Birmingham, Alabama
February 13 – 16, 2003
To start off Gulf Games, I played a game that has been on my list of games to try for quite some time,
Igel Argen
I played with Ian Borthwick, Matt Albritton,Mark Jackson and Jeanette. The theme here is racing hedgehogs, but that’s thinly painted over an interesting roll and move racing game. Mark won the game.It’s a very good game, I look forward to getting my own copy.Rating=7
Stimmt So!
With Theresa, Mark J., Todd Adams and Tim Watson. I really enjoy this game of sock acquisition and commodity exchanges. There are a couple of decisions that need to be made, and maximizing your opportunity with these decisions can be a balancing act. I wanted to be more competitive in banks, but the cards were not falling in my favor. It seemed like whenever it was my turn to choose money from the pile there were a bunch of 1or 2 value bills waiting for me. Theresa won, which made her very happy because this is one of her favorite games. I like it too, my rating is 7
Klunker
With Mark J, Bryan Rankin, Jeff Stephens and Chris (Which one… Lohroff or Comeaux? My notes don’t say) OK, so I had a rule wrong, but nothing major. The game went along smoothly enough, but I fell 1 dollar short at the end as Mark won another game. Rating=8.5
Kupferkessel Co. x2
Next I taught this wonderful game of memory and movement to Shay Douds. I won the first game and she won the second, using the power of the 2 cards to devastating effect. Rating=8, it’s one of my favorite 2-player games out there.
Mein Lieber Biber
I played this with Nikole Adams, James Miller,Mark Jackson, Jeanette and Ariel Douds. This neat game combines card driven movement with dexterity and balancing skills.The board is balanced on a central post, and you race to move beavers from the center to the outside without tipping the board over. You score when you are able to move a beaver onto a space that matches his color, or when you can move a beaver over the waterfall at the dam space and move him off the board. I wouldn’t mind tracking down a copy of this game either. Mark won again. Rating=6.5
Korsar
Yes, you can play this without the partnership rules. It loses a bit when you play this way, but it’s still an enjoyable filler. I played with Larry Levy, Jim Cobb and Jay Jones. Larry won by 1 point, 35-34 over Jim. I came in last, plagued again by lousy card draws. Rating=6.5
Crokinole
I played one game of this with my son Nick, and I won (but it was close). Rating=7
Battlecards
This is a new card game that recreates battles of World War II.I’ve never played a CCG, but I suspect that this game borrows quite a bit of game play mechanics from that style of game. The designer had come to Gulf Games for a few hours to demonstrate the game, and I was able to play against him. It took almost two hours,as I had a lot of questions and didn’t fully understand how all the cards worked together. I enjoyed the game but I don’t think I’d be able to find opponents and it takes a long time to figure out the interactions between the cards. Fun game but the time I was able to spend playing it convinced me that it wasn’t for me.Rating=6
Ogallala
Next I played this game of collecting Indian canoes with Joe Huber, Ben Huber, Judy Kane and Theresa. It’s really a simple game, but the rules aren’t simple. Judy won by completing her third canoe before any of the rest of us had a complete canoe yet.Rating=6
Take it Easy
I only play this game in the tournament at Gulf Games, and I’m not very good at it. At my table were Stven Carlberg, Joe Huber, Ben Huber, Theresa, Susan Hendee, Sam Vander Ark and Nick Vander Ark. Stven won our table. My rating for this is 6, I don’t mind playing it but twice a year at Gulf Games is enough for me.
Ad Acta
I got to play another game on my “try” list, the game of government bureaucrats pushing papers. I played with Greg Schloesser, Kevin Gonzalez and Todd Adams. This was a neat game that I enjoyed playing after reading many positive reviews about it when it was released at Essen last fall. I don’t think I need to find a copy,but I’d gladly play it again. I forgot about my action cards, and may have been able to do a little better in the end. I didn’t record who won, but I came in either second or third. My rating=6.
Africa
I was happy to play this again with Joe Huber, who has a deep appreciation for the game. Joining us were Theresa, Thor and Ed Rozmiarek. I pulled to an early lead, but fell behind in the end to the gold and gem scores that those with base camps were able to accrue. I never drew a monument tile through the entire game.Despite this, it wasn’t until the final scoring that I was eliminated. There was a lot of good tension in this game, it felt exciting throughout. Compared to Carcassonne, another “random tile draw” game, this one is more evenly balanced, and I think it’s a better game. My rating=8
Metro
End of the night closer, played with Joe,Theresa and Thor. I finally won a multiplayer game today,despite being the target of several line closures after I took an early lead. The end result was not assured until almost the final tile was placed. Joe pointed out that the English translation I received from Funagain was in error. According to the translation you have the choice of playing the tile in your hand or drawing and placing a different tile. Joe says the original rules to Iron Horse, and the German rules to Metro say you can only draw if your tile is unplayable. This is the way we played tonight, and I don’t think it made any difference. I wonder if this is the correct translation of the rules, however, as it would change the way this game plays in some games. Either way I like the game a lot, rating it a solid 7.5.
Cribbage x2
I played with Michael Bland. I was going to go to bed after the Metro game but couldn’t. It has been a long time since I played this, but it’s one of my favorite two player games. Very fast and there’s a lot of tension throughout the game. I won both games. My rating=7
Friday, February 14
Union Pacific
My prearranged game with Sarah Samuelson and Stven Carlberg. Joining us were Thor Samuelson, Leon Hendee and Jeff Stephens. I don’t think either Sarah or Thor had played before, but Thor certainly seemed to grasp how to play very well. He won the majority bonus in Union Pacific stock each round, which made the difference in the game. Finals: Thor 93, Jeff 91, Sarah 82, Me81, Leon 77, Stven 63. Seating order (in case people wonder because of the reputation of this game: Sarah,Thor, Leon, Jeff, Me, Stven). My rating=8
Moderne Zeiten
I was looking forward to playing this ever since it was released at Essen. I played with James Miller, Jay Jones,Kay Jones and Leon Hendee. Another on my list of “must play” games at this Gulf Games,and it did not disappoint. Kay won the game, and I immediately put this one on my list of games to buy.My rating=7.5 with the potential to climb.
Clans
With Greg, Ed Rozmiarek and Chip Triplett. I wish I had remembered the rules clearly though the game, as I made several mistakes that prevented me from being competitive. Chalk it up to a learning game, this is one I’ll gladly play again. My rating=6 with the potential to climb. It plays quickly and offers a full “big game” experience in a short and sweet package. This one is a winner.
Entenrallye
I played this with Joe Huber, Mark Jackson,James Miller, Chip Triplett and Tim Watson. I can see the potential for fun in this game, but I didn’t experience it in this playing, however. I positioned myself to reach the first inspection point in time, but was passed by others when I couldn’t roll higher than 2. This caused me to move back and have to move again over part of the board I had already covered. The same thing happened tome with the first rally spot. I was first in the line coming to the rally, but bad die rolls allowed enough other racers to pass me so I missed this spot as well. By now there was no way I could win the game, because I had been shut out of scoring opportunities and others had already scored twice. There was still half the game to go, however. The idea behind the game is neat, trying to get the best scoring car parts on your car, making rallies and inspections on time, balancing your moving with repairing your car. The dice rolls really burned me throughout the game, however, and it ended up feeling like I had wasted my time. Rating=5
Mogul
I’ve been wanting to play this game ever since its release at Essen as well. It’s a clever game of bidding to buy and sell stocks. I played with Ian, Derk Solko, Charles Davis and Susan Rozmiarek. I came in second, Ian won after collecting and selling a pile of pink shares near the end of the game. I like this one, it will get a lot of play. My rating=7.5.
Russelbande
Time to race pigs again, this time I played with Sarah and Thor Samuelson, Stven Carlberg and Theresa.Thor won.
Clash of the Gladiators
I played this with a bunch of kids, which automatically made me the target. Timothy McCarthy won even though all his gladiators were eliminated. Lee Hendee and Nikole Adams were the other players. I forgot how much I like this game, we had great fun. My rating=7.
Canal Grande
I taught Chris Lohroff how to play, and he promptly beat me. I really enjoy this game, it’s got much of the good feeling of San Marco without some of the fiddly cube issues. My rating=7.5
Zapp Zerapp
With Theresa, Chris L. and Leon Hendee. I finally got the chance to find out what this game is all about, and found that it’s a pretty good game. I am not sure I can justify the cost of a copy, but I really liked the game. Theresa won, I had none of my pawns in the “home”space, but that didn’t matter, this one is fun.Rating=6.5
San Marco
I had the chance to play this with Thor and Sarah. I don’t remember who won, but it wasn’t me.
Apples to Apples
It was getting late after the San Marco game, so I went to watch a group playing Apples to Apples. When they finished, I joined for the next game. At the table were Frank Branham, Sandi West, Elaine Lohroff, Teresa, Craig Berg and Todd Adams. Sandi was the winner. My rating=6.5
Saturday February 15
Exxtra x2
I had watched some people playing this yesterday, and wanted to try it. Theresa had asked about buying a copy, but said she thought we should try it first. I played with Chris Lohroff, Jim Cobb, Dennis Mills and Thor Samuelson. Dennis won the first game. Jim and Dennis left for the second game, but Sarah Samuelson joined. She ended up winning. My rating=6, I like it but I prefer Can’t Stop in the “push your luck” dice game genre.
Drahtseilakt
The scary thing is that I can spell this without having to look it up. I’m not sure how to pronounce it, however. It’s the tightrope game, where you try to balance out the number of scoring sticks you take to be as close to or equal to zero as possible. I bought this game several years ago knowing nothing about it. I’ve played it a lot, and I feel it’s one of Knizia’s best short card games. I played with Chris,Sarah and Thor. I was leading going into the final hand, but Chris and Sarah both scored zero and Chris won. My rating=7.5
Expedition
I was pleased to have a chance to play one of my favorite games of all time, joined by Kim Berg and Theresa. This was a very closely contested game that I ended up winning 20-19 (Theresa). Kim trailed with 14. We constructed a loop that started in Asia, went into North America at the farthest north red dot on the edge of the map, and came back into Asia at the middle red dot. I’ve never seen a loop formed like that before in this game. My rating=10
Web of Power
I played this one with Chris Triplett, Dennis Mills, Jay Ouzts and Mark Jackson. I can never seem to figure out how to best try to use the advisor scoring in this game,and it showed once again as I trailed miserably. Dennis ended up winning, and it was the advisor scores that pulled him into the lead at the end. Very good game, my rating is 7.5
Ra
Believe it or not, I have never played this game. Well, there was one time that I played one round of it but we had to quit because of time, but that doesn’t really count because I had no idea what I was doing. I had seen a Ra score tile laying out on the lost and found table, and suggested it after our Web of Power game broke up. I was hoping to learn it from people that knew the game, and I was certainly able to do that. I played with Stven Carlberg,Chris Comeaux, Charles Davis and Mark Jackson. They were quite patient with me as I tried to figure out how the scoring would work and how to bid. I did quite well, coming in second with40 points to Chris’s winning score of49. Rating=7
Flowerpower
After the Ra game I walked toward the room the kids were playing in. Outside the room I found Susan Hendee looking like she needed to play a game and asked her if she wanted to try something. She agreed and we decided on Flowerpower. I took a diversification strategy, trying to build multiple beds instead of building one or two large beds. This paid off, as I was able to end up with several 2 point beds of several different flower types. I won the game by 3 points. Rating=7.5
Expedition
Two chances to play this game in one day! This time I sat down with Lee Hendee and Jay Jones. Neither of them had played before. It was nearing supper time, so we played a short game, each of us with 9 cards instead of the 12 for three players in the rules. I won the game in large part because I was able to score most of the public expeditions. Lee was only 1 point behind me, however.Rating=10
Nak Naks
Nak Naks are a collectible stacking robot game. Theresa found the mat Kay Bee toys, and bought several sets. Each robot has moving arms and legs, so you can change the center of gravity when you stack the piece by snapping the leg or arm one, two, or three clicks away from the body. Each player starts by placing one of their robots on the base. The base is an irregularly shaped surface with spots for robots to grip. It also is mounted on a central axle, and it swings like a teeter totter.On your turn you roll two dice. The first tells you whether you will add a robot to the stack or to the ground (the base). The second tells you which part of your robot must touch that surface(head, foot, hand, or wild). Any robots that fall on your turn get added to your pile of robots you need to successfully stack in order to win. To top it off, the base plays annoying music (fast and loud) that you can use as a 10-second timer. If you can’t get your robot stacked in 10 seconds you lose your turn.
Some of the robots have hooks or flat extensions from their hands or feet, which make it possible for you to build some incredible things as the robots hang on to each other, locked in place.
I played this with Frank Branham. We sort of skipped keeping score because we were having way too much fun stacking the robots. We also didn’t use the music timer,because the background noise in the game room made it almost impossible to hear. Ed Rozmiarek has some pictures of the incredible stacks we were able to complete.The one time I tried to take a picture I jostled the table reaching for my camera and knocked the stack down. Rating=6
Druidenwalzer
Frank and I played Nak Naks for about a half hour, then I taught him Druidenwalzer. This game has the reputation of being a brain burner, but it’s really not that hard.Most of the brain burner reputation is due to unclear rules translations. I found myself in the frustrating position of being unable to move any cards on the table with cards in my hands, as I had no matching numbers. This meant that Frank was able to whittle my card piles down quite quickly, and I soon lost my first tree. Things continued on a downward spiral after that, and Frank won shortly after this. Rating=7
Pick Two
I played this with Theresa, Judy Kane, Patti Adams, Chris and Elaine. I’d seen this being played at each of the previous Gulf Games I’ve attended, and knew it would be something I’d like. I remember playing a similar game using Scrabble tiles years ago. Everyone draws8 letter tiles from a central pile and builds a crossword puzzle from the tiles. When someone uses all of their tiles they call out” Pick Two” and everyone draws two more tiles, which need to be added to their crossword. This continues until the center pile is out of letters and somebody finishes their crossword. Your score is the number of points on the tiles you have left unplayed, with lowest score winning. You play several rounds and take the total score for to find the winner of the game. I won our game, with a total of 30 points. This game went straight onto our “buy” list. Rating=6.5
Klunker
At different times during Gulf Games I’d bump into Michael Weston and we’d comment how we hadn’t played a game together yet. After our Pick Two game I again saw Michael and since we were both free, we organized a game of Klunker. It took a bit to get started, but we finally found a few more people and sat down. I taught the game to Michael,Jay and Kay Jones and Michael Labranche. Kay won the game with 13 points to my 12. Michael liked the game well enough to immediately buy the last copy Ward had on his storetable. My rating=8.5
Nodwick the Card Game
I played this either Friday or Saturday, it’s alone on the page and I didn’t date the page. This is Frank Branham’s new game about rebuilding dungeon expedition henchmen who have been torn apart in combat. Or something like this. Frank taught the game (and won). I played with Theresa, Sandi West, Frank,Craig Berg and maybe somebody else. (Sorry if I missed you in my notes) The game is sort of like Pit, in that there’s trading going on as you try to acquire body parts and magic items or duct tape to put the pieces back together. We liked it enough to wander over to Ward’s storetable and buy a copy after we were done playing.
Plague and Pestilence
We were getting pretty tired by now, but Jay suggested we play Plague and Pestilence, a game about killing people in different cities.This sounded fun, so we found a few other people and played. At the table with me were Jay Jones, Frank Branham, Kevin Gonzalez and Sandi West.
There are two phases to this game. In the first phase you are building up a population of people in your city, both by rolling dice and adding cards and by playing cards that gain you more people. You also can play cards to improve your city, like adding city walls, etc. Other cards you play can affect other players,like sending Mongol Raiders to their city, etc. In the second phase of the game you lose a certain number of people each turn, and the card play directed against others gets nastier. The winner is the last player to run out of people in their city.
It’s a light game of hosing other players, and a lot of fun. It was the perfect choice for a game to close out a long day of playing, because it required virtually no thought and allowed for quite a bit of banter. I ended up winning the game. I’d like to find a copy, it worked perfectly for a 5 player closer. My rating=6
Sunday, February 16
I ended up doing more talking and visiting than playing today,although I did manage to get some good games in…
Brawl x2
I played this speed game twice with Mark Jackson in the morning. Interesting game, but nothing I’d spend a lot of time playing. Rating=5.5
Cribbage
When Greg saw me playing this the other night he asked if I’d teach Gail how to play, since she had recently bought a cribbage board. This morning was our chance. I’m not the best person to teach the game, but she seemed to catch on and our game ended up being very close. I won by8 points. Rating=7
Tante Tarantel
This is an early Doris and Frank game about bugs running away from a spider. The more bugs the spider catches, and the more bugs escape the spider web, the faster the spider moves. I played with Joe Huber, Ben Huber, Derk Solko and Emma LaBranche. Ben won. Too bad this one is out of print, I doubt I’d be able to find a copy and I’d like one. My rating=7
Tally Ho
I’ve never played this Kosmos two player game, but my son Nick wanted to try it so we sat down and figured it out. Ben Huber came over and gave us some helpful strategy hints as we went along. I won by 10points. I really enjoyed it as a light game to play with kids, and will look for a copy. My rating=6
Canal Grande
I taught this to Jeff Stephens and pulled out the win 6-4. The final score doesn’t reflect how close this was until the last division, where I selected two Doge cards and won both elections and the game. This is a great card game that feels like a board game, my rating is7.5
That was my last game during Gulf Games. I tried to put together a game of Regatta with Leon, Ian, Henry and one other person(sorry, can’t remember who) but with people leaving, decorations being taken down, etc., it was hard to get it started. Next we tried to get a game of Moderne Zeiten going, but that didn’t work either with all the interruptions.
So my final tally for Gulf Games 11:
47 games played
13 games won (counting 2-player games)
16 games played I’d never played before
10 games added to my “want” list
Countless friendships renewed and formed. Thanks Greg.
Hope to see you all in Williamsburg!