Last week I attended the World Board Gaming Championship in
Lancaster, PA. If my math is
correct, this was my 16th or 17th 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 3rdth). Despite my rocky start, I was the last
person given a semi-final spot. In my semi-final game, I missed 1st
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!
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