Regular Thursday - Puerto Rico, here we come
Tim,Tim's wife Kathryn, RJ, Chris, and Bobby made it.
We started off with Tsuro - Tim won twice as everyone else croaked. It's a cute filler - it takes about 15 minutes. I'm lukewarm on it and only bought it because it was on sale for half price at Barnes & Noble recently.
After much discussion of the ideal 6-player game, we ended up at Alhambra. It's sorta-strategic, but mostly tactical. Bobby got a clear lead in two of the building types, and I ended up with first in one category and lots of second-place wins.
We also discovered an Alhambra rules discrepancy! Chris and I's rules are different - his stated specifically that walls are only scored during the last scoring round. Mine merely state that the walls are also scored, in the next sentence after saying that all the buildings score each round. We managed to resolve it without having to knife-fight outside (the duel was offered by multiple third parties, and was refused by both principals), scoring the way Chris knew his rules said, since he was the one to go out to his car, get his copy, and clear up the mystery. I dunno, I think I like it the other way, but will have to try both ways and see.
Tim and Kathryn had to go (early dog-walking), and RJ left as well (has to work on Friday for the first time in several weeks), so Chris, Bobby, and I cracked into Puerto Rico.
I think the last time I played Puerto Rico was with Lewis and Lee back at CCG [Cards, Comics, and Games]. Lee was pregnant, and Cori is now almost 18 months. Also, CCG closed. I took an early lead in buildings, while Bobby accumulated quarries and Chris began collecting plantation types. In the final turn, I elected to do something that didn't earn points, and Chris ended the game. Final score Chris 38, me 37, Bobby 35. Chris was the only one to build and man a 10-point building. I also bought a factory with only 4 goods, had a harbor without shipping much, and bought a large warehouse instead of saving for a wharf.
It was nice to sit and grind the gears on Puerto Rico. We still finished in under an hour, and we all had fun the whole time, so that's something.
-----------------------------
For the record, the only games I'm interested in acquiring right now are:
1. Ubongo -speed game; sorta Tetris-like; about to be re-released in America and get lots cheaper; have played it on two occasions and love it.
2. Factory Fun -speed game, sorta Tetris-like
3. Gloria Mundi -meh, Larry didn't like it, but I did; also one of James Ernest's oddballs.
4. Fearsome Foes -meh, I hear it takes too long; still, I love Friedemann Friese's games and don't have any other dungeon crawls in my collection. Augh, can't... start... collecting...
It's nice to not feel compelled to run out and buy a ton of stuff. Since Tri-Games offers decent discounts on pre-orders, I will go ahead and pre-order Ubongo. The other stuff, yeah, I can wait. Other Houston Gamers have got the others, and I can play them more and decide if I am going to take the plunge. Plus, of course, play a lot of Power Grid.
We started off with Tsuro - Tim won twice as everyone else croaked. It's a cute filler - it takes about 15 minutes. I'm lukewarm on it and only bought it because it was on sale for half price at Barnes & Noble recently.
After much discussion of the ideal 6-player game, we ended up at Alhambra. It's sorta-strategic, but mostly tactical. Bobby got a clear lead in two of the building types, and I ended up with first in one category and lots of second-place wins.
We also discovered an Alhambra rules discrepancy! Chris and I's rules are different - his stated specifically that walls are only scored during the last scoring round. Mine merely state that the walls are also scored, in the next sentence after saying that all the buildings score each round. We managed to resolve it without having to knife-fight outside (the duel was offered by multiple third parties, and was refused by both principals), scoring the way Chris knew his rules said, since he was the one to go out to his car, get his copy, and clear up the mystery. I dunno, I think I like it the other way, but will have to try both ways and see.
Tim and Kathryn had to go (early dog-walking), and RJ left as well (has to work on Friday for the first time in several weeks), so Chris, Bobby, and I cracked into Puerto Rico.
I think the last time I played Puerto Rico was with Lewis and Lee back at CCG [Cards, Comics, and Games]. Lee was pregnant, and Cori is now almost 18 months. Also, CCG closed. I took an early lead in buildings, while Bobby accumulated quarries and Chris began collecting plantation types. In the final turn, I elected to do something that didn't earn points, and Chris ended the game. Final score Chris 38, me 37, Bobby 35. Chris was the only one to build and man a 10-point building. I also bought a factory with only 4 goods, had a harbor without shipping much, and bought a large warehouse instead of saving for a wharf.
It was nice to sit and grind the gears on Puerto Rico. We still finished in under an hour, and we all had fun the whole time, so that's something.
-----------------------------
For the record, the only games I'm interested in acquiring right now are:
1. Ubongo -speed game; sorta Tetris-like; about to be re-released in America and get lots cheaper; have played it on two occasions and love it.
2. Factory Fun -speed game, sorta Tetris-like
3. Gloria Mundi -meh, Larry didn't like it, but I did; also one of James Ernest's oddballs.
4. Fearsome Foes -meh, I hear it takes too long; still, I love Friedemann Friese's games and don't have any other dungeon crawls in my collection. Augh, can't... start... collecting...
It's nice to not feel compelled to run out and buy a ton of stuff. Since Tri-Games offers decent discounts on pre-orders, I will go ahead and pre-order Ubongo. The other stuff, yeah, I can wait. Other Houston Gamers have got the others, and I can play them more and decide if I am going to take the plunge. Plus, of course, play a lot of Power Grid.
posted by Todd D. at 10:32 PM
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