Back in the Saddle

Well, it has been a year. It was never my intention when starting this blog that it would become mostly a once a year Gathering update, but that is fine for now.

I'm back in Columbus, and enjoying another round. We flew in yesterday (United, Skybus didn't serve our area so we were spared the torture of finding alternate travel after they suddenly closed up shop). Unfortunately, due to the Skybus thing there are a fair number of folks who will need to drive. I already know some who were supposed to fly up Saturday morning arrived late Saturday night after 10+ unexpected hours on the road.

Otherwise, it is as thought the Gathering never ended. I arrived mid-afternoon Saturday and already there were 50 or so gamers at it. Heading over to drop our few games brought with us at a likely spot on a side table we happened right by Dan, Kory, Jake and David, so stopped to chat and ultimately play some games with them.

And so we were off!

First game of the Gathering for us was Speed Zendo. It is somewhat prototype, so I'll skip the tentative rules but if you know Zendo, it is the same concept but without turns. At the table were Becky, David, Dan, Jake and Kory at various times. We played several rounds, 5 or 6 and it was a good way to get my head into the gaming mode, even if my performance was horrible. Becky was very silent for most of it, but managed the rule for our final round with one guess after listening carefully to the responses thus far.


Next up was Felix, also known as Cat in the Sack. Dan had wandered off, but the rest of us stayed for this one. Jake was kind enough to read us the rules aloud, and then go back and explain what he'd read as we had caught only about 50% of what it actually meant the first time. This is a fairly simple game of progressive bid and bluff to collect sets of cards for points. You are bidding points and some cards are bad as well as good. The later you passed out the more chips you'd get to bid in future rounds. Also, as the set of cards was seeded by the players each round, you would need to judge whether another player had put in a good card or was just bluffing with his raise. All in all a simple and entertaining little game I don't need to own but would gladly play again.


Most of that group headed off for dinner, so Becky and I spent some time wandering the room saying hello to many others we haven't seen for a year. Then we ran into Dan Blum and decided there was time for something straightforward before dinner. We settled on Race for the Galaxy. Dan won handily, but it was good to play again, as Becky has only played a couple times and needed the refresher. Then it was off with Dan for some good Chinese food.

Back in the game room the three of us met up with Mario and Dan poked around for something new to try. He found a copy of the new Kosmos game Toledo with enough translation to figure the rules. This is a game in the same nature as Caylus in that you are taking actions along a path and building that path as you go. (Can we give credit to This Game is Bonkers for that mechanism?) It has an interesting dueling system, some neat decisions and a much less intense or long play time as either Caylus or Caylus Magna Carta. I want to try again, but after one play it looks like it goes on my recommended list.


Becky decided it was time for bed and Dan headed off for other games so Mario and I cast about for a choice. Agricola was available, but we wanted a couple more and didn't find a teacher quickly. Instead we decided to pull out Trapper and learn it from the rules inside. I read the rules while Mario recruited Richard and helped set up. This is a simple but interesting resource management, path selection and set collection game. You move trappers around the board of tiles using your hand of cards and collecting tiles as you go. The tile sets are good for points and there are bonus points that reward completing them more quickly when possible. Poor Richard had some trouble at the outset catching the strategy, but it came down to a quite close game for Mario and me, with him edging me out with a play to grab the last tile I needed. Another game I'd like to give another try before coming down with a firm rating.


We chatted with Rodney a bit and then decided we were up for one more light game. Dancing Dice it was. A fair amount of calling around the game room and we filled the table to six. With me were Mario, Rodney, Nick, Tyler and Maryl. After a good explanation and some sample rolls we started dancing. Well, really just rolling dice for sets and arranging them behind the screen. It was good entertaining fun. Again a filler I enjoyed, nothing I need to own, but one I'd gladly play again if asked. The game came down to Rodney and me dancing head to head, but he proved lighter of foot.


At that point I was about ready to head off to bed, but ran into Frank Branham who had just driven up from Georgia due to the Skybus fiasco. He always brings good (read interesting and off the beaten path) stuff. When I wandered over he was excitedly showing Henning his complete copy of Grade Up to Elite Cow. It is the first game I've seen which has a designated place on the player mat (actually a little plastic tray) for indicating your semen supplies. He also had an awesome looking complete prototype for his Battle Beyond Space design. I'll need to talk to him more to see what I can say about that. This is another nascent game I hope to be able to own some day. Finally we pulled out his copy of Bobbin' Bumblebees, a remake/clone of Loopin Louie. It was lightweight but decent. I'd agree with Frank, perhaps the closest substitute so far, but not the same. Frank, Henning, Dan and I played a handful of rounds and then I finally headed for bed.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you again tomorrow.