The first part of the auction was a series of "box lots", where 1 to 3 boxes
full of games were auctioned at once. They went for prices ranging from $15 to
over $300, typically $50 or so per box. There were about 350 boxes done this
way. They included miscellaneous junk, prototypes, sid's notes, and valuable
stuff like Eon CE expansions. Many spielfrieks won lots.
After a short break, they started the individual game auctions. Most of this is
older stuff and often went for quite a bit individually. A 1941 Wizard of Oz
board, with no box, pieces or rules went for $190. Few spielfrieks I noticed
bid on these.
Finally, part way through the individual games, they did the shelf lots, where
the most spielfieky style games were. Many 3M games, as well as a lot of
German games went in these lots. Among other things, I got myself an instant 3M
bookshelf collection.
The SPI games brought some of the higher prices of the event.
The whole auction wrapped up around 7, and a small amount of trading amongst
buyers occured. Overall, a very nice event.
An important note was that despite selling about 10,000 games, this was only a
little more than half of the collection. The rest will be auctioned in the
spring.
Saturday, November 16, 2002
Tuesday, October 22, 2002
Cannes
I played Cannes, the new Splotter release. It's been characterized as
"Roads and Boats"-lite, and while it certainly shares several
qualities with R&B, it stands nicely on its own without supplanting
R&B or feeling less interesting than R&B.
The theme is about making movies, which require a variety of resources
(computers, people, and beer, which produce special effects, scripts
and stars, in various combinations) in multiple stages. There are
multiple types of movies (sci-fi movies, action movies, and the
amusingly translated "girlie movies" aka chick flicks) which require
different resources. This part of the game is interesting, but not
especially novel.
The really clever part of the game is how you access the resources and
production mechanisms. There are hexagonal tiles, which players
control the layout of, and then each player has five rods which they
use to form a "network" of connections between tiles. Only those
tiles connected to one's network are usable. This means you have to
carefully layout tiles and gradually change your network as your
resource and production needs change, all while other players are
impinging on the same space. Further, only a limited number of
resources can be retained between turns.
The play is very tense, and the timing of the endgame is interesting.
Like in Roads & Boats, the key to doing well seems to be to set up a
production "machine" as quickly as possible, and then run it longer
and better than the other players. Of course, other players may
attempt to interfere with your machine. Overall, the tension and
interaction was very nice, and the theme was engaging and fun, though
one player found the production hierarchy a little non-intuitive.
The components are also worth mentioning, as they are somewhat nicer
than many Splotter games in the past. They aren't quite up to the
major German publishing standards, but they are very nice all the
same, particularly more so than Roads & Boats.
I look forward to playing this one more, and if this sort of
production game is interesting to you, I highly recommend it. The
network mechanism is very new feeling, so I can't quite compare it to
anything else I've played, which alone makes this game worth trying.
"Roads and Boats"-lite, and while it certainly shares several
qualities with R&B, it stands nicely on its own without supplanting
R&B or feeling less interesting than R&B.
The theme is about making movies, which require a variety of resources
(computers, people, and beer, which produce special effects, scripts
and stars, in various combinations) in multiple stages. There are
multiple types of movies (sci-fi movies, action movies, and the
amusingly translated "girlie movies" aka chick flicks) which require
different resources. This part of the game is interesting, but not
especially novel.
The really clever part of the game is how you access the resources and
production mechanisms. There are hexagonal tiles, which players
control the layout of, and then each player has five rods which they
use to form a "network" of connections between tiles. Only those
tiles connected to one's network are usable. This means you have to
carefully layout tiles and gradually change your network as your
resource and production needs change, all while other players are
impinging on the same space. Further, only a limited number of
resources can be retained between turns.
The play is very tense, and the timing of the endgame is interesting.
Like in Roads & Boats, the key to doing well seems to be to set up a
production "machine" as quickly as possible, and then run it longer
and better than the other players. Of course, other players may
attempt to interfere with your machine. Overall, the tension and
interaction was very nice, and the theme was engaging and fun, though
one player found the production hierarchy a little non-intuitive.
The components are also worth mentioning, as they are somewhat nicer
than many Splotter games in the past. They aren't quite up to the
major German publishing standards, but they are very nice all the
same, particularly more so than Roads & Boats.
I look forward to playing this one more, and if this sort of
production game is interesting to you, I highly recommend it. The
network mechanism is very new feeling, so I can't quite compare it to
anything else I've played, which alone makes this game worth trying.
Sunday, October 20, 2002
Just back from Essen, first comments
Well, I just got back from Essen, and thought I'd post some quick
comments. This is my second time to Essen, and you can
I was only there for the end of Thursday and all of Friday and
Saturday. The "buzz" of the fair was Friedman Friese's new game
"Fische Fluppen Frikadellen", in which players can switch between
tables and multiple copies of the game. I didn't get a chance to play
this, but it seemed very well received.
I'll discuss other games below, but another nice thing about Essen
this year was I knew far more people there. It was great to see Scott
Alden, Greg Schloesser, James Miller, Mik Svellov, and many others.
This game of plate tectonics from Gecko Games was featured in the Doris
& Frank booth, and though the art was by Doris, the game was not by
Frank, but Ralf Lehmkuhl. I was very impressed with this game, and it
seems to have a variety of interesting options and the continental
drift mechanics are very nice. I'll try to write more later, but the
basic idea is one is competing for control over the new continents
that are being formed. On each players turn, they have some control
over the drift, and then action points to do things such as force more
drift, reproduce, move, and the like. Very nice. The only negative
comments I heard was that it was a bit dry, but I didn't find it so,
and unless players are very ponderous, it moved along at a good pace.
This small production game has a theme that seems hard to make
interesting: paper pushing. But, the game is quite fun, and lends
itself well to its theme. Each player runs an office, and documents
get pushed around and processed by various offices before being filed.
Precise timing of this processing is key to the game, as different
documents score different points depending on when the are filed. The
game is all about queue management, as documents come in to offices on
a last in first out basis. A few special action cards mix things up
nicely. Some found parts of a little too chaotic and hard to track,
and I see where he's coming from, but I very much enjoyed and
recommend the game.
This is a beautifully produced new game from Cwali, where players
produce competing zoos, attempting to attract the most visitors. This
game has a few nice mechanics that interlock nicely. Players
participate in a series of blind auctions for tiles which are layed in
a domino-like fashion, and compete for dominance in several categories
(types of animals and trees) as well as receiving bonuses for creating
path loops. I like auction games, so that part appealed to me, but I
found the other aspects very engaging as well. The art is also very
nice, though some speculated that people might assume it was a
children's game because of it. In any case, highly recommended.
These 4 also got a lot of good buzz (highly rated in the Fairplay
booth, and spoken of highly by those who'd played), but I didn't get a
chance to play them. I picked them all up except for Age of Steam.
I'll comment more once I play them.
Many people commented to Friedemann Friese that Frisch Fisch should be
republished. He commented on a certain irony in this because
apparently it took several years to sell out, and only once it had
completely sold out did an upsurge of interest start. The possibility
of another publisher doing an edition of Frisch Fisch seemed to be in
mind, but nothing specific, of course.
I also heard some other folks mumbling about the possibility of
Friedeman doing a new game for Alea. Would the box be green?
Nothing in the way of details, but a new Reiner Knizia "big" game from
Hans im Gluck is supposedly going to be out at Nurnberg, and
presumably this is the Egyptian game Chris Lawson mentioned last
month.
I'll post more later, with photos...
comments. This is my second time to Essen, and you can
I was only there for the end of Thursday and all of Friday and
Saturday. The "buzz" of the fair was Friedman Friese's new game
"Fische Fluppen Frikadellen", in which players can switch between
tables and multiple copies of the game. I didn't get a chance to play
this, but it seemed very well received.
I'll discuss other games below, but another nice thing about Essen
this year was I knew far more people there. It was great to see Scott
Alden, Greg Schloesser, James Miller, Mik Svellov, and many others.
| Trias |
This game of plate tectonics from Gecko Games was featured in the Doris
& Frank booth, and though the art was by Doris, the game was not by
Frank, but Ralf Lehmkuhl. I was very impressed with this game, and it
seems to have a variety of interesting options and the continental
drift mechanics are very nice. I'll try to write more later, but the
basic idea is one is competing for control over the new continents
that are being formed. On each players turn, they have some control
over the drift, and then action points to do things such as force more
drift, reproduce, move, and the like. Very nice. The only negative
comments I heard was that it was a bit dry, but I didn't find it so,
and unless players are very ponderous, it moved along at a good pace.
| color=f8f0ff>ad acta |
This small production game has a theme that seems hard to make
interesting: paper pushing. But, the game is quite fun, and lends
itself well to its theme. Each player runs an office, and documents
get pushed around and processed by various offices before being filed.
Precise timing of this processing is key to the game, as different
documents score different points depending on when the are filed. The
game is all about queue management, as documents come in to offices on
a last in first out basis. A few special action cards mix things up
nicely. Some found parts of a little too chaotic and hard to track,
and I see where he's coming from, but I very much enjoyed and
recommend the game.
| color=f8f0ff>ZooSim |
This is a beautifully produced new game from Cwali, where players
produce competing zoos, attempting to attract the most visitors. This
game has a few nice mechanics that interlock nicely. Players
participate in a series of blind auctions for tiles which are layed in
a domino-like fashion, and compete for dominance in several categories
(types of animals and trees) as well as receiving bonuses for creating
path loops. I like auction games, so that part appealed to me, but I
found the other aspects very engaging as well. The art is also very
nice, though some speculated that people might assume it was a
children's game because of it. In any case, highly recommended.
| color=f8f0ff>Canal Grande, FFF, Cannes, Age of Steam |
These 4 also got a lot of good buzz (highly rated in the Fairplay
booth, and spoken of highly by those who'd played), but I didn't get a
chance to play them. I picked them all up except for Age of Steam.
I'll comment more once I play them.
| color=f8f0ff>Rumors |
Many people commented to Friedemann Friese that Frisch Fisch should be
republished. He commented on a certain irony in this because
apparently it took several years to sell out, and only once it had
completely sold out did an upsurge of interest start. The possibility
of another publisher doing an edition of Frisch Fisch seemed to be in
mind, but nothing specific, of course.
I also heard some other folks mumbling about the possibility of
Friedeman doing a new game for Alea. Would the box be green?
Nothing in the way of details, but a new Reiner Knizia "big" game from
Hans im Gluck is supposedly going to be out at Nurnberg, and
presumably this is the Egyptian game Chris Lawson mentioned last
month.
I'll post more later, with photos...
Wednesday, October 16, 2002
Going to Essen
Despite having lots of interesting topics to write on, I haven't had
the time to write here lately. Hopefully, I'll get time to write
about Lord of the Rings: Sauron, Roads & Boats, and some Lord of the
Rings: The Confrontation strategy.
All this will probably have to wait though, since I'm off to Essen,
and presumably that will be the most interesting thing to write about
for a little while. I hope to have some stuff up here early next
week.
the time to write here lately. Hopefully, I'll get time to write
about Lord of the Rings: Sauron, Roads & Boats, and some Lord of the
Rings: The Confrontation strategy.
All this will probably have to wait though, since I'm off to Essen,
and presumably that will be the most interesting thing to write about
for a little while. I hope to have some stuff up here early next
week.
Wednesday, September 25, 2002
500 games
This past weekend, I hit the 500 mark for games played this year.
There was some discussion of people's current games for the year on
thought I'd include my post here.
Games played: 502
Different Games Played: 216
New to me games: 120
Number of people played with: 187
While there are some games I enjoy a great deal, what I really enjoy
is variety. Despite this, I've already hit 10+ and 5+ for many games
this year, though a great many games that have been played once (131)
or twice (42).
The games marked with *'s are the "few or no plays before this year"
games.
My 10+ list so far: Geister*, SpinBall, TransAmerica*,
Electronic Catchphrase, Crokinole, Call my Bluff.
My 5+ list so far: Knockabout, For Sale, Hamster Rolle*, Industrial
Waste*, Puerto Rico*, 6 nimmt!, Pente, Zirkus Flohcati, Alles im
Eimer*,
Hick Hack in Gacklewack, LOTR:TC*, Battle Line, Mause Rallye*,
Pueblo*,
Speed.
But, I've decided I personally like Joe Huber's "happiness" number
better than just the straight number of plays. By that metric my top
games for the year:
where I expect Lord of the Rings will go up once I get the Sauron
expansion, I expect LOTR:TC will hit 10 plays, and I hope to play a
little more E&T. Puerto Rico will probably remain at the top.
This year, I've been good at TransAmerica, For Sale, and Puerto Rico,
while I've been less skilled at Alles im Eimer, Hick Hack in
Gacklewack and Zirkus Flohcati.
There was some discussion of people's current games for the year on
thought I'd include my post here.
Games played: 502
Different Games Played: 216
New to me games: 120
Number of people played with: 187
While there are some games I enjoy a great deal, what I really enjoy
is variety. Despite this, I've already hit 10+ and 5+ for many games
this year, though a great many games that have been played once (131)
or twice (42).
The games marked with *'s are the "few or no plays before this year"
games.
My 10+ list so far: Geister*, SpinBall, TransAmerica*,
Electronic Catchphrase, Crokinole, Call my Bluff.
My 5+ list so far: Knockabout, For Sale, Hamster Rolle*, Industrial
Waste*, Puerto Rico*, 6 nimmt!, Pente, Zirkus Flohcati, Alles im
Eimer*,
Hick Hack in Gacklewack, LOTR:TC*, Battle Line, Mause Rallye*,
Pueblo*,
Speed.
But, I've decided I personally like Joe Huber's "happiness" number
better than just the straight number of plays. By that metric my top
games for the year:
- Puerto Rico (8 plays)
- TransAmerica (17 plays)
- SpinBall (24 plays)
- Lord of the Rings (4 plays)
- Industrial Waste (8 plays)
- 6 nimmt! (7 plays)
- Crokinole (15 plays)
- Traders of Genoa (2 plays)
- Electronic Catchprase (16 plays)
- Geister (31 plays)
- Battle Line (5 plays)
- Call my Bluff (10 plays)
- LOTR:TC (6 plays)
- Pente (7 plays)
- Code 777 (3 plays)
- Pueblo (5 plays)
- Euphrat & Tigris (2 plays)
- Medina (2 plays)
- Haste Worte? (3 plays)
- Hamster Rolle (8 plays)
where I expect Lord of the Rings will go up once I get the Sauron
expansion, I expect LOTR:TC will hit 10 plays, and I hope to play a
little more E&T. Puerto Rico will probably remain at the top.
This year, I've been good at TransAmerica, For Sale, and Puerto Rico,
while I've been less skilled at Alles im Eimer, Hick Hack in
Gacklewack and Zirkus Flohcati.
Tuesday, September 10, 2002
Squint
I decided to pick up the new game "Squint" from Out of the Box this
past weekend, and got to play a few games. I was reasonably pleased.
The very basic idea is Pictionary-like with cards with various
squiggles, circles and lines which you have to use to "draw"
with. There are three difficulty levels and you determine each time
which to use by a die roll. After a couple of games this way, we
found the hardest ones were the most enjoyable, so we played with just
those, and that works very well. Next time, I may use the variation
of allowing the person who is "drawing" to do any or all of the words
on the card. That way, they can go conservative and do the easier one
for fewer points or the harder one, or try to get multiple one's
guessed.
Overall, as a party game, very solid.
past weekend, and got to play a few games. I was reasonably pleased.
The very basic idea is Pictionary-like with cards with various
squiggles, circles and lines which you have to use to "draw"
with. There are three difficulty levels and you determine each time
which to use by a die roll. After a couple of games this way, we
found the hardest ones were the most enjoyable, so we played with just
those, and that works very well. Next time, I may use the variation
of allowing the person who is "drawing" to do any or all of the words
on the card. That way, they can go conservative and do the easier one
for fewer points or the harder one, or try to get multiple one's
guessed.
Overall, as a party game, very solid.
Thursday, September 5, 2002
ABCNews article
ABC News
has a story on obsessive hobbyists, and includes a bit on the
associate dean of the Rice school of engineering, Tony Elam, who is an avid
(>4000 games) board game collector. He likes Puerto Rico.
has a story on obsessive hobbyists, and includes a bit on the
associate dean of the Rice school of engineering, Tony Elam, who is an avid
(>4000 games) board game collector. He likes Puerto Rico.
Sunday, August 25, 2002
Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation
I was recently in St. Louis, and decided to stop by a local game
store, "The Fantasy Shop", which I had seen mentioned on r.g.b. It
turned out to be heavily weighted towards comics and RPGs, but with a
handful of German-style games. It also turned out that luck was with
us and the store was having a "Moonlight Madness" sale that night from
11pm-1am and everything was 20% off. One of the things I decided to
pick up was the new Knizia Lord of the Rings game for two players.
I've played it a few times now and am very pleased with it. In basic
mechanics, it is not unlike Stratego with the addition of special
powers and cards which change the effectiveness of some of the units.
There are many special powers to keep track of, but after an initial
play the powers are reasonably easy to keep track of.
Another key feature of the game is that with a few exceptions, pieces
only ever move forward, which in addition to pushing the game to
conclusion and avoiding stalemates, introduces some very interesting
tactical choices. Often, a players best move would be to do nothing
or move a piece backward.
The result is a game with a opportunity for careful strategizing,
bluffing, and long term planning. It further has the quality that a
single fatal error can easily cost you the game, but those errors are
easy to avoid, in your next game, giving a steady improvement in one's
skill. Further, it appears that doing well at the game relies heavily
upon recognizing when your opponent has made an error (not always
obvious) and successfully capitalizing on it (not always easy).
It is possible that with enough plays it will reduce to a simple
bluffing and luck game, but I expect it will hold up for quite some
time to some varied strategies. With novices, I think the light
player has a bit of an advantage, but am not sure that will be
sustainable with experienced players.
store, "The Fantasy Shop", which I had seen mentioned on r.g.b. It
turned out to be heavily weighted towards comics and RPGs, but with a
handful of German-style games. It also turned out that luck was with
us and the store was having a "Moonlight Madness" sale that night from
11pm-1am and everything was 20% off. One of the things I decided to
pick up was the new Knizia Lord of the Rings game for two players.
I've played it a few times now and am very pleased with it. In basic
mechanics, it is not unlike Stratego with the addition of special
powers and cards which change the effectiveness of some of the units.
There are many special powers to keep track of, but after an initial
play the powers are reasonably easy to keep track of.
Another key feature of the game is that with a few exceptions, pieces
only ever move forward, which in addition to pushing the game to
conclusion and avoiding stalemates, introduces some very interesting
tactical choices. Often, a players best move would be to do nothing
or move a piece backward.
The result is a game with a opportunity for careful strategizing,
bluffing, and long term planning. It further has the quality that a
single fatal error can easily cost you the game, but those errors are
easy to avoid, in your next game, giving a steady improvement in one's
skill. Further, it appears that doing well at the game relies heavily
upon recognizing when your opponent has made an error (not always
obvious) and successfully capitalizing on it (not always easy).
It is possible that with enough plays it will reduce to a simple
bluffing and luck game, but I expect it will hold up for quite some
time to some varied strategies. With novices, I think the light
player has a bit of an advantage, but am not sure that will be
sustainable with experienced players.
Friday, August 23, 2002
Reviews and Descriptions of Play
I don't know why, but the practice of giveng a description of play
followed by a often extremely brief evaluation and calling that a
"game review" has been bugging me lately. I've never been especially
fond of this approach, but for some reason it's been something I've
noticed a lot lately. If I'm going to like a game because of its
mechanics, I will be able to tell that from a brief description just
as well as from an in depth description. Knowing that there are
auctions for priveleges is sufficient. Knowing there are three rounds
of 6 auctions in which a variable number of priveleges which each
player can win at most 5 of is excessive and often distracting, until
I'm actually going to play a game.
Similarly, I'm more interested in people's opinions of a game, why
they liked and why they didn't, and I don't think every detail of play
is necassary to understand that. Sure, I need to know that there's
simultaneous actions to understand that a reviewer thinks that "the
simultaneous action selection seems to make the game very random", or
something, but a one or two paragraph description is sufficient,
rather than a regurgitation of the rules. Further, I'd much rather
have opinions on how the play feels and how the various rules combine
than know what they specifically are.
For example, in Ra, the fact that different auctions are not just
worth different amounts to different people (as in most auction
games), but also may effectively cost dramatically different amounts
for different people is an important part of why I like the game. The
fact that there are 3 rounds and monuments aren't scored until the end
and some tiles go back at the end of each round doesn't matter in my
evaluation of the game.
followed by a often extremely brief evaluation and calling that a
"game review" has been bugging me lately. I've never been especially
fond of this approach, but for some reason it's been something I've
noticed a lot lately. If I'm going to like a game because of its
mechanics, I will be able to tell that from a brief description just
as well as from an in depth description. Knowing that there are
auctions for priveleges is sufficient. Knowing there are three rounds
of 6 auctions in which a variable number of priveleges which each
player can win at most 5 of is excessive and often distracting, until
I'm actually going to play a game.
Similarly, I'm more interested in people's opinions of a game, why
they liked and why they didn't, and I don't think every detail of play
is necassary to understand that. Sure, I need to know that there's
simultaneous actions to understand that a reviewer thinks that "the
simultaneous action selection seems to make the game very random", or
something, but a one or two paragraph description is sufficient,
rather than a regurgitation of the rules. Further, I'd much rather
have opinions on how the play feels and how the various rules combine
than know what they specifically are.
For example, in Ra, the fact that different auctions are not just
worth different amounts to different people (as in most auction
games), but also may effectively cost dramatically different amounts
for different people is an important part of why I like the game. The
fact that there are 3 rounds and monuments aren't scored until the end
and some tiles go back at the end of each round doesn't matter in my
evaluation of the game.
Thursday, August 22, 2002
Slow Summer
Well, it's been a slow summer. In July and August, so far, I've
played 54 games, less than half the usual rate, so as a result, I've
had less to say here. Even more so, I've played very few new (to me)
games this summer. A lot of TransAmerica, SpinBall, Puerto Rico, 6
nimmt! and a variety of other new-ish and older favorites, but not a
lot new. Just recently I picked up Lord of the Rings: The
Confrontation and like it, and I'll put some comments here after
I play it a couple more times.
played 54 games, less than half the usual rate, so as a result, I've
had less to say here. Even more so, I've played very few new (to me)
games this summer. A lot of TransAmerica, SpinBall, Puerto Rico, 6
nimmt! and a variety of other new-ish and older favorites, but not a
lot new. Just recently I picked up Lord of the Rings: The
Confrontation and like it, and I'll put some comments here after
I play it a couple more times.
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