So i have been a bit behind in posting recently played games. here goes and enjoy! :)
OUTPOST
Finally manage to get a game of this in. I have been wanting to try this since its supposedly a good old game and reprinted nicely. However the reviews have been very mixed and thus I did not pull the trigger. Finally got a quick game in. What turned out to be an intro game after a long week night evolved into a full blown game of about 2 hours or so. We made several mistakes along the way but still did pretty well i think. However this game really requires a few plays so that you will not make mistakes in the earlier rounds so as to put you so far out of the game it is no longer fun. Unfortunately there is not much of a catch-the-leader mechanism in the game and players will have to pay attention to each other and attempt to block. But by doing so will usually be detrimental to yourself thus the game often is just a "see how efficient you are" game. For me at least I think its only average. Components wise is also average only. It has a bit of the rough feel that Stronghold games seems to have. Just a whee bit not refined I feel.
FARMERAMA
Latest game from Uwe and reminds me of Agricola light. Each turn players will choose and action card from a standard set of 5 cards and then perform that action. The main emphasis are 2 things. The main wheel/rondel in the middle that dictates how many times an action can be done by a player and the second is on the individual rondel/wheel on each player's board which tells a player where to sow goods or place their livestock. During the game though most players are concentrated on themselves and their player boards and only through more play will players start to pay attention to each other so as to be in a better position when choosing actions. Not a bad little filler game from Uwe.
CONEY ISLAND
Worker placement and area control game with awesome looking components. Thick cardboard pieces and stacking the monies together makes you feel very rich! Players compete to score as much points as they can by clever placement of their own stalls and then replacing theirs and other players' stalls into actual rides thus scoring points. Its not a bad game but it seems like an idea that was not yet fully developed into a polished game. Not a bad game still.
LIBERTALIA
I had gotten my copy of Libertalia from GENCON 2012 and gotten the metal coins as a gencon promo. Its a good game for up to 6 and a lot of people have described it to be similar to citadels but more fun. I think the resemblance is due to the character roles that you are choosing but otherwise there is not much that is the same. Gameplay is easy to explain but not that quick to grasp and the scores each round can swing depending on how well you play your roles. All in all, it is a good game and the metal coins only makes it that much more fun to play. Highly recommended.
NETRUNNER
I got my copy from a shop in NYC after GENCON as I read a few reviews detailing how good this game is. Initially I did not get what the hype is but since the theme and game play seems rather unique I decided to pull the trigger when I saw it arrive at the store in NYC. Gameplay is rather unique as one player plays the corporation which is to guard all their assets. The other player plays the runner which is trying to "hack" into the corporation assets and either whittle down the draw deck OR steal agendas. Our first game was done using the starting decks and it went on pretty long. Not sure if we read any of the rules long but it seems the runner was having a hard time gathering resources enough to make good runs against me the corporation. Still I really want to get in a few more plays on both sides before determining how I feel about this.
LOST VALLEY
I recently traded my Inca Empire for this game. I wanted to see what the hype is as there is currently a kickstarter to produce a new version of this. Initially upon reading the rules, we were left wondering how to start playing the game as the intersections being spoken of were not that clear to us. Luckily, Tom's video from The Dice Tower really made it easy for us to understand the game and start playing! Players are trying to venture out into this board that is built dynamically to gather resources and retrieve gold from the land. Players try to get 10 gold pieces and return back to base to end the game. Or when the white piece which represents the ice flow reaches the base, the game will end as well. Either case, the player with the most gold will win the game. I liked how the board is built dynamically and how careful placement and exploration is crucial as well because if you manage to draw a triangle piece, it yields more resources than normal diamond shaped pieces. The end game condition can be rather abrupt though but its not a bad game. More plays are needed!
AKABA
A rather old game that was won by my friend during a recent boardgame auction. After some surfing around online, we manage to find the english rules (not included in the game) from the publisher's site. Its a dexterity game where players try to use a blower to blow their flying carpets around the various market places to obtain the loot that are revealed on their cards. While the player is blowing his carpet around, another player rolls 2 dice to try to get the same color rolled so that the player blowing has to stop. Its a light filler and a great way to end a good night of gaming.
VANUATU
I do so love this game and I am surprised its not getting a lot of loving on BGG. I bought this game without really reading the rules but I am so glad I did as it is a challenging euro game that gives my brain a very good workout. The art and components are nice and well done but the main attraction is the action placement mechanism. This mechanism is very similar to Dominant species in that player order and majority are very very important. My first play, I did not comprehend this and we did not understand why being first player can be quite important. Now I do. Because of the heaviness and cut throat nature of the action placement mechanism, the art does seem a bit too light-hearted for it. If you want a challenging and potentially cut throat game, I heartily recommend Vanuatu.
EVIL BABY ORPHANAGE
My group today wanted to try this game after hearing about it and so I broke it out. We had quite a bit of fun diving into the game play and the whimsical nature. However, like a friend commented afterwards, it became to feel like Munchkin and became draggy and slow. So far my games of this has been the same. Starts off funny and cute but near the 30 minute mark it becomes draggy and people cannot wait to end it to play something else. Still there is a lot of content for this little card game because of the real-life characters. Makes me wish there was a little booklet of fluff on the background of these characters and how they were chosen by the designer.
EMPIRE EXPRESS
At GENCON 2012, after obtaining Mayfair's 50% discount, I decided to purchase Empire Express. I had apprehension initially about this game because of the odd nature of crayons in a boardgame. After trying the demo though, I decided to give it a go as the strangeness also makes this a unique game in my collection. The game play is rather light though in that you are just trying to maximise your delivery system so that you are earning as much money as you can to win the game. The randomness of the card draw though can be quite crippling as you may not be able to deliver much goods and are forced to forgo turns for exchanging cards. I do wish I had purchased the Empire Builder option though as it will offer more options such as different locomotives and thus more variety. Still its not a bad introduction to the system.
HEAP
Bought this after a quick demo at the Privateer Press booth. I think I must have had my GENCON goggles on because bringing it back and playing it does not leave me with a satisfying taste as I thought I had at GENCON. Its a quick game with good art I must admit but the gameplay itself is rather MEH. All a player needs to do is ensure that he upgrades his vehicles the FASTEST and that will most likely ensure his victory at the final race. Disappointed at the game and at myself for falling for the GENCON Goggles which makes bad games seems not that bad.
So all in all, a good few weeks of boardgaming. I have another group coming tomorrow and one of the girls owns Decent 2nd edition! I cannot wait to try this!
