I watched 4 small children, ages around 5 to 7, try to play Blokus Trigon today. I honestly thought they should be able to do it.
But no. While some of them at least grasped the rules, none of them exhibited any planning. They picked up random pieces to put down. Some of the time they put them on random places on the board until they finally played something legal by accident. Often they put the pieces onto the board but not into the grid, so that the piece was sticking out in a random direction.
One of them took about two minutes for each move. Looked at her pile of pieces. Looked at the board. Looked at her pile of pieces. Picked one up. Put it back down. Repeat for two minutes.
Ah, well.
Also, Tal and I played Boggle earlier in the week.
Showing posts with label blokus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blokus. Show all posts
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Blokus Kicks Ass
Only managed to get Blokus on the table on my birthday, but it reminded me how good a game it really is.
We played Blokus Trigon with four players; Blokus Classic is slightly better for four-player play. But classic Blokus is nearly unplayable with three, so I only kept Trigon in my collection. For two players, you can use any version, including Travel Blokus, the official two-player, portable version.
The other three players, including my wife, were new to the game. It takes seconds to teach, ten or twenty minutes to play, yet it's deep, fun, and endlessly replayable. Add to that the fact that's it's a gorgeous game, and doesn't cost very much. It deserves all the awards it's gotten over the last ten years.
In our first game, the two less gamer-like players both came in last. Rachel scored pretty well, and I went out entirely. They insisted on a second game, and wow, was it different. What felt like a cake-walk in the first game was now vicious and aggressive. I was cut off at every turn, as was everyone else. This time, I ended in last place and Rachel was second-to-last.
Definitely want to play it more.
Brief mention: last Friday night we played a game of PitchCar at Nadine's. I was doing pretty well until the last turn or so, and then I stalled out. Seems to be my lot in PitchCar.
We played Blokus Trigon with four players; Blokus Classic is slightly better for four-player play. But classic Blokus is nearly unplayable with three, so I only kept Trigon in my collection. For two players, you can use any version, including Travel Blokus, the official two-player, portable version.
The other three players, including my wife, were new to the game. It takes seconds to teach, ten or twenty minutes to play, yet it's deep, fun, and endlessly replayable. Add to that the fact that's it's a gorgeous game, and doesn't cost very much. It deserves all the awards it's gotten over the last ten years.
In our first game, the two less gamer-like players both came in last. Rachel scored pretty well, and I went out entirely. They insisted on a second game, and wow, was it different. What felt like a cake-walk in the first game was now vicious and aggressive. I was cut off at every turn, as was everyone else. This time, I ended in last place and Rachel was second-to-last.
Definitely want to play it more.
Brief mention: last Friday night we played a game of PitchCar at Nadine's. I was doing pretty well until the last turn or so, and then I stalled out. Seems to be my lot in PitchCar.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Shabbat Gaming
Nadine and another friend were over for lunch. Eliezer is not a gamer, exactly, but he's been turned on to the likes of Settlers, Havoc, and Blokus. The latter is his current addiction.
So I brought out Blokus Trigon after lunch. The beginning and middle of Trigon don't matter much, so long as a) you put out your larger pieces and b) you keep tendrils out to most areas of the board. The end game - when you have run out of your largest pieces, then becomes a matter of planning and blocking.
Fun game. I won 5 to 9 to 9. It's not Nadine's cup of tea.
Next I decided to try him on Mississippi Queen. The first time I played this, I liked it and wanted to try again. Everyone else liked it, too, but not enough to want to play it again immediately. After that, they always found some other game to play instead.
I managed to get it back onto the table again a few weeks ago, and I really enjoyed it, even more than the first play. I was eager to try again, and I decided to slake my thirst with these guys.
It ended up being more like the first play; fun, but not exceptional enough to make them want to play again any time soon. It might be because we all ended up within one round of finishing without too much difficulty, and that's even after stopping to pick up two passengers each.
Actually, the two of them tied, and I crashed in the same round, only able to slow down to 2, instead of the 1 I needed.
Last up was Settlers of Catan, to make up for MQ. Our board layout was very clumped, region-wise, which made starting with all the resources somewhat difficult. I managed to do it by placing one of my settlements onto a 3:1 port and the other on an 11 wood. I needed to trade for wood at the beginning.
Two reasons I ran away with the game: Early on, Eliezer opted to pass with 8 cards in his hand rather than buy two development cards, as he was saving for a city. I rolled a 7 and he lost the bundle. Then I placed the robber on his 8, and he lost about 4 or 5 ores in a row.
I began progressing a few rounds earlier than either of them, and stayed that way for most of the game. Nadine actually passed me in points at one point, but it was five settlements, Longest Road, and no ore production. I stole the Longest Road, and that was basically that. Final scores were 10 to 6 to 4.
So I brought out Blokus Trigon after lunch. The beginning and middle of Trigon don't matter much, so long as a) you put out your larger pieces and b) you keep tendrils out to most areas of the board. The end game - when you have run out of your largest pieces, then becomes a matter of planning and blocking.
Fun game. I won 5 to 9 to 9. It's not Nadine's cup of tea.
Next I decided to try him on Mississippi Queen. The first time I played this, I liked it and wanted to try again. Everyone else liked it, too, but not enough to want to play it again immediately. After that, they always found some other game to play instead.
I managed to get it back onto the table again a few weeks ago, and I really enjoyed it, even more than the first play. I was eager to try again, and I decided to slake my thirst with these guys.
It ended up being more like the first play; fun, but not exceptional enough to make them want to play again any time soon. It might be because we all ended up within one round of finishing without too much difficulty, and that's even after stopping to pick up two passengers each.
Actually, the two of them tied, and I crashed in the same round, only able to slow down to 2, instead of the 1 I needed.
Last up was Settlers of Catan, to make up for MQ. Our board layout was very clumped, region-wise, which made starting with all the resources somewhat difficult. I managed to do it by placing one of my settlements onto a 3:1 port and the other on an 11 wood. I needed to trade for wood at the beginning.
Two reasons I ran away with the game: Early on, Eliezer opted to pass with 8 cards in his hand rather than buy two development cards, as he was saving for a city. I rolled a 7 and he lost the bundle. Then I placed the robber on his 8, and he lost about 4 or 5 ores in a row.
I began progressing a few rounds earlier than either of them, and stayed that way for most of the game. Nadine actually passed me in points at one point, but it was five settlements, Longest Road, and no ore production. I stole the Longest Road, and that was basically that. Final scores were 10 to 6 to 4.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
How to Beat a 4.5 Year Old at Strategy Games
For the weekend, Saarya and I went to my friends for Friday evening and then walked over to my Aunt and Uncle's for lunch.
Blokus Trigon
My friends are not game players. They have two kids ages 6.5 and 4.5 and a new copy of Monopoly: Wonders of the World. The 6.5 year old has successfully played it, as well as Checkers and a few other games.
I brought along my own bag of games, of course, including Blokus Trigon. Although I feel that regular Blokus is a more tense game throughout, Blokus Trigon becomes a tense game at the end-game. It's big advantage over regular Blokus is that it plays well with three players.
With three players, you are supposed to not use the outer ring of spaces. If you do, it's easy for all players to place all of their pieces. While one of Blokus' good aspects is that the play is as fun as the winning, no possibility of winning is a bit too tame for me.
I played against the 6.5 year old and my friend who was helping the 4.5 year old. I gave a little assistance once in a while to the 6.5 year old, but other than tending to broadcast what she was going to play next time, she played fine.
The 4.5 year old never quite got the game; whenever it was his turn, he just kept trying to place the pieces on the board whereever until his father said that his move was good. As the game progressed, my friend and the 4.5 year old played a piece into the outer row of spaces. When I pointed this out to him, my friend told me not to bother about it.
Some of you might mistakenly believe that just because I don't like that fact that all games are built having a single winner that I don't like competition in games, Nothing could be further from the truth. A game without competition is simply a leisurely activity, which is dandy enough, but misses out on many of the most important elements of gaming which include mental (or physical) stimulation, sportsmanship, manners, achievement, self-esteem, self-respect, and so on.
I never coddled my kids by letting them win. I helped them and gave them advice, but I didn't change the rules of the game for them. They sometimes took years to beat me at some games, but they had their revenge by eventually getting better than me at most games. Still, that's my way of parenting, and I respect each parent to make his or her own decisions.
But as I saw my opponent move into an illegal part of the board, I decided that I was going to play to win. Why? Because a) my friend didn't ask me not to, and b) I was now at a huge disadvantage if I didn't play on the outer rings, too. If I could win without using the outer ring while my opponents could, it would be a miracle.
So we played, with me futilely blocking as much as possible. My opponents were generally able to work around by simply entering the outer ring. However, they eventually began to run out of pieces that they could use to sneak around me.
It came down to the very last moves of the game. Astonishingly enough, I won, finishing my last piece and leaving neither of my opponents any space to play theirs.
All's well that end's well. In order to achieve both my desired win as well as my friend's "we don't allow any losses in here", I showed both of my opponents how they could rearrange the pieces on the board at the end of the game to also legally place their last pieces on the board. Which make them happy, since they didn't know enough about the rules to know anything was amiss.
It's Alive
My cousins were also at my Aunt and Uncle's, including three boys who are game players but don't know any better games, yet. The two younger ones are highly ADHD, which makes playing anything with them a challenge the moment anything else moves in the room (like a dust particle).
I got to introduce to them my game It's Alive. I played with my cousin and the three boys, as well as Saarya. We started with a five player game, which the oldest boy won. They then wanted to play again. Saarya bowed out, and I bowed out to help the youngest, so they played four player. The same boy won again.
Then they played a third time. This time, the same boy finished his board first, but both my cousin and one of the other boys both had better totals, and he only came in third.
After that, we played a Blokus Trigon game, which I won without too much difficulty. Lastly I taught them For Sale. I won the first game, and lost the second.
All in all, some good gaming.
Blokus Trigon
My friends are not game players. They have two kids ages 6.5 and 4.5 and a new copy of Monopoly: Wonders of the World. The 6.5 year old has successfully played it, as well as Checkers and a few other games.
I brought along my own bag of games, of course, including Blokus Trigon. Although I feel that regular Blokus is a more tense game throughout, Blokus Trigon becomes a tense game at the end-game. It's big advantage over regular Blokus is that it plays well with three players.
With three players, you are supposed to not use the outer ring of spaces. If you do, it's easy for all players to place all of their pieces. While one of Blokus' good aspects is that the play is as fun as the winning, no possibility of winning is a bit too tame for me.
I played against the 6.5 year old and my friend who was helping the 4.5 year old. I gave a little assistance once in a while to the 6.5 year old, but other than tending to broadcast what she was going to play next time, she played fine.
The 4.5 year old never quite got the game; whenever it was his turn, he just kept trying to place the pieces on the board whereever until his father said that his move was good. As the game progressed, my friend and the 4.5 year old played a piece into the outer row of spaces. When I pointed this out to him, my friend told me not to bother about it.
Some of you might mistakenly believe that just because I don't like that fact that all games are built having a single winner that I don't like competition in games, Nothing could be further from the truth. A game without competition is simply a leisurely activity, which is dandy enough, but misses out on many of the most important elements of gaming which include mental (or physical) stimulation, sportsmanship, manners, achievement, self-esteem, self-respect, and so on.
I never coddled my kids by letting them win. I helped them and gave them advice, but I didn't change the rules of the game for them. They sometimes took years to beat me at some games, but they had their revenge by eventually getting better than me at most games. Still, that's my way of parenting, and I respect each parent to make his or her own decisions.
But as I saw my opponent move into an illegal part of the board, I decided that I was going to play to win. Why? Because a) my friend didn't ask me not to, and b) I was now at a huge disadvantage if I didn't play on the outer rings, too. If I could win without using the outer ring while my opponents could, it would be a miracle.
So we played, with me futilely blocking as much as possible. My opponents were generally able to work around by simply entering the outer ring. However, they eventually began to run out of pieces that they could use to sneak around me.
It came down to the very last moves of the game. Astonishingly enough, I won, finishing my last piece and leaving neither of my opponents any space to play theirs.
All's well that end's well. In order to achieve both my desired win as well as my friend's "we don't allow any losses in here", I showed both of my opponents how they could rearrange the pieces on the board at the end of the game to also legally place their last pieces on the board. Which make them happy, since they didn't know enough about the rules to know anything was amiss.
It's Alive
My cousins were also at my Aunt and Uncle's, including three boys who are game players but don't know any better games, yet. The two younger ones are highly ADHD, which makes playing anything with them a challenge the moment anything else moves in the room (like a dust particle).I got to introduce to them my game It's Alive. I played with my cousin and the three boys, as well as Saarya. We started with a five player game, which the oldest boy won. They then wanted to play again. Saarya bowed out, and I bowed out to help the youngest, so they played four player. The same boy won again.
Then they played a third time. This time, the same boy finished his board first, but both my cousin and one of the other boys both had better totals, and he only came in third.
After that, we played a Blokus Trigon game, which I won without too much difficulty. Lastly I taught them For Sale. I won the first game, and lost the second.
All in all, some good gaming.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
2 Player Blokus Trigon
Blokus Trigon
I finally got around to playing Blokus Trigon. I played a two player game with my daughter Tal.
First impressions of looking at Blokus Trigon were very positive. It looked like a game identical to the original except that it would also play well with three. Pure improvement.
Opening it up, I noticed that the number of larger to smaller pieces was slightly changed, of course, but kept in pretty much the same ratio. Nothing radical here.
When I began to play, I discovered that blocking your opponent from spreading is fiendishly difficult. In the original, only two players can cross an intersection; now three can, and in multiple ways. In addition, in the original a flat side of one of your pieces can't spawn another piece; in Trigon, even featureless sides can spawn new pieces, since a triangle can be placed against it at a single point.
Which means that obstructing play becomes Sisyphean. You can take over spaces the other player needs, with difficulty, since the pieces fit in smaller spaces. But you can't really block someone from expanding.
We ended our game, playing with two colors each according to the rules, with nearly no pieces remaining. I had a single piece left in one color, while Tal had three pieces left in one color.
I'm not entirely thrilled about this result. I definitely want to play a three-player game (played on a smaller board) to see how that works. And maybe a four player game would also be somewhat more difficult, since in two players you can purposely keep a balance open for both of your colors.
New Games
I'm only now sorting through the new games I acquired in Canada and the U.S. They all look good, and I don't know which one to start with.
Unfortunately, I just opened one of the small card games I got in the math trade and promptly dumped all the cards on the floor. When I picked them back up and counted them, I found I was missing 10 cards from the game. I'm assuming that I have just misplaced the cards under the couch, somehow, but I'm writing the previous owner just to verify.
Game News
And we have a winner: Fortune tells us that Toys 'R Us is "making a comeback" with the previously-mentioned pink Hasbro games. It's not exactly the phrase I was looking for ("board games are making a comeback") but it's close enough. Suzzanne Kapner, you get the "I didn't know that board games have been said to be 'making a comeback' in dozens of newspaper articles every year for the last fifteen years" award.
BGN tells us that Israel has a new brick and mortar game store. One of the owners is the only current importer of these games (Silver Stars), about which he has many exclusive importing agreements. I'm not entirely sure that this is fair to the other retailers (of which there are two, one brick and mortar and one online). I'm awaiting comment from Silver Stars for details.
The Cleburne Times Review yearns for more tabletop gaming.
The Daily Republic notes that grownups aren't too good at video games, and that may be one reason why parents dismiss video games as valueless.
Kids in Alabama are making board games. (thanks, Clay)
You can win a whole boatload of Hasbro games here.
The beautiful TV series Planet Earth is now also a DVD game. As Smartplanet ironically notes, "Just a shame it uses electricity to play it..."
There are dozens of hotels and resorts that include information about the board games that they provide for their guests. Last we heard board games will also be an integral part of a new UK train service, and now it appears that the Canadian Snow Train service is also getting in the game.
Finally, another card game shooting, this time in OH.
Yehuda
I finally got around to playing Blokus Trigon. I played a two player game with my daughter Tal.
First impressions of looking at Blokus Trigon were very positive. It looked like a game identical to the original except that it would also play well with three. Pure improvement.
Opening it up, I noticed that the number of larger to smaller pieces was slightly changed, of course, but kept in pretty much the same ratio. Nothing radical here.
When I began to play, I discovered that blocking your opponent from spreading is fiendishly difficult. In the original, only two players can cross an intersection; now three can, and in multiple ways. In addition, in the original a flat side of one of your pieces can't spawn another piece; in Trigon, even featureless sides can spawn new pieces, since a triangle can be placed against it at a single point.
Which means that obstructing play becomes Sisyphean. You can take over spaces the other player needs, with difficulty, since the pieces fit in smaller spaces. But you can't really block someone from expanding.
We ended our game, playing with two colors each according to the rules, with nearly no pieces remaining. I had a single piece left in one color, while Tal had three pieces left in one color.
I'm not entirely thrilled about this result. I definitely want to play a three-player game (played on a smaller board) to see how that works. And maybe a four player game would also be somewhat more difficult, since in two players you can purposely keep a balance open for both of your colors.
New Games
I'm only now sorting through the new games I acquired in Canada and the U.S. They all look good, and I don't know which one to start with.
Unfortunately, I just opened one of the small card games I got in the math trade and promptly dumped all the cards on the floor. When I picked them back up and counted them, I found I was missing 10 cards from the game. I'm assuming that I have just misplaced the cards under the couch, somehow, but I'm writing the previous owner just to verify.
Game News
And we have a winner: Fortune tells us that Toys 'R Us is "making a comeback" with the previously-mentioned pink Hasbro games. It's not exactly the phrase I was looking for ("board games are making a comeback") but it's close enough. Suzzanne Kapner, you get the "I didn't know that board games have been said to be 'making a comeback' in dozens of newspaper articles every year for the last fifteen years" award.
BGN tells us that Israel has a new brick and mortar game store. One of the owners is the only current importer of these games (Silver Stars), about which he has many exclusive importing agreements. I'm not entirely sure that this is fair to the other retailers (of which there are two, one brick and mortar and one online). I'm awaiting comment from Silver Stars for details.
The Cleburne Times Review yearns for more tabletop gaming.
The Daily Republic notes that grownups aren't too good at video games, and that may be one reason why parents dismiss video games as valueless.
Kids in Alabama are making board games. (thanks, Clay)
You can win a whole boatload of Hasbro games here.
The beautiful TV series Planet Earth is now also a DVD game. As Smartplanet ironically notes, "Just a shame it uses electricity to play it..."
There are dozens of hotels and resorts that include information about the board games that they provide for their guests. Last we heard board games will also be an integral part of a new UK train service, and now it appears that the Canadian Snow Train service is also getting in the game.
Finally, another card game shooting, this time in OH.
Yehuda
Monday, August 27, 2007
Blokus Has a New Website and Online Play
Blokus's marketing manager Charlotte wrote to tell me about their new website and free online version. It's pretty nifty.Loads of information about all the versions of Blokus, including a blog, forums, about the team, and so on. It would be nice to see some more information about how the game came about.
You can also play all the versions of the game online for free in several formats. And they're also soliciting new games from designers. Naturally, they're looking for games of Blokus-like simplicity and challenge.
I haven't tried Blokus Trigon, but I can definitely recommend the classic and Duo versions.
You can buy all of the versions of the Blokus games at Amazon.com .
Yehuda
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
When the Pieces Don't All Fit Together
And I so very much wanted to get my summary of the UK Copyright acts done before leaving for the UK, but it doesn't look like I'll have the time. And less than 200 verses to go, too.
So far, my impression is rather negative. Although I like the way the UK created a separate entity for "Design" rather than lumping it between copyright, patent, and trademark (as in the U.S.), UK's copyright laws are very heavy handed and intrusive, with very little rights for the public and an assumption of guilty in all cases.
Blokus
Saarya and I played a game of Blokus in the last evening that I would be seeing him before I leave. Astoundingly, I won. I frankly don't ever expect to win any more abstract games against him. I would love to get him playing Go.
My copy of Blokus came missing a piece, which I am hopefully going to pick up today.
Games Arrived
A few games for the group have arrived: Atlantic Star, Industria, Lost Valley, and Mississippi Queen. I may have a chance to look at them at tonight's game night, but after that the game group will have the opportunity to play them before I do.
Now I'm off to pack to see what I still need to buy.
An Israeli in London
Oh, and I was toying with the idea of taking a big sign that says "I'm an Israeli: ask me questions about Israel" and planting myself somewhere in the middle of London for a day. But my mom thinks I would get stones thrown at me.
Yehuda
So far, my impression is rather negative. Although I like the way the UK created a separate entity for "Design" rather than lumping it between copyright, patent, and trademark (as in the U.S.), UK's copyright laws are very heavy handed and intrusive, with very little rights for the public and an assumption of guilty in all cases.
Blokus
Saarya and I played a game of Blokus in the last evening that I would be seeing him before I leave. Astoundingly, I won. I frankly don't ever expect to win any more abstract games against him. I would love to get him playing Go.
My copy of Blokus came missing a piece, which I am hopefully going to pick up today.
Games Arrived
A few games for the group have arrived: Atlantic Star, Industria, Lost Valley, and Mississippi Queen. I may have a chance to look at them at tonight's game night, but after that the game group will have the opportunity to play them before I do.
Now I'm off to pack to see what I still need to buy.
An Israeli in London
Oh, and I was toying with the idea of taking a big sign that says "I'm an Israeli: ask me questions about Israel" and planting myself somewhere in the middle of London for a day. But my mom thinks I would get stones thrown at me.
Yehuda
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Linkety link
Do you guys like these linkposts?
Deep thoughts on game design
1. Creating Passionate Users gets down on cognitive seduction:
Is Sudoku seductive? Is chess sexy? Is crafting code a turn-on? To our brains, absolutely. But while most of us don't use the word "seductive" in non-sexual contexts, good game designers do. They know what turns your brain on, and they're not afraid to use it. They're experts at the art of "cognitive arousal", and if we're trying to design better experiences for our users, we should be too.
2. Patrick Dugan's King Lud IC is aimed at that other genre of gaming, but his articles cross the fields. Same with Ralph Koster.
Strategy
3. A nifty strategy article about El Grande on BoardGameGeek. If their site was responding, I could provide a link. Update: it's here.
Mainstream Press
4. NYT article on Travel Blokus (signin may be required)
Yehuda
Deep thoughts on game design
1. Creating Passionate Users gets down on cognitive seduction:
Is Sudoku seductive? Is chess sexy? Is crafting code a turn-on? To our brains, absolutely. But while most of us don't use the word "seductive" in non-sexual contexts, good game designers do. They know what turns your brain on, and they're not afraid to use it. They're experts at the art of "cognitive arousal", and if we're trying to design better experiences for our users, we should be too.
2. Patrick Dugan's King Lud IC is aimed at that other genre of gaming, but his articles cross the fields. Same with Ralph Koster.
Strategy
3. A nifty strategy article about El Grande on BoardGameGeek. If their site was responding, I could provide a link. Update: it's here.
Mainstream Press
4. NYT article on Travel Blokus (signin may be required)
Usually my husband loves board games. He was the one, after all, who packed our Carcassonne tiles in a Ziploc bag to take along to France.
But Blokus rubs him the wrong way. He says he dislikes the very aspect of the game that appeals so much to the rest of us, the fact that winning requires excellent spatial skills. A successful player is strategic enough to envision various ways the 21 different geometric shapes could be linked together to keep marching across the board even as they block an opponent's progress.
Yehuda
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Hannukah
Owing to my my wife being in England and my children being at their other houses, I found myself all alone, tonight.
I wandered the slick streets of Jerusalem, head bowed against the pouring rain, shivering in the cold. My feet skidded on the wet rainy surface and I fell upon the hard pavement, exhausted, my body strewn across a puddle. There I was. Lying in the dirty water, alone. Unloved. How long could I go on like this? *sniff* *HONK*
Actually, I called my brother David and went to deliver the Menorah game to them, and they invited me for dinner. Au 'natureaument, I played some games.
They had bought Travel Blokus, which is the two player version of regular Blokus. The board size was 14x14, which I seem to recall suggesting as a good way of converting the regular board to play as a two player game some time ago on BGG ... hmmm ... well what do you know, here it is. I'm such a genius.
Another game they bought was a version of Blink/Speed by Foxmind games. I can't remember what it was called; something short that starts with an "S", but not Speed. And it doesn't seem to be listed as a Foxmind game on BGG. Strange.
However, what we ended up playing was a game of Tigris and Euphrates. I played with Pini (17 year old) and Ariel (11? yo) (gosh, I don't know the ages of my nephews; I'm a bad uncle. In any case, they were old enough that I wasn't afraid of beating them). They had only played a few times. I thought I would make mincemeat out of them, but they both happily collected points for some turns while I spent the time trying to establish position.
I then had some phenomenally bad luck conflicts (you know, the ones where your opponent HAS the four tiles that they need ... several times). I still managed to establish the kingdom later on, and then won, owing to them a) not using their disaster tiles early enough, and b) not ending the game when I had clear control of both monuments on the board. Turns out, with regards to this last one, that they were both shy in a color and didn't think that they would be able to win if the game ended too soon. True, but when I control the monuments, there is no way you are going to catch up unless you kick me out of them.
After that we played two games of the Menorah game. Another one of their friends had joined us by then, and Pini had swapped out for one of his other brothers, so we were four. I won both of these games, too, but they were certainly not easy. Damn fun game, if I say so myself.
I finally got home to light my own candles and make some more food for the rest of the week.
Yehuda
I wandered the slick streets of Jerusalem, head bowed against the pouring rain, shivering in the cold. My feet skidded on the wet rainy surface and I fell upon the hard pavement, exhausted, my body strewn across a puddle. There I was. Lying in the dirty water, alone. Unloved. How long could I go on like this? *sniff* *HONK*
Actually, I called my brother David and went to deliver the Menorah game to them, and they invited me for dinner. Au 'natureaument, I played some games.
They had bought Travel Blokus, which is the two player version of regular Blokus. The board size was 14x14, which I seem to recall suggesting as a good way of converting the regular board to play as a two player game some time ago on BGG ... hmmm ... well what do you know, here it is. I'm such a genius.
Another game they bought was a version of Blink/Speed by Foxmind games. I can't remember what it was called; something short that starts with an "S", but not Speed. And it doesn't seem to be listed as a Foxmind game on BGG. Strange.
However, what we ended up playing was a game of Tigris and Euphrates. I played with Pini (17 year old) and Ariel (11? yo) (gosh, I don't know the ages of my nephews; I'm a bad uncle. In any case, they were old enough that I wasn't afraid of beating them). They had only played a few times. I thought I would make mincemeat out of them, but they both happily collected points for some turns while I spent the time trying to establish position.
I then had some phenomenally bad luck conflicts (you know, the ones where your opponent HAS the four tiles that they need ... several times). I still managed to establish the kingdom later on, and then won, owing to them a) not using their disaster tiles early enough, and b) not ending the game when I had clear control of both monuments on the board. Turns out, with regards to this last one, that they were both shy in a color and didn't think that they would be able to win if the game ended too soon. True, but when I control the monuments, there is no way you are going to catch up unless you kick me out of them.
After that we played two games of the Menorah game. Another one of their friends had joined us by then, and Pini had swapped out for one of his other brothers, so we were four. I won both of these games, too, but they were certainly not easy. Damn fun game, if I say so myself.
I finally got home to light my own candles and make some more food for the rest of the week.
Yehuda
Sunday, November 13, 2005
BGG.con: Saturday, Nov 12
Shabbat started out cold, with frost on the grass, and the temperature at 30 degrees F. My raincoat was inadequate. Luckily it was a short walk to shul. Too bad I don't have a nice new jacket.
The day was basically: shul, very long lunch with guests, and some quick games of Blokus. During lunch I got to describe the board game world, yet again. People always sound somewhat intrigued, especially when I couch the games as standing against the disconnected world of video games and television. But it usually doesn't lead very far.
I played Blokus 2-player and then 4-player, winning easily each time (the last time with no pieces). In the zone.
After shabbat I started contacting people about my flight schedule mess-up. I suspect that I will be going to bed early, waking up for a chat with Israel at midnight, and then going to bed again.
Boring. Let's see if we can find something more interesting to do tomorrow.
Yehuda
The day was basically: shul, very long lunch with guests, and some quick games of Blokus. During lunch I got to describe the board game world, yet again. People always sound somewhat intrigued, especially when I couch the games as standing against the disconnected world of video games and television. But it usually doesn't lead very far.
I played Blokus 2-player and then 4-player, winning easily each time (the last time with no pieces). In the zone.
After shabbat I started contacting people about my flight schedule mess-up. I suspect that I will be going to bed early, waking up for a chat with Israel at midnight, and then going to bed again.
Boring. Let's see if we can find something more interesting to do tomorrow.
Yehuda
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