Weekend Gaming

I unwrapped Wildlife and it looks really good. Looking forward to playing it.

Rachel insisted on two games of Puerto Rico, so I'm sorry that I beat her both times. We played with what I consider the absolute minimum changes necessary for two player:

- Aqueduct instead of Small Market
- Small Fashion District instead of Construction Hut
- a small change to Hospice
- Discretionary Hold instead of Large Warehouse
- Large General Workhouse instead of University
- Large Business instead of Harbor
- Cathedral instead of Guild Hall
- Fairgrounds instead of Residence.

And we play two player with:

- 50 VP
- 37 colonists
- 4, 5, 6 ships
- 1 each indigo building
- 2 less each barrel and plantation
- 3 less quarry
- 1 starting doubloon
- 6 roles (no Prospector)
- Gov-Opp-Gov, place doubloons, switch

In the first game, Rachel started and I pulled a sugar, followed by corn, tobacco, and then coffee. I didn't buy any buildings at all until Large General Workhouse. Meanwhile, Rachel had 4 goods going, all except coffee. We both got tobacco going at the same time.

My "strategy" then paid off, as I was first to trade tobacco, and then coffee, also blocking boats for both of each. We were about even on shipping, and we simply stayed that way until the end of the game. My coffee power trumped her Factory, and I beat her by ten points, 67 to 57.

In the second game, I used a strategy that I never used before: buying low and fast. I started off, and I took a corn, but my next pick was a quarry. Whenever I wasn't sacrificing too much money, I built, thus utilizing both builder privilege and quarry to their maximum extent.

Although I was producing three goods, I passed over Factory and chose Large Business instead, knowing that the game was going to end quickly on building, and simply wanting to keep parity with shipping. Again this worked, and we ended 39 to 33. Both of us had one big building, but neither was manned.

Take a look at the PR buildings on my site for info on special buildings.

Other than that it was a quiet shabbat. Hanukkah is over, sad but true. On to another week.

Yehuda