22nd June 2011Tonight we started off with 3 games of
King of Tokyo which is an extremely fun little game. The artwork and components are of good quality befitting the style of the game. Essentially a dice game with players trying to get to 20 points first whilst trying to damage the other players, there are various cards which can be purchased which provide one off or permanent effects to you or other players. Players roll the dice upto 3 times keeping or discarding dice, the dice symbols mean you either collect energy (used to buy cards), cause damage, heal or score points.
To score points if you have 3 of a number (1, 2 or 3) you score that many points, if you score more than 3 of a number then you gain an extra point for each one. To heal for every Heart token you heal 1 point of damage, unless you are in Tokyo. For every lightning bolt you gain an energy cube which can be spent on cards during your turn and finally Fists represent damaging other players, those outside Tokyo hurt the player inside whilst those inside Tokyo damage all other players. Players in Tokyo can not heal but do gain points for going into or staying in Tokyo, if they are damaged by a player they can elect to leave forcing the other player into Tokyo.
This games plays really quickly and is immense fun providing a good open or close to a games evening.
We then Played
Dixit a strange game where players have a hand of cards, with some superb artwork on them, and the active player says a word / phrase / tells a story / sings a song / makes a noise about one of his cards the other players then look through their hand and places a card they think matches this face down. The active player then takes all the cards, including his own, and shuffles them then places them face up in front of everyone stating which order the cards go in, players then vote for which card they think is the active players.
Scoring goes as follows:
If All or None guess correct the Active players card then 2 VP for All Other Players
If only Some guess correct 3 VP for Active Player and Correct Players
Each Incorrect Guess 1 VP for Card Owner
This is a quaint and quite funny game, especially in the right company but this did not really float my boat as this kind of creative on the spot type thing just makes me uncomfortable as I am just not that good at it. Good fun was had by all but this is not one I would leap at playing again given a choice.
Finally we played
Tombouctou The components and artwork on this game are of a very good quality, not unsurprising as it is a Queen Games production. The rules are quite simple, well laid out and well written.
Each player has a number of camels (each lettered), a number of lettered cards (matching the camels) and a set of cards showing where in the next oasis thieves will rob camels. At the start of the games players place their camels at random on the starting pitches, with the only restriction they have to have a camel in each line once all the camels are out play begins. Players are dealt a set pf 3 cards which show which pitches, on which lines will have 2 types of goods stolen from, On a piece of paper players mark, in secret, where they know the thieves will strike then select their first camel to move.
Each line of camels has a choice of two lines to move to in the next oasis for free, or by paying one good can move to any line. Players reveal which camel they want to move, and move them in turn order to the front most empty space of their chosen line, 2 spaces have card symbols which means players pass round to the left their thieve cards. At some point the players will know where thieves will strike at 3 out of the 5 lines so there is always an element of risk for everyone. Once all the camels have been moved the thieves attack camels on those pitches lose the goods indicated, if they have them. The thief cards are then collected back in, shuffled, and a new set dealt to each player for the next oasis.
Once the players reach Tombouctou and resolve the last theft players score their camels. Each good they have left is worth the number of that type stolen throughout the game, for example if you have 3 water left and 10 have been stolen you Score 30 for your water. You work out your score for each good and then total it all up, the player with the most wins!
This is incredibly good fun, produces some funny moments during play and very very enjoyable.
Final Scores: Paul:93, Caz:98, Phil:100 and Luke/Martin:141 (Last minute sub when Luke had to dash!)
