What I Played Today: August 10

Goa, Zombie in my Pocket

No, I didn’t play anything of note yesterday, I’m over it. Moving on to today.

I went to game night today; a lot of standing around as people set up, and that one guy who keep trying to get Talisman on the table was there. I told him straight out I wasn’t interested (because I have to wait five years, you see), and instead I sat in with some new guys and played one of the games they brought, Goa. And I played it all night, because we were unclear on the rules and they had a tendency to overthink everything.

It was a Mediterranean trading game, in which you have to build ships, collect spices, and upgrade your various statistics in order to get the most points. There are a number of statistics in play, and each round there is a quick auction to purchase various upgrades and plantations, then each player gets three actions, plus more if they acquired the appropriate bonuses. I did not do very well, I got behind on the money track and couldn’t get the bonuses I wanted. But it was interesting, even if it took forever to play. I’m sure that if I had a chance to read ahead of time, it might have gone a bit better.

I also picked up a printing of a game I’ve heard a lot about, Zombie in my Pocket, produced by the biggest joke of the graphic design world, Cambridge Games. I mean, look at this trainwreck. Why do they insist on make all your games a) look the same, and b) look tacky? Anyway, the game is good; it started as a solo print-and-play game, and it’s very quick, with a lot of tension, with the decision of either waiting to try and keep your health up or pushing forward and potentially dying from zombies.

What this game adds is multiple players and a more balanced and tense play experience. The multiplayer rules are interesting and look like a very hell-of-a-time, and another objective was added, with a small amount of helpfulness added as well. I played a couple of solo games just to see what it’s like, and I kinda want to play it with a big group.