31 Day of Zombie Infestation - Day 16 - Zombies!!! Board Game

Zombies!!! Board Game

Zombies!!! is clearly the most popular Zombie themed board game ever. This thing has over a dozen expansions that add all sorts of new elements into gameplay!

I think the simple joy of the game is being able to send scores of little plastic zombies shambling across a simple map. In the game, not only do you move your own piece but you're also able to control the zombies to a degree. You win by reaching the helipad or killing 25 zombies first. Because we all know how the movie ends - every dies eventually... but the winner is simply the one that is best at delaying that inevitable end for as long as possible.

Zombies!!! is just good old fun. Players can't resist moaning like a zombie when it's their turn to move the hungering masses across the map.

Geek Gear: Settlers of Catan Plush Robber Set

Catan Robber Set

This one kinda mystifies me. If you recall, awhile back a set of plush resource dolls was released for Settlers of Catan. Were they cute? Yes. Were they stupid? Yes. Did they have an actual in-game function that allowed you to play with them during the game and impacted how you played the game? Yes. So you ended up with a cute but stupid game accessory.

Which is why these robbers mystify me. I've tried to do research on them and as near as I can tell they have no in-game function. So what are they for? I mean, they don't even really qualify as cute in my opinion. So what you wind up with is are weird and stupid dolls that just happen to have the name Catan attached to them. I mean, there aren't even three robbers in the game - just one.

So, how could you use these dolls in game? Well, here's what I came up with. The dolls start nearby but not "in play." When someone rolls a 7 and moves the in-game robber (but not playing a solider card) they can claim a robber doll from the side until they are all claimed. Once all three robber plushes are claimed by players any further 7's would cause someone to be able to steal a robber plush in addition to stealing resources. The rules for this would be the same - you would have to move the robber onto a hex that that person is getting resources from. If, at any one time, someone has all three robber plushes he scores 2 points, the equivalent of longest road or largest army. He is declared the Thief Lord! As an opinion, you could make these points permanent and say that the robber plushes could no longer be stolen. As another option, you could say that a player could take resources equal to the number of thief plushes they have plus one. For example - if you had two thief plushes and roll a 7 and move the robber you would steal three resources from the players affected in any combination (2 from 1 player and 1 from another, 3 from one player, or 1 from 3 different players).

So while these dolls may not have come with a in-game play mechanic, you can see that you could easily grant them one should you choose to.

Gaming Notes: LEGO Robo Champ

The other day I had the occasion to play the LEGO Robo Champ game with my son, Georgie (my niece), and Caleb (my nephew).

The game concept is simple: You start with the torso of a robot and yo collect robot parts by rolling a die. The game plays up to three players (Georgie was on my "team.") and you collect, trade, and steal not only your parts but also the parts from the other players.

The game is extremely simple and luck plays a very large factor in determining the winner. Still, the decisions of the players as to what parts to take, trade, or steal do make a huge difference in the outcome.

My strategy was to get as many of my pieces as possible while ignoring the other players. Caleb was trying to block the other players by getting their pieces. I got pretty lucky on the dice rolling and I quickly got most of my pieces. My final roll allowed me to trade one of the other robot pieces to Caleb for my last robot part I needed to win.

Sweet victory for Georgie and I (over an 8 year old and a 5 year old)!

After we got the game assembled it was really quick to play - I'd say 15 minutes total.

While it's not the first game I'd pull of the shelf to play with buddies, for kids it is a fast and fun game with interesting robot parts to assemble. Plus, LEGO provides several alternate rules so the game doesn't become quite so monotonous.

Gaming Notes: Catan Junior #2

This picture actually shows the pieces played incorrectly, I believe...

After defeating my wife in Catan Junior, I felt capable of taking on my five year old and three year old in addition to my wife.

I was impressed with my five year old son's initial strategies. He seemed very away of the power of the Coco Tiles and bought them up quickly. At first, it looked like it was going to be an easy win for him. And, in case you don't know this about me, I don't play soft.

He even cut me off on one half of the board, limiting my growth potential!

Still, I struggled on. I had quite a few resource in front of me and I learned a lesson about smart trading.

See, one of the brilliant things about this game is the trading system. It's not player to player - there are five markets, each of which hold one commodity. When all five markets have the same commodity, they clear and one of each commodity is put out instead.

Well, I had a ton of goats but not much else. So I kept trading in and buying Coco Tiles. Each Coco tile allowed me to get more resources so in one turn I seriously bought four Coco Tiles. This was enough to evict my son from Pirate's Cove. I then purchased a few quick Pirate's Lairs and won the game.

Is to wrong to feel so good having outwitted a five year old?

Trust me, there will be more Catan Junior played at my house. I think my son is running a statistical analysis as we speak so he can beat me next time. Game on, boy. Game on.

Gaming Notes: Catan Junior #1

Catan Junior

Mayfair has released another new Catan game - Catan Junior. This one is obviously designed for little kids... but will mom and dad like it? 

I got this game for my son who just turned five. The first time I played, however, was just his mother and I. After all, I've got to figure out how to beat him before I play him!

You collect resources and buy things just like in the regular Catan games. One of the things you can buy is a Coco tile (Coco is the parrot who "helps you"). What my wife discovered early on is that Coco Tiles are incredibly powerful. She had three sitting in front of her before I had purchased any! 

In fact, she was one point away from victory before I caught on. I quickly purchased a bunch of Coco Tiles for myself, setting her back a point by tying her and kicking her off the pirate island. 

This is where my brilliance comes into play. I could have purchased a pirate's lair and gotten within one point of victory but INSTEAD I purchased a Coco Tile. This allowed me to place a pirate's lair on the pirate island, earning a victory point AND the Coco Tile allowed me to build my final pirate's lair, winning me the game.

What great fun. I can't wait to play with the kids.

Walk the plank, lady! The sharks be hungry! Arrr!

Good Old TSR

Gammarauders cards - handpacked by TSR!

You've got to love classic 80's TSR. While playing Gammarauders the other day, I noticed a slip of paper in the box that WASN'T the rules. In fact, it was an inventory sheet from TSR. See, the box was hand packed by TSR and they wanted you to know that if you were missing any pieces they'd send them to you! Even the deck of hands was hand assembled! Oh, TSR, how much I miss you. To know that every single card was lovingly placed into a deck by human hands is a feeling that cannot be replicated by perfect packaging by machines.

Gaming Notes: Blokus #2

After my first taste of victory and having come so close to using all of my pieces, I wanted another try so I played my brother-in-law (Mike), Caleb my nephew, and my mother again. Since I trounced them the first game, surely I can do it again, right?

Blokus board game

This time I started by cutting a diagonal across the board. I did that until my mother and Mike conspired to cut me off so I doubled back toward Caleb. From my first game I got the idea of how to block so I threw in some good blocks along the way, effectively eliminating Caleb and Mike from the game. I all came down to my mother and I.

She was more cutthroat than I thought she could be. She viciously cut me off, leaving me to pick through the wreckage of the board in search for victory. Meanwhile, she easily sailed through the vast empty space she somehow had reserved for herself.

It looked like it was going to be a close finish when Caleb said, "Grandma, I see where you can use a bunch of pieces!" and proceeded to show her a path where she could infiltrate the area I had thought out of her reach. So, although it took two of them to do it, they did defeat me. Drat!

Gaming Notes: Blokus #1

At a recent family gathering, I got to play Blokus with my mother, Mike (my brother-in-law), and my 2nd grade nephew, Caleb. This was the first time I had ever played.

Blokus board game

If you've never played, the object of the game is to put as many of your pieces on the board as possible. If you can block your opponent, all the better.

Caleb came out of the gate gunning for me pretty hard. But I soon discovered that it is actually quite difficult to block someone completely. I side-stepped his advance and headed toward Mike's territory. In the process, I spread myself across three quadrants of the board, giving myself a nice position for the endgame.

One by one my opponents could no longer play and were thus eliminated, leaving me as the final player. I had plenty of moves left but I fell one piece short of using all of my pieces.

My initial impression is that is game is a quick and dynamic abstract strategy game. Just the type I love! And the fact that I won didn't hurt either. =)

Gaming Notes: Monsterpocalypse

I have been chomping at the bit for quite awhile to try out Monsterpocalypse but I never had the opportunity until recently. Elliott recently taught me how to play and I liked it.

I played the Defender X Guard Protectors and Elliott played the Gorgahydra Destroyer Planet Eaters. The goal of the game is to destroy your enemy's big bad monster. 

Elliott and I quickly swarmed one another killing off some of our more minor monster units. I saw a window of opportunity and struck at his Gorgahydra Destroyer with a small army of minions. In response, his big monster had to transform into its second, more powerful form. Elliott went on the offensive and my own monster had to fall back to its second form as well. Ultimately, my swarm of smaller units overwhelmed Gorgahydra Destroyer and I was victorious!

I liked the gameplay. The resolution system is easy and it works. The game pieces are brilliant! They look really awesome! Still, I'd like to try it out just doing one giant vs another like in the old Godzilla movies.

Catan Pizza

Settlers of Catan continues to take over the minds of everyone on the entire planet. Take this example. I give you the SETTLERS OF CATAN EDIBLE BOARD AND PLAYING PIECES!

What - they couldn't bake edible cards? I loved the fact that they started eating it while they were playing!

Thanks to John for sending this one in!

Gaming Notes: Primordial Soup

Primordial Soup is a great game that I got to play recently with the gentlemen from Keystone Gaming Society.

We played a four player game so the competition for resources was fierce.

My strategy was first to become mobile then to turn aggressive. I first purchased the ability for my amoebas to move, then upgraded so I didn't have to pay for movement and then allowed myself to move twice. This pretty much ensured I would avoid starvation.

Meanwhile, my competitors were thriving through various other means. I was particularly impressed with Bryan's use of tendril to help himself and do damage to his opponents. I decided to up my game and get Struggle for Survival.

After a few quick kills, I realized that I was my own worst enemy in the game - by killing off the competition, I was creating lots and lots of food stuffs, thus making it harder for me to meet the "starvation" requirement before attacking an opponent. I decided to upgrade to Movement II but it didn't help as much as I needed.

Ultimately, a few low radiation counts caused me to have to ditch some of my gene cards and this cost me the game. Dave came through in the end, primarily because his defensive cards caused the aggressive players to seek easier prey.

Ticket to Ride Rules Summary

I love Ticket to Ride. I own every edition and every expansion. It's one of the best gaming series ever created and never seems to get old. But in speaking with Brett the other day at Comic Store West I expressed my frustration at the rules variations of each version of TTR. In one version you draw three destination tickets, in the other four. In one version you can only draw a single locomotive, in another you can draw the locomotive and another card. All in all there are about a dozen or so of these core rules that vary slightly from version to version. The rules differences are so slight that I have a hard time keeping track of which rules go with which version of the game. Even though I've played literally hundreds of games of TTR I find myself looking in the rules every time I start a new game so I can make sure I have have the rules completely right. No more, thanks to this handy rules cheat sheet.

http://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/35570/bare-bones-differences-reference?&error=captcha

It's not for newbies but for old pros like me that just want a quick reference on the rules of a particular version it is perfect. I'm printing off, like, eight of these bad boys and sticking one into every edition of TTR I own! SWEET! I hope they update it for the new map packs soon!

Gaming Notes: Robo Rally

The last time I played Robo Rally was ten years ago. At the last Dude Night get together, I had the chance to sit down to play another game.

The game had eight players - four teams of two in the capture-the-flag format. Sam and I were partners, much to his chagrin. We quickly devised a strategy that proved to be our undoing. While all of the other teams jointly went after a single flag together, Sam and I went our separate ways, leading to my bot being tag teamed by Michael and Jarred on an opposing team. Down to a mere three health, my pathetic bot refused to shut down to heal and instead miraculously made his way to a wrench square to heal up.

Ultimately, it didn't do much good because once Jarred and Michael reached our base there was no stopping them. They quickly waltzed back to their home base and won the game. Props goes to to Kevin, however, for managing to remain unscathed the entire time while it was a bloodbath for everyone else.

I can't say Robo Rally is my favorite game. The core mechanic is similar to Wings of War or Great Space Race but in those games is seems you have more control when things don't go as planned. In Robo Rally, once one little thing happens that you didn't anticipate, it's likely lights out for you.

Still, it was a good game and it's a classic that's nice to break out every once in a while.

Gaming Notes: Scotland Yard

At the last Dude Night, I broke out the classic Spiel des Jahres Award winning game from the '80's - Scotland Yard.

Being the only one who had previous experience playing the game, I, of course, was Mr. X. The other players all played the detectives that cooperatively were trying to capture me as I secretly moved around the board.

I've got to say that I wasn't thrilled with my initial starting position. I was kind of landlocked in the middle of the board with no quick transportation nearby. I decided to make my way to the upper left hand quadrant.

When I revealed myself the first time I was quickly surrounded. Within two moves I had two detectives immediately on either side of me. A third detective could have moved directly onto my position, ending the game. I lucked out and he went the other way. Whew! I decided to play the same game of taxi-taxi-taxi and I evaded their grasp.

When next I appeared, I quickly used to black tickets from a river route station, throwing them into disarray. They scattered to the four winds trying to cover all possible avenues of escape. I easily eluded them as they ran short on resources. 

For me, it was a happy ending that law enforcement was befuddled and the infamous criminal Mr. X escaped to play the game of cat and mouse again another day!

The Great Debate: How Should Settlers of Catan Be Set Up?

There are few issues that divide people like this one. I think that Hamas and Israel might come to a mutual understanding before these two camps find peace. Who I am I talking about? The folks who believe that Settlers of Catan should be set up like the picture in the rulebook every time and those that think it's okay to randomize everything.

I, myself, fall in the randomization camp although I certainly understand the other position. I would recommend the "standard" setup to beginning players only, however.

This is the "standard" set-up.

One of the great things about Settlers of Catan is that you're able to make the game board different every time. To me, it would be quite boring to play the same board over and over again. If they wanted it to be that way, they'd save themselves the trouble of making all those tiles and numbered discs and just print a standard game board. But they didn't. The hex tiles and numbered discs allow you to make every game unique. A completely randomized game board allows for each game to be completely different.

On the standard set-up, experienced players don't have to think about where to build. They play out the same strategies game after game. The same spots are going to be good starting positions time and time again. Not so with randomization. Randomizing the board makes the players question even their initial placements.

A fan of the standard set-up might say, "But randomizing can create stupid set-ups, such as the desert, 12, and 2 being next to one another or two eights and a six meeting at one intersection." To this, I would say that my experience has proven this to not be a problem. If you've got a "hot spot," the competition in this area will be fierce. These battles for control can often be their own little mini-games with people cutting each other off and building just to block their neighbor. These hot-spots also tend to attract the thief quite a bit as well, limiting their upside. Meanwhile, probability-dead zones allow for other players to expand unhindered, perhaps building a long highway into the wilderness to take the Longest Road.

Another thing that standardization fans might say is, "Randomizing the board doesn't allow for balanced resource creation. All of the high probability numbers might end up on one resource while another isn't generated at all." This is, of course, true, but I don't see this as a negative. When these things happen, it increases the value of ports, encouraging players to build toward the edges of the board. If tons of ore are being produced, then you can bet it'll be a foot race to the ore port. Other players may wish to quickly build on a 3:1 port just so they can get some of a resource that is in short supply. Even in a standard set-up I've usually found this happens anyway because the dice don't perfectly mirror probability. Any experienced Settlers player have regularly seen games when, for example, 8 isn't rolled at all and 4 is rolled twenty times.

So in conclusion, randomization is the way to go when setting up Settlers of Catan. It adds great replayability to the game and poses unique challenges to experienced players.

Reporting From The Renew Community Church Game Night

I just got back from the RCC game night. I thought it was a lot of fun! The gentlemen from KGS ran the games Fluxx, Axis and Allies Miniatures, Pass the Pigs, Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride, and Word on the Street.

The turnout was light but everyone had a good time. Many of the non-KGS folks who showed up were novice gamers who were trying the games for the first time ever. Word on the Street seemed to be the most popular game of the evening. Here are some pictures from the event:

Brett shows Cindi, Kevin, Ben, and Anna how to play Ticket to Ride.

Ticket to Ride... Did black block green?

Pass the Pigs... not the best angle.

Chris teaches Christi how to play Word on the Street with Brett and Anna.

The early stages of Carcassonne.

Bryan gives Carcassonne a thumb's up while Sam, Cindi, and Kevin look on.

Jarred was quite proud of his high score in this game of Pass the Pigs.

Sam teaches John, Jan, and Lauren how to play Carcassonne.

Oh, how Carcassonne grew...

Bryan lays out the rules of war in Axis and Allies miniatures for Cindi and Kevin while Ben watches.

Dice! Dice! I must conquer!

Michael and Jarred just HAD to rematch after Jarred beat Michael the first time.

Word on the Street played until all of the letters are used. I guess Michael got his revenge.

This was the first time I myself had played Fluxx and Word on the Street. I thought both were good games and I could see adding either or both of them to my gaming collection.

If you think the people above look like they're having a good time, you can check out Renew Community Church in York, PA at http://renewcc.wordpress.com/.

Comic Store West and Keystone Gaming Society both sponsored this event. You can check them out at www.keystonegamingsociety.com and www.comicstorewest.com. A special thank you to both organizations!

Gaming Notes: Settlers of Catan #1

I have been doing quite a bit of gaming lately but I've been tardy in writing it up for this blog. I apologize - if you notice a great increase in the number of "Gaming Notes" in the near future, I haven't become unemployed, I'm just catching up.

It's been quite awhile since I've played Settlers of Catan. I recently got to do so in a five player game with my fellow Keystone Gaming Society members.

Sweet come-from-behind victory in Catan!

I guess you could say it started out on the wrong foot. We had a difference of opinion as to set up the board - the "prescribed" way or completely random. Completely random won out.

As any good Settlers player knows, initial placement is critical. You've got to find just the right mixture of board placement, probability numbers (high probability without duplication is best), and diversity of resources. Many a Settlers game has been lost before it ever began by poor initial placement. Well, when I deliberated for nary two minutes, the KGS fellas were giving me all sorts of grief. It gave me some satisfaction when Sam rushed his second pick only to realize that he had chosen the same numbers he already had.

From there, they complained about the board set-up, their lack of resources, and the slowness of the game. In my experience, the game was about an average length for a five player game - an hour and forty five minutes or so. I can never tell if they're joking or if they're serious...

Anyway, I persevered, monopolizing brick for myself and slowly expanding.

I won the game with a three point turn. Having one road left with which to build, I built a road, extending my chain to nine roads long and stealing Longest Road from Sam. In the same turn I also upgraded a settlement to a city, thus increasing my 7 points to 10 in one turn and winning the game. It was a good thing to because two other players were at 9 points!

Games From My Youth: Scotland Yard

Big name board game companies CAN make interesting strategy games. Remember this one?

Scotland Yard is a game where five players control detectives. The detectives move about the board using underground (subways), taxis, and buses. The goal of the detectives is to capture the elusive Mr. X! Mr. X is controlled by a sixth player. So although this game is a "co-op" game, you're not playing against the board - all of the players are trying to beat one other player.

What makes this game unique is the "Mr. X Mechanic." While the detectives are represented on the board by clear plastic tokens with colored dots on them, Mr. X's movements are shrouded in secrecy because Mr. X merely writes down his position without a playing piece on the board. At several set points in the game, Mr. X's position is revealed and the detectives try to quickly swarm to cut off his escape routes.

This game is a ton of fun. As a detective, it's grand tradition to look for any clue as to the whereabouts of Mr. X. Players carefully read Mr. X's eyes to see where he's looking on the board. Body language is interpreted for any sign of stress or anxiety. Even the movements of the pen are interpreted... Did I just see top of the pen move as if he wrote a one and then an eight? Is Mr. X on 18? Scotland Yard is definitely a thinking man's game. The players must use a good deal of deductive reasoning and psychology to figure out the moves of the opposition.

I still have my original copy of the gem. If you don't, fortunately, you can find them cheap on eBay.

This isa Spiel des Jahres Award winner from 1983 that shouldn't be forgotten.

Star Trek: Fleet Captains - Gaming Notes

Awhile back, Sam, John, my son Ben and I played Star Trek: Fleet Captains. This is a $100 game but I've got to say - I just didn't think it was worth the money. There are way too many completely random elements to the game and tons of little modifiers and counters to keep track of. Ultimately, it wasn't very fun. Not to say I didn't win! I know I'm doing well at a board game when Sam gets mad at me and says, "I've never seen anyone do that before!"

So, needless to say, I assembled my federation vessels into a massive fleet and systematically wiped his Klingon ships off the map, even hunting them down and destroying them after they cowardly tried to cloak and flee. The lamentations of Klingon women are particularly sweet!

Gear Gear: Table of Catan

This idea was sent in from John C...

I'm a huge Settlers of Catan fan so when John C sent me this link (tableofcatan.com) I couldn't resist checking it out.

Table of Catan!

The Table of Catan is a table with the catan game board build into the table. Sounds pretty cool but... who would buy this? The oak table retails for just under $400. That's a lot of Catan! Doesn't a card table for $10 work just as well? I mean, it might be cool to have if you're super rich but I could think of plenty of ways to spend $400 that don't involve a table specifically designed to play a $40 game on. What about Seafarers or Cities and Knights (or other variants)? They don't fit nicely into this table, apparently.

Good idea, but I wonder how many of these they've actually sold. You've got to REALLY, REALLY love Catan to purchase this table. So, John, invite me over when you buy one so I can play on it.