1 , 2 Next »
-
Kevin Whitmore
United States
Albuquerque
New Mexico
-
For the past month, Steve Jackson Games has been leading a very interesting Kickstarter effort around the old game of Ogre. This has been fascinating to watch, and I decided to back their project.
I have fond memories of playing Ogre back in my youth. I still own the black pocket box editions of Ogre and G.E.V., along with the various supplements, including a first edition Ogre Book. I even own the semi-related Battlesuit game, and a copy of Ogre Miniatures. (Although I did sell off my metal miniatures years ago, accepting that I was never going to actually paint or use them.)
So I am their prime target in releasing a big edition. I will admit that I backed the project, somewhat despite some of their decisions around this giant edition. I guess the box is as large as a zipcode and weighs roughly the equivalent of a Mack truck. They also decided to make the Ogres 2 hexes large, even though that is completely wrong with the scale. Then they opted to make the counters some sort of weird flying wedge shape. Wow. I suppose this is all fine, just not what I would have asked for. In my heart of hearts I would have asked for some sort of GMT type of treatment, a nice box, filled with square counters, although I do appreciate the mounted mapboards.
Ah well, I'm not really all that worked up about the design decisions. Different strokes for different folks...
But I do want to comment about the whole stretch goal thing on Kickstarter. This has proven very interesting. I signed up early and have been pleased and surprised by how much extra junk is going to come with my purchase. At some point the folks at SJG announced they needed to stop adding stuff to the box so that they could work out the shipping details. (Especially for non-USA folks!)
This is where I find it has gotten especially interesting.
A number of their later goals have revolved around, "Order XXX dollars, and we will do YYY." I find this bizarre. At $300k they agreed to release a computer version of Ogre. At $400k they agreed to produce a new pocket version of the game. At $450k they agreed to relaunch Ogre Miniatures. At $550k they agreed to hire a new employee and have Ogre become a main part of their product development.
To my way of thinking, they are now making decisions around how to operate their company based on faulty logic. Can a company really count on long term support from gamers who are possibly just making a nostalgia purchase?
Oh I might buy the computer game, and I am likely to buy expansions. But I'm not going to repeat my purchases of miniatures - I know they are not for me. Each gamer will have their own answers to the future purchases. But I find it weird that Steve Jackson Games is making management decisions around certain financial thresholds. I suppose it makes some sense. But, really? Wouldn't you want to assess the amount of labor/reward this effort yields?
6th edition represents a reprinting of pretty much all prior work done in the Ogre universe. Older players like me are going to take advantage of this opportunity - especially as at one point it sounded like this was going to be the last chance. I have my doubts that future sales could as easily come. This 6th edition is feeding pent up demand. There seems much less assurance that future demand will be so robust.
So I salute Steve Jackson and his game company. Its great to finally once again care about one of their current products. I wish them great success with the future efforts to support the Ogre product line. But I would also tell the new Ogre line editor at SJG to learn to speak Munchkin.
-
Kevin Whitmore
United States
Albuquerque
New Mexico
-
So a while back I sought out and have now collected nearly all the Franckh pre-Kosmos games. Apart from a few dreary exceptions, I got all of the cool looking games they produced, except for the extremely rare and very-expensive Big Boss. I know of one copy for sale at £250, something like $400 – whoof!
So what does a collector do? Well, I perked up with interest when I noticed the pieces used in one of the other Franckh games I got, Terra Turrium, uses the exact same pieces as Big Boss. Oh there is the detail that the Big Boss corporations have special stickers on eight of the blocks, but otherwise – exactly the same building pieces! And Terra Turrium has enough of them too. Big Boss has 100 building blocks, eight of which are specially stickered. Terra Turrium has 100 identical building blocks. So a bit of labeling and eight of them could serve as the special corporation toppers. Promising!
Another nice touch is that Big Boss uses the same colored sticks as player flags that Terra Turrium does, Nice!
Big Boss also has a counter and 7 shares for each of the eight businesses. This seems trivially easy for me to make some homemade versions. But as so often happens with my idle plans of action, I hit a slight snag and had not yet solved it, when I got distracted…
The snag was the board… I took a look at the pictures here on BGG, and deduced that the board used for Big Boss was not going to be able to be recreated using the Terra Turrium board. The Big Boss board has a sequence of 72 spaces, that ramble about in an eccentric path.
The key point is the longest straight path is 12 spaces long. The Terra Turrium board is a 10 x 10 grid, and it is also raised so that the blocks nest nicely on their spots. Not unsolveable, but enough to slow me down.
The distraction: an online friend of mine decided to sell off his copy of Alcazar. Alcazar is a 2009 release that was intended as an update to Big Boss. However, it is a serious departure from the original game. The theme has shifted from sleek business buildings to rustic castle building.
Further, the game play was significantly altered, the shares were eliminated, and replaced by nobles to place in the castles. I went back and forth on whether to get this game, but ultimately crumbled and got it.
So now I am examining Alcazar, and evaluating what to do. The most obvious idea is to play it as written. The second thought is to play the enclosed “New Big Boss” game enclosed as a variant within it. The only barrier to that is that the game is entirely in German, but this will not stop me, I can do translation work when motivated. A third option is to follow Joe Huber’s guide to How to play Big Boss (or something very similar) with a copy of Alcazar, as posted here on BGG. And a fourth option would be to use the Terra Turrium pieces on the Alcazar board to actually play Big Boss as written.
Four options! Sounds good, but which to do first? Often if a game doesn’t go over well, it can be harder to get it back on the table for a second chance. I’m likely to go with option 1 or option 4. In considering option 4, I have realized that I would still be doing a slight variant. The Alcazar board is very close to the Big Boss route of wandering spaces. But it is not identical.
(note how Big Boss has the first lane run from 1-12, while Alcazar runs from 1-11.)
I am still evaluating, but I don’t think this slight shifting of corners would pose a big change to the play of the game. On the bright side, the Terra Turrium pieces fit perfectly onto the Alcazar spaces.
Oh! One more detail – Big Boss uses a deck of 90 cards containing 72 ground plots (1-72) and 18 Story cards. Unfortunately the cards from Alcazar do not support this, as they have given the Tower cards (which correspond to Big Boss’s Story cards) a different back. Fortunately I own a 6 nimmt deck, and can use that to support playing Big Boss with a deck of 90 cards, all with the same back.
So it would seem I am finally ready to play Big Boss: I will use an Alcazar board, playing pieces from Terra Turrium, shares and counters that are home made, and cards from a 6 nimmt deck!
God, I hope I like it.
-
Kevin Whitmore
United States
Albuquerque
New Mexico
-
Just a little note of Holiday cheer! It's a lovely sub-freezing night here in Albuquerque. We've just enjoyed a beautiful Christmas celebration beside our tree, the fire is burning in the wood stove, and now more friends are on their way over - we are to tour around town and view the lovely Luminarias that grace large portions of town.
Merry Christmas to you!
-
Kevin Whitmore
United States
Albuquerque
New Mexico
-
One of the grail games from a few years back that I have never played and have only briefly seen a couple of times is Full Metal Planete. A friend of mine recently got a copy, and it intrigued me. I would like to play it sometime.
I just today learned about TF22. Hey cool! They are redoing the old game! I happened to read a few comments, questioning the legality of this unauthorized revision/reprint.
The nature of the comments I read indicated that one of the original authors of Full Métal Planète decidedly does not want the game reissued. Unfortunate indeed. But here comes TF22 regardless, and some folks think that is wrong.
I suppose I should also. But I will admit, it excites me that maybe I can buy a nice new edition of a grail game I pretty much wrote off years ago.
It has caused me to think about the route some old games take.
Let's consider Outpost. Outpost is a pretty cool game. It was released in 1991 by TimJim/Prism Games, and was authored by James Hlavaty. Before too long it became quite rare and coveted. In 2004, Jens Drögemüller authored The Scepter of Zavandor, which pretty much ported over the entire game system of Outpost, putting it in a fantasy land. I may have missed it, but I don't recall much public issue with porting Outpost's rules set into a new game from a different author/publisher. It may be there are enough differences that this is a non-issue.
But then let's consider Dune. Dune was originally released in 1979 By Avalon Hill, under license from Frank Herbert. (I think that's right, sorry if I have a fact wrong.) As I understand it, Avalon Hill failed to maintain the rights, and the game license has never been recovered by anyone. So, its a dead duck, right? No. You can order a copy made for you [listitem=1760774]here[/listitem]. Is this an infringement on the Herbert family estate? An infringement on the original game author's intellectual property? Do we care?
And then there is Merchant of Venus. Another venerable Avalon Hill game from 1988. Fans have made a lot of self-made copies of this game, using files hosted right here on BGG.
So lets get back to TF22. Clearly this game is very close to the original Full Métal Planète. The rules to the new game seem to be a minor tweak away from the original, more so than the case of Zavandor vs. Outpost. Is this the reason some outrage is expressed? How do I jibe that with the fact that I can buy a new copy of Dune, seemingly with no outrage associated with this liberty? Or is it that we have reports that one of the original authors (of Full Métal Planète) does not want the game to keep living - is that the reason we are hearing outrage?
I have trouble holding a lot of sympathy for the author who would like to suppress new copies of his game from being published. Perhaps I should. But mostly I am somewhat excited that I may finally get this game, albeit with a new title, and tweaked game rules.
So, I would love to hear from interested geeks. What do you think about all this?
-
Kevin Whitmore
United States
Albuquerque
New Mexico
-
I just concluded a survey of my 500+ games that I have removed from my collection. So a corollary line of thought was to call out the games I've kept, despite their low rating or poor rank on BGG. (Don't worry, I don't intend this as a series.)
Civil War - This is an interesting development, albeit a stub that never went anywhere, in the history of wargame development. It's a Charles S. Roberts design, which means it is playable, but not especially well tuned. In this game he is introducing the new wargaming concepts of: the hex grid, odds, columnar odds table, etc. However, the players still use traditional plastic pawns as their pieces. I think the concept is brilliant. Unfortunately the game balance is off, and its on my list to try tweaking this into a better match. This is a game on the sidelines of history. As I write only 29 geeks have rated it.
Cosa Nostra - Sure, it's basically Parcheesi. But it's Parcheesi with a gang theme and drive by shootings!
Grand Prix: A Sports Car Racing Game - Another obscure one. This game comes from 1956. In fact it may have been the first game Avalon Hill ever bought to reissue. It is clearly the antecedent of Le Mans, the race game AH released in 1961. Here's the thing. This game (and Le Mans) are waaaay too slow. But I love the bones of this system. Each car is individually rated by manufacturer (which are authentic brands). So the Triumph is not as fast, but much more nimble than the Mercedes. I enjoy seeing how each car stacks up against the competition.
Im Zeichen des Kreuzes - Before there was Shogun their was Wallenstein. But before their was Wallenstein their was Im Zeichen des Kreuzes. Now I will freely admit Wallenstein is a better game (haven't played Shogun yet). But IZdK is still cool. It recreates the first crusade! What an unexpected theme. The board is very appealing. Unfortunately the game play has a few problems. One variant I enjoy applying is the simple discard any two cards to move 1 space. But even so, the battle for Jerusalem does have issues. I've seen some ideas floated to make this work better, but I'm not convinced they have fixed it yet. So maybe I will...
Liebe & Intrige - This is not a good game. But it is the perfect theme for my house. I've lost count of all the English 'manners' shows I have watched with my wife over the years. So this is a great theme for a game to play with my wife and her tea and crumpet friends!
Mare Mediterraneum - I've written before about my fascination with Jean du Poël's games, especially the ones he made while operating Historien Spiele Galerie. I own a few more, still. But if I were to only own one of his games, this would be the one. It is epic, it is beautiful, and yes, it is flawed. I have written my own game to play on these materials, inspired by the original idea. Maybe we'll play it one of these days.
Oregon Trail - I bought this game when it was new, back in 1981. While I have played it as a multi-player game, I have mostly had fun with it as a solitaire game, and as a background setting for some old west role-playing games. For extra credit you can read my session report here: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/314263/on-my-way-to-sant...
Packen Wir's! - Karl-Heinz Schmiel is (rightfully) admired for creating the epic Die Macher. But as evidenced by A la carte, KHS is not afraid to take some chances with his designs. So if you've never heard of this game, well, you missed something very unusual! The game comes with doll house furniture, wooden dowels, and a bit of a game. You just have to supply the laughs.
Spice Navigator - I enjoy having games that deliver something unexpected. Spice Navigator is the only game I know of where your sense of smell and knowledge of spice identification comes into play. Sadly the original rules don't really encourage enough of this, and the game can bog down. But I wrote some alternate rules, which worked pretty well the one time we tried it.
Totopoly - My copy is old, a pre-WWII edition with metal horses and the board that has a page you turn to get to the second board. Totopoly was a sister boardgame to Monopoly back in the day. You buy your horse, then you train it, and eventually you race him. Random? You bet. Fun? Even more so!
Thanks for reading!
-
Kevin Whitmore
United States
Albuquerque
New Mexico
-
I've been taking a tour of my "Previously Owned" games list here on BGG. It has not been too dangerous, but I did reorder a copy of Meander after cogitating on why I got rid of it.
So why buy over 500 games, just to get rid of them? Am I that vapid? It seems so flighty, now that I have arrived at this lofty number. The journey was fun, and the sense of exploration was enjoyed. My wife tells me that it was me. She has never demanded I keep the collection small, (although I think she has appreciated my willingness to cull the herd).
I'm now over 50 years of age, and just this week I ordered 3 more games for the collection. So while I tell myself I am more mature now, and more discerning, the delivery man might not agree. Yet I will maintain my hunger for new games does seem diminished. I started playing euros in the late 90's. I was one of Jay Tummelson's elves for a few years - helping out Rio Grande Games with shipping missing parts to customers - and playing lots of new games/prototypes that Jay kept bringing to game night. I knew I was slipping in my traction, when I turned down a free trip to Essen if I would teach games to visitors to the booth. I used to web-host the Spielfriek's "Meeples' Choice" Awards, and was very interested in which three games were selected. This year I didn't even vote, because I didn't know even 10% of the new games nominated.
Geesh, what a bunch of blabber! Lets get to the last of the 'notable' games I have purged from my shelves.
Quackshot - Getting rid of this very silly game was probably the biggest mistake of my collection. I know why. It is hilariously fun to play once. maybe even twice and three times. But then it just seems to wither. But it is now years later, and I would enjoy playing again. But this game is long gone, and I don't expect to see another.
Qwirkle - Honestly, the only thing notable about this game is that it just won SdJ. I won't miss it.
Revolution: The Dutch Revolt - I really admire Francis Tresham. I continue to play 1825 and 1830 to this day, and greatly admire Civilization. So I sought out and found copies of his Spanish Main game and this game too. Sadly Spanish Main didn't really work too well, and Revolution was too demanding, and too long. I suspect Revolution might be a good game, but I was never going to devote enough time to it, to learn its nuances.
Rise of Empires - Lately my "flash" decision making has been chasing a few of the newer games out after a single play or two. One play of Rise of Empires left me uninspired to play again. So I sold it to a local player while the game was still in demand. I certainly didn't explore this game heavily, but what I saw was a game with lots of direct player screwage and too many opportunities for kingmaking.
RoboRally - Like everyone else, I learned about Richard Garfield through Magic: the Gathering. But I had been playing boardgames long before I was a Magic player, so when I heard about his boardgame, I was keen to give it a try. As a pre-Euro boardgame, it was fun. We played a lot of it. But eventually I discovered the Euros, and Roborally ceased to have the allure anymore. I certainly got a lot of play value out of this game. But that was back in the days when my game shelf had a dozen games on it.
San Juan - Personally, the whole idea of making a cardgame version of a boardgame I like is just wasted effort. I like BOARDGAMES. Give me the central playing board, the bigger wider, juicier main course every time. (Yes I realize PR doesn't really have a central board with any real function.) So San Juan doesn't really appeal to me. But that said, the game works admirably well, and my friends and my wife really like it. If my wife played games on a regular basis I would own it.
San Marco - When this came out, there was a lot of love heaped on this game. Proving I'm not as cool as the other kids, I never did quite find any fondness for it, instead preferring the 'other' Venice game of the season, Doge. (But I tired of that too.)
Saturn - This is a remarkable game. I probably should have kept this one too. But honestly, this game is more fun to behold than it is to play. But that can be said for all of this publishers oeuvre.
Die Schlacht der Dinosaurier - A big dinosaur battle game! It has volcanoes! But despite the spectacle, I didn't get much fun out of the ho-hum battle system. Certainly worth a look if you get a chance.
Shipyard - While not a bad game, I felt this game required a bit too much effort for not quite enough fun. Some have bashed the balance. Maybe - but I never felt it was badly out of whack. More than anything, I think this game showed up too late. There are too many excellent games available now, so why should I spend time on a merely 'good' game?
Showmanager - Here's another game where I seem to have landed on the less popular game. I still own and occasionally play Atlantic Star. So I let this copy go.
Steam: Rails to Riches - It took me a long time to warm up to Age of Steam. When I was finally ready to get it, the great war between Wallace and Bohrer was well underway. I decided to buy Steam for reasons apart from the design. Despite some interest in exploring this design, I never really did. Now I have a older version of Age of Steam, which is what I really wanted anyway.
Tales of the Arabian Nights - I had the old West End Games edition. It was amusing, and we did play it a number of times. But it was mostly an experience game, and we eventually played it out.
Talisman - I played way too much of this back in the late 80's and early 90's. We bought lots of expansions for it. But I cannot even consider playing this anymore. Begone - EVIL!
Warhammer Quest - I had a fun fling with Heroquest, and kept hearing that Warhammer Quest was even better. But by the time it arrived, I was mostly over my interest in 'dungeon-crawling' games. In fact, I do agree WQ does seem like a better system than HQ, if you are into those sorts of games.
Warrior Knights - Where Kingmaker was a game I really wanted to like, the original Warrior Knights was a game I actually did like quite a lot. It seemed to take all the good concepts of Kingmaker and burnish them into a playable game. I had hopes of playing this for a long time. But when the remake came out, I accepted defeat - no one was going to want to play the original anymore.
Das Wasser des Lebens - or, Whisky Settlers, if your prefer. A nice enough game, and I continue to like Settlers. But it was a handy gift to give, and much appreciated by the recipient.
White Lady - Famously bad. It would be possible to play the entire game and never get a turn! But at the same time it was one of the prettiest games I've ever owned. I loved the intense Gothic ornate artwork, which properly invoked the haunted theme.
We've come to the end of the line. To those of you who read the entire series - thank you! I doubt there are any lessons learned here. While I've disposed of a lot of games, I've tried to have fun with them while they were with me. I've learned a lot about what I do and don't like in games. I wish the same result to you, gentle reader.
-
Kevin Whitmore
United States
Albuquerque
New Mexico
-
One more installment of Games Gone Bye Bye - some chatter about some of the more notable titles from my 500+ purge list of games I once owned, but opted to remove from my collection.
Nuclear War - Hmmm, I suspect this may qualify as an obscure game these a days. I was introduced to this game back in the late 70's, and it provided many years of fun. Before we had all the wonderful games everyone celebrates on BGG, this was the sort of light-hearted, devil-may-care game we would play when we just wanted to goof off with friends. I even collected a couple expansions, updating from Saturn missiles to MX missiles. One cute bit about this game, is that you get population cards. The highest was a 25 million people card. We rather enjoyed asking, "Do you have change for 25 million people?"
Ohne Furcht und Adel - I suppose most people know this now as Citadels. We played this so much we bought a second copy when the first set of cards got worn badly. Initially I liked it a lot. Then I decided it wasn't quite so good with more than 4 players. And then I tired of it completely. But we sure got a lot of play out of this, so if you have not tried it, you might give it a shot.
Old Town - This is an obscure game I pre-ordered and picked up at Essen in 2004. (The only time I have or will attend Essen.) It featured a sort of deduction/induction game mechanic, where you ended up building the town based on the remaining liberties based on what clues/rules from previously placed buildings left possible. I played it a couple times, but it felt like more logic puzzle than game. For a better use of this idea I recommend Tobago.
Die Osterinsel - This is a trippy game. What do the giant Moai of Easter island do to pass the time? Race! I don't recall the exact particulars, but I do recall the intense plastic Moai playing pieces, dropping gravel into them, and comparing weights at the end of the race... I'm not sure what was smoked prior to designing this game, but it must have been good. Too bad the game itself wasn't as much fun as the theme.
Phoenicia - I wrote in an earlier segment of this series about Outpost/Das Zepter von Zavandor. Phoenicia also crossed my bow, and I was initially enthusiastic. But while you can see its connection to Outpost, I feel the game is cramped. I think the designer succeeded in creating a 2 hour version of Outpost. But it doesn't really engage me, and despite fond memories of its antecedent, I don't really care to play this shadow of what came before.
Piratenbillard- I had forgotten about this one! Yet another dexterity game. Take an elevated and segmented cross grid. Then put a lining of linen underneath it. Now drop some wooden balls into the grid work. Now, give each player a wooden mallet, and have them whack the bottom of the wooden grid. I've forgotten the exact objective, but you were trying to get your balls into scoring positions. Or in my case, all over the floor. Bizarre.
Polarity - This was a grail game for me. (It is much easier to find now. But for a long time it was in short supply.) I loved the concept of a strategy game using magnets. Until I played, and I realized that the game was not nearly as deep as I had imagined, and rather dull, despite the uniqueness of playing with magnetic fields. Worse, any jostle of the table meant every delicate magnetic field deployed might wobble and collapse. I now view this as a toy rather than a proper game.
Thanks for reading!
-
Kevin Whitmore
United States
Albuquerque
New Mexico
-
No, not the publisher - but four more letters of titles I have purged from my collection. This is part of a series of entries covering some of the more notable games I have owned, but opted to remove from my collection.
Jenseits von Theben - Back in 2004 I made my sole journey to the Essen game fair in Germany. My purchase of this precursor to Thebes was my prize purchase. And I rather enjoyed playing it several times. The game is wildly luck-filled. Some of my friends refuse to play due to the feast or famine luck present. But I still believe this is a great pairing of game mechanics to theme. When I finally got the enhanced Queen edition of Thebes, I gave this collector's copy to a friend who likes that sort of thing.
Kapitän Wackelpudding - This game is so absurd - it works! Stack a bunch of blocks on a boat, and then make players pull the boat along the game board to different ports without spilling the load. It was fun for a couple plays. But it was never going to be a game I wanted to return to with any frequency. But if you get a chance, you ought to try it once!
King's Breakfast - This is a game I just played too much of. It works well enough, and it is a "filler" of some merit I suppose. But after too many matches I began to dread this closer, and was relieved when we moved on to other short games.
Kolonial Afrika - Here is another Jean du Poel game that I desperately wanted to have work. But despite the tremendous game materials: a hand silk screened faux leather map, silk screened cards, markers, gosh even decorated ships the size of hackey sacks - despite all these wonderful components, the game just didn't quite work. I seriously considered keeping it as a game art object. But I finally decided to let another Jean du Poel fan get it from me. (There are a few of us.)
Kreta - I liked this game, perhaps a bit more than I should have. It is an area-majority type game. So it is dwarfed by El Grande in my eyes. But Kreta has an interesting premise, lots of differing specialized playing pieces which splintered what sort of control you could apply to the map. However, after a few plays it became obvious to me that Kreta needed a house rule. The player who is winning should always play the Castellan card as frequently as possible. While I might have been willing to keep this if it got some play, it didn't, and I am even happier getting in a couple extra plays of El Grande instead.
Linie 1 - Many people know this as Streetcar. I held this game in high esteem for a long while. But not too long ago I finally got it back on the table, and discovered that it didn't please me so much anymore. Worse, my fellow players were also underwhelmed. I'm not sure if games have gotten better, or if my early impressions were just more generous. This was a game that helped introduce Euros to me, and it seemed really fresh at the time. But now, I'd aim for another title.
Logistico - My friends and I agreed that this game was smarter than any of us.
London - Yep I got this, and after 2 plays I knew it wasn't for me. So I traded it away while it was still in demand. It's not bad. But it is not to my taste. The new trend of building games that are reliant upon a deck of cards isn't appealing to me. Give me a board with some positional stuff to think about. (Yes London does have a board. But I found the focus was elsewhere.)
Maharaja - This is a somewhat popular Kramer game, and I had a nice time playing it. But it is the sort of mid-weight Euro that I tend to lose interest in after a handful of plays. Maybe I'm shallow, but too often "strategic" eurogames entrance me for less than 10 plays, and then I feel like I've seen most of what they have to show me.
Manhattan - A bit too much "take that" in this game for me.
Manila - As dice games go, this was pretty good. But over time it lost its novelty factor, and we returned to Call My Bluff or Can't Stop. I tend to downgrade dice games as not as strategic. (I know many will disagree.) So I am content with a couple favorites on my shelf.
Meander - This was actually pretty cool. I liked the build it then test it principle of the game. If you have not heard of this one, its a game where you try to build routes that connect across the board: one player East-West; the other player North-South. To test your work, you lift your edge of the board and drop 5 marbles down your attempted routes, and see if they get delivered to your destination. Then your opponent does the same with his/her side. Now that I think about this, I sort of miss this game! I think the biggest draw back to it was the weird shape and large storage space it required coupled with the infrequent use it saw.
Modern Art - Sacrilege! But I never did warm up to this game. I will say that Knizia games always work. But even when he is trying to invoke a heavy theme (Beowulf for example) I often don't feel it. Modern Art especially felt like a math exercise to me.
Monastery - I admire the Ragnar Brothers, and enjoy checking out their games. This one had an awkward theme, and its Carcassonne-like play was not welcomed locally. (We seem to be rather burnt out on Carc anymore.)
Mordred - Well, the money went to a good cause. I dunno. This seemed cute, rather than a war game. I had a bit of fun with it. But it seemed conflicted. On one hand it was a war game, demanding you apply some serious thought. But on the other hand, the game felt rather trivial and not to be taken seriously.
Das Motorsportspiel - Initially I was taken by the time-pressure mechanism in this game. But when I started seeing this same mechanism in other games, I realized I'm not a big fan of being pressured. Now in a race game, this makes the most sense -possibly inducing driving errors. So I don't hate this game. I kind of like it, actually. But the need to be a tough enforcer of the rules - shouting out the instant another player makes a driving error - is not in alignment with my tastes in gaming. So at best this is an occasional game for me. And since others still own it, I still play it occasionally.
Thanks for reading!
-
Kevin Whitmore
United States
Albuquerque
New Mexico
-
Still reading this? Wow! Just tuning in? I have been exploring some of the 500+ games I have removed from my collection.
Flowerpower - I've noticed that this game has turned into a grail game for some folks. I certainly didn't hate it. But I didn't think it was anything special either. On some level it is a domino variant. It's a 2p game, of course. But I didn't feel it was a great strategic game, yet it induced a silent struggle of pansies.
Formula-1 - This is a pretty cool game, especially for the early 60's. I rather liked it. But after a few plays I could tell I was not likely to play it much anymore. You can see the bones of Formula De here, and I have to admit I'd prefer to play Formula De. So when a friend was looking for a good race game for his children, I happily gifted this game.
Frontier-6 - Okay, this isn't a popular or well known game. But I have some fond memories of it, and would agree to play again in the unlikely event anyone ever asked me to play. Take Monopoly, apply a well integrated "Old West" theme and incorporate a rustling chase mechanic. Voila! Good game, if you can stand the randomness.
Giganten - I really wanted to like this one. It was one of the first Euros I bought, and the game materials were uber-cool. But while the game was some fun to play, it didn't deliver enough reward for strategic thought. In some ways the game played you - with too many obvious choices through the many game phases.
Goldland - Here's another game that I see has achieved coveted grail status for some. I think its a conspiracy that these games gain value after I trade them away. Anyway, Goldland never was too well received around here. I was initially happy to have it, as it was part of my (deceased) Goldsieber collection. I recall noting that Goldsiber had collected the three "Big K's" with an exploration game from each: Klaus Teuber with Entdecker, Knizia with Africa and Kramer with Goldland. The major problem with Goldland was that it dragged as you added players. I think it was probably best with 3 players. But we played too many times with more players, and eventually we tired of it as a slow game.
Hamsterrolle - I still play this occasionally as a friend has a copy. It is a provocative game, and always garners attention from bystanders. For me, I decided to clear it out when I decided I was not as interested in balancing games as I had previously thought. I kept Bamboleo, but Arbos, Bandu, Kapitan Wackepudding and Hamsterrolle were removed.
Le Havre - As I write this I see Le Havre is ranked as #6 on BGG. Huh. Personally I was underwhelmed. One big problem I had with the game was the fidliness, and the ever increasing options. Cards were scattered all over the board, hard to read, and players nearly locked up trying to figure out what options they had and then which one they should take.
Hellas - Here's a game that I was initially quite happy with. You can read my gushing about it here: http://www.thegamesjournal.com/reviews/Hellas.shtml. But ultimately I ended up agreeing with my co-author, Mark Johnson, and found Hellas wanting. The game is nearly guaranteed to create a tight finish, and I would still probably enjoy an occasional game of Hellas. But there is a proper way to play - draw as many cards as you can, especially the War and Zeus cards. He who draws best will likely win.
History of the World - The only reason I let this one go, is because I now own A Brief History of the World!
Illuminati - This is such an 80's game. It was fun and irreverent. But boy were those tiny cards and bits of paper money annoying. A friend got the deluxe version, which was better. But I fear the sun has set on this game. If I were to play again, it would merely be for nostalgia.
In Teufels Küche - Some of the local players think I am cracked for having traded this away. Maybe I am- the game is wildly over-produced. No other game has a cookstove that has a devil randomly pop out! But as charming as the game materials are, I found the game itself to not be to my tastes. I will play occasionally as another copy is still around here. But it is not a favorite.
Indonesia - Despite some high esteem from a few of my trail-marking geek buddies, I could not get into this game. I know I never gave this game enough chances, I only played once. But the drab materials and quirky rules along with my general weariness upon trying to read the rules doomed this one. I suppose I would be willing to try again, but I won't be the one trying to teach it.
Thanks for reading!
-
Kevin Whitmore
United States
Albuquerque
New Mexico
-
If you're just tuning in, I've been writing about the games I have owned, but decided to remove from my collection. This time, a few of the D's and E's:
Dampfross- I do own Railway Rivals, but Dampfross was the first to visit my shelf. And I suspect Railway Rivals might eventually be disposed of too. This is a variation on the crayon-rails genre of games. (That may inaccurate, I don't know which was first.) I think this is a creative game, which I admire. But it isn't anything but a fun change of pace for me. I'd recommend giving this system a try, you may like it.
Dark Cults - This is a blast from my past. This is not a structured game, per se. But a themed set of cards intended to help with macabre story telling. Totally not my thing anymore. But cool nonetheless. Probably hard to find, but it might be just the thing for folks who like role-playing derived games.
Das Zepter von Zavandor - Back in the old days I used to play a lot of Outpost. Cool game for its time. So when I heard Zepter was based on Outpost it was an automatic buy for me. But it is now years later, and I'm not the same gamer that I was. This game system works rather well, and Zepter is miles ahead of Outpost in graphic design. The game design also has tried to reign in the leader-advantage present in Outpost. But after a few plays, I realized that this game didn't hit the sweet spot anymore. I had developed tastes for more modern eurogames, or if I wanted a longer game I didn't want an Outpost-type game any longer.
Diplomacy - I recognize that Diplomacy is one of the major games of the 20th century. But, blech. Lying, misleading and stabbing my friends in the back does not a good time make.
Doge- Back in 2000 Doge and San Marco both came out. Call me quirky, but I didn't really love San Marco. But I did bond with Doge, and it saw many plays. I enjoyed how tightly fought the elections were, and how the tension mounted as we came ever closer to the winning conditions. But after many plays, I felt I had seen everything this game had to offer.
Domaine - I learned a basic lesson with this game. Don't buy a remake of a game that you don't play much. I had owned Lowenherz for a while, when Domaine came out. Lowenherz didn't get much play, and then Domaine didn't get much play. They are both mild war-ish games. I mildly liked Lowenherz more than Domaine, but either one would be fine for an occasional play. But I ended up not needing to own either, and haven't missed them.
Domino Knobelspass - This was kind of cool. A set of puzzles using common Double-6 dominoes designed by Reiner Knizia. I never played this as a 2-player game, but enjoyed playing it solitaire. Once I finished all of the puzzles, I traded it away.
Don Pepe - This is a very amusing game. I don't think it works quite right. But the theme of gangsters attending a dinner where they knock each other off is sublime. I gave my copy to a friend who adores this game. I still get to play it once in a while, and that's good enough for me.
Durch die Wuste - I guess most Americans now know this as Through the Desert. But I owned the original German edition. Regardless, I never bonded with this game. I've played it occasionally since, and have never really warmed up to it. But it is a well built medium-weight Knizia, and probably worth investigating if you have never played it.
EastFront- I was so sure I was going to like this. I have had fun with other Columbia block games. I even bought the VolgaFront expansion for this. But after a few tries, I found this game to be plodding and static. I'll stick with Crusader Knight and Napoleon.
Edison & Co. - This is a quirky game. If you play, I urge you to play the partnership game, where you have a chance at more control of what will happen. The other thing about this game... it is NOT a race game. Sure looks like one though, which turns a lot of people away.
Elchfest - This was cute. I kept a copy in my office at work for a while. I happened to hear about a giant version of this played with croquet mallets on a gymnasium floor. I mentioned this to a friend who is a carpenter, and she mentioned she might be willing to make me a giant set! That never worked out, but who knows, maybe some day!
Die Erbraffer - This is a hoot! Players are angling to inherit the family fortune, and the play of the game is to eliminate heirs in the correct order so that you get the most fortune. As is so often the case, this sort of game doesn't really work too well. But I recommend giving it a try if you get the chance.
Escape from Colditz - This is a neat game because it was designed by a WWII prisoner of this castle. And it works rather well, often generating excitement once the actual break for freedom is begun. I traded this game to a good friend, and I may need to make him play it with me again - its about time!
Thanks for reading!
1 , 2 Next »
|
|
