Game(s) Played:
Before I start the report, I just want to apologize for the square pictures. I had no idea the setting on my phone was changed and didn't realize until I got home to extract them out onto my laptop. The fact that there is even a "Square Photo" setting befuddles me as to its purpose.
Session – Dixit
Game: Dixit
Designer: Jean-Louis Roubira
Players: 3 – 6 Players
Playing Time: 30 minutes
Main Mechanisms: Storytelling, Voting
Player(s):
It feels like I've played a tonne of Dixit in my boardgaming history but the truth is that I have only actually played it once. It felt like a lot because it was at a retreat with friends and Dixit was one of two games that we played over 3 days and 2 nights. Always a hit with the artfully inclined, dreamers, readers and little children, Dixit will always occupy a special place in boardgaming history as a boardgame in a category of its own.
"Daddy, nobody guessed my card", pouts Padawan Minigeek
Joining us today are Jimmy and his friends from iBridge, a ministry for Christians who are fresh graduates and young professionals. Also new to us at the table is Padawan Minigeek, although she only came in partway through because Mummy says she needs to finish her breakfast first. The woes of growing up are that you don't get to do what you want, when you want.
Today's session of Dixit saw a lot of "Movie" clues such as "Punisher", "Alice In Wonderland", "Ghost In the Shell", "Trolls" etc. Unfortunately we did not see more than two close contenders for a round in this session but there were quite a few rounds where there was only one clear answer (this is always accompanied by chants of "Zero-loh brother") and even one occurrence of the rare occasion where no one guessed the right answer if memory serves (accompanied by exclamations of disbelief at the clue giver's native language).
Results Of Game(s)
Winnah – Justin (30 VP)
Second – Jimmy (29 VP)
Third – Jane (27 VP)
Fourth – Edward (25 VP)
Last – Irene & Valentina (23 VP)
The nail-biting finish
I took two pictures of the end game. The one on the left because I thought Jimmy (red) was a sure win and then on the last round, Jimmy guesses wrong (0 points) and I (green) guess right plus someone guesses my card giving me 4 points! which pushed me right into the finish line for the win. Talk about a come from behind victory.
Session – Sushi Go
Game: Sushi Go
Designer: Phil Walker-Harding
Players: 2 – 5 Players
Playing Time: 15 minutes
Main Mechanisms: Card Drafting, Set Collection
Player(s):
When I ask someone if they would like to play a boardgame with me and their first response is "Is it complicated?", my first instinct is to reach for Sushi Go. The turn structure is simple, the scoring is easier than Gin Rummy and it resonates with the sushi lovers in most of us.
Jimmy taught Sushi Go to his 'kaki' to fill in the short period of time before they had to go for their badminton appointment next door.
Results Of Game(s)
Inconclusive
Everyone had good sushi to go (bad pun intended)
Unfortunately I was busy setting up and teaching games at the next table as the group had grown too big at this point, so I have no idea how Sushi Go turned out. But from the picture above, my guess is that things went well.
Session – Castles of Mad King Ludwig
Game: Castles of Mad King Ludwig
Designer: Ted Alspach
Players: 1 – 4 Players
Playing Time: 90 minutes
Main Mechanisms: Tile Placement
Player(s):
I'm beginning to think that I don't have much luck with Ted Alspach's games. This is the second time that Castles of Mad King Ludwig has hit the table and I was not a seated Player. I'm not mad (oh no, pun not intended) that I couldn't get to play, it is more of frustration that I cannot give a proper report on my impressions on the game.
So King Ludwig is looking for a castle with lots of corridors and underground rooms... Underground nuclear bunker?
Edward looks on in dejection at Valentina taking the tile he wanted
Results Of Game(s)
Winner – Valentina (84 VPs)
Second – Edward (80 VPs)
Last – Chee Meng (70 VPs)
The meta-defying Castle of Valentina!
I was only darting in and out of their game to do rules explanation every now and then so I am not fully aware of how Valentina managed to pull out a victory but her result is incredibly encouraging because you could win a game without being dictated by Mad King Ludwig's mad goals (hence meta-defying). I really can't contain my excitement at this discovery. I have always felt like the goal tiles crimp the style of my castle but as you can see from the above picture, Valentina largely ignored the goal tiles and had a lot of synergy among her rooms instead. This is even more surprising because the other two castles were exactly what Mad King Ludwig was looking for. Edward's castle looked like Batman's cave, full of dungeon rooms and nearly entirely underground whilst Chee Meng's castle looked like Pan's Labyrinth and even had the infamous "Completed Corridor" (a corridor sandwiched by two other corridors and completed at both ends). Regretfully, I should have taken a picture of both their castles as well.
Now I'm really itching to sit down and play this game... I think this calls for the high risk mission of attracting the wife's ire called "Unscheduled Boardgame Session".
Session – Alien Frontiers
Game: Alien Frontiers
Designer: Tory Niemann
Players: 2 – 4 Players
Playing Time: 90 minutes
Main Mechanisms: Area Control, Dice Rolling, Worker Placement
Player(s):
I think I have mentioned before that Eminent Domain was one of two games that " I feel are "incomplete" and at the same time, don't feel compelled enough after playing the base game to get the expansion that, so sayeth others... "completes" the game." Well, Alien Frontiers is the other game that makes me feel this way. Do read on to see if today's session changes my mind... but in the mean time, here's today's "Play Better" segment!
Me pointing out the Alien Artifact facility and its usefulness yet only one Player docked here
TIP #1 – Alien Technology Is Your Friend
Newcomers to Alien Frontiers tend to ignore the impact of Alien Technology Cards to the game because it is the only part of the game that is not open information. You only get to see three open cards and tend to discount the usefulness of the Alien Tech Cards. Rather than waiting for more dice to increase the odds of rolling the number you want, the Alien Tech Cards gives you an avenue to manipulate your die rolls like how I started with the Polarity Device and could flip any one of my dice on its opposite value.
Kenny convincing Louanna that the Solar Converter is her friend
TIP #2 – The Solar Converter Is Indeed Your Friend IF Heinlein Plains Is Also Your Friend
The Solar Converter is probably the most accommodating Orbital Facility around The Planet (surprisingly not named, despite the various territories all having names). There are no restrictions to placing your dice here and you get out of it whatever you put in. But hoarding all that solar fuel is an exercise in futility unless you also have ore to go with it as most actions require ore as a resource. But if you control the Heinlein Plains, you can exchange 1 fuel for 1 ore (and laugh your way to the bank as you do), turning all your fuel into precious, precious ore.
Today we learned that Louanna (green) is a shark who attacks at any sign of weakness
TIP #3 – In Space, Nobody Is Your Friend
There is no reason to show an mercy in Alien Frontiers and hoarding the spots on the Lunar Mine is perfectly fair game. Admittedly we accidentally made the game less "mean" by playing the Van Vogt Mountains ability wrong. The Van Vogt Mountains does allow you to place your first die at the Lunar Mine of any value but the subsequent dies HAVE to match the highest value die at the Lunar Mine not just the preceding one. Ironically enough I like this wrongly played aspect of the game enough to house rule it in the future. That aside, you shouldn't feel bad about hoarding spaces because I certainly don't, the Player next to you certainly doesn't and you shouldn't as well.Results Of Game(s)
Winner – Louanna (9 VPs)
Second – Justin (6 VPs)
Third – Teik Beng (4 VPs)
Last – Kenny (3 VPs)
Lo and behold! The Shark won! That's Louanna's new nickname
I must say that I actually enjoyed more of my game of Alien Frontiers this time round. Mostly because I used the Alien Tech Cards better, there were combos between Territory Abilities and Alien Tech Cards plus there was a lot of interaction between Players that was mean and fun at the same time. And I think I've finally nailed down the problem I have with Alien Frontiers and it turns out I am not alone in thinking the Raiders' Outpost is just so powerful that it feels incongruous with the game. Spaces being blocked by other Players is merely irritating but being the entire focus of a Raid cuts your legs off at the knees. It just takes being mean to being vindictive and I personally feel that it is too much. I think if I house rule the Raiders' Outpost to be able to steal ONLY one resource from each Player OR one Alien Tech Card from any Player, this would probably work out.
This session probably saved Alien Frontiers for me but I'm still not entirely convinced about the expansion which adds faction powers unique to each Player and I'm not sure if having more abilities makes things better or overcomplicates things for new Players.
Session – Hansa Teutonica
Game: Hansa Teutonica
Designer: Andreas Steding
Players: 2 – 5 Players
Playing Time: 90 minutes
Main Mechanisms: Area Control, Route Building
Player(s):
It feels contradictory to say that parts of Alien Frontiers is too mean and then play a game of Hansa Teutonica which is "meanness" personified. Hansa Teutonica is an oldie but still a goodie and is actually rather pleasant to play with 4 Players because you get to use the more spacious map size. Playing with 3 Players can degenerate into a sweaty, messy, cesspool of bodies not unlike a Royal Rumble match. I decided to simplify our play of Hansa Teutonica this round by not including the bonus tokens and just stick to basics. It was interesting to see the various strategies employed by everyone even though it was their first time playing.
Purple is my jam, but I still couldn't win (shocker)
TIP #1 – Upgrading Actions Is Paramount For A New Player
I would say that it is close to impossible (Do I hear a "Challenge Accepted"?) to win a game of Hansa Teutonica without upgrading to at least 3 Actions per turn. The earlier you do this, the less distinct your disadvantage is in the long run. Not only do you get to do more things each turn, you will notice in the picture above that many of the routes on the map are 3 spaces. Having at least 3 Actions will give you a better chance of taking up the entire route on your turn and not have an opponent block you.
Louanna (blue) looks sad because Teik Beng (red) blocked her from connecting from east to west
TIP #2 – The Roads To Victory Are Many, You Should Still Only Pick One
New Players should remember that although Hansa Teutonica is a Euro, you are actually playing against a countdown timer as the first Player to reach 20 points ends the game and 20 Points is actually not that high of a threshold. Plan a few turns ahead to see which abilities you need to upgrade in order to accomplish your preferred "victory" and then forge ahead with it. I was aiming for a big splash in the Coellen Table but got greedy and spent two extra turns upgrading my Privilegium (color limitations) and didn't make it before Kenny ended the game.Results Of Game(s)
Winner – Kenny (35 VPs)
Second – Teik Beng (30 VPs)
Third – Justin (29 VPs)
Last – Louanna (22 VPs)
Kenny indicating his winning strategy: Securing Gottingen for points from everyone upgrading their Actions and gaining control over many small cities
Hansa Teutonica is a game I would gladly play with Players who have gotten their feet wet in euro boardgaming. It is extremely clever and at our game's end, we didn't just pack up and leave but spent a few minutes discussing how each Player could have done one little thing to get a better score. Teik Beng & I could have easily tied for first place given another turn to do so and it was interesting to see Players with distinct strategies come to a near equal end game. I do prefer to play without the bonus tiles as I feel the reward from the bonus tiles is somewhat unbalanced, particularly those that give you +3/4 Actions. In future games, I may remove add the bonus tiles back in but remove the +3/4 Actions.
No one would have believed us if we said this would be a thing 10 years ago
I just want to thank everyone for coming to join us and look forward to seeing everyone at the next meetup. Special thanks to Jimmy for sharing picture taking responsibilities. Until next time, keep calm and play better.
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