It Keeps Rainin' All The Time

Raining games, that is. Liz had off work so she was able to join in this time. After we took a large detour for breakfast we jumped in. We got wrangled into a game right away.

Skull King 2-6 players
This is a trick taking card game with a pirate theme. It consist of a deck of cards with 4 colored suits (black is the trump suit), 5 escape cards, and 5 pirate cards. It plays over ten rounds and each round deals each player cards equal to the round number. Players look at their cards and bid on how many tricks they think they'll win in the round. It plays like a standard trick taking game with the card in suit winning the trick unless it's in the trump suit or unless it's a pirate. The escape cards count as no suit and no value, so they are played when you are trying not to win a trick. If you meet your quota of tricks bid exactly, you earn points based on the tricks won (and based on any of three bonus cards won) or based on the round number if you said you'd get no trick. If you fail to met your quota, you lose points based on how much you missed it by or based on the round number if you said you'd win none. Best score after ten rounds wins.

We had a 5 player game going and the designer watched over us halfway through the game to make sure we didn't miss some of the bonuses and less obvious rules. I was doing okay at the start, but in the later rounds it gets really hard to judge what trick you can win. My score fluctuated a lot. In the end, neither Liz nor I won, but Liz ended with a better score than me.

We both really liked this one. It's a nail bitter most of the game. I don't see it playing as well with a smaller player count, but I can't see getting people to play this as a problem. It plays fast and isn't hard to learn.

We joined up with one of the other players and grabbed one from the library...

Lanterns: The Harvest Festival 2-4 players
This is a newer game of making pretty lantern displays on a lake (or river). It's a tile laying set collection game. Players take turns placing tiles and earning colored cards based on any matches they make with other tiles. Also, all players earn a card based on what color from the newly placed tile is facing them. If you have enough of the right colored cards you can trade them in before placing a tile to get a scoring token. The tokens can be traded for 4-of-a-kinds, 3 pairs, or one of each of the 7 color. The sooner you get a token, the more it tends to be worth. There are also special card swapping tokens that can be gained by matching tiles with specially labeled tiles. After all the tiles get played, all the players have one last round to trade in cards. Most points wins with the trading tokens as a tie breaker.

We had another random player join for the full 4-player game. I made a lot of good plays to get cards, but usually not the best cards for my situation. I earned most of the 3 pairs tokens. Near the end we noticed that there was a tile missing, but altered the end for the player who missed their additional turn. The tally was close. Liz and I tied each other, but the other two had a little more than each of us.

This was a much more relaxing game than the previous one. It's nice to earn cards on other players turns. It give you hope that even if things aren't going too well, that things could turn around in a tile or two. There is still a chance to play a bit cutthroat too. Since cards are limited, players can hog cards or they can play their tiles in a way that the color that is pointing to you is an empty pile. So it's a little breezy, but also a bit thinky, and, as I said above, pretty.

Liz took a small break and I joined up with the other two Skull King compatriots to play...

Terra 2-6 players
This is the follow up to Fauna. Instead of placing bets on animals facts, bets are made on facts about other mostly non-living things on Earth. Things like where is the world's fastest roller coaster, how fast is it, and when was it build? Or where can you find the blue agave plant, how tall does it get, and when was it named? Most of the rules are the same, but for a few. Play only last for 6 rounds instead up until a certain number of points and there is only ever one location (or at least as far as I saw) so there is not a variable number of points to earn for bets on the map.

I didn't start scoring until the third round. I wasn't looking good for me. I had a comeback in the last two rounds. I was able to take second and was just 3 points away from first.

I liked the game well enough, but I wan't a fan of the precise facts. I like having a range of values and I also like the variable number of rounds. It allows players in the back to have hope of winning the game. In Terra, if you get a number of questions that you don't have any starting point to work from, you're kind of screwed. It was nice to play, but I don't see myself buying this one ever.

Liz joined in for the next game we picked out...

Dimension 2-4 players
This is an abstract logic and spacial relation game. Everyone has their own set of 15 colored marbles (3 each in different colors). Each player also has a board with seven divots in it to make stacks of marbles. It is played over 6 rounds and at the start of every round, 6 rule cards card flipped over. The rules dictated how things can get stacked. Thinks like, there must be exactly 3 orange marbles, or every white marble needs to touch a black marble and visa-versa, or no marble can be placed on top of a green marble. All players then race to make a stack within one minute. At the end of the time, all players earn a point token for the marbles used (max marbles is 11). Players lose 2 points for each rule that they didn't abide by. If all rules were followed and one of each color was used, then they score a bonus token. After 6 rounds, the points are score and the bonus tokens add or subtract from that depending on how many you got. Most points wins.

I did good, but made a few errors in the first couple of stacks. There was one round where the rules made it impossible to follow all the rules, making it a battle to try and match the most rules. I ended two points shy of the win.

Both of us got a kick out of this game. It's easily nothing like we have in our collection. I'm not sure I'd add it to a wishlist, but I could see getting it in BOGO type deal. It'll easily make my list of suggestion for mathy or abstract games.

Liz and I were starving, so we took a food break and order pizza in a nearby brew pub. We had time to kill until the pizza made it there, so I ran across the street and bought a game to play...

Pick-a-Dog 1-5 players
I nearly got this for Becky for her birthday, but didn't see it anywhere. It's cute game of matching dogs with mostly similar features. Each player is given a face down card and an array of 30 face up cards is placed in the center. On "Go", all players flip over their starting card and attempt to grab mostly matching cards in a mad dash. You see, all the cards have  a cartoon dog on them with varying characteristics. The dog is brown or pink, big or small, glassesless or glassesed, popcorned or popcornless, and paw up or down. When a card is grabbed and added to the top of your pile, it must match your current dog exactly or be off by only one characteristic. If a player has no "matches" to make, then they can call "STOP". This ends the round. The stop is verified and so is everyone's stack. Any errors cause the player to lose the cards they got that round. After all the cards run out, the last round is played and the player with the most cards accumulated wins.

I started out good. I called "stop" incorrectly once and Liz started to gain on me. She made an error in the next round evening out the score a bit. The next few rounds were high scoring for both of us. I won the game by about 5 or 6 cards.

This is a pretty cute game. We tend to make a story line as we check the stacks. "He got a tan then dropped his popcorn." I think kids would like it. It also has another game that can combine with it: Pick-a-Pig. I might pick it up if I want to add more players to the game.

Once back in the hall, we picked up a game from the library and found a table...

Qin 2-4 players
I nearly purchased this game a few years ago during a half-off sale. I think I ended up getting diamonds instead. This is an area control tile laying game. Players take turns placing domino shaped tiles on a board. The tiles all have 2 of any three colors (red, blue, and yellow). Double colors like double red also exist. A player may place a tile adjacent to any colored region on the board that doesn't overlap with a feature. If an unclaimed territory of size 2 or greater is made, that player claims it with their color pagoda. If it merges two same color territories, the larger of the two territories takes ownership. Any claimed territory of 5 squares or greater gets two pagodas on it. There are also a number of villages marked on the board. If a player has a terry adjacent to one of them, they can place a pagoda on that. If another player can get their territories adjacent to it in such a way that they have more pagodas adjacent, they can seize control. The first player to get all of their pagodas on the board wins. If the board fills before that happens, the most pagodas on the board wins.

We left an open invitation to other players for this one while we read the rules, but no one took us up on it. I took a very fast strategy of getting as many of my pagodas on as possible. Liz took a strategy of trying to engulf everything. She took a few of my territories away, but I was able to spread quickly and won.

This is an okay game. I'd gladly play again if someone asked, but I'd still be on the fence if it was half price. It does have a double sided board which is nice, but I think I'd rather play one of the game I already own.

Liz was boardgamed out for a while so when we found another open game to join in on, she just watched and drank her beer. They were playing Mascarade. I have this game already, but was excited to play with people who might be paying attention to other players. We were able to get 4 games it. I lost the first two but won the last two. I'd like to say it was my cunning that won the games, but I got pretty lucky on the last claim of each game. I was always very tense while flipping over my card to prove my character.
It was getting late and we had time for one or two more small games. We found and open table with a couple who had some games that peeked Liz's interest.  We started with...

Buccaneer Bones 1-4 players
This is a dice rolling game with some mechanics that are a bit similar to Viva Java: The Coffee Game: The Dice Game. You all have six ship tokens that can go plunder treasure. Every one starts their turn by rolling 6 dice and they have 3 re-rolls and can alter two dice by one pip. Any pair can move a ship out of harbor one space, Any three-of-a-kind moves it out the full two. From there, it needs another three of a kind to bring it back with treasure. Ships do not move until the player is done manipulating their dice. If nothing is accomplished after the rolls, the player has a token they can place to add missing abilities or steal someone else's treasure on their next turn. At the start of the player's next turn, they may have lost some of there abilities. If a ship isn't in harbor in the 1 or 6 space they lose a die, in the 2 or 5 space they lose a pip manipulation, and the 3 or 4 space they lose a re-roll. This means you don't want too many ships out at one time. The player that makes it to three treasures after an equal number of turn wins with ties broken by most ships out.

None of us did that bad. I nearly had a chance to tie for the win, but just couldn't roll any more 3's. Neither Liz nor I won.

It does play pretty fast and was kind of interesting, but I know I like Viva Java: TCG: TDG better. It's got a bit more meat and is a bit less fiddly.

We were about to head for home when they handed us a game in a zip-lock bag. He was apparently a game designer and he had given us a free print-and-play version of his game. We decided to stay and play a round of...

Stranded: A Quick Card Game 2-5 players
We played this as a team game, but this can also be played every man for himself. You are all survivors from a plane crash. You are scavenging the area for tool and material to help you survive. The game starts with a face down draw pile, an empty discard pile, and players with a small hand of cards (the amount determined by number of players). On a player's turn they draw a card, then either play a card, build a card, discard a card, or, in the case of a team game, pass a card to their partner. Partners can feel free to look at each others hand and discuss strategies. The cards mostly have resources and tools like wood, tarp, or matches. Some have ways to get more cards or steal cards from other players. Some of them have things to build like a tents or a med pack. The things to build indicate was resources must be played to build it. They also indicate how many points it is worth. The first player to five points or, in a team game, the first team to a combined total of seven points wins. If the deck runs out, then the player/team with the most points wins.

Liz and I were teamed up and were doing okay. The other camp of survivors kept invading and steal our stuff which got frustrating, but we persevered. We eventually built a bow and arrow and laid siege on their village. They recovered and built a tent. We showed them up by building a cabin and won the game.

This was a pretty cool game. I'm not sure I'd ever notice it in a store, but if a store attendant played a game with me I'd consider it for the right price. They also included a survival bracelet in our baggy. It was very nice. Now I need to get some color-backed card sleeves and make a box to put this in.

This was the end our day since I still had to work karaoke, but tomorrow is all ours.

Tally: 183/187  Bonus: 54/50