Well, this may or may not be a gaming day. Lots of social invitations today, and I think it would be a good day to possibly spend hanging out with friends and enjoying my vacation in a non-gaming sense. Today, the weather will likely be the best it will be all week – highs in the upper 70s and sunny. A walk/hike to Goat Island and see the falls. I’ve already made one trip to Canadia, and likely will go again today as well – the wind can be brutal on the bridge, but I imagine it will be delightful today.
There is a group going Letterboxing today, and I’ve never done that – though I am interested. My brother has tried to introduce me to it, but I just haven’t managed to do it on my own yet. Another group of friends is going to Niagara on the Lake for some wine tasting. I went two years ago, and I was surprised by the quality of the (regular) wine as well as overwhelmed by the sweetness of the ice wine. I’m sure there are other things going on, but I don’t have time today for even the options I’ve got in front of me already!
I’m in the ballroom early today, around 9am – and the crowd is definitely thinning out. Only 10 people in the room at 9am today, with a rousing game of Schnappen Jagd the only thing in play. I quickly jumped in to Brugge, and I am still enjoying it. Sadly, the translation is not yet available (only one copy currently exists –it was translated just before the Gathering and poor Jeff had to cut and sleeve them in the car ride down from Quebec), so I’m trying to get Sophie to hurry up production!
To recap the games played yesterday:
- Brugge
- Black Spy
- Spyrium
- Legacy: Gears of time
- La Boca
- Treasure Hunters (prototype)
- Love Letter
- Brugge
- Spyrium
As you can see, I concentrated on newer games and repeat plays of the newer games, thus many fewer games played than Saturday. But I definitely enjoyed the chance to play some games multiple times – that’s a luxury that I sometimes don’t even get at home with regular weekly gaming. I think I might have even started developing a strategy for Brugge and Spyrium after multiple plays.
More to come later – time to figure out what I’m doing with my day!
Very rough schematic version of Treasure Hunters, a neat co-operative game coming out from Mattel. I am now 0-for-9 lifetime against this game. Note lawyers want me to say – artwork is work in progress and the final art will be on the game in October. Personal disclaimer – the designer of the game is my brother.
Telling Janet a secret in front of the falls.
A shout out to OG’er Jeff Allers – your games are in play!
I’ve been waiting three years for Rampage. Of course, even though it’s here, I still haven’t had a chance to play it…
CGE has a few new prototypes here – one of the games is trying to figure out what the title of the game actually is…
This picture probably explains itself
Sneak peek at one of the cards from the expansion
Peter Hawes just arrived with his new game
OG’ers Mary P and Ted A playing Terra Mystica
Not everyone here is in the Cult of the New apparently… I haven’t played this game in probably 10 years. Still didn’t play it today.
Early morning 18xx in the corner, blurry 18Ruhr here
18Neb here
Filosofia and Eggert folks (and Z-man) having a business meeting – meetings like this are common in the mornings
“I am now 0-for-9 lifetime against this game.”
Did not understand that sentence, otherwise interesting post, especially about Rampage and Treasure Hunters, both look like they might be interesting.
He has played 9 times and lost them all!
So you didn’t get a chance to try Francis Drake? It’s on kickstarter now so I’m hoping to hear other people’s thoughts on it before it closes.
Jacob, I played Francis Drake both last year, as a prototype, and this year’s finished product and I thoroughly enjoyed it both times. It’s a reasonably involved middleweight featuring two distinct parts for each of the game’s three rounds. First, you use a worker placement mechanic to outfit yourself for that round’s voyages. You place your workers on shops and individuals that give you guns, crew, supplies, upgraded ships, etc. The twist is that the areas are lined up in a row and you can’t visit an area once you’ve passed it. The order of the locations changes randomly each round, greatly adding to the game’s replayability.
In the second half of the round, you secretly place turn order chips at a variety of locations in the New World you can sail to. The players with the earlier turn orders get to attack or trade at the location first, which gives them more for a success. In addition, each area only supports a limited number of actions. Needless to say, success at these areas is directly tied to how well you outfitted yourself in the first half of the round.
There’s a lot to think about, but I wouldn’t call it a brain-burner, so I can see it appealing to a wide variety of gamers, particularly given the attractive theme. In addition, the game looks gorgeous, as Franz Vohwinkel did the graphics and Peter made sure he got all the details right. Eagle will be handling the American distribution. I can definitely recommend this to everyone who likes thematic Euros.