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	<title>Game: Around the World in 80 Days</title>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12005</link>
	<language>en-us</language>
	<lastBuildDate>Sat, 30 Aug 2008 06:37:52 -0500</lastBuildDate>
	<pubDate>Sat, 30 Aug 2008 06:37:52 -0500</pubDate>
	<webMaster>aldie@boardgamegeek.com</webMaster>
	<description>BoardGameGeek features information related to the board gaming hobby</description><item>
	<title>Thread: Re: Around The World With No Help From Jackie Chan</title>
	<description>&lt;i&gt;For a gamer that's true, but for non-gamer's, there is plenty going on in&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I agree that for a gamer there isn't a lot going on, but I've played a lot of my games with my girlfriend who would insist on being called a non gamer, and friends of ours who other than a game of Carcassonne under their belt would also be non gamers. They didn't find a lot going on either. They didn't really get the feeling of having any influence over the game.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;'You pick up a card, you play a card, you move to the next city.'&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;It's not that the game isn't fun, it's just that there's better games out there to get non gamers involved.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2589209#2589209</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-25T22:37:47+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>zeeb13</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Around The World With No Help From Jackie Chan</title>
	<description>&lt;b&gt;zeeb13 wrote:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;i&gt;One of the main complaints levelled at the game (levelled by us, mind you) is that there isn’t a whole lot going on. &lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;For a gamer that's true, but for non-gamer's, there is plenty going on in:&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&gt; Collecting the right cards to move on, trying to get low numbers of pairs&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&gt; Collecting and applying event cards&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&gt; Using the balloon and rolling dice [note: I understand you still have to play the right cards to move to the next location, you can't just say balloon and roll the dice]&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&gt; Collecting gold coins so you can pay for dice re-rolls and deciding whether to push one's luck with a dice re-roll&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&gt; Moving the detective so as to hold up or penalize others, such as the leader. We play so that you can move it onto another player's square after their turn and they have to add the two day penalty.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2587503#2587503</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-25T14:25:56+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Rock Photo Star</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Around The World With No Help From Jackie Chan</title>
	<description>Don't forget that coins can be used to buy cards also. That can drastically change a game if the right event card comes up. And in a six player game the seventh available option is for the last player to draw one card blind from the deck. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;[edit] And you're not 100% certainly eliminated if you're the last player to reach London, you're only out of it if you don't reach London on the same turn as the pen-ultimate player (or 4th player in a 6-player game)</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2587072#2587072</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-25T09:59:59+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>hakko504</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Around The World With No Help From Jackie Chan</title>
	<description>Remember the movie Around The World In 80 Days starring Jackie Chan and Steve Coogan? No? Nor do I. Nor does anyone. I bet even Coogan has wiped it from his memory. If you asked him about it I have the feeling he’d mutter: “I’m sure you’re thinking of Ricky Gervais…” before running the other way.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<![CDATA[<div style=''><a href="/image/209851"><img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic209851_t.jpg" border=0></a></div>]]>&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Yeah, well, anyway, this game has nothing to do with that movie except for the fact that they’re both based on the novel Around The World In 80 Days by Jules “Hammer Time” Verne.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While a game where you play as Jackie Chan as your roll some dice to see how many wacky antics you get up to on this turn does sound appealing; 80 Days: The Game replaces that idea with the idea of collecting cards in order to complete routes.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<![CDATA[<div style=''><a href="/image/303574"><img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic303574_t.jpg" border=0></a></div>]]>&lt;br&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt; I declare myself the greenest of all the people!&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Each player chooses the little wooden person they feel best represents them and starts the game in London. The aim? Why that would be to make it all the way around the world in 80 days or less to beat your fellow racers! Take longer than 80 days and you’re as good as done, so stick a fork in you, or however that expression goes.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<![CDATA[<div style=''><a href="/image/55699"><img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic55699_t.jpg" border=0></a></div>]]>&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;To move from city to city there are a selection of different links. Want to get from San Francisco to New York you have to use two train cards. Want to travel from New York to London why that will cost you two boats and a train, SIR. The numbers on the cards indicate the number of days it costs to travel. Use a boat with an 8 on it, and a train with a 3, that trip just cost you 11 days.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;How do you get more travel cards?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Why, that’s so simple I can answer it right here… with these words…&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<![CDATA[<div style=''><a href="/image/80333"><img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic80333_t.jpg" border=0></a></div>]]>&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;On each turn a selection of cards is dealt along the bottom of the board, lining up with an action. On your go you pick up a card and perform the corresponding action. Depending on the number of players, depends on the number of options that are presented in the game, but let’s say you’re playing an all out six player non stop no nonsense action packed extravaganza, the options available are:&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<![CDATA[<div style=''><a href="/image/299476"><img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic299476_t.jpg" border=0></a></div>]]>&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Option 1: Get a gold coin! BRILLIANT! Gold coins are used when rolling the dice. Don’t like your roll? Pay a gold coin and roll again! It’s that simple! It’s like the way we used to play Yahtzee! Don’t like your roll? Pay me a gold coin and you can roll again… that’s not true… that’s actually a lie… I’ve never played Yahtzee… I was just trying to be cool… be down with that Yahtzee crowd… they’re so leet they spell leet with 3’s… I wish I was madcore like them…&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<![CDATA[<div style=''><a href="/image/280017"><img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic280017_t.jpg" border=0></a></div>]]>&lt;br&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt; Yahtzee: all the fun of the math combined with all the excitement of being an old person!!&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;SECOND OPTION.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Use the balloon. On your turn instead of using a travel card, you can instead roll the dice (or is it die? Or is it ‘I don’t care’?) Whatever you roll is how many days it takes to travel. Not happy with the six you just rolled, pay a gold coin and roll again.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Option 3: Pick up a Question Mark Card (which has a more accurate title, but I’m not going to look it up, because I’m a massive jerkwad.) The Question Mark Card’s give you a variety of different options like “use a balloon” or “use a submarine” or “go get me a drink while I look at your cards.”&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<![CDATA[<div style=''><a href="/image/303572"><img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic303572_t.jpg" border=0></a></div>]]>&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The fourth option is: Move the Detective. You can move the fat little detective around the board from city to city, if you land in the city with the detective in it you lose two days. So the detective can be really devastating if you’ve only got a couple of days to play with, but what we’ve found in most of the games we’ve played is that the detective gets moved to a city which we’ve all passed and he just stays there until the games over. Poor detective, he can’t help being so useless.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<![CDATA[<div style=''><a href="/image/299351"><img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic299351_t.jpg" border=0></a></div>]]>&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Choose option 5 and you get to be the start player on the next turn, which is handy as the start player gets the first choice of cards.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Option Six is: &lt;strike&gt;Something which I’ve never used because we haven’t played with six people… as I don’t have five other friends&lt;/strike&gt; Trade up to three travel cards with the face down pile.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The last person to arrive in London is automatically disqualified and the person who took the least amount of days to arrive is the winner of the RACE. AROUND. THE. WORLD. IN. 80. DAYS. FULL. STOP. NO. RETURNS.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<![CDATA[<div style=''><a href="/image/326215"><img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic326215_t.jpg" border=0></a></div>]]>&lt;br&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt; Six players? Why that seems almost ideal!&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;80 Days plays dramatically different depending on the number of ‘racers’ you have sitting around the board. We’ve found the more the better.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Every two player game we’ve attempted goes a little something like this:&lt;br&gt;We are both even.&lt;br&gt;I do not have enough cards to complete one leg.&lt;br&gt;The other player is now ahead by one leg and wins.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;NON STOP THRILL RIDE ACTION.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<![CDATA[<div style=''><a href="/image/105159"><img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic105159_t.jpg" border=0></a></div>]]>&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Three players is a little better, but we’ve found that the game really shines with four or more.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;One of the main complaints levelled at the game (levelled by us, mind you) is that there isn’t a whole lot going on. Yeah, you get a choice of what cards you’re collecting and it’s not blind luck like if you were just drawing them from the deck, but it never feels as though you actually get a chance to implement any real strategic moves.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;More players gives you more leeway in this regard. In a three player game if you’re the guy who hangs back for a turn or two to pick up some better cards so you make better time, you’re toast. You’re done and dusted. You’re knocked over and painted blue. You’re… something else. But with more players racing to the finish you get more of a chance to catch up.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<![CDATA[<div style=''><a href="/image/80334"><img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic80334_t.jpg" border=0></a></div>]]>&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Am I recommending Around The World In 80 Days? If you have six players it’s worth it more than if you only have three. I personally think it’s more fun than my friends and family do, but I think the fact they didn’t pay any money for it and I did strongly influences those opinions. So if you shell out cash for 80 Days you will force yourself to like it more than others will. Also it looks real purdy.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2586823#2586823</link>
	<pubDate>2008-08-25T05:31:09+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>zeeb13</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: 6 card hand limit question</title>
	<description>Yes, the 6 card limit includes event cards.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2502940#2502940</link>
	<pubDate>2008-07-26T13:20:49+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>larryjrice</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: 6 card hand limit question</title>
	<description>Does the hand limit include events cards?  I am reading it as they do but I have been known to misinterprete rule books.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2502932#2502932</link>
	<pubDate>2008-07-26T13:10:47+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Phoenixgeek</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: The Random Gamer at the Cottage Next Door: Game #9 Around the World in 80 Days</title>
	<description>&lt;b&gt;Mr. HomoLudens:&lt;/b&gt; Well, I just spent a week at a cottage north of Toronto and played some games.  Oddly enough, BGG user Ender Wiggins (EndersGame) and his family were at the cottage next door, so we decided to let him and wife play too. Sometimes we even let one or two of his kids play. Yes, the man has kids, although they don't often appear in his many, many photos. We did not let him take any pictures of our games, because the man's made enough GG already.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;Mr. Ender:&lt;/b&gt; There's nothing like being on vacation and discovering that the random person in the cottage next door is a fellow gamer.  Around the World in 80 Days was Game #9 in the many game sessions (see &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/327734&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; class=&quot;postlink&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;the first here&lt;/a&gt;) that resulted from this amazing discovery.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;Mr. HomoLudens:&lt;/b&gt; You may have started to notice that I'm positive about every game I've played, but that's no surprise since we only took some of our favourite games along, and here's another one. Played this only once, although the older kids played a game or two after as well.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;Mr. Ender:&lt;/b&gt; At one point one of the junior Enders wondered if this game took 80 days to play, but be assured that this is not the case. Otherwise we wouldn't have been able to play this twice in one week. In fact, it was even played twice in the same day. Mr. HomoLudens and myself played one game with some of my children. Immediately following, Son #1 (age 11) and Son #2 (age 8) played a game on their own (while the adults were making small talk with Vikings, and learning Old Norse). The children enjoyed it immensely, although Son #2 stated that he didn't want to play a third and subsequent game immediately.  In his words: &quot;I love the game, but right now I'm too seasick from using too many boats!&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;Mr. HomoLudens:&lt;/b&gt; General thoughts - It's quick; it's fun. It's also mostly luck-dependent, which drives some people wild but doesn't bother me at all in this game. Here luck is thematic, and it's really not as painful as in a game such as Parthenon, if the comparison can be made. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;Mr. Ender:&lt;/b&gt; General thoughts: The components are attractive, and this is very suitable as a family game. It's light and there is some randomness, but the amount is appropriate for the length of the game. A decent 7.77 in my books.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;Mr. HomoLudens:&lt;/b&gt; Btw, another day we watched the movie _The Great Race_ which I guess has a similar theme, an automobile race in 1908 from New York to Paris. You'll have to watch the movie to see how they accomplish that, but if you want to see some good slapstick, this is a must-see classic.  For what it's worth, the picture in my avatar is of Professor Fate, in the same film.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;Mr. Ender:&lt;/b&gt; Mr. HomoLudens appears to have a special fascination with global circumnavigation - evident in his love for this game, and also for the movie &quot;The Great Race&quot; (a thoroughly enjoyable film, by the way, with delightful slapstick humor). I expect that when he does begin publishing children's literature within the next twenty years (as he certainly will and should), one of the exciting Mr. Orange series is certain to be an adventure about circumnavigation, including a balloon ride, and also featuring a blind terrorist, a campfire, two trains, and a detective.&lt;br&gt;</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2492747#2492747</link>
	<pubDate>2008-07-23T03:07:10+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>EndersGame</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: rule change</title>
	<description>I have also played this way and agree that it improves play. It is indeed more intuitive this way, and immediately rewards efficient travel. Adding a day when players don't move lights a fire under them.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;One other change we use in conjunction with this is that the player who draws a card from the &quot;clock&quot; slot (which previously determined the play order) gets to save 1 day during that round.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2339890#2339890</link>
	<pubDate>2008-05-24T00:30:59+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>eyeandear</dc:creator>
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	<title>Image</title>
	<description>
		Greek Edition &lt;br&gt;
		&lt;img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic332764_mt.jpg"&gt;
	</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/332764</link>
	<pubDate>2008-05-14T09:17:42+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Emil 109</dc:creator>
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	<title>Image</title>
	<description>
		All player attributes and Monsieur Detective &lt;br&gt;
		&lt;img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic326215_mt.jpg"&gt;
	</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/326215</link>
	<pubDate>2008-04-25T12:26:53+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>LordP</dc:creator>
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	<title>Image</title>
	<description>
		Beautiful wooden die with golden numbers &lt;br&gt;
		&lt;img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic326214_mt.jpg"&gt;
	</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/326214</link>
	<pubDate>2008-04-25T12:24:37+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>LordP</dc:creator>
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	<title>Image</title>
	<description>
		Mode of transportation: trains &lt;br&gt;
		&lt;img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic326206_mt.jpg"&gt;
	</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/326206</link>
	<pubDate>2008-04-25T12:14:04+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>LordP</dc:creator>
</item><item>
	<title>Image</title>
	<description>
		Mode of transportation: boats &lt;br&gt;
		&lt;img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic326204_mt.jpg"&gt;
	</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/326204</link>
	<pubDate>2008-04-25T11:53:26+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>LordP</dc:creator>
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	<title>Image</title>
	<description>
		All transportation modes combined: boat, train and elephant &lt;br&gt;
		&lt;img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic326119_mt.jpg"&gt;
	</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/326119</link>
	<pubDate>2008-04-25T08:20:42+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>LordP</dc:creator>
</item><item>
	<title>Thread: Around the World in 80 Days is a 7/10.</title>
	<description><![CDATA[<div style=''><a href="/image/209851"><img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic209851_t.jpg" border=0></a></div>]]>&lt;br&gt;I recently had the pleasure of receiving &lt;a class='gamelink' target='_blank' href=&quot;/game/12005&quot;&gt;Around the World in 80 Days&lt;/a&gt; from a friend as a birthday gift.  I have been on the lookout for 6 player gateway games for a while and decided to give this a shot with my family (who are predominantly non-gamers) and was pleasantly surprised by how well it was received.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Around the World is a simple race game where players are attempting to be the first to travel from London back to London in the least amount of days.  Your days used are recorded on the scoring track on the perimeter of the board.  Each leg of the journey requires one or a combination of modes of travel either ships, trains or in one case, an elephant.  Travel is accomplished by playing the necessary type of card and advancing your token the appropriate number of days.  When all but the last two players reach London the game is over.  The last two players being excluded from consideration for victory ensures that a player will not sit in one place waiting for optimum cards.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The core mechanic of this game is excellent, and is the reason I feel that this is such an excellent gateway game.  This is because it introduces the often confusing (to new players) concept of role selection in a simple, straightforward way.  Each round, the first player places one random travel card in front of 6 game actions.  Take the card, perform the action.  These actions include:&lt;br&gt;-taking a coin (coins purchase new cards, or re-rolls in certain situations)&lt;br&gt;-using the balloon (the balloon, a d6, can replace one travel card this round)&lt;br&gt;-moving the detective (a black piece which costs each player ending his turn on its space 2 days)&lt;br&gt;-taking an event card (usually positive, but occasionally costing everyone their event cards and 1-2 days)&lt;br&gt;-becoming the next first player&lt;br&gt;-swapping up to 3 cards for new ones&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<![CDATA[<div style=''><a href="/image/80333"><img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic80333_t.jpg" border=0></a></div>]]> Action track with travel cards.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Another great aspect of this game way that it keeps all of the players (for the most part) close right up until the end of the game. Each new destination has 2 bonus coins one of which is turned up for the first player to arrive, as well as for the last player to arrive.  These contain bonuses such as gold coins, free action cards, lost days for other players and free travel cards.  This is an incentive to move quickly, but also an apparatus for lagging players to get back into the game.  The time-bending nature of this game also ensures that being the first around the board is no guarantee of victory.  Players must constantly balance moving toward the goal in a timely manner and moving in the most efficient way possible.  A win is secured if you are the player who reaches London with the fewest number of days used.  If all players use 80 days, the first one there is the winner.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I think this game is an excellent, underrated gateway game.  The concept of role selection in euro games is often difficult to teach and this game introduces in a very easy way.  However, it is a very light game and will be too simple to keep groups of more experienced gamers interested.  Also, with cards being such an important part of the core mechanic, luck is a large factor. 7/10.&lt;br&gt;<![CDATA[<div style=''><a href="/image/303574"><img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic303574_t.jpg" border=0></a></div>]]></description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2132983#2132983</link>
	<pubDate>2008-03-04T23:44:44+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>wnellis</dc:creator>
</item><item>
	<title>Image</title>
	<description>
		Green is in the lead. &lt;br&gt;
		&lt;img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic303574_mt.jpg"&gt;
	</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/303574</link>
	<pubDate>2008-02-22T03:59:09+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>m_hamburg</dc:creator>
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	<title>Image</title>
	<description>
		The detective and the red player meet in Hong Kong &lt;br&gt;
		&lt;img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic303572_mt.jpg"&gt;
	</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/303572</link>
	<pubDate>2008-02-22T03:54:04+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>m_hamburg</dc:creator>
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	<title>Image</title>
	<description>
		Gold coins &lt;br&gt;
		&lt;img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic299476_mt.jpg"&gt;
	</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/299476</link>
	<pubDate>2008-02-10T02:09:38+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>yakos</dc:creator>
</item><item>
	<title>Image</title>
	<description>
		Bonus chips &lt;br&gt;
		&lt;img src="http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic299439_mt.jpg"&gt;
	</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/299439</link>
	<pubDate>2008-02-10T00:13:44+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>yakos</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: [Review] Around the World in 80 Days</title>
	<description>This is a family favorite in our house. I enjoyed both the book and the movie based on the book, so the theme attracted me. I agree with all of your comments and observations about this game. It is easy to learn, easy to play, involves just enough conflict and randomness to make it interesting, and players must make decisions each turn. We did make some modification, to allow the seven of us to play at the same time, and the game works just as well for seven as for five or six. See:&lt;br&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/147840&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; class=&quot;postlink&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;&lt;A target='_blank' href=&quot;http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/147840&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/147840&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Thanks for another excellent review.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1881729#1881729</link>
	<pubDate>2007-11-25T16:08:07+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>gamesgrandpa</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: [Review] Around the World in 80 Days</title>
	<description>Agreed.  This is an excellent light game that plays well with younger folks too.  We played it with our elementary age nieces and they understood it quite well, albeit perhaps not as strategic in their decisions as the adults were.  Haven't grabbed it yet, but it's on my &quot;to buy&quot; list at some point.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1880880#1880880</link>
	<pubDate>2007-11-24T23:30:15+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>garry_rice</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: [Review] Around the World in 80 Days</title>
	<description>&lt;b&gt;TomVasel wrote:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;i&gt;	&lt;font color='#FF0000'&gt;Frankly, I don't know why this game hasn't gotten more praise. &lt;/font&gt; It's simply one of the best introductory games I have ever played; and the theme, while a bit odd in its execution occasionally, works well with the game.  Choices are simple yet have impact. Players feel like they are in a race; there are rewards for both the fastest and slowest player, and it's usually a tight game to the finish.  I really think it's a brilliant design and feels different than most other games I've played - not only in theme, but in how the mechanics are implemented.  The fact that it easily accommodates up to six players is but icing on the cake.	&lt;br&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;So true. This excellent light game certainly deserves some more love.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;i&gt;a large square box &lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The box, which is way too large, doesn't bother me any more: All the components of Around the World fit nicely in my Power Grid box, and so I have 2 great games for 4-6 players in one flat box. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1880830#1880830</link>
	<pubDate>2007-11-24T22:33:46+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>cornelanner</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: [Review] Around the World in 80 Days</title>
	<description>I couldn't agree more Tom.  Good 6 player games are few and far between and this is my first suggestion when I have a group of friends over and we all want to play the same game.  </description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1880749#1880749</link>
	<pubDate>2007-11-24T20:27:48+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>philafan2000</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: [Review] Around the World in 80 Days</title>
	<description>	Jules Verne's novel Around the World in 80 Days was one of my favorite books as a child - another novel of excitement from one of the greatest writers of all times.  A few movies (travesties, really) and other pop culture have all gotten their inspiration from the books, and one of the latest is a game by the same name, Around the World in 80 Days (Rio Grande Games, 2004 - Michael Rieneck).  In this game, players are attempting to recreate Mr. Fogg's famous trip faster than 80 days.  A very interesting premise, but how's the game?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;	&lt;font color='#FF0000'&gt;Frankly, I don't know why this game hasn't gotten more praise. &lt;/font&gt; It's simply one of the best introductory games I have ever played; and the theme, while a bit odd in its execution occasionally, works well with the game.  Choices are simple yet have impact. Players feel like they are in a race; there are rewards for both the fastest and slowest player, and it's usually a tight game to the finish.  I really think it's a brilliant design and feels different than most other games I've played - not only in theme, but in how the mechanics are implemented.  The fact that it easily accommodates up to six players is but icing on the cake.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;	The game takes place in ten locations around the world, starting and ending in London.  Next to each location, a random red and blue bonus chip is placed, and each player is given a game figure (placed on London), a time marker (placed on a time track), and a betting slip of their color.  A detective pawn is placed in Brindisi (the second stop after London), a deck of event cards is placed on the board, and each player is given one gold coin and three travel cards from a deck.  Finally, one player is chosen to go first and takes the starting player marker, beginning the first round.&lt;br&gt;	&lt;br&gt;	In each round, a travel card is placed face up next to four to six of the spaces on an action track, depending on the number of players.  On a player's turn they take one of the travel cards and then get to execute the action that is directly above that travel card.  The actions available are:&lt;br&gt;-	Receive one gold coin.&lt;br&gt;-	Use a balloon when traveling this turn.&lt;br&gt;-	Take the top event card into one's hand.&lt;br&gt;-	Move the detective to any place except London.&lt;br&gt;-	Take the starting player marker.&lt;br&gt;-	Trade up to three travel cards with the face down pile.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The player then may travel to the next destination.  Each travel card shows either a train or a boat and a number from two to eight.  One or more of either or both types of transportation are required to move from one spot to the next.  For example, if I want to move from San Francisco to New York, I have to play two train cards.  The value of the card(s) played is the total amount of days traveled, and the player's time marker is moved that many spaces accordingly.  If a player plays two cards that are exactly the same (type and number) when traveling, the values are not added but count as one card for traveling purposes.  Players may also use the &quot;balloon&quot;, which allows them to roll one six-sided die instead of using the number on one of their travel cards.  Players may spend a gold coin to re-roll the die.  Once a player has played their cards and moved their time marker, they move their pawn to the next destination.  If a player is the first player to a destination, they get to take the action on the red bonus chip; the last player to a destination takes the blue chip action.  The actions are:&lt;br&gt;-	Take a gold coin&lt;br&gt;-	Take a travel card.&lt;br&gt;-	Take an event card.&lt;br&gt;-	All opponents must move their time markers one space.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The player then checks to see if the detective is in their spot, and if so, must add two days to their time.  Players must also discard down to six travel cards if they have more.   The next player takes their turn, until all players have taken a turn, and then the next round begins.  &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There are a few other rules in the game, mostly concerning the event cards and traveling to Calcutta (in which players can use an elephant).  Once one player reaches London, each player must add one day to their time for every turn until they reach London, where they place their betting slip.  Once all but one player have reached London, then the amount of days used by each player is compared.  The player who used the fewest days (and reached London) is the winner, provided they used less than 80 days.  If all players used 80 days, then the first player to London wins!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Some comments on the game…&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;1.)	Components:  The board, cards, and box all have artwork that helps graphically show the turn of the century period the game is set in, and everything, especially the pocket watch starting piece, helps promote this end.  The cards are of good quality and, while small, are easy to shuffle and utilize.  The player pieces are wooden figures, which I liked, and the coins and bonus tokens are small cardboard tokens (the bonus tokens are perhaps too small).  Everything fits inside a generic plastic insert (I used plastic bags) inside a large square box.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;2.)	Rules:  The rules are on four large pages with color illustrations and detailed explanations of each part of the rules, including a variant for two players.  When explaining the game, some people are a little confused at first, but I found that playing the game helped them quickly understand, and it was one that folks found easy - strategy wise.  It works well in many groups, including teenagers.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;3.)	Time Strangeness:  As the game progresses, an odd phenomenon will occur.  One player will be &quot;ahead&quot; of the other players, but will also have more days on their trip.  This creates a paradox in some player's minds, and things can get rather warped if you think about them too long.  I'm two countries ahead of you but ten days behind?  Yes, in the overall picture of things, it makes sense; but a snapshot of the game feels strange and intrigues me.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;4.)	Actions:  The choosing of a travel card is a rather clever mechanic.  Players are naturally going to gravitate towards taking the lowest available card, but they must weigh that against the options available.  Event cards can really help a player do well in a game, so perhaps taking one of them will make a difference; or perhaps moving that pesky detective to a different place will be useful.  This is the meat of the game, here, and one that works really well - especially for people who only like a few decisions. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;5.)	Interaction:  There's not too much interaction in the game as to scare away conflict-phobia folk, but the detective allows you to directly affect other players.  When a player has the detective placed on them, they simply can't sit still; they have to move or otherwise get the time-sucking guy away from them.  If someone is in the lead, the detective can get played on them (it's annoying, although not too terribly devastating; this isn't a &quot;gang up on the leader&quot; type game).&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;6.)	Race:  The game's mechanics do a good job of simulating a race, even though the first person to London doesn't win.  One might think that you simply take your time, waiting for low numbered cards; but that also can backfire, as the last player to London rarely wins (they can only do so if they arrive in the last round).  A player who delays too far behind will find themselves out of the race.  At the same time, there is a benefit to lagging behind the other players (the event chips), so players might want to move slowly - but not too slowly.  The game also has a natural progression to keep the game from stagnating; players who delay will have days added to their total; and some event cards also add more days.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;7.)	Fun Factor:  Much of the fun in the game comes from the race aspect, as players hurry to get around the world.   Placing the detective on another player, using a balloon and rolling a &quot;1&quot;, and playing an event card at the right time can be awfully satisfying and enjoyable.  The game has an easygoing feeling in regards to gameplay, despite the fact that it's a bit of a frantic race, and folks continually ask me to play this one.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;For some reason, I find the game most enjoyable with five or six players, as the race seems to be more intense and exciting that way.  It allows all six of the actions to be used, and player interaction is higher.  Yes, there is some luck in the game, as players may draw good event and travel cards, but players move slowly or quickly usually as a direct result of their decisions.  &lt;font color='#FF0000'&gt;Around the World in 80 Days is not a deep strategic game, and players who think that may be disappointed, but the light gameplay will be very enjoyable for many - especially those who play very few games such as this.&lt;/font&gt;  It's not as accessible as some of the best games, such as Ticket to Ride, but it's still an excellent &quot;gateway&quot; game, and the theme involved certainly helps.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;(This review originally posted at Fairplay Games)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Tom Vasel&lt;br&gt;&quot;Real men play board games&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;A target='_blank' href=&quot;http://www.thedicetower.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;www.thedicetower.com&lt;/A&gt;&lt;br&gt;</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1880242#1880242</link>
	<pubDate>2007-11-24T12:44:50+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>TomVasel</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: 2-player</title>
	<description>Me and the wife played this in between our Ticket to Ride games this weekend.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Things started rather smoothly. We both went to Paris on the first turn. Continuing to India, both just in time to pick up an elefant to cross the continent. I tended to collect money, which I started to convert to travel cards around this time. In Hong Kong my wife lost all her event cards that she had collected when I picked up a bad weather card. We were still side by side at this point but I had used a little fewer days so far. However I was running out of cards at this point and using my money to draw new ones. By New York things were desperate. We were still together but where my wife had a handful of cards, I only had one ship. And we turn up 3 trains. OK, not bad. With the single coin I had, it meant that if I took the card with the extra coin, I'd win if I drew a ship with 6 or lower, tie on a 7 and lose with everythng else. And I draw .... (dramatic music playing) ... a train... </description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1852655#1852655</link>
	<pubDate>2007-11-12T13:01:48+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>hakko504</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Storm and Delay Card Variant</title>
	<description>Another important impact this variant will have.  If not ALL the event cards are shuffled back in, the time until the next Delay or Storm will be diminished since there are fewer events mixed in with them.  This definitely works to the advantage of the rabbit.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1839037#1839037</link>
	<pubDate>2007-11-06T16:18:48+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>dklx3</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Tao of Gaming Review</title>
	<description>Hmm, this last comment kinda makes me not want to take a chance on this game.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1829231#1829231</link>
	<pubDate>2007-11-02T01:04:42+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>baradifi</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Around The World In 80 Days: Great Fun In An Hour Or Less!</title>
	<description>this review appears twice under different names.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1829209#1829209</link>
	<pubDate>2007-11-02T00:57:35+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>baradifi</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Storm and Delay Card Variant</title>
	<description>I totally understand your point.  However, our gaming group has never found that hoarding event cards was a problem.   In my opinion, it is not a game-winning strategy because of the random placement of the train and ship cards on every turn.     &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Unless you are really &quot;lucky&quot; the entire game, you are most likely picking up non-ideal cards (e.g. high train or ship cards) if you are grabbing Event cards all of the time.  This self-limiting strategy in my opinion can hurt you more in the long run and helps to negate somewhat the advantages you get for playing multiple Event cards during the game.  As a result, we find that it is not always the best strategy to just grab Event cards every turn, although it is a strategy you can pursue if you still wish to.  &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Keep in mind that this variant does still force you to discard.  Besides, the main reason we adopted this rule was to see more Event cards being played.  Our game group found a lot of the Event cards just plain fun to play and allowed for greater strategy during the later parts of the game.  </description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1819351#1819351</link>
	<pubDate>2007-10-29T20:50:46+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>commandwolf</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Storm and Delay Card Variant</title>
	<description>&lt;i&gt;And I find that there is no incentive for someone to try to pillage the event card deck at the end of the game - precisely because puling a grey will hurt him vis-a-vis someone who is already home.  &lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There is an incentive if they cannot win any other way. When the first person gets to London at least 1 or 2 people are close behind. They then know how many days they need to beat.  If they can see they can't undercut the leader's total with standard cards, they can only draw event cards to try and win.  At least 1 player has been in this position in every game we've played. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I thought this was a standard feature of the game.  Do you have any idea why this happens in our games and not yours? &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;i&gt;As it is, the &quot;hare&quot; strategy of racing ahead rarely seems to win; to make it less viable by changing the grey card penalty would be a very bad thing IMO.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;In our games the first or second person to London always wins, for the reason above. (almost always the second person for some reason).&lt;br&gt;Again, could you suggest how you might be playing differently to avoid this problem?</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1818830#1818830</link>
	<pubDate>2007-10-29T18:13:26+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>luckyjim</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Storm and Delay Card Variant</title>
	<description>Indeed.  Without the grey cards working as written there is too much incentive to grab - and keep - event cards.  Which would have a knock-on effect of slowing the game down slightly (buying event cards rather than using gold to buy travel cards or improve die rools, plus the event card action becomes a better pick, leading to players choosing that one over an action with perhaps a better travel card).  &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;And I find that there is no incentive for someone to try to pillage the event card deck at the end of the game - precisely because puling a grey will hurt him vis-a-vis someone who is already home. As it is, the &quot;hare&quot; strategy of racing ahead rarely seems to win; to make it less viable by changing the grey card penalty would be a very bad thing IMO.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1818612#1818612</link>
	<pubDate>2007-10-29T17:29:16+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>RDewsbery</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Storm and Delay Card Variant</title>
	<description>The two bad cards forms an important element in the game: to prevent players from hoarding cards.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1818545#1818545</link>
	<pubDate>2007-10-29T17:13:50+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Great Dane</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Storm and Delay Card Variant</title>
	<description>We've played several games in which the Storm and Delay cards kept getting shuffled near the top of the deck, so no more than one or two players could get an Event card in hand, and never got to play them. You have an interesting proposal, which we may try. Another possible variant that I've considered is to remove the Storm or Delay card when it is first drawn. Discard Event cards, as normal, but play the remainder of the game with just one of those cards in the Event deck.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;This is a favorite game in our family, but the frequent appearance of the Storm and Delay cards in the small Event cards deck has been problematic for us. At the same time, a little chaos like this keeps the game from becoming too serious. It's fun to watch the players who have a couple of Event cards in their hands try to convince another player to NOT draw an Event card when they have the opportunity.&lt;br&gt;</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1818495#1818495</link>
	<pubDate>2007-10-29T16:57:16+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>gamesgrandpa</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Storm and Delay Card Variant</title>
	<description>I don't know, I see the &quot;event card chaos&quot; as an important aspect of the game.  If you really don't like the Storm or Delay cards, just remove them from the game.  I'm waiting for the next post that limits the detective movement to adjacent spaces only in order to eliminate the &quot;detective chaos.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But I can't really argue if you enjoy the game better this way.  Happy gaming!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;commandwolf wrote:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;i&gt;In all of our previous games (15+ games), we found the Storm and Delay cards caused too much chaos and limited any long-term planning or strategy associated with picking up Event cards.q]&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1818320#1818320</link>
	<pubDate>2007-10-29T16:03:47+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Teriyaki Donuts</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Storm and Delay Card Variant</title>
	<description>&lt;i&gt;We found that this subtle change works very well and did not change the game too much at all.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;It seems to me it would change the game quite a bit, but not necessarily in a bad way.  I think I'd be more inclined to change it to discard all but one of your event cards.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1818043#1818043</link>
	<pubDate>2007-10-29T14:04:16+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Colorado_Jeff</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Storm and Delay Card Variant</title>
	<description>That sounds like a good idea, we'll try that next time we play.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I want to try a variant to fix the problem we have with the end game. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;It's: Once someone arrives in London, Storm and Delay only add days to the person who drew the card.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;This is because once someone has got to London, there's always som players who start grabbing event cards to try and cut down their time for the last leg. (often the only way they could win). This means Storm/Delay turns up a lot and spoils the game for everyone, except the person who's already back.  This can be very frustrating if you're in with a good chance of winning and you're stopped by somone else's frantic event card drawing.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1817729#1817729</link>
	<pubDate>2007-10-29T09:07:44+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>luckyjim</dc:creator>
</item><item>
	<title>Thread: Storm and Delay Card Variant</title>
	<description>In all of our previous games (15+ games), we found the Storm and Delay cards caused too much chaos and limited any long-term planning or strategy associated with picking up Event cards.  &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;One variant our game group have used quite sucessfully is to reduce the damage caused by the Storm and Delay cards.  Here's what we do:&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Instead of forcing you to discard ALL event cards (per original rules) we have them only forcing you to discard ONE event card of your choice. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;We found that this subtle change works very well and did not change the game too much at all. Before this rule, we noticed that very few people actually sucessfully played any Event cards as they were usually lost within a turn or two of picking them up.   We have also found that this make the Elephant cards slightly more valuable since it makes it easier to hold onto them until you can finally use them once you get to Bombay!</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1817683#1817683</link>
	<pubDate>2007-10-29T07:55:35+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>commandwolf</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: My Wife Played a Eurogame!!!</title>
	<description>&lt;b&gt;game_boy wrote:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;i&gt;Nice report! Now you can justify buying one of those cheesy &quot;Plays Games with Lover&quot; microbadges...&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://files.boardgamegeek.com/images/biggrin.gif&quot; alt=&quot;:D&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;gamesgrandpa wrote:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;i&gt;It's a great family game, and 66 is a great score. Glad all of you had fun.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;We play it with seven players, and think it's really neat.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Thanks.  I saw your 7-player variant and it looks good.  We don't often have 7 players but when we do, we'll give it a shot...&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1563309#1563309</link>
	<pubDate>2007-06-20T09:41:11+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>otha62</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: My Wife Played a Eurogame!!!</title>
	<description>It's a great family game, and 66 is a great score. Glad all of you had fun.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;We play it with seven players, and think it's really neat.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1562976#1562976</link>
	<pubDate>2007-06-20T03:25:46+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>gamesgrandpa</dc:creator>
</item><item>
	<title>Thread: Re: My Wife Played a Eurogame!!!</title>
	<description>Nice report! Now you can justify buying one of those cheesy &quot;Plays Games with Lover&quot; microbadges...</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1562904#1562904</link>
	<pubDate>2007-06-20T02:43:36+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>game_boy</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: My Wife Played a Eurogame!!!</title>
	<description>&lt;b&gt;The Session&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;My wife, Susan, is not much into playing games but, in the spirit of Father’s Day, she agreed to play a game of &lt;i&gt;Around the World in 80 Days&lt;/i&gt; with me and our two young ‘uns this past Sunday.  She got through the rules with just a question or two and we were set to start the game.  I just hoped that she wouldn’t lose so bad that she’d never want to play again...little did I know...&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Susan, Josh and I all made the initial leg from London to Paris on the first turn while Mark had to wait since he deemed his travel cards were too high.  Susan got there first and the bonus chip made the rest of us add a day to our travels.  This soon became a pattern as Susan made it first to every location except for one.  Josh and I were able to keep up with her location-wise but fell several days behind.  Mark was doing very well in terms of travel days, but stayed a location behind until San Francisco.  Mark also lost 3 event cards due to a Storm which hurt him severely as he lost an Elephant prior to arriving in Bombay.  &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Susan really put us away in Yokohama; Josh and I were still with her, but she played a killer combination against us.  Along with the balloon, the Connections event card, and a pair of value '3' trains, in a single turn Susan was able to travel from Yokohama to San Francisco to New York in 10 days.  She took a couple of turns in New York acquiring cards and sticking Josh and I with the detective for 2 consecutive turns.  With the help of yet another balloon, Susan coasted back to London in 66 days for a pretty easy win.  Mark passed Josh and me to finish in 77 days.  Josh finally pushed on and finished in 85 days.  I didn’t finish, as I was trying to minimize my travel days up to the very end, and thus came in last.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;Observations&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;Susan said she had a good time playing, and wouldn’t mind playing again some time in the near future.  I think &lt;i&gt;Around the World in 80 Days&lt;/i&gt; is a good gateway game as it has uncomplicated rules yet it takes a little thought and planning to win.  It seems to be a really good fit for our family; Susan doesn’t like analytical games while the kids and I don’t like games with an overwhelming amount of chance.  It also plays right around an hour, which is ideal for us.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1562168#1562168</link>
	<pubDate>2007-06-19T20:41:55+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>otha62</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: TVB - 4P - We race around the world in 90+ days</title>
	<description>Check the strategy article for an explanation of where all the days went.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1511441#1511441</link>
	<pubDate>2007-05-22T15:01:49+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>dklx3</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Tao of Gaming Review</title>
	<description>I somewhat agree with the cards, but if you don't like them, you could always remove them and just give a gold when someone gets an event card (or give them the option of a gold or an event card - thereby maybe slowing the drawing of event cards and decreasing the number of storms/delays.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;My slight annoyance is at the pacing and fiddly scoring at the end, along with the counter intuitive moving markers backwards once the first person has finished.  The end seems to encourage calculation and it slows down right when it should be speeding to the finish.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1379625#1379625</link>
	<pubDate>2007-03-09T04:18:20+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>grandslam</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Tao of Gaming Review</title>
	<description>Just got this the other day and quite enjoy it. I think it is a good introductory game as long as there is someone at the table familiar with Euro games. It is a good introduction to a very familiar Euro game mechanic and the choices to be made in these games without bogging down with too much to analyse. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;As for the event cards, I do kind of agree. But they are just one of the choices you can make and rarely is it the worst choice for you. The important thing in the event cards are the &quot;Storm&quot; and &quot;Delay&quot; cards as the variable nature of their appearance can upset one's best made plans.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1338549#1338549</link>
	<pubDate>2007-02-14T00:34:54+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>sevorges</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: 7-Player Variant</title>
	<description>We play this game with seven players. To add the seventh player, deal two travel cards face-up to the right of the sixth card place at the beginning of each round. The person who selects those two cards must immediately discard one travel card, which may or may not be one of the cards just picked up. Continue to have seven choices until two players have reached London, then reduce it to six choices (to match the original rules). Everything else remains the same, except for the addition of another player token, score marker, and betting slip. We have played this variant several times, and it works well for us every time.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1295917#1295917</link>
	<pubDate>2007-01-24T20:45:21+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>gamesgrandpa</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Thematic Variant</title>
	<description>What an excellent idea! This is one of my current favorite games, and your suggestion makes perfect sense; it should have been in the original rules.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1295872#1295872</link>
	<pubDate>2007-01-24T20:31:43+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>gamesgrandpa</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: 2 player tweaks</title>
	<description>&lt;b&gt;game_boy wrote:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;i&gt;The problem we found with 2P was that because the start player changes every round, the turn sequence goes like this:&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Turn 1: Player A, Player B&lt;br&gt;Turn 2: Player B, Player A&lt;br&gt;Turn 3: Player A, Player B&lt;br&gt;etc.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;In other words, apart from player A's first turn, you always get two turns in a row. This means that if player X (could be A or B) is two spaces from London (San Francisco?), and player Y is no closer (maybe even in the same spot), player X can use their two consecutive turns to get to London and end the game. Player Y only gets one of their two turns before the round ends, so they automatically lose (there is no Connection card in the standard 2P game).&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;elcomadreja2 wrote:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;i&gt;2)the game ends when both players are in london&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;Yes, &lt;b&gt;that&lt;/b&gt; is the key change to make the game playable for two. It solves the &quot;consecutive turn&quot; problem described above and possibly allows the Connection card to be put back in the pack (because it's no longer an automatic game winner).&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I wonder how much they playtested the official 2P rules?&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I'm not seeing where the &quot;consectuive turn&quot; issue is a problem because both players get the same number of turns. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;If both players are two steps away from London and one uses consecutive turns to move there that just means that the other player was already behind and used the second of his consecutive turns to catch up. At the end of a turn that player was still a step behind the player who got to London first. This is because the first of the consecutive turns just gave the finishing player the same number of turns overall as the catching up player had.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1252699#1252699</link>
	<pubDate>2007-01-02T19:35:34+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Psauberer</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: 2 player tweaks</title>
	<description>You know, in our first play of 80 Days one of our friends asked why the game uses a nested turn system. I mean, in Puerto Rico and San Juan it is pretty obvious why the nested structure exists. In 80 Days, we can't think of a solid reason. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;We haven't tried the 2 player variant yet, so it didn't occur to me how the nested nature of the turn sequence can mess the game up. But can anyone think of a reason why the nested structure is there anyway? Is the gameplay changed much when you remove the nesting?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Since grabbing the timepiece determines who will start the turn next (except in a 2 player game) we didn't see a reason to have the timepiece move around the table if nobody picked that card. The timepiece card, then, has more value and incentive to get selected if it means taking the first move away from someone who has had it for awhile. Everyone still gets a turn, but the order changes slightly.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1252653#1252653</link>
	<pubDate>2007-01-02T19:06:16+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Chrysophylax</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Around the World in 80 Days - A Light Review</title>
	<description>All of my reviews aim to offer a brief overview that allows people to get a good feel for what the game may offer them. I feel that other reviews can be sought if detailed game mechanics is what you are after.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Based on Jules Verne’s famous story, Around the World in 80 Days pits its players in a race around the world in the early 20th Century. The board is well designed in the traditions of Ticket to Ride with a score track around the outside. In addition to the score track, the board consists of 10 city destinations and most importantly the action track. For the most part it is the action track that advances the play and lends the game its strategy.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Each new destination requires that a cost be paid in the form of transport (represented by icons). This cost can be a train, boat or combination of both – including multiples of either. Travel cards depicting steam boats and engines form the travel deck and it is these cards that the players must acquire in order to progress. The action line consists of 6 different actions and play can begin once a travel card is placed under each of these actions. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;On a player's turn they choose one of the actions and collect the card beneath it. In addition they can use the special action they chose. These include gaining gold coins, accessing hot air balloon travel (ignore a travel icon), moving the detective, gaining event cards, getting to go first next turn and trading travel cards for new ones. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Once an action has been taken in a round it cannot be taken by another player. This makes the clock (getting to go first in a round) fairly popular. The detective is also nasty because if you end your turn in the same city as the detective you will lose two days travel.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The aim of Around the World is of course to complete the journey in the shortest possible time and the score track is used to keep track of how many days each player has taken to reach London. Each of the travel cards has a value and it is the total of these numbers that determine the length of time needed to travel from one city to another. For example playing a 4 train and 6 boat would cost a player 10 days in travel time. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;However if a player can play 2 travel cards of identical value (2 boats of value 8) they only use 8 days travel instead of 16. Unfortunately this only works with the same type of transport (boats and boats or trains and trains). Finally each city has two bonus tokens placed next to it, blue and red. These are awarded to the player that reaches each city first and last. They help reward those that take risks to reach cities first and also help the last player catch up to the pack. Not surprisingly this helps make the finishes very close and this is always a good thing.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;That is the game in a nutshell. As soon as a player reaches London the other players must take a 1 day penalty every turn until they reach the finish. This is an excellent mechanic as it forces players to take risks and not always wait for the perfect cards to become available.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;u&gt;The Final Word&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Around the World in 80 Days is a neat little game with simple rules and tight game play – there is little room for confusion here. The artwork is very nice and adds to the theme and time period of the game. After a few plays it will be easy to finish a game in 40 minutes and it is a great game for families and people new to strategy games. There are a few other surprises in there but I’ll let you discover them…go on go!&lt;br&gt;</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1251696#1251696</link>
	<pubDate>2007-01-02T05:57:48+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Neil Thomson</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: TVB - 4P - We race around the world in 90+ days</title>
	<description>A nice turn-out as Dave, Lawrence, and Ben all arrived at the same time to begin our evening.  We reached deep into the pile of owned but unplayed games and pulled out a game by Michael Rieneck (was ill the day the Earth stood still but he told us where to stand)...&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;a class='gamelink' target='_blank' href=&quot;/game/12005&quot;&gt;Around the World in 80 Days&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There was a fair bit of buzz when this was first released 2 years ago, that buzz seems to have died out as newer games have come to market.  Well, we decided to see what all the buzz was about back then - &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There is a picturesque board showing a trip around the world from London to Paris to....to San Francisco to New York and back to London.  Connections between various cities are by some combination of boat and/or train.  The goal is to quickest to travel around the world in 80 days or less.  (Should all the players take longer than 80 days...the winner is the first one back to London.)  The travel time (days spent moving from location to location) is controlled by a deck of travel cards.  These cards show either a boat or a train. In addition, each card has a number from 4 to 8 which indicates how long that boat/train journey will take.  Each player starts with their token (a Phineas Fogg Meeple or Pfeeple?) in London.  The token advances by playing the necessary transportation cards connecting the current city to the next city.  A trip from London to Paris requires a boat and a train - so the player must play 1 boat card and 1 train card.  The length of the journey will be the sum of the numbers on the two cards.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A couple of twists can adjust this travel time.  First, there is a &quot;balloon&quot; available.  A player then replaces one of their number cards with a balloon flight.  But as the winds can be variable, a balloon flight can last anywhere from 1 to 6 days.  You guessed, it the player rolls a die to determine how long the flight takes.  The other twist is time savings when a leg requires 2 boats (or) 2 trains.  If a player plays 2 cards with the same value, they are not added, but rather count as a single length.  In other words, two &quot;5&quot; trains counts for a 5 (not 10) day journey.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The trains take from 2 to 6 days (with the average being 4).  The boats take from 4 to 8 days (with the average being 6).  A typical trip around the world will use 8 trains and 9 boats (84 days).  But there is also a special journey from Bombay to Calcutta that will be 12 days (or less if you can manage an elephant).  Adding all that up, one can see that efficiency is necessary to complete a journey in less than 80 days.  So part of the tactics in the game is a decision to wait in a particular location to gain better (or even necessary) cards to continue the journey.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There is one other deck of cards that has special events that are generally positive things that can happen, but does include a couple of bad events which not only delay everyone (ie add days to their journey) but also force everyone to discard their special events they might have been saving for a different move.  In addition, there are bonuses to be gained by being the first and the last person to reach a city.  So there are a variety of racing pressures to deal with in the game.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Rich started with a not so quick trip (14 days) to Paris, but the use of a balloon reduced that to 12 days.  Dave followed with a much more rapid 8 day journey.  While Ben also made the journey to Paris (12 days), Lawrence decided to stay behind.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dave moved next to Brindisi where arriving first drew a delay (+1 day) for all the other players.  While Lawrence moved to Paris, Ben decided to stay there.  Rich played a 5 boat to Brindisi, but took a chance with a balloon hoping to get a faster transit.  No luck, he rolled a 6 and actually lost a day relative to the boat.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dave and Ben take a turn to gather cards while Lawrence forges ahead to Brindisi while Rich forges ahead to Suez.  But is quickly joined by Lawrence, Ben, and Dave, so Rich takes the journey to Bombay (holding the necessary elephant card to hopefully traipse quickly to Calcutta.)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While Lawrence stays in Suez, Ben draws a storm delay card.  This not only delays all the players, but also costs Rich his elephant.  Rich decides to take the 12 day journey rather than wait for the opportunity for the elephant again.  Dave arrives in Bombay by virtue of playing a pair of 5's - so saves time on his trip.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Rich (having made it through the most difficult part of the map) now races to Hong Kong in 5 days as Dave arrives in Calcutta (also taking the 12 day route).  But Ben also makes it to Calcutta as Lawrence arrives in Bombay.  While Lawrence stays in Bombay, Ben and Dave arrive in Hong Kong where Rich is resting preparing for his next move.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Ben stays in Hong Kong again while Dave moves to Yokohama.  Rich also moves to Yokohama, but catches a connection (allowing another move) to San Francisco using a balloon reduces an 8 day ship transit to 2 days for a nice bit of time savings.  Lawrence finally makes the trek to Calcutta.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Rich then plays a 3/3 to cross the United States into New York in 3 days.  While Dave is delayed in Hong Kong, Ben arrives in Hong Kong while Lawrence arrives in Yokohama.  Rich has but a single card and needs 3 (2 boats and a train) to make it to London.  Rich buys two cards with the last of his money and draws the necessary cards to arrive in London after 92 days.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Now the pressure to finish the race is on the other players as a day will be added to their times for each turn they are still racing to London.  Dave is in the best position as he is still under 80 days, but needs to cross the United States and the Pacific Ocean quickly and efficiently to stay under 80 days.  Ben arrives next in London (95 days) while Dave struggles to make it to London.  Lawrence is still stuck in Yokohama.  Dave does make it to London, but not less than 80 days.  So Rich (by virtue of arriving first) is the winner.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dave appeared to be trying to optimize his moves and achieve the goal in 80 days or less.  Rich on the other hand seemed to have the right cards at every stop so just charged to London as quickly as possible - making it in about average time.  Comments around the table were that we all enjoyed it, but no one really &quot;sensed&quot; what had happened in the game.  By that, I mean - Dave was at a loss to understand why despite trying to be careful with his moves he ended up so far away from completing the journey near 80 days.  As a result this might be a game that needs to be played a few times to gain an appreciation for the timing and flow of the game.&lt;br&gt;</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1167554#1167554</link>
	<pubDate>2006-11-10T04:42:16+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>RPardoe</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: English rules needed</title>
	<description>&lt;A target='_blank' href=&quot;http://www.brettboard.dk/games/rules/80tage.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.brettboard.dk/games/rules/80tage.htm&lt;/A&gt;</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1095135#1095135</link>
	<pubDate>2006-09-25T15:13:03+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>ekted</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: English rules needed</title>
	<description>I need english rules for this game. A friend of my bought this game in Germany hoping that we will get english rules from the Web, but we can't &lt;img src=&quot;http://files.boardgamegeek.com/images/sad.gif&quot; alt=&quot;:(&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;So I ask for english verison of the rules (we will try to translate the cards).&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I offer 5GG for the file(s) wit rules &lt;img src=&quot;http://files.boardgamegeek.com/images/smile.gif&quot; alt=&quot;:)&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1094723#1094723</link>
	<pubDate>2006-09-25T09:08:28+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>uiek</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Early Bird Gets the Worm, Last Mouse Gets the Cheese</title>
	<description>Really cool game... I hope at least one of your opponenets cried cheating and looked for the mini printing press with which you forged your express train.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1043181#1043181</link>
	<pubDate>2006-08-22T14:18:28+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>dklx3</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Early Bird Gets the Worm, Last Mouse Gets the Cheese</title>
	<description>Your game demonstrates what a fun game this can be from beginning to end. It is a rare bird that someone just gets all the cards right. Most games are close, like yours, but having 5 players vying for first was a quite excellent way to finish.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1028715#1028715</link>
	<pubDate>2006-08-13T04:47:39+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>caltexn</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Early Bird Gets the Worm, Last Mouse Gets the Cheese</title>
	<description>With Philip calling it a night, we other five decided to try to make it Around the World in 80 Days, and this turned out to be an especially interesting race.  For starters, we didn't draw a Storm or Delay card for the *longest* time and three out of five players were able to take the Elephant from Bombay to Calcutta.  But that was just for starters.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Ward followed his usual strategy of racing to finish the course in as few turns as possible, counting on the one-day-per-round penalty to make up for the reckless driving on his way around, and in this game it looked like he'd played it to perfection.  When Ward pulled into London at 79 days, the rest of us were still back in the Orient!  And Jim didn't help matters by immediately drawing the Storm card to give Ward two more days' advantage against the field!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But we persevered.  In desperation to catch up before it was too late, I was obliged to spend a record 16 days getting from Yokohama to San Francisco!  One ship for 8, the second ship for 6, and the 2 penalty for the detective!  Arrrgh!  This catastrophe ate up all the little efficiencies I'd wreaked up to that point.  At least I had two 3-trains ready for the trip to New York, so I still felt I was in the running.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Now Leon became the second to make it back to London -- tied at 79 days, so Ward was still in the lead!  Next it was Jack -- also in 79 days!  And finally it was me in an amazing finish.  Sitting in New York at 70, I had a handful of train cards because, with only four players left in the game, the special power to trade them in hadn't been available for several turns.  Okay, I did have one ship:  a 7.  Jim was first player for our final round, didn't hit the card he needed, and finished at 83.  But he left a 7 ship for me on the board.  I thus paired my ship and played my Express Train card for a 1 ... the card I'd drawn, in fact, as my bonus for being the last player to arrive in San Francisco ... getting me to London at the very last possible moment in just the 78 days needed for the win.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;With the photo finish there was much clamor and rehashing of the events of the game.  Excellent stuff!!  One of my favorites of the last couple of years.&lt;br&gt;</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1028005#1028005</link>
	<pubDate>2006-08-12T11:48:24+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>ssmooth</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Down to the wire!</title>
	<description>&lt;b&gt;Odat wrote:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;i&gt;Hows come you left out the part where you kept doing voodoo so a disaster card would come up and we'd all lose our precious, precious event cards?  hmmm?  Don't have an answer for that, do ya, big boy! &lt;img src=&quot;http://files.boardgamegeek.com/images/tounge.gif&quot; alt=&quot;:p&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt; &lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Heh, it took a while, but I'm pretty sure that the law of averages had something more to do with the loss of event cards - I was merely its cheerleader...of sorts.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;Odat wrote:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;i&gt;Also, I don't remember anyone telling me that the person who comes in last can't win... &lt;img src=&quot;http://files.boardgamegeek.com/images/wink.gif&quot; alt=&quot;;)&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Dude, I believe I essplained it a few times for Don and Sandy's sake, you're just ticked that you had to be to my left having to cope with a far superior player going before you!!</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1015277#1015277</link>
	<pubDate>2006-08-01T16:22:05+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>casterman</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: Down to the wire!</title>
	<description>Hows come you left out the part where you kept doing voodoo so a disaster card would come up and we'd all lose our precious, precious event cards?  hmmm?  Don't have an answer for that, do ya, big boy! &lt;img src=&quot;http://files.boardgamegeek.com/images/tounge.gif&quot; alt=&quot;:p&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Also, I don't remember anyone telling me that the person who comes in last can't win... &lt;img src=&quot;http://files.boardgamegeek.com/images/wink.gif&quot; alt=&quot;;)&quot; border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1014348#1014348</link>
	<pubDate>2006-08-01T01:16:53+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>Odat</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: No London Lag</title>
	<description>just for clarification, yes we do shuffle back in all the cards &amp; I have read the stategy articles.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1011903#1011903</link>
	<pubDate>2006-07-30T00:26:19+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>elcomadreja2</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Down to the wire!</title>
	<description>During the closing moments of our 4 player Die Handler game Don and Sandy arrived. Knowing their limited exposure to eurogames and having introduced the game to them last Christmas I went for what, to me, is the best 6 player BOARDgame I own. Yes, I have card games which are also great for 6 players but we wanted to play a BOARDgame. So the 6 of us were off:&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Terence, Marisue, Sandy, Don, Esther and me.&lt;br&gt;This game rewards patient play - yes, you definitely do not want to be last (being last means you are out of it even if you are at the fewest days) but you also need to pace yourself.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Early in the game, it was looking like Terence would walk away with it after having reached a few destinations with an average of 4 days between them flying high in his beautiful balloon. Esther was lagging behind until Bombay and at one point a few destinations behind the pack, however, she was also reaching her destinations spending disgustingly few days doing so. Twice during her journey she had to explain to the detective what she was up to so I felt confident that she would not reach London in the fewest amount of days.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The interesting thing about this game is that you never really feel like you are out of it and even though you might be a few destinations behind the pack it gets tough near the endgame because many travel cards are needed to finish giving anyone behind an opportunity to catch up. Very cool!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Twice during the game Don ended up with the Connections event card which allowed him to move past the detective in both cases. Don and Sandy were in New York looking to finish first while the rest of us were back in San Fransico with the detective. At this point in the game we were all within a day or two of each other. Having chosen the start player action the previous round Sandy reached London in 72 days. The pressure was on the pack - Don was next and chose the detective action which had an 8 ship travel card (the one I needed to match the 8 in my hand) and to make matters worse he moves the detective to New York - he reaches London in 75 days. The pressure has now intensified but not for me because I'm holding the Distraction event card (so I'm not worried - right?). Next up was Esther who chose the exchange cards action - she proceeds to discard three travel cards and draws 3 new ones hoping for the one ship card she needs to match the one in her hand...and score - she gets it and reaches London in 70 days. Next up...me...so now I'm wondering:&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;i&gt;(Terence and Marisue are next to go but they only have two cards in hand - I'm not worried about the detective because I can distract him - and meh...what's one additional day...but I'm 8 days behind Esther and if I stay put that means I'll need to reach London on my next turn in 7 days just to tie her, but she'll win the tie break 'cause she reached London first...dddooorrrrggghhh I don't have good travel cards...ahh, I'll reach London - at least I finish the race)&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;so I reach London in 81 days. Terence is next - he can't finish because even after taking a travel card from the action pool AND buying a travel card he doesn't have the required 2 ships and one train to reach London. Marisue is up - she takes a travel card and moves on into London (74 days) leaving Terence back in New York waving goodbye as his ship sinks into the frigid Atlantic waters.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Esther - 70 days&lt;br&gt;Sandy - 72 days&lt;br&gt;Marisue - 74 days&lt;br&gt;Don - 75 days&lt;br&gt;me - 81 days&lt;br&gt;Terence - glub glub</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1011703#1011703</link>
	<pubDate>2006-07-29T18:40:12+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>casterman</dc:creator>
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	<title>Thread: Re: No London Lag</title>
	<description>Another thought is that your group is not focusing enough on pairs for travel and thus not enough cushion under 80 is being built.  There is a strategy article that discusses this.</description>
	<link>http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/987545#987545</link>
	<pubDate>2006-07-13T18:32:53+00:00</pubDate>
	<dc:creator>dklx3</dc:creator>
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