Chris' SOG session. 3-player Quest for the Dragonlords, 6-player 6 Nimmt!, 4-player ZooSim, 4-player Blokus, 5-player Cartagena, 5-player Formula De.
Players were Chris, Ralph, myself. New players to the game were: Chris, Ralph, myself. I had the first turn.
We spent 90 minutes going over the rules and setting up the game.
Click here for an overview of Quest for the Dragonlords.
Yes! I talked Ralph into buying this game because, with a fantasy theme and lots of bits, how could we go wrong. Besides, looking for an embedded systems programming job leaves me cash-less to buy my own copy.
We took a lot of time setting up the game and playing it. Don't be fooled by the time we took -- it was a leisurely paced setup and play.
Just like a Risk game, the last player to go, Ralph, has a disadvantage because everyone attacks him before he gets a turn to attack back, and this left him with fewer territories to collect income from.
I played the Dwarves, so I ended up with lots of money compared to the rest.
Chris played the barbarians, which gave him a better attack.
Chris and I intended to go off on quests.
Not that it mattered. This is a dice rolling game, and we took over some territories the first turn.
Turn two: I rolled on the quest track, and landed on a quest space. I rolled a blessed roll, and ended up with a dragonlord, free and clear. This bypassed all the risk of acquiring a dragonlord normally. At this point, Chris and Ralph conceded, because my dragonlord will just teleport nearly anywhere it wants, and its high attack and defense meant that it'll wreck havoc on them.
Overall, I think the game is great for the theme and bits, but is a dice-fest in terms of gameplay. Perhaps it's even unbalanced. (But after my last game of Werewolf, I think you'd have to expect any game that has some sort of luck to have situations where someone seems to win effortlessly.)
Game lasted 95 minutes.
Final scores were:
Click here to buy Quest for the Dragonlords at FunAgain.com.
Click here to learn more about Quest for the Dragonlords at BoardGameGeek.com.
Players were Chip, Marianne, Mark, Sara, Ralph, myself.
Click here for an overview of 6 Nimmt!.
Fluffy game to start things off with everyone.
I wasn't into this, especially after thinking hard and ending up with lots of cards with my first card. I generally played randomly after that. Marianne and I seemed to compete for the worst score.
Final scores were:
Click here to buy 6 Nimmt! at FunAgain.com.
Click here to learn more about 6 Nimmt! at BoardGameGeek.com.
Players were Jeff, Mark, Marianne, myself. New players to the game were: Jeff, Marianne.
We spent 5 minutes going over the rules and setting up the game.
Click here for an overview of ZooSim.
Well, Marianne was wary of this game because she's awful at these types of games. It turns out she held the lead for most of the game until Mark won some decisive tiles in the final turn of the game.
Overall, this game is a fun tile-laying, bidding experience, and quite short!
Game lasted 30 minutes.
Final scores were:
Click here to buy ZooSim at FunAgain.com.
Click here to learn more about ZooSim at BoardGameGeek.com.
Players were Jeff, Mark, Marianne, myself. New players to the game were: Jeff, Mark, Marianne. Jeff had the first turn.
Click here for an overview of Blokus.
This game tends to amaze me in how other players can squeek out of a hopeless situation, at times.
Marianne seemed boxed in, but she was able to make the most of the space she had.
Mark misunderstood the five point bonus, thinking he could get it without placing all his pieces. He was upset that this cost him the game. Looking at his score, I see it wouldn't have made a difference! Well, maybe it would if second place was respectable.
Marianne surprises me again by scoring well, despite her non-chalant attitude towards games.
Game lasted 20 minutes.
Final scores were:
Click here to buy Blokus at FunAgain.com.
Click here to learn more about Blokus at BoardGameGeek.com.
Players were Jeff, Chris, Mark, Marianne, myself. New players to the game were: Jeff, Chris, Marianne. Mark had the first turn.
We spent 10 minutes going over the rules and setting up the game.
Click here for an overview of Cartagena.
Cartagena is a pirate-themed game. However, Mark made his own version with a hospital theme.
Now that I think about it, the mechanic is very similar to chutes and ladders, though you have some choices.
I made a mistake of filling in all the symbols of one type, letting Jeff and Mark take advantage of that to have many meeples leave the game board.
Overall, a quick, light game.
Game lasted 30 minutes.
Final scores were:
Click here to buy Cartagena at FunAgain.com.
Click here to learn more about Cartagena at BoardGameGeek.com.
Players were Jeff, Mark, Chris, Ralph, myself.
Click here for an overview of Formula De.
We played a two-lap game on the Monaco track.
Chris sputters to a stop having lost confidence half-way through the game.
I sputtered to a stop after forgetting to downshift, and fearing the final curve of the first lap.
At that point, I had to leave so it was for the better.
Who knows what happened after I left?
Ralph speaks:
I won Formula De. Mark and I were far ahead of Jeff during the second lap. I got some perfect rolls and got a nice lead on Mark during the second half of the final lap. Mark went aggressive and burned all his tires and breaks for a spin out in the very corner that you wiped out on. I cruised to the finish line. It would have been a nice race for second but Jeff also spunout at that same corner.
Final scores were:
Click here to buy Formula De at FunAgain.com.
Click here to learn more about Formula De at BoardGameGeek.com.
