Private session. 2-player Goldland.
Players were Nancy and myself. Nancy was new to the game.
We spent 18 minutes going over the rules. We started out slow because adventures blocked our progress and we needed to go back to get equipment. Things picked up mid-game. We were heading for the temple at the same time from different directions -- Nancy trying to get there across the top, and I used a zig-zagging pattern across the diagonal. Nancy drew a desert adventure, and decided not to make that the temple square because she didn't have the fish to enter it. I drew an ordinary tile and played it beside the temple square. Nancy drew another desert adventure and had to make it the temple square. She couldn't enter it, and started heading back. I collected enough exploration tokens for just such an occasion and spent them and the extra fish I had to enter the tile as an ordeal. Nancy conceded because she didn't see any way to catch up, though I think she could have made a legitimate effort to catch up if she wasn't so tired of the game.
Goldland end-game.
Game lasted an hour and twelve minutes.
Click here to buy Goldland at FunAgain.com.
SOG session. 4-player Ivanhoe, 6-player Call My Bluff, 6-player Kill Doctor Lucky, 6-player Medici.
Players were Chris/Chip, Ralph and myself. Chip and I were new to the game.
We spent about two minutes going over the rules. This is a card game representing contests of combat. It has five suits of cards with different values, wild cards with different values, and action cards to make things interesting. Play sequence is: Draw a card, Play a card. The idea is to initiate combat of a certain suit by playing any number of cards of a specific color. Then other players must match that suit and beat the highest total value of cards the previous player has. If the value can't be beat, the player is out. The last player left wins the round. Play continues until a player wins rounds of the five different colors.
My impression is that this is a rather light game. We used it as a filler before everyone showed up. Chris started in on the game, but Chip filled in when Chris went off to greet more guests.
Four rounds lasted about twenty minutes.
Click here to buy Ivanhoe at FunAgain.com.
Players were Lewis, Ralph, Chris, Chip, Mark and myself.
Mark won by betting two stars when there were only three dice left.
Game lasted 22 minutes.
Click here to buy Perudo (latest incarnation Call My Bluff) at FunAgain.com.
Players were Lewis, Ralph, Chris, Chip, Mark and myself.
Fun at first. Started to drag -- though Mark thought it's great fun through and through. I think it's another game that is fun for the theme and would be perfect as a half-hour game. Maybe removing a random set of failure cards would make things interesting and shorten the game.
Chris won after an hour.
Here's Chip's thread about the strategy for Kill Doctor Lucky.
Click here to buy Kill Doctor Lucky at FunAgain.com.
Players were Lewis, Ralph, Chris, Marcus, Mark and myself.
We spent 16 minutes going over the rules. Medici is a bidding game. A player draws one through three cards. Then each successive player bids a portion of their score on the cards. As soon as each player get exactly five cards, a scoring round begins. First, the value of the cards are scored. Then the rank of each of the five suits is scored. The game is played for three rounds.
I made a ridiculous starting bid, and Mark convinced me to try again so I did, and won the first card being the 10 point card. Chris played quietly and generally waited until the end to buy cards. Ralph continued his auction strategy of bidding ridiculously for cards he wanted, but this group wasn't flustered by that move. Mark made some ridiculous play, intending it to be a "screw Vitas" move, buy bidding high on a card he couldn't use knowing that I would bid higher on the card I could use. But I let him have it to his bewilderment. This shut him out from winning the final round.
We did screw up scoring cargo. Instead of adding 1st and second place, then dividing among the tied players, we divided first place among tied players, then divided second place among tied players.
Game lasted an hour and twelve minutes.
Click here to buy Medici at FunAgain.com.
Click here and scroll down to "9th" for Ralph's take on our games.
