Dominion - ctd

Another couple of reasons why Dominion's great (having just played a couple of games): We all get so pissed off when we're losing and when we find out we've lost. (Because you know you've played badly, you can't blame luck.) We also find it hard to work out who's winning through the game and usually feel like we're losing even if we're winning, so most of the time we're pretty grumpy when playing! Probably not everyone would consider this good but I think a great game should have the power to change your emotions. And essentially that's where I struggle with co-op games like Pandemic, I just don't care if "we" beat the game, I don't feel anything.

Dominion

Pretty much had to start here: This is easily my favorite game of the past year and one which I feel starts from a unique point. Sure, it has similarities with other games in that you're trying to collect victory points whilst balancing this with the need for money (treasure) and bonus cards (kingdom cards). This reminds me most of Puerto Rico (which I see has returned to the no.1 spot on BGG). But the whole concept behind building your own deck of cards and trying to get the right cards at he right time seems, to me, to be a pretty new one.

It's a game which has clearly been meticulously planned. I sometimes felt in my early games that the cost of some cards was not quite right but having played many times I see that I was wrong and if a card costs 5 then it's worth 5. I also couldn't understand why there were so many curse cards until recently we played a 4-player game and all the cards were used-up by halfway through.

Some of the best features of the game are: It's speed, most games over in less than half an hour for 2 players and 45mins for 4. The fact that it plays so well as a 2 player game and you have to change your thinking a little when there's more players involved. Its super-easy to learn and to teach, it's also a good game to introduce non-gamers to because it's so fast. And, of course, the enormous variability in the game, particularly if you look at the expansions too.

Any bad points? Well, in the same way that in Power Grid sometimes somebody gets an amazing power plant early-on and gains a big advantage from that, there have been occasions when one player gets cards which are "too good" at the start: I can think of two scenarios where this has happened, both in 2-player games: One is where on a player's first go they produce 5 bronze cards (having shuffled poorly?) and are able to buy a Witch, the opponent gets cursed to buggery multiple times in the opening rounds and is unable to recover. The other is where you acquire a lot of gold early on, can't quite remember how it happened but it made for a one-sided game.

But on the whole, Dominion is a near-flawless game and one which should be owned by everyone in the land - 5 stars!

The big gap

So, I've got much to blog about but I thought I'd best start with a quick run-down of why there's been such a long gap since our last posts. Basically this is due to a number of factors: Mainly laziness it has to be said, but also the fact that we've all changed jobs and moved house - some of us going a little further than others ;) . On the plus side, we've all kept gaming and through our changed circumstances we've hopefully got more to talk about so let's go...

Furniture Fuddle

A great game, if you're ever bored, is Furniture Fuddle. So here's the rules:

1. It's a 2 player game really, but you could have more
2. player A leaves the room (but tries to remember exactly where everything is)
3. player B moves one item in that room. Move it about 15cm.
4. player A comes back into the room after player B gives permission
5. player A guesses what has been moved. One guess only!
6. If player A gets it right, it's now his turn to fuddle the furniture (i.e. be player B)
7. if player A guesses wrong, he has to leave the room again, and player B moves the SAME object in the SAME direction. Again, about 15cm.
8. this cycle continues until player A correctly identifies the fuddled furniture.

It's fun, because sometimes an item that was on the desk ends up on the floor or vice verca, and the fool you're playing with may not notice.

Happy fuddling gamers!

Next week: Cork Placing.

Expansions

So it's been Hallowe'en weekend. Hellbeck ale from the glorious Geltsdale brewery was consumed, and expansion packs were devoured. First up, Traders & Builders of Carcassonne.

I'm sure people will agree that there is just too much road in classic Carcassonne. The expansion tiles all have city on them, and there are now city tiles which fit into spaces which before may have been impossible to complete. That in itself is good, but the addition of the candle and pig add a little extra flavour without over-complicating the game. Not sure how I feel about the recourses at the moment though. I'm probably just bitter because KCL thwarted my victory with recourses. Grrrr.

Cities and Knights for Catan is a beautiful addition. Catan is easily our most played game, so it was becoming stagnant. There's so much going on in C&K that it sometimes hurts my brain. There's almost too much and it makes the games a bit more epic. No quick games to be had. Although I suppose you could not bother with the Barbarian invasion if you did want a quick game. Either way, I am looking forward to the next game of C&K.

When asked what the objective of Carcasonne was, Arnie suggested "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women".

I asked him how he coped with such pressure during game play and he replied that it give him a headache. I suggested it might be a tumour. "It's not a TUMAA" he barked back.

I watched him masterfully play his game, anhihilating everyone around him. I suggested he play professionally. I offered him a contract and he said: "I live to see you eat that contract.But I hope you leave enough room for my fist, because I'm gonna ram it in your stomach and brake your goddam SPINE!! Aarrgh!"

At this point I ran. Ran far away to the island of Catan. Quite frankly, Arnie was scaring me.

The Chair

So I cam across this photo on t'internet t'other day. Not sure how, but I did. How awesome would it be to load it up with games? Then wheel yourself up to the table, ready to commence battle. This would probably be Prof. Charles Xavier's choice of gaming chair, should that eventuality ever arise. I wonder what his favourite game would be. Suggestions please.