I was lucky enough to meet up and play a few games for a couple of hours with our forum's very own Danisthirty on Saturday. We found the time to coordinate our very crazy schedules and met in Thirsty Meeple (Oxford).
We had no time to lose, so started with Quadropolis. I think what I liked about this game, is I managed to set it up in only a few minutes with only the rule book as a guide. Dan arrived just in time and explained what was required. I'll probably have to write up my thoughts some other time. But it's similar to 'Between Two Cities' except you're not and you have no one but yourself to blame for you bad choices. The set collecting elements seem better balanced in my opinion and the tile drafting was delightful.
The game is split over 4 rounds (we played basic), and I distinctly enjoyed how the game tidied itself away and easy to set out for the next game. I always enjoy min-max-ing point scoring opportunities; this game has plenty. I'm glad Dan took the time to explain the game to me and he went very easy on me considering how well he knows it.
Thankfully my industrial powerhouse scored some vital points and I won the game!
Tomtopia vs Danopolis
What Dan didn't realise was, he only lost because his entire city was up-side down!
I late came back to buy Quadropolis, I really enjoyed it!
Next up was a new game for both of us. I've heard so many things about 'Clank!'; which is a game you have to end sentences with in order to avoid confusion. The kind gentlemen at ThirstyMeeple explained the rules and we were off, dungeon crawling and deck building. I had mixed opinions about it, it's definitely fun; I liked the pacing. We messed up quite a few rules, but overall I think the Deck was too big causing too much variance. We found the Dragon was mainly inactive; though this may have been because we didn't move it having picked up an artefact (one missed rule). We also didn't do much clanking; so never really felt threatened. As with most deck builders, having a tight deck usually means you have predictable movements or actions, but I seemed to get predictability with a bloated deck too. I really liked the lightweight dungeon crawl and most of the theme. I also enjoyed the self-made pacing and the rush for the exit once acquiring enough artefacts. It's out of print pretty much everywhere, so I'll have to sit patiently and decide if I want to buy it or not.
Although Dan was the first out of the dungeon, my final turn allowed me to buy the card that gave me 10 points which neither of us understood until after Dan had left; I think that was enough to swing it in Dan's favour, but we all know it's because Dan's cards were upside down.
We had about 20 minutes left until Thirsty Meeple had to kick us out....we needed a short game we both knew... 7 Wonders Duel!
Unfortunately, it turned Dan had totally forgotten how to play (all his cards were upside down) and only completed a single Wonder too:
Brutal!
It was time for some lunch - I have to say that that felt like the shortest 3-hours of boardgaming I've ever had!
We found a pub to have lunch - I had a home-made burger, which was odd because why is someone making burgers at home then bringing them to work; what's wrong with the kitchen there?
After finishing lunch, I pulled out: Mint Works.
It was safe to say that the rules for Mint Works are simple; but the rule book for Mint Works managed to obfuscate something which should fill a page, into something that filled 6 pages but then someone felt needed to be crammed into a Mint Tin. The rules are a disaster!
First game we abandoned, the second game we got a bit closer and the third game we understood but no one explained that the deed buildings need their plan in order to build.
Either way, we had fun and I could probably explain it next time and get a good game out of it. I've not played many worker placement games, but this game grabs the core mechanics well:
I managed to force a victory in our final game by building 2 3 star buildings...but again really the problem was that Dan's city was upside down.
Other than the rules being terrible, the only other complaint how the end game is scored.If there are only 2 opportunities to build, if one player forces the end game, the 2nd player must beat them in the final action. We decided to say: 3-mints = 1Star and then the game was won by Dan and it seemed like a good thing to do given he could build no more that turn.
It's almost always customary to play Carcassonne when we get the opportunity and so Dan and I got to play the latest Expansion of 'Manege Frei' (aka: Manky Fries). As most of you know I'm not one to complain about artwork, but I did feel the circus tiles didn't blend into their background or the landscape very well; dimensionally it didn't sit right with me, the perspective wasn't right.
This is an interesting expansion, all about clustering elements and keeping tempo. Ring Masters score for being close to circus tiles; while Big Tops mean you have to keep meeple active for longer to score some large multipliers. The Acrobats I've discussed on Whaleyland's post; there's some interesting strategy, but trapping meeple seems like a good use. The large number of tiles leaves for some big scores, cloisters were almost irrelevant in our game. After a big farm battle, I managed to trap my last 2 meeple on a pyramid tile because I didn't have a third to escape it. However, I was able to place the last BigTop tile to get a hefty multiplier, making up for the lost farm. The Big Top had a 3 under it which allowed me to recover, ultimately we both scored 209 points!
We ended the day nipping for a curry! Big Thanks to Dan for taking the time to play a load of games with me! 5 games in as many hours isn't bad, in my book and all in all very successful. Looking forward to the next opportunity.
One thing I should end with, all these games really show, that if you're going to win something - you're cards have to be the right way up. Lucky for Dan, that wasn't an issue for our last game (his tiles were the right way up) and he at least got a draw
Linkback: https://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=3329.0