I have a lot of games. A lot of games that are on my shelves, or on my table being played, that I have told myself that I want to review at some point. For one reason or another, this doesn’t always happen. My goal here on The Opinionated Gamers is that I want to get about one review out per week, but I’d like to write about more games. So I’m taking a page out of Patrick Brennan’s playbook, and we’re going to start writing about games in threes, in snapshot form. This should be a good way for readers to get to know me and my gaming tastes a bit better, and also another way for me to talk about games that I maybe don’t really want to dedicate two thousand words to. Welcome to Three Games.
This past week was the two year anniversary of the first Weekend Gaming Retreat. Right on the cusp of the pandemic becoming the pandemic that we remember, a group of friends gathered in a farmhouse in Southwest Missouri to celebrate friendships through hours of board gaming. During that gathering we all started getting word about places closing, our workplaces making drastic changes and the world outside coming to grips, or at least trying to come to grips, with what was coming. We stayed in our isolated farmhouse and had a wonderful time and thankfully, nothing bad was passed among us. Last year for reasons there was no Weekend Gaming Retreat, but this year there was. It was a much needed reminder, for me at least, about the power of friends. It was good for the soul to sit and play games for approximately 52 hours with good people, sharing laughs around a table and occasionally outside in the sun (but not too much sun). It feels weird to write something brief about it, merely highlighting three games that we played, when the important part is the people, but being that this is a board gaming website, I figured ya’ll will forgive me.
In January, we got together to play some trick-taking games. It wasn’t the hotel we used two years ago, it was the house from the year before. I should’ve taken a picture of it the night it snowed. It looked like a warm home that surely contained a loving family.
I’d spent the last two years establishing a trick-taking library – though knowing it’s quite unnecessary. I didn’t have it in me to add the whimsy of the bingo cards or the scratch off cards this time – though I did reprint the bingo cards with a few new categories. I borrowed the “map friends” idea from Age of Steam Con and listed games people wanted to play on the front of their name tags. (I also borrowed putting restaurant recommendations on the back.)
Attendance this year was in the mid-teens, and as my comfort level stops around low-30s, it’s going to need to stay invite only. (That also means people get custom touches to their name badges. You may get the local cat cafe snuck into your restaurant list.)
The reasons for having a Trick Taking Party remain the same as ever: I can’t get enough. It can be the intro or the outro to a game night centered around a 3hr game with a 90min teach. Or, it can be the reason for a whole weekend.
I didn’t take a lot of pictures this year, as I haven’t been inspired to write much. There are times when there is time and there are times when I wonder how there ever was time and if there ever will be again.
Taylor made a video and you can watch and listen about his time. When he mentions I may have a write up before he posts that video, uh, no. About that.
But today I’m feeling sentimental and want to give it a shot.
Here are some words about T7 (That Terrific Trick-Taking Thing: The Third.)
In this cooperative logistics game, players work together to deliver the 8 goods to the port city. The board is double sided with one side giving you a map of Western Europe (recommended for your first game) and the other showing the Continental US. Both maps are full of cities, connected with a bunch of tracks, coming together at 3-way and 4-way junctions. At the start of the game, black switch discs are positioned at the intersections so that only one path is open through each intersection. In your very first game, you are asked to copy a setup illustration from the rulebook, but later games give you rules to follow to make your own setup. Around the periphery of the continent, you will find orange hexagonal starting locations for trains.
Exacto is the next game in the No Plastic line from NSV – these games specifically do not include plastic to be better for the environment. Exacto is a simple observation game – in fact, really all that you do in this game is observe.
Prototype review copy sent to me by designer/publisher
Bobop is subtitled as a game for city lovers. It is an interesting idea, sort of a pocket sized way to explore a new place, or honestly, maybe even a city you’re already familiar with. It is a game meant primarily for couples – and it gives you a deck of challenge cards to help guide your exploration of your surroundings.
Fujiyama is a delightful tile placement game, themed around building the most beautiful mountain through the 4 seasons and attracting wildlife over 9 turns.
Fujiyama is a tile placement game. Each player has their own player board and the boards have asymmetrical starting seasons and animal order.
The players each take 11 tiles and have 3 animals of each type. Each tile has 3 season pictures and 3 mountain spaces. Season spaces are connected to make complete triangles of one season type to score. Mountain spaces hold animals.
To start the game each player draws three tiles. One to keep as a “trump” tile which they can use once during the game. In a multiplayer game the player will give the player on the right and left one of the remaining tiles. These tiles are placed on the other player’s board. Then the player will choose which of the received tiles to use on their turn. This was a bit tricky getting used to giving all the tiles away and not being able to keep one to play! When placing tiles players try to complete season triangles of the same season (color). triangles will score at the end of the game. Each season scores a bit differently for the icons. For example the spring season or pink scores for the number of blossoms present.
So players may think, why don’t I just give my neighboring tile the worst possible in regards to scoring? Well, here is where it gets a bit tricky again. If another player chooses to play the tile that you gave them, they must give you the animal on their board for that round. There are 3 animals: rabbits, squirrels and foxes. When you place a tile you may also place any animals that you have received that round onto one the gray flatland spaces of that tile (one animal per space). Flatland triangles score for differing animals at the end of the game. This makes a delicate balance of passing opponents a good tile, but not too good with the hopes of receiving an animal.
The game ends after 9 rounds. Then each season triangle is scored if the seasons do not match in the triangle it scores zero. Each flatland with animals is scored. The player with the most points wins.
Fujiyama is a fun tactical game where you must make the most of the tiles given. I like the challenge of giving your opponent a tile good enough that they will pick, thus offering you an animal but also not allowing them to score too much with it. It would make a great meaty filler.
Ajisai
Publisher: Nanatsumu
Players: 2-3
Time: ~15 minutes
Ajisai is a game based on the beauty of Hydrangea flowers. Hydrangeas originated in East Asia but are ubiquitous to gardens these days. Commonly known for their striking blue or pink colors depending on the pH of the soil they actually provide a wonderful transformation of colors throughout the season from spring through summer to the rainy season. As the flowers change color a feeling of movement is instilled and the designer tried to capture that in this game. These are flowers from the same hydrangea in my garden.
At first glance Ajisai may remind you of Othello but it’s much more with interesting changes.
The game is for 2-3 players. The board is cloth with a beautiful border. The flowers are nice wooden tokens. Each player has 2 or 3 colors depending on the number of players. There is also a neutral color flower, white. On a turn the player must perform “blooming” or play one of their flowers onto the board.
After blooming, players check for color transition. Any flowers, including white flowers, sandwiched between 2 flowers of the same color along a line will become that color, in this case the red flower would become blue.
Then check the color rotation chart.
If the newly placed flower is adjacent to flowers of the color as indicated on the chart, that have not already changed, that will also apply. In this case if the purple flower is placed, the blue flowers will become purple. This effect does not apply to white flowers.
The game ends when either there are no white flowers in the supply (they are placed on the board if a color change is indicated and no further flowers of that color are available in the supply) or when the board is filled. The player with the most flowers of one color wins. There are also two variants included with the rules in this game.
As a gardener I really love the theme of this game and appreciate the way the designer incorporated it into game play. It’s quick but challenging play and will travel well with the small size of the box.
