Game(s) Played:
Love Letter
Android: Netrunner
Seasons
I had the opportunity to play Love Letter & Android: Netrunner whilst I was at family camp and teach Seasons as well so here are my impressions of Love Letter & Android: Netrunner as well as the session report for Seasons:
Session - Love Letter
Love Letter is a card game from the Tempest Shared World Game Series (basically Love Letter is part of a series of games that all share the same background story). In Love Letter, each Player is given an identity card that has an ability and a rank, from the lowly Guard to the esteemed Princess. Each turn, Players draw another identity card and choose which one of the two they will keep, with the general objective of trying to get the highest rank possible. Discarding the unwanted identity card triggers that card's ability which ranges from eliminating other Players if you guess their identity, peeking at another Player's identity, protection from attacks and so on. The game ends when only 1 Player remains whilst the rest are eliminated or there are no more identity cards to be drawn and the Player with the highest rank wins.
The Baron’s a little weird is all we’re saying
Love Letter is meant to be a fast & fun filler and is successfully designed as such however, it does involve some card counting which means AP Players are going to get some grief which actually happened during my few plays of the game. If you can count fast enough, you can know which identities have been discarded from the game and derive the safest course after taking into consideration the remaining identities in the game. Nevertheless, there is still a strong element of luck as there is no way to influence what identity card the Player is going to draw next and the ratio of wins was rather evenly spread across each Player.
Some people have Irish ancestors
I enjoyed Love Letter and could see from the state of the sleeves on Gideon's copy that many people have enjoyed the game as well. The thing that would keep me coming back to Love Letter is the hilarious moments when you eliminate another Player solely based on a 0% - 50% guesstimate as well as the woeful lamentations when you happen to be on the receiving end of such a wild guess. I would say that it is good fun for the whole family.
Well I guess it depends on what your family defines as fun
Session - Android: Netrunner
I always wanted to know what the hype was about Android: Netrunner and LCGs (Living Card Games) so I asked Gideon to teach me how to play using the Jinteki Corporation versus the Anarchs. In a nutshell, Android: Netrunner is about Hackers trying to break past fire walls and stealing plans from Corporations who in turn try to block, trap or trace these Hackers before they succeed at their job. The game play does succeed in bringing the theme to life for me where I really felt like I was playing a high-tech game of espionage. Each side's objective is different with the Hackers winning if they succeed at stealing enough plans (called Agendas) that gives them 7 points and the Corporations win if the Hackers have no cards in hand at the beginning of any turn (forced discards occur when the Hackers get trapped or tagged).
Gideon, did we play Corporations wrong? Looks like you Ice the unexposed Assets together rather than individually?
I enjoyed both rounds playing as the Corporation as well as the Hackers. As the Corporation, many of your played cards are played face down until the Hackers choose to make a run at it and thereby exposing it. I enjoyed mixing real Agendas with the traps and putting strong fire walls on weak cards to mix things up and psych out my opponent. I actually ended up winning by leaving a fake Agenda (actually a trap called Snare) unguarded and Gideon took the bait leaving him with no cards and giving me the game. Playing as the Hackers, I focused my attacks on Gideon's Corporation and Draw Pile and when I had gotten my Medium Virus up to 4 Virus Counters, I could attack Gideon's Draw Pile to reveal 3 cards per attack. It only took 2 more turns of attacks to reveal enough Agendas to give me the win.
This card was just awe-some
The following comments are to be taken with the consideration that it comes on the back of just two plays of Android: Netrunner. I find Android: Netrunner to be a wonderfully tense game regardless of which side you're playing on. Being the Corporation involves psyching out the Hackers by laying traps and hiding the real Agendas amongst the fakes which would help if you had a devilishly cunning mind. Playing the Hackers, I felt that I had to balance myself between building up my hacking arsenal as well as not waiting so long that the Corporation's projects would be unassailable due to the many firewalls that would be put up by then. However, I did notice that both my wins were largely due to me being absolutely cash rich compared to Gideon which basically comes down to me having a luckier card draw than my opponent. To some degree, a lucky card draw is I believe inevitable when you're playing a card game but nevertheless a kink for those who prefer zero luck in their gaming. If I could find someone to play this regularly with me I would consider purchasing it.
Better than this hacking mini game
Session - Seasons
I did a quick setup of Seasons for two Players and ignored the drafting section of the setup because it tends to take forever. I just played with my drawn cards face up to explain to Gideon which Power Cards make good combos and why I place them in certain Ages to draw. Gideon did reasonably well actually although I think I would have transmuted a couple more times if I were in his place since he didn't particularly have a strong combo. He put down an early Titus Deepgaze (steal 1 Crystal from each opponent each round) and Arcano Leech (steal 1 Crystal per Power Card summoned by opponents) which I countered with a Titus Deepgaze of my own. A Sid Nightshade (steal 5 Crystals from each opponent) on top of his 1 or 2 transmutations ensured that I was behind him in Crystal count most of the game. He did have a Scepter of Greatness (add 3 x number of Magical Items to Crystals) but because he had so many Familiars it wasn't really much good to him.
Stop stealing muh Crystals!
I had a Ragfield's Helm (add 20 Crystals if you have the most Power Cards) paired with the Syllas the Faithful (each opponent sacrifices a Power Card) and the Amulet of Air (big mistake to put Amulet of Air (draw 4 Power Cards and keep one) in the last age, good thing I drew Glutton Cauldron which is free to summon) which essentially gave me the marginal win. Gideon's Damned Soul of Onys (owner loses 3 Crystals per round) was a pain until I negated it with the Wondrous Chest (add 3 Crystals per round if you have more than 4 Energy Tokens) and I still couldn't find a proper use for Dragon Skull (sacrifice 3 Power Cards to add 15 Crystals). At the death, I won the game by probably 7 Crystals tops with Gideon being about 85 and me 92.
I still feel that I am nowhere near the level of average play that is demonstrated on BoardGameArena despite the number of plays under my belt and I think having my ass handed to me is good in the sense that it keeps my hunger to play Seasons going. Still a great game in my library with a lot of potential.
Yup still below average
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