Weekend Gaming and Tidbits

Well, Chris never made it, but I hope he had a successful visit (on business).

Puerto Rico

Nadine came for dinner, anyway, so naturally we started a Puerto Rico game. We played with Wildcat Strikers, Guesthouse, Trading Post, Bank, and other changes (see here for details).

Wildcat Strikers is the wildest one, and really adds a dimension to the game. This is the first time that we played with it more than two player, so I faced a strange situation. Since you "sacrifice" the building when you use it, you can use the building, and then buy it and use it again, if the second one has not yet been taken.

We started the game, but after two round, Rachel had a class that she wanted to go to, so we broke and saved the game until the following afternoon, when Nadine returned.

I made nice use of WS in the first game, blocking the Captain for one round to ensure that I would be able to ship first on my turn. Rachel then bought the other copy, manned it with her Guest House, and used it the next turn to prevent both Nadine and I from manning our large buildings before the game ended.

I started with corn, and I used the advantage well to win the game anyway.

In the second game I again started with corn, and again used it to my advantage. This time no one used WS, but the game ended early when a lot of large production buildings were bought and the colonists ran out prematurely. I had the only large building at that point, and Guest House to man it.

Some news items

Via about.com, the AP reports that Atlantic City is not happy with the new version of Monopoly taking the spotlight off of its city. I'm not sure that I understand the problem, seeing as there are over 900 versions of the game.

I know very little about Paladium games, but they seem like a nice little company and in touch with their fan base. The owner reports that someone on the inside has just destroyed his company through embezzlement and theft to the tune of $1,000,000, and he is appealing to his customers for help in avoiding complete bankruptcy by offering special hand-made prints for sale. (via Infinity Games)

Tom Vasel continues his post on advice to board game designers (part 2) from the greatest designers in the business.

Yehuda

P.S. Oh, and my friend, who played Havoc with me once a few months ago, told me that he tracked down a copy and bought it online at Funagain. Another convert.

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