-
Rick Baptist
United States
Redlands
California
-
I usually put together some conglomeration of game titles for my Thumb series (well, usually being the first three I've written), but I've played some outstanding games recently and I just feel the need to praise them in my own way.
So I'm going to post a picture of Mr. Thumbs Up here and you all can assume that he is sticking the same thumb up on each of the games described below.
BSG Express
One of my biggest pet peeves is owning a copy of a game that I hardly play. I don't have all the storage space in the world and so I am constantly reevaluating my game shelf for games that have either ran their course or that I hardly use. I own a copy of Battlestar Galactica, and I probably play it once a year. But I enjoy it SO MUCH for the times that I get to play it that I can't find it in my heart to rid myself of it. "I just wish it was a bit shorter, and still contained all that tension and fun," I say. Enter: BSG Express.
Wow.
So first of all, you're replacing the voting cards with dice. This is a win in itself. You're making simultaneous rolls and doing other things to speed things up. Fiddliness is gone. Things are streamlined. In fact, the overall process shrinks the game in length to 60-90 minutes. This would cause you to wonder if the tension would still be there, and I would answer with a resounding YES!!! The tension is still there! And, dare I say, more fun! The central mechanic that I am in love with is this: You must roll your dice secretly and then you have an opportunity to donate one to help the mission. If you're a Cylon, you can donate a bad die and shrug, explaining that the situation called for me to play this so I can get back my dice on my turn, blah blah blah, excuses. If you're a human, you want to play good dice, but sometimes you just have to play a bad one. You're pleading, begging with people to understand why you did that and that's all you can do. It's brilliant, so simple, and yet just amazingly designed to make people think you're lying when you're not. And at the end of the game, you feel like you played Battlestar Galactica! You really do!
Now, I am not advocating that BSG Express should replace Battlestar Galactica. For a fan of the game and series, there is a place on my shelf for both. But you really owe it to yourself to print this puppy out (or have PnP Productions do it for you) and give it a spin with your buddies. Incredible experience and with further plays, I expect it moves into my Top 25.
Power Grid: The First Sparks
I like Power Grid: The First Sparks better than Power Grid.
Now that that's out of the way, you know whether you want to geekbuddy me or not. Now I am NOT SAYING that I don't like Power Grid. I like Power Grid! I think it's fun ... until you get to the end of the game and you mire through the slogfest of adding and calculating in your head to the point that you pull out your phone to help you add stuff. That's why First Sparks wins. First Sparks is not only a BETTER game than Power Grid in my opinion, it is more fun.
From the abbreviated auction round to the board play, there is certainly enough here to differentiate First Sparks from Power Grid, but there still remains the infamous "Being Last is Good" mechanic that I enjoyed from the original. So basically, it's keeping all the stuff I liked and getting rid of all the monotonous, game-lengthening stuff I didn't like. Plus, the art is downright hilarious and it's neat to watch your cavemen "grow up" and become an efficient tribe (at least in some areas). The theme is terrific and really comes through strong. Is it a better game for the more "serious" eurogamer. Probably not -- but for the light-strategy lover that I am, it's fantastic! Shorter play time, more fun. Sounds good to me. I'd love to own a copy.
Core Worlds
Let me state up front that I'm not as excited about Core Worlds as I am about the above two titles, but I am excited none-the-less. And the reason why is NOT because it is a deckbuilder.
In fact, I'm tired of deckbuilders (again, another opportunity to geekbuddy or not).
Thankfully, there is a lot more to this game than deckbuilding, which makes it quite exciting and fun to play. While you are indeed building up a force to acquire victory points, it just plays and feels different than most of those kind of exercises. I like that you can focus on a certain strategy of attack (infantry, robots, vehicles, airborne) and build your engine doing so. I like the theme and the colonization of planets -- in fact, it reminds me a bit of Eminent Domain in that aspect, but not with all of the rest of Eminent Domain that I didn't like. There's 10 rounds and it's over, with the actual Core Worlds coming out in Round 9. So I enjoyed it -- I won in my first play, so there's some thought there that it plays and learns well for newcomers. I used infantry primarily and had fun, and I like how each deck has its own faction-specific general. The only downfall to the game for me was that starting player was a very important part of the experience. So while there was some strategy built around that, ultimately the power of the start player in a five-player game was very strong. I imagine the game is best when played with three people, and perhaps it will move onto my buy-list when that is tried. For now, I can recommend the game to you (especially if you like deckbuilders and/or space themes) and state that I did very much enjoy my first five-player game.
     
As I have stated before, I'm putting together a big birthday event that I call the Rickcon, and it has been growing a steady amount every year. It's invite-only, but the list is growing as I find new friends I enjoy playing with. We have acquired sponsors this year for the event, and I want to profile one every so often down here because they deserve it for donating games or gift certificates to us. I'm going to drop Asmodee's name first. I already like Asmodee, but their generosity for the Rickcon blew me away and I really appreciated the contact I had from them and their kind staff. Thank you Asmodee.
|
|
