January Gaming at the JSGC

In January, the JSGC suddenly transformed from a group that plays a select group of games to a group overwhelmed with new games.

Between the games I brought back from BGG.con, the games acquired from a new purchase, and the game brought by relatively new members Brendan and Binyamin, we played almost no games more than once.

The good news is that many of these games were good. Also, trying new games is fun for some of us. The bad news is that so many new games makes me dizzy and robs me of the opportunity to replay games that I enjoy.

As usual, the following report is only for the JSGC games, and not my own gaming outside of the club.


Anagrams - Used as a filler once. I love it, but it can be frustrating if your brain is working slowly today.

Attika - Played for the second time, and a better experience than the first time, but still not amazing. Maybe it will keep getting better.

Cities and Knights of Catan - Since so few of us have played this a lot, it remains a good experience. Ganging up on the leader is the way to solve the luck imbalances, but this only works sometimes.

Cribbage - Used as a filler, or occasionally as a second game for one player while another person is waiting for the first game to end.

Entdecker - I didn't get to play this. I heard it was ok.

Ingenious x 2 - A lovely little abstract game from Knizia, which seems to play well with different numbers of players. Needs more play.

Lord of the Rings: the Confrontation - Unequal forces, but surprisingly fun.

Louis XIV - A good game.

Maneater - Not so good a game.

Modern Art - A good game to end an evening with, but the double auction imbalances bother me.

Power Grid - Newly acquired and a big hit. Long.

Primordial Soup - Also a hit with most of the group. Almost as long.

Princes of Florence - A classic mainstay.

Puerto Rico x 2 - THE classic mainstay.

San Juan x 2 - A very popular filler.

Taj Mahal - Another classic mainstay.

Tigris and Euphrates - Not popular, for some strange reason. I think it is great, but I can't get my group to feel the same way.

Torres - About half of them like this. Some think it is too much thinking for not enough game.

Yinsh x 2 - Fairly new and enjoyed as a quicker filler than San Juan for two players.

Yehuda