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Full to the brim with thoughts, ideas & humble opinions... For more info about the Conductor, check out The Caboose. |
last update: February 20, 2005 | |||
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Lighter Stuff (rises to the top of the tank)
Thermonuclear Catan Mucho thanks to The Maverick for creating this awe-inspiring variant. In the spirit of mini-games like Greg Costikyan's Nuclear Winter game from Space Gamer 75, here is my realistic Thermonuclear War variant for Settlers: This is a variant for the unusually popular and addictive game Settlers of Catan. It is designed expressly for those players who are looking for a way to end repetitive playings in their gaming group. 1. All players are armed with a 900 megaton thermonuclear weapon. Each player has one and only one thermonuclear weapon to use during the game. 2. Any player has the option of declaring a thermonuclear strike prior to the conclusion of the first turn of the game. It is considered rude and unlawful play to declare a thermonuclear strike at any other time during the game, but it is still fun. 3. To declare a thermonuclear strike, slam your fist into the center of the playing area while calling out "WHAM!" This simulates the surprise explosion of your thermonuclear weapon. 4. Immediately after declaring the strike, rapidly sweep your arm across the playing area while exclaiming "WOOSH!" Try and knock as many pieces as possible off the table. This simulates the shockwave following the explosion of your thermonuclear weapon. 5. All players are eliminated from the game and the game is now over. This would be a good time to re-suggest the game that you really wanted everyone to play. 6. Unlike most other variants, all players need not agree to use the variant prior to play. Furthermore, all players need not be aware of the variant prior to play. The charm of this variant is that you are expressly permitted to use it unilaterally on unsuspecting players. Just make sure to print out a copy so you can show it to them after you use it. 7. OPTIONAL: NUCLEAR FIRESTORM. If you have a lighter, and the copy of the game does not belong to you, see how many of the components you can ignite before the owner of the game restrains you. This optional rule works most effectively when the owner of the game is out of the room and the game room is not equipped with overhead sprinklers. 8. The author disclaims all liability for your use of this variant. Do so at your own risk! Translating Via AltaVista's Babelfish (a.k.a. Nick Sauer is God) Greg Schloesser responds to Al Newman's frustration with a Babelfish translation of a description of the AdlungSpiele game, Nix, with this on-target translation. C'mon, Al. This was easy! Here's the translation: "For all, nix or nix we want to need all to know the problem: This is obviously a reference to playing memory games involving Nick Sauer and is intended as a warning for all not to play these style of games with him. We are loaded They are drunk off their rockers. and on the question, which one is to bring along, are called somewhere it usually " NIX ". there had each difficulties, since NIX could be found badly. Nick's mental abilities are far superior to mere mortals. Avoid playing memory games with him at all costs. Thus is now conclusion, because immediately there is NIX. NIX is for all, which want to have given nix, nix plays, nix buys and with nix is content. Ummm ... I'm not sure here, but it sounds like some sort of 'Nick Sauer is God' cult. I'd be a bit wary here. And for all, which want simply cards with nix. Nix consists of 65 cards They may be hypothesizing that Nick cheats by secreting away extra cards when he plays. with almost nix and a card with ideas for nix. Nix is actually no play (or nevertheless?), nix is rather nix, but nevertheless more than nix. Again, Nick is God. Granted, this is funnier if: (a) you know Nick Sauer, AND (b) you've tried to translate something from German to English via Babelfish. (c) you knew that Nix is a deck of 65 blank cards from Adlung, meant as a gag gift. For those of you who answer (d) none of the above, sorry about the waste of bandwidth... not.
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Heavier Stuff (sinks to the bottom of the tank) Forgotten Games that you should know about!
Why I Don't Like Crayon Rail Games a term paper by Mark Jackson - Gaming 101 - 4th Period Snoweel (whoever the heck his REAL name is) asked me "what it is about Eurorails that you dislike so much? And does it extend to the other Mayfair crayon games?" What follows is my answer. Credentials: I've played Empire Builder, Eurorails, Iron Dragon, Nippon Rails, Australian Rails & Dampfross. I actually owned Iron Dragon & Nippon Rails... which I've since sold. I've played a number of times with people who really do LIKE crayon rail games. Reasons for Not Liking Crayon Rail Games: 1. They're long. The shortest is Nippon, which lasts roughly 2-3 hours - and a full game of Iron Dragon clocks in at 4+ hours minimum, depending on the number of players. (Yes, I realize that one of the 'tricks' with these games is learning when to concede, but I don't consider that a point in their favor.) 2. They're boring. The vast majority of crayon rail games involve long stretches of people min-maxing track placement. 3. They're essentially solitaire. The only "interaction" is in racing to beat another player to build between two rail points. (Yes, I'm aware of "public locking" and other potential rule fixes for this problem... that just points out the inherent weakness in the system.) 4. There are too darn many of them. Anyone complaining about Settlers expansions needs to land on these puppies HARD. With the notable exception of Iron Dragon, the main differences between these games is their maps & the color text on the action cards. 5. They're disapointing. That's right - I really WANTED to like the crayon rail games. The idea of building your own tracks with erasable crayons is pretty darn cool - and the running of loads "system" seems clever enough. It's just that they don't make for a satisfying gaming experience. The One Exception I really enjoyed my (so far) one play of Dampfross. It managed to use the crayon rails track building in small bites (no long turns waiting for folks to spend their money) and throw in some interesting interaction during the 'race' phase with players able to "go in together" on a race. It makes sense why this game won a SdJ. Related Games I also like Auf Achse, the trucking game that also won an SdJ. It uses the same kind of contract system as the crayon rails, but with a set board and more specific ways to mess with the other players. More recently, Funkenschlag (now reprinted as Power Grid) took the crayon rail genre in a very interesting direction with a game of power plant and network manipulation in the energy industry. (Note: only the original version of Funkenschlag has crayon rail "drawing" in the game - it has been replaced in Power Grid with pre-printed costs for connection between cities.) I Know What's Coming I know that I've have spat (spit, whatever) upon the Holy of Holies, "Train Games", and fully expect to receive the wrath of train gamers everywhere. Frankly, if we're gonna play a train game, there are much better GAMES out there:
Teaching Games Herein is the distilled wisdom of a number of great gamers on how to teach a new game to a group... listen and take heed! First, some helpful hints from Jay Tummelson, the head honcho behind Rio Grande Games. Play to learn the game. When learning a new game, I like to try to use all aspects of the rules as they come up to see how they work in the game. In this way I get a better understanding of all the rules and how things work in a short time. After one or two games I can then start trying strategies based on what I have learned. Learn the rules as you play. The rules for many games make this easy: first the overview - now you know what they game is about, then the preparation - so you can set up the board and prepare to play, next the playing rules - so you can start playing, finally the winning conditions - so you know when to stop and who wins. Take each part and execute it before going to the next. In this way there is less to remember and you are doing things as you read them. Do not finish the first game. Decide before you start to play only a few turns. This way there can be no winner and the desire to win is reduced. Players can better focus on learning the game's mechanisms when they are not focused on winning. When the pre-determined number of turns are done, start over with the knowledge you have gained with your "learning game". Remember, games are fun - don't turn playing into work! Frank Branham (the designer of Warhamster Rally, Nodwick and Four Dragons) adds an addendum to the "do not finish the first game" rule... "We do actually use a variation on this. After the rules become clear to everyone, we take a vote to continue or start again. One dissenting vote on the current game invokes a restart. (And by Swamp Castle rules, people will oft throw a die at the game at this point. Once a majority have thrown a die, we stop and drag out something else.)" ...as does Steve Kurzban... "In simpler times (1-table game sessions with the same crew each time) Herb and I would almost always start a new game by playing a set # of turns until everyone got the flow and mechanisms down and then start anew for real. It always worked, yet we're ALL guilty of neglect when we lose sight of the fundamentals. I guess it's a byproduct of this zeal to have to play everything (both new and OOP) that causes us to rush and cut corners. I've probably taught 25-50 gamers how to play Cosmic Encounter by starting with basics ( no alien powers, no edicts, no kickers) and then adding 1 concept at a time. Then we play for real." [Editor's note: CE is an excellent example but this will work with a lot of different games.] "I've taken measures to assign each new game to be playtested to one gamer who will have responsibility for learning and presenting that game the following week." [Editor's note: Another great idea for the gaming clubs just getting started out there!] Ty Douds (the designer of Victory & Honor) throws in his two cents on why the above advice is so important: "In my first attempt to teach & play LOWENHERZ, my friend Zack, who had been placing knights on his turns as fast as he could, finally says 'Ok, I'm ready to attack Dan, now how do we move these knights again?' Aaaaarg! Needless to say, the game was blown on the spot and worse yet, I can not get our group to give LOWENHERZ another try! I learned a BIG lesson that session. I will never learn a game on the spot, and try to teach as I go. ( as I did that evening.) I save all the reviews & discussions that get posted... print them out & staple them together with a copy of the rules. Then I pour over all of that, study the rules, and do my best to play a solo test game or two." K-ban also adds his list of great "beginner" games... games that work well in social situations with non-gamers (and serve to help them catch the gaming virus!) Ave Caesar (Ravensburger) OOP - especially with 6 players Bakschisch (Goldsieber) - 4 players Bohnanza (Amigo) For Sale (Ravensburger/FX) - 4 or 5 players Fossil (Goldsieber/Rio Grande) - 4 to 6 players It's Mine (Winning Moves) - 4 or 5 players Manhattan (Hans im Gluck/Mayfair) - with 4 players & NO variants Mississippi Queen (Goldsieber/Rio Grande) - 4 to 6 players with expansion, as teams Montgolfiere (Eurogames) - especially with 6 players Quandary/Flinke Plinke (Milton Bradley) - 4 players Take It Easy (FX Schmid) - 4 to 8 players (and more with more sets) Take 6/6 Nimmt (U.S. Game Systems) - especially with 6+ players Zum Kuckuck/Land Unter (FX Schmid/Amigo) - 4 or 5 players All of these can be taught quickly, play reasonably fast and give first-time players a decent chance to win. Many of the above feature simultaneous play - a virtue with 6 players. it's pretty easy to get non-gamers who have played and enjoyed the above to venture to the more challenging. The key is doing it gradually and knowing your group well. K-ban's list is a bit dated, but still quite good. I'd add Trendy, Ticket to Ride, and Transamerica to the list. (Yes, I realize they all start with T.)
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