Adam and Eva is a new game in the Ravensburger "Fun for Two" series by Aaron Weissblum. This is "Balloon Cup" meets "San Marco". It's very good. There you go, that's all you need to know. Go get it.
Actually, it's not really that much like either of them, but they aren't absurd starting points. I'm not going to give my personal rewrite of the rules here, because I hate reviews like that. I'm sure someone else will review it and regurgitate the rules. You play cards, your opponent chooses who gets it. You win apples. This is a light game, lighter than Balloon Cup, but it's got some interesting decisions. It's got a fair amount of luck. The game is played over four hands and some hands are simply better than others and the timing of when you get a good hand can make a big difference. But, it's got a good bit of skill, and for a 20 minute game, it's at a level of luck I like.
The core mechanic is that you present a card, and your opponent chooses whether you or he gets it, where you're each only going to get half the cards. This makes for some interesting tactics and choices where you try to finesse your opponent into taking the cards that look good but aren't going to make a big difference.
If you like games that are light, clever, quick and have some subltety, if not substantial depth, you'll like Adam and Eva. It's certainly my favorite of the "Fun for Two" series so far (both Richelieu and Bakerstreet are good, but nothing particularly special, in my view).
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Adam And Eva. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Adam And Eva. Sort by date Show all posts
Monday, January 26, 2004
Sunday, January 2, 2005
Game Metrics for 2004
I've discussed game metrics before, and listed my top games by various measures last year, so here's this years version. My favorite measures remain the Huber Happiness Heuristic and Matthew's Month Metric, and not just because they are pleasingly alliterative.
Equation for a games "happiness units (HU)": (Rating-Offset)*Total Time
Other games yielding at least 500 HUs: Typo, Marco Polo, Tongiaki, Ticket to Ride, Einfach Genial, Yinsh, Buy Word, Phoenix, Vinci, Adam & Eva, Victory & Honor, Attika, Geschenkt.
Month Metric
(distinct months in which the game was played)
See the 5sAnd10s2004 list.
Huber Happiness Heuristic
Equation for a games "happiness units (HU)": (Rating-Offset)*Total Time
- Goa (3300 HUs)
- Power Grid (3240 HUs)
- San Juan (2630 HUs)
- Heroscape (2230 HUs)
- Oasis (1620 HUs)
- Electronic Catchphrase (1610 HUs)
- St. Petersburg (1520 HUs)
- 10 Days in Africa (1365 HUs)
- Crokinole (1365 HUs)
- Princes of Florence (1215 HUs)
Other games yielding at least 500 HUs: Typo, Marco Polo, Tongiaki, Ticket to Ride, Einfach Genial, Yinsh, Buy Word, Phoenix, Vinci, Adam & Eva, Victory & Honor, Attika, Geschenkt.
Month Metric
Month Metric
(distinct months in which the game was played)
- Electronic Catchphrase (8 months in 2004, 31 ever)
- San Juan (6 months in 2004, 6 ever)
- 10 Days in Africa (6 months in 2004, 7 ever)
- Oasis (5 months in 2004, 6 ever)
- Crokinole (5 months in 2004, 20 ever)
- Adam & Eva (5 months in 2004, 5 ever)
- Ticket to Ride (4 months in 2004, 4 ever)
- Tongiaki (4 months in 2004, 4 ever)
- Typo (4 months in 2004, 4 ever)
- Can't Stop (4 months in 2004, 22 ever)
- Coda (4 months in 2004, 4 ever)
- Einfach Genial (4 months in 2004, 4ever)
Most Plays Metric
See the 5sAnd10s2004 list.
Most Sessions
- San Juan (13 sessions)
- Electronic Catchphrase (9 sessions)
- 10 Days in Africa (9 sessions)
- Crokinole (8 sessions)
- Heroscape (7 sessions)
- Tongiaki (7 sessions)
- Adam & Eva (6 sessions)
- Oasis (6 sessions)
- Power Grid (6 sessions)
- Typo (6 sessions)
Monday, May 30, 2005
Month metric update
A while ago, I posted the idea of a month metric for gauging quality/longevity and overall "goodness" of a game. Essentially, count the number of unique months in which a game is played. That is it's score. Read the old entry for some more discussion of it.
I figured I'd post an update of games with a high month metric. I've
only been keeping accurate numbers since 1999, so the theoretical
maximum score is in the sixties.
Electronic Catchphrase is the only with a score above 30 at 32, and I expect it
will continue to go up though more slowly than it did in recent years.
Five games get scores above 20: Crokinole (25), Can't Stop (23), 6
nimmt! (23), Call my Bluff (23) and Battle Line (21).
Another five games score 15 or above: Zirkus Flohcati (16), Speed
(16), Lost Cities (15), TransAmerica (15), and RoboRally (15). This
list rapidly betrays my taste for fairly short but not overly light
games. RoboRally is the only one on the list (with the occasional
exception of Crokinole) that goes over 45 minutes.
Sixteen games have a score of 10 or above and there starts to be a
number of "big" games here: Ra (14), For Sale (14), Apples to Apples
(13), Knockabout (13), Carcassonne (13), Hick Hack in Gacklewack (12),
Princes of Florence (12), Puerto Rico (12), Ricochet Robot (11),
SpinBall (11), Traumfabrik (11), Settlers of Catan (11), Medici (10),
Igel Argern (10), Lord of the Rings (10), and Schnaeppchen Jagd (10).
The auction games (Ra, Medici, Traumfabrik) and LOTR would all be
higher if they were more favored in the groups I frequent.
In the end, I'm pretty happy with the month metric. All 27 games on
the list are "great"s. Some recent games seem likely to make the list
within another year or two (Ticket to Ride, Oasis, Heroscape, San
Juan, Adam & Eva) but it's too early to be sure and the month metric
has that conservativism nicely built in. The only games that seem
like their "missing" from the list are Vinci (current score: 8) and
Euphrat & Tigris (current score: 8) and they'll get there, though it
will take more than two months.
I figured I'd post an update of games with a high month metric. I've
only been keeping accurate numbers since 1999, so the theoretical
maximum score is in the sixties.
Electronic Catchphrase is the only with a score above 30 at 32, and I expect it
will continue to go up though more slowly than it did in recent years.
Five games get scores above 20: Crokinole (25), Can't Stop (23), 6
nimmt! (23), Call my Bluff (23) and Battle Line (21).
Another five games score 15 or above: Zirkus Flohcati (16), Speed
(16), Lost Cities (15), TransAmerica (15), and RoboRally (15). This
list rapidly betrays my taste for fairly short but not overly light
games. RoboRally is the only one on the list (with the occasional
exception of Crokinole) that goes over 45 minutes.
Sixteen games have a score of 10 or above and there starts to be a
number of "big" games here: Ra (14), For Sale (14), Apples to Apples
(13), Knockabout (13), Carcassonne (13), Hick Hack in Gacklewack (12),
Princes of Florence (12), Puerto Rico (12), Ricochet Robot (11),
SpinBall (11), Traumfabrik (11), Settlers of Catan (11), Medici (10),
Igel Argern (10), Lord of the Rings (10), and Schnaeppchen Jagd (10).
The auction games (Ra, Medici, Traumfabrik) and LOTR would all be
higher if they were more favored in the groups I frequent.
In the end, I'm pretty happy with the month metric. All 27 games on
the list are "great"s. Some recent games seem likely to make the list
within another year or two (Ticket to Ride, Oasis, Heroscape, San
Juan, Adam & Eva) but it's too early to be sure and the month metric
has that conservativism nicely built in. The only games that seem
like their "missing" from the list are Vinci (current score: 8) and
Euphrat & Tigris (current score: 8) and they'll get there, though it
will take more than two months.
Monday, September 25, 2006
Another month metric update
A few years ago, I posted the idea of a month metric
for gauging the long term worthiness of a game. Last year, I posted
an update to my top games by month metric and
I figured it's worth doing again. Games that score 10 or above on the
month metric (played on at least 10 occasions in different months),
make for a nice sort of "hall of fame".
When I posted a bit over a year ago, the list was 27 games: Electronic
Catchphrase, Crokinole, Can't Stop, 6 nimmt!, Call my Bluff, Battle
Line, Zirkus Flohcati, Speed, Lost Cities, TransAmerica, RoboRally,
Ra, For Sale, Apples to Apples, Knockabout, Carcassonne, Hick Hack in
Gacklewack, Princes of Florence, Puerto Rico, Ricochet Robot,
SpinBall, Traumfabrik, Settlers of Catan, Medici, Igel Argern, Lord of
the Rings, and Schnaeppchen Jagd.
In the past year or so since I updated, the following 7 games have
joined the list: Cartagena, San Juan, Basari,
Euphrat & Tigris, Loopin' Louie, Fiese Freunde Fette
Feten, and Shit!. I remain pretty happy with the metric as
a "hall of fame" measure.
When I last posted, I predicted a few games would make this list
before long. Of those predicted, only San Juan has made it so far,
but Heroscape is only one more play away from making the list and the
others (Ticket to Ride, Oasis, Adam & Eva) seem like still not bad
bets for the next year or two, but it may take a while for them to get
up there.
Of this years crop, Um Krone und Kragen seems likely to make
the list before too long. It's already at 4 and I don't even own a
copy yet, plus it's short. Thurn und Taxis, Descent and
Blue Moon City each have a score of 3 so far and will likely
climb, but it may take some time before they hit 10.
The "elite" set, those that score 20 or above, remain the same:
Electronic Catchphrase, Crokinole, 6 nimmt!, Call my Bluff, Can't Stop
and Battle Line. Zirkus Flohcati and Ra will probably
break in before too long.
for gauging the long term worthiness of a game. Last year, I posted
an update to my top games by month metric and
I figured it's worth doing again. Games that score 10 or above on the
month metric (played on at least 10 occasions in different months),
make for a nice sort of "hall of fame".
When I posted a bit over a year ago, the list was 27 games: Electronic
Catchphrase, Crokinole, Can't Stop, 6 nimmt!, Call my Bluff, Battle
Line, Zirkus Flohcati, Speed, Lost Cities, TransAmerica, RoboRally,
Ra, For Sale, Apples to Apples, Knockabout, Carcassonne, Hick Hack in
Gacklewack, Princes of Florence, Puerto Rico, Ricochet Robot,
SpinBall, Traumfabrik, Settlers of Catan, Medici, Igel Argern, Lord of
the Rings, and Schnaeppchen Jagd.
In the past year or so since I updated, the following 7 games have
joined the list: Cartagena, San Juan, Basari,
Euphrat & Tigris, Loopin' Louie, Fiese Freunde Fette
Feten, and Shit!. I remain pretty happy with the metric as
a "hall of fame" measure.
When I last posted, I predicted a few games would make this list
before long. Of those predicted, only San Juan has made it so far,
but Heroscape is only one more play away from making the list and the
others (Ticket to Ride, Oasis, Adam & Eva) seem like still not bad
bets for the next year or two, but it may take a while for them to get
up there.
Of this years crop, Um Krone und Kragen seems likely to make
the list before too long. It's already at 4 and I don't even own a
copy yet, plus it's short. Thurn und Taxis, Descent and
Blue Moon City each have a score of 3 so far and will likely
climb, but it may take some time before they hit 10.
The "elite" set, those that score 20 or above, remain the same:
Electronic Catchphrase, Crokinole, 6 nimmt!, Call my Bluff, Can't Stop
and Battle Line. Zirkus Flohcati and Ra will probably
break in before too long.
Sunday, May 16, 2004
New To Me Games
These are games that are new to me, with the newest at the top, along
with whatever ultra-brief commentary I have on them. I periodically
update this, but the post time will no longer change and it won't show
up as new in RSSI fees.
Der Herr der Ringe: Die Rückkehr des Königs Ugh. Uninteresting game of dice rolling.
Stapelei Simple, extremely compact dexterity game with a donkey.
Nuba Older abstract Knizia game worth a few plays
with whatever ultra-brief commentary I have on them. I periodically
update this, but the post time will no longer change and it won't show
up as new in RSSI fees.
2004
May
April (Gathering of Friends)
- DickeLuftInDerGruft Beautiful kids memory game
- SunkenCity Light exploration and screw-your-neighbor game
- Kaleidos Find words in busy pictures. Ok, but not as fun as I'd heard.
- Masterdieb Amazingly produced geometry, memory and role selection game.
- SmartyParty Fun party game with lists whose imperfections can be annoying
- DestinationTresor Clever, novel and enjoyable deduction game
- Tongiaki Somewhat chaotic but some real opportunity for interesting tricks.
- PayoffMachine Old 1970s game with marbles. Rather Neat.
- 5thAvenue Disappointing, but worth another play.
- MaNiKi Very entertaining animal stacking puzzle game
- Marco Polo Light but strong game of carefully timed cardplay
- StPetersburg Few new mechanics but a very good game none the less
- OldTown Older deduction game (sort of) with a very nice mechanic but very random results
- Immer oben auf! Fun and cute animal stacking memory game
- Goa Outstanding complex game in the mold of PrincesOfFlorence or PuertoRico
- Zopp Fun dexterity game
- RailroadDice Clever mechanics, fun game, but has some endgame problems
- OhPharaoh Disappointing pyramid building game with some potential
- PowerGrid Outstanding Funkenschlag rework
- MangaManga Dull realtime cardgame
- LostValley Beautifully produced but blandly mechanical game
- Spy I liked this like Knizia cardgame but most others were unimpressed
- Saga Interesting smallbox card game with a nice twist on influence games
- LePasseTrappe Simple, fun, entertaining wooden dexterity game
- MusicMystery Music trivia game. Not my thing.
- Memoir44 BattleCry in World War 2. Fun and nicely produced.
- BlueMoon Nice Knizia two player. Needs more plays, but I'm in no rush.
April
- Alexandros Some nice mechanics but led to a bad kingmaker result.
- SanJuan Very good. Lots of potential.
March
- Hansa Not bad, but awfully monotonous commodity collection game
- EinfachGenial Fun 2-, 3- or 4-player abstract from Reiner Knizia
- Corsari Very light and seemingly overly-luck dominated card game
- TicketToRide Nice middle-weight game of connecting cities and building rails
- Maritim Interesting puzzle movement game. _Way_ too long with six players.
- Landlord A "take that" game from Friedemann Friese. Not bad for a "take that" game, but...
February
- Mississippi Interesting older Mattel game all about chain reactions
- BalloonRennen Very chaotic and random, but we laughed a lot everytime someone slammed into the mountains.
- Industria Pretty good, but feels a bit scattered. Worth another play.
- UndTschuss Interesting, but I'm not sure what I think yet
- Yinsh Very good
January
- PrincesOfTheRenaissance
- Dracula A little long, but fun
- Adam & Eva Very good
- Piratenbucht
- Trampelfanten A light kids game with a funky rule or two. Fun.
- Coda A quick, light deduction game. That's a rare combination
- Bus
- LoadedQuestions OK party game
- CrocodilePoolParty
2003
December
- Viele Dinge
- Fish Eat Fish
- 10 Days in Africa
- Floriado
Saturday, January 1, 2005
5s and 10s for 2004
As has become the tradition, here are the games I played this year at least 20 times, 10 times and 5 times.
Italicized games have appeared on my lists in past years. See also my list from last year.
I played somewhat fewer games total this year, but also fewer different titles which means the 5s and 10s list is about the same size as usual. It was a good year for word games (Electronic Catchphrase, Typo and Buy Word) as well as for new games.
Electronic Catchphrase (23)
10 Days in Africa (13), Crokinole (13), Quack Shot (13), San Juan (13),
Heroscape (11)
Adam & Eva (8), Typo (8), Phoenix (7), Tongiaki (7), Buy Word (6),
Einfach Genial (6), Geschenkt (6), Light Speed (6)
Ma Ni Ki (6), Oasis (6), Power Grid (6), Yinsh (6), Goa (5),
Magic: the Gathering (5), Marco Polo (5), St. Petersburg (5), Zirkus Flohcati (5)
The only game on this list that doesn't entirely "deserve" to be there is Quack Shot, which was played 13 times all in one sitting.
Italicized games have appeared on my lists in past years. See also my list from last year.
I played somewhat fewer games total this year, but also fewer different titles which means the 5s and 10s list is about the same size as usual. It was a good year for word games (Electronic Catchphrase, Typo and Buy Word) as well as for new games.
20+
Electronic Catchphrase (23)
10+
10 Days in Africa (13), Crokinole (13), Quack Shot (13), San Juan (13),
Heroscape (11)
5+
Adam & Eva (8), Typo (8), Phoenix (7), Tongiaki (7), Buy Word (6),
Einfach Genial (6), Geschenkt (6), Light Speed (6)
Ma Ni Ki (6), Oasis (6), Power Grid (6), Yinsh (6), Goa (5),
Magic: the Gathering (5), Marco Polo (5), St. Petersburg (5), Zirkus Flohcati (5)
The only game on this list that doesn't entirely "deserve" to be there is Quack Shot, which was played 13 times all in one sitting.
Thursday, March 11, 2004
Flag Influence Games
Games fall in broad categories and it is useful to have names for those categories. For example, there are trick taking games (aka WhistVariants), "auction games", "tile laying games" or "influence games" or even more broadly, "party games". There's a category of games which I tend to enjoy a great deal that share several common mechanics but are missing a good label. This category includes BattleLine/SchottenTotten, Tabula Rasa, Adam & Eva, Caesar & Cleopatra, BalloonCup, Scarab Lords, Lost Cities, and I'm sure there's more. In some cases, like Lost Cities, it's a little more of a stretch, in the same way that say, Foppen, is not just a straight "trick taking game".
So, help me here, what's a better name than "Flag Influence Games", because that's an awful name. Further, what other games are out there in this cateogry? Obviously, they tend to be 2-player, and Reiner Knizia has done more than his fair share of them.
So, help me here, what's a better name than "Flag Influence Games", because that's an awful name. Further, what other games are out there in this cateogry? Obviously, they tend to be 2-player, and Reiner Knizia has done more than his fair share of them.
Tuesday, June 1, 2004
May 2004 Games
May, 2004
May was a really slow month for games, but after April, that's ok.
27 played, 24 titles (3 new to me) over 9 sessions with 22
diffent people.
Hot Games for May, 2004
- St. Petersburg
- A local pulled this off the prize table at the
Gathering so it's naturally gotten a lot of
play. Very good. My copy should arrive this week. - Tongiaki
- I continue to enjoy this, particularly with 4 players.
- Vinci
- I recently played the "short game", where you only
play to the number of VPs proscribed for one more player than you have. Works well. - Nuba
- Nice Knizia abstract.
- Attika
- I still enjoy this, especially with the variant.
- San Juan
- I actually wish I'd played more of this.
- Industrial Waste
- It always surprises me who likes this and who doesn't. I still enjoy it a great deal.
- 6 nimmt!
- This went on a brief, undeserved hiatus in March and April. Good to have it back.
- You're Bluffing
- This really makes you think differently, and that's nice.
- Adam & Eva
- Lighter, but among the best of the flag influence games.
Sunday, February 1, 2004
January2004 Games
January, 2004
52 games played, 38 titles (11 new to me) over 14 sessions with 34 different people.
Hot Games for January, 2004
- 10 Days in Africa (6 plays)
I've commented before that I like this even better than Europa Tour, which I like. Plus, it pleases me that I now at least have a basic idea as to where Burkina Faso is. - Fish Eat Fish (2 plays)
While I'm not the biggest fan of the art here, and it's a bit random, the bits are great and the gameplay is fun. - Adam & Eva (2 plays)
See my detailed comments on AdamAndEva - Crocodile Pool Party (3 plays)
I heard this was bad. It's not bad. See QuickGameThoughts. - Split Second (2 plays)
Super fast, easy trivia. The mechanism here is clever and fun. - Fist of Dragonstones (1 play)
I like closed fist auctions. All the same, this one is good but sometimes outlasts its welcome. - Wildlife Adventure (1 play)
This is a very different experience with gamers than with more casual participants. This months play with gamers led to several dead ends. Interesting. - Tonga Bonga (1 play)
The character of this changes a lot depending on the "bidding" of other players. - Industrial Waste (1 play)
Debt hurts. - Zirkus Flohcati (2 plays)
An all time great
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