All By Myself: Solo Games

Love gaming but can never find any willing victims, I mean players, to play with you? Maybe you should try solo games.

Recently I just purchased Friedemann Friese's Friday. This "solo adventure" is the first game I've played just for one player, rather than a multi-player game that has a solo option. So far I've enjoy my attempts to defeat the islsnd's hazards as well as the pirates. This game is hard. And has multiple levels for maximum play.

I have also played the solo variants of multi-player games. In the case of most - D Day Dice; At the Gates of Loyang; Agricola; and, Dinosaurs of the Lost World - the rules already had a solo variant included. In the case of Small World, I found a solo variant on Board Game Geek. Even iOS Carcassonne has a solo option, which was not part of the original game. Either way, all of these games are just as challenging as as a solo game. Though with Agricola I find it easier, but maybe because I suck at the game no matter how I play.

To me solo game play can be just as fun as if you are playing with, or against friends. Even with the rise in iOS, video and computer gaming, it is still nice to sit down and play an actual, real life game against yourself. It can actually be a great way to relax!

Learning History Through Board Gaming

Although board gaming is a fun hobby, it can also be educational. Below are some games I'm sure helped me get into History. There are many more historical games out there than the ones listed here. Check out Board Game Geek for more historical games!

Full Disclosure: I love the History Channel and have been known to watch their multi-part series numerous times! I also minored in History. Probably would have double-majored in it if I wasn't so intent on graduating early.

History of the World
Overview. This game covers major historical civilizations in an conquer region / area control game. The original game spanned 7 epochs from 3000 BC to 1914 AD. It also happens to be a long game, especially if you play in a tournament.
What did it teach me? Players will gain a greater appreciation for military and civilization history, especially for those lesser known ones to American students - Chinese and Indian ancient civilizations.
Credit. World History to 1914. Non- Western Civilizations.

Chrononauts
Overview. Chrononauts is an alternate history game with an element of time travel. Players try to rearrange historical events to meet their mission. All events are real events in US History. The original game covers US history from 1865 Lincoln Assassination to 1999 Columbine shooting. The Early American expansion covers 1770 Tea Exempted in Tax Repeal to 1916 Star Spangled Banner becomes National Anthem. Gore Years Expansion covers 2000 G.W. Bush winning the Presidency to 2008 1st Black President elected.
What did it teach me? The game will give you a grasp of how historical events are connected to one another.
Credit. American History.

Founding Fathers
Overview. Become a Founding Father by being a delegate at the Constitutional Convention. Win by getting items into the Constitution that personally get you points.
What did it teach me? Players will learn more about those lesser known Founding Fathers. (Shout out to my main man George Mason!)
Credit. Political & US Founding History.

D Day Dice
Overview. Experience D Day through this intense cooperative game. Make it up the beach, and beat the Germans for Victory!
What did it teach me? Players can learn about the different beach battles took place.
Credit. WWII military history.

Of course there are a multitude of games that more or less serve as mini-reenactments. I say mini-reenactments because they focus mainly on historical battles where each player plays a side. The main focus of these games are on the American Revolution (1776, Liberty, etc), American Civil War (Gettysburg, Battle Cry, etc), WWII (Memoir 44, Axis & Allies, etc), etc.

Note: I wrote this blog post mostly on moving transportation (metro & bus) on my iPhone, so hopefully I didn't get autocorrected too much.

Deciding On Games To Purchase

If you're like me and don't have unlimited funds for games, often times you must decide which games to buy. Personally I like to play games before purchasing them. If that isn't possible then I use word of mouth, Board Game Geek and/ or vendor recommendations. Although I prefer to buy my games from a physical store/ vendor, the Internet has made it easier to have access to a wider variety of games. The best stores are the independent ones with gaming space, like the Game Parlor in Chantilly, VA. Every year at WBC

At least in my family we get games (or gift certificates for games) as presents for Xmas and birthdays! This does help ease the lack of game funding problem.

Game Review: Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries

This afternoon I played Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries (TTR: NC). Full disclosure, both my BF and I have played Ticket to Ride (TTR) many times as a board and iOS game, as well as TTR Europe (TTR: E). We are also experienced gamers.

Much like the Switzerland (TTR: S) map I have played just in the iOS game, this version of TTR accommodates 2-3 players. This is what attracted me to purchase the game since I just have one gaming partner. The rules for Tunnels and Ferries are the same as TTR: E & TTR: S. Locomotive cards can be used for routes with Tunnels or Ferries, but not regular ones. The Ticket drawing is the same as TTR:S whereby returned ticket cards from your initial selection and any previous drawing actions are removed from the game.

If you know how to play any other TTR version, this will be an easy game to learn. You may have an initial minor issue with the Nordic geography , unless you know the cities in their native languages. Much like Europe, this does not detract from the game. Plus the ticket cards have little maps on them, do worse case is you find the destination cities that way.

The art and production value is of the same calibre as the other Days of Wonder and TTR games.

There is a fair amount of replayability to TTR: NC given there are 46 Destination (Ticket) Cards, but in my game we barely saw half of them.

The best part about this version of TTR verses the Original one and Europe is that the map is scaled to be more contentious with 2-3 players. (Again much like Switzerland).

Overall I would definitely play Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries again ... Especially since I ended up winning! Bonus!

iOS Games

As some of you may know some great Euro Games are available to play on your iPhone...and Android too, though I don't have one so I'll stick to iOS games. I am also going to only a few of my favorite iOS Euro Games since I currently have 18 (!) Apps in this category.

The first, and one of the best designed iOS games is Carcassonne. The App offered online play before Game Center, though now it uses it. The AIs are challenging and allow for solo play. There are also In-App Expansions available for purchase. The Solitaire game offers another dimension of replayablility. I would appreciate offering more expansions and even more AIs, but maybe that's because I play Carcassonne a lot. The Carcassonne is also a universal App, which is a big plus!

Another one of my favorites are the Ticket to Ride Pocket App (Original & Europe). Although it will be annoying I'll have to by a separate app if, and when, I get an iPad. Both Pocket Apps offer In-App Expansion purchases available. It's Game Center supported which means you can challenge your friends to an online game.

I recently started playing Le Havre on my phone. For a more complicated game the designers did a good job of making everything easy to find and use. I recently discovered that you can enlarge the goods you're currently holding. It also has Game Center support.

My final favorite iOS Euro game I'll mention is Ascension. Even on the iPhone it is easy to use. Game Center support and Expansions add other dimensions to playability.

In general all iOS Euro Games (and all iOS games for that matter) should have the following features:

1. Game Center Support. No other system will do since Game Center is now default on the iPhone.

2. Excellent sophisticated multi-level AIs. I don't want too easy, or too hard AIs. I want them to have multiple strategies. I also don't want to beat up on just the human players.

3. Replayablility. This can be achieved from special solitaire games, multiple variants and/ or expansions. This is key if you want me to spent more than 99 cents on your app!

4. Universal App. As someone who is considering at some point (hopefully) purchasing an iPad I don't want to have to buy another app just for the iPad.

5. True to Original Euro Game. I don't want a "dumbed-down" version of an awesome game.

iOS gaming will not replace my board gaming, but it does solve my problem of lack enough people for a regular gaming group. This is especially true for Small World... That is whenever I buy an iPad since there is only an iPad only App. Sad. I think it could be on the iPhone. They manage to do it with Tikal. So I would think Small World wouldn't be that much harder.

What's your favorite iOS Euro Game App? Looking for a gaming buddy- leave a comment with your Game Center Screen Name and I'll connect with you.

World Board Gaming Championship: A Look Back

Last week I attended the World Board Gaming Championship in Lancaster, PA.  If my math is correct, this was my 16^th or 17^th year.  Impressive given I am not even 30 (…nor will I ever be)!  Here’s what I spent my week:

Tournaments

This year I only entered into two tournaments, St. Petersburg and 7 Wonders.  Throughout the years I have entered fewer and fewer tournaments, mostly due to timing and/or I did not want to end a pick up game early.

St. Pete Results: I won my board in the first heat, and then sucked for the next three heats (2 3^rdth).  Despite my rocky start, I was the last person given a semi-final spot. In my semi-final game, I missed 1^st place by two points. Unfortunately, there was some king making at my table.  I was insulated from it, but my BF was not. places and a 4

7 Wonders: The tournament consisted of two games. I honestly don’t remember how well I did in both games, other than to say I did not make the next round.

New Games

I learned the following new games:

Alea Iacta Est:  This made for a good filler game.  This is an interesting dice placement game that reminded me of Castles of Burgundy, but not as good.  It does seem to have some issues in mechanics.  This could have been because my table of 5 had a large number of dice ending up in the Latrina. 

Castle Panic:  I first learned of Castle Panic through Geek and Sundry’s Table Top webseries with Wil Wheaton.   This cooperative game was engaging.  I felt it was true to its portrayal on Table Top.   Much like Pandemic, there is an element of panic… but in a good way. 

D Day Dice:  D Day Dice, a Kickstarter cooperative game, also reflects the element of panic and reality of D Day.  There was a major team feeling throughout the game as we worked our way up the beach fighting the Nazis. Although though we managed to win on our first try, but apparently that is not the norm.  

Dixit:  I previously wrote about hating “Party Games”.  Dixit is a party game, but one I actually like.  Players take turns “telling a story” about one of their cards (their words; I say describe the card) by using a word, sentence, lyrics, movie quotes, etc.  Then other players look in their hand and pick a card they think fits the description.  The Story Teller then mixes all the cards and the other players vote on which card they think is the Story Teller’s.  The artwork on the cards is awesomely weird. Yet at the same time there are some cards I want to frame in my house. Unlike Apples to Apple, you do not necessarily need to know the other players well, although it does help.  It is a great family game that spans the ages. Additionally there are a lot of expansions, so you can expand your horizons.

Le Havre:  I had heard that the iOS app was out, but did not want to purchase it until I actually had played the board game once. It is one of the Uwe Rosenberg’s “Harvest Trilogy” (Agricola, which I hate with a fiery passion, and At the Gates of Loylang, which I like).  I ended up liking the game a lot, although I did not win. Much like Agricola you must feed your people.  It is far less annoying than Agricola’s food requirement and far more forgiving overall.  I just recently played an awesome iOS game winning with ship buying strategy. 

Navegador:  This is a Portuguese themed explorer and discovery game.  I enjoyed exploring the waters, founding colonies, and making money. It had an interesting element of how to determine your actions through movement along an action wheel.  Definitely a game that requires planning ahead. 

Undermining:  Undermining is space mining game that has more than meets the eye.   Mined resources can be turned in for craft upgrades or complete contracts for points.  One annoying and effective technique is to sit upon the transportation portal. 

Ra the Dice Game:  This dice game was less than thrilling.  I think we either played it wrong, or we missed something.  I have never played Ra, but I played Priests of Ra last year.   After my Ra-like experiences, I doubt Ra is my game.

Small World Realms:  Despite wanting to play SW Realms before the tournament, I did not manage to do so.  We ended up playing two games of Realms; 1 of each Scenarios 1 (My Precious World) and 3 (Go East).  I enjoyed that each scenario added a new element without radically altering the game (which is my main complain with the Tales and Legends Expansion).  I would love to play these scenarios, as well as the others more.  I would also like to try my hand at coming up with my own scenarios. Of course this is all contingent on convincing the BF to play more Small World.   

Old Games

I also played a number of games that I had previously played before. These include Ascension: Chronicles of the Godslayer; Kingdom Builder; London; Alhambra; Castles of Burgundy; Galaxy Trucker and Lost Cities: The Board Game.

New Purchases

This year I only purchased two games! Shocking… I know.  

First is Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries.  I bought this one because it is a 2-3-player game. Since I do not have a regular gaming group, I am always looking for 2 player games that I can play with the BF.  Although the Original and Europe Ticket to Ride are good with 2 players, but the board always seems a little too big. 

Second is Trollhalla.  This troll pirate game focuses on collecting the most valuable plunder.  I got it mostly because it looked interesting.  I know you can’t judge a game by its box, but still.  When I punched out the bits, I discovered it has lady trolls. Girl Power!