What I Played Today: October 20

Gosu, Innovation, Dominion: Prosperity

Card game day, y’all! I got to show off all the new games that I’d been excited about, and they did not disappoint. First was Gosu, that goblin game. It works much better with two, because you only have to concentrate on a single opponent, and the majority of the cards are better with focused fire than anything else. We went three rounds, the first round going to my much stronger opponent who got two chips off the bat, then a second round where I was one card away from victory because of the full army win condition guy, and then a third round where my opponent couldn’t keep up. But the interactions in this game are great and interesting, and I no longer think that the game should have included more cards. It seems just right; not enough variety so it’s impossible to get the cards you want out.

Then on to Innovation, and I was so right to like this game. It’s a tad random, in which you can only use at most five of the dogmas, but the dogmas do such varying and intense effects that there are a lot of strategies. I went mostly with brains, which allow you to slap down a lot of cards quickly and help you splay (fancy word for adjust your pile of cards so they show more symbols, allowing you to use more actions). But my opponent went on the offensive, taking my cards and scored points faster than I wanted. He also got an early special achievement, quickening his victory. But the fact that the interactions in this game are so complex and yet so limiting is really great. I think with an extra person, the tension would be great.

Then more Dominion, because you know, it’s good. I lost the first game badly, not able to counter the incredible combo that is Goons/Counting House. I bought too many peddlers for full price was my problem…that’s the weird thing about this set, there are a lot of cards that are give-and-take, which seems weird considering their cost. The cards here are more vicious to you than they are to your opponents (well, except Goons). But the second game, which mixed with Seaside, went in my favor somehow. I think because we dropped the high-end cards, and so there wasn’t the pressure to ramp up. I also finally figured out what Warehouse is good for; it’s for decks that stuff to their gills with victory points early and need a way to get them out. Of course, considering that Native Village and Island is from the same set and do it so much better…