Sunday, June 11, 2006
Saturday Gaming at B&N 06-10-2006
Well, Saturday we had another great time playing board games. Sridhar and Bart joined me at the local Barnes and Noble for around six hours of gaming. We played several games, only repeating a game once. We still have some new games we haven't yet had a chance to try.
The last time we met, it was at a Borders bookstore, which I must say had a much nicer coffee area in which to play. There was only a single table large enough for decent gaming at the B&N, and it was fortunate that we were able to claim it. At the Borders, there were several tables, and according to some of the other, more regular patrons, free WiFi access also. We'll have to bear that in mind for the next time.
This round we played the following games:
Ticket to Ride
Ticket to Ride is a railroad route-planning game. There are several versions available at this point, with entirely different game boards and sometimes different rules. I also found out that there is an expansion, which adds some additional routes and ways to score points, but as it was only available as a promotional item, it is hard to find without checking e-Bay. I think it might be interesting to get two versions and see whether there was a method by which we could merge the games into a single playable entity.
The version we played was the U.S./North American version - the original, I think. Play consists of drawing route "tickets" and train car cards. In order to claim a section of the map for your route, you need to have enough identical colored car cards (or enough cards plus enough locomotive "wild card" cards) to total the length of the section being claimed. You can only claim one section at a time (sections range from one to six cars in length), and if the section requires it, only if you have the correct color car cards. Don't let the colors of the train car pieces confuse you, they are merely the different colors of the respective players. The colors of the routes pertain to the cards, not the cars. Some of the players also were confused about the locomotive cards. The train concept doesn't extend quite that far in this version (in some others, such as Ticket to Ride Europe, the route itself may or may not require a locomotive card be played). You can claim a route without a locomotive card in this version, though. Here, locomotive cards are just wild cards for color-matching purposes.
Players can only perform a single action during a turn. The actions possible are drawing two train car cards either from the deck or the five face up cards (or one if the player chooses to pick a locomotive card from the five face up cards), drawing three ticket cards - of which at least one must be kept, or claiming an entire track section by turning in car cards and placing train cars on the board. When a player runs out of train cars to place (or has only 1 or 2 remaining), the others get one last turn. This gives the other players a chance to finalize any remaining unclaimed routes.
Points are awarded when track sections are claimed, based on the number of cars in the section. The more cards required to claim, the more points are awarded (6 card sections are worth 15 points, but 2 car sections only 2 points). Players can also score at the end of the game by owning the longest contiguous route (10 points) or through completed routes. Each ticket card contains a point value that is either added to or subtracted from the player's score, depending on whether the complete route was claimed during the game.
Strategy varies greatly depending on the number of players. When four or more players are present, players gain access to second sections of track on some routes. When three or less players are playing, those sections are only open to the first player to claim them.
Overall, I'd give Ticket to Ride a score of 4.5 out of 5 pawns
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico is a colonization game, but unlike most games of that genre I have played. Rather than claiming land or area, the play is focused upon the economic development of the island. Each player takes turns choosing the actions all will take by claiming a particular role. All players perform actions based upon those roles, but only the first player in a round can choose from all roles. The first player in a round, designated the Governor, may choose from all the possible roles, and subsequent players must choose their role from whatever is still available on their turn.
Puerto Rico is far and away the most complex game I have played in some time. There are a multitude of pieces necessary, but oddly, no central game board. Each player, instead, has their own game board to develop totally independently from the other players.
I found this a bit confusing and reduced the believability of the game concept somewhat. Players buy buildings, settle plantations (which grow or produce various goods), sell goods, ship goods to the home country, or retrieve settlers from the cargo ship to staff buildings or plantations to enable their function or production.
Goods can be sold to acquire money, but are also the central way of acquiring Victory Points, which are the only things measured towards winning the game. It doesn't matter how well you've planned your colony if you manage to acquire enough Victory Points. This also left me a little cold and took away from the game concept. The mechanics of the game were interesting and compelling, if only for their novelty and the fact that, by the end of the game, I actually understood them well enough to begin to think about strategy, though by then, it was obviously a bit too late. I look forward to playing Puerto Rico again in order to get a better feeling about how I like the game.
My initial rating is 2.5 out of 5 pawns
Bohnanza
Bohnanza is a card game. There is no board or other aid for the concept, and it is generally a "collect multiples of the same thing" sort of card game. There are a bunch of different types of bean cards - black beans, stink beans, chili beans, green beans, etc. Each different type of bean is grown in one of the player's two (or three if a third is purchased during the game) bean fields.
The more beans planted in the field, the more coins (printed on the back of every card) the player receives at harvest.
The thing that makes the game interesting is the fact that players are never allowed to rearrange the cards in their hand. The only way a card can be removed from a position in a player's hand is through trade with or donation to other players. This is not always easy to do because all traded or donated beans must be immediately planted, and if there are no empty bean fields in which to plant them, an existing field must be harvested in order to make room. No field can ever contain more than one type of bean at a time.
This was a very interactive game, but it tended to depend a bit more on luck than I was comfortable with. Strategies were interesting, due to the no rearranging your hand rule, and it was at times interesting to see who would offer what to another player in order to acquire or to rid themselves of cards. I ended up the winner, but only because I tended to draw cards that worked in my existing fields rather than having to trade all the time and thus, harvest my fields prematurely.
I rate Bohnanza 3 out of 5 pawns
The last time we met, it was at a Borders bookstore, which I must say had a much nicer coffee area in which to play. There was only a single table large enough for decent gaming at the B&N, and it was fortunate that we were able to claim it. At the Borders, there were several tables, and according to some of the other, more regular patrons, free WiFi access also. We'll have to bear that in mind for the next time.
This round we played the following games:
- Ticket to Ride by Days of Wonder
- Bohnanza by Amigo/Rio Grande Games
- Puerto Rico by Rio Grande Games
Ticket to Ride
Ticket to Ride is a railroad route-planning game. There are several versions available at this point, with entirely different game boards and sometimes different rules. I also found out that there is an expansion, which adds some additional routes and ways to score points, but as it was only available as a promotional item, it is hard to find without checking e-Bay. I think it might be interesting to get two versions and see whether there was a method by which we could merge the games into a single playable entity.
The version we played was the U.S./North American version - the original, I think. Play consists of drawing route "tickets" and train car cards. In order to claim a section of the map for your route, you need to have enough identical colored car cards (or enough cards plus enough locomotive "wild card" cards) to total the length of the section being claimed. You can only claim one section at a time (sections range from one to six cars in length), and if the section requires it, only if you have the correct color car cards. Don't let the colors of the train car pieces confuse you, they are merely the different colors of the respective players. The colors of the routes pertain to the cards, not the cars. Some of the players also were confused about the locomotive cards. The train concept doesn't extend quite that far in this version (in some others, such as Ticket to Ride Europe, the route itself may or may not require a locomotive card be played). You can claim a route without a locomotive card in this version, though. Here, locomotive cards are just wild cards for color-matching purposes.
Players can only perform a single action during a turn. The actions possible are drawing two train car cards either from the deck or the five face up cards (or one if the player chooses to pick a locomotive card from the five face up cards), drawing three ticket cards - of which at least one must be kept, or claiming an entire track section by turning in car cards and placing train cars on the board. When a player runs out of train cars to place (or has only 1 or 2 remaining), the others get one last turn. This gives the other players a chance to finalize any remaining unclaimed routes.
Points are awarded when track sections are claimed, based on the number of cars in the section. The more cards required to claim, the more points are awarded (6 card sections are worth 15 points, but 2 car sections only 2 points). Players can also score at the end of the game by owning the longest contiguous route (10 points) or through completed routes. Each ticket card contains a point value that is either added to or subtracted from the player's score, depending on whether the complete route was claimed during the game.
Strategy varies greatly depending on the number of players. When four or more players are present, players gain access to second sections of track on some routes. When three or less players are playing, those sections are only open to the first player to claim them.
Overall, I'd give Ticket to Ride a score of 4.5 out of 5 pawns
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico is a colonization game, but unlike most games of that genre I have played. Rather than claiming land or area, the play is focused upon the economic development of the island. Each player takes turns choosing the actions all will take by claiming a particular role. All players perform actions based upon those roles, but only the first player in a round can choose from all roles. The first player in a round, designated the Governor, may choose from all the possible roles, and subsequent players must choose their role from whatever is still available on their turn.
Puerto Rico is far and away the most complex game I have played in some time. There are a multitude of pieces necessary, but oddly, no central game board. Each player, instead, has their own game board to develop totally independently from the other players.
I found this a bit confusing and reduced the believability of the game concept somewhat. Players buy buildings, settle plantations (which grow or produce various goods), sell goods, ship goods to the home country, or retrieve settlers from the cargo ship to staff buildings or plantations to enable their function or production.Goods can be sold to acquire money, but are also the central way of acquiring Victory Points, which are the only things measured towards winning the game. It doesn't matter how well you've planned your colony if you manage to acquire enough Victory Points. This also left me a little cold and took away from the game concept. The mechanics of the game were interesting and compelling, if only for their novelty and the fact that, by the end of the game, I actually understood them well enough to begin to think about strategy, though by then, it was obviously a bit too late. I look forward to playing Puerto Rico again in order to get a better feeling about how I like the game.
My initial rating is 2.5 out of 5 pawns
Bohnanza
Bohnanza is a card game. There is no board or other aid for the concept, and it is generally a "collect multiples of the same thing" sort of card game. There are a bunch of different types of bean cards - black beans, stink beans, chili beans, green beans, etc. Each different type of bean is grown in one of the player's two (or three if a third is purchased during the game) bean fields.
The more beans planted in the field, the more coins (printed on the back of every card) the player receives at harvest.The thing that makes the game interesting is the fact that players are never allowed to rearrange the cards in their hand. The only way a card can be removed from a position in a player's hand is through trade with or donation to other players. This is not always easy to do because all traded or donated beans must be immediately planted, and if there are no empty bean fields in which to plant them, an existing field must be harvested in order to make room. No field can ever contain more than one type of bean at a time.
This was a very interactive game, but it tended to depend a bit more on luck than I was comfortable with. Strategies were interesting, due to the no rearranging your hand rule, and it was at times interesting to see who would offer what to another player in order to acquire or to rid themselves of cards. I ended up the winner, but only because I tended to draw cards that worked in my existing fields rather than having to trade all the time and thus, harvest my fields prematurely.
I rate Bohnanza 3 out of 5 pawns
