Report 2 from The 2008 Gathering of Friends

The 2008 Gathering of Friends has been over for a week now, and with the benefit of some additional reflection I offer my thoughts on some more new and new-ish games.

• Big Points: This 15-minute abstract game from designers Brigitte Ditt and Wolfgang Ditt finds players moving pawns across a path of wooden discs, collecting one of the two discs adjacent to where they stop. When the pawns are moved onto the staircase at the end of the path, the value of the like-colored discs becomes known. This is a light game, but after just one play I'm inclined to believe there more deeper strategic opportunities than were first apparent.

• Darjeeling: Players compete to ship crates of tea in this design from Günter Burkhardt. It's a middleweight strategy game that requires players to keep tabs on several areas. Although I enjoyed it, I did not come away with a strong desire to play again.

• Felix the Cat in the Sack: Friedemann Friese designed this lightweight, family-friendly auction game. ("Cat in the sack" is apparently a German saying roughly equivalent to the English "pig in a poke.") Each player starts the game with an identical deck, but the first thing that happens is that one card is randomly discarded from each (so no one knows for sure what cards are available). Each card has a value, most positive but some negative. At the start of a round, each player plays one facedown card (creating the "sack"). In turn, they either bid on the sack or pass. Chips are earned for passing, but the later in the round a player passes, the more chips he earns. Every time a player drops out, one of the cards is turned face-up -- giving the remaining players more information about the value of the sack. I enjoy auction games, and Felix was no exception.

• Fleet 1715: A logic puzzle shaped into a solid game, designed by Stephan Riedel.

• Game X: Valerie Putman and Dale Yu are developing this prototype for Rio Grande Games (the real title is yet to be determined), and it was among the most-played games at the event. I can't say anything more about it, but I look forward to gushing a bit when it gets released.

• Ghost Stories: Another outstanding prototype, this cooperative game was designed by Antoine Bauza. Players move through a house, using special powers to hunt ghosts. Eric Martin has posted an excellent summary of the gameplay at Boardgamenews.com.

• Hanging Gardens: The first game design by Din Li, Hanging Gardens is an excellent family strategy game. Players first choose cards to build their gardens, restricted by an inability to build garden areas except on top of previously played areas (either garden or blank). When a player places three or more of a garden type adjacent, she can choose a tile which will be scored at the end of the game. The tiles work in connection with each other, so that players should collect sets to maximize their scoring. This is a truly excellent game, with a great balance between strategy and luck.

• Last Night on Earth: One player controls a hoarde of zombies, while each of the other players controls a character determined to help kill the zombies. There are numerous scenarios available with the game. Dice rolls determine movement, battle results, and how some of the cards are resolved. I had fun, but I wonder how much of it was based on the game and how much was because of the people I played it with.

• Rattlesnake: This is a very simple, very quick dexterity game for children. Players roll a die with various colors, and then must place a fairly large and powerful magnet on the board, touching a snake of that same color. When a group of magnets click together (and they will), the player who caused it to happen must take all of those magnets. The first player to place all of his magnets is the winner. Rattlesnake probably plays best with three players.