It’s quite usual for players to just pip others by a point or two to win a game, truth be told it’s the best part of gaming however whenever a final score is 0 v 80 v 2,800,000 questions need to be asked…..
We started the evening with Eight Minute Empire
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/131366/eight-minute-empire
It’s a filler game but unusually it’s an map based empire game which usually take a number of hours to play out. Not so in this case, around twenty minutes and you’re done. The game is simplicity itself and it is very elegant. There is nothing superfluous about EME, you can pick up the rules in 5 minutes and it has elements from a number of it’s bigger cousins.
Each player starts with a set amount of money used to buy a card each turn from a line of six in a similar way to through the ages or small world. The further up the line the more expensive they are. As cards are bought the line is replenished from the deck in an conveyor style. Once you’ve played a certain amount of turns based on number of players it’s game over and count the score.
The cards have three functions, they keep a track of how many turns you’ve taken, they each have a resource type which is used for scoring at the end (you’re looking to collect sets of resources for bonus points just like 7 wonders) and they dictate the action you can take this turn.
Each players starts with three armies in the central part of the map (the game comes with a couple of maps and it would be easy to knock together new ones on an A4) and depending on the card they pick they can
Move their troops, Muster more either at the start or where they have a city, build a city, destroy enemy troops, cross water to another continent. The whole idea is to have the most guys in a particular region and better still have dominance of a continent each worth a few points.just like Age of Empires III
It’s fun, it’s quick, it’s lightweight, I can’t see fistfights starting over it but I like it and I want another game
Next up was
The Really Nasty Horse Racing Game
The RNHRG is a family friendly, STOP COME BACK IT’S GOOD! horse racing game which is a lot more fun that I had thought it would be. Each player starts with a stable of six horse rated from 1 (Arabian Stallion) to 6 (Unwashed pantomime horse), they secretly enter each horse in a race, work out the odds, bet on a horse and then try their best to win or more sneakily help the horse they’ve bet heavily on win. Along the way Really Nasty Cards can be thrown down to ruin a riders day, falling at jumps, stewards inquiry that sort of thing.
It’s surprisingly quick and it IS a lot of fun but there is more than a smidgen of luck involved, but then again betting is a mugs game and having done really well all game I lost it in the last two races, one of the others catapulted himself into a lead with a stellar score £2,800,000 to my paltry £80. Yes it’s silly, it’s fun, It’s not bad at all. I can see this being a great xmas game for families and I’m sure we will take it out again, probably next week.
For no good reason we pulled out a kids game called Waldschattenspiel or Shadows in the woods
I’ve spoken a long time back about this, it’s very different. One player takes the part of troll and can move around a path based on his dice roll, the others play the role of dwarfs who can move around and hide but cannot move through the light cast by the troll (who is a little tea light). It’s a lovely idea, you play it in the dark, not so sure about the game play but it was interesting enough for a good ten minutes. A tricky one to play at a con though !
Last off we had some more Coup which I’ve spoken about way to much and that was it
Thanks for the Caramel Squares which were both frightening and immensely satisfying to quote one of the day lads when they were revealed “Holy Shit, there’s an inch of everything!”
Good gaming,
Huzzah!
Vic
Victor Gannon Games 
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