I finally got around to playing Bus, which I've wanted to play for several years. I enjoyed it.
I had heard some bad things about Crocodile Pool Party. I've played
it a few times now. Don't believe the bad things. It's a cute light
abstract that feels like an appropriate depth for its length.
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Bus. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Bus. Sort by date Show all posts
Monday, January 12, 2004
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
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Stuff other than the games
I commented a bit about the non-gaming aspects of the Gathering, but
thought I'd put in a few more specific notes here.
I feel like I met fewer new people at this year's Gathering than I
have in the past, but looking at the numbers, that probably isn't
true. Several people, I was especially pleased to meet.
I finally got to meet Mike Gray, from Hasbro, who I am frequently
mistaken for in online forums. He's a great guy, but I don't think
the error would ever be made in person.
As mentioned earlier, I met and played several games with Matthew
Monin who I am especially greatful to for introducing me to Descent,
which I bugged him all week to Overlord for us. He was in high demand
in this role. On Saturday night, starting after midnight, we got a
game together and as I mentioned earlier, he altogether crushed us.
We also had the pleasure of going out with some other folks to
Graeter's Ice Cream, always a treat. Matthew makes a rather different
impression in person than he had online to me. In both environments,
he is a pleasure to interact with. Further, he is perhaps the only
other Matthew I have met who is as insistent on being "Matthew"
rather than "Matt" as I am.
Another BGGer, Ava Jarvis stands out as another person I'm
particularly glad to have met. She has a remarkable breadth and depth
of experience that is somehow surprising given her unassuming nature.
Plus, we played a rather entertaining game of RoboRally when she had
gotten far too little sleep and she managed to jump into three
different pits over the course of the game, enjoying every moment of
it.
Speaking of BGG, it was great to have nearly all of the admins together in one place. We even went out to dinner, took a group photo and Scott let us in on all of his super-double-secret plans. I can't say more, but set your keyword filters to "Aldie", "Coup", "Uzbekistan" and "Boardgamistan". We considered that in the future, perhaps we shouldn't all cross the street at the same time, and avoid the risk that a runaway bus deals a serious blow to the board game community. I also had the fortune to play games with most of the admins, particularly Matthew, Daniel, Sterling and Fabio.
The first couple times I went to the Gathering, I always felt a bit
odd traveling all those miles to game with people who live within 20
miles of my home. I've gotten over it. Miller and
(temporarily-displaced-from-Boston) Anthony joined us for dinner at
"Quaker Steak & Lube", which is a very oddly named restaurant that
turns out to be a decent wings place with a motorsports theme.
As for the prizetable ceremony, we apparently used up all of our
early-pick karma last year, and got two late picks this year, but as
always, were very happy with what we walked away with (Carcassone: The
City, Times Square, Familienbande and Boomtown).
And, while I said this post would be about non-games stuff, here's a
final game-related comment. In past years, I've felt it was difficult
to balance the conflicting goals of playing lots of shorter
games and taking the opportunity to play the rarely-played longer
games. In general, I prefer the shorter games but do enjoy some
longer ones. This year, I felt I managed to balance it essentially to
the exact degree I'd hoped. I predominantly played short games, the
vast majority under 90 minutes, but I did play, and enjoy a few longer
games. In particular, the above-mentioned Descent was good enough to
rush out and buy, and I had a great session of Battlestations with
Aldie, Sterling, Anthony and Miller. Those two games alone consumed
about 7 hours. I only played two games the entire event that I really
felt like went on too long: Zepter von Zavandor, which was
reasonably good, but a bit too mechanical and way too long, and
Glory to Rome, in which our game apparently went anomolously
long. I didn't get to play things like Indonesia, which many enjoyed
a great deal, but I don't feel I missed out much. My "total
enjoyment" of four 45-minute games is almost always greater than what I get from
a single 3-hour game. It's only the "experience" games like Descent
and Battlestations that even have a chance.
I may or may not post more game thoughts later, but this may be the
end of my notes for this year. More likely, I will post more detailed
reviews in the Games section of this blog.
thought I'd put in a few more specific notes here.
I feel like I met fewer new people at this year's Gathering than I
have in the past, but looking at the numbers, that probably isn't
true. Several people, I was especially pleased to meet.
I finally got to meet Mike Gray, from Hasbro, who I am frequently
mistaken for in online forums. He's a great guy, but I don't think
the error would ever be made in person.
 Buckeye Blitz Ice Cream from Graeter's |
As mentioned earlier, I met and played several games with Matthew
Monin who I am especially greatful to for introducing me to Descent,
which I bugged him all week to Overlord for us. He was in high demand
in this role. On Saturday night, starting after midnight, we got a
game together and as I mentioned earlier, he altogether crushed us.
We also had the pleasure of going out with some other folks to
Graeter's Ice Cream, always a treat. Matthew makes a rather different
impression in person than he had online to me. In both environments,
he is a pleasure to interact with. Further, he is perhaps the only
other Matthew I have met who is as insistent on being "Matthew"
rather than "Matt" as I am.
Another BGGer, Ava Jarvis stands out as another person I'm
particularly glad to have met. She has a remarkable breadth and depth
of experience that is somehow surprising given her unassuming nature.
Plus, we played a rather entertaining game of RoboRally when she had
gotten far too little sleep and she managed to jump into three
different pits over the course of the game, enjoying every moment of
it.
 Geek Admins |
Speaking of BGG, it was great to have nearly all of the admins together in one place. We even went out to dinner, took a group photo and Scott let us in on all of his super-double-secret plans. I can't say more, but set your keyword filters to "Aldie", "Coup", "Uzbekistan" and "Boardgamistan". We considered that in the future, perhaps we shouldn't all cross the street at the same time, and avoid the risk that a runaway bus deals a serious blow to the board game community. I also had the fortune to play games with most of the admins, particularly Matthew, Daniel, Sterling and Fabio.
The first couple times I went to the Gathering, I always felt a bit
odd traveling all those miles to game with people who live within 20
miles of my home. I've gotten over it. Miller and
(temporarily-displaced-from-Boston) Anthony joined us for dinner at
"Quaker Steak & Lube", which is a very oddly named restaurant that
turns out to be a decent wings place with a motorsports theme.
 The Prize Table |
As for the prizetable ceremony, we apparently used up all of our
early-pick karma last year, and got two late picks this year, but as
always, were very happy with what we walked away with (Carcassone: The
City, Times Square, Familienbande and Boomtown).
 Engineer Aldie playing Battlestations |
And, while I said this post would be about non-games stuff, here's a
final game-related comment. In past years, I've felt it was difficult
to balance the conflicting goals of playing lots of shorter
games and taking the opportunity to play the rarely-played longer
games. In general, I prefer the shorter games but do enjoy some
longer ones. This year, I felt I managed to balance it essentially to
the exact degree I'd hoped. I predominantly played short games, the
vast majority under 90 minutes, but I did play, and enjoy a few longer
games. In particular, the above-mentioned Descent was good enough to
rush out and buy, and I had a great session of Battlestations with
Aldie, Sterling, Anthony and Miller. Those two games alone consumed
about 7 hours. I only played two games the entire event that I really
felt like went on too long: Zepter von Zavandor, which was
reasonably good, but a bit too mechanical and way too long, and
Glory to Rome, in which our game apparently went anomolously
long. I didn't get to play things like Indonesia, which many enjoyed
a great deal, but I don't feel I missed out much. My "total
enjoyment" of four 45-minute games is almost always greater than what I get from
a single 3-hour game. It's only the "experience" games like Descent
and Battlestations that even have a chance.
I may or may not post more game thoughts later, but this may be the
end of my notes for this year. More likely, I will post more detailed
reviews in the Games section of this blog.
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