Chattanooga, Tennessee
March 2 – 5, 2000
Gulf Games 5 was my second visit, the first being in Destin, Florida in October 1999. Like the first, this event was excellent with a wonderful mix of games, people, and an overall great environment. While I played a lot of games, these are the ones that stick out:
CitadelS: Very good game, and although it uses the card selection mechanic from Verrater it felt like a different game to me. The powers may be somewhat unbalanced, but during two games it seemed like every position made a significant play at least once. Too bad the English edition is uncertain, but it still is easy enough to play with German cards.
New England RAILWAYS: I had played this once before, and it is basically Lancashire Railways with a new map, but nonetheless the game played here was tense, close, and overall very enjoyable. This is a game that works well, and everyone should try it even if rail games aren’t their normal cup of tea.
VICTORY AND HONOR: This was a prototype of Ty Douds, and it worked quite well. The game uses trick-taking card play to gain control, liberate, and earn Honor in old European countries. The scoring was interesting, and at the end we had a nice discussion about ways to quicken the pace while keeping the core of the game.
Day TRADER: Another prototype, this time by Derk Solko. This is a game about buying, selling, and selling short stocks in three different categories. The game uses an interesting “trend” mechanism, that when combined with dice rolls (perfectly acceptable for the “random walk” of stock prices) determine the share movements. Like Victory and Honor, the game ended with a good discussion of possible enhancements.
Pit: This is a game that is perfect for late at night, so our 12:30 am start was right on. Loads of fun, lots of screaming and continual hope followed by frustration as your last trade before the bell brings you the bear. Cassie Berg cleaned up on this after her dad couldn’t take the heat (joking, Craig!)
Code 777: The great logic game worked very poorly at 2:00 am but very well at 1:00 pm! I find it most interesting how different people approach this game and use the note pads. It?s too bad this one is out of print, since it is a game that works with anyone who likes puzzles
Time PIRATES: I was disappointed with this one, but we played with a wrong rule that (quoting a good friend from the Houston Gamers) made the game “longer than it is good.” Basically a set-collecting game with some nice features, but not one that caused much excitement.
SchnAPPCHEN JAGD: One of the better trick-taking games out there, where each player tries to collect one of nine different garage sale goods and optimize their trash so that they turn into points. This game works very well with three of four, and in fact is one of the better three player games available.
Gulf Games is a great time, and the event is especially enjoyable because of the family atmosphere. It?s great to see children enjoying the hobby that fascinates us all, and seeing Kayla Berg reach the finals of the Liar’s Dice contest was a real treat. See you all at Navarre Beach!