The Spree
Who's the more foolish? The fool or fool that plays after the fool?
United States
DURHAM
North Carolina
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In a post on my blog recently, I was going on about the games I was interested in and which ones should I buy, etc, etc. What was evident from my meandering mutterings were that there were quite a few games I was interested in and what I really needed to do was run that past my wife (aka my primary opponent) and see which ones she'd be interested in playing as well and whittle the list down to a manageable level.
I had that conversation. I must admit that I was floored by the result. The Geeklist here shows what I ended up picking up and some preliminary thoughts.
P.S. My wife is awesome. 
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1.
Board Game: Jaipur
[Average Rating:7.50 Overall Rank:140]
Who's the more foolish? The fool or fool that plays after the fool?
United States
DURHAM
North Carolina
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High up on the list of priorities was Jaipur. We had gotten a lot of plays out of Parade last year, so I had identified the short but interesting 2-player game as an area to expand and add variety.
This I picked up at my FLGS (Sci-Fi Genre in Durham, NC). It was the first game we tried also. I had been a little wary before picking it up because it was a trading game and we already have Jambo, but (as I quickly found out) there is really no comparison. In fact, from my whole one play, I find I like the game play in Jaipur better, which is full of options, whereas I always felt rather constricted in Jambo.
One game in and it is a winner so far. Even if I lost in the minimum 2 rounds.
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Who's the more foolish? The fool or fool that plays after the fool?
United States
DURHAM
North Carolina
-
In the Worker Placement games, we have Caylus and Agricola, both games I love. But both are, if not heavy exactly, quite intense. So I was interested in a medium weight worker placement and this seems to be the king of that area.
I picked this up at the FLGS too. It scored well with my wife who liked the smell of the leather dice cup and the joy of seeing me roll nothing above a 2. I suspect every game I play of this will features the Tools heavily. I admit the dice did deter me for a while, but now that I have played it, though they do affect things, the game is engaging enough and the excitement of the dice rolling actually has added to my enjoyment of the game. Another winner.
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3.
Board Game: Ninjato
[Average Rating:7.52 Overall Rank:324]
Who's the more foolish? The fool or fool that plays after the fool?
United States
DURHAM
North Carolina
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The last of the trio I got at the FLGS was Ninjato. I have followed the development of this game for a while, I love how it looks and, reading over the rules, I was struck by how the game flows from Dojo to the Sensei, into the Houses then to the Envoys and Rumors. Almost a Zen like quality. It all feels very natural.
I had thought it a worker placement, but that is not really true, as none of the actions you take prevent the other players doing them, they can even sneak into the same House you just raided if you didn't empty it out. Still, I see the inspiration derived from Stone Age. Easy to pick up, but not easy to master as there seems to be multiple ways of approaching the game and the right one will depend heavily on how thing sgo in the houses - and what your opponents do. For the two of us, we had some concern about the circulation of the rumors especially, where you can have a situation where one particular rumor comes out but then no other shows its face. But that is after two games both heavily affected by the rumor distribution, so that might be just our first exploration of the game.
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4.
Board Game: Biblios
[Average Rating:7.19 Overall Rank:279]
Who's the more foolish? The fool or fool that plays after the fool?
United States
DURHAM
North Carolina
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Along with Jaipur, a lot of people recommend Biblios for quick 2-player games. I looked for it in the game store and they didn't have it. I found listings on some of the online stores, but they were out of stock. I did find it on Amazon, but it was pricey - $38 with shipping. There was also a copy or two in the BGG marketplace, but again, $35 with shipping for a small card game. I even was checking eBay for copies. Then I noticed someone in the forum mention getting it from Dr Finn's website and so I looked there. Not only in stock but a 'holiday special' seemed in effect, so the game was $17 and $5 shipping anywhere in the US. I snapped it up and that was waiting for me when I got home tonight. It looks like one of those games you read the rules and don't quite "get" until you actually play it.
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Who's the more foolish? The fool or fool that plays after the fool?
United States
DURHAM
North Carolina
-
I bought my first Terry Pratchett (The Color of Magic) as a college student, long enough ago that Light Fantastic was only just out. I understand Sir Terry has written a few more since then. Anyway, the prospect of an actually good game coming out based on one of my favorite series was too much to pass up. So this was first in my online order at Coolstuff.
The order arrived this week and coincidentally, Going Postal (the 2 part TV show based on the book) showed up from Netflix after being at the head of my queue marked "Long Wait" for, well, quite a long wait. Discworld tv-game combination? You bet.
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Who's the more foolish? The fool or fool that plays after the fool?
United States
DURHAM
North Carolina
-
I have been following the impending release of Ora et Labora since before I knew its name beyond that it was Le Havre the next generation. Agricola is one of my favorite games and we did try Le Havre as well, but it seemed to drag a bit. That is occasionally a problem with a more relaxed play style, extraneous chatter makes a long game much longer. In any case, my wife didn't quite like it enough to get it, but I have looked at this closely for a while. The anticipation and initial looks were promising. But the early reviews seemed a bit more negative. Reservations about the game play mostly came down to the lack of random cards and then there is the components debate. I began to drift away from getting this.
But then more people played it and the game itself sounded extremely good, with much to think about. Some still talked about the components, but I began to lean back to giving it a try, or at least sound out my wife on the matter. One of her peeves with Agricola is the random cards - I have a knack for getting better ones, she says. And the end of Agricola is just before you get to really get the engine moving. That was a plus of Le Havre for her, you got to build something and try it out a few times. It looked like Ora had that and she actively encouraged me to buy it. I won't refuse an offer like that!
As of right now, it is still shrink-wrapped, so I won't comment further.
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Who's the more foolish? The fool or fool that plays after the fool?
United States
DURHAM
North Carolina
-
Those two games put me agonizingly close to the $100 for free shipping. So I added this as well. I do enjoy Ticket to Ride on occasion, but we've never bothered to expand beyond the USA map. However, I found Ian Vincent's Designer Diary on the development of the Indian map really interesting and that it was packaged in with a second map designed for 2-3 players seemed a nice little bonus, as most of my games are 2 player, even if TtR is actually one of those that gets more multi-player outings due to its simple rules fitting well with my occasional work lunch games.
Having looked over the differences from basic TtR, the tunnels look like they might make Switzerland a frustrating place to lack track, but that might just be part of the challenge. I like that the Indian map encourages early laying of track (hoarding cards is rampant here) and the mandala redundant track scoring looks interesting. Though I seem to rarely have enough track to connect two cities once, never mind trying to do it twice!
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Who's the more foolish? The fool or fool that plays after the fool?
United States
DURHAM
North Carolina
-
Strictly speaking, this one was not needed to make up the order to over $100. But the theme is fascinating to me and I have been reading reviews and session reports on it for a while. However, I did have it down as one of those I'll never actually get. Like High Frontier, I thought it a game I would enjoy if I got the chance but when would the chance for a 4+ hour game come along? Not often and not often enough for a blind purchase.
However, just before I made this order, I was reading a Geek List about some gaming resolutions for 2012 and Bios: Megafauna was listed as a game he was going to play 10 times in the year, alongside a bunch of others. I was surprised. But upon inquiry, it turns out that there are various levels of this game to explore and a 90 minute game of Megafauna is not unfeasible. Suddenly it went from an unlikely play to an altogether likely one and that there was only one copy left at CoolStuff sealed the deal. I pulled the trigger and then waited anxiously in case there hadn't been one copy left after all.
Happily it showed up with the rest of the order. I really want my wife to like this, so I will take my time getting to know it. Maybe a solo game first? And the Living Rules are downloaded.
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9.
Board Game: Eclipse
[Average Rating:8.34 Overall Rank:7]
Who's the more foolish? The fool or fool that plays after the fool?
United States
DURHAM
North Carolina
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The final item of my Spree. Another where the lure of the theme has sucked me in and then the reports of the actual game have ensnared me. The smooth and elegant way the mechanics have been put together - and the high opinion of many Geeks - have made this practically a must-have. That the example of play gives a nod to the authors that inspired it - Iain Banks and Vernor Vinge prominent among them - made it even more compelling. However, some sense prevails and so I simply pre-ordered it with my FLGS and I await the arrival of the 2nd printing with bated breath.
But something tells me I will have something else to do to occupy me while I am waiting.
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