Year End Report for 2003
Total games played: 515
Unique games played: 132
Total gaming sessions: 144
Total Gaming Time: 353:32
Total Set-up Time: 22:39
Average Game Length: 0:41
10 plays and over list:
154 Magic
22 Bohnanza
19 Dvonn
16 Bucket King
15 Torres
15 Set
11 Space Beans
10 Quiddler
10 Rack-O
Top 5 Game Month Index
The numerator is the number of months in this past year that the game saw play. The denominator is the number of months since the first play of this game (12 = first play was January or before).
5. Carc. H+G (7/11 = 64%)
4. Dvonn (8/12 = 67%)
3. Bohnanza (9/12 = 75%)
2. Bucket King (9/9)
1. Magic (12/12)
Game of the Month Review 2003 (with Month Index):
Jan Bohnanza (9/12 = 75%)
If I need a good game to introduce to non-gamers, I always bring out Bohnanza. I'm yet to find anyone who doesn't care for this game. My dad asks to play every time I go home. I introduced it to the Magic players at the local comic shop, and the owners bought a copy to keep at the store. I play it so often that Sara has burnt out on it, and has announced that she won't play it again (for at least two months). I'm counting the days (:
Feb Ben Hurt (1/11 = 9%)
This is probably my favorite once-a-year game, and it's getting about time to play it again. I think it's too long to play more often than that, but it's a lot of fun. Probably the closest I'll get to a monster game.
Mar Modern Art (2/10 = 20%)
I was really enamoured with this game after my first play - it's a pure bidding game with a simply system for determining the likely value of each work of art. I played it for the second time at Unity Games in August, and couldn't remember why I liked it so much.
Apr Lost Cities (4/9 = 44%)
The month index is misleading, as I play this game against a computer opponent at least 25 times a month. I've finally ordered a physical copy for myself, even though I think the cards are unwieldy.
May Merchants of Amsterdam (2/8 = 25%)
Similar to Modern Art above, I was absolutely fascinated by my first play of this game, but found the second playing somewhat lacking. I'd play it again, but it's fallen off my "have to own" list.
June Rack-O (3/7 = 43%)
I think this game is bound to be a classic, and I'm glad I own a copy of it. Having said that, I haven't played it in a while. One of the advantages of this year-end reflection is a chance to highlight the games that I have been negelecting.
July S/Qwitch (3/6 = 50%)
I think that this is the best of the Spit-like games. If I liked that class of games more, this would see more play. As it is, it's good to bring out once in a while as a quick palette cleanser between strategy games.
Aug Formula De (mini-rules) (2/5 = 40%)
A fun racing game with a few fatal flaws - the difficulty in catching up when one has fallen behind, and the potential for a huge head-start. I haven't tried the full version yet, but I'm not sure if I want to put much more thought into a dice-based racing game.
Sept Alhambra (3/3)
With three excellent plays so far, this game is on the top of my "must acquire" list. Despite the large amount of randomness that others see in this game, I enjoy creating my own little palace and look forward to playing with any number of players.
Oct Princes of Florence (2/3 = 67%)
My impression is that most games give you just a little more room than you need to complete your objectives - waste too much time or make too many poor choices, and you'll lose.
Princes of Florence, however, seems to give you just a bit too little room to complete your objectives! It seems to me that, even with the most careful planning and more then a little luck, I always suffer during the last round or two. I really enjoy the first 5 rounds, but I feel beaten down by the end of the game.
Nov New England (1/2 = 50%)
Dec Lowenherz (1/1)
Year end report coming soon, for now, the monthly report:
Some monthly stats for December 2003
Total games played: 41
Unique games played: 16
Total gaming sessions: 12
Total Gaming Time: 27:41
Total Set-up Time: 1:33
Average Game Length: 0:41
Games played more then once this month (other then Magic):
Knights of the Rainbow 5
Bohnanza 4
Land Unter! 4
Bucket King 3
Catchphrase 2
Torres 2
Carcassonne (H+G) 2
New games this month:
Lowenherz
Knights of the Rainbow
Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation
Game of the month: Lowenherz
Only three new games this month, which is unusally low, but I enjoyed all of them. It's fun to divide up the map in Lowenherz, so much so that I failed to defend my areas sufficiently. I'm also curious about Domaine, the "updated" version of Lowenherz.
Computer Games played:
Zax, a cheap game that's like Serious Sam in a Diablo interface.
PS2 Games played:
Lots of Crash Team Racing with my sister and her friends. Recieved one of the Crash Bandicoot adventures for Xmas.
Notes:
Recieved Land Unter! and gave Knights of the Rainbow (and Scrabble) to my wife on Christmas. Recieved Entdecker, Wooly Bully, and Penguin Ultimatum on New Year's Day (as late xmas presents). Expect to see more of those games in January's monthly report (:
Happy New Year!
I haven't made any resolutions this year, have you?
Session Report: December 29, 2003
Games Played: Alhambra, Land Unter!, Knights of the Rainbow, 6 Nimmt!
Gamers: Chip, Lowell, Joyce, Sara, Marianne, Rob, Mike, (Don, Lewis)
Thanks to Lowell for hosting.
ALHAMBRA (1:17 + 0:10 rules)
Chip: 103
Joyce: 91
Lowell: 74
Marianne: 61
Sara: 55
I pushed for Alhambra, as I'm on the verge of buying it, and wanted one more try before taking the plunge. I explained the rules for the new players (all except Sara and me), and we were off.
The money distribution seemed a little skewed at some points of the game, as there would only be one currency available to choose from for several turns in a row. Joyce seemed to be most affected by this, although it did not prevent her from building the longest wall.
I like this game a lot. I still maintain that there is more chaos with more players, but, even so, I like it with any number of players.
LAND UNTER! (0:37 + 0:05 rules)
Chip: 13
Marianne: 11
Rob: 10
Joyce: 4
Mike: 3
After Industria finished up, Sara and Lowell joined Don and Lewis in a game of New England while Mike and Rob joined us for some drowning sheep action.
Play moved pretty quickly and, at times, viciously. Each player had a chance to play with each hand of cards, so here's a comparison of how each player did with each hand:
Rob Chip Mike Joyce Marianne
A: 3 3 3 1 2
B: 2 3 -1 2 0
C: -1 4 1 1 2
D: 5 3 2 1 6
E: 1 0 -1 -1 1
I really like this game. It's nice to play a card game where no one can complain about how the cards are dealt!
KNIGHTS OF THE RAINBOW (0:32)
Joyce: 14
Chip: 12
Rob: 10
Mike: 8
Marianne: 8
I suggested KotR as a quick filler while we were waiting for the game of New England to finish up. To my surprise, no one suggested anything else, so we played it.
I was the target for most of the game, although I did get Rob to share some of the pain with Marianne. She then tried (unsuccessfully) to point out Joyce as the leader. Unfortunately, like Cassandra, we paid her no mind and Joyce walked away with the game.
I like the politics and negotiation of this game as players try to convince each other to gang up on whoever seems to be winning (me, in this game). I seem to be alone in this opinion, however, as everyone else was turned off by the randomness in the card draws. I'd play it again, but I'm not sure who else would play it with me (:
6 NIMMT! (0:25)
(Cumulative Scores)
Chip: 16 - 16 - 17
Mike: 5 - 19 - 26
Rob: 8 - 20 - 28
Marianne: 17 - 34 - 39
Joyce: 22 - 51 - 81
After the inevitable comparisons of Land Unter! to 6 Nimmt! we decided to bring out the old staple of SOG sessions. We explained the rules quickly to Joyce and Marianne and started to play.
Mike and Rob started out well enough, but I managed to avoid taking any cards in the second round, and only a single card in the last round.
I enjoy 6 Nimmt!, it takes more players than Land Unter!, but it has more randomness.
Movie update for those of you keeping score at home. Last night featured a screening of the Empire Strikes Back. My sister, who had not seen it before, really liked it. She was a bit shocked by the cliff-hanger of an ending.
