Labor Day Weekend Gaming at TCEP

Over Labor Day Weekend I attended TCEP in Laurel, MD. Below is an overview of the new games I learned.

Eclipse: This space exploration and combat game is the "it game". Although I enjoyed both games I played, the replay value might be limited. Sure there are several different alien races and the humans. The title board also changes. Plus it is an extremely long game. Overall I enjoyed the game, but don't see it on my regular purchase and/or play list.

Ora et Labora: I'll cover more on this Uwe Rosenburg worker placement game in my next blog post focusing on Agricola, Le Havre and At the Gates of Loyang.

Village: This morbid game focuses on killing your family certain locations to get the most points. The game also features an interesting mechanic of deciding on your actions by removing a goods cube, sort of the opposite of worker placement games. Overall I really enjoyed this game. It actually a lot more strategic than it looks on the surface. I would definitely play and purchase this game.

Vinhos: Portuguese for wines, Vinhos is a wine making worker placement game. Do you focus on making one/ two good wines, or several lesser ones? Gain points by exporting, selling and showing your wines at the wine points. Overall I really enjoyed this game. As with many worker placement games, it is on the longer side. This game also makes the play and purchase list b

7 Wonders Cities: This is the latest expansion for 7 Wonders. We actually played this in combination with Leaders. Cities adds a new type of card- black. Debit is also added via some of the black cards. Two new wonders are also added. We did not end up playing the new team rules, though personally I cannot imagine playing with more people than 7! That seems like it would be too crowded. Overall I enjoyed this expansion. It not only works well with Leaders, it introduces elements to 7 Wonders without breaking the game.

Sorry I have fallen behind on my game blogging; sometimes life gets in the way.

Expansions

Back in the day games didn’t have expansions. There was just the game. Sure you could modify the rules, make your own cards, etc. but there was nothing official. The game maker may even have a theme to their games, but the game was what it was.

In more recent times (starting with perhaps Settlers of Catan and Carcassonne?), expansions have basically become a requirement.   Sure for some games this can be good, but in the end there are always expansions that seem half-assed, too outrageous, break the game, etc.

One good example of this would be St. Petersburg, specifically the Banquet mini-expansion more so than the New Society.   The Banquet added special powers to the game, which I think broke the game. St. Petersburg did not need special powers. This modifies the game too much. At least the New Society’s additional cards attempted to fix some broken elements of the base game by replacing some of the cards like the Mistress.  Allowing for a fifth player was unnecessary though.

On the flip side, I love the Small World expansions… mostly.  (Partly I love the expansions, because I love the game itself so much.) The expansions with the new Races and Powers, like Be Not Afraid, Cursed! And the Grand Dames, are fantastic.  Tales and Legends were interesting, but adding event cards added a new element to the game that was unnecessary.

My theory on game expansions is they should expand, but not over extend the original game.  Expansions should also be limiting. A new game with a similar theme should be created.

Yes all game maker want to create an empire, but endless expansions are over done.  Case in point is Dominion.  There have been so many expansions, so quickly. It’s too much.  Then again I wouldn’t mind more Small World expansions, but maybe that’s just because I love the game.

What are your views on expansions?