Have been feeling game deprived so I dragged Matt into a few tabletops - as opposed to on a few tabletops ;-)
First we did a few rounds of King of Tokyo. Still love this game. It works fine 2 player but it just gets better the more people you add. Didn't take a picture of it: 1) I forgot, 2) I have several pictures of it posted already so when we have something a little more epic going on, I'll post another one.
We finally pulled Pillars of the Earth back out. Based on Ken Follett's novel of the same title, Pillars of the Earth is a resource collecting game. Matt and I were backwards in gaming. We played this (and several others) before getting to Settlers of Cataan. So when I explained to him what Settlers was like, I basically said it was Pillars crossed with Carcassonne only simplified. The resource strategy of Settlers is here, gathering gravel, stone, timber, and metal from deposits, trying to avoid being taxed, getting a hold of enough workers to do the job, and rack up the most victory points. Each round is depicted by a section of the Cathedral which you build up - a silly bulky round tracker but, hey, what would the connection be to the books if you didn't actually build a Cathedral? There are cards that you can purchase or earn that make your resources more valuable, and if you're familiar with the book, you'll get a kick out of the characters who trot along to help you. It's not an overly exciting 2 player game; there's absolutely no reason to ever purchase for 7 gold coins in a 2 player game, so the edge-of-your-seat "omg! I have no money!" doesn't occur as quickly or frequently when you have so little competition. Just adding the 3rd player, however, starts limiting your options and then it's all a matter of doing the best you can with whatever you're stuck with. Matt and I have only been playing it 2 player thus far - haven't done 3 since we first played it with my brother. I always lose at this game - I always lose at King of Tokyo too but it's one of my favourites! Pillars of the Earth was worth the purchase in my books, even if it isn't the first game we want to grab. It's a quieter play, crunching numbers in your head and secretly plotting about where you want to move next, but I enjoy that I get to re-enter the Ken Follett's world. I loved the novel, both Matt and I loved the mini-series (he'd love the book too if he'd read it), and so the game has a bit of a nostalgic flair to it, even if the connections are very faint in reality. You can easily play this game without having read or watched anything to do with the theme, but I wouldn't be surprised if such a person found another resource collecting game more appealing. It's not the best game we own, but it certainly isn't the worst. I think if we ever had exactly 4 of us playing, we would probably be more inclined to playing several of our games more, but normally if it isn't just the 2 of us, it's at least 6. It's a problem that most of the games we're encountering play best at the 3-4 range. Though I must say, City of Thieves is proving to be a great purchase, even with it's 4 player limit. If only a game like Defenders of the Realm could accommodate a few more - like Arkham Horror kind of more... That's where King of Tokyo is so awesome, you can't even play the whole board until you have at least 5 people - definitely one of our staple games at the moment!
"Why are you going on about board games? I thought you were a writer? Why aren't there more damn books?!?! Why do you write so slow?!?! Who do you think you are, George. R.R. Martin??!?!" Ha! I wish... I wrote 1,500 words today! I know, that's not even NaNo standard, but this is also the book that has plagued me for the last 10 years. I've re-written the thing 3 times! Knightsbridge and I have a love-hate relationship, and I'm pretty sure that whatever I come up with over the next few days won't even blend in with the whole other half of the story. Nevertheless, I made a promise to end this thing, and damn it, I'm going to do it! So it's slow going, but I promise, I am not going to wait another 10 years to finish the silly first draft! Notice, that wasn't a promise for it's release... if I can just finish the first draft of it without one of us getting killed, it will be a miracle... I'm not ready to think about revising and editing yet... I'm gettin' the horrors juss thinkin' 'bou' it...
First we did a few rounds of King of Tokyo. Still love this game. It works fine 2 player but it just gets better the more people you add. Didn't take a picture of it: 1) I forgot, 2) I have several pictures of it posted already so when we have something a little more epic going on, I'll post another one.
We finally pulled Pillars of the Earth back out. Based on Ken Follett's novel of the same title, Pillars of the Earth is a resource collecting game. Matt and I were backwards in gaming. We played this (and several others) before getting to Settlers of Cataan. So when I explained to him what Settlers was like, I basically said it was Pillars crossed with Carcassonne only simplified. The resource strategy of Settlers is here, gathering gravel, stone, timber, and metal from deposits, trying to avoid being taxed, getting a hold of enough workers to do the job, and rack up the most victory points. Each round is depicted by a section of the Cathedral which you build up - a silly bulky round tracker but, hey, what would the connection be to the books if you didn't actually build a Cathedral? There are cards that you can purchase or earn that make your resources more valuable, and if you're familiar with the book, you'll get a kick out of the characters who trot along to help you. It's not an overly exciting 2 player game; there's absolutely no reason to ever purchase for 7 gold coins in a 2 player game, so the edge-of-your-seat "omg! I have no money!" doesn't occur as quickly or frequently when you have so little competition. Just adding the 3rd player, however, starts limiting your options and then it's all a matter of doing the best you can with whatever you're stuck with. Matt and I have only been playing it 2 player thus far - haven't done 3 since we first played it with my brother. I always lose at this game - I always lose at King of Tokyo too but it's one of my favourites! Pillars of the Earth was worth the purchase in my books, even if it isn't the first game we want to grab. It's a quieter play, crunching numbers in your head and secretly plotting about where you want to move next, but I enjoy that I get to re-enter the Ken Follett's world. I loved the novel, both Matt and I loved the mini-series (he'd love the book too if he'd read it), and so the game has a bit of a nostalgic flair to it, even if the connections are very faint in reality. You can easily play this game without having read or watched anything to do with the theme, but I wouldn't be surprised if such a person found another resource collecting game more appealing. It's not the best game we own, but it certainly isn't the worst. I think if we ever had exactly 4 of us playing, we would probably be more inclined to playing several of our games more, but normally if it isn't just the 2 of us, it's at least 6. It's a problem that most of the games we're encountering play best at the 3-4 range. Though I must say, City of Thieves is proving to be a great purchase, even with it's 4 player limit. If only a game like Defenders of the Realm could accommodate a few more - like Arkham Horror kind of more... That's where King of Tokyo is so awesome, you can't even play the whole board until you have at least 5 people - definitely one of our staple games at the moment!
"Why are you going on about board games? I thought you were a writer? Why aren't there more damn books?!?! Why do you write so slow?!?! Who do you think you are, George. R.R. Martin??!?!" Ha! I wish... I wrote 1,500 words today! I know, that's not even NaNo standard, but this is also the book that has plagued me for the last 10 years. I've re-written the thing 3 times! Knightsbridge and I have a love-hate relationship, and I'm pretty sure that whatever I come up with over the next few days won't even blend in with the whole other half of the story. Nevertheless, I made a promise to end this thing, and damn it, I'm going to do it! So it's slow going, but I promise, I am not going to wait another 10 years to finish the silly first draft! Notice, that wasn't a promise for it's release... if I can just finish the first draft of it without one of us getting killed, it will be a miracle... I'm not ready to think about revising and editing yet... I'm gettin' the horrors juss thinkin' 'bou' it...
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