The Opinionated Gamers

Dale Yu – 9:07 PM
This year, the Opinionated Gamers are in an interesting position – normally we report back on the new games from Essen… but this year, we have a number of our writers who are involved in games of their own!  I thought it would be a good idea to get us in a chat room and discuss our new games for a bit.

[Based on the length of the chat, I will split this into at least 3 pieces for the blog, but what is published here is pretty much what we talked about without edits.  If you’ve ever been in a chat room, you know that the conversation gets a bit fractured from the lag.  There are a few places where I have re-ordered the chat to keep the conversations intact (and to make it easier to follow), but I have not changed any of the words of the participants.  The timestamps have not been altered, so you can try to follow my edits if you want.]

[Any extra text will also be denoted in brackets, just so you know]
The people involved:

• Dale Yu – more of a host than anything else, though I do have a game (Suburbia Inc) which I have developed
• Brian Yu – has 2 games coming out from Mattel Germany: Geister, Geister, Schatzsuchmeister, Kronen für den König
• Jonathan Franklin – Plunder, from R&R Games
• Brian Leet – New Haven, from R&R games
• Ted Alspach – Suburbia Inc from Bezier Games (he also happens to own Bezier games)
• W. Eric Martin – editor of BGG news.  He has no games that he’ll admit to designing
• Jeff Allers – Artifact from White Goblin Games and Citrus from dlp games

Ted Alspach – 9:07 PM
Yeah, I have a mystery game being announced at Essen too. You forgot that.

Jonathan Franklin – 9:08 PM
Ted, is it being sold there?

Ted Alspach – 9:08 PM
Pre orders, yeah

brian yu – 9:08 PM
i hope it’s called kickstarter: the game

Dale Yu – 9:07 PM
Probably a decent idea to start by introducing ourselves and how we got into gaming?

Dale Yu – 9:08 PM
W. Eric Martin is also here. You know him a bit better from his other job, the editor of the BGG news feed
he’s here to correct us on all the factual errors we’re about to make
Continue reading →

OG Previews the 2013 2F Releases

So, I’ll have to admit it. I don’t really like the color green. Vegetables are made of that color!  And it’s Luke’s favorite color to play, so it’s got that against it too…  But each October, I make an exception to this rule because dealing with Green is the only way to get to the 2F booth and see the new games!  (Actually, I’m kidding. It’s not that I dislike Green.  It’s just not as cool as Yellow!)

Friedemann Friese is never short of game ideas, and every year when I hear about his new games, I’m always amazed at the different ideas that he is able to put together into a game.  Over the years, I’ve been able to become friends with Herr Friese (we see each other at the Gathering most years and we stay at the same hotel in Essen).  Anytime that I talk to him, he’s always got two or three game ideas that he’s working on, and he’s always seems to be excited to talk about them and get your ideas on them.

This year, the output from 2F is higher than normal as there are (at least) 5 releases coming from the small company!  I’ve had the chance to see some of them as prototypes or in their previous incarnation, and it definitely looks like my gaming shelves will definitely have a green section this year – maybe I should arrange them by box color!

The first game for the year is a reprint, Friese’s Landlord. This is a nearly 20-year old game which was, in fact, one of my first German games that I ever purchased!  Shockingly, it came in a yellow box – though Abacus released it, not 2F…  Landlord is a card game where the players are landlords trying to make the most money from attracting and keeping the best tenants in their apartment building.

Continue reading →

Mercury Games is fairly new to the gaming scene, with two games coming out at Essen.  Their motto is “Fun by the Foot” as their logo is a winged foot of Victory.  I have received both of their new games (Captials, Infamy) but thus far have only had a chance to get one to the table.  I chose to play Capitals first as it involves a theme close to my heart – city building.  Having read the initial description of the game, I knew that this was one I wanted to try.

Capitals

• Designer: Thiago Boaventura
• Publisher: Mercury Games
• Ages: 13+
• Players: 2-5
• Time: 90 mins
• Times played: 2 with  preview copy provided by Mercury Games

In Capitals, players try to construct the best city they can to be able to host the next World Expo. Each player’s city has the same humble start with only a hotel, City Hall and a basic power plant.  To this start, players will add one building tile each round.   The game is played over 3 eras, each consisting of 4 rounds.  Each of the 12 rounds is played following the same pattern and there is a scoring round at the end of each era.

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Francis Drake

• Designer: Peter Hawes
• Publisher: Eagle Games / Kayal Games
• Ages: 14+
• Time: 120 minutes
• Players: 2-5

Times played: 2 (once at the Gathering of Friends 2013 and once with a preview copy provided by Eagle Games)

Francis Drake is a 2013 release from Peter Hawes that will be at Essen 2013 through Eagle Games.  Over the three rounds of the game, players are trying to equip expeditions to the Caribbean and score points by defeating Spanish galleons, conquering forts and towns and collecting treasures (gold, silver and jewels).

Each of the three rounds of the game has two phases, and each .  The first phase is set in Plymouth which is found at the top of the board.  The city essentially is a 18 space path with different actions available on each space.  There are differing numbers of spaces on each action space as well as different rewards (more reward for placing your piece there earlier).  In order, each player places a marker down on an empty space. The catch is that Plymouth is essentially a one way street.  You can only place your marker in the dock-side direction.  There are benefits for being the first player in any space, so you may want to jump ahead, but if you do, you definitely leave stuff behind.

  Continue reading →

In our last post, Jonathan Franklin invited you to say hi to him… As a public service announcement, I thought it would be a good idea to let you know to be careful when you think you see him!

Jonathan Franklin

Bruno Faidutti

Just saying.  They both make great games.  One speaks French a heck of a lot better.