Â
New-to-me games played recently include …
CATAN: NEW ENERGIES (2024): Rank 7470, Rating 6.9 – Teuber / Teuber
I have a nostalgic liking for Settlers but not enough to need to play 783 versions. This one appeared from the ether though so on we went. On top of the basics you know, cities now provide science cards which are used to build power-plants. These hang off cities and towns (in hexes) and generate energy during production rolls. Energy can used as a wild resource or to remove robber-like hazards. The twist is that each turn you pull event discs from the bag which usually helps those who’ve build clean higher-cost power plants and hurts those who’ve built dirty lower-cost plants. It’s the usual first to 10 VPs wins unless the event bag runs out, and then the winner is the player with the best clean-to-dirty power plant ratio. Which means it’s a race for the VP leader(s) to get to 10 in time. My only game was tight – one more turn and it would have ended a diff way with a diff winner. That’s a pretty neat variant, and wholesome as well.
Rating: 7
Solo Gaming: My Personal Journey of the Past Six Years
In junior high & high school (1977-1982), I played a lot of wargames. At different points, I had a subscription to both The General (Avalon Hill’s magazine) and Strategy & Tactics (SPI’s magazine that included a wargame in each issue)…. and, for a short while, Ares (SPI’s magazine that included a sci-fi or fantasy game in each issue). While one of my good friends was happy to play Squad Leader and Panzerblitz and Wooden Ships & Iron Men, most of my wargaming time was spent playing against myself – choosing actions and rolling dice for both sides of the conflict.
There were actual solo games that saw a lot of play during that time as well: Chainsaw Warrior (Games Workshop), Ambush! & Mosby’s Raiders (Victory Games), RAF (West End Games), Voyage of the BSM Pandora (SPI), and B-17 (Avalon Hill). I still own Chainsaw Warrior.
This new era of well-designed automata and solo modes for multiplayer games, coupled with excellent new solo game designs, is actually quite heartening to someone (me!) who finds something really satisfying about physically playing a game: shuffling cards, moving pieces, seeing it all spread out in front of you.
I’ve tracked my game playing via spreadsheet long before BoardGameGeek allowed you to do it with your game database. In 2018, I started using the excellent BGStats app to track plays… and that has made it much easier to crunch the data to get a better look at my hobby/obsession.
Join me as I peek behind the digital curtain and see what solo games have been landing on my table over the last six years.
Continue reading →Share this:
Like this: