Knavecon on Tour – Gaelcon 2014

After a long absence I’m going to actually make it to Gaelcon this year

Just like confession I couldn’t tell you the last time I was there, certainly a number of years. I seem to recall a pub quiz, some extended refreshment and a fruitless quest for fried food. It was all black and white and there may have been pirates.

I’m looking forward to meeting in Person some of the people whom I’ve only chatted to online and catching up with a few I haven’t gamed with in way too long.

If you are attending make sure to make yourself known and join me for a game or two.

SO… Who’s game?

Huzzah!

Vic

October 1, 2014 1

No Love Lost

Love letter is a bit of a misnomer, there’s no letter and there’s surely no love when you play this game. I love simple, clever games and Love Letter is certainly one of these. It has sixteen cards and it still manages to deliver like a boss

It’s best played with three to four players (the max) and it plays out in say twenty minutes or so. The first few games take a bit of getting your head around and being told repeatidly draw one, play one eventually gets through your skull.

You start the game with one of seven possible card types some of which have multiples. They are the usual motley crew of medieval archetypes, Priest, Princess, Duchess, King, Guard and so on. Each of them have a special power and each of them can dampen either you or your opponents ardour.

The idea is you need to end the round with a card higher ranked than your opponents or knock them all out of the round before the cards run out.

This can be achieved in a number of ways, the easiest being naming what card an opponent has by playing a guard (yes sometimes it’s pure guess). Forcing them to discard a particular card, punching them in the throat (not sure this is an official rule), Challenging them to have a higher card than you with the Duke. Other cards allow you to swap hands or view another player’s cards. It’s very much Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock and it works very well indeed. It is if you will perfectly formed.

The game is purely reactionary, you have to think on your feet (even when you’re sitting down) and there’s always a way to win. This sounds like a wine buff (there’s hints of blackberry) but there are hints of other games in here but none of them are overpowering nor is the game too similar to anything else. It very much stands on its own.

I’m always amazed how music works, a half dozen notes into a tune you have something unique, the same is true of love letter. It’s unique, it’s fun and it’s criminally cheap. You can pick it up for less than ten euro and you will play it again and again. Of all the essential games to have in your collection, THIS is top of the list

Go now and pick up a copy and if I’m wrong you can punch me in the throat at the next Knavecon

Huzzah!

Vic

warm

September 30, 2014 3

Hat trick of hate

I’m reliably informed (if you’re someone who trusts gamers) that it wasn’t the lava or indeed the ash that killed the population of Pompeii it was the pyroclastic surges.

Well that’s all well and grand but lava is the staple of so many adventure stories and when we played on Thur it was lava and to be even more accurate ME that killing the good people of Pompeii left and right.

The downfall of Pompeii. The game is medium length under an hour will see you good. We played it three time last week. THREE TIMES. that should tell you alone how good this game is. A few of the guys at knavecon IV had played it stupid and had recommend to me. They weren’t wrong

The game is very simple. Each turn you add one of your meeples to a building based on the cards in your hand. Each building can fit a limited amount of meeples and placing one in an occupied building lets you place additional meeples elsewhere via the relative rule

So the first half of the game you’re loading your guys (as many as possible) into building, preferably ones close to an exit because all hell is going to break loose come act two. During the first phase there’s cock blockery aplenty with players jockeying for the best spots like Guerrers trying to get up on a phone box during a parade. Omen cards allow you to (with great pleasure) take an enemy meeple and chuck them into the volcano freeing up some choice real estate but in no way appeasing the angry gods.

Then suddenly it’s fire and brimstone ,nikes on and to hell with making an orderly exit.

Once the second eruption card is pulled its lava from there on out. Players add an extra all devourer lava tile onto the already bubbling mass that’s rising up from six points within the city. So every turn a player gets to steer the avalanche hopefully onto enemy meeples and iggy pops two of his dudes to the nearest exit (the so long suckers salute is taken for granted)

Once everyone has exited Hanoi or at least got as many out as they could it’s all over and it’s most survivors that carry the day

This is superb. Absolutely fantastic game. I wholeheartedly recommend it. Works great with kids too. Despite what seems like a very simple game there is depth here. Each time we played it we found a bit more

Get this game. It’s cheap. If I was to fault it the build quality could be better and I already see a bit of wear and tear after three games but I can forgive

Going to play this again real soon

Huzzah

Vic

September 28, 2014 0

El loco loco loco loco Diablo

Castle of the devil is a game I’ve been after for a while. It’s gotten mixed reviews and a lot of reviewers have said that the resistance is superior. That’s fine. Being not quite as good as the resistance is still pretty good and opinions are like just that.

The first thing that struck me about the game is the size. It’s tiny. A little bigger than a desk of cards (60 cards or so).

The Second thing is the fact that it’s in both German and English just like Irish roadsigns (you know what I mean) but with the foreign language on top. It’s fine btw just takes a little bit of getting used to

The third thing is how long it takes to play. Usually USUALLY a small game takes a small amount of time to play. Not so in this case we rattled on for a full hour with this and it was back and forth to the last.

The game itself is not bad at all. Not out of This world but not bad. The whole game resolves around a coach trip (the horse type) where the passengers are secretly split into two factions the brotherhood of lies and the other lads who hate lies. Probably. One group is trying to secure three keys and the other is trying to secure three goblets for their respective teams. Note the word team. Now the fun bit is you start not knowing whom works for whom and it’s a race to deduce who’s who then a grab for the keys or goblets. Simple.

Each member starts with one random luggage object and a random profession which grants either a one off ability like poisoning someone, breaking up a fight or a not so powerful game long ability like being a good fighter or a bodyguard and so on

Professions are hidden until needed so there’s lots of HA HA! Moments in the game which I liked.

Each turn players swap items of luggage or in our case quite a bit stop the carriage and challenge each other to a duel at which point players in turn declare whom they are siding with and either assist the attacker or defend the victim. The winner in either case gets a sneaky look at who the loser works for or gets to half inch one of their luggage items.

The luggage items apart from the goblets and keys all have special abilities often triggered by trading them to another player. They might help a player in attack or defence. Allow a player to examine who they work for. Cause a player to break out in hives, not be able to drink apple juice and so on. I’m kidding and you get the idea

By a careful study of players actions and a series of judicious beatings you can figure out who’s who and to win all you need do is stand up and in a “I’m Brian and so is my wife” style declare whom you work for, that you have a key/goblet and so have those other guys that work with you…. get that wrong and you lose

It’s an interesting game. I think we over played it on Thur until there was no doubt of whom everyone was and then it was a tug of war to secure the goblets/keys. My team lost. Worst team ever.

We also played the first game objects only so we haven’t tested the whole game with all of the luggage. All and all it was good but not brilliant but I’ll hold fire until I’ve played it again and in full

Until that day Huzzah and safe home (to the castle of the devil)

Vic

September 26, 2014 0

Music to Conquer to

An important part of any gaming night is the music. The last thing a gentleman or lady wants to hear is the Tick Tock of ones old grandfather clock from the main reception as you sweep your croupier stick across the playing field. Puts one right off

Too many of us rely on the classics. The Lord of the rings soundtrack, Conan the barbarian or if it’s a game of x-wing the Emperors march.

Now I’ve been accused (quite rightly) of having inappropriate music at a games night, Truth be told gentle reader of late I’ve gotten a bit lazy. I just stick on a web radio like

Radio paradise or Somafm and let the interweb do it’s thing.

By right I should really hook up Spotify but I have my reasons not to. I do have an end of life squeezebox and that performs admirably and a stack of mp3s of questionable value thanks to radio Kerry. That said picking out music during a hand is a sin punishable by at the very least death

So I guess rather than give my opinions today I’m asking what do YOU think is good music to game to? Opinions may vary, Wars may start but the best place to defuse them as always is on the gaming table (unless you have a dark alley nearby)

Huzzah!

Vic

September 25, 2014 0

Thanks and that

Thanks to all the gamers and gaming groups out there that have been helping me of late to promote this blog. It’s been a pleasure (so far) writing it and I hope anyone who’s read it has not been wealthy enough to afford a decent hitman. more to come

Huzzah!

Vic

September 23, 2014 0

Constantinopolis Craving

Constonopolis is like a grown up version of Puerto Rico (we’re all grown ups at Thur night gaming as you know). We’ve spoken about it before (insofar as I’ve spoken about it). It was the second game of the night so it was like the secondary target in a Flight Sim, didn’t really matter, the main game was played and we could all land happy.

It is worker placement plain and simple. Last Thursdays flavour and it’s not bad at all. I’ve said it before and I’ll say if again (and probably again if allowed) if you haven’t played Puerto Rico you are missing out. If you’ve played a LOT of Puerto Rico then Constonopolis is a fine vapor pen like replacement.

Constonopolis (I’ve said it three times now) has got pretty much all the elements of Puerto but also a bit more. Trading (which I’m not so sure about). Mini missions in the shape of ships and buying of goods as opposed to just growing them.

It doesn’t have colonists to power stuff but that’s not a big loss by any means.

Myself and the group have played a lot of PR and almost solved the game at this stage, so this is new and fresh. I haven’t figured out one way of winning (with this and most games) It’s quite possible to go several routes to gain victory points and as far as I could see each of them was valid.

There’s cock blockery a plenty in the form of bidding and grabbing positions before others do and more importantly overcharging others for certain resources. Worker placement tends to be awfully polite (well with other groups I assume), lacking the “HA! I just invaded and ruined your epic plan, Squirt some tears punk ” moments. It’s all a bit more subtle but it’s no less fun for that.

Squeaking ahead on the score or cashing in a bonus and winning at the end never gets old. This is a solid game that gives warm hugs. It’s definitely worth playing but if you haven’t tried Puerto Rico I recommend you start with it first

We had already played one worker placement on the night so this was like a second happy meal in one day. I’m glad I got this game (It was a swapsee for something else) and I’m going to play it again. Try and stop me

Huzzah!

Vic

September 22, 2014 0

Rhymes with Archipelago

When games become a religion AS THEY INEVITABLY WILL (let’s ignore than I plan to be the first Pope of gaming for now). When it Happens one of the dominant sects will be worker placement (possibly with live workers). I can’t remember when WP came about but it’s everywhere now in gaming and in some camps it’s greeted with shouts of praise and others it’s all nashing of hair and pulling of teeth 🙂

I like a good WP game as much as the next dice chucker but add in a big of map based action and I’m your huckleberry

Arcepellego is one such game. I’m thankful for every game I get a chance to play and this was no exception. Now I have to clarify, we played one game last Thur and we were only really getting the tyres wet. It’s a complex game. When it was being explained my mind kept drifting to this video, however like most games an explanation from someone who’s played it and a play through makes every game simple.

Archipelago is an exploration, worker placement, economic five player. It’s map based via a set of big hex terrain card which lock together to form you guessed it an archipelago.

On these tiles are a half dozen resource types, fish, wood, iron, cows, instant whip (or some such) and you can harvest then by placing workers on them. Other moves involve things like exploring, building well … Buildings and generally not straying too far from the normal worker placement style you would expect

Each turn global events kick in and knock your workers over like and exploding Sauron and sacrificing goods allow you to stand them back up.

A rebels versus settlers governer mechanic leads to a careful exploitation balancing act and coupled with every one having their own secret set of game end conditions Archipelago is suitably different from anything else I’ve played

There’s a market economy going on with goods increasing in value and adding bonuses as you stockpile them in the central hoard.

Now I could be wrong (I’m not the Pope yet) but the only cock blockery I could find was grabbing before your opponent does. In this respect it’s a bit like Puerto Rico (which is no bad thing)

The game can be played in three lengths depending on setup short, tall or grande (you know what I mean). The shortest game being about two hours long. I’m starting to see a bit more of this with games and it’s welcome. Nations has a handicap system for experienced players and this simple addition makes a game a lot more accessible for players of mixed skills and gaming windows.

I’d be very interested in playing this again. I don’t think I’ve seen enough to make a Judgement on this game but it does have a vibe of a record you play once and think hmmm that was ok but a few plays more and you love it.

I infaliably reckon it might get another play next Thur

Huzzah

Vic

September 21, 2014 2

We go on three?

you’ve got to ask yourself one question: “Do I feel lucky?” Well, do ya, punk? BEST LINE EVER (apart from all the other best lines ever)

Cash and guns or more correctly Ca$h and Gun$ is a super little filler game. It’s been reprinted lately having been out of print for a number of years and being stupendously expensive for what is a fairly simple game at heart.

I had a crack at playing this some months back with the group using a set made of playing cards, kids guns and sticky back plastic. It was good but the real McCoy is much nicer.

It caters for four to eight players and it’s a short filler game. About twenty minutes and you’re done. It’s a real goodie to round out an evenings gaming.

The whole sizzle of the game is the guns. It plays as a series of Mexican standoffs with everyone at the count of three pointing their natty foam guns at each other. I can only assume the foam guns are there after playtesters understandably pistol whipped each other with more solid versions.

So having seen whom or more likely multiple whoms are pointing at you on the count of three players get to chicken out or stand their ground.

Those who stand firm find out if their attacker loaded their gun with blanks or live ammo (of which there’s a limited amount) and therefore either wind up full of holes (three wounds and you’re dead dead) or miraculously unscathed

Those remaining brave and un holed get to share a central pile of loot, which gets redrawn each round

Rinse and repeat for eight rounds and whomever has the biggest wad at the end, is the winner.

Throw in a few extra rules and you have different character types that can take more hits, steal more of the stash and you have a recipe for all out fun

It’s a blast (literally). There’s a bit of luck in there, there’s a lot of old rivalries come to the fore when playing. There’s guns, did I mention guns? There’s cash.

I talked about the live version of this some time back, this is a similar animal and it retains the same fun elements from it’s bigger cousin. I lost btw, way too fool hardy and shootable, that said I didn’t lose as bad as the owner of the game who has after a dozen plays NEVER, EVER made it to the end without being killed.

Then again a man’s GOT to know his limitations

Huzzah!

September 19, 2014 0

Hiding it’s Titan under a Bushel

This game has been faithfully turning up at Thur night games and serially overlooked like an extra with a killer signing voice for over a year. We played it last Thur and Cyclades is a SUPER game.

It’s got everything I like in a game. A map, ships and land troops along with big monsters and Greek mythology. So it’s unique enough. (Now THERES a sentence)

On the face of things it’s a map based conquest game played out on a round map with preset island and sea squares. The map is a decent size but not too large that you won’t meet everyone else a number of times during the game.

There’s a bidding element to it too where you try and favour one of the gods who’s in charge of ships (go on guess his name), land troops, priests or colleges along with a fifth god which is a sort of god of social welfare who doles out coins and horns of plenty (+1 coins per turn)

Before movement commences the bidding kicks off and increasing bids push players off these actions and allows then to rebid for others. So each turn you’ll be doing only one thing, raising and moving troops, ditto ships, building colleges or Temples or grabbing money.

Add to this a set of one off cards which allow you to summon titans to ruin someone’s day or give you movement or battle boosts and you have a game that borrows a lot of good elements from a number of games.

(Can you tell I really like this game?)

It’s five player a semi magical number and the race to the finish sees a lot of plan changes and sneaky plays.

When we played it it ended very close with most of the players one turn from victory. No bad thing.

It’s very good. It’s medium complexity (something I can handle). It’s fairly fast, below two hours and there’s a great sense of achievement unlike those silly flicking games everyone is mad about right now 😉

There’s a couple of expansions out for it and a newer Egyptian themed version but for now the game I played is perfectly formed

Highly recommended and in need of another play. Maybe next Thur

Huzzah!

Vic

September 17, 2014 0