Big Bang Burger Bar

Regular Burton Board Gaming at Spirit Games (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/) on Wednesday nights

We play a selection of new releases and old favourites, starting at 7.00pm and going on up to midnight. All are welcome, look at the the articles (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/articles.php?menu=10) pages on our website to get an idea of what we have been playing over the past year or two.

Contact Details
salnphil@spiritgames.com

7th Jan 2015
So the first wed night of the new year go off to a fairly decent start with a good turnout and some great games being played as usual.
Having started the evening a bit later than planned, due to a Raiders Committee meeting, I ended up playing Yunnan (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=8940) this is a fantastic little game about Tea Trading in China, trust me its far more interesting than that makes it sound :). This was one of my favourites from 2014 and looks to still get a decent amount of plays in 2015, it's also a lot of game for the price so I would recommend snapping up a copy.

The other table was playing Evolution (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/155703/evolution) which is also a really fun game that is definitely worth a play if you have not tried it yet.

When we arrived the early bird table was playing Lords of Xidit (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=8815) which certainly looked very interesting with some very colourful components which looked really good quality. Didn't get a chance to find out how it played.

I'm afraid I am not sure what the other group played after Evolution as I was providing some impromptu Tech Support.

Good evening and company as always look forward to next week.
 

I'm sure that it will be one of the first things in my bag for a good few weeks yet, so there will be plenty of opportunity to play it.

We played Sheriff of Nottingham (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=8663) which is a light bluffing/negotiation game which took longer than it should have done, but was still good fun.    I do think that it needs to be played with a timer, as that will add extra pressure to the negotiations.  It was won by Shayla, a relatively new Wednesday night gamer.

Early birds?  We commented at the time that it didn't feel particularly early, to be starting a game at 7.30. 

I didn't really want to play Lords of Xidit, having heard nothing but faint praise for the game, but having bullied Andy into playing my games for the last couple of sessions I thought that it was only fair to play his - especially as he'd gone to the trouble of setting it up and pre-learning the rules.

Except that last bit turned out to be "but not as well as he ought to have done" (though perhaps he'd done his best; the rule book is yet another abominable mess, when it comes to explaining fairly straightforward procedures in the most Byzantine way possible).


It looks great.  Unfortunately it looks better than it plays.  I fear that what I have to say about the game will come across as more damning than I actually mean it to be, so you could just interpret everything I could say about the game as "faint praise" and decide for yourself whether it's good enough to play or is damned forever by it.

It's a sort of programmed movement game.  Which I usually love.  It's a sort of route-building, pick-up-and-deliver game.  Which I usually love.  And it s very well presented - not only does everything look good, it actually makes the game make sense as well as making it easier to play.  I can't criticise the game for the downtime - everyone does their thinking simultaneously.  There are decisions,  There are interactions.  It's quite a good game.

But it's only "quite good".  There was absolutely nothing about the game that made me want to play it again.  Perhaps because there were various things about it that I'd seen once too often, or perhaps because it didn't "spark" with me (and I often can't tell ahead of time what will). If it had been an jour long, I might think slightly more kindly of it.  But it wasn't - it was two hours. 

It reminded me quite a lot of Relic Runners (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=7805).  Route building game, very pretty, a bit too long and destined to be a 7/10.  I want to play 8s, dammit.

Oh yeah, I should add that I won.  But only because Andy had neglected to read out a rule, that if in force would have made Gavin's earlier lead in guild towers completely unassailable.  Whereas I just ground out a quiet, unassuming win by never trying to be "best" at anything, but good enough on most things to avoid elimination in the first two scoring categories and having just enough guild houses to take the win from the only there player not eliminated.

FWIW, I played Evolution at Raiders.  It's not an 8 either.  It's a 7.5.  I'll play it, more willingly than I'll play a 7.  But there will always be a voice in the back of my head saying "why am I not playing an 8 instead?" [/q]

Is it the game that needs the timer, or certain of the gamers?

Wed 14th Jan 2015

Whoa! Nearly typed 2014 there.

After last week's Lords of Xidit, I'm torn this week.

I don't think that I want to play Antike II a third time this week, nor Hyperborea, but as both of them are great I'm sure that I'll bring them with me. I'll also have Panamax.

But despite several of us grumbling about playing new games for the first time from the rule book - and others who don't grumble but actually enjoy that sort of pain - I'm very tempted to try out my copy of Imperialism: Road to Domination (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/156061/imperialism-road-domination). I bought it at Essen after a VERY strong recommendation from a friend (who had tipped Agricola as being huge, and made us play it when all there was available was a German edition and a stapled-together crib sheet), but it's also received some mediocre (if not to say negative) reviews.

FWVLIW, some of the criticisms sound much like mine were of the game Progress: Evolution of Technology (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/140717/progress-evolution-technology) (you'll have to take my word for it that the game was dire; I didn't buy it and will never play it again) - save in one respect. Progress had zero interaction at all; Imperialism seems to be *built* on some very "take that" interactions.\

I've read the rules (not a huge help; they weren't translated particularly well IMO); I've studied the forum; I've laid out the components, but failed miserably at actually playing any part of the game solo precisely because so much depends on what the other players are doing. But despite not having much of a handle on the game simply after reading the rules, I'm pretty sure that it's nowhere near as troublesome to learn as I first thought.

And that recommendation was very emphatic.

2-4 players, I have a feeling that it would be best learned with 3.

So, Imperialism: Road to Domination. (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/156061/imperialism-road-domination)

(https://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic2376747_t.jpg)

We settled on a 3-player game, with myself, Neil and Chris (after a bit of wheedling and cajoling).  Although I'd read the rule book and pushed the pieces around in advance, making the trip through the rules less ghastly than it would otherwise have been, it still wasn't too easy to grasp (as first games rarely are).

Now we've played we understand what we should have been trying to do - be in first place on each of about 8 or 9 commodity tracks, and grab VP Achievement cards from the display.  Grabbing a VP card usually required either a certain combination of commodity points, a large army/navy (represented on another track), or having conquered a number of territory cards (which need armies/navies plus cash to conquer).  There aren't many other ways to gain VPs; some territories have bonus VPs, changing religion - which can be done once - brings in VPs (though you score better at the end if your power remains Catholic), and topping out on the Prestige resource track also earns points.  But Achievement cards and track position is the main way.  I wish that had been clear from the start.   

Something else that we didn't realise was that rushing down *either* the army *or* the navy track, while ignoring the other one, was a recipe for longer-term stagnation (I must confess, I spent the first half of the game thinking that it was the only "sensible" way to play, and the last half of the game thinking how wrong I'd been during the first half).  The territory cards are important because they are the most efficient way to move your markers along the commodity tracks (which you need for VPs at the end of the game as well as income/bonuses during it), and once you run out of easy "medium army/medium navy" cards and get onto the ones which require a balanced mix, you can struggle to claw your way back up the other track.

Turns are relatively simple; discard (if you want) and then draw new cards, then choose one of five actions - which must be a different action to the one chosen on your previous turn. 
The five actions are:
- Tax (take a ridiculously small amount of money; this action is almost akin to passing on your turn);
- Develop (take some benefit from one commodity track, usually money; gain a bigger benefit if you're in first place on that track; and then take some economic action which either involves getting more money or spending some of it);
- Conquest (meet the Army & Navy requirements of one of your territory cards and pay the gold needed to put it into play);
- Intrigue (play up to two cards to improve your position/hamper someone else's); and
- War (start a fight with an opponent, comparing either Army or Navy strengths with a few mods; the winner gets a couple of points, but if the defender loses, they have to chose a penalty to pay).

In theory, Wars are a bit uncertain but can bring in some decent rewards; in practice, because I'd shot up the Army track I was unstoppable on land, Neil had a huge fleet so could win any naval war, and Chris lagged behind on both but was never worth picking on.  Oh, and three "certain victory" wars I started were shut down by inconvenient event card play. Grrr.  Hopefully Wars have more influence on a game where everyone is playing a bit better than we were.   

Intrigue plays were usually a matter of picking on the obvious target (i.e. whoever the leader was) to rob them of a few coins and mess with their Develop-Conquest-Develop-Conquest routine.

And the game does largely revolve around Conquest of new territories (going up the commodity tracks), and Developing (taking the economic benefit of those commodities).

Neil won, though not by as much as he'd threatened to at one stage (my position on the commodity tracks brought in quite a few bonuses); Chris trailed in third.  Now Chris had got off to a slow start - you need to build your Army and Navy early on, to get enough critical mass going to start laying out territories, and Chris was about 2 turns behind Neil and I in getting things going.  I've seen criticisms of Imperialism that it exhibits the "rich get richer" flaw, and that might be right.  Or maybe we just played poorly and made poor early decisions.

I confess that I'm often guilty of writing off a new game after just one play, and that I might be more guilty of that when it's not a game I bought.  There are a couple of factors that lie behind the second phenomenon - if I've bought a game, I want to get some money's worth out of it, and will try to extract a couple of plays before giving up on the game; but also if I bought it that decision was prompted by *something* that ought to predispose me to like the game (a recommendation, a review, something about the game's mechanisms perhaps).  And similarly if I haven't bought a game myself, sometimes there are reasons why I didn't (a review, a negative comment by someone else, something about the game's mechanisms perhaps) - hence the lower level of willingness to give such a game a second outing.  but in all cases gaming time is precious, and we all have too many good - or even great - games to allow the merely OK, quite good or not bad games to take up precious time on the table.

Where does Imperialism fit into the pantheon?  I'm not at all sure.  On the one hand, I brought home THREE "civilization-style" games from Essen (Imperialism, Hyperborea (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/119788/hyperborea) and Historia (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/157096/historia)).  I knew that at least one of them would not be my cup of tea.  I played Historia three times before deciding that the level of decisions and of interaction were insufficient for the game's length.  I suppose that Imperialism also deserves at least one more crack of the whip (especially as we played quite poorly).  And it left me with a similar feeling to Panamax (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/131287/panamax) - there's something going on with the game that I just haven't got a handle on yet, and it might be very good when I do.

Where Imperialism fell down for me though takes me back to those two key benchmarks - meaningful decisions and worthwhile interaction.  the game has interaction.  I played another "civilization" game at Essen -  Progress: Evolution of Technology (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/140717/progress-evolution-technology).  It had a tech tree.  It had nice cards.  It had too much luck, the "rich get richer" problem in spades, and zero interaction.  Imperialism clearly isn't that bad.  The player interaction is probably more meaningful when players know how best to interact, and when and why they should do so.  But there's clearly plenty of scope for interaction - I've seen it described as having "take that" elements (which it clearly has), and two of the four main options on a player's turn are interactive.

No, where it may well fall down is on my "meaningful decisions" criteria.  Because I struggled somewhat to see what meaningful decisions I had on each of my turns.  If I was holding a territory card and could meet its requirements, it was pretty much a no-brainer to play it.  If I didn't, take a Develop action to be able to meet the criteria on my next turn.  A hand size of just five cards meant that there were rarely more than two Intrigue cards on hand - and often they might not both be playable - so Intrigue actions were only taken when the cards - and board situation - dictated it.  War?  Well, the imbalance in our early-game approaches meant that every fight was pretty one-sided, so the weak players hoarded event cards that would shut down a war, and the rich players often had better things to do.

So, jury's out.  I'll try to play it again in the next week or so, though.  And I'll be able too pass on the lessons of this first game to hopefully make that a better experience.

I arrived just after half 7 to see that I had missed out on a game of Castles of Mad King Ludwig (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=8842) that was just starting.  That is a game I really like but rarely play.  I sometimes think that I have bought it for other people to play, as most times I take it to a games night it will get borrowed, whilst I'm playing something else.  I only managed one play of it in December, although my copy was played many times :)

Anyhow, I could see that Richard and Neil had set something up which was Imperialism: Road to Domination (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/156061/imperialism-road-domination) as described above by Richard.  I'm not a fan of epic civilisation building games, so I could tell from the title that it wasn't going to be my sort of game.  However, you should try these things once.  I got off to a very poor start.  I would like to blame it on the fact that my nation was not in a position to colonise on turn 1, whereas the other two could.  However, I think that it was more than that.  It was because I spent a couple of early turns trying to see how things worked by trying out some of the other actions.  I played a couple of conspiracy cards on them and started a war with Richard which I lost.  I don't think that I slowed them down at all.  It just stunted my growth as I had wasted my early turns trying to mess with them, rather than build myself up.  There was no way to come back which is my fault, rather than a fault of the game.  I didn't hate the game and would play it again, but very differently.

Then we wound down with a few hands of Red7 (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/161417/red7) which I had played before, but couldn't remember the rules, despite there not being very many.

On our table we plunged in with a first game of Zhanguo (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=9003) which is themed around the Unification of China.

I had watched the excellent Rules Overview (https://boardgamegeek.com/video/54522/zhanguo/zhanguo-rules-overview-video) by Paul Grogan (https://boardgamegeek.com/user/PaulGrogan) several times so felt reasonably comfortable teaching this.

I did have to thumb the rules a few times during setup, teaching and to answer some questions during gameplay. The rules aren't necessarily complicated but there is a lot of ground to cover, especially as the cards are used in different ways. There are numerous ways to score points some are instantaneous others are end game plus you have various goals that can score big at the end if achieved. It was fair to say that some eyes glazed over during the explanation, which is not unsurprising given the depth of game here.

After the first turn or so things did start to make sense and even with a few missed opportunities on scoring, due to the overflow of info at that start, the final scores were not that far apart.

Once I got into the flow I did really enjoy this but could see where I needed to do things better or differently in future games.  

There are a lot of choices to be made in this game, a lot of them painful and there is player interaction as your choices can have a real impact on someone else. There was a bit of downtime between player turns, however you can put this to good use working out what choices you plan to make on your turn. Whilst, as I mentioned before, this can be affected by other players you always needs to look at various options in order to be able to adjust your plans.

This was not a short game, the box claims 1-2hours, as we left a lot later then we would have liked but as a learning game it was not unexpected. I will most likely bring this again next week to jump straight into again in the hope that I will score better and have to spend less time checking the rules :)

Bit of a brain burner for the first game but subsequent plays should prove more interesting and with a variable setup should provide a decent amount of replayabilty.

21st Jan 2015

I'm sure that plenty of people played plenty of fine games.  I wasn't one of them.  Apart from a quick couple of hands of Red7 (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=9072), I did not play plenty of games; I played one.  Over, and over, and over.  Roll for the Galaxy (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=7478).

If you count my first solo play-through, done in the shop just ahead of the Weds session (so that I ensured that I understood the rules - and especially the turn flow and decisions - well enough to teach the game) then I played the game six times last night.  Six.  And it's not a particularly short game; it takes about the same length of time to play as it's card-game progenitor, Roll for the Galaxy (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=7478) (so 30 minutes with lower player numbers or really fast people, 45 minutes on average, and maybe an hour with the maximum number of players who are still feeling their way through the game).

Interestingly, I had no problem at all persuading people to play the game a second time after their first, and a couple of them (Adam was one) stayed late when I managed to persuade Phil to play the game, starting after 11pm.  I suspect that I was not the only one paying for that late finish this morning, but it was worth it.

Once again, I forgot to take any pictures mid-game.  I think Paul might have taken a couple, but I was too bound up in the game to actually notice!

21st Jan 2015

Well tonight I had another go at Zhanguo (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=9003) this time with Phil and Carole making it a 3-player.

Worked really well and teaching it took a lot less time having learnt/played it the previous week. Phil as always managed to master it well enough to romp the win leaving me to lose my own game thus saving the world ;)

I am really enjoying the game and it seems really well balanced, scaling well so far with different numbers of players. All I need to do now is work out how to play well :)

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ec8JZgf6dMoDzdALKOWNkUzo65X15VkfrI94MvKzY7E=w263-h196-p-no) (https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/107181235392958093201/albums/6104691476023431889/6106895160142343858?pid=6106895160142343858&oid=107181235392958093201)

Here is the picture from one of Richard's many games of Roll for the Galaxy:

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/SEUH0gyt2yorde7_H0VsGWOCQB3DgU21tM0gAcWvGpQ=w260-h194-p-no) (https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/107181235392958093201/albums/6104691476023431889/6106927071592087730?pid=6106927071592087730&oid=107181235392958093201)


Other games played:

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/HL42urF9UMV33mxqjX7uwMh-I-5UDvXdHZIge4YOTEI=w263-h196-p-no) (https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/107181235392958093201/albums/6104691476023431889/6106897037551445746?pid=6106897037551445746&oid=107181235392958093201) (https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/3QH79818Epn6zKGwlmw96PKXD0MclWee79TPpbmTIPg=w155-h207-p-no) (https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/107181235392958093201/albums/6104691476023431889/6106924753822157474?pid=6106924753822157474&oid=107181235392958093201) (https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/TzL1W2JV3EaBudM71pqLGwbiqqxYk5qUWVTVxDfdVUA=w276-h207-p-no) (https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/107181235392958093201/albums/6104691476023431889/6106924825085997426?pid=6106924825085997426&oid=107181235392958093201) (https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/hpur54XwbOIsdN6gv1XdaW4gvDbI8PRPD03_5-UF5QI=w276-h207-p-no) (https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/107181235392958093201/albums/6104691476023431889/6106924893494944818?pid=6106924893494944818&oid=107181235392958093201)

All those games of Roll played, and you manage to take a photo of the rules explanation!

Of course, I'd meant to take pictures of my own, but always manage to forget once I'm in the flow of a game.

:Taken from BGG Guild (https://boardgamegeek.com/guild/1227):

Works for me. So long as I get to Roll before or after. Ideally both.

FWIW, I'd also like to play XCOM (if anyone has it). And Temporum. And Imperialism. But mostly Roll.

I committed to a go at Star Wars: Imperial Assault (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=8824) for this week, although I don't know if that is still on as I wasn't there last week and I appreciate that plans do change.  I guess that I'll see what is happening when I turn up.  I agree with Richard that I'd also like to try XCOM: The Board Game (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=8637).  I saw one review that said if you love Space Alert (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=4227) (I do) and Space Cadets (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=7279) (I really don't) then you should get it.

Almost nobody was there last week; they'd all gone to Derby.

I wasn't in Derby; I was in Leeds. It wasn't all bad though, I had an excellent game of Keyflower (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=7364) whilst I was there. I'm still waiting for Keyflower: The Merchants to become available. That will be an instant buy for me.

Wednesday 28th Jan
So I went with plans(well kind of) to try either Höyük (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/24270/hoyuk) or New Dawn (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=8854) again tonight or even Alien Frontiers (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=5623) I ended up playing another game of Zhanguo (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=9003) at philsy's suggestion.

Well not one to turn down a game of this I leapt at the chance to try it again and with Cameron taking the last slot we set off. I am much quicker at teaching this, which helps, but with so many scoring options to go over it is inevitable that players eyes start to glaze the first time of playing. That said once you get going it does slowly start to make sense.

I must point out that I still have yet to win this game, but that does mean the universe is still safe as I own it ;) It was a close fought affair with everything to play for in the final scoring. It is an extremely fun game with some harsh choices where you have to be prepared to adapt and react to others actions.

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/VBaMVygryMSPhKjmD5aaWbQFAWL2mJF6ir2n82UaJyc=w158-h209-p-no)

Other games being played:
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/IJ-AKre6wL5-p-0Jymaaba5-YoKg45vokdHsTQHp8ak=w158-h209-p-no)(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d0y8LeHcaw74oJS4xdK9vxHr3Z64PTJiLFbA3b-GlNc=w158-h209-p-no)(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/pPn0kpiP4GEpi-LmaAXX3lyHCYpMRuuJOpeGC65Cqvc=w155-h207-p-no)(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/QNNQXFiTWN-huaFljugOJX6BOVvXQ4CnedFHbOfXmNE=w155-h207-p-no)

Me playing Roll for the Galaxy (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=7478)? Surely some mistake.

Hopefully I can persuade others to play it this week, as I need my fix.

So Yesterday I played Tomorrow:

So yesterday at the Shop we played Tomorrow (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=9102) set in a future world where the major powers are forced to face a global de-population in order to survive. They need to achieve this whilst also trying to keep there own populations happy.

Players have a hand of cards that provide actions: Military, Espionage, Nukes, Biological, Cyber and each player has a unique card which provides some special action or ability for the game. Each turn players select two cards from these to use, played face down.

It's hard to properly tell from first play but it seems or felt like there was an imbalance between the powers and the strategy cards seems to swing widely from extremely powerful to weak.

I get that this game is supposed to be a interactive fun experience in a dark future and with the right group maybe this would be the case. For me it fell a little flat, your choices are limited really as the main way to reduce population is to use the biological action. There are different goals/events each turn but these do little to alter the main objective and in some cases distract players from this goal.

I didn't hate the game but it would not be my preferred option given a choice.

Next we played Roll for the Galaxy (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=7478) which is a diced conversion of Race for the Galaxy (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=3594). Richards has gotten this to the table a lot in the last few weeks so felt I should give this a go, despite not really like Race all that much. I have to admit that I do like this better than the main game, as it was much easier to pick up basics, but the things that I disliked about the main game are still there.

For me it feels the game relies too much on you being able to predict and judge what others plan to do leaving you with limited choices. For those that love this style of game, and there are plenty within the Wed night group, I'm sure they have a lot of fun. For me it felt like experienced players get too much of an advantage with little in the way of catchup mechanisms to compensate for lack of "In-Game" knowledge.

Glad that I got the chance to try this and whilst I do not hate this game either, it would not be one I would rush to play again.

The rest of the shop was pretty full of gamers, with Imperial Assault (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=8824) taking up a group of players on another table. There was a game of Pandemic: The Cure (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=8803) on another table and a whole bunch of other games being played.

Another great evening at the shop and there is a chance to play more games there this Sunday as its the monthly gaming session this weekend.

I liked Tomorrow (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=9102) a whole lot less than you, and like Roll for the Galaxy (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=3594) a whole lot more.

With Roll, I've found it easier to predict what players *want* to do than it is with Race - for one thing, the developments and planets that they could be working towards are on show rather than hidden in the hand, and you also have a good idea how many dice they are rolling (I believe that that is something you're allowed to check, if it's important to know precisely). But of course the dice can disrupt that.

It takes a few games to be reasonably confident of getting at least some of your predictions right (indeed, it takes a couple of games to get the rules straight in your mind, and avoid some of the bigger pitfalls - like running out of cash/dice). But I've seen my scores rise quite a bit between game #10 and game #20 - as Ive got better at giving up on tiles that won't help and prioritizing the finding and constructing of tiles that will. You can win by "leeching" actions off other players by good predictions (and preventing them from doing the same to you), but you can also win simply by "building a better mousetrap" - and to get a really good score, you need to do both. It's taken me a fair few games to work out what those better mousetraps actually look like, and how they need to be built and then exploited for best advantage. Which means that the game has far deeper decisions than simply which actions to take/predict.

Tomorrow, on the other hand, didn't seem to have many decisions at all. Military action got you cards, which might or might not be worth having, and the possibility of VPs at the end of the game. Cyber warfare got you more cards, or allowed you to mess with the EU's otherwise God-given right to choose the (important) turn order. Nuclear war was simply a spoiler card - it made it much more likely that the game would end in a joint failure (and in a game such as this, if one or two players feel that they are getting behind - and I was WAY behind from quite early on thanks to my inability to roll the right number on a D6 - there's little reason for them NOT to "spoil" the game). The only positive card, group-wise, is the disease option - but that's quite dependant upon both geography AND die-rolling as to how well you're going to do from any particular outbreak. but the fifth action card. Espionage, allows you to spoil even that. After the rules explanation and the first turn (of eight) I was thinking "is that it?" Unfortunately, it was.

Like you, I found Tomorrow to be almost completely devoid of interesting or meaningful decisions, and the interaction was almost all of the "take that" variety. I could have put up with that from an hour-long, fun game (something like Plague and Pestilence, or Nuclear War - both of which cover similar ground, with few decisions but are at least blessedly short); but in a two-hour long game that was almost completely devoid of both fun AND decisions, it was inexcusable. I can only hope that we had some major rules misunderstanding, but even then I'd not be keen to play it again. I'd rather play something else that *might* be good, or something that I *know* is good, or maybe something that is in my collection but supping at the Last Chance Saloon.

It looks like the Imperial Assault players are settling in for a proper campaign, so (similar to how it was when we've had Pathfinder or Descent campaigns running) I expect that the pool of *non-capaigning* players will be smaller and it'll be harder to justify using a veto (or forcing others to play a particular game; though I will keep on trying with Roll, I expect).

I do, however, reserve the right to veto Tomorrow. I'm not a fan of playing "quite good" games when "really good" games are being overlooked, but there's no reason at all to play the "not good" games.

The Imperial Assault players are looking for another player as I dropped out last week. I wanted to try the game, but as I suspected, it is not for me.

A pretty large turnout last night, with several new faces too.

Having arrived early, I played Diamonsters (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=n&tagno=&game=9117) with Sally, Simon and Andy. I didn't want to like the game - it was clearly being sold on the wave of hype generated by Machi Koro (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=8825), it comes in a ridiculously over-sized box (for a game which is no more than a deck of cards and a dozen scoring tokens), and it looks fairly lightweight. Which it clearly is. But it reminded me of Red7 (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=9072), another recent favourite - simple rules, fast play, with enough decisions to keep me happy but no danger of outstaying its welcome. Despite being on a new games' moratorium, I bought a copy.

I played Roll for the Galaxy (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=7478) twice - once to introduce it to two new chaps, and immediately afterwards as they were getting the hang of it.

We played Diamonsters (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=n&tagno=&game=9117), then Machi Koro (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=8825). Mach Koro had the expansion mixed in, but instead of the ten-pile setup, I tried 5/5/2. An illegal football formation, but a nicely balanced way to play MK; 5 open piles for cards numbered 1-6, 5 open piles for cards 7+, and 2 piles for the purples. Nothing bogs down, all approaches are there to be tried, and the game was won according to the usual principle -he who rolls the right numbers (or has others roll them for him) wins. Which was the new chap. I ignored my own advice, and bought cards the numbers for which nobody rolled (well, Tony did a few times, out of pity for me I suspect, but it was never going to be enough).

Finally I rounded the night of with another game of Roll. Because I really can't get enough of it.

It certainly was crowded last night.

Several games were already underway or setting up when we arrived but we had a chippy to devour first :)

Afterwards we did manage to find a table and then there was the usual faffing between all the spare players as to what to do. In the end we split into one group who went to play Infinite City (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/46807/infinite-city), after Sal reminded Phil he needed to ask me to borrow my copy :) and another our group who went on to play Hoyuk (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/24270/hoyuk).

Hoyuk is a great game that improves a lot when you go for the advanced game as it allows for more options for the players. A did a poorer job than normal going over the rules as it had been a while since the last game but we got there in the end. I scored early but fundamentally failed to gain any real majorities in any of the blocks I was in leaving me with very few cards. In the end Sal romped home with a huge win as we collectively failed  to stop her getting away with it ;0

After we finished that one we grabbed the Infinite City (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/46807/infinite-city) and finished the evening off with that. This ended in a 3-way tie for first place with Caz breaking the tie with the largest scoring area.

I got out of work late, so when I arrived just before 8pm, there were already 4 full tables with games in progress. The 4 Infinite City (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/46807/infinite-city) players had only played one round, so they kindly dealt me in. I repaid their kindness by winning by a good margin, which I think was largely because I had played it a few times and most of the others were new to it.

After that, Phil was pushing for Concordia (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=7910) quite hard, so we let him have his way, as it is his shop and he doesn't get to play it that often. As we were setting up, it transpired that he had actually played it on Sunday. Concordia is good but we could have been playing the far superior Keyflower (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=7364). When is Keyflower: The Merchants (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/163572/keyflower-merchants) going to arrive at the shop? Anyhow, I'm getting off topic here. We had a good game of Concordia with a very close finish. I think that there were only a half dozen points between the first three places. Phil won with his wine producing strategy, which I had told Bamber and Mike, before the game had started, was what Phil's strategy would be. I was second, with Mike one point behind and then Bamber bringing up the rear.

Another very good night at Spirit Games.

18th Feb 2015

So this Weds saw the return of Martin who has been MIA for sometime. Though it did not take long to remember his unique qualities ;)

He had purchased Steam Donkey (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=8905) and wanted to give that a go. So both of us not having played and Martin having to break open the box to learn the game straight from the rules. We managed to mostly get there but then Sally came in just as we started the first turn and helped fill in the blanks..

Nice game with some pretty decent artwork and was moderately easy to pick up, a little confusing at first but soon got into the swing of things. Another one of those that I am glad I got to play and would certainly play again but not good enough for to want to own a copy for myself. The final scores were very close with a joint Sal/Martin win with 45 and 3rd place for me with 39.

Next up was an old classic Thurn and Taxis (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/21790/thurn-and-taxis) which apparently Martin had not played before!! So it was decided he needed to be educated in the old school games ;) Having taken time to warn Martin of all the pitfalls one can make in this game to fail to score well, I preceded to walk right into one myself ;) This left Sally to romp home with a decisive win. We did forget the rule about dropping your hand to 3 cards after scoring rule, but that life it may not have had a significant effect on the final outcome.

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/D8K6yZ4pwLvv-h7Dg_U5omHQX56FRxDoHLXxLS75QJHX=w380-h214-p-no)

Here were some of the other games being played:

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ccBI-0ZKjcox5EEg2hqp8CCGqGINKO69Lu1UsGIEL_bx=w120-h214-p-no) (https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/hOa201_e3bvYu2YRAe50wTOcW-cvLz2qXwWWo5_h6eC3=w120-h214-p-no) (https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/yqS2fow_MWcUtekoDFT6y4SBCGu16r4-rn4O_yYwpaSH=w120-h214-p-no)

Nice report. I see that Richard is still working through his Roll for the Galaxy (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=7478) obsession

I missed last week, due to holiday and will miss this week as well, although through work rather than holiday. I guess that I'll see you all on the 4th March.

There were only the two games! And I wasn't the one wh insisted on playing it the second time.

It's a fantastic game, though.

We managed an early(ish) attendance this evening but there were still games fully underway already :p

There was a spare player awaiting a game, Tony, so we broke out Harbour (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/155969/harbour) which I had just gotten from KS The other day. I had already tried in using the Solo play rules against the Test Dummy player, who won! how rude!!!..

So I got down to explaining the rules, which are quite simple really, and we got straight into it with the three of us. Really love the artwork of this game with the Icons and symbols mostly quite easy to follow.

Our game was quite close with all us getting to 3 buildings around the same time but it all came down to the final scoring with Caz taking the Harbour Master! title
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/A7Q0N5EWAp_9R_-qMjKmdR8QMzKkcAiUyXIy-Za-Cy2-=w407-h229-p-no)

So having tried one new game we immediately pushed our luck and went for a second in the form of Murano (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=8702) which is a kind of Rondel game, where the Rondel is around the edge of the whole board moving Gondolas around to take the actions. Players attempt to build Glass Factories, Tourist Shops and Palaces in order to score points. Also players can obtain characters who potential score them points based on meeting their requirements on the islands, you also need to have in place a Gondalier to transport the character to the scoring island. There are numerous actions players can take to create building to place later, take money or sell goods to shoppers on the islands to making glass but this is unpopular so costs VP to action. There is a lot going on here with some very tough choices to be made, money is needed for most actions and is in short supply. Getting characters early helps you focus on what to build where as you try to meet its end game scoring.

The special buildings provide additional cards that break the rules in some way to aid your ability to complete your actions or scoring.

I really enjoyed this game and unfortunately risked the fabric of the universe by winning the game! Yes it was my game!!.... I need to play this again soon both because I now know (hopefully) how to play better and also to help prove to myself this is not some kind of fluke. Likely though the other players also know how to play better so future games may be a lot tougher! :p
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_cj2g4uSw6ra62ZXSr7SC1grHWslYzwF1cr1-74SfPM4=w371-h209-p-no)

Finally, with the last stragglers, we decided to have another go at Harbour (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/155969/harbour) this time with four players. This was a lot tougher game both with the number of players and the building cards that came out. In the end only two people managed to get to three buildings before Philsy managed his fourth leaving the rest of us unable to afford any of the buildings left on the table. So counting the final scores it was Philsy who wrenched the Harbour Master title from Caz...
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/4qcPwGuged_75C9mgCH7DsVUkrvTfIreXL_cTl7kg9cX=w372-h209-p-no)


Other Games being played:
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/2TgRlT7CRNpWl9wDRIsbQSids92FrDLK6hKrUsIcrdSe=w118-h209-p-no) (https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/YB30MO3xS6N9EXRG2W0-1a6B7Eh8ISONgMHNQqdbJ9LY=w372-h209-p-no) (https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/rs_uiXeMcAThWEfcA4fvq36lTD1jiBlhgrawqY67O3f2=w117-h209-p-no)

I see Homeland there. Who else has bought Homeland? I'm hoping to get another game of that soon.

Philsy brought along his copy I believe.

We played Roll for the Galaxy (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=7478). Twice. Though I was forced to play the co-op Castle Panic (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=4655) first. And I spent most of that game wishing I was playing Roll.

A bit light on numbers this week, though we did have new people.

Richard broke out his Powergrid: Deluxe (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=8867) which did look rather spiffing. There were 5 players for this one and I hung about waiting for the next bunch of players to arrive.

Philsy and Chris then turned up not long after and we set about with a quick game to start with Fidelitas (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=9202). This was a neat little card game where you have mission cards that explain conditions you need to meet to score points. Players have character cards, two to start, and on there turn they play a card carry out what it says on the card then pick a new card. If they meet a mission card they score it by showing the card face up in front of them and draw a replacement. The character cards have guilds if they match one of the guild houses in the locations laid out they must be placed on the matching guild otherwise they can be placed anywhere. Really fun little filler game that I would definitely play again.

Next up was Evolution (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=9240) which is another game I liked this time we played with 5 so I got to try the normal play style. I really enjoy this game and every game plays out differently. I didn't come last and managed to get a decent score so that was good for me

Finally the others went on to play Istanbul which is another great game but I had to drop out as I needed to get home.

I think that the "new people" was just one new people, Francis. She'd not played Power Grid before, but fitted right in, delivering plenty of light-hearted verbal abuse to Martin. Unfortunately, she won - beating me on the tie-breaker - so she's not being invited back.

Sorry folks been slacking on the write-ups again, I wont attempt to catchup the many previous weeks as I have definitely slept since then and have no chance of remembering it all :)  +:coffee=+::coffee:  +:dontknow=+::dontknow:

This week we had a pretty decent turn out and we started the evening with a simple little card game, whose name escapes me I'm afraid. After that game was finished Richard was up for trying out his copy of Black Fleet (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=8932) which we missed out on playing at the recent UKGamesExpo. The components of this game are very good, the ship models look great and it comes with metal doubloons which is never a bad thing. A lighter family game but we spent the whole game laughing and joking around the table as this is very much a get the other players type game. The rules seemed to be well written and with enough humour in there that learning direct from them was not a hardship. Everyone seemed to enjoy the game immensely and I for one would certainly be up for more games of this in the future.

We then went a little old school and broke out my copy of First Sparks (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=6017) which was great, I still really like this game and for me I prefer to play this than standard Powergrid. Unfortunately Richard properly schooled me on this game leaving my poor impoverished clan in his wake  +:help=+::help:  +:bandhead=+::banghead:
It was a good evening and we got to play some great games, looking forward to next week to see what else we can get to play.
 

The first game I played was Mottainai (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/175199/mottainai).  Got to say, this was the first game I've played where it *didn't* feel rushed.  It's another game by Carl Chudyk where he tries to recapture the essence of Glory to Rome (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/19857/glory-rome) (though Uchronia (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=7224) remains the masterpiece in my opinion), so it has plenty of bizarre terminology and chaos.  I believe that in the published version they are changing the play area named "workplace" into "craft bench" after an acknowledged genius told them that it would make the game more easily understood.  Judging by the near-instant way Adam grasped the tricky difference between "smithing" and "crafting", I'd say that it was an inspired change of wording.

Black Fleet (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=8932) was really good fun; I want to play it again, though, and I didn't realise when I grabbed the black pieces that this would also make me the start player - which ought to be assigned randomly.  Made doubly bad by the fact that some people have perceived a definite first player advantage (so that's why I won), and my failure to point out that - if in doubt - go after Richard, if only to even this up.  Though to be honest, I think people *did* go after me whenever they could.  I *hate* learning direct from the rulebook, and hate being taught direct from the rulebook even more, yet the game was simple enough - and the rulebook well written enough - to do just that.  Really fun game, I want to play it again soon.

Power Grid: The First Sparks (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=6017) is an odd one.  It removes one of the key parts of Power Grid - the action - yet still manages to feel like Power Grid (unlike Power Grid: Factory Manager (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/44163/power-grid-factory-manager) - which had a turn order manipulation vibe going on but otherwise didn't feel at all like Power Grid).  It also does away with lots of (tedious?) mental arithmetic.  Yet overall, I'd prefer to play "proper" power Grid if the time was available.  And the reason why I schooled you was down to remembering a few important maxims just in time - one of which is don't get too far behind in building (you can't afford to catch up), and that it's easier to win the game despite being at the front of the turn order for most of the game than it is in Power Grid.  The game's just too short to dick around at the back for long.

Three good - excellent, even - games  last night.

Unfortunately, I missed Spirit Games this week. However, I did have a good game of Kanban: Automotive Revolution (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=8958) in Leeds, last night, so would quite like another game of it whilst the rules are clear in my head. Does anyone have it?

Luke does. When offered one of the two Stronghold games from last year I got Panamax (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=8709) instead, but Panamax does nothing for me. I've only played Kanban once, it left me in a perpetual state of confusion and contains at least one element that I don't usually like in games, but I did enjoy that one game and want to play it again. Unfortunately that one game was about 8 weeks ago now, and my memory of the rules is fading fast.

Wednesday 17th June

Seeing a few new faces this summer - James, Frances and Amar, to name just three.

Last night was a good score for me - we managed to play four games.

Evolution (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=9240) was won by James, chiefly by persuading Phil to go after Andy in the final round. I wasn't in the running, after making a couple of unforced errors and seeing Andy eat my main critter two turns in a row (in a new "go after the player in 4th or 5th place" tactic; and he wonders why I didn't leap to his defence when James and Phil dogpiled him).

creatures  (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=8932) was next I think. With two games already under my belt I proved (to myself at least) that this game *isn't* a default win for the first player. I was the 4th player and kicked ass. Whether it is unbalanced with a level playing field of experience I don't know, but I don't think I care either. It's just a good, fun game.

Mysterium (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/113997/mysterium) next, using my Polish edition but playing by the Ukranian rules. And as a result, we won. First time I've managed that. OK, we were playing on easy, but it was still pretty nail-biting stuff. Lots of crude humour at the start, though, when my home-made crystal ball player pieces all fell apart. Might need to bolt them together instead of relying on cheap superglue to bond metal to wood ....

Roll for the Galaxy (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=7478) is now my go-to game in pretty much every situation, and it proved a decent closer. Amar picked it up pretty quickly (he's played enough Race), Chris looked to have a good engine going, but you have to get up pretty early in the morning to beat me at Roll.

Yes, but it took both of your Intelligence cards the second tie around. Cards that might have been better put to use snacking on someone you were actually fighting for the lead with?

Did you not also squeeze in a game of Black Fleet (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=8932)?

Our table managed to play Rialto (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=7645) which is a great little game that I still have not managed to get my head around although I managed to score some points in the end to not end up last ;)

We then played Bucket King (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3141/bucket-king) always a good laugh and we managed three rounds all of which I lost ;)

Ahh I followed the link which indeed goes to Black Fleet but for some reason you called it "Creatures"  +:dontknow=+::dontknow:  ::)

After finally getting hold of Kingsport Festival (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=9476) I was duty bound to give it a play on the Wednesday. Now there was a lot of pressure on myself to like the game because of the time taken for this to make it to UK distribution, but I was fairly confident as I had been reading about it for sometime.

The rules are quite light and quick to pick up, though some of the font choices made some of the examples and side bars hard to read. Superficially the rules look quite good, though in gameplay there were a few questions not readily covered in the rules. In the end though our on the fly rules judgements pretty well matched clarifications found in the games BGG forums.

The game itself will feel familiar to anyone who has played Kingsburg (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=3700) but this is definitely its own game. We played the recommended way which is without the Scenarios for the first game and it went along at a pretty sound pace, never feeling like it was dragging. The actions are simple and the choices to be made are meaningful but not agonising.

I really enjoyed my game of this and now I understand how it plays a bit better maybe my choices will be more informed in future games.

There are some questionable design choices though the Elder God cards are way too big, especially seeing as the main board is already quite substantial in size. A smaller size for each card or maybe a sideboard with them on would have been better. The building tiles with their abilities are nice but as Richard suggested having a stack of them, 1 per player, to be taken once you have built it to have in front of you as a reminder would have been a much better idea. I certainly would have been prepared to pay a little more for the game to have had this.

I may well use some of the files from BGG to help in this regard and probably scan the building tiles to create a set of player collectable tiles for future games.

Overall I really enjoyed this and it feels really slick to play.

Next up was Spyfall (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=9487) a conversation style game. Players are dealt a card either depicting a location and a role or telling you are the spy. Players ask each other questions based on their card and respond to questions in the same manner. The spy wants to find the location that everyone else is in, the others are trying to find out who knows the correct location without giving it away to the spy. Rounds are timed and each player gets a chance to stop the clock and make an accusation, which the others can vote on.

Interesting game that I'm glad I tried but this is not my cup of tea or even anywhere near my comfort zone. I gave it my best shot but ultimately, at least for me, I'll not be wanting to play this again. It did produce some merriment and a little bit of discomfort at the table

I can see with the right crowd his would be a hoot to play.

Almost forgot we ended the evening with a few quick rounds of Red 7 (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=9072) which is always good fun, even without trying the advanced rules which we have yet to try.

This was good fun as ever and I even managed to win one round of it ;)

Good evening of gaming and good company as always.

I think that Spyfall will turn out to be the sort of game that *really* needs the right crowd, in the right mindset and in the right numbers. Four certainly isn't it. I am looking forward to trying it with 6-8, as I think that it will make an excellent addition to Resistance for that hind of game.

We played Red 7 after you'd wrapped up - nice little filler. Then finished off with Black Fleet (another win for me; another game where the first player wasn't winning). I like it, a lot.

Kingsburg - I'm not sure how much of it's own game it really is - it's *very* similar to Kingsburg, including three building resources and an enemy to defeat each round. But although the differences to Kingsburg are very small, each of them is an improvement IMO. There are a couple of oddities (the tiles around the board are too large and too thin; the chits telling you what each building's power is ought to have been duplicated so that a player could take the chit when they built the building), but overall I think that they turned Kingsburg up a notch. Only one notch, mind you, and as I'm not a huge fan of Kingsburg and already own that game (courtesy of a Geek trade), I'll not be buying Kingsport Festival. But I'm pretty sure that I will play it again.

Not being a huge fan of Kingsburg (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=3700), I opted out of Kingsport (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=9476) and joined Philsy and Carol for a game of March of the Ants (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=9255) which was sold to us as a quick game. I always worry about games when the owner sells it to you as a quick game. If the best thing that they have to say about the game is that it will be over soon, then what does that say about the quality of the game As it was, I needn't have worried, as it was very enjoyable. You each control rival ant colonies, which are exploring and competing for resources.

Frances came in from work, just as we were finishing March of the Ants, so we made a 4 for Ninjato (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=5867). I was very keen to play this, as I hadn't played it for a year. I took it along to another group last weekend and whilst I played A Game of Thrones: The Board Game (Second Edition) (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=1651), someone borrowed Ninjato and played it. It is an action selection game with a bit of a push your luck thing going on and it has large wooden shuriken as your action markers. You play as Samurai, needing to balance training to gain skills, raiding clan houses for treasures, bribing clan members with those treasures and buying end game bonuses. It took a lot longer than it should of done, but was still very enjoyable. Ninjato is a similar difficulty level to Stone Age (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=3874), but I prefer it.

For us we started the evening off with Sandcastles (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/174049/sandcastles) an interesting card game about building sandcastles which includes cards you can use to attack other peoples sandcastles to steal bits. There are bonus points available for building certain shapes or incorporating certain objects but if someone else matches or beats you they can take them away.

Fun little filler game but needs several players for the interaction to be interesting.

The next game on the table was Endeavor (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/33160/endeavor) an excellent game from Z-man that I need to definitely play more often.

Sadly out of print these days but has pride of place in my collection. Pretty easy to pick up and play, despite the longevity since its last play.

Wednesday 8th July 2015

Started out the evening with a game of Scoville (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=9172) this was only the second game of this since getting hold of a copy. The first game was with 2 players and was very close and enjoyable, it was a little more chaotic for this game with 5 players. Interestingly the scores were still very close with people taking different choices. The actions are "simple" but the choices are meaningful without causing too much downtime.

It certainly feels like a game that takes a play or two to get to grips with the options but is not too daunting on those first plays.

Really enjoyed this game and is quirky and different which is something I like and this will certainly get more plays. Once again Tasty Minstrel Games have tapped that goldmine of games well done.

We finished the evening off with a game of La Strada (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=1987) a really quick but interesting game of route laying between different cities/towns/villages with the scoring for each affected by how many people have linked their routes to there.

This was a first time play for me and I found it really quite fun. I can see that this is one of the games where more players are better to add that tension and interactivity that makes things more interesting.

I drove to the shop. First time properly behind the wheel of a car for ten weeks, and I've still got a lot of healing to do, but by leaving early I was able to get home in one piece.

So, having abandoned a massive sitting and sleeping session for Legendary Encounters: A Predator Deck Building Game (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=n&tagno=&game=9714) (I can do it later in the week), and passing on the "delights" of Splendor (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=8278) and whatever game it was that Peter wanted to have explained to him, I found myself playing Steampunk Rally (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/162007/steampunk-rally) with Paul, Carol & Philsy.

It's a Kickstarter game, so I was predisposed to hate it. It was someone else's game (Paul had backed it on KS), so I was predisposed to hate it. And we were learning the game from the rulebook, which wasn't always clear on some of the questions, so I was predisposed to hate it.

I loved the game. And not simply because I won by a country mile (Paul maintaining his record by taking last place, BTW). No, I'd decided that I really liked the game by the end of the first turn (when we were all tied), so the end result had nothing to do with my opinion.

It's a cool race game (a tricky genre to pull off), with a steampunk theme (a tricky genre to pull off), where players build their machines by adding cards (a tricky genre to pull off), from cards they have been passed and drafted (a tricky genre to pull off). But the designers nailed it. There was not one single thing I could find fault with. The graphics are clear, functional and really good looking. The components excellent quality. The game rewarded planning AND opportunism. Every card passed could've used or MEANINGFULLY discarded (7 Wonders, take note). There was just enough direct interaction (on top of the draft) to have kept me honest if the others had realised what I was up to.

So now I have to think about getting a copy.

I backed Steampunk Rally (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/162007/steampunk-rally) because Carole liked the sound of it as it reminded her of Wacky Races.

It was the best run KS Campaign I have been a part of and the final quality of the Game in all Departments - Theme, Artwork, Components, Gameplay, rules and enjoyment meant I had a lot of fun playing it.

A lot of the questions had answers in the rulebook but I managed to miss them on the quick skims I did to find them. On the whole, as Richard mentioned, the Artwork was superb and the iconography fell into place quite quickly. Once we did the suggested starting rounds and moved onto playing in the prescribed manner it also induced that feeling of a chaotic race which was really good.

The next game should be so much smoother with everyone knowing how things work in the turn. Really interesting twist on the Race game and one I feel will get a lot of play on the Wed night Sessions as well as other gaming nights.

I appreciated the patience of the other players as I learned the rules on the fly, despite having read the rulebook and watched the run-throughs there is no substitute for diving straight in and giving it a go.

After Richard left we played a game of Artifacts, Inc. (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=n&tagno=&game=9665) which was a really fun and quick card game where players play competing artefact hinting companies.

A mix of cards/dice and some very interesting choice to be made. I fear I missed the opportunity to end the game early enough to help me not lose and unfortunately handed the others two more or so turns that took hurt my chances quite badly.

Great fun evening and thanks again to Phil & Sal for letting us keep them up late to play games at the Shop.

So Richard, does this mean that you don't need a lift to the shop on Sunday, now that you're got your independence back?  If you do want a lift,  be aware that I would need to be home by about 6pm.

Chris.

I'm not sure whether I'll go on Sunday or not, but for an event like that - where one of us might need to bail early - it's best if I drive myself. But I'd still like lifts on Weds though - I only managed to play unto 930 last night, knowing that I had to be awake for the drive home!

Ahh well in this case I could have won as it was Philsy's game but I did lose Steampunk Rally so the universe is quite safe ;)

Sometimes there are games that I just "get", almost straight away.  Steampunk Rally was one of those games.  It's not always a sign that I will actually like the game, but it doesn't hurt.

I think the best thing about Steampunk Rally was the way that it revolved around card drafting, but done right.  Unlike the game with the too-large cards.

We played it again today, 6-player.  Neil won.  I managed to scrape third after stuffing up again and again (playing one card wrong two or even three times - taking one die when I was entitled to take three; mis-timing my run to the line leaving me one space short, and dropping obstacles on the course on the very turn that I was going to have to drive through all of them)!

Crucially I tried this time to play as many black cards as possible (I ignored them first game, and wondered if they were a little weak).  They're not - I could have won if I'd done it right.  And that was another big plus point in favour of the game - I made mistakes, despite knowing how to play, and made poor dedcisions.  At no stage did I think "well, that was bad luck" - it was bad play by me, and better play by others, which determined the result.

Wednesday 16th September

Can't remember it at all. Sorry. It probably involved Steampunk Rally (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/162007/steampunk-rally) and Roll for the Galaxy (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=7478), because every good games session revolves around those two games right now.

Steampunk Rally (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/162007/steampunk-rally) was definitely involved with 6 players, which worked well. The universe was kept safe again as I failed to even get past the finish line this game as my invention got stuck just after the last bend on the track  :-[  :P

It was a great game actually with some great use of Boost cards, especially the one at the very start where everyone, apart from the player of the card, had to take 3 damage. So at the end of that race phase a lot of people were knocked back to almost their starting machine  :'(

I believe you then managed to persuade some people to play Roll, meanwhile Carole and myself had a quick game of Oddville (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=7415) whilst waiting for others to finish games.

Final game of the night was Istanbul (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=8449), always a favourite, which I was in typical style for the game one more turn away from the win !!  +:dontknow=+::dontknow:

I think that Steampunk Rally will only get better as we better understand the rules, the cards and what you can do with them.

In particular, there are a few Boost cards which get massively more useful now I realise I can shed machine parts at any time and play the boost at any time. And once that is known, the draft becomes more important and interactive.

Wednesday 30th September
Back at work, so less time to post session reports now. But this Weds on our table were Machi Koro (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=8825) (with expansion; reasonable game, not one I'd buy again), San Juan (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=1873) (great game, though ad ever it was won by the player who got both Palace and another 6-cost building down), then Evolution (http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/single.php?menu=2&sub=4&game=9240) (won far too easily by Phil; he's playing this game too often I think).

I was stuck in Leeds, so couldn't attend. I'll be back next week. Incidentally, I have the Flight Expansion (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/176173/evolution-flight) for Evolution, which I haven't played yet.

For no reason I can put my finger on, Evolution is not a game I particularly enjoy. I can see why others do, but it always falls a little flat to me (and did from the very first play). But as I know others enjoy it, and it's a good game, I won't veto it when suggested.