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Games I'm Playing
It was another great day of gaming last Saturday with the Iron Valley Gamers at Tom and Dana's house. We worked in seven games from noon to midnight, with two meals (including Dana's spaghetti with homemade sauce) and plenty of great conversation interspersed throughout. But you, the intrepid SMG reader, care little for our ramblings. You want to know about the games. You shall not be denied.
Carabande
Mark and I began the day with a three-lap race of this flicking race game, in which he opened up a substantial lead. I managed to come back enough that the race was neck-and-neck after about 2.5 laps. But Mark pulled away again and emerged with the win.
Antoni Gaudi Tile Game
Five of us played this new game based on tile designs by Gaudi, an architect. The hexagonal tiles are very colorful, and it's a beautiful thing to watch the board grow as the game progresses.
The game begins with each player drawing two cards: one that shows what shape they're playing for, and one that shows what color they're playing for. You get one point for completing a pattern of your shape or color; two points if you complete a pattern that fits both. On a turn, players lay down one to three tiles (with certain restrictions), trying to create patterns that will earn themselves points while shutting out other players.
Just three colors and three shapes are available, helping to prevent the game from becoming excessively complex -- but also causing a potentially unbalanced situation where one player has an advantage by trying to complete a color and shape not being competed for by other players.
The Antoni Gaudi Tile Game is definitely on the abstract side, so players who enjoy themed games won't be immediately attracted to it. And Mark didn't feel that much strategy was involved (although some at the table opined that he thinks that way about any game he doesn't win). My take is that it's a nice change-of-pace game, a bit unlike anything else in my collection. I'd like to try it again with just two or three players to see how it feels.
Scores: Dana, 7; Tom, 6; Amy, 5; Erik, 5; Mark 4.
Like Dogs and Cats (aka Wie Hund und Katz)
All six of us took part in this fairly chaotic and deceptively vicious (in the good sense of the word) card game. For a six-player game, 12 cats and dogs are laid out on the table. Players feed them fish and bones. Fish are good (+1 each) for cats, bad (-1 each) for dogs. The opposite is the case for bones. There also are action cards which can be played, some quite powerful (e.g. switch all cards fed to one animal with those fed to another animal). But once an animal is "full" (any combination of five fish and bone cards played on it), it can't be affected any longer.
If you dislike games that can have significant swings in fortune, avoid this one. But I find it to be an enjoyable, light game with a theme that will appeal to many families. Of course, the family would need to be able to handle a game that includes numerous opportunities to hose other players.
Scores: Dana, 66; Tom, 64; Mark, 54; Beth, 53; Amy, 43; Erik, 30.
Seeing those scores listed in black and white, I hasten to add that Mark seriously hosed me by removing one of my ownership blocks and replacing it with one of his own. Of course, I still wouldn't have won.
AMC Reel Clues
I'm a big movie fan, although my memory of the movies I've seen is sometimes lacking. My personal highlight during this game was pulling out Cape Fear on a very thin clue -- something about the bad guy biting someone. I'm still not sure how I got it right.
The game is a mix of fairly standard party and trivia game elements -- in three of the five categories, you can easily see a little Taboo, a dash of Pictionary, and some Charades. The other two are pure trivia. In one, players have a limited time to guess the movie being described in a series of five clues. The fewer clues it takes you to get it right, the better your score. In the other, you're given a list of three movies and asked which one, based on the director or a co-star, doesn't fit.
AMC Reel Clues is worth picking up if you're a movie buff.
Score: Amy, Mark and Tom defeated Beth, Dana and Erik.
Modern Art
This marked a first play of this Reiner Knizia auction game for all five of us who took part. The game has been described as "fragile," meaning that if experienced players are competing against novice players, the novices can cause throw the game out of whack by making bad bids.
Players are competing to acquire paintings by five different artists, but the paintings only have value if they're by an artist who is among the three most popular in any given round. And the players make informed decisions about which paintings are auctioned each round, providing plenty of opportunity for tactical and strategic thinking.
Each round, one of the artists will be worth $30,000, another $20,000, and another $10,000. The other two won't be worth anything. The scoring gets slightly more complicated in later rounds, as the value of an artist's paintings is whatever it is in that round plus any previous rounds. (The exception is that if an artist's paintings are worth $0 in a given round, previous rounds are not added -- all paintings from that artist are worth $0 for the given round.)
Our actual results are listed in the table below. So paintings by Christin P. were worth $20,000 after round 1, $0 after rounds 2 and 3, and $40,000 after round 4. Kyrpto's paintings were worth, in order, $10,000, $40,000, $70,000, and $0.
We all enjoyed the game, and as a fan of auction games I'd be willing to play again anytime. But I am curious to hear from anyone who has more experience with Modern Art whether or not those results and our final scores are respectable.
Scores: Tom, $392; Beth, $295; Erik, $263; Mark, $220; Dana, $206.
Piece of the Action
This game was designed by Sid Sackson, but as far as I've been able to discern was never published in any form. I acquired the rules for it in a box of papers sold at the fall 2002 auction of many of his games and personal papers and made a playable version using two decks of cards and a lot of stickers. It feels something like a less intricate, card game version of Kohle, Kie$ and Knete.
The deck has about 100 cards in it, divided into three suits. Some cards are simply additions or subtractions (+1, -1, +2, -2, etc.), while others allow you to perform special actions (give yourself or another player a piece of the action; move one, two or three cards; reverse the value of the deal for a particular player; etc.). You're allowed to play cards in a particular hand (each hand represents a deal) until you pass; if you choose to pass, you can no longer play cards for that deal. But this doesn't necessarily stop other players from playing cards on you.
The value of a deal is determined by what cards have been played to the pot, either increasing or decreasing the value of a particular deal (but never making it worth zero). There are also three "X" markers shuffled into the deck. Each one multiplies the value of the deals. So after all three are in play (the game starts with a fourth already on the board), the value of all deals is multiplied by four. Players begin with 50 points each and can not drop below zero.
Each round, one player is the Leader and automatically gets one piece of the action. Other players can get into the deal by playing piece of the action cards in front of themselves, or by having someone else play a piece of the action card in front of them. It is permissible to have multiple piece of the action cards in front of you; someone who has two such cards would double the value of the deal (positive or negative) for scoring purposes. The game gets really wild when action cards like "move two cards" or "reverse" are tossed in.
With three players, each starts with 10 cards and refreshes his or her hand to 10 after each deal is scored. Fluctuations can be dramatic -- about halfway through the game, our score was Erik, 147; Beth, 100; Tom, 0. By the end of the game, after about seven or eight deals had been completed, the scores were much different: Beth, 162; Tom, 147; Erik, 13.
We also played Piece of the Action once at a previous Iron Valley Gamers gathering, with six players. It's a much different game with that many playing, and I don't think it was as fun, since each player has a smaller hand (six cards) and thus cannot participate in the deals as often. Scores: Dana, 229; Tom, 197; Beth, 186; Mark, 182; Erik, 150; Amy, 111.
Elfenland
Beth and I had played Elfenland as a two-player game in the past, and enjoyed it thoroughly. After Tom left to watch a boxing match (the man has a completely whacked set of priorities sometimes), five of us settled in to move our elves from city to city via troll wagons, dragons, unicorns, rafts, and giant pigs.
We all travelled around the map fairly well, and the game had a tight finish. An interesting note is that Beth, the winner, never used her "trouble" token -- which makes it more difficult to cross the chosen path on the board and can significantly disrupt other players' plans.
Scores: Beth, 20-0=20; Dana, 19-0=0; Amy, 18-0=18; Erik, 18-0=18; Mark, 19-1=18.
Games I Can See While Sitting At My Computer
This was a good week for game arrivals in the Arneson household, as some retail orders and eBay auction winnings all arrived on Wednesday:
Keep your eyes open for some news about the Gamers' Choice Awards, which I believe have quickly become one of the most respected and important awards given to games, in the coming months. For now, here's a look back at the best games to win a GCA so far.
From RuthieBabie108:
Boardgames Poll of the Week
Which of these games, sold recently on eBay, would you most like to own?
Last Week's Poll Results
Which of these upcoming games by Alan R. Moon are you most looking forward to?
It's never too late to add your vote!
About Something Else Site of the Week
Valentine's Day will be here before you know it. About.com's Dating Guide, Brenda Ross, offers some collected wisdom on the Best Valentine's Day Gift Ever and also the Worst Valentine's Day Gift Ever. Read and learn.
Green Bay Packers Notes of the Week
Congratulations to former Packers wide receiver James Lofton, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame recently. And to head coach and general manager Mike Sherman for hiring former Jacksonville assistant John Bonamego to be the Packers' special teams coach. The hiring of Coach Bonamego should mark a huge step forward for our special teams. On that note, the Green Bay Packers Notes of the Week officially goes on hiatus until draft time.
Other Off-Topic Thoughts of the Week
Frederique is the Mole. And Erik von Detten will win on The Mole. Kathy Griffin played a great game, but she won't walk away with the money... I wanted to like the new show Miracles but found it too slow-paced, too plodding, too something... 24 should not take several weeks off. What is Jack Bauer doing?!? I need to know!
And, most importantly, many prayers for the families of the astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia.
What's That You Say?
Talk back to SMG in the About Board Games Forum.
--Erik Arneson
1 February 2003
Round
1
2
3
4
Lite Metal
--
20
10
--
Yoko
--
--
--
30
Christin P.
20
--
--
20
Karl Gitter
30
10
20
10
Krypto
10
30
30
--
Boardgame Top Picks List of the Week
About Board Games Forum Post of the Week
Recently received a Lets Go Fishing Board Game made by the Ontex Co of Canada. Have not a clue as to age but suspect 30's or 40's. Game is NEARLY complete, that is, two cards missing and I know which ones. Otherwise all there and in fair condition. Box heavily taped with dried on tape. Has anyone even heard of this game and be able to give me any other information; date of game, etc?
Post your response in the About Board Games Forum.
Vote now!
