New Orleans, Louisiana
February 25 – 28 , 1999
THURSDAY, FEB. 25
Igel ARGERN.
While waiting for the throng to begin arriving, I introduced the Douds family (Ty, Shay, Ariel & Zane) to this light but fun hedgehog racing game from Doris & Frank. The game has a strong feel of backgammon (which I’m not a fan of), but is different and novel enough to make it enjoyable. Five people can be a bit too many, though, as the game is best when it can be played in about 30 minutes. This one took about an hour. It is fun, however, hopping your hedgehog on top of your opponents pieces, thereby preventing them from moving.
By the way, there are over 40 variants to the game, so there is a virtually endless variety of games one can play with this set. I was the first to get a hedgehog across the finish line, but it proved my last as Ty swept to a victory by getting three of his across before everyone else.
Ratings: Ty 7, Shay 7, Greg 6
DavID & GOLIATH
With the arrival of the Tennessee and Mississippi crews, as well as the late riser Jonathan Degann, I introduced them to my recent acquisition of David & Goliath, a surprising Spiel das Jahres nominee.
This is a trick taking card game with a bit of a twist … the player who plays the lowest valued card in a round takes the highest card, while the player who played the highest valued card takes the remaining cards played. Players each have an equal number of cards to play, and when all have been played, scoring occurs. The real twist is that players get full points for a particular color they’ve collected IF and ONLY IF they have collected only 1 or 2 of that color. Otherwise, they only get one point per card in that color. So, it is wise to attempt to only collect one or two cards of each color in order to maximize points.
I must say that I am enjoying this game more and more each time I play it. The strategies become a bit more evident with each playing. It’s good … but not deserving of a Spiel das Jahres nomination.
We played two hands, and Chip Triplett came from last place in round one to capture a victory. The round by round scores were:
Chip: 23 + 54 = 77
Ted: 31 + 39 = 70
Greg: 30 + 39 = 69
Jonathan: 38 + 40 = 68
Ratings: Chip 7, Ted 5, Jonathan 5, Greg 5
TIKAL
My first real ‘meaty’ game of the get together. I’ve been wanting to try this one ever since I saw the fabulous pictures of it on Mik Svellov’s Brett and Board site.
The game did not disappoint. The board is beautiful and it is laid out (discovered) in a similar fashion as that used in EL Caballero. Each turn, players bid on the right to move and place a tile first. Tiles are ‘drafted’ from a set of face up tiles, so bidding can be fierce as players angle to grab the tile which they feel will benefit them the most.
From that point, players have 10 action points in which to perform their actions. These can range from moving to new areas, placing new explorers on the map, setting up camps, digging for treasures, increasing the value of a pyramid dig, or outright claiming a pyramid as their own. Early on, there are never enough points to accomplish everything one wishes to do. Later, however, I found the choices became limited as the board filled up and most pyramids and digs were tapped out. This was a minor disappointment, but not enough to spoil my overall impression of the game.
The feeling throughout the game was one of constantly trying to beat your opponent to that valuable treasure site or pyramid. Again, it was always agonizing deciding how to spend the 10 action points and utilize them to peak efficiency. The game also did a very good job in evoking a good sense of the theme utilized (searching and digging for treasures in the Mayan jungles and ruins).
The game is scored in four rounds, which can occur somewhat randomly when a volcano tile is revealed. Everyone gets a chance to make a move before the scoring takes place, so no one is completely hosed by this randomness.
Here were the round-by-round scores:
Round 1: Greg 33, Jonathan 28, Ted 27, Chip 25
Round 2: Jonathan 54, Greg 46, Ted 43, Chip 39
Round 3: Jonathan 80, Greg 71, Ted 71, Chip 58
Round 4: Greg 109, Jonathan 106, Ted 103, Chip 94
It was a very close race to the finish, and I almost lost the game by not seeing a possible side move into one of my pyramid locations that Chip exercised. Fortunately for me, he chose not to usurp control of the pyramid as this would have used up too many of his action points which he needed elsewhere in order to maximize his score for that round.
The game was thoroughly enjoyed by all and seems like a sure bet to make the Spiel das Jahres list this year.
Ratings: Jonathan 8, Chip 8, Greg 8, Ted 7
CAPE HORN
This is another of the new 1999 Rio Grande releases, but, unfortunately, not one of the better titles. The idea is to steer your ship around Cape Horn, making a couple of key stops at navigational markers along the way. Movement, however, is determined by prevailing winds, which are determined by tile placements by the players.
This mechanism shouldn’t be too difficult, but for some reason players remained confused throughout the game as to how exactly there ship could move based on the numbers of the tiles played. I’ve played twice, so I grasped the concept a bit better than my opponents, who struggled throughout the game with the movement system.
The game does offer two possible paths to victory. One is to successfully reach a navigational marker in two different regions, BUT the markers MUST be of different colors. Then, race to the finish and be the first to cross.
The second method is to successfully reach three different colored navigational markers in three different regions. Then, victory is achieved immediately with no race for the finish line.
The idea of the game is to attempt to lay the quickest path to the various navigational markers for yourself, while at the same time laying tiles to thwart your opponent’s efforts to do the same. Actually, not a bad concept at all, but for some reason the game does fall a bit flat. What doesn’t help is the board and pieces are very bland and cannot stand up to the wonderful bits and pieces of such new releases as Tikal, Big City or Die Handler.
In any case, I managed to lay a series of tiles which enabled me to quickly reach the required three navigational markers, while others seemed mired in conflicting winds. I think most got the hang of the game, but just didn’t seem too impressed.
Ratings: Greg 6, Lenny 5, Jimmie 4, Ty 4, Eric 4
FOR SALE
Mark Jackson had not yet played this great little card game of real estate transactions and intense bidding, so now was the perfect time to introduce him to it.
The mechanics are fairly simple: Real estate properties are placed up for bid in lots equal to the number of players (in our case four). The properties carry values ranging from 1 – 20. Players, who each begin with 15 bidding chips, take turns bidding. Players who drop out of the bidding receive half of their bid back and take the lowest valued property remaining on the block. The player who bids the highest pays his full bid but takes the highest valued property. This cycle continues until all properties are auctioned.
Then, the selling begins. A number of checks equal to the number of players are turned over. The check values range from $0 (there are two of these insidious values) to $20. Players then each secretly play one of their properties, effectively offering them for sale. The player who played the highest valued property takes the highest valued check, and so on. This continues until all properties are sold. The value of the checks collected are then totaled, along with 1 point for each bidding chip which wasn’t used, and the totals recorded. Three rounds are played and scores accumulated to determine the winner.
This is a fun, intense little bidding game that everyone I have ever played with thoroughly enjoys. Mark Jackson immediately placed it on his ‘ Must Have’ list. No wonder, as he captured the victory:
Mark 178, Lenny 171, Shanna 165, Greg 147
MAMMA MIA
The Schloesser family opted to show Mark Jackson Mamma Mia, the addictive pizza game from Uwe Rosenberg, creator of the popular Bohnanza game. This was Mark’s first playing, and it took him awhile to get the hang of when to place his pizza order. No matter, though, as he seemed to have a great time with the horrible Italian accents and fun antics of the game.
The idea is simple enough. Each player has eight pizza orders they must attempt to fill during the game. Players play ingredients from their hand into a common ingredient pile. They may play as many of ONE TYPE of ingredient as they desire. They also may play ONE order if they desire onto the pile. Problem is the orders will be filled in the order in which they were played using ONLY those ingredients which were played before them AND have not yet been used to fill other orders. Thus, there is a bit of a memory element involved, but if you’re like me, I tend to forget what was played after a round or two and use my best guess.
Once the ingredient draw pile is depleted, the common ingredient stack is then laid out into ingredient piles, with each order attempting to be filled from these piles as it is revealed. It is loads of fun to see orders not filled (well, at least if it is your opponents order!), along with the resulting comments uttered in bad Italian accents. If there are enough ingredients in the ingredient stacks to fill an order, that order is removed from the game and scores a point for the player. A player may fill missing ingredients from his hand, if possible, but this will leave him temporarily short-handed for the next round. It is usually worth it, however, to insure that the order is properly completed.
This continues for three rounds and the player who completed the most orders is the ‘Pizza King’. Again, the great fun of this game comes in the wacky Italian accents and hilarious outbursts it evokes. It is a fairly simple game, but a hoot to play. It is quite addicting.
Mark proved why he is a minister and not a pizza proprietor as he was only able to complete one order during the game. Gail, however, managed to complete four, which is usually not to impressive, but won the day with this group.
Finals: Gail 4 (5 ingredients remaining in hand), Lindsay (4 ingredients remaining in hand), Greg 4 (3 ingredients remaining in hand), Mark 1
Ratings: Gail 7, Greg 7, Lindsay 7, Mark 6
CAFE INTERNATIONAL
Continuing my trend of introducing others to games they hadn’t yet played, Cafe International was next on the table. Shay Douds took Gail’s place, joining Lindsay, Mark and I in another food related game.
This 1989 Spiel das Jahres nominee involves seating international customers at the proper tables to insure the maximum amount of points. Patrons must be seated at tables of their own nationality, but may share a seat between two tables of different nationalities. Mixed nationality tables, however, score fewer points than tables which consist of all one nationality. Plus, there must be a proper mix of male and female patrons at each table.
Each player begins with five tiles with caricatures representing patrons of various nationalities (Americans, French, British, Turkish, etc.). On a turn, a player MUST play at least one and may play up to two patrons. However, each tile played MUST score. We do use the rule wherein the first tile doesn’t have to score PROVIDED the second tile does result in a score for both of them. This does make the game much more interesting and provides more options. If a player is unable to score, he MUST send a patron to the bar. The first five tiles sent to the bar result in positive points. After that, however, it is all downhill point-wise.
Points are scored as follows: 2 points for a couple; 3 points for a three-some (must be 2 of one sex and 1 of the other); 4 points for 2 couples of mixed nationality; 8 points if one completes a table of all one nationality. Further, if one completes a one-nationality table, he draws one less replacement tile, which is important as all tiles remaining in a player’s hand at the end of the game cost that player five points.
There are also four ‘multi-national’ tiles which are used like jokers. These can be used as any tile, but must match the male or female caricature on the tile itself. One neat aspect is that they can be plucked off of the board back into a player’s hand for future use IF a player may place THE tile which would have fit in the joker’s place (example: a Turkish male in the place of a male joker at the Turkish table). This provides some interesting scoring opportunities which can bring in mucho points.
Admittedly, the game is fairly light, but it does offer a bit more than initially meets the eye. Sometimes it is wise to pass up quick scoring opportunities, holding a tile in hopes that a table develops in such a fashion that you can ultimately close it out for a complete one-nationality table or make multiple scores with the placement of one tile. I have now played repeatedly and find it just as enjoyable with each repeated playing.
Shay had trounced me on our previous playing the weekend before, but I managed to eek out a victory this go round:
Greg 57, Shay 56, Lindsay 47, Mark 45
Ratings: Greg 7, Shay 7, Lindsay 7, Mark 6
KLUNKER
Another new card game from Uwe Rosenberg, and yet another winner. The strange name is related to jewelry in German, and for some reason the name will remain the same in the English release. Hmmmmm….
I described the game a bit more fully on the Gaming Reports section of the Westbank Gamers website, but it basically involves the offering, purchasing and selling of various jewelry items. The idea is to collect sets of four, preferably only one item at a time. Each additional item collected reduces the cash intake by $1, so being careful what one places in his safe is vital.
The game ‘feels’ light, but there are some nice decisions to be made. It also is one which takes a playing or two to get the real feel of the game and its mechanics. Don’t judge this one on just one playing and please overlook the awful artwork.
Interestingly, experience was of no help to me in this go round. I managed to score 19 points in my first game on Wednesday evening, but barely broke even this go round with only $2.
The finals: Lenny 16, Shay 14, Eric 6, Greg 2, Mark 1
The amazing part is that Lenny claimed he had absolutely no idea what he did to win!
Ratings: Shay 7, Greg 7, Mark 7, Eric 5, Lenny 5
MONEY
This one is a major disappointment from Reiner Knizia. Frankly, I expect more from him. Although the cards are very nice (hard card stock with authentic currency artwork), the game mechanics are extremely bland. Dull. Uninspiring. Well, at least to me.
Players are trying to collect the most valuable set of currency. Each currency represented comes in the following denominations: three 20’s, three 30’s, one 40, one 50 and one 60. There are also a few $10 Kugerans thrown in. The catch is that a player must accumulate $200 worth of a currency in order to receive its full value. Otherwise, $100 is subtracted from the score. Thus, $180 would only score $80. There is also a $100 bonus for managing to collect all 3 of one denomination ($20 or $30).
The basic mechanism is a simple exchange of cards. Two sets of four cards are set out, and each player places a bid of currencies from their hand on the table. The player who placed the highest bid (ties are broken by the lowest serial number on the cards …YUCK!) can either exchange his bid cards for one of the two sets of four cards, OR any one of the other players bids. That’s it. Yep, that’s it. Nothing more than that.
The game is played until the deck of currency cards is depleted, and the player who accumulated the highest value of currencies wins. Yawn.
I played twice and it left me just as bored each time. Nothing of value here. Move on.
Mark 450, Eric 440, Ty 370, Greg 330, Lenny 250
Ratings: Mark 7, Eric 7, Ty 7, Greg 4, Lenny 2
TITAN: THE ARENA
Ty had never played this little gem from Reiner Knizia and released by Avalon Hill. It is based on an original Knizia design which had the theme of betting on horse races. Apparently, the Hill thought a fantasy theme would sell better … and they were probably correct.
This game has been around for awhile, so I won’t bother explaining it in detail here. The basic idea is to place bets on fantasy characters and try to see those characters through to the finals while eliminating those whom your opponents bet upon. There is some nice card play involved, and each of the characters has special abilities which may be utilized by the player who has placed the most bets upon that character.
Mark is a master at this game and has an impressive array of FAQ on his Game Central Station website. His experience showed as he nudged out Ty in a tie-breaker (having slain the most characters):
Mark 10, Ty 10, Greg 8, Eric 0
Ratings: Greg 8, Mark 8, Ty 7, Mark 7
CAMPANILE
For some reason, I enjoy this Titan: The Arena clone of building medieval towers and placing bets as to which will end up being the tallest. The restrictions incorporated into the game in regards to betting, selecting a card and which stack you may refill your hand from intrigue me, but have left most who have played the game cold. Different strokes, I guess.
Again, I have more fully described this game on the Westbank Gamers website under the Gaming Reports section, so I won’t repeat myself here. I will say that it again left my fellow players unimpressed.
Eric 16, Mark 7, Greg 7
Ratings: Greg 6, Mark 5, Eric 4
MAMMA MIA
The closer for the evening. Well, really, it was the closer for the morning as it was something like 3AM. Jonathan, Ted and Iplayed a final hand of Mamma Mia. This one was a hoot. Ted and I were using horrible Italian accents, while Jonathan, who grew up in New York, was using a frighteningly authentic mafioso accent. I was downright scared. He can be quite intimidating while in that role. Remind me to never, ever get him angry!
The game was a laugh riot, due to the accents and the fact that Ted managed to somehow NOT fill an order until the final round. As Ty, who was observing the humorous proceedings, said: “Ted, you maka a piss-poora pizza!”
Ted did manage to fill four orders in the final round, but it wasn’t enough to contest for the win:
Jonathan 7, Greg 6, Ted 4
Ratings: Jonathan 8, Greg 7, Ted 6
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26
To bed at 3:30 AM, up at 6:45 AM. Games were beckoning …
MAMMA MIA
Can’t think of a better game to begin the day with! Mark Jackson, Chip Triplett and Tim Watson wandered in around 8 AM so Mark and I introduced Chip and Tim to this pizza making delight.
I proved ‘Papa Pizza’ in this match: Greg 7, Mark 4, Chip 3, Tim 3 Ratings: All 7’s.
PAPUA
The same crew of 4 then were lured into one of Mark’s new games, an old Parker title called Papua. Actually, this is a cute game on the same ‘level’ as Survive. I call this one, “Run or be Eaten!”. The basic theme is to escape from the cannibal’s camp, dash through the woods, and be the first to make it to the boat which takes you to safety.
Movement is by throwing the die and moving one of your tokens the stated amount. The ‘catch’ is that tokens may only move together in groups through most of the board. Only at the very beginning and near the end are they free to dash off on their own. Otherwise, they must stick together in at least pairs. When the die is thrown, you can move two or more tokens which are next to each other that number of spaces.
What makes the game even more insidious is there are spaces along the path in which the hungry cannibals capture the unfortunate token who landed there and return him to their boiling pots. This has the effect of splitting groups into smaller parties, or completely stranding a lone, helpless token in the woods, unable to move until he is joined by another party. Further, if a token lands on the same space as another token, that token is returned to the boiling pots.
But one cannot simply form an alliance with another player and make a dash for the finish. There are spaces on the board which require the players to halt and rest. This allows other parties to ‘close the gap’ so the finish can be a bit more contested.
This is a very simple, family oriented game, but the layout of the board with its ‘must stop’ and ‘captured by a cannibal’ spaces makes it enjoyable for adults, too. Plus, the cute faces painted on the tokens are amusing.
In spite of a quick start by my tokens, Mark and Tim managed to find themselves in a mutually beneficial group and maneuver themselves far ahead of Chip and I. Mark’s luck proved superior and he was able to make the dash to the boat ahead of Tim for the victory.
Ratings: Tim 7, Chip 7, Greg 6, Mark 6
KLUNKER
With the arrival of my wife and daughter, I eagerly grabbed Klunker, wanting them to try it as this seemed like Gail’s kind of game. Although I enjoy this game, I was thoroughly trounced yet again as Shay, who is one sharp player, captured a victory over Ty.
Shay 15, Ty 12, Gail 10, Lindsay 7, Greg 5
CHINATOWN
On to the highlight game of the show for me. I was expecting another ‘ Big City‘, which I enjoyed, but this one is SOOO much more.
The basic idea is to gather the necessary adjacent areas in various buildings in order to construct the optimal size businesses. In order to accomplish this, however, one must negotiate, trade, wheel-and-deal, threaten and coerce their opponents. But it is not just ‘land’ plots one is trading. No, just about anything is ‘free game’ here. Land plots, business tiles, established businesses, money, etc. Anything goes. Ahhhh … how sweet it is!
The board is divided into 6 large building areas, each containing various building spaces (I forget the actual number in each). There are corresponding cards to each of these spaces. Possession of the card means that a player can lay claim to the corresponding building space … but only up to three per turn. Laying claim is represented by playing the card and placing a colored chip on the location. This is important since one can only lay a business tile after a chip has been laid. Thus, it is a 2-step process.
Next, there are various business tiles (watchmakers, jean manufacturers, pharmacies, laundries, etc.). Each type of business has an optimum value (ranging from 3 – 6), which means if a player is able to build the business so that it contains that number of adjacent plots, it will yield the greatest income. Anything less yields a substantially reduced income. This is the impetus for the frantic trading round … trying to acquire the necessary adjacent land plots AND those extra few business tiles to complete a business to its ‘completed’ status.
Player may lay up to three land plots from their hand (hand limit of 6, I believe) each turn, ‘claiming’ these as business plots. These are marked with chips. Then, the trading begins. Players frantically begin calling out plots and business tiles they are looking for and what they are willing to offer to acquire these plots. One, of course, wants to get the sweetest deal possible without helping their opponents too much. Further, what always seems to happen is that you trade away that unwanted jean factory tile, only to draw three jean factory tiles during the next round. AARGGHH!!
Once the trading is completed, and ‘claimed’ business plots which changed hands are remarked with the chips of the new owners. Players may then play business tiles from their hand onto the business plots they have already claimed. This, too, is always a tough decision as it is very rare that a player will possess enough tiles in hand to begin and complete a business on one turn. Usually, he is betting on being able to obtain the necessary adjacent land plots AND the few remaining tiles he needs to complete the business on future turns. This can be risky as these tiles and plots will likely not be drawn by the player, but by his opponents, so he will have to negotiate for them. Opponents will usually make you pay a very steep price to obtain those needed plots and tiles.
So why not just wait until you have all the plots and tiles in hand? Well, then you are losing money (even unfinished businesses earn an income) AND taking up space in your hand. The hand limit for tiles and cards is six apiece. It is highly unlikely you will be able to manage your hand to such an extent as to obtain 6 adjacent plot cards and 6 tiles of the same business type. Risks must be taken.
There is a further incentive. Each turn a card is revealed which sometimes throws in bonuses for certain types of businesses. You only benefit if you have those types of businesses on the board. Thus, one cannot play it close to the vest in this game and hope to win.
The game is played in six rounds, so clocks in at about an hour or a little better. In that hour, however, it packs a wallop. The trading, negotiation and wheeling and dealing is simply delicious. My insides were dancing with glee as I played. It was an extremely satisfying … and exhilarating … gaming experience. A MUST BUY.
Finals: Greg 122, Mark Jackson 98, Jon Pessano 97, Vonda Matthews 95
Ratings: Greg 9, Mark 9, Vonda 9, Jon 7 (and he professes to dislike negotiation games)
Please do take note that apparently the game plays much better with 4 players than 5 as the tiles become too scarce in a 5 player game and reduce the player interaction. Those who played in both 4 and 5 player games vastly preferred the 4 player matches.
LOST CITIES
I followed up Chinatown with a two player match of Reiner Knizia’s new Lost Cities. Lenny Leo had explained the rules to me earlier, but we didn’t get to play as others arrived and we hopped into a multi-player game instead. But I kept thinking that the rules seemed to simple and that the game must be pure vanilla. Boy, was I wrong. This game is FANTASTIC!
Sure, it is simple in the mechanics, but the strategic subtleties are amazing. The theme (pasted on, sure, but works due to the incredible artwork on the cards) is that of searching for various lost cities … five in all … in different terrain … Atlantis, Himalayas, Volcanos, etc. The clever artwork actually draws you a bit closer to the destination with each higher valued card.
The deck consists of 5 different colors which correspond to the five expedition cities. Each ‘expedition’ has cards numbered 2 – 10, plus three ‘handshake’ cards which have the effect of doubling, tripling or quadrupling the ultimate score of that expedition, be it positive or negative.
There is also a central board which has a discard space for each of the five expeditions and on which either side players play cards of the appropriate expedition.
The mechanics are simple … play or discard a card, then replace the card from the face down draw pile OR from the top of one of the five face-up discard piles. There are some significant restrictions, however:
1) Cards may only be played sequentially. Thus, if you were to begin an Atlantis expedition with a card valued at ‘4’, you will never be able to play the ‘2’ or ‘3’ Atlantis card on that expedition.
2) The ‘handshake’ cards MUST be played BEFORE any other card is played on that expedition if you desire to use them. Otherwise, they are worthless and must either be held in your hand or discarded.
3) A score of ’20’ (before doubling, tripling or quadrupling) per expedition is the ‘break-even’ requirement. Thus, if you only amass cards totaling 16 points, your score is a ‘-4’ for that expedition (before any multipliers are applied).
These restrictions lead to some extremely tough choices. It is VERY rare that you will be fortunate enough to have drawn enough cards into your hand (the hand limit is eight cards) to make an expedition profitable. Thus, chances must be taken by beginning an expedition BEFORE you know for certain if it will be profitable or not. Further, do you begin the expedition with a ‘5’ card, knowing well that if you ultimately draw the ‘2’, ‘3’ or ‘4’ cards, they will be worthless to you? And the really agonizing decision … do you take a chance and play one or more ‘handshake’ cards in hopes of multiplying your eventual score, which could wind up being a negative score? Tough, tough decisions.
But it doesn’t end there. It is important in this game to keep a flow of cards going through your hand to keep your options open. However, this means having to play or discard a card each turn. Discarding a card can be agonizing as your opponents has the opportunity to scoop cards from the discard pile. So, your trash may be your opponent’s treasure. One must exercise great care in what is discarded so as not to benefit your opponent.
The game ends when the draw pile expires, which comes all too quickly. Thus, holding cards too long in one’s hand can ultimately be costly as time may run out before you have chance to play them. Cards held in your hand at the end of a round are worthless. Timing when to play cards is a critical talent in Lost Cities.
The game is played in three rounds and the player who accumulated the most profit from their expeditions is crowned the next ‘Indiana Jones’ and is the victor.
This was a BIG, BIG hit for me (and everyone who played) and a pleasant surprise. Again, another MUST BUY for me.
I managed to jump all over Vonda during our first round as she suffered from some incomplete expeditions while I saw three of mine through to great profits. Round 2 saw us both go into the red as we played a fiercely defensive game. Vonda bested me in Round 3, but it wasn’t enough to overcome my large lead.
Greg 137, Vonda 51
Ratings: Greg 8, Vonda 7
NEW ORLEANS BIG BAND
This is an older title which has many characteristics of a logic type puzzle. Players collect various musicians (represented by cards) from around the New Orleans French Quarter and attempt to assemble the best jazz band. Problem is most of the musicians are extremely eccentric and have quite a few personal caveats as to who they will play with. A player must balance all of these restrictions and form a complete band (which means having at least one musician from 5 musical categories).
The game mechanics are very simple. Move your token (a cute piano piece) and pick up a card. If it is a musician, keep it behind your screen. If it is an event card, perform the actions described.
After eight rounds of collecting musicians, a trading round ensues after each subsequent round. Players wheel and deal musicians, attempting to rid themselves of those artists too picky to play in
their band and acquire new musicians which compliment their existing band mates. We play that the restrictions listed on each band member card may not be disclosed during the trade .. only their point value and the category to which they belong may be revealed. This makes the game much more interesting and captures some of the uncertainty inherent in other trade games such as Civilization.
Nothing terribly special here, but a fun family game nonetheless.
Finals: Vonda 643, Shay Douds 640, Greg 545, Jimmie Williamson 436, Lindsay 187, Chip Triplett 0 (failed for form a complete band).
Ratings: All 6’s.
KLUNKER
Westbank Gamer Jay Ouzts finally arrived so I connived him into a game of Klunker. After two incredibly poor performances, I finally managed to make some nice sales and pull off a victory.
Greg 13, Jimmie 7, Chip 6, Ty 5, Jay 0
Ratings: Chip 8, Greg 7, Ty 7, Jimmie 7, Jay 6
TAKE IT EASY
During the Welcome Party, which was filled with neat contests and mixers designed by Ted Cheatham, we held a massive group game of Take it Easy. I don’t exactly recall who won our table (I think my wife Gail did), but Chip Triplett took the contest, scoring in the 190’s on his very first playing ever. Little EmmaLabranche (age 8) scored and impressive 181!
EL CABALLERO
Jay Ouzts had been wanting to play this pseudo El Grande / Entdecker expansion, so we were joined by Lenny Leo and Jonathan Degann for a fairly intense .. and surprisingly quick moving match. The game does have a tendency to drag as players over analyze each potential move, but this group made their plays rather quickly and kept the game moving at a reasonable pace.
Jay Ouzts promises a full review of this one, so I won’t go into detail describing the mechanics. The basic idea is to capture majority or at least secondary control of as many land masses as possible (or at least the largest land masses), as well as set up shipping trades in the profitable waters. One must constantly keep a wary eye on the potential for being dislodged by the formation of new land areas, however, as caballero tiles may only touch one land area each. We did play by the Advanced rules (El Grandes and governors), however we all agreed to only play 7 rounds as we saw no real reason to play the 10 rounds called for by the Advanced rules.
The match was very intense, with the lead swinging between Jay, Jonathan and I throughout the game. Only Lenny was left in the dust. In the end, Jay squeaked past Jonathan and I for a narrow and impressive victory:
Jay 81, Greg 76, Jonathan 74, Lenny 37
Ratings: Jay 9, Jonathan 8, Greg 8, Lenny 7
SIESTA
No, we didn’t take a break. Siesta is one of the new Rio Grande releases and falls squarely in the abstract category. Now, I am not a big fan of abstract games. In fact, I usually avoid them completely. Only a few have every really caught my interest (Twixt, for one). However, I really wanted to try ALL of the new Rio Grande releases so grabbed the game and recruited Frans Labranche into the action with Jonathan, Jay and I.
As far as abstracts go, this one isn’t bad. The board is beautiful … highly polished wood board with nice, colored wood bits. Tons of ’em. Nearly the entire board is filled by game’s end.
The idea is to place sun tokens and houses so that the sun casts the longest shadow possible. Suns can only be cast shadows over a roof, so placement of a sun token immediately adjacent to a shadow token is verboten.
Players have three placements they can make per turn. The strategy is to try to merge lines of shadows as players score for the number of shadows in a line for which they haven’t already scored points. As the board begins to fill, these merger opportunities increase and the scores per turn escalate.
This is a rather intense little game, but options due seem limited and even more so once the board begins to reach capacity. It has a very mechanical feel to it and in the absence of any real theme, the ratings tended not to be favorable.
Finals: Jay and Jonathan (tied), Greg – 7, Frans -17
Ratings: Greg 5, Jonathan 4, Jay 4
If you are into abstract games, Siesta isn’t bad at all. In fact, it would certainly look might impressive as a table centerpiece and would invite play. As for me, I’ll play but never request it.
RA
With sunrise swiftly approaching, we decided to get in one more game before calling it an evening (or morning, actually!). Jonathan and I were joined by Jason and Vonda Matthews for a game of Ra, another of the Rio Grande releases, this one from Reiner Knizia.
Jonathan has done a superb job of reviewing the game, so please check out the the GAME REVIEWS section of the Westbank Gamers webpage for a full description and review.
I will say that after two playings, the game has grown a bit stale for me. The actions on each turn are fairly mechanical, as most turns are simply turn over a tile and place it on the board. I am not completely sour on the game and certainly want to play it a few more times before totally making my mind up on this one, but I don’t think this one will ever rise to the levels of other Knizia classics such Euphrat & Tigris or Durch die Wuste.
Getting stomped by Jonathan probably didn’t help much either as he ran away with the game:
Jonathan 53, Vonda 36, Greg 31, Jason 10
Ratings: Jonathan 7, Vonda 6, Jason 5, Greg 5
I finally stumbled into my room, with my eyes finally closing shortly after 4AM.
SATURDAY, FEB. 27
Eyes closed – 4AM. Eyes open – 7:00 AM. Ouch.
Bleary-eyes, yet eager for another day of gaming, I staggered into the gaming room to tidy up a bit before everyone began arriving.
CAMPANILE
Tim Watson and Jimmie ‘Buster’ Williamson were the first in, so I introduced them to the game of medieval tower building, Campanile, which I described in great detail on my Day 1 report.
For some reason, I like this game while most everyone I play with finds it rather bland. Oh, well. Scratch this one off any potential purchase list for me. I did manage to win my first game at this one, however:
Greg 13, Buster 10, Tim 7
Ratings: Greg 6, Tim 6, Buster 5
MEDIEVAL MERCHANT
This one is a BIG, BIG winner for me … and for everyone who played it. I’ve only played twice now (and got trounced both times), but I love the mechanics of this one and the ‘feel’ it evokes.
Players are merchants trying to expand their influence from village to village, city to city across the countryside. They must balance the benefits of opening new branches in cities versus taking income from those cities. The temptation is to take income, but branch space in each city is limited and the player who captures the majority of branches in a city takes control of that city, which yields him valuable victory points.
Further, delaying expansion can be deadly as once a village is occupied or a city is completely filled with branches, that particular expansion route is cut off forever. Other, more costly routes will have to be taken, if they exist at all. Balancing when to take income and when to expand and by what route(s) is always a tough decision.
Another consideration is that 2 victory points are earned for each region a player has a presence in. Thus, quickly spreading across the countryside and gaining access to each region is important … but expensive. By the time one has the money to accomplish this, many of the trade routes into the regions may already be closed. Delicious, agonizing choices need to be made on each turn.
The game continues until all cities are completely filled with branches or the 20 villages are occupied. At that point, victory points are tallied to determine the winner.
This one was a very close affair between Mark, who had lagged behind on the Victory point scale until late in the game, and Buster. In the end, Buster, whose points we tallied last, vaulted ahead of Mark for a narrow victory.
Buster 48, Mark 44, Chip 36, Tim 33, Greg 32
Ratings: Mark 8, Chip 8, Buster 8, Greg 8, Tim 7
LIAR’S DICE TOURNAMENT
As is now tradition, we held our Liar’s Dice tournament. Three tables of liars assembled for the first round, with Ted Cheatham eager to defend his title of “Liar King” which he earned at Gulf Games 2 in Panama City.
Table 1: Ted Cheatham, EricWood, Jon Pessano, Ty Douds, Michael Labranche
Table 2: Frans Labranche, Mark Jackson, Chip Triplett, Jimmie Williamson
Table 3: Shay Douds, Greg Schloesser, Jonathan Degann, Tim Watson, Jonathan Degann
The deafening rattle of 14 cups filled with dice being shaken still couldn’t drown out the ensuing laughter, groans and moans as the game progressed and one-by-one contestants were eliminated.
Ted made an early exit, as did Jonathan at our table, who was actually ousted on the very two first rolls of the dice! They adjourned for a match of Caesar & Cleopatra while the tournament continued.
After the shaking concluded, the following contestants had reached the finals:
Frans Labranche, Jon Pessano, Mark Jackson, Shay Douds, Ty Douds and Greg Schloesser
Frans, Jon and Mark were the first three eliminated, leaving me against the Douds. Shay left next, so it was a showdown between Ty and I. I took a wild gamble, re-rolling a single die, needing either a ‘5’ or a ‘*’ to win the roll. I refused to look at what I had rolled until Ty called my bluff. Sure enough, it was a ‘5’. One more roll and Ty was eliminated. I was crowned ‘ Liar King’ (a title my clients certainly would be dismayed at!).
SAMURAI
Jon Pessano had been eager to learn Reiner Knizia’s Samurai, so Eric Wood and I happily obliged. Jon made a few rookie mistakes in not finishing the surrounding of a piece which enabled Eric and I to scoop the pieces before Jon could. He learned quickly, however, and will be a formidable opponent in future playings.
I was able to secure a comfortable lead in helmets and near game’s end managed to scoop several buddhas as well. This resulting in a surprising ‘first round’ victory, as I had captured the majority in both of those figures.
Results:
Greg: 5H, 4B, 3R
Jon: 5R, 2B
Eric: 3H, 3B, 2R
Ratings: Jon 8, Greg 8, Eric 7
EUPHRAT & TIGRIS
If you ask Jay Ouzts what (German) game he’d like to play, he will almost inevitably grab either El Grande or Euphrat & Tigris (both excellent choices, by the way). Sure enough, he grabbed E&T and was joined by Lenny Leo, Frans Labranche and I.
This was a very swift match, with the treasures being scooped early and often. At one point, we felt the game had ended with the final treasure being grabbed, but an alert Lenny pointed out that there were still three on the board.
Sensing that I was in the lead, I was attempting to merge two kingdoms so I could scoop the final treasure, thus end the game. However, no matter which way I maneuvered to accomplish this, the rectification of one of the two conflicts which would result would again tearing the newly joined kingdoms into two separate kingdoms. AARRGHHH!
As a result, the game continued a few more turns than I had hoped, allowing Frans to grab some needed cubes. Thus, the end result was a bit more uncertain, but fortunately for me, I still held the edge:
Greg 15 Green 10 Black 8 Blue 7 Red
Frans 13 Black 13 Red 8 Green 6 Blue
Jay 11 Blue 7 Red 6 Black 5 Green
Lenny 7 Black 5 Red 4 Blue 3 Green
Ratings: Jay 9, Greg 9, Frans 8, Lenny 7
STARBASE JEFF
Michael Labranche introduced Jay Ouzts and Ito this Cheapass game of constructing a space station in deep space. We played two hands and then were forced to adjourn in order to attend the group dinner.
Players each play a card, representing a section of the space station, face down and then reveal them simultaneously. The player who played the highest valued card gets to play his component first. Everyone then follows in numerical order. If there is a tie between players, these pieces are set aside in a holding dock. These pieces are only ‘freed’ from the dock and placed on the space station if that player ultimately plays a lower card than his opponent, in which case he may place all of the pieces from his dock onto the space station.
If, however, a round ends and players have sections in their docks, they must pay money into the kitty.
In order to place a piece onto the growing station, there is usually a cost involved which is paid by the player into a central ‘kitty’. A few cards actually allow a player to redeem money from the kitty. The idea is to place your pieces in such a fashion as to minimize the distance between the newly placed piece and the center of the space station, passing through all of as many of your own sections in the process. For each opponent’s section you must pass to reach the central section, you must pay that opponent 1 chip.
There are also cards which allow you to destroy previously laid sections on the space station. This usually causes an unexpected opening, the idea of which is to cost your opponents money or keep the ship growing.
Play continues in such a fashion until there are no longer any ‘open’ sections or paths in the space station. Points are then tallied (I forget the exact method) and players divvy up the kitty accordingly.
The game is interesting and I’d certainly like to play more. It does have sort of a Very Clever Pipe Game feel, but enough differences to make it interesting.
VERRATER
Having heard so much about this on the internet, I was very eager to give it a try. We finally gathered exactly four players, which I understand is the optimum amount for this game. The would-be traitors were Michael Labranche, Shanna Labranche, Jay Ouzts and I.
This is a card game (no, I won’t get into the debate of whether it is a board game played with cards or really, really a card game!) wherein players represent two factions: The Eagles and the Roses. They are attempting gather victory points by converting territory to their faction’s side. Victory points may also be earned by playing certain action cards, including the diabolical traitor card which causes a player to switch factions and, if timed correctly, can have a huge impact on the scoring of victory points in a particular round.
The flow of the game, although confusing at first, becomes fairly basic. The Strategist (the player who selected the Strategist card in the previous round) places the Conflict card on two neighboring territories. These two territories will be up for grabs … one of them will switch factions to the side which wins the ensuing conflict.
Players then each secretly select an action from the action deck. This is done in a clockwise fashion, and two of the cards are ultimately not selected during a round. So, no one can be quite sure which actions will be utilized during a particular round.
Players then each commit Supply cards in a clockwise fashion to the conflict. The side which played the greatest value of Supply cards wins the conflict and the appropriate territory switches factions. This yields victory points to each player in the winning faction in a decreasing amount depending upon the number of players in the faction. Thus, if you were the only player in a winning faction, your reap in victory points in bountiful. If you must share the victory points with two opponents, however, the reward is a mere pittance.
The real twist is the play of the action cards. After Supply cards are played, each player reveals the action he selected for that round. The two Diplomat cards add either 5 or 2 points to their faction in the conflict. The Bauer card allows the player to draw three Supply cards into his hand. The Strategist gives the player 2 victory points and allows him to choose the site of the next round’s conflict.
The Baumeister card allows the player to construct a new Gusthof or switch a Gusthof to an Estate. For each Gusthof on the board, the player draws 1 supply card into his hand IF the Gusthof is located on a territory controlled by that player’s faction. Estates earn victory points at the end of the game in an amount equal to the number of estates on the board multiplied by the number of supply cards remaining in a player’s hand (up to a maximum of 2 Estates X 3 Supply cards). Timing when to build and convert these buildings can be crucial … and actually earned me the victory in this game.
The final action card is the treacherous Verrator (Traitor). The player who plays this earns 1 victory point and switches his faction allegiance. Where this can be very critical is during a conflict resolution. In our game, Michael timed this perfectly, switching sides and winning a conflict when he was the ONLY Rose player. This earned him a whopping 15 victory points and a seemingly insurmountable lead.
In our match, we were all playing catch-up after Mike’s brilliant use of the Verrater card. Ultimately, I was able to choose the Strategist card several times in succession and gradually whittled away at Mike’s lead. In the last two rounds I concentrated on constructing two Estates and managed to hold onto three Supply cards, which earned me six victory points at game’s end … my margin of victory.
Although initially confusing, I found the game rather enjoyable. However, it does appear that the strategic options may be limited and I have a sinking feeling that the game may become fairly predictable with repeated playings. I certainly want to play more before I pass judgment, but the game did not receive the type of response I was expecting based on some of the remarks I have read on the internet.
Finals: Greg 35, Mike 29, Shanna 24, Jay 15
Ratings: Mike 6, Greg 6, Shanna 5, Jay 3
Mental Note: Stop trying to get Jay to enjoy card games.
TAKE IT EASY
Michael, Shanna and I were joined by little Emma Labranche for what must be her favorite game … Take it Easy. It should be … she is a marvel at this puzzle game. She proved that her 2nd place finish in the Welcome Party tournament was no fluke as she humbled us supposedly mentally superior adults:
Emma153, Greg 151, Shanna 139, Michael 134
FILE 13
Continuing my gaming with the Labranche’s, I was introduced to an old, old, old Tom Wham game of attempting to get a game published (Ted Cheatham should have been playing this one!). Players must maneuver their game design through various departments and ultimately get three of their designs to the ‘Hit’ list.
I guess if it is late, late, late at night and you’re in the mood for a totally luck based dice fest, this can be fun. It certainly is humorous reading the wacky game titles and descriptions, as well as watching one after another of your opponent’s designs get crap-canned. However, this humor quickly wears thin and frustration .. and even boredom … sets in. One’s design is never safe, even if it makes it to the top of the ‘Hit’ list. An unlucky die roll (and you roll a seemingly endless series of dice each turn) quickly sends your game plummeting.
There are also event cards which can be played which usually have the effect of moving your designs through the maze of departments and causing your opponents designs to flounder. Again, very luck based.
I found this one a bit humorous at first, but quickly lost interest. I’m sure it is a hoot if played with a group of potential game designers.
Shanna emerged victorious, getting three of her designs to the top of the ‘Hit’ list to my one. Mike spent most of his time in File 13.
PUTSCH
OK … so this one was played late, late, late in the AM. We didn’t begin until after 11:00PM and it took us about 45 minutes or so to sort through the rules. Even then, there was much, much debate on the correct order of announcing actions which had the effect of slowing the game down to levels which were quite literally putting me to sleep.
The would be banana republic dictators were Tim Watson, Eric Wood, Ted Cheatham, Jonathan Degann and I. Jonathan, who was the only one who had played once before, did an admirable effort explaining the game and making it somewhat clear to us. Despite his best efforts, however, there were constant debates and discussions as to whether this action could be done, or “If I did this, how could you possible do that?”, etc. This all may have made a bit more logical sense at 3:00 in the afternoon, but at 1AM it all seemed foggy.
We managed to play three rounds before all agreeing to call it. On the plus side, we did agree that the game has potential and we were grateful for having the opportunity to play a bit to get a better understanding of the mechanics and the flow of the game. On the negative side, however, this seems to be a game which was playtested by morons. There are so many gaps in the rules (or at least the translation), what-ifs and ambiguities, that I had the distinct feeling that I was playing Lords of the Sierra Madre again. It seems to be a game that attempts to accomplish so much, but doesn’t adequately deal with all of the possibilities in the rules. Sad.
I think this is a game which could probably be played and enjoyed IF and ONLY IF you had a group of players who didn’t mind muddling through the mechanics and could make the mental leaps and gymnastics required to understand the game. I don’t think it will ever be played at our Westbank Gamers site, but could be played at Gulf Games or even our occasional Gathering in the Woods (nah … Lenny’s mind would explode!).
When I heard about Putsch and purchased it without having had the chance to play it, I was hoping for an even wilder version of Junta. What it appears to be, however, is a poorly playtested mish-mash. I guess I’ll have to keep waiting.
In any event, after a swift start in which he spanked us all during round 1, Jonathan was mercilessly set upon by the rest of us, being hammered at every turn. He was left with an ineffective assortment of cards after the raiding was completed, and was overtaken by both Eric and I. Eric managed to nudge past me for a narrow victory:
Eric 59, Greg 57, Jonathan 43, Tim 43, Ted 12 (Ted spent too much time ogling the babes on the turn order cards)
It was time for me to get a bit more sleep as exhaustion had firmly set in. I retired for the a few hours sleep. Time: 2:30 AM.
SUNDAY, FEB. 28th
My eyes rolled open at 7:00 AM after a blissful 4 hours sleep … the most I’ve had in 4 days. Sadly, I realize that this is the final day for Gulf Games 3.
After again tidying up the room a bit, Jon Pessano, Michael Labranche, Frans Labranche and I set sail on the high seas for a game of Klaus Teuber’s game of exploration, discovery and colonization – Entdeckerer.
This game seems to be gaining in popularity within the gaming community following an initial lukewarm reception. That’s good news at it is a fun game made even more challenging my use of Manu Soeding’s variant wherein each player has four known tiles which they can pay to play where they desire during the course of the game. See the Billabong Gamers website for the full details.
On a player’s turn, he must commit a certain amount of gold for an expedition. The player then turns over and places (if he can) as many new tiles as he desires at a cost of 1 gold per tile. With each new tile revealed, the player must decide to (a) continue the journey by turning over another tile, or (b) stop the journey and colonize the land area which may have been revealed. Colonization is the final action of a player’s turn, so sometimes committed gold is better forfeited in order to go ahead and colonize a land area which appears promising. Further, many tiles trigger random events, which can be beneficial or harmful to the player, so turning another tile is sometimes fraught with risk.
A player has three types of pieces with which to colonize land areas: colonists, forts and/or settlements. Colonists are cheap (1 gold) and give the player a presence on an area. They also can be removed at will for future building at another location. Forts cost 3 gold and once placed must remain until the island is fully formed. The benefit of a fort is that it does allow the largest discoverer of an island to also claim a new discovery, which adds to the value of the island AND ultimately provides a bonus for the player who makes the most discoveries during the course of the game. Settlements (which cost 6 gold) are very similar to forts, but are considered first in determining who is the largest discoverer of an island.
To be the largest discoverer of an island, a player must have the greatest valued piece on that island (settlement, fort or colonist). If there is a tie, then the next valued piece is determined, and so on. This is important as the largest discoverer of an island receives the full value of the island in points, while the 2nd largest discoverer only gets 1/2 this amount, the 3rd largest discoverer 1/2 of the amount of the 2nd largest discoverer, and so on.
So what’s an island worth? For each land tile which is part of the island, one point is awarded to the largest discoverer. To this is added the value of the discovery chip which was drawn (which can vary from 1- 4). Ultimately, the player who has accumulated the most points (after giving a bonus for the player who made the most discoveries during the game) is the victor.
The game continues until the entire board has been filled with tiles, which usually takes less than an hour to occur.
The game is very simple, yet challenging and fun as players compete to gain control of islands and face the tough decisions of continuing a journey or stopping and colonizing. Light? Sure, but still a good time.
Jon Pessano managed nice win, in spite of Michael earning the discovery bonus which brought him perilously close:
Jon, Mike -4, Greg -17, Frans -30.
Ratings: Frans 9, Michael 8, Jon 8, Greg 7
It was now time to announce some of the contest winners, send folks to the prize table, and, unfortunately, begin saying good-bye to most of the wonderful people in attendance. Sadly, Gulf Games>was coming to an end. Many tearful farewells were said as everyone began departing back to reality.
Following some cleaning up and packing things away, there was still time for a couple more quick games.
DAVID & GOLIATH
Tim and Vickie Watson, Emma Labranche and I played 3 hands of this Spiel das Jahres nominee, which I described in more detail on my ‘Day 1’ report. I will say that with repeated playings, I am beginning to enjoy this game more and more and the strategies are becoming more apparent.
I must also say how amazed I am at how quickly little Emma caught on. She had a full understanding of the rules after my quick explanation. She is an incredible child … extremely intelligent and beautiful, to boot!
We played two hands and I managed to capture the lead after round 1. Tim, however, was masterful during round 2 and thoroughly spanked us.
Tim: 32 + 75 = 107
Greg: 40 + 35 = 75
Vickie: 35 + 35 = 70
Emma: 37 + 18 = 55
Ratings: Tim 7, Vickie 7, Greg 6
CHEOPS
Finally, it was just Lenny Leo, Jonathan Degann and I. With some time to kill before Jonathan’s flight home, another game was in order. Cheops was Jonathan’s choice.
Cheops is another game which received a lukewarm response by most gamers, but seems to have become more popular as time passes. Many thought that the decisions to be made in the game were too obvious. I disagreed then, and still disagree now. I find the game to have some nice, tough decisions to be made throughout, and both Lenny and Jonathan agreed. In fact, nearly everyone I have introduced Cheops to thoroughly enjoys the game tremendously.
Players must send family members into the great pyramid to ‘liberate’ gems (represented by great little scarab pieces). These gems can either be sold at the marketplace for a set price (which can fluctuate) or keep them in their warehouse, hoping that the value of the gem will increase to handsome levels.
Gem prices may increase or decrease in value based on price boards. When a player sells a gem at the marketplace, the gem is placed on a priceboard of the appropriate color, which may drive the price up or down. Since the potential prices are visible to all, this is manipulated by the players in efforts to drive the price of the gems they are collecting up, while driving the prices of the gems their opponents are rich in down. Deciding when to sell and when to hold a gem is a vital part of the strategies in the game.
The placing of family members into the pyramid is also critical. There are four different types of family member tiles and no two like kinds may be adjacent. Thus, one must manage the four tiles in one’s hand so as not to be squeezed out of a move due to the placement restrictions. It is always fun to watch a player’s face when he realizes he has no legal play!
In order to help avoid this most unpleasant situation, there are four ‘neighbor’ tiles which are available for purchase during the game. These tiles may be placed next to any other tile (except another neighbor) and they allow a player to take another turn. However, they cost $20 apiece, so they are quite expensive. To acquire one, a player must sell some of his gems as he acquires them to build up the necessary cash.
There are also several tiles on the board which trigger certain events. Most are beneficial, but some can be played to harm an opponent’s progress. It is always a gamble to choose one, however.
The game ends once two of the price boards become completely filled. At that point, the value of the player’s gems and cash are tallied to determine the winner.
Cheops usually clocks in at less than an hour and is a fun, challenging game. I think many miss out on the subtle strategies and decisions which must be made during the game.
I managed to win this final game of Gulf Games 3:
Greg 255, Jonathan 205, Lenny 155
Ratings: Greg 7, Lenny 7, Jonathan 6
After a nice dinner with Lenny and Jonathan, I drove Jonathan to the airport and bid him farewell. I then wearily drove home for some much needed sleep.
Gulf Games 3 was a very special event in my life. I will always treasure the friendships which were made and continued and the memories of the great times had will live with me forever. Thanks to everyone who attended and made this possible.