ÿþ<html> <header> <title>My boardgame hobby</title> </header> <body bgcolor="#FCFCCC"> <center><h2>My boardgame hobby - June to July 2005</h2></center> <hr> <table cellpadding=10><tr> <td valign="top"> <u>Sat & Sun 30-31 July 2005</u> <p>Over the weekend of 30-31 July 2005 we went to Melaka on a company team-building activity. I brought <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/172">For Sale</a>, <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/9674">Ingenious</a>, <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/432">Category 5 (6 Nimmt!)</a> and <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/8217">San Juan</a>, hoping for the opportunity to play the former three with my colleagues. Unfortunately it didn't happen. But Michelle and I did manage to play some games of Ingenious</a>, San Juan and Category 5. </p> <p>I'm getting a better grasp of Ingenious now. Blocking your opponents' weakest colours is important. I find that I'm liking Category 5 less now. Maybe it really needs more than 2 players to be fun.</p> </td> <td valign="top"><center><img src="hcs_20050730_0194.JPG" width=300><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/9674">Ingenious</a> - one point for red</i></center></td> <td valign="top"><center><img src="hcs_20050730_0196.JPG" width=300><br><i>Shee Yun is attracted by the noise and the colours</i></center></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top"><center><img src="hcs_20050730_0197.JPG" width=300><br><i>Scoreboard of Ingenious. Michelle is doing quite well.</i></center></td> <td valign="top"><center><img src="hcs_20050731_0210.JPG" width=300><br><i><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/8217">San Juan</a> - Card game version of <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/3076">Puerto Rico</a>, the #1 ranked game.</i></center></td> <td valign="top"><center><img src="hcs_20050731_0211.JPG" width=300><br><i>"Sorry baba, mama is going to kick your butt"</i></center></td> </tr> </table> <hr> <table cellpadding=10><tr> <td valign="top" width="60%"> <u>Thu 21 Jul 2005 - Settlers Cafe in Singapore</u> <p>I was working outstation in Singapore and took the opportunity to visit the <a href="http://www.settlerscafe.com">Settlers Cafe</a>, a boardgame cafe. It was a great experience. It was not expensive, they have many games, and the staff is very friendly and helpful. Compared to the Witch House boardgame cafe in Taipei, Settlers Cafe does not have as many games that are "my type" though. </p> <p>Chee Seng, Alicia and I played 4 different games - Blokus, Modern Art, Keythedral and Giza. All are new to me except Modern Art. Blokus is very simple and fast. It is a spacial game. Definitely very newbie-friendly. I quite like it, and am thinking of buying it. </p> <p>I was considering whether to buy Keythedral, but eventually decided against it. The most important play is in the layout out of the "board" at the start of the game, and later the selection of the order of sending workers out to the fields. I found the part on collecting resources and buying seats in the keythedral a little tedious. Giza is a game designed and published in Singapore by a local company. It is about building pyramids and the sphinx. Very nice components and graphics. The game is light and fast. There is some decision making / risk taking, and also a bit of luck in tile drawing. </p> </td> <td valign="top"> <p>Games played:</p> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/2453">Blokus</a>: Chee Seng 0, Alicia -1, me -2 <li>Blokus: me 0, Alicia -2, Chee Seng -5 <li><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/118">Modern Art</a>: Chee Seng (winner by big margin), Alicia, me <li><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/4099">Keythedral</a>: Chee Seng 58, Alicia 54, me 54 <li><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/17075">Giza</a>: me (winner), Alicia , Chee Seng </td></tr></table> <hr> <table cellpadding=10><tr><td valign="top"> <u>Sun 10 Jul 2005</u> <p>Han and Ricky came to play. I tried to get a 5 player session but unfortunately Kooi Khew and Sylvia couldn't make it. But anyhow we had a good long session, from 1pm to 7pm. We played 12 games! One game was new to me - Colossal Arena by Reiner Knizia, which Han brought. I thought it was just OK. Maybe because I did very badly. :-D I didn't make good use of the creature powers. Han also brought <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/12477">Bootleggers</a> but we didn't get to play it. </p> <p>Han pointed out my rule mistake in Ingenious (a.k.a. Einfach Genial). In the first play, every player must play his/her tile next to a different starting hex on the board. Oops. My strategy in this game is always to develop all colours evenly, ignoring chances to score big in any one colour. But now I think this is not the best strategy, since hitting the 18th spot give you an extra turn, which helps in blocking other people.</p> <p>We all quite enjoyed China. Now we all call the the first person to enter a region the "poineering ox" (_Rƒ[r). China has interesting decision making and is quite fast paced, so it is quite fulfilling. Ricky definitely enjoyed calling the Lu district Lu Lu. </p> <p>Ricky quite liked Lord of the Rings - Confrontation. By the time we played it he was in a hurry to go home for dinner, but he enjoyed it so much he asked for a 3rd game (he lost the first two). He still lost the 3rd game, but LOTR Confrontation really is a game in which you need to be familiar with the character powers and the card powers in order to be able to strategise and to play well. </p> <p>Games played:</p> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/12002">Jambo</a>: Han 60, me 49 <li><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/50">Lost Cities</a>: me (winner), Han <li><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/105">Colossal Arena</a>: Han (winner), me <li><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/9674">Ingenious</a>: me (winner), Han <li>Ingenious: Han 10, Ricky 9, me 9 <li><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/18100">China</a>: Han (winner), Ricky, me, Michelle <li>China: me (winner), Han, Ricky <li>China: Ricky (winner), me, Han <li><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/503">Through the Desert</a>: me 100, Ricky 84, Michelle 52 <li><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/3201">Lord of the Rings - Confrontation</a>: me (light)(winner), Ricky (dark) <li>Lord of the Rings - Confrontation: me (light)(winner), Ricky (dark) <li>Lord of the Rings - Confrontation: me (light)(winner), Ricky (dark) </ul> </td> <td valign="top"><center> <img width=400 src="hcs_20050710_0001.JPG"><br><i>Michelle joined us in one game of China, with Shee Yun as advisor</i><br><br> <img width=400 src="hcs_20050710_0002.JPG"><br><i>I gave up on placing my emissaries early, and regretted it later</i><br><br> <img width=300 src="hcs_20050710_0005.JPG"><br><i>Lord of the Rings - Confrontation. Sauron the Silly.</i> </center></td></tr></table> <hr> <table cellpadding=10><tr><td valign="top" width="50%"> <u>Tue 5 Jul 2005 - Fri 8 Jul 2005</u> <p>These are the last few days of me working in Accenture. My project mates and I played a few more games of <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/50">Lost Cities</a> and <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/5782">Coloretto</a>. They like both games. Probably we'll organise a gathering at my home to play again. </p> <p>One of the things they found most fun about Coloretto is making Adrian dirty.</p> <p>Games played: (that I have recorded)</p> <p>5 Jul 2005</p> <ul> <li>Lost Cities: me 44, Say Young 36 <li>Coloretto: Adrian (winner), Ai Rin, Say Young, Leonard </ul> </td> <td valign="top"> <p>7 Jul 2005</p> <ul> <li>Coloretto: Geraldine 30, me 25, Say Young 21, Chai Ling 21, Adrian 19 (everyone's bullying poor Adrian) <li>Coloretto: Geraldine 26 (winning again!), Chai Ling 25, Say Young 24, Adrian 23, me 20 <li>Coloretto: me 28, Geraldine 23, Say Young 22, Chai Ling 21, Adrian 14 <li>Lost Cities: me (winner), Say Young <li>Lost Cities: me 30, Adrian 28 <li>Lost Cities: me 83, Leonard 72 </ul> <p>8 Jul 2005</p> <ul> <li>Lost Cities: Leonard 31, me 29 <li>Coloretto: Leonard 36 (wow!), Geraldine 26, me 26, Ai Rin 23, Chai Ling 20 </ul> </td></tr></table> <hr> <table cellpadding=10><tr><td valign="top" width="60%"> <u>Tue 5 Jul 2005</u> <p>Today at the office I taught 4 of my colleagues to play <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/5782">Coloretto</a> during lunchtime. We played 2 games, and I did very badly. My project mates enjoyed it and wanted to play more. But since our room is near the bosses' room it's not a very good idea. </p> <p>Thankfully we didn't play for money as Adrian suggested. He won (jointly) in both games! Leonard and I? We just feel so "dirty".</p> <p>This reminds me of the days when I was in Taiwan. I played <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/822">Carcassonne</a> and <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/12">Ra</a> with my project team over lunch time. We'd buy lunch from outside, quickly finish and get one or two games in. Aaah... those were the days...</p> </td> <td valign="top"> <p>Games played:</p> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/5782">Coloretto</a>: Ai Rin 25, Adrian 25, Geraldine 22, me 19, Leonard 18 <li>Coloretto: Adrian 26, Geraldine 26, Ai Rin 17, Leonard 16, me 15 </td></tr></table> <hr> <table cellpadding=10> <tr><td valign=top colspan=2> <u>Sun 3 Jul 2005</u> <p>Had some errands to run over the weekend, but did manage to spend a quiet and relaxing Sunday afternoon at home. Michelle and I played <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/14996">Ticket To Ride Europe</a> on the computer, and <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/822">Carcassonne</a>, <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/12002">Jambo</a>, <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/13551">Oltremare</a> and <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/11">Bohnanza</a>.</p> <p>Carcassonne has always been our favourite. We play using the first expansion - Inns & Cathedrals. We play fast and aggressively. So it is definitely not an innocent jigsaw puzzle-like game in our hands. </p> <p>Jambo is a newer card game by Rudiger Dorn and we both enjoy it. It is relative fast paced, like <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/8217">San Juan</a>.</p> <p>Michelle did much better in Oltremare this time. She beat me in prestige, in harbour tokens and in minimizing her pirate stack (she didn't have any cards left, but I had 10, i.e. -10 points). But I managed a narrow win because of my stronger cargo stack.</p> <p>It was our first time trying 2-player Bohnanza, a.k.a. Bohn Duel. I'm not sure I got all the rules right. It's a bit weird. I still don't quite understand it yet. Michelle beat me $19:$18. Maybe I need to play a bit more to see whether I like it. At the moment I think Bohnanza is still best with around 5 people. </p> </td> <td valign=top> <center><img src="hcs_20050703_0006.JPG" width=300><br><i>Oltremare - we used the Carcassonne box as a mini table</i></center> </tr><tr> <td valign=top><center><img src="hcs_20050703_0008.JPG" width=300><br><i>Jambo - a good 2-player only game</i></center></td> <td valign=top><center><img src="hcs_20050703_0010.JPG" width=300><br><i>Shee Yun learns about making tough decisions early in life</i></center></td> <td valign=top><center><img src="hcs_20050703_0011.JPG" width=300><br><i>Our first time trying 2-player Bohnanza</i></center></td> </table> <hr> <table cellpadding=10><tr><td valign="top" width="60%"> <u>Sat 25 Jun 2005</u> <p>Chee Seng and Kooi Khew came to play. We played four different games. Our "main course" was Lord of the Rings, the cooperative game by Reiner Knizia. It was a very exciting game. It was my 4th time playing, having only won once (in my 3rd attempt), and it was Chee Seng and Kooi Khew's first time playing. At one point I really thought we were going to lose - Frodo and Pippin both killed in Shelob's Lair, and Sam with the ring reaching Mount Doom with very little resources left. </p> </td> <td valign="top"> <p>Games played:</p> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/9674">Ingenious / Einfach Genial</a>: me 8, Chee Seng 6 <li><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/14996">Ticket to Ride Europe</a>: me (winner), Chee Seng (drew SIX tickets, but unfortunately didn't complete one of them) <li><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/823">Lord of the Rings</a>: me as Frodo, Chee Seng as Sam and Kooi Khew as Pippin. We won! <li><a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/478">Citadels</a>: me 31, Chee Seng 28, Kooi Khew 25 </td></tr></table> <hr> <table cellpadding=10> <tr><td valign="top"> <u>Fri 24 Jun 2005</u> <p>Michelle and I played <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/13551">Oltremare - Merchants of Venice</a> for the first time. I won, of course, due to the advantage of having read the rules and reviews and session reports many times. </p> <p>I think Oltremare will be more fun with more players</p> </td><td> <center> <img src="hcs_20050624_0258.JPG" width="300"><br> <i>Shee Yun finds Oltremare too complex</i> </center> </td></tr></table> <hr> <table cellpadding=10> <tr><td valign="top"> <u>Sun 12 June 2005</u> <p>Han and Kooi Khew came to play. We played two games of <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/18100">China</a> and two games of <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/354">Sticheln</a>. Michelle joined to play Sticheln too. Twice I made Kooi Khew "eat" cards of his pain colour. He swore revenge. :-D </p> <p>Sticheln is supposed to be played for 5 rounds to determine the total score, but we only place one round per game, since we are all relatively new to the game.</p> <p>Games played:</p> <ul> <li>China: Han (winner), me, Kooi Khew <li>China: me 60, Kooi Khew 52, Han 51 (approximate score) <li>Sticheln: Han 11, me 10, Michelle 10, Kooi Khew -2 <li>Sticheln: Michelel 10, Han 9, me -6, Kooi Khew -7 </ul> </td> <td> <center> <img src="hcs_20050612_0118.JPG" width="400"><br> <i>China is a very pretty game</i><br> <br> <img src="hcs_20050612_0120.JPG" width="400"><br> <i>Shee Yun advising me to play the purple card</i><br> </center> </td></tr> </table> <hr> <center>Back to <a href="http://hecose.tripod.com/boardgame/boardgame.html">boardgame page</a><br> Back to <a href="http://choksienhiew.tripod.com">homepage</a></center> </body> </html>