Zombie Dice, Tobago, Forbidden Island
A couple of friends came over to try out my new table, and I must say guys, I like it. It’s not very big, but it’s suitable for any game not published by Fantasy Flight (and I have my coffee table for that), and it’s pretty solid. It’s good to have a space to do things.
We started with a couple of rounds of Zombie Dice, which it is unnecessary to comment on. We then played Tobago, which I keep sitting on the fence about. It’s a neat game, with cool mechanics and components, but I never want to play it more than once every couple of months. Just something about it.
We also made the poor choice of rushing through a game of Forbidden Island with someone who didn’t quite grasp what was happening. The other players knew what was going on and what we were supposed to do, so we barreled through the rules, “You do this, and then this, and we win,” and it didn’t turn out so great. It was the toughest game I played of the game in a while, but I really need to work on a methodology for explaining games, because this is an area that I fall down at many, many times, and I should really be better at it already.
Showing posts with label Forbidden Island. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Forbidden Island. Show all posts
What I Played Today: May 20
Forbidden Island, Dominion
I played two games of Forbidden Island, and I must say that while it is cheap and fun, it is damn easy. We had no problem getting the cards we needed and managed to get around the island well enough, as well as a willingness to just let the island sink if we needed it to. It’s obviously an introduction to coop gaming, but with the luck of our draws, I didn’t feel threatened by the challenge at all. We had exactly one moment where we could have lost, and that would have been if we had terrible luck.
I also played a few games of Dominion, and played with some real fun combos. I won every game, but it turned out to be close throughout. I remember the last game the most, in which possessions ran rampant and the lethal (if supported) combo of Apothecary and Coppersmith was on the table. The way to victory, however, seemed to be buying the most chaining actions and going for a vineyard win, which are worth points equal to a third of your total actions in your deck. Unfortunately, this didn’t work completely, as I ended the game tied against the province buyer. Special victory cards always throw me off.
I played two games of Forbidden Island, and I must say that while it is cheap and fun, it is damn easy. We had no problem getting the cards we needed and managed to get around the island well enough, as well as a willingness to just let the island sink if we needed it to. It’s obviously an introduction to coop gaming, but with the luck of our draws, I didn’t feel threatened by the challenge at all. We had exactly one moment where we could have lost, and that would have been if we had terrible luck.
I also played a few games of Dominion, and played with some real fun combos. I won every game, but it turned out to be close throughout. I remember the last game the most, in which possessions ran rampant and the lethal (if supported) combo of Apothecary and Coppersmith was on the table. The way to victory, however, seemed to be buying the most chaining actions and going for a vineyard win, which are worth points equal to a third of your total actions in your deck. Unfortunately, this didn’t work completely, as I ended the game tied against the province buyer. Special victory cards always throw me off.
What I Played Today: May 11
Dominion: Alchemy, Dicetown, Forbidden Island
It was game night at the local hobby shop, and I showed up early to see what was going on. Turns out I was a bit too early, but I did get to see some people playing a 6-player game of Twilight Imperium, something I’d liked to do. I remember having a hell of a time last time I played. The only thing stopping me from getting it is the huge in-cost.
Once people started showing up, Alchemy hit the table again, and I completely dominated, mainly from getting an early possession to constantly feed off the player on my left, and partly from knowing how powerful the cards from the get-go. Grabbing a few philosopher’s stones early, as well as a really aggressive victory point purchasing campaign late in the game. I bought maybe 4-5 estates when I didn’t have enough gold to buy anything else, just to counteract the massive number of curses I was getting. Turns out it was unnecessary, as I won by 3 times as much as the next best player, which was an almost offensive trouncing.
I also played a game of Dicetown, an Old West themed game where you roll a set of poker dice to try and get the right combination of faces to acquire the right stuff each turn. You can keep one dice each roll, and have to pay money to keep more or less. Once all rolls are decided, you find out who has the most of each icon, and that person can take an action, mostly taking victory points, money, or special cards. The sheriff goes to the player with the most kings each turn, and the sheriff can break all ties. Those who don’t win anything get a consolation prize at the end, usually in the form of stealing points from everyone else, or protecting their own points.
I was doing pretty well, I thought, being able to keep the sheriff when I needed it to break all ties in my favor and stealing points from my opponents when I had a chance. Unfortunately, I got tricked into thinking one player was ahead by the player who actually was ahead, and picked on the poor guy while the trickster ran away with the game. Enjoyable, but light.
In the same category is Forbidden Island, which I also played, which is without a doubt Pandemic Lite. It uses the same mechanics in almost every way, which is good when you consider that the same designer made it, otherwise it’d feel like a rip-off. The player are trying to get four items before the island they are on sinks into the ocean, which involves going to a certain location and discarding four cards of the same type. Each turn 2-5 locations sink, going to a flooded mode, and then, if not recovered, a completely gone mode. It’s a matter of balancing keeping certain locations up and moving to the locations you need to be in to get the treasures.
It’s really simple, and we had no trouble. It does have a couple of things that differed a bit, mainly the treasure deck, which determines how often the sinking intensifies. The panic cards that make the sinking worse aren’t spaced out in this game, rather shuffled in at random, and the deck is quite small, meaning it will get reshuffled often. If cards are chilling in your hand, they won’t get reshuffled in, and the panic cards will show up more often and cause locations to sink much faster. Though, once a place sinks, you no longer care about it, which lowers the tension a bit though, as you can sacrifice a whole bunch of outlying areas and see no troubles when the waters rise. I’ll have to play a bit more (it’s short), and see if any variants will make it more interesting.
It was game night at the local hobby shop, and I showed up early to see what was going on. Turns out I was a bit too early, but I did get to see some people playing a 6-player game of Twilight Imperium, something I’d liked to do. I remember having a hell of a time last time I played. The only thing stopping me from getting it is the huge in-cost.
Once people started showing up, Alchemy hit the table again, and I completely dominated, mainly from getting an early possession to constantly feed off the player on my left, and partly from knowing how powerful the cards from the get-go. Grabbing a few philosopher’s stones early, as well as a really aggressive victory point purchasing campaign late in the game. I bought maybe 4-5 estates when I didn’t have enough gold to buy anything else, just to counteract the massive number of curses I was getting. Turns out it was unnecessary, as I won by 3 times as much as the next best player, which was an almost offensive trouncing.
I also played a game of Dicetown, an Old West themed game where you roll a set of poker dice to try and get the right combination of faces to acquire the right stuff each turn. You can keep one dice each roll, and have to pay money to keep more or less. Once all rolls are decided, you find out who has the most of each icon, and that person can take an action, mostly taking victory points, money, or special cards. The sheriff goes to the player with the most kings each turn, and the sheriff can break all ties. Those who don’t win anything get a consolation prize at the end, usually in the form of stealing points from everyone else, or protecting their own points.
I was doing pretty well, I thought, being able to keep the sheriff when I needed it to break all ties in my favor and stealing points from my opponents when I had a chance. Unfortunately, I got tricked into thinking one player was ahead by the player who actually was ahead, and picked on the poor guy while the trickster ran away with the game. Enjoyable, but light.
In the same category is Forbidden Island, which I also played, which is without a doubt Pandemic Lite. It uses the same mechanics in almost every way, which is good when you consider that the same designer made it, otherwise it’d feel like a rip-off. The player are trying to get four items before the island they are on sinks into the ocean, which involves going to a certain location and discarding four cards of the same type. Each turn 2-5 locations sink, going to a flooded mode, and then, if not recovered, a completely gone mode. It’s a matter of balancing keeping certain locations up and moving to the locations you need to be in to get the treasures.
It’s really simple, and we had no trouble. It does have a couple of things that differed a bit, mainly the treasure deck, which determines how often the sinking intensifies. The panic cards that make the sinking worse aren’t spaced out in this game, rather shuffled in at random, and the deck is quite small, meaning it will get reshuffled often. If cards are chilling in your hand, they won’t get reshuffled in, and the panic cards will show up more often and cause locations to sink much faster. Though, once a place sinks, you no longer care about it, which lowers the tension a bit though, as you can sacrifice a whole bunch of outlying areas and see no troubles when the waters rise. I’ll have to play a bit more (it’s short), and see if any variants will make it more interesting.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)