|
The Gaming Parlour
‘Metropolys’
‘In the Year of the Dragon’
‘Imperial’
‘Cuba’ - again
Notre Dame by Stefan Feld (2007).
‘Stone Age’
‘Tinners’ Trail’
‘Ice Flow’
Gamesnight 21st November …… ‘Metropolys’ – Sebastien Pauchon
Kendall has stood waiting outside Dicken’s house for near on a minute. This is because son Tim (tonight’s guest) has not pressed the bell with sufficient force to actually ring it. At least Kendall sports his favourite Millet’s coat (was £83, reduced to £26 – you can’t beat a Millet’s bargain). Tim is just wearing his school shirt (and trousers etc.), a fact immediately seized upon by both Carol and Dicken as the temperature is already sub-zero.
Not only is it warmer in the Dicken home, it is also brighter. ‘Oh, I see you’ve bought an up-lighter!’ exclaims Kendall – slightly rueful that his recent purchase has been matched. In fact, it’s double delight for Dicken; there’s a second up-lighter lurking in the living room.
Tonight’s game ‘Metropolys’ is already set out. The up-lighter proves immediately useful in allowing a good look at the really contentious board. Initial reactions at this table are that someone has tried to give the board some style as in Powergrid and that there seems some incongruity with the 1920’s ‘flapper’ lady pictured on one of the counters. No chance of packing the game away in disgust, but then maybe the Ragnars don’t have the artistic sensitivities of others in the hobby. Vinci and Il Principe have game-boards with more question marks.
Dicken explains the rules; all seems fairly straightforward, but then the ‘Family’ version is appreciably simpler than the ‘Expert’ game. There are a couple of helpful tips concerning dead ends and watching for other players’ special objective … and then the game starts.
Tim is drinking coke. This is good as he is only fourteen. Kendall has also brought along some rather insipid onion dip and is eyeing up Dicken’s more palatable humous. Carol is on red wine, while Kendall and Dicken stick to hops based drinks.
Kendall plays first and, having no better idea places a 3-point office (small tower with a 3 on top) in the centre of the map. Dicken follows with a 4-point office, placing it adjacent to Kendall’s. Tim places an 8-point office adjacent to Dicken’s and Carol an 11-pointer adjacent to Tim’s. Kendall decides to ‘pass’, as do Dicken and Tim. The 11-point tower is now inverted and stays on the map. Carol also collects the ‘flapper’ lady counter (worth 3 victory points) that is in the area of the 11-pointer. The other towers are removed to respective player’s supplies.
Phew! That just about illustrates the main / only mechanic of the game. And a very good mechanic it is too – a kind of mobile auction. The towers come in three sizes and each player has a set numbered 1-13. Once one player has placed all his / her towers the game ends.
Points are scored at game end for having towers adjacent to ‘areas’ as shown on an objective card that each player receives at the start of the game. These are secret; although it doesn’t take much guessing which card each player has. Add on the bonuses for the lady and Metro station counters, subtract the archaeological site counters (i.e. some areas are worth more, some less) and you get a final score each of around 30 points.
Of course, things are never so simple when the Ragnars first learn a game….
Meanwhile, Tim is displaying a reluctance to commit his towers. He doesn’t seem to grasp that placing a low value tower will simply allow others to move on to fresh areas. If the area Tim wants isn’t where he might currently place, it may be available when / if his turn comes round again. Young people often find it difficult to think outside the immediate.
Carol is building at a great rate of knots. Kendall admires her canniness ‘She’s a shrewd old bird’ he quips. ‘Less of the old’ barks Dicken who appropriately quotes from ‘Little Dorrit’ something about the rarity of finding brains and beauty combined in one woman . Kendall tries unsuccessfully to dig himself out of a hole.
Not surprisingly it is the larger towers that find their home on the map first as they are ‘stoppers’. As towers are only placed one per area, ‘dead ends’ are eventually created. It’s good to ‘win’ one round, then (and because the player who placed the last tower starts first in the next round) start the next by placing a low value tower in a dead end. Despite the helpful tip, the Ragnars haven’t quite caught on yet.
Tim has lots of high value towers in hand. He simply bangs them on the map without opportunity for others to play. Bang! Bang! Bang!
Kendall has five towers left. He simply bangs them in all the available dead ends. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Count up finds Tim and Carol tied for second, Kendall the winner and Dicken in last place. A look at the objective cards reveals that no-one has guessed correctly. Indeed it appears that Tim and Carol have actually been collecting the same objective, surely a mistake in the design! Dicken is adamant that this is perfectly acceptable and takes it on the chin when Carol points out that he managed to come last despite NOT sharing an objective. Kendall wonders if the four cards indicate that the objective is NOT the colour of area, but the lakes, statues, bridges and (most peculiarly) the space-like border of the city. Dicken is adamant that this is not so, but graciously rereads the rules. Oh! Yes! It is the lakes, statues, bridges and border.
After a few minutes chat – which includes the usual ‘blame the designers’ session – it is decided that playing again is the best option. Declining to be considered ‘Experts’, the ‘Family’ version gets another try.
Game number two has a different feel. Carol seems to find it easy to position her towers next to the very few lakes and is particularly quick to place her 13-point stopper between the two central lakes. Some time later, Dicken points out that this will only score the once – another rule that has, until now been misinterpreted.
Meanwhile, Tim is displaying a reluctance to commit his towers ……Young people …….
Kendall is convinced that placing next to the borders is a disadvantage. However it does generate a few jokes (and that’s always a good thing …); ‘Look! He’s heading for the border!’ (...or maybe not).
Tim cleans up a few more areas and then sits waiting with a couple of small towers left in his hand. Can the seniors outwit him? No. He sees his chance and finishes. At count up Tim top scores with over forty points. Kendall and Dicken manage 27 each and bemoan their objective cards.
Post-game analysis suggests that game 1 (with the wrong objectives) made just as much sense as game 2 (with the right objectives). Looking at the Expert game there seem to be any number of other ways the game might be organised in terms of scoring; and that appears to be the way the game is designed. However, the tower mechanism is strong enough to keep players interested amidst the flashing lights.
How good is ‘Metropolys’? Probably not as good as the box-top artwork which reminds Dicken of a cross between Port Merion and Venice (he’s traveled a bit). It’s a game that owes less to futuristic urban planning and more to several other auction based resource management games but the tower block placement mechanism is clever and the game is relatively short so if you get stymied it’s not too long before you can have a go at the person who refused to take a hit for the team and let the winner get away with a bonza tower placement!
It will get played a few more times for definite as it’s easy to pick up the rules for novice gamers and it has a fun feel to it – two hit factors in a game for Ragnars.
Return to top
Gamesnight ….. ‘In the Year of the Dragon’ by Stefan Feld
‘Is it bright enough in here?’ asks Dicken and as if on cue, Kendall is demonstrating his new ‘Father and Son’ floor lamp quicker than you can say ‘delight’. Seconds later there’s another knock on the door. Derek has also omitted to use the ‘new’ doorbell; perhaps painting it black wasn’t such a good idea. Nonetheless he too is captivated by the DIY transformation. ‘Was there a door there before?’ ‘Is that a new front door?’ ‘Isn’t that a new door?’ Clearly Derek has a thing about doors. When pressed further he recounts spending a day and a half hanging a bathroom door. It’s obviously a painful memory, so best get on with tonight’s game.
Spread out in all its six counter-sheet glory is ‘In the Year of the Dragon’; a game that only Kendall has played thus far. Consequently the host gets to explain the rules. Kendall introduces the game as one in which players will feel under some psychological pressure, one in which they will feel to be losing rather than winning. At least, that’s how Kendall felt when playing at Peter’s.
The rules are well written, but Kendall decides to cover scoring and winning first, rather than last. This is a mistake, as Dicken keeps thinking he’s been told all the rules (‘Ok, let’s start…’ ‘Let’s do it….’ ‘Right….’) when there’s still much to cover. Meanwhile whole chunks of rules are being heard, but not absorbed.
The table is replete with fodder. Both Dicken and Derek have brought in supplies, and even Kendall managed to find time to go to the shop.
The game begins with the oldest player (Derek suggests ‘baldest’ player; which is one to think about in future Ragnar rules). After much re-explaining of what we are doing, Dicken chooses two Person tiles, a farmer (rice producer) and a pyrotechnic (fireworks producer). Each player starts with two, 2-storey palaces; each storey gives space for one Person. Dicken places a Person in each palace. He then moves his marker nine spaces (4+5) on the Person track. Whoever leads on this track gets to go first in each phase of the twelve turns. This is very important; something Derek is well aware of as he notches up 10 points by choosing a monk (victory point chappy, worth 6 spaces) and a farmer. Kendall spends nine, landing on Dicken and thus ahead of him in turn order.
That’s just the set-up / introductory bit and soon the rules are being consulted again. Phase 1 (‘Action’) begins. Seven action cards are arranged in three groups (3,2,2 cards). In turn each player places his dragon marker indicating his choice of action. Only one action is used by each player, but in selecting a group the player makes it difficult for others to use an action from that group (it would cost 3 Yuan to do so, and 3 Yuan is not to be sneezed at). The action taken will improve a player’s position.
Derek chooses the farming action. He gets one rice tile for this choice and one extra rice tile for the farmer he took along with the monk. Rice is good. Kendall goes for money and draws 2 Yuan for the choosing, but nothing further as he has not got a treasury Person. Dicken gets some fireworks (nice).
Phase 2 is called ‘Person’ (something exciting may have been lost in translation). Each player has a set of eleven Person cards, one for each of nine types of Person available and two wild cards. Derek plays a ‘Court Lady’ and places the lady in question in his palace. She will earn him 1 point per turn in phase 4, ‘Scoring’ (that’s the sexy bit). Kendall plays and collects the Treasurer. He could have done with him in the Action phase, but that’s the nature of the game; very disarming. Dicken also opts for the Treasurer.
In Phase 3 the monthly Event is carried out. Consequently the phase is called ‘Event’. The first two months are set as ‘Peaceful’ and nothing happens. Thereafter all hell breaks loose. Players must look ahead and plan for disaster. No wonder then that Kendall and Dicken are looking for money as the Emperor’s tribute (4 Yuan a time) is due in March and again in May. Non-payment is not a good option; for every missing Yuan there will be a missing Person. The word ‘release’ in this case is a euphemism for execution.
Dicken’s mobile rings. It’s work. One of Dicken’s colleagues is out on an assessment late at night, so as a senior staff member he gets to be on call. Impressively he deals with the situation in less than three minutes, never once mentioning ‘contagion’, ‘drought’ or ‘the Mongols’.
Just as players are getting over the Event, along comes ‘Decay’. Here any palace without at least one Person housed in it will lose a single storey. At present there is no problem.
Phase 4 is ‘Scoring’ for that particular month. Each palace is worth 1 point and points can also be gained for Court Ladies and privileges.
And so the game starts to roll out; slowly at first and gaining more momentum as the phases are better understood and players come to realise that fate will kick them in the teeth sooner or later – so why worry? ‘It’s the first time we’ve played it’ becomes Dicken’s mantra. Kendall doesn’t correct him.
Fast forward …… Derek comes up with an ingenious plan to collect rice in bucket loads, converting to bucket loads of victory points at game end. Dicken gives a couple of good displays with his fireworks and also builds three extra palaces. He races into a healthy lead and then gradually pulls away from the field. Kendall doesn’t seem to have any particular strategy other than trying to keep all his plates spinning.
Fast forward again ….. Derek has slipped way behind on the person track, and as a consequence has had little chance to farm for rice. Furthermore he’s not been able to build either, so Persons can only keep appearing and disappearing from his two original palaces. Dicken has jettisoned his one farmer and realises (too late) that Persons are going to go hungry… very hungry. Kendall is squashing ever more Persons into a set of three storey palaces. With luck he should be able to keep sickness and starvation at bay.
The end ….. Derek starts building; too little, too late, too last (60 odd points). Dicken’s Persons are ‘released’ in droves; nice palaces, shame about the smell (70 odd points). Kendall’s Persons are all tucked up and safe (80 odd points).
‘Best game this year?’ wonders Kendall. Dicken weighs it against ‘Notre Dame’. Derek mentions that he has just been totally hammered; does this equate with a good game? Kendall commiserates and acknowledges Derek’s graciousness in soldiering on. ‘Was there an option not to soldier on?’ asks Derek. Dicken replies ‘No’ with a smile on his face.
All agree that ‘In the Year of the Dragon’ poses the sorts of dilemmas that the group enjoy and that the design is ‘clean’ and elegant to say the least. The random appearance of the Events will make future games very different. Certainly a game that will be played a lot more in the coming months.
Return to top
Games night 16th October 2008 – ‘Imperial’ by Mac Gerdts.
We are gathered at the home of Peter for our game tonight – ‘Imperial’. Peter shows the fortitude of a Ragnar tonight as he is only 3 days into recovery from his fourth hip replacement operation and greets us with crutches and open arms, which is risky to say the least as he should keep a hold on those crutches.
Peter is propped up at the table on a high stool while Phil prepares the board (initially German side up) only to be prompted by Kendall to reverse the board so that he can read the text in his native language. Not that this is particularly necessary as the wording on the rondel (yes, it’s one of those games) is pretty obvious as to meaning.
Dicken and Kendall have played two other rondel games (Antike and Hamburgem) and preferred Hamburgem of the two, so are keen to experience what they have been led to believe is the best of the lot.
The quality of the components is high. Lots of wooden pieces and thick card for Share markers and also curiously for the money – the money is so thick that it feels odd. I know it sounds like carping but the money in a game should feel like money not like stiff slips of card.
The board is very pretty to look at and bears an uncanny resemblance to a ‘Diplomacy’ map board. The start country cards are shuffled and dealt with Phil getting Italy as the extra country. He assures us that this is not an advantage but the other three look askance, as an extra country to begin with seems unlikely not to be a good thing. Players move the country markers round the rondel to choose an action and Phil is able to move Germany and Italy whereas Dicken can only move Russia, Peter moves France and Kendall moves Austria. Does that sound like an advantage to you?
Anyway, the game progresses and sure enough Phil is able to ravage the Italian coffers whilst militarizing Germany. The others struggle to see a strategy with only fledging command of the rules and Kendall opts for militarizing Austria (or tooling up as he likes to put it), Peter looks to emulate Napoleon (Bonaparte not Solo) by tooling up France and Dicken follows suit with the Russian Bear.
It’s all a bit predictable for the next few rounds because without ‘production’ you can’t ‘manoeuvre’ which allows the annexation of new countries and increases taxation potential. So all the chaps blaze a similar trail across the board.
Dicken bemoans his experience with Antike where it got very predictable indeed. Phil gives a pep talk about how to win the game by investing in various countries to gain end game victory points and eschewing all to see themselves not as the individual countries but as Investors who are looking to bolster the economic fortunes of countries and then plunder them to buy ‘shares’ in the next up and coming country. It all sounds a bit amoral but then that’s never stopped people with lots of money making even more at the expense of the innocent, so on we go.
Kendall is invested big time in Austria as is Phil. Peter starts with France but also quickly takes a controlling stake in Austria. The Austrian government’s treasury is massive but Kendall exclaims that he has discovered a flaw in the game. He hasn’t got control of Austria and has spent all his personal fortune and so is completely at the mercy of whoever controls Austria’s movement on the rondel. If that person doesn’t choose the ‘Investment’ option then Austria’s money will remain in its coffers and Kendall will not see a single Schilling. Kendall predicts this scenario and by the magic of a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy this is exactly what occurs.
Kendall sits and mutters into his beer, merely tinkering with the military potential of Germany for quite a long time, his only pleasure coming from deriding Dicken’s mismanagement of Russia. Peter misses a chance to hamper Phil’s sole control of Italy with his fleets and eventually Dicken takes pity on Kendall by taking control of Austria and allowing dividends to be taken – Kendall is back in the game but too late to make much of an impact.
Peter seizes a lull in the game to take a loo break and eases his way gingerly out of the room. Sounds filter back that indicate either that a small animal is being tormented or that Peter is in considerable pain. Peter returns bravely if grimacing and knuckles down to wresting control of Britain from Dicken. Dicken observes that it must be the pain that makes him so mean and Peter grins appreciatively.
Control of various countries switches back and forth between players and Britannia briefly rules the waves establishing a toe hold in Norway at the expense of the German navy. Russia makes a late foray into Austrian holdings in North Africa. The game has settled into a routine of players trying to ‘nick’ an advantage to enable them to buy more shares, whatever the value in order to increase their final points score. Peter and Phil pay huge sums to buy out the Austrian government and Dicken muses whether they would have been better to save the money as this also counts for victory points at the end.
Dicken, who was not really paying attention at the start when rules were explained, belatedly realises his need to expand his portfolio and takes a controlling share in Italy. He decides to end the game by taking the Italian credit rating to 25 which is the cut off point for the game.
When scores are tallied it is Phil on 107 who wins (told you having Italy as an extra was an advantage), Dicken has 87, Peter 84 and the beleaguered Kendall has a creditable 82.
Over cheese and wine the game is briefly dissected and the consensus is that we would all play it again now that we know the rules properly, but if Notre Dame or Tinner’s Trail were options we would pick one of them. The game seems to fall between two stools (no pathologist jokes please) and is neither a ‘war game’ nor a ‘stocks and shares’ game. It is a hybrid and undoubtedly works as a game and people say that the advanced rules plus playing without the ‘Investor card’ make for a much better game, so we will have to give it another go.
All in all a good night the only downside being that Peter will have to miss out on Essen because of his hip. Dicken promises to raise a glass for him in the back room of the Handleshof and we depart into the wee hours of the morning.
Return to top
Spiller’s Bash – ‘Cuba’ by Stefan Stadler and Michael Rieneck
England have just beaten Andorra. £20 (‘We hate Setanta’) for the usual desperate fare. Steve Slade has paid on his credit card and will be lucky to get the Ragnars to pay their share. Half time was best; the Indian take-away arrived bang on time and was excellent in quality and quantity. Spiller’s choice of Chinese proved to be as inspired as a Steve McLaren selection, arriving a full 90 minutes late.
And so the Ragnars take themselves to ‘Cuba’. It’s been a long day already and Phil’s ability to absorb any more rules is in serious doubt. Spiller, Dicken and Kendall already have some experience of playing the game. The game is set out in all its glory; surely one of the best boards and set of components. Dicken opens his bottle or rum, pours himself a large Cuba libre (for atmosphere) and eschews forth into the rules. These have been sketched out in a previous review, but during tonight’s game it turns out that the Ragnars are going to play it correctly!
Apologies to Stefan for our error last time. For some reason (probably Dicken’s fault) we had been playing that votes in Parliament could only be bought in the event of a tie; not so. Consequently, the extra two votes for the Town Hall do not guarantee control of the Parliament after all. In the previous two games our mistake meant a shoe-in for the person grabbing the Town Hall first.
The game begins. Phil is soon completely confused by his resource / product board. The more times the mechanisms are explained to him, the more bamboozled he becomes. It could be Setanta’s fault, or the Indian or the day’s gaming. It’s not the rum, as only Dicken is drinking it. Spiller commiserates with Phil, but is urgent that he gets on with it; which he does with a Caribbean ‘whatever’ gesture.
Kendall starts boldly by putting all his products onto the 2-point boat. This gets him an impressive number of points, but also suggests a complete lack of strategy. Dicken eyes the water buildings. Spiller plans a long-term strategy based on the Town Hall. He is still convinced of its power. Phil asks again about how he should be organising his board.
On the other half of the table the remaining Ragnars are already onto their second game of ‘Zooloretto’. Choosing the right game for the time of day is a problem at these weekends. Too light, too early and one wonders if it was worth making the trip. Too heavy, too late and there’s likely to be blood on the table.
NOTE: in the Ragnar’s case this is invariably red wine, coffee, curry or Weetabix. Spiller has had to burn his table-cloth in case wife Christina discovers it when she returns.
Kendall has now built a wood factory or some such thing; it doesn’t really matter, as for the remainder of the game it stands unused and unloved. None-the-less his score steadily mounts as he duly pays his taxes, puts the odd product on a boat and occasionally tips a wink at the architect for a couple of extra points. This strange ‘anything goes’ performance has a peculiar charm.
Dicken’s water empire splashes in the points; an impressive deluge at first and then easing off to a steady flow. Analysis of the buildings reveals that this rate of points accumulation should be pretty consistent across the various strategies (rum, cigars, water, hotel building etc.) provided players get the appropriate pieces in play and that not too many players crowd in on the same areas.
The alternative is what Spiller is attempting. He now has the Town Hall and money to go with it. He gains control of Parliament and starts to set the laws as he wants them. Points start to come his way, but he is still some way behind Dicken and Kendall.
Phil is getting nowhere and has least points.
Turn 4 and the wheels come off. Everything seemed to be going swimmingly….. Then the turn order (first player) decision (after a momentary rule check) favours Dicken…. Then the control of Parliament is tied between Spiller and Dicken…. Then it’s discovered that the first player wins that tie! Spiller is beside himself, ‘I’ve been planning this all game…!?!’
Dicken doesn’t feel he can help him out (why should he?). Kendall can’t see how the events of the turn can be reasonably unpicked (why should they be?). Phil can’t see what the fuss is about (Why don’t you breed your pandas?).
The game is called off. If only the same could have happened after England’s two goals at the start of the second half.
Cuba ‘s moment of valediction will have to wait. It will happen. This is a very good game that needs repeated plays before its multiple layers come together in one’s head. Kendall has a plan.
News from the North: Notre Dame by Stefan Feld (2007).
The Ragnars have assembled in March as is their wont in early September. Jason is host, Phil and Slade descend from the far North, Dicken and Kendall arrive from London with Charles (London) and Simon (Lanzarotte) in tow, whilst Dave pops in from just around the corner (well, from 45 minutes away which is regarded as just around the corner in Cambridgeshire).
Games are played, large quantities of alcohol consumed (given the number of cans and bottles in evidence on the Sunday morning, read ‘prodigious quantities’), and Jason comes up with the splendid wheeze of trying to book the England-Andorra game on Setanta without the use of a credit card. What fool would be willing to lend someone their credit card? Slade has a lot of explaining to do when he gets home.
Come Saturday afternoon and following on from the surreally entitled ‘Eric the Red Shift’, Phil, Jason, Kendall and Slade settle down to a game of Notre Dame. This is one of those games that has only the flimsiest connection to reality. Players represent the Heads of the influential families of Paris at the turn of the 14th century. The game board comprises the city surrounding Notre Dame. The winner is the player who manages to gather the most prestige during the course of the game, but to do so he also needs to make money, gain influence, make contributions to the upkeep of the cathedral and run the hospital (necessary to keep the rats – and the resultant plague – under control). If the latter sounds slightly tenuous, an even more curious action is to arrange for a carriage to drive around the city collecting messages; quite why these glitterati should feel the urge to do so is unclear, but it does make for a nice little subplot. Alright, let’s be honest - the aim of the game is to collect victory points (a.k.a. prestige) and there are lots of ways of doing so.
And so to the board. Now the board is rather clever. There is a section for each player participating and, depending on whether there is a triangle, square or pentagon in the centre, these sections fit together to create playing space for three, four or five players. What will clever boardgame designers think of next??! Then there is a ‘robber baron’ each, lots of cubes, nine action cards per player, a set of personality cards allowing bonus actions, lots of money and prestige markers, and that’s it.
Play is driven by the action cards. As said, there are nine of these and each one allows a different action. Each player’s board has seven sectors, and seven cards are linked to those sectors – basically place a cube and then carry out an action there. This is rather neat, because the more cubes you have in an area, the more you achieve. For instance, if you place a cube in the bank, and you then have three cubes present, you take three pieces of gold. Knowing where to mass your cubes is an important tactic in the game. The other two cards allow a donation to the cathedral (but lose the cube) or place the robber baron (or ‘special friend’ as it is curiously known – perhaps he who wants the messages collecting???) which is basically a sort of wild card cube placement and action.
Creating your hand of action cards provides another neat twist. First you take three cards, then pass two of the cards to your left, then take two cards from your right, pass one of those cards to your left and take one from your right. I agree. It does take a lot of getting your head around. On a second playing it’s fairly straightforward, but there is an initial sense of total bewilderment. Oh, and you only play two of the cards in each round, so one of the cards gets discarded.
So there you have it – play through the six actions of the turn, adjust the rats marker, hire one of three other personalities and that’s it. Three turns and it’s the end of the game. Very clever, lots to think about, and some nice interaction.
It would be nice to say that the Ragnars take to it like ducks to water (or fleas to a rat). As it actually happens, the first game rapidly turns into a ‘let’s play it and see what happens’ game. Phil contrives to end up with no influence at one point – fortunately other players allow a rewind – no influence means you can do nothing, and is fatal. Running out of money is another easily engineered disaster – those personalities are too chunky to not use. In the end the game is abandoned halfway through – too many players have made a hash of it.
However, good news! Sunday morning there are plenty of takers for another try. Charles and Gary are new to it, and Phil and Jason are only too happy to share their words of wisdom. “Whatever you do – never allow yourself to run out of money and influence.” So off the players go. Jason seems to have developed a sort industrial suction pump of a carriage which hurtles around the board hoovering up mountains of messages. Rules are consulted and – it’s groundhog day! the Ragnars have misread the rule – so it’s clear the board and start again. “That’s good,” says Phil. “It will give you a better idea of how to play it.”
Fast forward ninety minutes. “I really don’t like this game, “ opines Charles. He has used up all his money and influence. Several gimmes keep him in the game, but Dicken gazumps him for the points in the cathedral at the end of the game and that’s just enough to push him over the edge. Charles, though, is ever the courteous one. “I can’t say I enjoyed it as an experience, but it’s a very clever game.”
Jason actually wins by 5 points from Dicken (piles of early prestige), despite accusing the rest of the world of being ahead of him and, other than Charles, the players rate it highly. Indeed, Phil goes as far as to say it’s his favorite game of the weekend. A true accolade, and well worth a borrow north. Shame that Dicken has collared it for the south…
Return to top
Stone Age by Bernd Brunnhofer and Michael Tummelhofer
It being the summer holidays for teachers Phil is off over the hills and far away to downtown Bingley to visit Tom and the chaps. It has been a while and changes have taken place. Instead of squashing large numbers of boardgamers around the kitchen table, it’s over the road, round the back and in at the door of the local Conservative club. “You’ve no problems with that have you?” It has a bar, so why should it be a problem?? Besides, the Ragnars were forged in the dank, beer-smelling depths of the disused Magnet pub in Kingston back in the early-80s so it is almost a case of returning to the womb. Any thoughts Phil has, though, of being surrounded by well-heeled city executive types, sipping their Pimms and G&Ts, knocking over pieces and asking pointed questions about middle aged men playing Snakes and Ladders are rapidly dispelled: quiet is overstating it, and the old lady who goes past at one point is too busy managing her walking frame. Still, the barmaid is very accommodating, even to the extent of making cups of tea for those who’ve used up their alcohol quota for the evening.
The chaps spilt into two threes: Mordred is hammered through several times on the other table, followed by the slightly complicated-looking but rather intriguing Pandemic. But Phil, Tom and Neil settle down to a run at Stone Age.
This is one of those games that makes you think of rock family trees (you know, the ones where if there was such a one the renowned Simon Ellis could be traced through his various incarnations as Beau Blonde, Simon Snakke and the Amputated Leg Band, the Jerks, etc etc). In this case, it has a feel of lots of games - Pillars of the Earth but without the random pawn draw, Leonardo without the complicated placement system, Premiere without the silly names, Tinners’ Trail without the water.
Basically you begin by placing your five cavemen onto the board to try to control various capabilities: permanent ones such as growing food, making tools or producing more cavemen (and - one assumes - cavewomen); obtaining resources (wood, bricks, stone and gold, although the second seems slightly questionable when you start thinking about it, talk about a Neolithic property chain); obtaining victory points (either by constructing up to five buildings or by buying victory cards with resources). And that’s pretty much it.
The first turn kicks off. Phil goes first and decides tool building is the way to go (this lets you add one to one of your dice rolls), Tom grabs one of the victory cards and Neil elects to improve on his food production (this means he will only need four food counters to feed his five men). The second round of placements sees Phil moving heavily into wood and the others going for the more up market items (during the post mortem it was agreed that there wasn’t a lot of point going for anything but wood during the early part of the game). Stone Age plays quickly and easily with massed dice rolling taking place on a regular basis (for instance, if you have three cavemen hunting food you roll three dice, add them together and divide by two to determine how many food tokens you add to your stock. You need to pay one food token per man, otherwise you start paying with resources – not a good idea).
Phil readjusts his strategy and starts building up his tribe. This was probably a mistake: the extra men seem to spend most of their time hunting food to keep themselves alive. Neil is meanwhile rolling dice from the Gods, Tom from the depths of the Outermost Pit of Hell. They both start grabbing buildings in the manner of early property speculators, but Phil again readjusts (there is quite a learning curve playing this game for the first time). The victory cards are clever, providing two benefits – one short term such as gaining an extra resource, the other long term providing a multiplier (for instance, a card showing two toolmakers at game end provides Victory Points at a rate of the number of tools owned by that player times two). And – hey! no-one else seems especially interested, so let’s do it.
As it turns out, Phil runs away with the game. Everyone ends up with just under a hundred points from collecting buildings, but when the cards are revealed, Phil slaps down 48 for his massed tools and another 54 for his Shamen and the size of his tribe. Scores: Phil 221, Neil 173, Tom 162.
A curious game. The rules are pleasantly straightforward (they were read from the book there and then, as is the way with the Bingley boys), but all told it took over 2½ hours – a very long time for what is a simple game. Maybe the four-player game plays quicker, I don’t know – the fact that no victory cards were removed with three players felt a little odd. There was also a sense that, certainly in the short term, the luck of the dice was important. It does have a good atmosphere, though, and would be well worth trying again.
Back next week, possibly for a dash of Napoleonics – memories of the Magnet already stirring.
Games night ………. ‘Tinners’ Trail’ by Martin Wallace
The game is at Kendall’s, who arrives back from collecting son Tim from cricket, just in time to unload games from Dicken’s car. Kendall is all set to do an Onedin Line run to Huddersfield and back in order to collect copies of ‘Monastery’ – they have arrived! Kendall’s car will go stuffed to the gunnels with ‘Backpacks and Blisters’ and ‘Blooming Gardens’ as well as copious amounts of bubble-wrap collected from the school caretaker. What a life.
Tinners’ Trail is set up as first Paul (minus Liz) arrives, followed by Richard (minus his accordion). Before commencing on the rules there is a warm discussion as to the merits of the components. ‘Treefrog’ is the name given to Martin Wallace’s new line of games. His aim is to produce a limited run of gamers’ games with quality components, which (in order to avoid the pitfalls of full-scale commercial production) he is packing in-house; literally. We have this on good authority, having had several friendly chats with the Warfrog / Treefrog team at the UK Games Expo.
The components get a thumbs-up. Kendall particularly liked the wooden bits. Paul would have liked some town names on the map. Dicken was very taken with the box-art work. Richard excused himself on the grounds of not having played that many games before; a common theme for the evening.
Salsa dip with Doritos is the order of the day. Paul asks for the bottle opener, Richard is drinking orange juice (noble citizen) and the two Ragnars open a can each.
So to the rules. These are written very well. Or at least they seem so, but then again someone else may find the kind of difficulties associated with ‘Brass’ - but not tonight. Particularly meretricious is Martin’s enthusiastic commitment to the Cornish mining theme. Throughout the rules he draws the reader into the subject matter and this helps cement the rules in place. Kendall has visited the Laxey Wheel in the Isle of Man, watched Fred Dibnah exploring steam engines and visited the Science Museum. He is already converted. Unfortunately he is also the person who has read the rules, so the others may not be so wowed by the subject. None-the-less they are up for a good game.
Dicken starts, choosing an area rich in tin and copper deposits in which to place the ‘Robber Baron’ black pawn. Soon a mine of one of the players will be placed there. That player will first need to win the auction. Bidding starts at £3 and rises to £5. Richard wins – Kendall tut-tuts – surely far too expensive! Dicken places another mine – this goes for £6. Kendall waits for a cheaper opportunity, eventually paying £3 for a mine of less potential.
A good mine will have loads of copper and tin (as determined by dice rolls after the original set up) and little or no water (also a dice roll, but increasing each time mining takes place). Water makes mining expensive and much of the other actions are focussed on dealing with the problem of water. Thus a steam pump or adit, port or railway will reduce water; whilst a miner, port or railway will increase the rate of production, thus reducing the amount of water coming in per metal being taken out. Great idea and very neatly handled; this is without doubt the most innovative part of the game and very well themed.
Miners, adits, steam pumps etc. are regularly hoovered up in the early part of each turn. Thereafter players may use the time left available to mine or sell pasties. Pasties are a way of raising a bit of extra capital but can make the difference between being able to mine an extra ore or not as the game progresses.
In round one the mining is finished relatively early as player’s money runs out. Perhaps those mines were too expensive – Dicken and Richard have bought two each. Bucket-loads of pasties are sold. Only when the next turn order is revealed do folks realise the folly of their ways. Dicken stays first player, with Paul staying second. They get the advantages of scoring first and staring first next turn. Richard and Kendall gag on the pasties; passing would have been better.
More beer is quaffed and the Doritos replenished. There isn’t a lot of banter this evening, the game being quite accessible yet requiring a fair bit of analysis. Decisions have to be taken at the auction, in the action phase and when trading wealth for victory points. In addition the two leading players will choose a land each in which to ‘prospect’ – rolling dice for revealing new deposits of copper and tin (and water). However, at one point Dicken slips from a mock Cornish accent into a caricature Pirate voice much to Dicken’s own amusement and the others sympathetically chuckle along.
By the fourth turn players will need to have already collected victory points (earlier turns provide more for your money) and be in a position to mine well for the last time. In Dicken’s case this means splashing out on a new mine. Richard and Paul decide to contest this but end up with expensive mines and little cash with which to extract the ore. Dicken finally gets a third class shaft (if you’ll pardon the expression). Kendall has an old bore still working.
A close call at game end. Dicken has done enough to win with 89 pts, Kendall manages 82 (one more pasty might have made a difference – to his waistline! Ed.), Paul has 72 and Richard 57.
It’s 10.20, so ten minutes of chat about the game ensues. It’s agreed that this is a well-crafted design with a very neat resource system at its core. All present have enjoyed it a lot. Will Phil like it? Watch this space for part two when ‘Tinners’ Trail’ travels north……
Return to top
|
