Hey all,

Yesterday afternoon I was over at a friends house and we played some games. Manhattan, Municipium, and Condottiere were on the table.

Manhattan went well, left us a bit blah, but the game is 13 years old. Newly reprinted from Rio Grande Games, we were playing the original Hans im Gluck version, imported by Mayfair. Each player gets 24 building, placing 6 each round, thus four rounds in the game. The buildings are placed in any of six cities, atop any building previously placed in one of the nine spaces. There are considerations when placing, you can not cap a building if you do not place a piece that brings your total equal to, or higher than the other. The game went well, and is very teachable to non-gamers. Had I played it 12 years ago, I would have liked it much more I think. Now we have Torres, Alhambra, and Attica, all three great games, and with a more modern flair. I say grab it, if you are new to the games scene, pass if you have played the three games listed above.

Municipium was simply great. Classic Knizia, lots of options, many ways to score points and well themed. This was a pre-production demo copy that we had at the store, so the graphics and bits were not that great. Valley Games will be publishing this soonish and it is sure to be a hit. Grab this one when it comes out, you will not be sorry.

Condottiere, was the last game of the evening. This went quick, we played the recent FFG version of the game. New card art, new cards and a smaller package differentiate this from the previous Euro-Games printing. The play is quick, with players playing cards like a trick taking game, with a ton of bluffing like poker. This may take some time to ramp up the likeablity scale, but it plays up to six, and is not that crazy when it gets that high. I say grab it.

My hope with this blog is to report on gaming activities that I am involved in. Shortly after playing the games, I will come here and let you know what happened. Also, I will be putting up the occasional editorial where I talk about what I see happening in the game industry.

Game on,
Dan