My 3rd day at the Spellenspektakel
Pee di Moor
Netherlands
Rotterdam
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For the third consecutive year I went to the biggest Dutch game fair with my youngest son (9 yrs old).
I also had been to Essen for my shopping so our prime objective was to play games, and see whether they were worthwhile.
2006 Visit
2007 Visit
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Pee di Moor
Netherlands
Rotterdam
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We started off with a game of Boss Kito: a mix of a bidding and set collection. It plays rather quickly, and you also quickly get the idea that there is room for smart play.
Although we enjoyed our game we did not get the idea that there was anything new in the game that is not in one of the bid games that we already have, eg For Sale, Felicity: The Cat in the Sack, and Money!.
btw, I still wonder whether the author chose the name of this game subconsciously or whether he knows that the Gorilla named BOKITO shocked the Netherlands last year ....
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Pee di Moor
Netherlands
Rotterdam
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Next was a game of Powerboats. I already had played this at Essen, but wanted to find out whether my son liked this Formula De-ish optimal path selection (as is needed in the authors Streetsoccer) game.
Although my son lost badly, he enjoyed it immensely and ate the end of the day this game was his favorite.
I still haven't decided if I prefer this over the new Formula D or not ...
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Pee di Moor
Netherlands
Rotterdam
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As an intermezzo we played this nice little dexterity game. We had many laughs, mainly because of silly mistakes (compare to pitchcar-fun).
Movement of players and pucks was surprisingly smooth.
The rest of the day, whenever we passed the stand that had these games, my son quickly checked whether there was one free to play again.
Unfortunately they were occupied for the rest of the day.
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Pee di Moor
Netherlands
Rotterdam
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Next was a game of Street Paint fun.
What to say about this dexterity/recognize game? It sure was fun to play once ... I'm sure it will be fun to play a couple of times .... but then ... good thing the Geek has trades ...
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5.
Board Game: Dominion
[Average Rating:7.67 Overall Rank:72]
[Average Rating:7.67 Unranked]
Pee di Moor
Netherlands
Rotterdam
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After a quick lunch we spotted a free Dominion table.
Despite all the rave on the Geek I was not to sure Dominion is 'our' game, but we had to give it a try.
- It plays quickly, turns go fast, busy all the time,
- not much (at all?) interaction,
- shuffling is a pain , especially with a 9 year old,
- very repetitive,
- we weren't that impressed,
- but yet ..........
of all the games today this is the one we both agree that we want to play again. Just to find out how you can also play it, to find out different paths of winning etc ....
Strange: not really liking a game, yet wanting to play it again ...
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6.
Board Game: Jambo
[Average Rating:7.04 Overall Rank:492]
[Average Rating:7.04 Unranked]
Pee di Moor
Netherlands
Rotterdam
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I had heard/read about Jambo, but had no idea what sort of game this would be, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Jambo has a bit of a whole lot of games (actions, hand management etc), but for some reason it reminded me of Guillotine.
I can see why Jambo has such a high rating, especially for a two player, but I do not know whether the game will still be as fresh when you know all cards, or maybe even improves with it....
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7.
Board Game: Bloom
[Average Rating:6.49 Overall Rank:4562]
Pee di Moor
Netherlands
Rotterdam
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When I proposed to play Bloom, may son refused ! (was it the looks of this game, the theme or what?)
However the game explainer (who had 3 empty Bloom tables) rushed to us (Finally something to do!), and I talked my son into at least here the explanation, after which he actually wanted to try a game.
This is a weird game. Maybe the best title for Bloom is:
Chaosscasonne
You put down 9x9 tiles and different Gardeneeples.
We played and while we quite enjoyed ourselves while playing, I absolutely had no idea whether I made good moves or not.
What even was more worrying was that the explainer who joined in our game (and apparently had been playing this for the last 2 days) admitted that he also did not have a clue either ..... When I asked him if that was positive or not, he did, wisely, not answer ....
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Pee di Moor
Netherlands
Rotterdam
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To prepare ourselves for the 2 hour drive back, we finished with a game of Snow Tail: an impressive package, and a highly original idea.
Yet I got the feeling that the rules were a bit unnecessarily complex (to stick to the theme), and that all-in-all luck of the draw of the cards was too high.
Here I think you're better of with Formula D or Ave Caesar.
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Pee di Moor
Netherlands
Rotterdam
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Leaving a fair without buying anything????
Nah! On the way out I bought Franks Zoo!
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