Gathering Report - Day 4

Today I was able to get up, deal with the minor work obligations early and get down to the game room a bit earlier than prior days. I resolved to do a better job trying "new to me" games, and the result was a day of many new experiences.

Prototype - I began the day sitting down with Stephen Glenn to test out one of his prototypes. The play was successful and I hope to see this game from a publisher sometime in the next couple years.


Medici vs. Strozzi - I ran into Jared and we decided to try this recently released two player cousin of the classic game Medici. In this game you are balancing a few main factors: your money, the size of your ships, the pier the ships dock at and both the value and type of the cargo you load on them. It is played in three rounds and each round ends when one of the two players fills their ships. I did well in round one by generating building up some good strength on my ships and worrying Jared about what would happen if the turn ended. As a result the bidding got higher and we both ended up losing money overall. The next two turns proved the nice balance in the game as I slowly allowed Jared to win more and more goods as he was willing to pay a price I thought too high. The end result was a strong win in my favor, despite loading only two goods (out of a possible twelve) in the second round. I don't play a lot of two player games at home, but would give a recommendation on this to anyone who likes tactical economic two player games.

Yspahan - Bobby Warren taught Larry Whalen and I this game and Ian MacInnes sat down to join us right when we were ready to start. This game has camels. Thus following the rule of German games, it must be good. And it is. There is a clever system where a player rolls dice on their turn and then groups them by ranking, you can see a result in the picture above. The number of dice in each row indicates how many of that particular action may be taken. This simple piece combines with a number of familiar other elements into a whole that is quite satisfying. Another positive first impression.

Space Dealer - Michael Weston offered to teach this title to Janobie and Jeff Ford and me. In this game, which lasts exactly thirty minutes, all of your actions are initiated by turning a (roughly) one minute sand timer. Once the timer runs out, the action is complete and it takes effect immediately. Everyone is thus playing simultaneously. The rest of the game is fairly simple, a good thing given the time pressure for what you are trying to do.

I expected to feel particularly harried, rushed and frantic during this game, but didn't find that to be the case. More it was frustrating to release you had just spent several minutes on something that was no longer useful because someone else had started that effort first. At the end of the game we counted score and found it was quite different from the markers we had been moving around. I think in the future I would skip these markers. Overall an interesting experience that I wouldn't mind on occasion, but not a game I need to have or play frequently.

Caylus Magna Carta - I like the game Caylus, but I don't love it like some people. I find it just a little too complex and long for my tastes, and I found that Puerto Rico scratched the same planning itch. Fortunately, I was wandering by when I got an invitation to join Dan, Mathew and Ava for a game on a pre-preproduction copy of Caylus Magna Carta. This game is, in my opinion, all the good stuff about Caylus, without so much complexity. Because the players dictate the order that every building but four will come out, I can imagine the game could be quite variable, and it was certainly shorter. This is a game I'll be looking for when it comes out later this year.

Race for the Galaxy - If you haven't heard of this game, let me tell you, keep an eye out for it. The same group stuck together to play a prototype copy of this game which is due out this summer from Rio Grande Games. There are a lot of things to cover at the beginning but I found the game quick, interesting, tense and all around exciting. If you still need to be convinced, head over to Boardgamegeek and check out Brian Bankler's accolades. I hate to build up the hype, but this game may live up to it. I also got to page through proof sheets for the card art and I can guarantee you, if you buy this game sight unseen you will not be disappointed in the look. The cards are many and beautiful.

Loopin Louie - One of the annual traditions of the Gathering is the Loopin Louie tournament. I and approximately forty of my fellow attendees and friends all queued up to play on one of the nine sets of this decades old children's game. The event is run with tournament rules whereby a player must start with an additional handicap (one less chicken) for every prior game they have won at the table. The first player to win a game with the full handicap wins the table, marks their card for a win and remains while their opponents must wait in a line to re-engage another group. It is a silly way to spend an hour, and one lucky gal or chap gets an early prize table pick as an award. This year I understand that was Brian Stallings.

Prototype - Wandering after the tournament I ended up sitting down with Matt Anderson, Stephen Lesnik, Alan Ernstein, Nataline Viray-Fung and Dave Chalker. As we were just sitting around in conversation Alan pulled out a prototype card game which we could play while chatting. We ended up playing two different games with the deck, but fun and interesting although with this group the first came off better as it lent itself to exclamations of shock and frustration.

I spent a couple hours out of the game room having dinner and wonderful conversation with some friends and then returned for a couple more games to cap off the night.

Taluva - Earlier in the day I had run into a table with Greg Schloesser and, while there wasn't room for me to play, he had invited me to sit in on the rules explanation. As it turns out, these rules were quite simple and I kept hearing good things about this game from the designer of Attika. Marty Hoff agreed to give the game a try as a two player competition and we sat down to duke it out. As a two player game it was quite interesting and challenging and I would like to try playing it with three or four. A good general first impression, although it is tactical and so I suspect that two or three might be the optimal numbers. For that reason I don't know how much play time it would really get in my collection.


Euchre - Nataline and Scott wandered by as we were finishing up. That could only mean it was time for a game of Euchre before bed. After some cajoling Marty agreed to stick around and help Scott thoroughly beat us. Sometimes the cards just aren't with you.

Another late night, I'll need to start finishing up sooner if I'm going to take time to post. Let me know in the comments if there are particular things you'd like to see more or less about.