Wow,

It has been some time since I updated, lots has happened during that time. I am not even going to get into cataloging all the gaming sessions that have been. I will say that I have recently procured Pandemic by Z-Man and have found it to be most enjoyable. It is a cooperative game where each player takes on the role of one of five workers for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta GA. Each player moves around the world working to find cures for each of four diseases. The game can be very challenging. Each role has benefits for being in the game, that are sorely missed when they are not in the game. Already I have been thinking about ways to expand the game, adding in a fifth disease, a sixth role, something else that is not there yet. Anyway, I implore you to find a copy of it and give it a go.

I have also tried, and enjoyed Frontiers by Asmodee. A quick minis game with easy to learn rules. Everything you need for two players is in the box. Play is fast, with lots of room for tactics. Pick this up if you like the shooty-shooty.

Thats all for now, hopefully I will get back to the session reports soon.

Dan

Friday December 7th

After work (I work at the Source Comics and Games in Falcon Heights MN) I headed to the back of the store to get in some games. I had loaded the car with Battlelore, Duel in the Dark, Race for the Galaxy, and La Citta.

The room was full. People were playing Close Action, over a dozen. There were three RPG sessions going. and two games of Munchkin. There were two board games being played, Cuba and some 18XX game. The Cuba game was going quickly, as they were playing I was observing and reading the rules, the game looks interesting and I would like to give it a go, however it does seem so much like Puerto Rico. At some point another guy showed up and was wanting to play a game. We connected and pulled out Duel in the Dark.

We played two nights, I was the Germans, it was rough, after the second night he had over 30 VP's There was no way I could make that up the following night, so I acquiesced. First he targeted Dresden, following the sea until turning over land. I did well on the raid, but he ended at +5 points. Then he went for Munich, along the south edge of the board. He did not go over a single flack on the way to the target, once at the target, the mossie bombed the flak and he escaped with many points.

After that was finished we grabbed two others and played Race for the Galaxy. This game went much better for me. After about 20 min of explanation we were off. I took a gamble during the mid-game and went to finish off the game by building my 12th item. I won by 4 points, as I had a bunch of small buildings. Though I was able to build a 6 cost development that allowed me to score a bunch of points for other developments I had already built. It was fun and I look forward to playing it again. I hope the expansions come out quick enough. I have heard that the first run is entirely out in the public's hand now, and have no idea when the game will be back on the shelves again.

Thats all for now.

Thanks for reading.

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

Third time is a charm?

This is the third time I have attempted to start this blog. Here is a quick report on a game night held a couple of weeks ago at a friend's house.

We started the night with a vegetarian potluck. Jay M. made some awesome potatoes, Jay C brought a great salad, Josh brought juice and salad from The Wedge, Heather and I made black bean wraps. It was good eating and there was nearly too much food.

After dinner the question was posed, what did I bring? The answer, Niagara, Ticket to Ride and, Feise Freunde, Fette Feten. After a brief explanation of FFFF everyone thought that sounded like fun, if not a bit deviant so we decided on that. Another consideration was that the other two had been played in the recent past.

FFFF was a bit longer than normal, but within the expectations of the first time for this group. Everyone loved the game, many laughs were had. I feel that if the game were not so adult themed that it would be a great game for the Spiel des Jahres. It is a great gateway game with the right group of people. Josh ended up winning by being silent and staying out of things when Jay M accused Heather of being close and drove the price up on a card Heather needed so that she would be able to win.

After that Jay C stepped aside and we played Niagara with four players. The game went very quickly as we had all played before. I ended up winning by getting seven gems. This game is great, I expect that it will be some time before I tire of the game.

During Niagara, a couple of people showed up, breaks were taken to tell them about FFFF, now there are even more people interested in the game. It will be played again.

That's about it from the evening and the first post of this new for the third time blog.

Dan