-
Jimmy Okolica
United States
Washington Township
Ohio
-
I started recording my plays in March of this year. Since then I've recorded 404 plays. I've also played about 100 games of Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization at boardgaming-online.com and maybe a dozen games of Tigris & Euphrates here on BGG. I've broken my game plays into Medium-Heavy Weight, Medium Weight, Medium-Light Weight, Fillers, 2-players, Kid's Games, and flops. With very limited exceptions, the only games I've placed in the list are games that I've played at least 3 times in 2011.
This will be my shortest list of 2011. This is a difficult category for me. Most of my plays fall into either the Medium-Heavy, Medium, or Filler categories. It is rare for me to play a game that takes too long to be a filler but doesn't at least qualify as medium-weight. In fact, I went back and forth as to whether several of these games qualify as medium-weight but eventually decided they do not. In total, there are only 5 games on the list:
1. Egizia . I remember entering a contest to win this game and then, after the contest was over, promptly forgetting about it. It just so happened that a new FLGS had a demo copy available on the day my gf and I first entered the store. Two plays later (a rare occurence for a single night's play), I decided this was a game I needed to play more. I've since played it with 2, 3, and 4 players and while the 2-player game is much more open and forgiving, I like this game at all player counts. To me, this is what Stone Age should have been. Though the rules are a bit harder to explain then Stone Age, the game play is more fun and figuring out how to do well is more straightforward. A game I expect to play many more times.
2. A Castle for All Seasons. This game has an interesting up-and-down history with me. My gf got it as a door prize at Ohio Buckeye Gamefest 2010. It took us 6 months to crack it open but when we did, we played it almost 10 times. Then it languished on the shelf as newer games showed up and was never played again. It is a good game and I think there is more meat to it than people give it credit for. Balancing resources with money and mixing in the role selection mechanic makes for a fun game. Though there's nothing new per se here, the blending of mechanics is excellent.
3. Carcassonne. With the three expansions I have (Traders & Builders, Inns & Cathedrals, Abbeys & Mayors), the game takes too long to be called a filler. Though it isn't particularly meaty, there are enough decisions to be made, and strategic placements to consider, that this game holds my attention and will occasionally make it out on the table if the mood is right.
4. Artus. A second game that started out strong and then dropped by the wayside. Like the other games on the list, it is slightly too long to be considered a filler. It's a card game, with all of the luck that they have; however, there is a lot to be said for hand management and (particularly with 2 players), setting yourself up for your next turn. This is one game that I really want to try to get out more in 2012.
5. Phoenicia. The last game on the list and yet still a very good game. Although understanding the cards is critical to doing well in the game (making teaching it to new players difficult), this is a fun game to play with people who have played it before and it plays well with 2.
|
|
