  Paper maps of various regions such as Delmarva or Indiana & Ohio with rules for the scenarios.  They generally don’t have great replayability, but it can be fun to settle on one’s home turf.

3D Collectors Edition:  A special edition of Catan with Cities & Knights includes that commemorated the games 10th anniversary.  It features hand painted tiles and pieces and a special hardwood case.  There is also a wooden edition for the 15th anniversary that replaces the Cities & Knights material with the 5/6 player expansion.


Introducing the Game to New Gamers: 

Help people place their initial settlements as a bad start can be ruinous in a game of exponential growth.  Try not to block them and give them room to expand on the board.  Make any trade that is at least neutral for yourself.

Apps:

One of the more disappointing apps I’ve purchased.  The ai is awful, making consistently terrible decisions, and never providing any sort of a challenge.  The UI is finicky and you have to jump through multiple screens to make trades or pursue other activities.  Do not recommend.  If you need a fix, play online.


Links:




Sunday, January 10, 2016

Gateway Index

This section I try to say something personal yet witty.  Occasionally I succeed.

Publisher:

Designer:

Elevator Pitch:

Short explanation of the plot of a game.  We are not going into too much depth here, just giving a taste to see if it sounds interesting.

Personal Impression:

What I think of the game, which isn’t especially important until you happen to be trying to play a game with me.

Good for People Who Grew up Playing:

Many gateway games take element from popular but flawed older games that you may have played while growing up.  It is one of the main criteria I use to pick out what gateway game to introduce you to.  For instance, if you liked Risk, you will be a good candidate for Small World, while a card player will probably enjoy Tichu. 
                                                                                                                                       
Ease of Learning:

Since many of the people to whom you will be teaching these games will have little gaming experience, it is important that the rules be simple to understand for novices.  Particularly we will focus the complexity of taking a turn and understanding the goal of the game.     

Fidgety Index:

One of the difficulties in getting newcomers to play games is holding their attention.  I may be excited to try new game mechanics, but someone else might just see bits of cardboard.  However, if players have something to do while they learn and play the game, such as build a mini city of meeples or examine interesting art they may be more engaged.  Fidgety index measures how good a game is at keeping players interested with things auxiliary to gameplay.

Universal Theme:

How strong is the theme?  How much does it relate to game play and how much will the average person care about?

Player Count and Game Length:

With how many players can the game be played?  How many players should the game play?

Expansions:

In business speak we call this vertical integration.  Some individuals would rather add to games they like rather than trying new ones.  Luckily many gateway games offer numerous expansions to part you with your money.  This section looks at which expansions you should add to the base game and which you can do without.

Spinoffs:

Games that are not direct expansions, but similar in theme, mechanics, or design.

Introducing the Game to Novices:

It can be hard to teach people new games.  If you are an established gamer, the chances are high that you are going to be better than a gaming newbie, particularly if you played a particular game numerous times before.  You usually don’t want to mercilessly crush people you are introducing to the hobby, but you also want to avoid playing down to them.  This section is advice on how to navigate that divide to ensure that new players get to experience what is enjoyable about these games.  This advice isn’t right for all players, overly aggressive people might want a cutthroat introduction, but it generally will help you not be a jerk.

Apps:

Talks about the digital applications of games or other ways to play the game virtually.  I have mainly Apple devices, so the focus will usually be on ios.

Links:


Places to buy, play, or learn more about games.

Ticket to Ride

Ticket To Ride

No Ticket to Ride collection is complete without Pumpkin trains and every map ever made

I first played Ticket to Ride at a local meet-up, shortly after moving to Somerville.  We also played Puerto Rico which I liked better, though my wife preferred Ticket to Ride.  Since then, we have bought about half a dozen Ticket to Ride games, and played them probably in excess of one hundred times.  I recently played Puerto Rico for the 2nd time.   You can tell whose opinions matter more here.

Publisher:

Days of Wonder

Designer:

Alan Moon

Elevator Pitch:

You are collecting colored sets of train cards in order to play trains between cities on a map.  Your main goal is to connect between destinations specified on the tickets that you have drawn

Personal Impression:

I find the connecting of routes in Ticket to Ride quite satisfying, particularly if it can be done in completely illogical ways.  You probably didn’t think Calgary was on the way between New York and Chicago, but you my friend would be mistaken.   As long as I have am able to do my thing, I don’t tend to care too much about my relative placement.  Of course it helps to play with players who share that mindset.  While I’m fine with games in general being merciless, I’m not sure I’d enjoy a Ticket to Ride game where my opponents were going out of their way to block me.


Good for People who Grew up Playing:

Rummy style games.  Or with trains
  
Ease of Learning:

Your options of what to do one a turn are very simple, generally either take two train cards or lay train, so new players should have no difficulty getting into the flow.  There are more rules than that, but you should be able to teach and remind new players of other rules throughout the game.


Fidgety Index

Everyone likes playing with trains!  You have 45 to arrange in any manner you like.  Unfortunately you will have to put them on the board throughout the game taking away from your timeless design.


Universal Theme:

Unless you are the homiest of homebodies, traveling across the country is relate-able


Player Count and Length:

2-5
            Works okay with any count, though the game can be markedly different depending on the number. Factors like whether double routes are allowed can make the map feel incredibly tight, or fairly wide open.  The game should take somewhere in the hour – hour and half range,

Expansions:

USA 1910 is the only direct expansion and is pretty much a must get for anyone who has played the base Ticket Ride more than a handful of times.  It adds full size cards that are easier to use than the original mini-cards, additional ways to play, and, most importantly, increases the diversity of routes.

The Dice Game:  We own the dice game, but haven’t used it yet, mostly on the universal thought that it is a terrible addition to the game.  The game replaces the train cards from the base game with dice, but doesn’t appear to improve things in any way.

Alvin & Dexter:  Sometimes expansions are logical extension of games.  Alvin & Dexter is not one of those expansions.  An offshoot of an aborted Japan map, Alvin & Dexter are an attempt to bring Godzilla type monsters to your Ticket to Ride game.  I haven’t tried them, nor do I have any intention of changing that.

The rest of these items come with a map(s) and destination cards.  You need to use the tokens, trains and train cards from the base game or the Europe version to play them.

Switzerland is a smaller map only playable with 2 or 3.  There is a clear best path on the map, so you need to be aggressive in keeping your opponent(s) from getting it. 

Map Collection 1:  Team Asia and Legendary Asia:  Team Asia adds a partnership element to the game.  You share tickets with your partner, but only know some of the tickets and train cards your partner has.  You must anticipate where your partner is going or risk the wrath of dirty looks and elbow jabs.  Legendary Asia was designed by a contest winner.  Its main challenge is difficult mountain routes that require trains to be sacrificed along with train cards.     

Map Collection 2:  India and Switzerland (Reprint):  India rewards connected tickets via multiple different routes, which changes the game play quite a bit.  You end up spending a lot of time working on making loops instead of getting more tickets.

Map Collection 3: Heart of Africa: Africa eschews the balance that most Ticket to Ride games shoot for in favor of segregation.  Double routes congregate on the coast leaving the “heart” of the maps a cluster of easily blocked single routes.  The colors are assembled by region as well with red, yellow, and orange in the north and south, green, blue, and purple across the middle, and black, white, and gray along the coasts.  Added to the new color focus are terrain cards that can double your route cards if played with the corresponding color.  All this leads to a more focused game where you have a better idea of you and your opponents want, but have to somehow figure out how to get a lot more of the colors you need.

Map Collection 4: Netherlands: This is the map to play if you enjoy score inflation.  There are many routes available between cities, but players have to play tolls to the bank or other players when they build track.  Having the most coins left at the end of game is worth a bucket full of points, which are partially balanced to greatly enhanced ticket values.

Map Collection 5: UK and Pennsylvania:  The newest Ticket to Ride arrived in Late 2015.  The UK side adds a tech tree; you start by only being able to build short routes in England proper and have to buy tech with locomotives (wild cards) to do more.   It is a pretty map, and a fascinating concept, but it feels like it could have used more playtesting and development.  Initial play seems to show there is a lack of balance with the routes, tickets, and tech, and worse, the winning strategies, like always take cards off the top of the deck to maximize wilds, are boring.  I was less excited to try the Pennsylvania map, but now find it to be the more interesting one.  The map layout is similar to that of the U.S., but there isn’t a best train path, so routes can be more varied.  Stocks add a nice little wrinkle. They don’t drastically effect game play, but can help guide decisions. 
  
Spin Offs:

Europe, Marklin, and Nordic are full Ticket to Ride games that are playable out of the box

Europe:  Like the USA, Europe makes a good introductory Ticket to Ride if the players are familiar with the geography.  It is a little more complex than the base game adding tunnels, ferries, and train stations to the core mechanics.   However the train stations allow players to reach blocked routes making it a bit more forgiving then its predecessor.  I think I prefer Europe to the original as the tickets are better balanced and there isn’t a best path. The 1912 expansion adds additional material to the Europe Game making players long routes less predictable.

Marklin (Germany):  One of the more complicated Ticket to Ride versions, Marklin, which is a type of train, adds passengers to the game.  Three times during a game you can run a passenger along your trains grabbing available scoring tokens at some of the cities along the way. Traveling early ensuring higher point tokens, while late travel allow for longer paths. It’s a good version for players who would otherwise find Ticket to Ride too light. 

Nordic: The most distinguishing feature of Nordic is the snowcapped train cards.  It is a smaller map, only playable with two or three players, but it has an interesting vertical design.  Lots of ways traverse the map with varying degrees of difficulty.  It can be frustrating not to get the color train card you are shooting for, as in this version locomotives aren’t useable as wilds in most circumstances.  Still it is one my favorite maps.

The Card Game:  Ticket to Ride without the map.  If you’re wondering why you should bother, it is a good thought, so run with it.

10th Anniversary Edition:   A decked out anniversary edition of the base game.


Introducing the Game to New Gamers: 

Do not go out of your way to block opponents particularly by taking key routes that have long work rounds.  In fact, I have altered my own trajectory when I thought an alternate route would be a minor harm, but a major disruption for my opposition.  Don’t rush the end game and ensure players have enough turns to finish what they were working on.

Apps:

There are actually a few Ticket to Ride Apps which makes things a little complicated.  The main Ticket to Ride app was recently revamped and now allows asynchronous play across all ios devices, android, and steam.  It starts with the U.S. map while allowing several other maps and expansions to be purchased.  The ai is weak, but that is just about the only flaw.  It has a great interface, including some features like finding your ticket locations on the map that improve upon playing the game in person.  Ticket to Ride Pocket was made as a cheap ios phone only version of the U.S. map.  It is no longer necessary given the universal nature of the other app, but is popular enough that Days of Wonder will continue to support it.  My wife has played it hundreds of time, and has enjoyed trying to accomplish achievements like scoring 400 points in a game.  There were also Ticket to Europe, and Ticket to Ride Europe Pocket versions of the game that were discontinued when the revamp occurred.



Links: