January Gaming

This reflects the group activity, not my personal activity.

Games played:

Abalone - A gift from my parents, it seems interesting at first, but pretty much devolves into: whoever makes the first move loses. I will play a few more times, but not much more.

Amun Re - A favorite of the group, just the right amount of unknown and strategy. I value it slightly less than the group does, but I'm happy to play. I really like the blind bidding concept, better than "go around the table" bidding, and I incorporated this into my rail game.

Attika - recently borrowed, I didn't get to play it, but it looks interesting.

Boggle x 3 - played with a new player so as to make her feel comfortable, but she hasn't returned anyway, so maybe we shouldn't have. I like the game, but I'm hard to beat (not generally. My vocabulary isn't fantastic, but I'm pretty good at finding the more obscure and longer words.)

Dvonn - recently borrowed. Like many games with lots of choices, the first choices seem kind of random. I suppose that there is more strategy than there first appears (of course, there is plenty of strategy in the second phase). One thing about the Gipf games, they have high quality beautiful components.

Flinke Pinke - not really played correctly, but even if it had been, doesn't look too interesting. FP is a quick very light card game. I'm always hoping to find other light game hits, like Geschenkt and San Juan. Still looking.

Geschenkt x 5 - A huge hit, so simple and so quick.

Oasis - Recently borrowed. The first game we played was three player, which I instinctively knew would be a mistake. We all gagged on the auction system, and there was no competition for space on the board. I actually liked it, anyway, and want to try again.

Puerto Rico x 3 - The Lord of the Games.

San Juan x 4 - The best 2-4 player 1/2-time game. I bought this in preference to St Petersburg, as it looked less "solvable" and more expandable. I posted 35 new buildings to the geek. Unlike PR, I don't know how to implement this (I could write over the Archive card and a few others we don't use, I guess.)

Settlers of Catan x 3 - Another standby game, since half of our players are new. Actually, many of the old time players still like it a lot. Something about a luck filled trading game. Am I correct that players who like SoC would like Traders of Genoa?

Taj Mahal x 2 - Another favorite meaty game, probably second to PR.

Tikal x 2 - A new acquisition, a Hanukkah gift. Still fresh and interesting. Just enough angst, and not too much downtime, since it is harder to see as far forward (compared to Torres).

Traumfabrik x 2 - A new acquisition, also. Nice, fun, and probably definitive for auction games. Player with highest star power tends to win, though. Compares easily to Ra, and probably to Modern Art. Is there a need to own more than one, actually?

Yehuda