Corner on Wheat! (a review of Pit)

One of my fondest memories of college is family game night. I didn't have any actual family at college, but that didn't stop a group of us from gathering every Saturday night to play games. There were many family game night staples (including Kill Doctor Lucky and Bang!), but one that I was introduced to there and that remains one of my favorite party games is Pit.

Of Tracts, Sheep, and Strong Drink (a review of Glen More)

[Editors note: The following is a Nemesis Review, featuring opinions from our in-house eurogamer, @Farmerlenny, and his deadly enemy the thematic space-loving @Futurewolfie.  Make sure to read both opinions to get a better overall picture of the game!]

I received Glen More for my birthday last year. Glen More seems like it should have everything that I value in a game: interesting decisions, exciting and novel mechanics, and lots and lots of meeples. It even has tiles a la Carcassonne and takes place in the British Isles. So what did I think of it? Read on, good gamer, and find out!

FDQ: Minis or Cubes

It's an age-old topic of debate. Games come with a variety of parts. Sometimes tokens are relegated to printed cardboard circles; some games resort to classic meeples and cubes to represent various elements of the game board. And then some companies, attempting to pack in as much flavor in the components themselves, fill their boxes with detailed plastic minis.

The idea of minis excites many gamers, but some just wish the parts were simpler and the games were cheaper. So, fellow gamerites, what do you think? What is your preferred style of game component?

@Futurewolfie says:
I know that @Farmerlenny will probably hate on the minis, but honestly, I love 'em. I love theme and flavor in games, and detailed plastic minis just add a whole lot to that. Starships in Twilight Imperium? Awesome!  Knights in Shadows over Camelot? Sweet! Zombies and heroes in Last Night on Earth? Dude!

I realize there are drawbacks, and I can certainly understand why someone might prefer wooden parts; the colors are more distinct and easy to check at a glance, and minis definitely add to the cost of a game. Not every game needs minis—in Carcassonne, for example, it would be pointless to have minis instead of meeples (which are sort of like wooden minis anyway; they have such personality!)  Ascending Empires, while we love starship minis, just wouldn't work—the disks are needed for flicking. Fortunately, detailed stickers fill in some of the flavor so we're not stuck with plain colorized cylinders.

But you know what? Last Night on Earth would just not be the same without the minis. The crowds of zombies help the story and enhance the flavor. Battlestar Galactica's Viper and Raider minis may not be entirely necessary, but the ship designs are visually distinct and again, it adds to that Galactica feel. Twilight Imperium just wouldn't have the same feel if you have different sizes or shapes of cubies to represent the different types of ships in your fleet.

And over time, I think the cost difference between meeples and minis will shrink. As the board game hobby overall grows, more and more games will be purchased, and games will get bigger print runs. Bigger print runs means smaller cost per game—and the costly part of detailed minis is creating the original mold. Heck, even wooden tokens are getting more detailed and unique, with animeeples, vegemeeples, fruitimeeples—all sorts of meeples coming in various shapes and sizes. Woohoo! I love this stuff!

@Farmerlenny says:
@Futurewolfie only gets it half right (which is half more than normal, by the way) when he says I will hate on minis. I don't hate on minis. Minis are kind of cool...when they aren't used as a mask for shoddy game design. That I don't like most games that include minis isn't a judgment on minis themselves but on a certain type of theme-rich gameplay that ignores the more important aspects of game design: decisions, downtime, and a preference for simplicity over convolution.

To me, cubes are serviceable, and most of the time that's enough. I opted not to upgrade my copy of Agricola, being perfectly content with discs and cubes. I don't need sheep that look like sheep. I make my living by reading: I can imagine a story overlaying drab bits if I want to. But most of the time, my games don't need the extra layer. What's the story in Ticket to Ride? I don't care. The decisions are interesting enough that I'm not thinking about it. If I want a good story, I'll read a book. I play games for different reasons. I'm so boring that I came this close to not applying the included stickers in my copy of Belfort. But then I realized that @Futurewolfie cares about such things, and since he is the person I'm most likely to play it with...

All of this being said, however, I am not immune to the draw of fancy components when they are paired with a good game. Show me a beautiful game (with beautiful mechanics to match), and I will likely be putty in your hand. I'm sure this is nine-tenths of the reason I purchased Troyes, and one-half the reason I haven't traded away Fresco. It was also what kept me on the fence about El Grande and what keeps Stone Age hitting the table again and again. I have a soft spot for beautiful games and components, whether made of wood, plastic, marble, or glass.

But I'm also plenty happy with my original Director's Cut edition of Kill Doctor Lucky, which I taped together myself.

FDQ: What Game Doesn't Love You Back?

We all have games we love and games we strongly dislike. Usually we get pretty good at our favorite games: we play them frequently, we learn the ins and outs of strategies, and our passion for the game carries us to victory.

But sometimes, sometimes we fall in love with a game that we just kinda suck at. It defies logic; you'd think getting hit over the head repeatedly would turn us off. But for some reason, these games continue to have a special grip on our hearts. It's not that we never win, we just more often than not fail to end up on top. But we sure had a blast along the way.

What game do you love that doesn't love you back? Answer in the comments!

@Futurewolfie answers:
I have a couple games that fit in this category. Kill Doctor Lucky is pretty much always a blast. It's a good laugh, it keeps me engaged the whole way through trying to figure out how to maximize my turn or get Doctor Lucky alone in a choice room for a brilliant murder attempt... but in the end, I usually fail to win.  More often than not, I draw out the last failure card from other players, only to have the next person in line strike for the victory.


Cosmic Encounter, currently my #1 favorite game, is also a game that I often lose. I'm probably victorious more often than with KDL, but I constantly find myself making terrible decisions (in restrospect), or letting someone else get great positioning, or otherwise losing the top spot.  It speaks volumes that despite my poor record, this is still my favorite game; it's just so much fun to play it doesn't matter if I win or not.

Olympos is very new to me and hasn't really been played enough to make a solid judgment, but I have yet to scrape a victory and it's still a blast every time. I love the time mechanic that makes you try and perform your actions in as few steps as possible. It's tense, it's great fun, and I still haven't nailed down a successful strategy. We haven't reviewed this one yet, but we will get it up there soon.

@FarmerLenny answers:
 Ascending Empires probably tops the list for me. For those not in the know, Ascending Empires is a dexterity space empire building game (which, incidentally, @Futurewolfie and I chose for 2011's Game of the Year). I'm not very good at flicking my ships around or with negotiating with other players, but still, more often than not, it's the game I want to play.

I'm also not terribly good at Power Grid and its various iterations, but I love economic games, and it's hard to keep me away for too long.

FDQ: What Theme Grabs Your Attention?

Whether theme or flavor, the package a game comes wrapped in can greatly affect its enjoyment. Abstract games can be fun, but even Reiner Knizia gussies up the packaging with pictures of times and places (most of the time, anyway). So that brings us to today's question: what theme grabs your attention? Answer in the comments!

@FarmerLenny answers:
I've mentioned elsewhere that theme usually doesn't matter to me in a game as long as the game itself is fun. I say this, but there are themes that appeal to me. Most notably, I like novel themes that make me think about things differently. My own master of theme is James Ernest as his themes are usually quirky and cause an enjoyable narrative to permeate his games. Good examples of this are Kill Doctor Lucky and especially The Unexploded Cow (which is also now available as a free print-and-play game!). I'm also a sucker for medieval stuff (yes, I am the reason glowering Renaissance men keep appearing on game boxes; sorry!).

@Futurewolfie answers:
I'm looking at my board game shelf right now.  Apparently the theme that appeals the most to me is  "things in space" followed by medieval fantasy.  Oh man do I love space.  Or really any sci-fi thingummy in general.  You know, if you pretty much take any idea, and then put it in space... it becomes that much more awesome.  Imagine your favorite game.  Or just any game you like.  Let's say...  Tobago.  Yes, that's right, deductive treasure hunting.  Now it's in space.  Awesome!  Or how about Dominion.  You're still building an empire.  But it's a space empire.  Dude.  Sweet.  Imagine Shadows over Camelot... but in a futuristic reality where each Knight of the Round Table commands a starship, spreading justice across the galaxy.  I'm totally geeking out.  I think I'm a little obsessed with space.  Have you played Portal 2?  The audio track of the "Space" core was my ringtone for a while.

Don't forget! Each comment made today before midnight (central time) counts as an entry in our Dominion: Hinterlands giveaway. This is your last chance for an extra entry!

Doctor Lucky Meets His End (a review of Kill Doctor Lucky)

[Editors note: The following is a Nemesis Review, featuring opinions from our in-house eurogamer, @Farmerlenny, and his deadly enemy the thematic space-loving @Futurewolfie.  Make sure to read both opinions to get a better overall picture of the game!]

My brother-in-law introduced me to a game company several years ago that seemed to fit with the way I spent (read: didn't spend) my money, and which he pronounced Chee Apess. The company made their games to use interchangeable bits; the only thing they sold you was the parts unique to the game (the board and the cards, generally), which made their games, well, cheap. One of their games that I bought ages ago is Kill Doctor Lucky, and it has been a game collection hit ever since.

I bought Kill Doctor Lucky: The Director's Cut for $7.50. The publisher now has this version available for free as a print-and-play, but there is also a newer, fancier version available for $29.99. Parting ways from the earlier version, the new edition includes all the pieces necessary to play. (I think you'll be able to tell from the pictures which version is which.) So what is Kill Doctor Lucky all about, and why does it deserve its new, more expensive treatment?

Shut Up and Play!

Have you ever been to a concert where the band onstage, instead of doing what they've been paid to do, practices for their future career as the voiceover guy for America's Home Videos? The cry of "Shut up and play!" rises from the audience (or if you, like me, attended mostly Christian rock concerts as a youth, in Christian charity you silently bore ill will toward those onstage, especially if they were the opening act).

Well, a similar problem can plague you when you try to teach the rules to someone. You want to get every rule in, but there are some around the table who either have played before, who understand more quickly than someone else at the table, or who have a low attention span. They cry, "Let's learn as we go!" the board gaming equivalent of "Shut up and play!"

Friday Question: What Was Your Gateway Game?

In the board game community, we often talk about "gateway games," those games we present to the unwitting uninitiated to draw them into our fold. "Gateway games" are those games that change the way a person views gaming. A lightbulb goes on, and the person says, "Wow, bits of cardboard can be fun!" This Friday's question offers you a chance to share your story: what was the gateway game that drew you into the hobby? A bonus question: do you still like your gateway game? Answer in the comments!

[editors note: friday question is now saturday question, because @futurewolfie has a real job and doesn't always get a chance to write his side of the post.]

@FarmerLenny answers:
It's hard for me to credit any one game. My family is a board- and card-game-playing family, and I remember my first games of Pinochle and Dutch Blitz (or maybe just Pinochle) with a certain relish. I also played several CCGs (namely Overpower, Redemption, Star Wars, and Marvel Vs.), which were certainly precursors to more complex games. But as far as the board gaming hobby is concerned, I suppose my entry point would have to be Kill Doctor Lucky or Acquire. I think Settlers of Catan predated both of these games in terms of when I played it, but my first experience of Settlers was not exactly favorable. (Admittedly, my friend was so excited to teach it to me that he didn't wait till we had the proper number of players, and we played a two-player game, which was pretty lame.) I played Kill Doctor Lucky on a visit to my sister and brother-in-law's house, and I loved it so much that I ordered my own copy when I got home. I wanted to make sure I had a copy to share with my friends. And Acquire was the game that completed the work that Kill Doctor Lucky began. Acquire, as I've mentioned elsewhere, has it all and has remained my favorite game, built on this nostalgia factor.

@Futurewolfie answers:
Whoof, this is kind of a big question for me.  I don't know if there was one specific game that drew me in.  If you read the first post of this blog, you can get a pretty good idea of my story. But it was pretty gradual - my family played bored games sometimes as a family activity growing up, but they didn't really stick much (and I didn't realize why til much later.  We played not-fun games like Clue).  Heroclix was a boardgame I played a lot in highschool, but I think I got into it a lot for the novelty of playing as superheroes.  Settlers of Catan opened up a door that lead me to the world of greater board-gaming, and while Settlers is a fine game, I wouldn't say that game really brought me into the hobby.

Really what did it for me was just finding the FLGS in my area after the local Gamers Paradise shut down.  Incidentally, finding this FLGS (called "Games Plus") made me realize how non-gaming-paradise the Gamers Paradise actually was.  Games Plus offered several shelves full of unrecognizable (at the time) games, and I distinctly remember standing next to Bryan saying, "There are so many games here.  A lot of them HAVE to be amazing - I just wish I knew which ones."  Now I'm a lot more educated, but my first game from that world was Android - a game that, despite its length and complexity, taught me that board games could be complex, strategic, have interesting themes, and not involve rolling dice all the time.


What's yours?

Friday Question: What Game Has Produced the Most Memories?

Let's face it: gaming is not about winning and losing (despite what Scotty Sore-loser-pants says when you try to console him). It's about the common experience of bringing people together. So this Friday's Friday question addresses just that: what game has produced the most (or fondest) memories for you or your group? Feel free to answer (and share some of those memories) in the comments.

@FarmerLenny answers:
I've probably spent the most time with Monopoly or Risk, but strangely enough, those memories have (for the most part) been repressed. The game for me that carries some of the fondest memories is Kill Dr. Lucky. My brother-in-law introduced me to this game on one of my summer visits, and I promptly ordered a copy from the publisher (whose name on the shipping box produced raised eyebrows when it arrived in the mail). This was before the fancier version came out, but after the original edition. I bought the director's cut, the version with all the creative modes of failure ("The doctor vanishes inexplicably in a cloud of feathers," etc.). When I introduced it to my friends at college, they were skeptical at first, but it soon became a Family Game Night staple (along with Pit, Bang, and Silent Football). Kill Dr. Lucky was always a good time--even when someone else did the doctor in. Runners up in the fond memories category are Dutch Blitz, Pinochle, and Rook, memories of which I've described elsewhere.

@Futurewolfie answers:
Oh man.  Despite my relatively recent foray into the deeper world of quality board games, I actually do have a lot of memories of playing board-and-card games with family and friends.  We would play Pit very loudly around the dining room table, and the hit French road-racing game Mille Bornes (which I recently discovered is absolutely not fun at all with only 2 players).  When it was just me, my sister, and my parents, we would play Sequence, very competitively.  I remember playing The Game of Life with my sisters and from what i recall never actually playing with all the rules correctly intact by the end of the game.  My mom, who gave me my creativity and love of writing,  bought me UpWords and we would play together.  My friend Bryan introduced me to Heroclix and I dumped boatloads of my allowance towards that collection.  We even built a custom 3D heroclix map with skyscrapers and a truck, which is probably the most productive thing we ever voluntarily did in high school.  I realize I kind of broke the "favorite memory" shtick by listing off a dozen memories, but as I didn't really get into board-gaming until recently, all these little memories flow together in the melting-pot of my memories.


Oh yeah, and The Omega Virus. 


Your turn. :-)