Raanana Session Report

Participants: Abraham, Peleg, Jon, Tal, Ellen, Rochelle, Laurie, Daniel

Daniel finally returns after traveling.

Taki

Ellis+, Jon

While waiting for others to arrive to play Evolution. I reminded Ellis about the rules to this game. I think he won fairly quickly.

Jon+, Rochelle, Ellis

I then reminded/taught the rules to Rochelle. I won this with a multi-color Taki card.

Evolution

Daniel 18, Jon 16, Rochelle 13, Ellis 6

Scores approximate; first play for everyone. This was game number three of four sent to me by a Russian game company to review, which I will do in full once I have played all four. The first two games were simple and not too interesting, although they may hold some appeal for younger players. This game actually looked pretty good.

We played it, and what do you know, it was pretty good. You simply have to play your cards and keep as many creatures alive as possible from round to round (until the end, which is the scoring, and so the only point that really matters). Easier said then done. I'm eagerly looking forward to trying it again. There were, however, a few rules questions, and a few concerns about luck and repetition.

Nexus Ops

Abraham, Peleg, Tal, Laurie

Peleg had requested this game already last week, as he was eager to play something that involved units and conflict. Laurie was interested in playing with the nice bits. I don't know how the game went.

Alien Frontier

Jon, Rochelle, Ellis, Daniel

I suggested this game. First play for the other players, second play for me. It was a little more complex than the games Rochelle had played until now, but she picked it up well enough.

I recalled enjoying the game to some extent, but having a problem with it. Abraham reminded me of what it was: downtime on other players' turns. Yup. Still there, and still a problem. We had far too many piracy attacks, so I took a decoy ship card which sent them elsewhere for the rest of the game. Ellis got an enhancement that moved him faster on the standard module development track, and that's nearly the only thing he did from then on.

I pulled into a lead at one point, carefully knocking down the player closest to me each time in the process. This process was almost always reverse within a round or two, and I was back to being tied for first. That's how the game ended: Rochelle gained a module and tied me in a territory. I won on the tiebreaker.

Ticket to Ride

Abraham, Peleg. Laurie

I don't know what happened.