Merric Blackman
Australia
Waubra
Victoria
Ramping up my reviewing.
Happily playing games for many, many years.
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In our Science of Board Games class last week, I'd introduced two of the students to Niagara (the other two having played it before). This week, I introduced them all to the expansion to the game.
Spirits of Niagara has a profound effect on the game. Where the original game is somewhat predictable madness, Spirits makes it more unpredictable (but equally mad!  )
Two teachers and four students participated in this game.
The first turn saw four of the players choose a 3 for their starting move, thus ending their movement on the whirlpool and being swept a further space downriver; one player chose a 2, finishing her turn just above the river; the last player chose a 5, moved three, got swept one square downstream, and then loaded her canoe with a clear gem.
The game was notable for the lack of weather cards played - only three in the entire game - and a lack of gem-gathering! Well, the gems were being gathered, but not being returned to shore. They were certainly being stolen from other canoes - the double canoes really shake things up there.
One of the classic mistakes of playing Niagara is to use your highest-numbered paddle cards too soon. It's easier to go down the river than up, and a few players fell into that trap. Towards the end of the game, they were just hanging onto the banks of the river as they were swept towards the waterfall. Despite that, only one player lost a canoe over the falls, as he found the whirlpool blocking his movement back when the river was about to move five!
Still, playing high cards first can give you a big advantage, and one of the students quickly acquired three clear gems, and was on track to get the fourth, but the other players conspired to grab the rest of the gems first.
It was interesting to see the increased decision time the expansion added to the game; there were certainly more things to think about!
The game took only 8 turns in all; we each had 2 paddle cards remaining at game's end. I won the game, having kept my "7" paddle tile until the very last turn. I'd gathered one gem of each colour.
In the mid-game, I used the "hurried elk" card to get both my boats (and three gems) back to shore. In the end-game, I first stole the two remaining gems I needed, then used the "7" tile to get both boats to shore. One student had briefly had 5 different gems, until relieved of the gems in the canoes by the other players.
The Spirits of Niagara really does change the game into a more serious pursit, and an excellent game. This game took us about 45 minutes, which I think is a good length for a game.
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Ramping up my reviewing.
