Tongiaki Despite the griping about how chaotic this game is, it's still getting requested so I guess that says something in favor of the game. I was able to claim a nice, 4-point island mid-game, effectively blocking further development in one area of the board and driving it in another. Unfortunately, the game ended just before I was able to really invade this new area. I still feel like the decisions are fairly easy and there is too little control, especially with more players. It does play fairly quickly though, and does have some novel mechanisms, so it works okay as a filler for me. Bang! with High Noon This game is a favorite of our group and the expansion only makes the game better. I'd love to see some of the ideas from Bang! taken and re-themed into a new game. Maybe a game about spies? Vampire/vampire hunters? The hidden roles and different goals really appeal to me. Rick wanted to play this one tonight because in his first and only game previously, he was killed before he even got a turn! I groaned when I turned over the role of sheriff. It's a real chore dealing with those bloodthirsty outlaws and it's hard to win Fortunately though, I had a very strong character, Calamity Jane. Her special ability is being able to use Bang! and Missed cards interchangeably. She also has four bullets with an additional one for being a sheriff bringing the total to five. Lots of health points and a large hand size - very nice and it actually gave me hope that I'd live to see good prevail. One of things I like about this game is it plays differently each time. As the sheriff, I sat there just waiting for some impulsive outlaw to come after me with both barrels. It always happens. Tonight it didn't happen. This gang of outlaws was a very cautious bunch who decided to try and sniff out and eliminate my trusty deputies first. So, I sat there hoarding Bang! and Missed cards for protection, while watching everyone else start cautiously taking potshots at each other. Deputy Mike was the first to cast suspicion upon himself, and was quickly eliminated by outlaw Ed. Then the bullets really started flying as people's true natures started to show. It eventually came down to a showdown between Renegade Rick and me. Things were looking pretty good for Sheriff Jane but those pesky outlaws would not rest in their graves. The Ghost Town card came up in the high Noon deck, bringing everyone back to life for a single turn. The outlaws nearest me came blazing back to life and wounded me badly but left me alive, much to their disappointment. Things were looking hopeful for the still-living Renegade Rick as he waited to finish me off. But before he got the chance, ghostly Deputy Robert foiled his plans and sent Rick to join him in the graveyard, leaving me the last one standing. Hooray! Justice prevails! Rumis This is a nice little three-dimensional placement game that is kind of like a cross between Pueblo and Blokus. It's more balanced and best played by experienced players, though. If you aren't careful, your pieces are quickly blocked and you are shut out of the game. Mark, Ed, and I have all played before, but it had been awhile and we are still experimenting with our moves. Plus, there are several different boards and the play is different on each one. The pyramid board was chosen and Ed made the first move. He realized that it wasn't a wise one and could be easily blocked by Mark or me. Neither one of us did, however. I didn't want the game to end so quickly as I'm still trying to figure out the placement strategies myself. Newbie Mike wasn't shown the same mercy that Ed was, and got blocked in fairly soon after that. It then became a hotly contested battle between Ed, Mark and me, with no clear leader until the blocks were counted at the end. This needs repeated play soon while it is fresh in our minds. Pig Pile We could only keep the very tired Mark around for another game if we chose something light. Nobody can accuse Pig Pile as being anything but and we were soon Hogwashing and Ewe-turning. Mark and Mike ended up battling for Top Hog honors while Ed and I competed for runt of the litter. Mike emerged victorious while Ed continued a long losing streak at this game. At least he's consistent. Wildlife I think it was Mike who had a hankering to try this one, and Ed and I were happy to oblige, both of us being fans of this area majority game. Rick also joined us for his first struggle to dominate the ancient earth. Wildlife supports up to six players and the six different species, each with a different mix of strengths, are randomly assigned to players. Unfortunately, if the game is played with less than a full contingency of players, this random assignment can create an unbalanced game, with one or more players enjoying little competition from other players in the early part of the game. Fortunately, someone has provided a fix for this on the BoardgameGeek, designating which species should be used with various numbers of players. We used the four-player recommendation in our game and it worked well. My crocodiles and Mike's bears immediately started competing for forest regions while Ed's snakes and Rick's eagles squared off with talons and fangs over the desert. Soon though, thanks to evolution, we were all battling each other for dominance in many regions. I immediately grabbed a couple of intelligence tiles and was able to hold on to them both for several rounds, enabling me to do more actions and get more of my crocs on the board, closing off a few early regions. I also grabbed a food tile early on, giving me two points each turn. This was a risky strategy because it put me in the lead for the first half of the game. I might as well have painted targets on my tiles as the result would have been the same. Despite a hefty lead for the early part of the game, I got pounded on and Rick and Ed gradually gained ground. A few famines when I was short of food sent me further back on the track. Near the very end, I struggled to retain but lost several key majorities. Also, Mike and I had gotten in several bidding wars over forest cards put up for auction by Rick and ended up handing him way too much food for them. He was able to cash them in for a lot of victory points on his last turn. Ed really came from behind on the last few turns and the final scoring and rocketed way out in front for the win. Yuck, a planet dominated by…..snakes? This game is really fluid. Players have to be able to quickly adjust their tactics with the board constantly changing and the ability tiles easily changing hands. Holding a hand of ten cards with many jokers in the deck gives one a good chance of being able to do something on his turn, although never as much as one would like. Plus, one is always torn between wanting to do something on the board and wanting to improve their species. The two must be carefully balanced. Throw in an auction mechanism in which one is spending victory points for an extra action, and you have plenty to think about. Actually, the amount to consider makes this a rather difficult game for a new player. There a quite a few things that score on a scoring round, and it is difficult to tell how it is all going to fall out, even for more experienced players. All in all, I find this one of the more enjoyable area majority games because it feels more tactical to me than most games of this type. It is laden with theme and has one that is a good fit rather than just tacked on. I never feel like I am out of the game if I fall behind on the scoring track either, as I've seen plenty of big swings in scores toward the end. It definitely invites hitting on the leader, which doesn't bother me but may put off some players. I'm glad to see it being reprinted in an English edition. Hopefully more people will get an opportunity to check it out. Blokus It was quite an abrupt change to go from such the very themed and rules heavy Wildlife to the very simple and abstract Blokus. Ed and I were once again the ones familiar with the game and immediately started laying down big pieces in a race for the center. Rick and Mike caught on soon enough, although there was much groaning over missed opportunities. It definitely helps to have played the game before. Ed and I were in a heated contest at the end, but Rick made an evil block and prevented me from taking the victory. It turned out to be a great move for him as he pipped me out of second place. Blokus is a fun game that goes over well with non-gamers and is visually appealing. The downside is that it works best with exactly four players. Other games played Crokinole, Attika, Logistico http://www.rozmiarek.info Back to Table of Contents -- Game! # 3 To Game! List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2004 by George Phillies. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com