Stephen Scholtz
Canada
Toronto
Ontario
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Whenever I head out to visit my brother and his family in Saskatchewan, I always bring along some board games, something that I know they love playing and something new & different, just to see if it sticks. Past successes have included Bohnanza, Through the Desert and Roll Through The Ages.
This year I tried to introduce K2. While the theme seemed to excite people, the game's mechanics might have been a little too much, or else it was just too late at night to be trying to run them through the game.
As I explained the rules and saw my family's faces grow increasingly confused and/or worried, I knew that I needed to simplify things for this first run through. We removed the risk tokens and ignored the weather effects, using the weather track only to know how many turns were left.
The results were kind of predictable. Regardless of how much everybody said that it seemed so tough to get to the top of the mountain, nearly everybody got both their climbers to the summit and nobody died, although there were a couple of close calls. Even without the weather and the risk tokens, they all felt like there was a lot to consider each turn, and the "full" game would have been too much.
They were all pretty shocked to learn that there was an even more grueling ascent on the flip side, and that there were different seasons of weather!
Some background on the players...
Sister-in-law: The Shark. She's the one who really knows how to make the deals in Bohnanza that, even when you think you've got the upper hand, you feel you didn't. If she's into a game, then she can be quite competitive. She liked it, and she might be able to handle the full game.
Brother: Analysis Paralysis. Good gamer but terrible with his turn decisions, especially when there's too much to consider. Likes to think out loud.  *Loved* the game, but didn't want to ever play with the weather. That might change after he got a couple of games under his belt.
Step-Mom: New kid on the block with a sharp mind. She picks up game rules pretty quick, although takes her a while to find the deeper strategies. Liked the game, but admitted that there was probably too much to keep track of.
Dad: Light games only. Hates the details, wants to learn by just doing, but of course he can't "do" anything without knowing the rules. Pretty hopeless with K2, I had to explain everything several times over again. Alas, I don't think he'd ever play it again.
So it seemed like I had mixed results with K2. I might bring it out again for them, but for now I'll keep this only to my main board game crew, and maybe bring out Taluva or RK's Samurai next time.
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Russ Williams
Poland
Wrocław
Dolny Śląsk
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Indeed, K2 is quite easy to learn for experienced gamers, but it does sometimes seem surprisingly complicated to newbies or less experienced gamers! We sometimes forget what it was like to be a newbie.
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