Pensacola Beach, Florida
February 21 – 24, 2002
Here is part 1 of my GG9 report, which is subtitled “What to do when you’re stranded in Rensallier, Indiana because I-65 is closed due to freezing rain.“
Hopefully we’ll make it home tomorrow. Imagine leaving Atlanta on Monday morning with the air conditioning on and getting snowed off the highway in Indiana 30 hours later.
Gulf Games 9 report
Wow! Another fantastic experience! Once again we had a terrific time. Thanks again to everyone who made it possible. The location was excellent and as always, the new and renewed friendships were the highlight of the trip. Leaving on Sunday is always a difficult thing for us, and each year is seems to get a little harder.
Highlights
Crokinole tournament
What a joy it was to be paired with Sheldon! We had a terrific time, even though we lost in the finals in a grueling match with Tim and Bryan. I hope the Crokinole tournament becomes a Gulf Games tradition. Thanks to Ben for organizing the event and to Sheldon for putting up with me.
Learning new games
Games that were new to me were:
Gnummies
Gargon
Shark
Pepper
Nicht Die Bohne
Ab in der Pool
Bus
Industrial Waste
Hick Hack im Gackelwack
Where’s Bob’s Hat
Olympia 2000
Honey Bears
Hits of the weekend (based on my observation)
Mexica
Industrial Waste (got a lot play on Wednesday and Thursday)
Hick Hack im Gackelwack
5ive Straight
Crokinole
Favorite sessions (not necessarily my favorite games, but the sessions I enjoyed the most)
Shark (nothing more rewarding than having Mark Jackson teach you a game and then beating him)
Fabrik der Traum
Rage (any game played with Craig Berg is a highlight for me)
Tichu (with Ben, Peter and Craig…. A personal favorite game of mine played with 3 terrific guys… thanks).
Crokinole (with Craig as my teammate and opponent… often playing both roles at once).
Bus (excellent game!)
Games I wanted to play, but didn’t (hello, Savannah!)
Mexica (A special thanks to Jay Tummelson for getting me copies of this game in time to sell at GG9)
Funkenschlag
Roads and Boats
Junta
Games played
2/19 (Tuesday)
Crokinole (x2)
We had a great opportunity to compare Crokinole boards at Gulf Games this year. We had a Heirloom board from Glenn Kuntz, a board from Wayne (I believe it was a Stratford), and a Sawdust Jim. Jim’s board sells on eBay for about $50.00, Wayne’s Stratford boards sell for about $100, and Glenn’s Heirlooms sell for $160. Having tried all 3 at Gulf Games, the phrase “you get what you pay for” is very applicable here. While Jim’s board looks very nice, the surface was very inconsistent (it needed some more sanding) and the pegs are not very elastic. They act more as barriers than bumpers, which really limits the ability to use them intentionally as part of a shot. Wayne’s board was very slow, but consistent, and bumpers where slightly more elastic, but again, not enough to penalize a bad shot nor could you count on them to send and opponents disk off the board if you try to use the bumper to do that. Glenn’s board was the board of choice for most of the players, especially the more experienced ones. The surface is fast and consistent and the pegs are very elastic.
Personally, I used to own a Stratford board, but recently moved up to an Heirloom, which I love. For people that want to see if they will enjoy the game, I’d recommend trying the Sawdust Jim board, and then moving up to an Heirloom (or one of Wayne’s nicer board… like a Grey Owl) if you enjoy the game.
2/20 (Wednesday)
Crokinole
Pepper
Hick Hack im Gackelwack: A very enjoyable light game… quite similar to Razzia, but for some reason, I enjoyed it a little more.
Industrial Waste: Thanks to James Miller for pulling this one out and teaching it to us. This game hasn’t received much attention since it’s release about a month ago, but I really enjoyed it. 3 to 4 players attempt to gain victory points by producing goods. In the process, they generate waste. As your wasted scale increases, the penalty increases when the industrial accident occurs. Players bid on cards which give them the opportunity to produce more efficiently (fewer workers needed or fewer raw materials needed), generate less waste per good produced, or change positions on the income chart. The system seems moderately complex, but makes sense after the first or second round… and it actually seems to work. Although there is little player interaction in this game, I enjoyed it and will be adding it to my collection. I think it will work well with 3 and is an ideal lunch hour game (45-50 minutes). Greg eeked out a victory, followed by me, Ian, and then James. We all rated this as a 7, except for James, who gave it an 8.
Where’s Bob’s Hat: The latest in a long line of Rage/Oh Hell variants…. This time it’s from Alan Moon. In this game, players bid that they will take the most cards in one or more of the 3 suits, or that they will take the fewest cards overall, with bonuses for making your bid and penalties for missing it. You start with 5 cards and increase the hand size by 1 each round until you get to 14. In the early rounds, we felt there was very little control and we expected this to change as the hand size increased. However, it did not. While I found the later hands to be more interesting, the rest of the group seemed pretty sour on the game from start to finish. I won because I had a single hand in which I bid that I would take the most in all 3 suits because I had several high trump. When I made it, it gave me a lead that was nearly insurmountable. In the end, I won with 93 points, followed by Mark Jackson (60), Rob Wood (30), and Larry (12). This game was given ratings of 3’s and 4’s, but after thinking about it a little more, I would probably give it a 5. I think it would be more interesting to get rid of the first several hands and start with 9 cards and play fewer hands, or simply deal them all out and play several 14 card hands (or perhaps 2-12’s, 2-13’s and 2-14’s). This would shorten the game, as well as remove the early hands, which weren’t very interesting.
2/21 (Thursday)
Industrial Waste: I taught this game to Ted, Tim and Mark. Mark won with 43, followed by me (34), Tim (30) and Ted (26). The reaction from the group was that the game was enjoyable because it didn’t drag on longer than it should have… 50 minutes or so, which feels about right for this game.
Gnadenlos: Perhaps due to the lower attendance, I found myself playing several games in a row with the same people as we waited for others to be freed up. As a result, the 4 of us decided to play something else together and Klaus Teuber’s western-themed Gnadenlos got the nod.
I hadn’t played this game since GG8 since nobody in my group owns it. In this game, you bid for characters that have ratings for their skill in gunfighting, poker playing, and gold digging. A deck of action cards is used to determine if a round will be a gunfight, a card game, or a gold hunt, and each player plays a card from their hand face down. The card with the highest number for the event wins and the owner receives money or points while the loser often suffers a penalty. The game ends when any 1 of several conditions are met, which guarantees it won’t outlast it’s welcome, which is 30-45 minutes.
As with my previous playing, I enjoyed the game very much. I managed to end the game 1 point ahead of Mark Jackson, with Ted and Tim lagging back a bit.
Gargon: We added Elaine to our little group and gave Gargon a try. In this game, players bid colored cards from their hand, in an effort to outbid their opponents. Bid cards are placed face down, but the backs are colored differently, so you have an idea how others are bidding. The player who bid the highest in each color gets to place the card they played in their score pile, and all the others of the same color from other players are discarded. The catch is that the 0 card is will double the total of the matching colored cards in your score pile. I enjoyed the game, but didn’t receive a single 0 card the entire game. I expected to finish last as a result. However, I was pleasantly surprised to finish in the middle of the pack, which changed my opinion about the game because I expected it to simply a matter of collecting 0’s. Tim Watson won with 53 points, followed by Ted (47), me (46), Mark (35) and Elaine (31). I would rate the game as a 6 initially, but that could change after another playing.
Schotten-Totten: Elaine and I looked for a quick 2-player game before dinner. I taught her Schotten-Totten. She didn’t seem to enjoy it much, but I would continue to rate this game a 7.
Crokinole: I played a couple of more matches of Crokinole while we waited for others to become available. I really enjoy this game as both a 2 player and 4 player game. We had 3 different boards at Gulf Games this year, and 1 or 2 of them were nearly always occupied. It’s quick to learn and the enjoyment increases as you become more skilled at the game. There is usually a lot of hooting and hollering (especially when playing with Ty) and always plenty of laughing (especially when playing with Craig). Great game! A 10 for me.
Liar’s Dice: I found Zane, Maybelle and Calvin Douds and Vickie Watson preparing for a game of Liar’s Dice, which I always enjoy. Vickie was down to 1 die almost immediately, but it was me that made the quick exit in the game. Vickie hung on to finish 2nd and Zane bluffed us all to a victory.
Olympia 2000: This was a new game for me. Similar to Gnadenlos, players have a hand of characters that are rated for different events. When an event is chosen, you choose a character from your hand to play, which the best rated character (lowest number) winning the laurels. This is a very short game (about 20 minutes) and we enjoyed it. Greg won with 25, followed by me (12), Elaine (8) and Ward (5). I’d rate it a 7.
Bus: I’ll be looking to add this game to my collection very soon. This is a moderately intense game in which players build bus lines through a city and transport the inhabitants from home to work, then to the local drinking establishment, and then back home. Players bid for the actions they want to do each round, which include adding to the bus line, adding a bus to their fleet, building more homes, offices, or bars (hopefully along their routes), stopping time (to keep others from moving people), transporting people, and being the start player in the next round. There are many decisions to be made each round, which meant that some of the rounds dragged on, but this allowed the non-active players to consider their actions, so there didn’t seem like a lot of downtime.
This was a big hit among all the participants, except perhaps Jim. Tim won, followed by me, Leon, Ward and Jim. I’d rate this game as a 7.5 initially, with potential for a higher score after a second play.
Crokinole: More Crokinole….. Ideal filler. It’s always set up and you can quit the game at any time.
Tichu: One of the things I look forward to at Gulf Games are the late night games of Tichu. With Derk absent, we had to find some others that were willing to participate. Peter McCarthy and Craig Berg accepted the invitation from Ben and I and we played a grueling game to 1000. Craig and Ben won rather convincingly, after overcoming a rather large deficit. I made a successful grand Tichu call in the final hand to make the game respectable. Final score: Ben/Craig 1040, Chris/Peter 860.
Crokinole: Ben talked me into “1 quick game” of Crokinole after Tichu finished (at about 3 am), which turned into two 4 round matches that were highly competitive and very enjoyable. Ben is a GREAT guy and I’m really glad I decided to stay up and play.
2/22 (Friday)
Schnappen Jagd: Craig, Vickie and I played this great Uwe Rosenberg card game, which proved once again that it is a terrific game for 3 players. Craig’s rule explanation revealed that I had been playing the game wrong. We never allowed clearing unless 3 or more cards could be cleared. Craig pointed out that any number can be cleared, which made the earlier clearing rounds much more interesting. Vickie won with 10 (a high score for this game) while Craig and I finished with 6.
5ive Straight: This was a huge hit a Gulf Games this year. I suspect that 15 or 20 games of 5ive Straight were played. It’s a great filler (15-25 minutes) and accommodates 2,3,4 or 6 players very nicely, although most of the games I saw were 4 player games. Craig and I beat Elaine and Vickie.
That’s it for now.