I had the great pleasure of attending my 7th Gathering of Friends last week and once again had a fabulous time. It is a true joy to spend so much time with folks who share my enthusiasm and love for board games. Although the focus is certainly on gaming, each year I find myself spending more and more time simply chatting and socializing with the people. In the early years, when it was time for lunch or dinner, I would grab a quick bite and rush back to the game room for more gaming. Now, I treasure the time spent with friends over a good meal, leisurely chatting, laughing and swapping stories. The problem is that the Gathering has grown so large that it is impossible to meet everyone. Over the years I have made friends with so many attendees, that I now find it impossible to even spend any appreciable amount of time with many of the folks I already know! That is frustrating. However, Alan Moon did make it a bit easier to meet the new folks, as they sported easy-to-spot red name badges. But I don't ignore the games, either! Although I didn't arrive until late Monday night and spent most of Thursday playing basketball and attending a large group dinner, I still managed to play over forty games, with a concentration on the newer releases. Much to my pleasure, I found most of the new games to be quite good, with only a few that were not to my tastes. What follows are my initial impressions of the newer games, as well as some of the other activities in which I participated. In spite of my usual attempts to avoid playing prototypes, this year I was besieged by requests to play them. I do recognize that this is an honor, so I tried to honor as many of the requests as possible. However, as is the custom, I cannot report on these. Many, many thanks to Alan Moon for another fantastic e-vent. It is such fun getting together with so many friends and sharing some good times and good games with them. Although the Gathering lasts over a week, it is over before you know it. That's the sign of a good time! The Hits GOA Players: Kurt Adam, Chris Esko, Chuck Ledger, Greg In spite of beginning this at 1:00AM on Tuesday morning and playing until nearly 4:00AM (due to rules explanations), I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The game is an intriguing blend of auctions and individual planning, with each action having significant impact upon the future actions available to you. My memory of the detailed mechanics of the game has faded somewhat, so I won't attempt a detailed explanation. Basically, players participate in five relatively quick auctions each turn to acquire certain powers or privileges. Then, money and cards are spent to progress in a series of categories, with each progression giving the player greater abilities in those respective categories. The game has been compared to Princes of Florence in respects that there is a common auction, followed by individual player planning and progression. I will concur with this assessment, but caution folks against leveling a "solitaire" label on the game. I felt totally engaged throughout, and the actions of my opponents did have a strong impact upon the actions I elected to take. For me, this was one of the Top 3 games at the Gathering. Rating: 8 TUHUANTINSUYU Players: Rick Soued, Bryan Howard, Rodney Somerstein, Greg While chatting with Tim Trant, he mentioned to me that this new Alan Ernstein design from Hangman Games was one of his favorite games of the convention. That was enough to pique my interest and seek-out a game. Tim wasn't wrong. Set in the Incan empire, players are charged with the task of expanding the kingdom, conquering neighboring tribes and establishing cities, temples and terraces. The game combines elements of crayon rail games and empire building and construction. Unlike many rail games, however, there is significant player interaction here, and since players usually only draw two segments of road networks per turn, there isn't a lot of down time as players study the board and contemplate their actions. Players have a limited number of actions they can perform each turn, and this is largely dictated by the amount of labor at their disposal. Labor is earned primarily by conquering regions and building terraces, which increases the labor supply. Points are earned for founding cities, erecting temples, conquering regions and constructing terraces. The card play mechanism is quite original, with each player playing a card between two players. The effects of a card affect both players. Since cards play is done in reverse victory point order (lowest to highest) and only one card can be played between players per Sun phase, this gives the players who are behind on the victory point track a chance to "even the score" a bit. Very nice. I found the game very intriguing, filled with tough choices and critical decisions. The card play added an exciting element, helping prevent the game from being a plodding, solitaire affair. I was engrossed throughout, and immediately purchased a copy. Tuhuantinsuyu earned a spot on my "Gathering Top 3" list. My rating: 8.5 Other ratings: Rick 7.5, Bryan 7.5, Rodney 7 BY-WORD Players: Erik Arneson, Warren Madden, Sharon Madden, Greg It was a great pleasure to finally meet Face2Face Games' Larry Whalen, who introduced me to By-Word. This was one of Sid Sackson's unpublished games and, according to Larry, was Sid's wife's favorite game that Sid had designed. Fortunately, Larry has rectified this situation and will be publishing By-Word shortly. I'm generally fair-to-middlin' in word games, but I'm not very quick in forming words from a bunch of scrambled letters. Eventually I spot a good word, but not after a bit of downtime. Sadly, I inflicted the same fate upon my opponents in this game. On a turn, a player rolls a die and each player picks the corresponding number of tiles (1 - 5) from a bag. Each player must pay for the tiles he selected if he chooses to keep them. Each tile has from 1 - 4 dots on it, with more difficult-to-use letters carrying a greater number of dots. To determine their cost, these dots are added, then squared. After each player pays for their tiles, each has an opportunity to form a word or words, if they desire. Money is earned from forming words in a fashion identical to the method used in paying for the tiles. The idea is to choose letters in small chunks and then form more valuable words. A player can, at most, have eight tiles carried over from turn-to-turn, in addition to the two wild tiles with which they begin the game. Thus, there is a certain pressure on forming words to prevent the loss of tiles. The game concludes after a certain number of rounds. Unless you have a slow-thinker like me in the game, a typical game will likely take 20 minutes or so to play. This is a very good word game, one which my wife will just love. If you enjoy word games, put this on your "to buy" list. My rating: 7 ST. PETERSBURG Players: Craig Good, Alfonzo Smith, Ty Douds, Greg Another very engaging game. Players purchase cards in four different categories, then earn income and/or victory points from these cards at various stages of each turn. Money can be extremely tight and the proper management of one's funds is critical to success. Although the game certainly has players planning and purchasing on their own, I also didn't get an overriding feel of "solitaire" play. Although I didn't find St. Petersburg to be as deep as Goa, it may well see more table time as it plays in an hour or so, whereas Goa is likely to take 2 - 2 ½ hours with my group. Rating: My rating: 7.5 Others: Craig 9, Ty 8, Alfonzo 7 HANSA Players (Game 1): Ward Batty, Henning Kropke, Jim McDanald, Greg Players (Game 2): Chris Brua, Dan Blum, Eric Brosius, Greg The game is about what I have grown to expect from a Schacht game: concise rules, clever mechanics, interesting choices and short duration. It is a good game that seems to get better each time I play. Players move a common ship around various cities in the Hanseatic League, purchasing and selling goods and establishing markets. Money is tight and must be used to move the ship, purchase goods and refill the markets. The goods tokens purchased can be converted to victory points when a player possesses at least two of the same type, or surrendered to establish new markets in a city. Waiting to long to do either can cause the loss of goods if an opponent sells goods of the same type first. Lots of decisions are packed into a relatively quick 30 - 45 minute time frame. The only drawbacks I perceive so far is that it is possible for players to consistently move the ship to a position that puts you at a severe disadvantage and the fact that the rich subject matter is only given a very cursory treatment. My rating: 7 Other ratings: Dan 8, Ward 7.5, Henning 7.5, Jim 7.5, Eric 7.5, Chris 7 POWER GRID Players (Game 1): Angela Gaalema, Ty Douds, Terry Bailey, Henning Kropke, Greg Players (Game 2): Rodney Somerstein, Jay Tummelson, Craig Good, Uwe Eickert, Greg The much-anticipated revision of Friedemann Friese's Funkenschlag did not fail to disappoint. The main change is players no longer draw their routes with crayons, but rather pay a pre-set price to trace a route along them. Further, players can skip over city locations they do not own, but must pay the cost of the consecutive routes to do so. As a bonus, there are two maps included, one of Germany and the other the United States. Fans of crayon rail games may well dislike this change, but there is no denying that the game now plays much faster. My first game lasted a bit over 2 hours, but my second game played to completion in about 1 ½ hours. The shorter time frame will likely mean that this new incarnation will see more table time than its predecessor. This was also amongst my Top 3 games of the Gathering. My rating: 9 Other ratings: Henning 9.5, Angela 9, Ty 9, Terry 8.5 SAN JUAN Players (Game 1): Ed Jones, Scott Tullis, Ty Douds, Greg Players (Game 2): Dale Yu, Charlie Davis, Mik Svellov, Scott Tullis, Greg I had the pleasure of first playing this card game at the Spiele Faire in Essen back in October. I thoroughly enjoyed the game then, but knew that it was likely to disappoint some of the Puerto Rico purists who were looking for a deep and meaty card game version of their beloved game. My feelings haven't changed. San Juan does maintain the "feel" of Puerto Rico, but at a much simpler level. Each turn, players choose a position, with each player being able to execute its power at a reduced level. Cards are the main tool in the game, with each having multiple uses. They serve as buildings, commodities, currency and even victory points in certain circumstances. The game flows quickly and can generally be played in an hour. Unfortunately, both of the games in which I participated were extremely rushed as a player in each game was in a hurry to finish so he could attend another function. My second game utilized Mik's variant using two decks and some additional positions from Puerto Rico. This allowed the game to accommodate up to six players. The game worked just as well with that number. My rating: 7 Other ratings: Mik 9, Scott 7.5, Ty 7, Scott 6, Ed 5 KARABIK (CARRIBBEAN) Players: Greg Aleknevikus, Jeremy Young, Rick Thornquist, Greg I was told it was OK to report on this game, since it is going to be released by Winning Moves. We had the pleasure of being taught the game by its designer, Mikael Antonov. Karabik will fall into the same series of Winning Moves games as Clans and TransAmerica. They are easy to learn, can be played and enjoyed by both gamers and family members, and can play in about 45 minutes or so. That description fits Karabik quite nicely. Players are pirates moving pirate ships around the Caribbean, hoping to plunder various ports and other ships. Movement of the ships are determined by all players secretly playing cards onto their planning boards. There is a slot for each ship and the player playing the highest valued card to a particular ship moves that ship. Goods appear at various ports, which are usually promptly raided by the ships. A player must transport the good back to one of his three home islands in order to receive its value in victory points. If left at sea, it is highly likely the goods will be quickly stolen. The game is quick and somewhat chaotic, but we had a lot of fun playing. It will likely prove fairly popular as a "change of pace" game or with families. My rating: 7 Other ratings: Rick 8, Greg A. 7, Jeremy 7 FIFTH AVENUE Players (Game 1): Scott Tullis, Philip Sasse, Leon Hendee, Greg Players (Game 2): Michael Green, Craig Berg, Leon Hendee, Greg This one wins the award for the most misunderstood game of the Gathering. After playing, many, many folks were claiming that they really didn't understand what they needed to be doing. This resulted in some low ratings and initial negative buzz. However, we had been warned by Mike Fitzgerald, who explained the rules to us, to not judge the game with just one playing. He insisted that various strategies and intricacies only surface with repeated playings. He was right. Players erect skyscrapers in the seven districts of New York, and then attempt to place businesses next to their skyscrapers. After an initial placement, however, new skyscrapers can only be placed when auctions occur in various districts. This only occurs in the districts in which the inspector (if that is what they are called . I forget!) has traveled. Auctions are conducted with card play similar to that in Taj Mahal, with the significant difference being that the players losing the auction get their cards back. On each turn, players conduct one main action, which can include placing a new business, moving the inspector, replenishing their supply of skyscrapers, etc. A player always wants to do more than that, though, so the decisions to be made can be excruciating. In my first game, there was a rush to place businesses, which caused the game to speed to its conclusion. Only later in the game did we all begin to realize some of the other strategies, particularly the value of moving the inspector so as to make sure districts in which you wish to place skyscrapers will be among the ones auctioned. In short, there is more depth and strategy to Fifth Avenue than many of the initial reports may suggest. Is this as good as Puerto Rico or Princess of Florence? Not yet . and it may not ever be as good. Still, this is a fine game and should not be unduly dismissed. My rating: 7.5 Other ratings: Scott 7.5, Michael 7, Leon 7, Craig 6, Philip 5.5 MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD MARCO POLO Players: Steven Carlberg, Mik Svellov, Ty Douds, James Miller, Henning Kropke, Greg Any Knizia game piques my interest. Throw in an enchanting theme of leading caravans across the desert in the footsteps of the famous explorer Marco Polo, and you have a game that I simply must try. In spite of some dire comments from others, I didn't find the game to be all that bad. Indeed, ten years ago I likely would have rushed out to purchase a copy. Now, I find the game to be merely "OK". Players draw cards, attempting to collect the required combinations in order to move their camel forward on the board. Each space requires a different combination of cards, but players can skip over spaces occupied by opponents' camels. Thus, the game is one of timing, delaying one's movements until others occupy spaces you can skip over. Rewards go to players for reaching certain spaces. Verdict? OK game that I'll play if others request it, but I have no desire to own it. My Rating: 6 Others: James 7, Stven 6.5, Mik 6, Ty 6, Henning 4.5 SUNKEN CITY Players: Bobby LeBoon, Dan Blum, Benjamin Corliss, Greg Most folks seemed to be panning this Wolfgang Kramer design, but I was lessharsh. I didn't find the game to be anything spectacular . or, indeed, anything I will purchase . but I didn't find it to be as dire as some were claiming. Players must visit each of the twelve cities in Atlantis and safely carry the treasures back to their home base. The path is formed by laying tiles, not unlike in Pathways of the Deep. Each player has an identical set of cards, and plays one per turn. This determines how many tiles and/or cities may be placed on the board. It also determines how far a player may move his piece, as well as Neptune, who sinks everything he passes. The idea is to get to the cities, get your treasures home quickly and send Neptune towards your opponents to sink their paths and cities. If the path you are on is sunk, you lose any treasures you are carrying and must return to your home base. However, you do receive "Neptune tokens" as compensation, which can be used to add to your movement on a future turn. The game works, but just isn't anything terribly exciting. As with Marco Polo, I may have purchased this ten years ago, but there are so many better games today that it won't find a spot on my shelves. My rating: 6 Other ratings: Benjamin 7.5, Dan 5, Bobby 3 HEROES, INC. Players: Ted Cheatham, John Pulagyi, Tom DeMarco, Greg Any game involving super-heroes puts it on my "must try" list. I still enjoy reading comic books, particularly the Justice League. I've still not found a game that does justice to the subject matter, however. Hero Clix probably comes closest, but can be a bit tedious with all those special powers. When I heard about Heroes, Inc., I was intrigued. I was happy to learn that designer Sam Clifford would be in attendance at the Gathering, so I wrote to him making sure I would have the opportunity to try the game. Players each control two super heroes, each with a unique power or two. The city is wracked with crime, and it is the job of the heroes to move to the crime locations and eliminate the problem. Crime moves from neighborhood-to-neighborhood, with some outbreaks being more difficult to suppress than others. The game mechanics are fairly simple, with each player having four actions per turn - with possible bonus actions. Actions include moving, choosing a card, playing a card, fighting crime, etc. Players alternate taking one action per turn, with victory points being earned for crimes successfully suppressed. In its favor, the game is fast, easy-to-learn and not at all cumbersome. Sacrificed in the simplicity, however, are the special powers, which are too few and rather simplistic. Even though we had a lot of fun role-playing our characters, there really wasn't a real feel of "super heroes" present. My rating: 6 EINFACH GENIAL Players: Susan Rozmiarek, Craig Berg, Chris Lohroff, Greg I had been hearing some very good things throughout the convention about this Reiner Knizia abstract. I had witnessed it being played and it did look quite intriguing. Sadly, my actual experience left me with a "been there, done that" feel. Players each have six tiles with each tile divided into two sections. Each section will depict one of six (I believe six) different colors. On a turn, a player places one tile to the board, then scores points based on how many like colored tiles emanate in a straight line from the placed tile. These points are recorded on each player's mat. When the game ends, each player examines the color in which he scored the LEAST points. The player who has the most points of these "LEAST" scores wins (kinda like Euphrat & Tigris). I found the game to not have much depth. For the most part, I simply examined the board and my tiles, then placed the tile that would score me the most points. Occasionally I would save a "double" tile instead of placing it, feeling that I could score more points with it later during the game. Also, I occasionally placed a tile to block potential points for an opponent, but only if I scored in the neighborhood of what I would have scored by placing a different tile. I won the game - seemingly rather handily -- against three folks who had played previously. Don't get me wrong, the game isn't bad. In fact, I had fun. It just didn't have the depth I was expecting and I don't think it was deserving of all the positive buzz. Of course, as always, I could be wrong! My rating: 6 Other ratings: Craig 8, Chris 8, Susan 7.5 SAGA Players: Patrick Brennan, Michael Weston, Scott Alden, Greg I failed to react quickly enough in this Wolfgang Kramer card game and, as a result, I was behind the proverbial 8-ball for the entire game. The game seems to be one of proper timing and prioritizing your card play. Players vie for control over various locations, playing cards to build up forces in an effort to capture them. But control is fleeting, as other players can seize control of these locations very quickly. This makes for a very fluid game, and players are well advised not to become too attached to their holdings. It seems that players need to concentrate on just a couple of locations, but always be in position to grab one back in case they lose one or more. In this respect, the game is similar to Railroad Dice. However, the number and value of cards is very limited, so players must also concentrate on building-up cards in valuable amounts and certain colors. I think I enjoyed the game, in spite of feeling out-of-contention from the early stages. Fortunately, I wasn't forced to suffer my fate for long, as the game plays to completion in 20 - 30 minutes. I'm not sure this is a "purchase" for me. I need to play it again, just to see if my appreciation increases. My rating: 6 Other ratings: All 7's DICKE LUFT GRUFT (Dawn Under) Players: Eric Brosius, Bill Masek, Dan Blum, Chris Brua, Greg Jay Tummelson tricked me into this one. He coerced me by the simple phrase, "Wanna play a game?" Always enjoying Jay's company, I agreed. When he began preparing the game and explaining the rules, however, I immediately recognized that it was a memory game. After my outburst of disbelief, Jay laughed with glee. There are about 100 or so graves in the graveyard, each with a lid depicting a color on the inside. Players each have a line of vampires and must get their vampires into a grave with the corresponding color lid. On a turn, a player opens a grave and if the lid matches the color of one of their vampires on either end of their line, they may place it inside the grave. If not, the player has the option of placing one of his cloves of garlic inside. Penalties, either in the form of receiving additional vampires or wooden stakes, ensue if a player uncovers a grave containing a vampire or a clove of garlic. The idea is to be the first to get all of your vampires into the grave before dawn arrives. I don't like memory games. Period. However, I must admit that for a memory game, this one was good. My rating: 6 THE MISSES MASTER THIEF Players: Michael Green, Rodney Somerstein, Mark Edwards, Michael Weston, Greg Hands down the worst game I played at the Gathering. There is no denying that the attractive wooden contraption is an eye-catcher, but, unfortunately, it failed to catch a good game. An assortment of gems and rubies are placed inside the various drawers 9 (some of which contain a secret compartment) and players must keep track of these stones as the case is twisted, turned and inverted in Rubik's Cube fashion. Players each have a hand of cards containing various personalities, and play one simultaneously each round to determine the action they will take. Actions vary, but all have the same goal of either finding gems or getting rid of the fake gems each player possesses. At the conclusion of a player's turn, he can twist and invert the case to confuse the players. The challenge is to attempt to keep track of the drawers containing gems and/or rubies as the case undergoes its various twists and turns. In reality, it doesn't seem possible to track more than one drawer, and even that would be with great effort. As a result, the game devolves into little more than a guessing game. A big, big "thumbs-down" from me and nearly everyone with whom I played. My rating: 3 Other ratings: Michael W. 5, Michael G. 4, Rodney 3, Mark 1 CAN'T JUDGE YET LOST VALLEY Players: Dave Hooten, Richard Yokum, Rick Thornquist, Greg In spite of a very thorough rules explanation by Dale Yu, we still managed to botch a very important rule. We ended the game when a player successfully acquired ten gold nuggets, as opposed to ten gold TOKENS. That caused our game to end prematurely, heavily favoring the player who was working a mine close to the home base. It also prevented us from purchasing and using most of the nifty equipment that was available. The game is essentially an exploration game, with players revealing setting out into the wilderness to uncover and retrieve riches. Tiles are revealed and placed as players penetrate further into the wilderness. Various resources must be acquired and used in order to obtain the ultimate object of the game: gold. Frequent trips back to the home base are required in order to acquire new equipment to aid in one's pursuit of wealth. Due to our botched rule, I'm certainly going to play the game again. However, I'm a bit worried that it may not be to my tastes. I was not a fan of Goldland, to which the game can be compared. I fear that Lost Valley might be even slower, with a decidedly "two steps forward, one step backward" feel. Time will tell. Back to Table of Contents -- Game! # 5 To Game! List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2004 by George Phillies. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com