Game Day 09/05/2005

Game #1

That’s Life

Well, I hosted a somewhat last minute Labor Day Gaming. I am so out of touch with holidays that I didn’t know that Labor Day was coming up until my manager mentioned it. We always intend that during these day gaming sessions people will play longer, meatier games. Since a couple of people were running late, we started off with a quick and light game. And unfortunately for me, the dice hated me and I got my lowest score ever. Which made me realize that when the dice hate you, this game does not give you that many other choices. Yes, you can hope move the sentinels but other people (who are having better luck) are doing that as well. Fortunately, its a quick game.

Game #2a
Game #2b

Wallenstein

Sadly, this game was the only long and meaty game that I played. And we got off to a rough start. I has been a while (year +) since we played this game last so we slowly read the rules. The translated rules are rather horrible and left many holes/questions. Fortunately, Ed has played the game online and was able to answer our questions. Also, Mike wanders by after we carefully set up the game and seed the cube tower. He picks up the tower and shakes it and asks “What’s this?” Gah!

This is a game that would play better when all of the players are experienced and familiar with the strategy. I was able to get second place, but I was not aggressive enough in the end.

Game #3a
Game #3b

Roborally

Ed brought out Roborally for us to play. And it has been a while since I have played this game online, so I decided to give it a try. And boy, what a chaotic and painfull game it was. If your robot has no damage, then you get nine cards to play which you must quickly figure out which order to place them so that you can move towards a goal. I was dealt a lot of useless cards (almost all turns or all moves). Which meant that it was not until the third turn that I was able to move out of the starting gate. I was able to eventually get close to the third goal, but Susan was able to win the game. So we decided to play again. This time we all got three option cards and was able to choose one. I chose double lasers which I thought would be nasty. Ed chose an option that allowed him to lock one of the opponent’s cards. Susan chose remote control which was by far the most dangerous weapon in the game. When you are hit with it, you erase the opponent’s cards and they use yours. Needless to say, Susan was able to hose Ed and take him out of the running for the game. And then she set her sights on me and I was reduced to a smoking cripple. As Susan came close to winning, we decided to forget about going for the goals and try to take her out. But unfortunately, she was able to avoid us and get the last goal.

San Juan

Gaming was winding down and people were leaving. So Jon pulled out a quick game to cap the night off with. While not exactly mind-less, it is a somewhat quick game. I have a feeling that there are only so many strategies that you can take with this game. But, fortunately none of us playing the game were one of those type of people.