Saturday, January 13, 2007

Some games I played in 2005 but not in 2006

Salutations from sunny Lorne where as we move from 2006 to 2007 public internet access is a) less available, b) more expensive and c) no longer wireless.

However we are here to talk about games. During the process of compiling data for my 2006 games played - an Annotated List, I found a number of games that had been played at least once in 2005 but had no plays in 2006. Many of these would fall into the "Don't Own" category - we don't own a copy of the game so any repeat plays are reliant on somebody who owns the game bringing it along to somewhere games are being played and probably with the intention of it being played. Others were for different reasons...

Alhambra: The Vizier's Favour
From memory there are four different expansions in this set. I thought that two were good and two were not. We don't own it and with a 50-50 hit ratio and a fairly expensive price it doesn't seem worth purchasing it. I would play it if a copy was around.

Around the World in 80 Days
We own it and we like it. Daughter the Elder likes it and we even got Melissa's parents to play it, yet it didn't get played in 2006. I have no real explanation for this.

Atlanteon
I have only played this once and it seemed like we were heading towards what I call a "coin toss" ending, i.e. it comes down to the last move or two and there is a 50-50 chance either player will win. Perhaps it is just that Reggy and I are too evenly matched. We do own this, I just have had no great urge to drag it off the shelf. Since this is a (semi) abstract it may be worth giving it a go with Daughter the Elder.

Bang! A Fistful of Cards
Mr Skeletor is the only person I know who owns this, so it requires him to bring it to a Gamers@Dockers session for it to be even available for use.

Buasack
Don't own, given the price in Australia it will require a lottery win to even think about buying it. I would happily play it again though.

Betrayal at the House on the Hill
It was OK, but when you need an errata that is longer than the published rules and there are other unplayed games it would have to be a pretty special game to play it again and, to me, it just wasn't special enough.

Big Idea, The
A good game with the right group of people, would probably fall flat with the wrong ones though. We played the official CheapAss Demo Monkey's copy, so replaying opportunities are limited.

Blue Moon
Played this a few times in 2005 and felt it was OK. I'm not going to rush out and buy it and the other copies that I know of rarely appear for play.

Bootleggers
Don't own it and the copy I played hasn't been sighted for a long time. I am starting to see a trend here, Reggy quite often brings in a game for one or two sessions and then it dissappears back into his vault not to be seen again. If it was around I would certainly play it again (and whinge about the lack of markings on the vans).

Bridges of Shangri-La, The
I would certainly play this again, but don't own it. I wouldn't buy it without getting Melissa to try it first though.

Carcassonne - Hunters & Gatherers
This is my preferred Carcassonne, so I am at a loss to see it listed here.

Carcassonne - The Castle
Actually I blame BSW for this. Two player games at home with Melissa have taken a hit and we haven't introduce this to Daughter the Elder yet.

Checkers
Too many other options. 'nuff said.

Citadels
Don't own. Slim chance that I didn't log some lunchtime plays, or maybe they were in 2005 after all.

Coloretto
The best excuse I have is that we have lost the rules to our set. It's not really a very good excuse is it? Let's just move along shall we?

Cosmic Encounter
The insurance policy requires expensive armed guards to accompany the Eon set out of the house, so it just doesn't happen very often. Don't believe it? Umm, the bus got a flat tire? I don't know Melissa and I are big fans though.

Crocodile Pool Party
Tom Vasel is paying me not to play this. No, OK maybe not. Realistically this is just another victim of the drop of two player games in our house. Admittedly it has one of the worst back stories evar, but it is an OK mathematical abstract game.

Das Zeptor in Zavandor
We didn't own this until Christmas 2006, so it is a possibility for 2007.

Dwarves and Dice
This game fell victim to Daughter the Destroyer and is unlikely to see the table again. The truth be told it wasn't a very good game anyway above building colour matching skills for small children.

Elfenland
We own it, we like it, yet we didn't play it. No idea why.

Enchanted Forest
I think the main reason for this being on the list is that Daughter the Elder prefers to play other games like Ballon Cup, Stock Market, San Juan... In other words it is a "inbetweener" game, Daughter the Elder is a bit too old for it and Daughter the Younger is a bit too young for it.

Euphrat & Tigris
I was a little shocked to find this here until I remembered that I played about 50 games of this via the BGG interface, I just only log face to face games.

Expedition
We don't own it and it doesn't seem to appear at Games nights.

Feurio
Don't own. I would certainly play it again though.

Fishe Fluppen Frikadellen
Don't own it. On my only play it didn't grab me as special, but I could be convinced to play it again. In 2006 nobody tried to convince me though.

Fish Eat Fish
I liked this enough to buy it, but since then it has just sat on the shelves.

Game of Thrones, A
I think this just comes down to the fact that it is not easy for me to arrange a three to five hour game. I like it and own it.

Gargon
We liked it as a three player card game. We didn't own it for most of 2006.

Go Away Monster
Another vitcim of Daughter the Destroyer.

Go Fish
An "inbetweener" game.

Gunslinger
This must have been early 2005! It was OK, but I don't own it and haven't see a copy available to play since.

Hansa
It got a couple of SBW plays, but no face to face. I don't know why.

Igloo Pop
We found that this didn't work well with a mixture of adults and children, there was a distinct skill difference in favour of the adults. This is marked down as an "Anna" game so will make it to the table at least once in 2007.

Illuminati New World Order
You may think that Illuminati is a long game, will it looks like a filler compared to this. Not likely to hit the table again, but since I don't own it that shouldn't be a problem.

Industrial Waste
Don't own this, but would be happy to give it another go.

Junior Labyrinth
Another inbetweener game.

Lawless
Tried this once as two player. It was OK, but is not really a great two player game but should work better with more. I just haven't got around to trying it though.

Liar's Dice
An interesting dice/bluffing game which I would happily try again, we just don't own any of the various incarnations of this though.

Lord of the Rings - The Confrontation
This always seemed to come down to a coin-toss ending when I played it. Some people have told me this isn't always the case, but none of them have challenged me to a game.

Die Macher
It's jut difficult to arrange, or we are slack about arranging it. We own it and we like it and there's plenty of people around willing to play it.

Mag-Blast
Superceded as a lunchtime work game.

Members Only
I like it, but not enought to pay $55 for it.

Modern Art
I only played this once three player and got destroyed. I should try it again at some stage, we do now own it, so that is more likely to happen.

Nautilus
This is quite a good game, and would be better if ran 60-90 minutes or less, the problem is that it runs close to two hours.

Naval Battles
Don't own and really only liked it two player.

Perpetual Commotion
I played this for a fair portion of a day in a tournament. I figure I have filled my quota for this game for about a decade!

Pirate's Cove
It's not a deep game sure, but it is fairly quick and fun. We must get Daughter the Elder playing this during 2007.

Railroad Tycoon
One of Reggy's stable of games. We don't have a playing surface at home big enough for this, so there is little point in me buying it!

Risk 2210 AD.
Played it once, won it, little interest in playing it again.

Samurai
Don't own it is my only excuse. I like it, even though I am never entirely sure if what I am doing is useful.

Santiago
Played it, liked it, bought it, didn't play it again.

Snakes and Ladders
Another inbetweener game. This will come out in 2007 with Daughter the Younger though.

Shear Panic
I like this, there's a lot more to it than just the pretty sheep, just haven't played it.

Starship Catan
I prefer this to Settlers of Catan the Card Game but it is just too long to get a lot of play.

Titicaca
Don't own it and it just hasn't come back for a visit.

Trias
It has nothing to do with the fact I keep coming last, I'd play it again (and again) to improve my position. It just doesn't seem to have been suggested.

Union Pacific
I suggested this in 2006, but it fell of deaf ears. It was even part of our Museum Exhibit. I like it, but seem to be in the minority.

Uno
Daughter the Destroyer again.

Vinci
It got a couple of plays on Ludagora.net, but no face to face plays. Not sure why.

3 comments:

qzhdad said...

interesting approach to review last year's games. I may take a look at mine and it might even prompt me to move a few into the trade/sale pile.

Anonymous said...

RE: Coin-toss endings.

I agree that this can be a problem in Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation. It is the major flaw in an otherwise excellent game. (And I do like it despite this flaw.)

However, this complaint doesn't make sense for Atlanteon. There are no random/unknown factors in the game so how could it come down to a "coin toss"?

Fraser said...

Greg, that was just a feeling after one game and is certainly not a set in concrete one. I think I was playing with someone with a very similar style and ability, thus we both saw it drawing to a pre-determined conclusion a few turns out. However that could have been the way we were playing or as a result of our moves. I am happy to play it again to disprove this first feeling, I just haven't got around to it!