I even coaxed Eitan, the son who only likes bloody strategy computer wargames, into playing, and he liked it.
While I'm waiting for companies to get back to me on whether they would like to publish this, I would like to let others play it. If you are reading this, and are willing to promise not to publish it as your own creation, I will send you a copy of the rules. You can easily make a mockup to play it. You can then pass it on to anyone else who may be interested, under the same conditions.
If/when it ever gets published, I expect you to buy a copy only if you are attracted to doing so by virtue of price/convenience/nice components/loyalty to me. Not because you feel that you are obligated to buy it in order to play it.
Yehuda
Monday, July 11, 2005
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Dvonn
Dvonn surprised me as being one of those games that is inscrutable the first time you play it, but makes some basic sense after several plays.
During the first part of the game you are jockeying to put your pieces down in positions to control the red pieces. That means: place pieces that can directly jump onto the red pieces. Place pieces that can jump onto your opponents pieces that can do the same. Place pieces that, after one jump can jump on the red pieces. Etc... The more control you establish, the better.
During the second half, you have to keep control over different areas of the board. A single move by your opponent can do several things: prevent you from moving a piece that could have landed on his; capture a piece you needed for control; and threaten a new area with the resulting piece. This is a lot to absorb, and the number of potential moves at any time except the very end is large, usually more than chess.
This is a good thing. I think with repeated plays, one can get much better at the game. In fact, my first few plays I felt that the whole game was almost random. If I had given up then, I would have missed a whole depth of understanding. This patches in with the discussion I am having with Jeremy Avery on Gamefest.
Anyway, I won once, and then Saarya won once. As we played, the moves became more deliberate, and the zones of control began to glow in our heads, like the patterns in the newspaper in the movie "A Beautiful Mind", or like a game of Go to an experienced player.
Sometimes you can gain something special if you persevere.
Yehuda
During the first part of the game you are jockeying to put your pieces down in positions to control the red pieces. That means: place pieces that can directly jump onto the red pieces. Place pieces that can jump onto your opponents pieces that can do the same. Place pieces that, after one jump can jump on the red pieces. Etc... The more control you establish, the better.
During the second half, you have to keep control over different areas of the board. A single move by your opponent can do several things: prevent you from moving a piece that could have landed on his; capture a piece you needed for control; and threaten a new area with the resulting piece. This is a lot to absorb, and the number of potential moves at any time except the very end is large, usually more than chess.
This is a good thing. I think with repeated plays, one can get much better at the game. In fact, my first few plays I felt that the whole game was almost random. If I had given up then, I would have missed a whole depth of understanding. This patches in with the discussion I am having with Jeremy Avery on Gamefest.
Anyway, I won once, and then Saarya won once. As we played, the moves became more deliberate, and the zones of control began to glow in our heads, like the patterns in the newspaper in the movie "A Beautiful Mind", or like a game of Go to an experienced player.
Sometimes you can gain something special if you persevere.
Yehuda
Friday, July 08, 2005
Other Topics
Mazal Tov to Yitzchak, a regular of our group, who got married last night to Liat. Lovely, lively wedding. We wish them much love and happiness.
Condolences to those affected by the attacks in London. Unfortunately, we know what you are experiencing.
I'm working on the third article Ethics and Gaming. This one deals with general manners and some ethical considerations if you run or attend a game group.
Peace, y'all,
Yehuda
Condolences to those affected by the attacks in London. Unfortunately, we know what you are experiencing.
I'm working on the third article Ethics and Gaming. This one deals with general manners and some ethical considerations if you run or attend a game group.
Peace, y'all,
Yehuda
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
2 unusual PR games
Rachel and I played with a few changed buildings again, which wildly changes the strategies. Almost every building was bought over the course of two games, and each game was very different. R won the first game by a few points, I won the second by a lot.
Buildings:
Forest House 1/1 - even moved down to 1 GP, it still wasn't worth buying, although a little closer.
Hacienda 2/1 - we don't play the rule that you can swap your pick with a forest.
Small Fashion District 2/1 - sell indigo at +2. A good early threat.
Salvage Yard 3/1 - gain 1 GP for each barrel you dump, except corn. In the past used to good effect. Not bought in either game.
Guest House 4/2 - used well by R in one game.
Large Market 5/2 - need to have something that gives money.
Inheritance 5/2 - when you buy a production building, it comes with a matching plantation. A little expensive, but pretty neat. One always wonders if one couldn't have simply bought Hacienda, however.
Scavenger Yard 6/2 - take all dumped goods, including yours, excluding corn. Useless if there are warehouses in the game. In any case I didn't get to use it, because R bought Private Boat right after I bought this.
Hold 7/3 - ship any additional barrel onto a ship when shipping. Each ship can hold only one additional barrel. A bit of a weak building; gives a few extra vp's.
Large Business 8/3 - pay 1 less for any building, and gain 1 extra vp if you ship at least one barrel. Like Builder's and Captain's privileges. Close to a perfect building, more balanced than Harbor.
Large General Workhouse 8/3 (2 circles) - acts as a wild production building, when producing, if you have matching manned plantations, you can produce those goods. Often a little strong, but not a game breaker. Also a staple building in our games.
Private Boat 9/3 - ship any three barrels onto a private boat. Also has a Hold, by the way.
Cathedral 10/4 - +1 VP for every three VP's in red building points. Always used to replace the unbalanced Guild Hall.
Distillery 10/5 - +2 VP/sugar plantation. Max +8. Sok, but I have better buildings.
City Hall 10/4
Fortress 10/4
Customs House 10/4
Looking forward to the next official expansion for Puerto Rico, said to be in development.
Yehuda
Buildings:
Forest House 1/1 - even moved down to 1 GP, it still wasn't worth buying, although a little closer.
Hacienda 2/1 - we don't play the rule that you can swap your pick with a forest.
Small Fashion District 2/1 - sell indigo at +2. A good early threat.
Salvage Yard 3/1 - gain 1 GP for each barrel you dump, except corn. In the past used to good effect. Not bought in either game.
Guest House 4/2 - used well by R in one game.
Large Market 5/2 - need to have something that gives money.
Inheritance 5/2 - when you buy a production building, it comes with a matching plantation. A little expensive, but pretty neat. One always wonders if one couldn't have simply bought Hacienda, however.
Scavenger Yard 6/2 - take all dumped goods, including yours, excluding corn. Useless if there are warehouses in the game. In any case I didn't get to use it, because R bought Private Boat right after I bought this.
Hold 7/3 - ship any additional barrel onto a ship when shipping. Each ship can hold only one additional barrel. A bit of a weak building; gives a few extra vp's.
Large Business 8/3 - pay 1 less for any building, and gain 1 extra vp if you ship at least one barrel. Like Builder's and Captain's privileges. Close to a perfect building, more balanced than Harbor.
Large General Workhouse 8/3 (2 circles) - acts as a wild production building, when producing, if you have matching manned plantations, you can produce those goods. Often a little strong, but not a game breaker. Also a staple building in our games.
Private Boat 9/3 - ship any three barrels onto a private boat. Also has a Hold, by the way.
Cathedral 10/4 - +1 VP for every three VP's in red building points. Always used to replace the unbalanced Guild Hall.
Distillery 10/5 - +2 VP/sugar plantation. Max +8. Sok, but I have better buildings.
City Hall 10/4
Fortress 10/4
Customs House 10/4
Looking forward to the next official expansion for Puerto Rico, said to be in development.
Yehuda
Monday, July 04, 2005
Ethics 2.0 Article Up
Now up on The Games Journal. Also some nice feedback on my last article in the letters section. I expect this one will be more controversial, as I take a pretty liberal stance on playing games without buying them.
Time to get working on the next one.
I'm working on a 2% possibility of actually going to BGG.Con . I am thinking of renting out my apt for a few weeks (sleeping in the houses of some friends who will be away on vacation and want me to water their plants) and using the money to make the trip. Only, I should really use any money to help pay back my parents who are helping to support me right now. Ahh, more ethical dilemmas.
Yehuda
Time to get working on the next one.
I'm working on a 2% possibility of actually going to BGG.Con . I am thinking of renting out my apt for a few weeks (sleeping in the houses of some friends who will be away on vacation and want me to water their plants) and using the money to make the trip. Only, I should really use any money to help pay back my parents who are helping to support me right now. Ahh, more ethical dilemmas.
Yehuda
Sunday, July 03, 2005
Weekend Gaming
We had two families over for the entire shabbat, and another one plus a single added to them for lunch. All of the adults steadfastly refused any sort of games (guests, harumph!). Luckily, one of them has a teenage son (Shlomo) and daughter (Adi), both of whom were willing to play.
Shlomo had come to my group once and played Puerto Rico and Tigris and Euphrates, so was ready for just about anything. Adi had played Settlers with me last time she came over and was looking forward to play again.
I taught them my game prototype (gp#1) two player and three player and we played multiple times. When I went out, they continued to play without me several times. I think the game is basically done, mechanics-wise. I made a few changes to the rules after the very first few times I played, and since then I have played 30 or 40 times and it is basically my favorite filler card game. Somebody help me get it published, please. I am currently waiting on a response from Gamewright.
I then tried them out on another game prototype I had made (let's call it gp#2) which didn't work. It is another card game built around a simple mechanic of picking and giving away cards which seemed like it should make a clever little game, but it didn't work at all (well, not three player, anyway). Back to the drawing board.
We also played Settlers (first time for him, second for her), which they also played two-player twice while I was out, and a game of Traumfabrik. I won the first SoC game by being merciless to Shlomo (very unlike me, and it was only because he was being merciless to me, first ;-) ). Traumfabrik was an easy win, as I played conservatively, which I think is probably the basic key to winning.
Yehuda
Shlomo had come to my group once and played Puerto Rico and Tigris and Euphrates, so was ready for just about anything. Adi had played Settlers with me last time she came over and was looking forward to play again.
I taught them my game prototype (gp#1) two player and three player and we played multiple times. When I went out, they continued to play without me several times. I think the game is basically done, mechanics-wise. I made a few changes to the rules after the very first few times I played, and since then I have played 30 or 40 times and it is basically my favorite filler card game. Somebody help me get it published, please. I am currently waiting on a response from Gamewright.
I then tried them out on another game prototype I had made (let's call it gp#2) which didn't work. It is another card game built around a simple mechanic of picking and giving away cards which seemed like it should make a clever little game, but it didn't work at all (well, not three player, anyway). Back to the drawing board.
We also played Settlers (first time for him, second for her), which they also played two-player twice while I was out, and a game of Traumfabrik. I won the first SoC game by being merciless to Shlomo (very unlike me, and it was only because he was being merciless to me, first ;-) ). Traumfabrik was an easy win, as I played conservatively, which I think is probably the basic key to winning.
Yehuda
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