88 mph?

Our last day with Saba and also the last day of our weekend. Liz knew what I wanted to play...

Terra Mystica 2-5 players
This is my favorite game. No question number one. It's a bit of a brain burner and takes a little time to play so it doesn't hit the table anywhere near as often as I'd like. I had heard about the game through Shut Up & Sit Down, but wasn't really sold. They seemed to really love the massive amounts of wood bits it contained. I let it fall in the background. Later, as I was looking for interesting board game play through videos, I happened upon the game again in a walkthrough video made by Michael Wißner. I was mystified. I needed the game, but so did everyone else and they figured it out a few months before I did. The first print run had sold out and the second printing was planned for release some months later. I kept constant watch on the forums and online retailers to make a preorder. It took a number of months but the day came when it arrived. I had planned on playing it on our regular Saturday game night, but in needed practice explaining the rules. I also knew it would help if another person could answer questions during the game. I forced/had Liz do a 2-player game with me. It went pretty smoothly even if Liz was mostly overwhelmed. It was the heaviest game (both literally and figuratively) we had ever played at the time. I was not disappointed in the slightest. The second game with 4-players was even better.

It's an asymmetrical area-control/resource management game. You each play different races with their own home terrain and abilities and benefits. At the start of a round you earn income based on what you've built on the board. Everybody takes turns terraforming the land, building, getting workers, getting money, and researching the cults. Once you have no actions left to take or feel like you need to stop and keep what resources you have you can pass for the round. Once everyone passes, the round ends and prizes are awarded. After 6 rounds the game ends and game bonus point are awarded for area-control and research. This a massive simplification of the game. I didn't even mention the power bowls, neighbor bonuses, favor tokens, town bonuses, or power actions. It's a very complex game to learn, but after a play you get how it all weaves together.

I've been dying to play this game again for a while. I got the expansion about 2 months ago and it may have been about a year since I had played it last. Liz blames it on all the other games. She's right. We each played with the new races. I played the Yetis and Liz the Acolytes. Yetis get power actions cheaper and Acolytes terraform using cult bonuses. From the start neither of us had built next to one another. This meant gaining power was difficult. Since it was a two-player game it made getting power extra hard. By the 2nd round Liz began to find her groove with her race. I found mine in the 3rd round, but didn't actually get to act on it until the 4th round. I had a strong lead in the beginning, but Liz was creeping up on the the entire time. I ended up winning, by about 10 points, which is pretty close. I can't wait for more players. I need my fix.

Fluxx 2-6 players

One of the first few games I added to my collection was Fluxx. It was a neat little game that I felt Liz might enjoy. It's the game Liz thinks of when she remembers us getting into gaming. It's a mad cap card game where you delude yourself in to thinking you have a strategy going. The game is aptly named because everything is in flux, and I mean everything. In the beginning of the game each player starts with 3 cards. The first player to draw a card starts. The basic rules state that on your turn you draw one card then play one card. The cards you play do one of five things: Get added to your collection, "curse" your collection, change a rule, cause an action, or change the goal. The game ends when someone meets the criteria of the current goal. SO the goal may be to have the cookie card and milk card in your collection. Keep in mind that everything is in flux so the goal may change, the number of cards you're allowed in your collection could get limited, or a player could steal one of the cards in your collection. This is why most hardcore gamers hate this game. You have little to no control over what happens and a lot can happen. I probably should hate this game myself, but I like it. There's just something about it that I find endearing.

Once starting this game, we realized how long it had been since we had played this version. We barely remembered the cards and goals that would pop up. The first game took a little bit of time, but I was able to finagle a win. The next two were very quick. Liz was cutthroat, or at least as much as you can be in this game.

Ascension: Apprentice Edition 2 players

I got this game as a birthday present. I had Star Realms on my list, but that was sold out due to high demand. The shop owner had suggested this as a replacement. It's very similar. It's a deck building game where you earn points by getting high value cards and killing monsters that pop out of the deck. The box for the Apprentice Edition is crap so I made a nice box to hold everything. I regret not printing the name on the sides of the cover

We played in a nearby bar after taking Saba out for catch. Liz had more of an attack oriented strategy and I had more of a buying everything strategy. Liz had the upper hand most of the game, but my deck steadily overtook her, and I got a lead right when I needed it.

Tally: 18/148  Bonus: 4/50