To Market, To Market and Off to the Races

I have an apology to make.

I spent so much time in the last post ranting that I neglected to make mention of the really interesting happenings.  On the advice of some friendly locals met via my son's school, we went exploring down to the St. Kilda Twilight Market.  The visit had some urgency as this was to be the final iteration of the market for the summer.

The primary target at this market (or any market as far as I am concerned) was the food stands.  As I have a tendancy to be indecisive, we just tried to get a little bit of everything.  We passed by the Spanish paella tent (wife not big into shellfish) and picked up some charcoal roasted chicken skewers as an appetizer.  Then it was off to the Argentine BBQ tent, where I ordered the mix platter consisting of chicken wings, beef ribs, mild chorizo, and a salad, all slathered in a fresh chimichurri sauce.  Moving on from that to the Nepalese tent for more grilled marinated chicken and finally stopping at the Tex-Mex tent for chicken mole and bbq pork tacos.

YUM.

The rest of the market was rather interesting as well.  It has been a while since I have seen that quantity of tye-dye, dreds, and various other hippie-isms all in one place.  I am sure that had there been a little less wind that the place would have had a more herbal aura.

All told it was another pleasant trek out into the ocean-side community that we have found ourselves in, enjoying mild temperatures, beaches with soft sand, and no waves that threaten to kill you if you aren't looking.

Fast forward a week or so and you have another major event in the sporting extravaganza that is Melbourne, the Australia Grand Prix and the beginning of the Formula 1 racing season.

I would like to reiterate that this is Formula 1 racing.  Real racing, as opposed to that anachronism pretending to be modern racing called NASCAR.

On a whim we decide to take the whole crew to the races on Saturday, knowing full well that the main event was the next day.  Besides being markedly cheaper, we also knew the crowds would be quite a bit smaller and thus the experience for all more pleasant.

In general it was indeed a pleasant experience.  We got to see a parade Ferraris, vintage race cars, and a shortened GT race that started with a five car pileup consisting almost entirely of Lamborghinis. Then we nearly had our eardrums ruptured by a race of V8 supercars (my eldest son's favorite), and then again shortly thereafter by a aerial demonstration by the RAAF.  Finally we got to the highlight of the day (for me at least) the F1 Qualifiers.  I honestly can't say that I got a lot out of the race.  I have not paid close attention to F1 in nearly 15 years, back when Michael Schumacher was the only name you really needed to know because he was the only one winning anything.

At the end if the day I was extremely grateful that the event was within short walking distance of the apartment.  It makes listening to racing from down tim dusk for four days straight worth it.

Now on to the Game play updates.  Thank God for Boardgamegeek.com for giving me a method for keeping track of plays.  Especially when I get lazy and go too long between blog posts.

Game Report Day 64 - Entropy

Now having played this game a few times, and probably more importantly with my wife having a few plays under her belt, plays of this neat little card game are starting to make more sense.  One thing I can say that is that I am not entirely certain that this should be classified as a two player game.  One of the key mechanisms in the game is the action selection mechanic, and the doublethink that comes from the very real possibility of choosing the same action as someone else, resulting in a clash where the affected players do nothing for that turn.  In a two player game. this just does not happen very often and I think it detracts from the flavor of the game.  I don't mean to say that the game is unpleasant with two players.  It is just a very different game.  And a very short one to boot.  Jury still out on this one.

Game Report Day 65 - Lift Off: Get Me Off This Planet!

I had the opportunity to participate in a playtest of some new Lift Off points in this game a few weeks ago.  For whatever reason, I never got around to getting the new material printed and ready for play.  I may yet if sufficiently motivated.  Either way, it does not change the fact that this is a fun game, and one that I think I need to introduce to my elder son.  With some help, he should be able to get the planning and resource management concepts.  We (wife and I) also got to play with some content that I had not yet used, most notably the Stargate lift off point.   This point allows for the possibility of evacuating a lot of Alieneeples at once, but only if the randomness of the stargate die is kind to you.  Needless to say, it was not kind to either of us.  I ended up winning mostly because I gave up and executed my backup plan a just a little faster.

Game Report Day 66 - Asphodel

This is another game that, as far as I am concerned, should not really be a two player game.  Since the size of the playing field itself is determined by the number of players, there is just not enough game there when you start with just two.  I really need to get this on the table at a Tuesday night Meetup.

Game Report Day 67 - Tiny Epic Galaxies

Every gamer will be able to relate multiple tales of games lost for the sole reason that "the dice hate me".  Some people have a generalized and persistent antagonistic relationship with dice.  These are people that are often nominated to GM tabletop RPGs.  Why, you ask?  Because it is fun to walk away with the dragon's treasure hoard because the GM critical fumbled six rolls in a row, that's why.

This is one of the more commonplace versions of the story.  I lost the game in spectacular fashion to my wife simply because I could not come up with dice results that were even remotely useful.  Unfortunately the game has only one set of dice, so I can't put the offending items in time-out and play with replacements.  Sometimes you have to show the dice who is boss.

Game Report Day 68 - Viticulture w/ Tuscany

Another fully booked Tuesday Meetup and, per the organizer's request, I brought another six player game.  With the previous weeks tied up with Evolution play testing, I had not brought Viticulture in a while and I figured it was due for an appearance.  The table for six filled up predictably quickly with some new and some slightly less-than-new players and a rousing game ensued.  I was more than a little worried when, due to a particular combination of cards, nearly the entire table had their full compliment of six workers at year two, putting myself and one other player at a potentially severe disadvantage.  Fortunately I was able to be unusually efficient with my actions on subsequent turns and kept within striking range of the points leaders, until the last year when I was able to end the game and win just before everyone else got their points engines to peak production.  When someone noted that I won mostly due to experience, I disagreed, pointing out that while experience may have helped a little, this was in fact the first six player game of Viticulture that I had won in quite some time.  Win or lose, fun was indeed had by all.

Game Report Day 69 - Uno

Sometimes after a busy day all players want to do something that requires nearly no brain activity.

We played UNO.  Nuf said.

Game Report Day 70 - Castle Panic

Since my wife and I were able to give our brains a break on the previous night, we both felt like we could put a little more energy into play.  But not too much.

So out comes one of the co-ops.  When both players are working towards the same goal, neither individual has to think as hard, right?

Well, perhaps we should have thought a little harder on this one, or perhaps it was another occasion where fate was just looking askance in our direction.  Needless to say what started out to be a promising game turned against us very quickly and the orc hordes destroyed our castle in spectacular fashion.

Game Report Day 71 - In a Pickle

This is one of those unfortunate games that I don't play often because I generally consider it to be a party game.  While it does play very well as a party game is technically can be played by two to similar amusing effect.  Fortunately this one had not yet been put away and was still sitting under the bedside table.  The wife suggested it mostly because she was dissatisfied with the outcome of the previous session (read she lost badly).  Unfortunately, the outcome of this session was not all that different, and in many ways probably worse.  While I think both of us had more useless cards than should ever be allowed, I had just enough to come out of it with a 5-1 win.

Game Report Day 72 - Cribbage

Despite the math and counting and probability involved with playing this game well, there is something fundamentally relaxing about playing classic card games.  This is why I firmly believe that there are some classic games that everyone should know and play.

It probably helps when I win.

Game Report Day 73 - Sleeping Queens

This is one of the vast library of Gamewright card game titles.  In this game you are presented with a field of Sleeping (face down) Queens of varying point value.  Your goal is to collect King cards to wake up a queen of your choice.  First to 5 queens or 50 points wins.  There are other mechanisms like stealing queens and sleeping potions and cards to counter both of those, but in general your goal is to run through the draw pile as fast as you can to get King to wake Queens.  It is all about draw probability.  Today probability was not in my favor and I lost in grand fashion.

Game Report Day 74 - Match the Penguins

Another day, another Gamewright card game.  This one involves more skill and a lot less luck.  The goal here is to slowly expose penguin cards.  These penguins have sever traits, shirt color, blanket color, sunglasses color, lei color, etc.  If only one trait matches, you call that trait out and pick up cards.  If two traits match, point them out and collect a card.  If all traits match collect cards.  The trick is making sure you see everything that is there.  There were a number of occasions that I was in the middle of noticing matching traits, when my wife repeatedly beat me to the fact that all traits on the cards matched.  There is probably a brain study somewhere in there that could be done.  Anyhow, because on this night my wife was significantly more observant than I, she won.

Game Report Day 75 - Pillars of the Earth, Between Two Cities

At the Tuesday Meetups, I often find myself in the position of teacher.  I do not mind this, as I used to do exactly that as a profession, and also because it allows me to get more of my games onto the table.

The previous week one of the other Meetup regulars asked if I would be willing to teach a game of Pillars of the Earth.  As this is another of the worker placement games that I very much enjoy, I was quick to accept.  There was also the advantage of there being a library copy of the game, so I did not have to lug mine in.  The interest in this particular game for the requesting player was in that she had read and enjoyed the namesake book.  I informed her that other than recognizing some of the referenced names, knowing the book gave no advantage in the game, quickly following up with the fact that I thought it was an awesome game anyway.

The game is played in two stages.  First players bid on resources that are eventually used to generate victory points.  Then players place workers (termed master builders) on various action spaces that, through various methods, make your generation of victory points from resources more efficient.  Over the course of the six rounds, the cathedral from the book is built.  At the end, the player with the high victory point total wins.

The original requester came out on top, with me very close behind.  In typical euro fashion, it came down to the very end.  Riveting game and fun had by all.  The one thing that I will do if I am in the mood to play again on Meetup night is bring my Stonemaier treasure chest resources, just to make a pretty game that much cooler.

Game Report Day 76 - Cribbage

Same reason as before.  Sometimes you just need something relaxing, but just that tiny bit stimulating and competitive.

Game Report Day 77 - Monopoly Deal

Some time ago Hasbro game out with card game version of some of their classic mass market games. Monopoly Deal is one of those.  It is wonderfully portable, short, and in the eyes of most gamers a far superior game compared to its namesake.  The goal is roughly the same.  You are collecting sets of colored properties.  Fortunately you don't have to buy them, just draw them.  There are a health number of wild cards to help you out as well.  It is not quite so easy as that, as your opponent can, with various action cards, charge you rent and if you don't have sufficient cash on hand, you may be forced to sell property, decreasing your chances of winning.

Unfortunately for my wife, on this occasion, dude to the luck of the draw, she had no chance of winning.  I had the required three property sets before she had one.  Still a fun game.

Game Report Day 78 - Tsuro

The Game of the Path.  Most times when I play this game I follow a pretty specific strategy.  Stay out of everyone's way and stay on the edges of the play field as much as possible.  More often than not, I lose doing this, so I thought I would be a little more random and a little more aggressive.

While it may not be a good idea to kill off a strategy based on one play, the initial results were not good.  I lost even faster.

Game Report Day 79 - Khet, Eye of Horus Beam Splitter Expansion, Khet 3D Tower of Kadesh

Khet is one of my favorite two player games.  It is basically chess with lasers.  Who wouldn't like that, right?  Unfortunately this game was also the source of one of my greatest gaming regrets.  There were two expansions to the base game.  The first introduced beam splitters.  The second added a third dimension with a tower, potentially bouncing the laser up onto a secondary platform.  I had neglected to purchase this second expansion when it was in print, and in years since it has been extremely difficult to find at a reasonable price, if at all.

A few weeks ago, while browsing on Ebay, I found one.  In ages past it was still priced at more that I would have paid, but this time I just pulled the trigger.  Today it finally arrived.  As expected it takes this wonderful abstract game and makes it look even more majestic.

After the initial play with my wife, she says "you took lasers and made my brain a puddle".  She tries to say that she is not great at abstract games, but I know that there are a couple where she routinely wins.  Either way in this case my strategy was pretty clever.  Make some obvious complicated moves that were not really going to amount to much to trick her into making the win much easier.  It would have been even MORE clever if I had planned it that way..

Good games played , and one more grail ticked off the wish list.  All told, not a bad day.