This week I broke out one of my favorite games from the Catan universe and got it to the table for game night. Jennie, Dave and I played Settlers of America. I'll share some thoughts, comments and overview of this solid game. As mentioned in the introduction, we got Settlers of America to the table this week. Though Dave and Jennie own the game, they hadn't played in a long while. It had been about six months or so since the last time I had played. None of us would be unfamiliar, however some refreshing and rules overview was needed. For those unfamiliar, Settlers of America is a route-building, delivery and resource collection game based on the popular series of Catan games. Though it utilizes the well-known resource collection system similar to that in other Catan games, it is more robust and beefy. Game Overview As one of the games in the Catan Histories series, Settlers of America is loosely based on the westward expansion in the United States during the height of wagon and train use in the 19th Century. The map is a fixed game board utilizing hexes to map out the types of resources found in various parts of the united states. Using resources such as Gold, Cattle, Grain, Lumber, Ore, and Coal, players collect sets to purchase rails, settlers/cities, and trains. The basic goal of the game is to deliver all of your goods to your opponents cities. This is accomplished by using settlers to develop new cities to free up goods, then build rails to your opponent's cities and maneuver your train(s) to deliver goods at opponents locations. The winner is the first to deliver all of their goods successfully. As is the sign of many good games, the objective is relatively simple however the decisions and strategies employed throughout make this game particularly fun. Thoughts and Opinions Settlers of America takes longer than the standard game of Catan. Three to four players can typically get in a full game in about 2:30 - 3:00 hours. The first time played will most likely take an addition 30 minutes to an hour. I hope the length doesn't deter you, as the gameplay moves relatively quickly. Those experienced with other Catan games will catch on to the basic resource collection system almost immediately. Settlers is very clever in how it was designed, as it requires that you start on the east coast and naturally are motivated to progress westward. Some of the resources dry up in the east and become available as you move west. The need to expand, build cities and deliver goods feels smooth and appropriate. When nearing the end of the game, tension builds. Each player knows what the others need to do to accomplish their goals and may also know what resources are needed. Trading becomes more difficult and the dice rolls for resources more critical, until someone finally delivers their last goods cube and wins the game. While playing this week, I realized once again how much I enjoy this game. Jennie just edged out Dave for the win. Either could have won depending on the dice rolls and resources available in the hexes. I was a step or two behind and just had to hope that I could make up ground as the others gathered what they needed. A fun game with two players on the verge of winning for a few rounds. If you like the Catan series of games, but are looking for a heavier Euro-style experience, then definitely look for this one. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how available this game is right now. It was originally published in 2010 by Mayfair games in the U.S. however Mayfair has since lost the rights to Catan and gone out of business. It is however, currently available on the official Catan website store. I noticed that the overall rating on Board Game Geek is a bit low for this game at 6.8. I'm really not sure why. Possibly people are looking for a lighter game similar to the length and weight of the original Catan and variants. What's the point in that? This is a progression to a more complex game and is not simply a couple of rules changes and pasted-on theme. The designer thought through how to tie American history into the core of the game ... and I think it works quite well. Yes, it runs longer, however it falls right in line with other Euros of similar weight. If you'd like to read more on BGG click here. I hope you found my overview, thoughts and opinions about Catan Histories: Settlers of America interesting. Share what you think by leaving your comments below this post. Follow King's GameNight on Facebook to keep up with updates and other posts.
Game on!
0 Comments
In playing Mansions of Madness Second Edition, our crew "finished" a scenario that had been eluding us for multiple plays. This time way finally came to a conclusion of sorts that wasn't quite what we had expected. Our GameNight crew played the Escape from Innsmouth scenario for what was probably my 4th or 5th time. We had yet to beat this scenario. Last week, we were determined to finally win. Though the game was "won", it was not quite what we had hoped. Gameplay Overview In brief, Mansions of Madness is a cooperative adventure game for 1-5 players. In the Second Edition, an app is used in conjunction with the game board tiles, cards, tokens, miniatures and other components to assist in play. This type of app integration is particularly well done allowing for players to still feel engaged in playing a tabletop game. The group plays as a team of investigators while the app takes on the role of the game master, explaining which new tiles, tokens and miniatures to place as the adventure moves along. Each scenario has some sort of a mystery to solve and the app does a great job of handling the storytelling and progressing through the adventure. Players are very much still involved in making choices as well as placing and moving figures and tokens on the table. Most adventures require a specific number of objectives to be met within some constraint of time or other plot requirement in order to "win" that scenario. Nikki, Jeff, Jennie, Dave, and I played the Escape from Innsmouth scenario in this particular session. We had all played at least two to four times prior, so the basic requirements and map tile placement was all very familiar. We worked well as a team trying to advance through the adventure and locations as quickly as possible, attempting to find necessary items as well as encountering and battling enemies along the way. Unfortunately, we just didn't seem to be rolling dice all that well. Certain objectives took us a number of times to complete, due to missed skill check rolls. As we continued to play it became more apparent that we just weren't quite making as much progress as we thought was needed. Jeff who was playing as the character Minh Thi Phan had been taking a lot of "horror" damage along the way. We did what we could to try to help him reduce the mental damage. Eventually it was too much. Jeff went beyond his limit of "horror" damage and went "Insane". In Mansions of Madness, when a character goes insane, he/she takes a random insane condition card and privately reads the back. This condition tells the player what the insane condition may require. Sometimes, there is no change, the player continues on as normal and the team wins as normal. Other times, the insane player may be instructed that their rules/conditions for winning are now altered. The condition card might require the player to set fires and after burning enough of the map, they could win the game OR... the insane player may have to do something strange like play without speaking or only using a single action each turn, etc... In our case, Jeff drew the following card: Jeff's insane condition card instructed him of his new win condition for the game. As fate would have it, Jeff was already on the space of one other investigator and had a Bladed Weapon in his possession. When it came around to his turn again he revealed the above card and stated that he had met his win condition. Jeff had won the game! Unfortunately for the rest of us, the adventure was lost. We still didn't beat that particular scenario, however one of us did win. We weren't sure what to think. Jeff was happy for the win. The rest of us were somewhat thankful he put an end to our misery. We just hadn't rolled well nor played as well as we thought we should have. A somewhat bittersweet end to another attempt at this scenario. Final Thoughts
I'm not sure if our group will ever try that scenario again. We may just say that Jeff has won the game and decide to move onto the next. I still had a lot of fun playing this scenario. Each adventure introduces a new mystery to solve with a unique map and story. One downfall is that gameplay can get a bit long. Some of the really big scenarios can take three to five hours or more. Luckily with the app, you can save your progress and game state for a future session. For a link to the BGG page for Mansions of Madness click here. Have you ever encountered this issue before? Have you found within a cooperative game, a situation in which one of the players can win even though the main team loses? I know in Betrayal at House on the Hill it can sort of be like that... however that is by design. In that game one player is intentionally singled out as a betrayer and can win while the rest of the team can lose. What other games have you found that do this? I don't think there's that many. Please leave a comment if you've had similar situations or found other games that can result with a "rogue winner". Continue checking out both this website and the King's GameNight Facebook page for future posts and updates, and... Game on! I had been hearing about CLANK! the last few years after its release in 2016. Many said that this was the deck-building game for people who don't like deck-building games. I have only recently become familiar with deck building games and had a variety of experiences that range from "just okay" to "really enjoyed". In this article, I describe my first experience playing CLANK! and other thoughts and observations. Taking Deck-Building to Another Level For those unfamiliar with the term/mechanism "deck building", it means: Deck Building - Players each begin with a small, similar base deck of cards. Through the course of the game additional cards are selected for inclusion in the players' decks making each deck somewhat unique. As the deck is built upon and strengthened, the new cards are drawn and used in future reshuffles of the deck. Often these games require players to discard their hand each turn forcing a high rate of card turnover. The game which is credited as the first to use this mechanic is Dominion. I wrote about deck building in a past post which listed this and many other board-game mechanisms and terms. Click here to refer back to my previous post on game mechanisms. Most deck building games are primarily card games. Some have added coins or other minor components to add to the experience. CLANK! was among the first to incorporate a board-game element to deck building. The other game that comes to mind which also incorporated a game board was Tyrants of the Underdark which was released the same year, in 2016. Since then, there have been multiple expansions and re-themes of CLANK! and other deck-builders which added game boards and additional table-top components. This hybridization of game mechanisms has started a bit of a trend. Game Overview The general goal of CLANK! is for each adventurer to make their way through a castle and then venture down below ground into the dungeon levels where a dragon lurks. As players move through rooms and caverns on the board the adventurers pilfer goods and items along the way. As with most deck builders, each player starts with an identical deck of (10) cards, five of which are drawn into your hand and the others placed in the reserve deck. The cards provide actions or abilities when played from the hand as well as currency points. The currency can be used to purchase more items/cards at the end of each turn. A (sword) icon on some cards can be collectively counted and allows for the player to defeat monsters/cards. After each player's turn the cards that are played and purchased get placed face up in the player's discard pile. As players gain certain items/cards they place their colored cubes into the Clank! area which eventually get placed into a bag, this represents the amount of noise that is generated by placing items in your satchel. Beware, the more noise you generate makes it more likely that the dragon will attack you. As cards continue to be purchased or defeated, new cards are drawn to the community (market area). Drawing cards with the dragon symbol activate the dragon. The dragon is not happy about the items being burgled from his dungeon area and attempts to attack the players. A number of cubes is randomly drawn from the bag to determine who might be injured. Cubes represent wounds and are placed on each respective player's wound track at the bottom of the game board. Should an adventurer's track get completely full, they are defeated. This push-your-luck element of adding cubes to the bag upon gaining abilities and items is the key element of tension in the game. The goal is to grab at least one artifact from the deeper dungeon area and return safely to the surface. The first player to do this starts a "timer" of sorts and all who are able to exit will gain bonus points. Players then have four more rounds to get out of the depths of the dungeon and back to the surface. Those getting above ground level, yet not completely out of the castle don't receive bonus points however their points are counted even if their character has been defeated. Those players caught deep, below the ground level, are defeated and eliminated without counting points. Upon game end players count the gold, items (point values), bonuses, and any other points indicated on cards etc... The player with the most points is declared the winner. Thoughts and Opinions So, what is the verdict. Does adding a game board and other mechanisms add or detract from the deck-building game? For deck-building enthusiasts and purists, CLANK! might feel like there's just a lot of unnecessary stuff added that detracts from the elegance of a pure deck-building card game. I think CLANK! offers far more than a deck-builder alone can. In my estimation it adds or enhances the core deck-building mechanism. I really enjoyed the game. The strategy of deck-building may still be at its core, but the goals of the game to venture through rooms and caverns collecting items and points while trying to avoid wounds just added so much more. The game felt more immersive with the game board and visual representation of adventuring into the depths of a dungeon. This added to the tension of knowing you had to work your way all the way back to the surface, or possible perish. The fantasy theme was enjoyable and fit well with the mechanisms of the game. Drawing cubes from the bag and discovering which players would receive wounds drew the attention of all, waiting to see who would receive wounds. The tension grew as you knew more of your cubes were probably in the bag. Rounds were quick and player engagement was high. Not much down time. A well-balanced, well-designed fun game for all. Overall, I had a great first experience with CLANK!. Though I died as I attempted to get out of the dungeon, I did make it above ground level allowing me to count my points. Even if you don't think you like deck-building games, I would encourage you to give this one a try. There's so much more to the game than simply managing a hand/deck of cards. I would like to thank my friend Troy for breaking out his copy and teaching the game. I have wanted to give this a try for quite some time and this game play didn't disappoint... all four players seemed engaged and to like the game. Our banter and shouts when pulling cubes were a testament to our enjoyment. If you'd like to read more about CLANK! on the Board Game Geek site, click here. Please respond in the comments with your thoughts and observations. Thank you for continuing to visit and support King's GameNight by reading the posts. Also, follow the King's GameNight Facebook page to receive updates on the latest article posts as well as other links and shares on that page.
Game on! I got the opportunity to play The Voyages of Marco Polo last week. I hadn't heard much about this one, so I was excited to try out something new to me. I'll share a brief overview of the game and my thoughts about it. While at a recent game night at my friend Troy's house, we got a chance to play a couple of games. One was The Voyages of Marco Polo. This Euro-game released in 2015 was one that had passed under my radar. I may have heard a discussion about it in one of the podcasts I listen to, however didn't really know much about it. This gave me a chance to learn a new game. One or maybe two of the others at the table had played before while myself and one other hadn't played at all. For the most part, we were all learning or re-learning the game. Overview The rules were fairly easy to understand. It seemed like we didn't spend that long going over the set up rules etc... probably about 30-45 minutes. The basic premise of the game is to explore the lands of the far east attempting to satisfy travel goals and to gain money, goods, and camels while completing orders acquired during the game. Explorers place trading posts in cities along the way which gain players additional action options for those with their marker on that city/location. I found the player aid was valuable in keeping track of things and performing actions in the proper order. Each player has five dice in their own color as well as a unique explorer role which gives each a special, seemingly overpowered, ability. In turn order players get one action at a time placing dice in a variety of locations on the board, using an action-selection or worker-placement style mechanic. The value of the dice sometimes influence the quantity or required value in each area and may effect those who follow wanting to use the same action. Some of the placement options require only one die, while others require two or three dice. An extra "neutral" black die can be acquired using the proper items in trade, allowing for an additional action. Players continue taking actions until all dice are gone, thus ending the round. The game is played for five rounds, at the end of which the game ends. Victory points can be scored in a variety of ways along the way as well as at the end of the game. The player scoring the most victory points is the winner. Thoughts and Opinions
While I didn't particularly care for the box artwork, the art and graphics on the game board and components worked well. The design was clear and the colors were fairly easily distinguished. The wooden dice were brightly colored, though a bit light-weight. An advantage of these dice would be that the rounded corners and light wooden construction should make them gentle to roll on most surfaces, avoiding dings and scratches. Overall the components worked well. The theme was fairly strong. Typically Euro-games are weak in theme, however this one felt the theme come through, like you were traveling and trading when taking actions. The individual roles made the gameplay somewhat unique for each player and required some thought about how your opponents use of their special abilities might impact your actions. Their wasn't a large amount of player interaction, however timing of actions and placement of dice on certain locations could certainly impact the cost or ability of another player planning to use the same action. There was no direct trading with each other or mechanics which were overtly mean. The flow of each round was nice, even the time spent in-between turns didn't seem to lag as you needed to calculate the next action and sometimes other players' dice placement/actions could impact those decisions. There were plenty of things to think about. I would consider this to be a medium-to-heavy weight game based on the amount of strategy and thought required to be successful. My overall assessment of The Voyages of Marco Polo is a positive one. Even after just one play, I can see the many possibilities of future plays. I believe the entire table had a similar reaction as we discussed our enjoyment of this game. There were cards randomly placed on each large city location on the board which change with each play and goals which are dealt to each other that also change, in addition to the varying roles available to the players. There is a lot of replay value here. I had a great time playing The Voyages of Marco Polo and found the rules to be quick to grasp making it less of a barrier to entry for most players. These are my thoughts and opinions about The Voyages of Marco Polo. If you're interested in reading more about this game on Board Game Geek's site, click here. Keep looking for more posts about board games and King's GameNight activity on this site and on the Facebook page. Continue playing the tabletop games you enjoy and ... Game on! |
Archives
March 2021
King's GameNight
Special 10% off Coupon Code: KGN10
|