Jeff Allers' "postcards from Berlin" series at BGN

Enjoyable reading...

http://www.boardgamenews.com/index.php/boardgamenews/C71/P0/

Enjoyable reading on BGG

I bumped into this geeklist-thread by Gordon Yu on Boardgamegeek the other day.
It was most enjoyable to read...

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/33161

-Hans-

Offtopic - A deep sigh about MMORPGs

I've been a MMORPG gamer for quite some years now, and have tried 10-15 different games. Some for just a few weeks before abandoning them, others for as much as 3 years.

So, what makes a MMORPG good and worth playing, and what is a recipe for termination a year after going live ?
I'll try to list a few do's and don'ts:

1. Don't try to compete with World of Warcraft.
2. Do try to involve the players in generating content and/or develop addons for the game.
3. If you want to reap the marketing/hype benefits of making a game in an established universe like J.R.R. Tolkiens Middle Earth or Robert E. Howards Hyboria, DO stay true to the world.
4. A game should contain several (more than one) "things" to make players want to continue playing. (Improving your character is an obvious "thing", but improve it for what need?)
5. Any decent MMO has a crafting-system. Do make the crafting-system as intriguing as the most demanding players wants, but with simpler options for those that "just don't care about it".
6. Do make gathering resources fun and interesting. (Vanguard was on to something...)
7. Do introduce some new concept/mechanics in the game, which sets it apart from most others.
8. Always promote teamplay in all aspects of the game. (It should be clearly profitable to team up with others.)
9. Try to have a "living" storyline in the game, with future patches incorporating what players have accomplished.
10. Try make the system in such a way that a rookie can play together with seasoned veterans.

...end rant...

-Hans-

.

Race for the Galaxy

This pure cardgame by Tom Lehmann has, since it's release last year, climbed all the way to a #10 spot on boargamegeek . After playing this game a few times with my friends lately, it has become a favourite. The game offers several strategy options, and paths to victory. It is not the kind of game you introduce to non-gamers tho', rather it is a nice fast-played game for regular gamers. There is a slight learning-barrier with all the different symbols, which can be a bit difficult to grasp in the beginning, but you'll get the hang of it after a few games.

Warm recommendations !

-Hans-

Die Macher

So, we finaly got around to trying this awsome game. We had a rules-readthrough and a 1,5 round test-run a few days ago, but yesterday we played the complete game with 4 players.
It took us approx 5 hours from start to finish, so one of my friends was moaning the last 2 hours.
And this is maybe the biggest drawback of the game... the long playingtime.
I enjoyed playing it very much, and didn't mind the long playtime at all.
Another thing about the game, is the need to have the rules handy all the time. We experienced this need, as we forgot some of the things we should perform during a turn if we didn't have a constant eye on the rules each and every turn.
I suppose this will change when tou've played the game several times, but it was a bigger problem than most games I've played. (and I've played quite a few...)

This game dates back to 1986. (original release for 4 players)
Then a new revision came in 1997, which allowed for 5 players. ( revised after Germany was united again.)
And finally, another revision of the game in 2006, with some rules updates and variants.
(One thing that's annoying with the 2006 version, is the errors on some of the political opinion cards. One type of the cards have the wrong symbol at the bottom. We didn't discover this until well into the game, and I confirmed my suspicion after the game was finished. This affects the type of card that has a building with a crane depicted. (not the nuclear one))

So, what makes this game so good ?
Well, the game is very well balanced, and there are several strategies that can lead to victory.
It is not necessarily the player with most regional election victories that wins the game.
If you have several good runner-up or even 3rd places in the elections (rounds), you might score just as much on the elections as the one with most wins. The results of these regional elections counts for approx 40-60% of your score. Other key areas is your party's membership, and your ability to match up yur party's political profile with the end resulting national political profile.
In our game, I scored 55 more points in matching my party's political profile with the nation's than the runner up. Another important thing, is to try to gain control of the media in at least one of the elections, and try to have at least one media-marker in the regions that you think you might win. If you win, you then get to place one of your media-markers on the score-board, and earn some nice VPs.
Money is in constant shortage throughout the game, and your ability to "make them count the most" is vital. Don't spend money on things that isn't vital.
An by vital, I mean really really important.
If you find yourself out of money before the round is done, you may end up in serious trouble, by not beeing able to bid on the polls as an example. This will most certainly result in your opponent(s) gaining it cheap, and may inflict serious setbacks on your position.
I learned this the hard way during our test-run a few days ago, and was not going to do the same mistake again.

My feelings for the game after playing it once, is very positive. I will definitely play it again, if I can convince my friends to play. Even tho it takes a bit too much time.
The first few rounds took approx 1 hour each, but we got it down to less than 40 mins a round later in the game.

Don't be scared of the long playtime. It is a good game !!!
It ranks as #16 at boardgamegeek, with a 8.0/10 score, wich is very very good.