Game: Reef Encounters of the Second Kind

Thread: Re: Is Z-Man doing an editon of this?

captainflam — 2008-11-27T20:57:16+00:00

plzzzzzzzzz tell me Z-man will not discard this project

Thread: List of cards

mschmidl — 2008-11-17T22:09:48+00:00

hi,

could anyone post a list of the cards and a short explanation?
i'd really like to know what the cards do, but as the expansion is sold out and incompatible with my 2nd edition base game, there's only a slim chance that i'll buy it just to see what the cards do

cheers,
matthias

Thread: Re: Z-Man Version

Mr Mjeh — 2008-09-26T11:08:08+00:00

would be nice to be able to get this at Essen, but i'm assuming that's out of the question since there's no info on this

Thread: Re: Z-Man Version

Drez — 2008-06-17T18:10:17+00:00

After emailing Z-man, the response I received in April confirmed that there is still the intention of printing this expansion. No word on when though. Apparently they are waiting on another company.

Thread: Re: Is Z-Man doing an editon of this?

AndyP123 — 2008-06-15T16:12:00+00:00

Just bought a copy of Reef Encounter and am loving it. Any news yet about a version of this expansion that matches the new, fantastic artwork?

Thread: Re: Z-Man Version

Liggur — 2008-06-09T18:46:40+00:00

Unashamed thread bump....any news anyone??

Thread: Re: Breakin' The Rules With More Shrimp and Coral

da pyrate — 2008-04-01T01:41:51+00:00

AmazingIntern wrote:

What element of a Review am I missing here?

I echo your sentiment. I find the comment that you are referring to quite bizarre.

I think that you have written an excellent review and should be commended.

Thread: Re: Z-Man Version

undinefuerte — 2008-03-24T18:12:30+00:00

Just hanging around looking for a 2008 update? Cheers...

Thread: Re: Is Z-Man doing an editon of this?

duartec — 2007-12-06T22:59:16+00:00

Bump

I know that Zev is probably with another hot potatoe (agricola) in hands currently, but i'd like to know if anyone has heard anything about Z-Man releasing this expansion for their base game.

Thanks!
Duarte

Thread: Re: Does this work well with ZMan Version?

ropearoni4 — 2007-09-13T13:10:34+00:00

Should be fine as long as you understand the art differences.

Thread: Does this work well with ZMan Version?

DKahnt — 2007-09-12T22:08:15+00:00

I ordered this and was wondering if it works well with the 2nd edition.

I know the graphics don't match up, but will everything else be okay?

-DK

Thread: Re: On sale at Funagain

ropearoni4 — 2007-08-30T14:33:19+00:00

Just 9 left. And a raving review from Tom V. Better than spending $90+ on a copy.

Thread: Re: Z-Man Version

jtakagi — 2007-07-17T17:51:53+00:00

See http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1532900#1532900

There he says that it is still being negotiated.

I would imagine that having to have the artwork redone would incur quite a large expense, and the possibility of selling a lot of copies of the expansion is low. But that's just my speculation. Also, I remember him saying something earlier on a podcast that he would need What's Your Game to go along with it.

Thread: Z-Man Version

undinefuerte — 2007-07-17T16:38:51+00:00

Still nothing on the making on a revised Z-man version of the RE expansion. Z-Man himself wrote earlier that he was planning on matching the artwork of the original earlier this year for late this year, but we don't have any new news on here or Zmangames website. Hopefully it's not forgotten?

Thread: Re: doubts

palferso — 2007-06-05T19:47:14+00:00

Thank you!

Thread: Re: doubts

Spielfreak — 2007-06-04T12:10:29+00:00

palferso wrote:
I have many doubts:
I'll try to quell your doubts. However, although I've owned this expansion since November, I've not yet played it (although I hope to address this soon).

- At the beginning of the game, the special tiles for open-sea board or for each player are draw again only once or until there is no more special tiles? It's necessary to show its own tiles after each draw of the set up?
The intent, I believe, is to ensure that no one starts the game with any special tiles. So keep drawing (both for players and initial seeding of the open sea) until the correct amount of tiles are drawn and none are special tiles.

- Action 8a: can one play several tiles Bare rock, Deep water and/or Crown of thorns in the same turn?
There is no x1 next to the 8a, so you may play as many of these tiles as you own.

- Blue Shrimps: if there is at least 1 blue shrimp at the side of the open-sea board, one cannot move blue shrimps of the adversaries with one card except if one plays one of the cards “Unreliable shrimp”. It is correct?
I guess so, but I'll double-check when I get home tonight and read the "Unreliable shrimp" card.

Thread: Re: doubts

palferso — 2007-06-03T20:04:51+00:00

Nobody knows? Nobody can answer?

Thread: doubts

palferso — 2007-05-31T18:30:34+00:00

I have many doubts:
- At the beginning of the game, the special tiles for open-sea board or for each player are draw again only once or until there is no more special tiles? It's necessary to show its own tiles after each draw of the set up?
- Action 8a: can one play several tiles Bare rock, Deep water and/or Crown of thorns in the same turn?
- Blue Shrimps: if there is at least 1 blue shrimp at the side of the open-sea board, one cannot move blue shrimps of the adversaries with one card except if one plays one of the cards “Unreliable shrimp”. It is correct?
Thank you all and sorry for my english...

Thread: Re: Is Z-Man doing an editon of this?

pmboos — 2007-05-31T11:45:58+00:00

Stupid me - I bought the edition that matches the first ediution's graphics. Talk about where simple graphic design makes the games in all practicality incompatible. I am looking forward to a release that matches the graphics - Zev, just let me know! I'll be first in-line!

Cheers!
Paul

Thread: Re: On sale at Funagain

Spire — 2007-04-28T21:37:18+00:00

Direct link: http://www.funagain.com/control/product/~product_id=016508

Thread: On sale at Funagain

CortexBomb — 2007-04-28T14:23:52+00:00

Just thought some of you folks might be interested:

The R&D edition of this is on sale for 50$ at Funagain, right now they have 22 copies in stock.

Thread: Re: Is Z-Man doing an editon of this?

Henry Rhombus — 2007-04-27T20:46:51+00:00

cscottk wrote:
Any updates to a release date for this?

I posted the following to BoardgameNews.com in January 2007:

"Italian publisher What’s Your Game? will release Reef Encounters of the Second Kind—the expansion for Richard Breese’s Reef Encounter—at some point in 2007. The What’s Your Game release will match the graphics of the second edition of Reef Encounter."

At the time, Zev at Z-Man said that he'd have to look into this, but I haven't heard of any updates since then.

Eric
Editor, BoardgameNews.com

Thread: Re: Is Z-Man doing an editon of this?

cscottk — 2007-04-27T19:15:26+00:00

maelic001 wrote:
>S. Matthew Fullenwider wrote:
>Will you guys be doing an edition of Richard Breese's recent expansion >to Reef Encounter that matches the wonderful artwork of your edition of >the original game?
>
>Thanks,
>---Matt Fullenwider

Yes, that is the plan. But it won't be until sometime in 2007.
Zev

Any updates to a release date for this?

Image

itiswon — 2007-02-22T16:33:05+00:00

cards in German

Image

itiswon — 2007-02-14T15:12:52+00:00

all parts in the expension

Thread: Re: [Review] Reef Encounters of the Second Kind

ropearoni4 — 2007-02-01T14:33:49+00:00

I tend to say that you can have a strategy more with the expansion cards being used. If you have the double yellow tiles scoring card - you will tend the try to eat more yellow tiles, and your strategy will head that way. And also, using the supplied ingrediants it is easier to keep sed strategy, especially with the used of 1/2 rocks and blue shrimp. Crown of thorns on the other hand is very much detrimental to a strategy if not prepared for it. I'm still not sure until a few more plays if it is "more fun" than the original or not. Sometimes you don't want the chaos, other times you want a lighter affair and some chaos is just what the doc ordered. Depends on the gaming group I suspect. Moreover, it might depend on the time of day/night. I have noticed I prefer reg. RE for the 2 player, and 3-4 the expansion. I think this is mainly for time restraints on each group. But who knows, next week I might say the opposite. Like life...it depends on a lot of factors.

Thread: Re: [Review] Reef Encounters of the Second Kind

clearclaw — 2007-02-01T08:47:08+00:00

TomVasel wrote:
...combined with everything else, keep the game much more tactical and interesting.

That's the aspect of the expansion that appeals to me least. Reef Encounter, while a great game, is already more tactical than I prefer and the expansion mostly accentuates that. I'd be mouch more interested in the expansion if it increased the strategic depth of the game while reducing its tactical nature.

Thread: [Review] Reef Encounters of the Second Kind

TomVasel — 2007-02-01T06:10:10+00:00

The more that I play Reef Encounter the more I’m impressed with what a deep, intriguing game it is. I have to say, though, that I was completely surprised by the fact that an expansion came out for the game. Not that I wasn’t interested – I’m certainly a sucker for expansions – just that Reef Encounter is the type of game that didn’t seem like it needed an expansion. However, I gladly tried out Reef Encounters of the Second Kind (R & D Games, 2006 – Richard Breese), since I’m such a sucker for expansions.

If you think that Reef Encounter was a perfect game, then probably you should avoid the expansion; as it adds some chaos and a lot of options to game play. However, once I played with the expansion, I don’t want to go back – I love the added variety, and a bit ‘o chaos in games is certainly fine by me! This expansion adds only a little complexity – although perhaps enough to warrant leaving it out when teaching the basic game. Let’s look at what the expansion adds.

1.) Box: Ok, nice enough, but I threw this out and just stored all the new pieces (tiles, cards, and rule sheet) in the original box. Easy enough.

2.) Rules: Seven full color pages with the new rules are included, with some clarifications from the previous rules included. Those who found the original rules obtuse won’t be much happier here, though – I still had to read the crown of thorns section several times before grasping it. I would not include the expansion when teaching Reef Encounter to newcomers, but those versed in the game (including those who have only played it one time) will easily make the transition.

3.) Two-color tiles: There are now tiles that are two different colors – one on each side. A small part of the other side’s color is included so that players can note the other color. These tiles are a prize to have because they can be used as either color, and when placed in the parrot fish can be used as either color at the end of the game.

4.) Double polyp tiles: These tiles are just what I stated – double tiles, which count for end of the game scoring and the amount of tiles on the board. They do pose extra risk, however; because if consumed, they award the player who consumes them two tiles when used.

5.) Half polyp tiles: These tiles have a color polyp on two sides and rock on the other side. They are marked “1/2”; but that simply refers to the sides used, as they are worth full points at the end of the game. They can only be attacked or consumed from the colored sides and can even be placed adjacent to a reef of the same color. At first, I thought these tiles would be only partially useful; but in defense they became invaluable, and soon, I was happier to see one of them than the double and two-color tiles.

6.) Bare rock and Deep water: These tiles allowed a player to extend the rock or cancel part of it out, allowing them to form a protected reef or consume an opponent’s reef more easily. They can be played for free and cancel each other out. They’re certainly not as useful as the other new tiles (at least, I think so) but can really mess with an opponent’s well laid plans and position.

7.) Crown of thorns: A powerful, powerful tile – so much so that a variant in the rules suggest that each player start with one. (I prefer to let them show up in the pool to be picked). These can be placed for free on any empty rock space for free on a player’s turn. On each player’s turn, before anything else happens – the crown of thorns will attack, move in and destroy one adjacent coral type controlled by the player whose turn it is. If that is not possible, then the crown of thorns will attack any adjacent uncontrolled tiles; otherwise, it does nothing. If at any point it is adjacent to no reef tiles, it is destroyed and removed from the game. Crown of thorns can even displace shrimp and split reefs into two or more pieces. They certainly add to the “nasty” factor of the game!

8.) Cards: To me, these are a big change in the game. On a player’s turn, they may discard any one cube or tile (and it’s almost always an unneeded tile – a great way to get rid of them!) to draw one card. This can only be done once per turn, and a player may have a maximum of three cards. Cards can be played only on a player’s turn, unless the card itself indicates it. Examples of cards include:
- In the scoring at the end of the game, up to two of the yellow polyp tiles are worth one additional point each.
- A player can take their final action (take the tiles and cube) before taking the other actions.
- Perform a growth action without playing a larva cube.
- Take three tiles randomly from the bag.
- Take action two (placing up to two tiles on the board) before action one (eating a reef).
I’ve seen some claim that the cards add too much chaos and that they are most certainly not equal. And just looking at the ones that I’ve listed above, you might tend to agree. But really, they are all fairly useful – in the right situations. A player can change their tactics based on what cards they get, but you’d have to be crazy not to draw at least some of them. More than anything else, the cards change the game.

9.) Blue shrimp: A blue shrimp is placed on the board at the beginning of the game. When a player wishes to eat their first coral reef, they must discard a card with a blue shrimp to do so. Players may also discard a special card with the blue shrimp icon on it to place one of the four blue shrimps on a tile – protecting that tile only! There are also a few tiles with a blue shrimp imprinted on them doing the same thing. These blue shrimp are interesting, semi-useful, and act as a neutral barrier that any player can move. While they aren’t the most important part of the game, they, combined with everything else, keep the game much more tactical and interesting.

The biggest change, other than the cards is the choices a player is now faced with when drawing tiles at the end of their turn. With all the special tiles, it’s not as simple a choice as it once was. This might actually increase the analysis paralysis factor of the game, but I found that it wasn’t so bad when playing with experienced players. (It did cause us to shuffle the bag more often, certainly). If you play Reef Encounter often and think that these changes would breathe new life into the game, then I would recommend it exceedingly. Don’t jump into it lightly – while the changes seem simple, they really do make it feel like a whole new game. I personally would rather play with the expansion than without (as did my playtest group), but I certainly can see how some would feel that the game is no longer “pure”. Still, it’s a good bang for the buck (at least when Z-man Games comes out with their version), and it shows that Richard Breese is able to take an elegant design and expand on it in interesting ways.

Tom Vasel
“Real men play board games”
www.thedicetower.com

Image

Ceryon — 2007-01-03T00:18:51+00:00

Readable box front

Thread: Hoe Hoe Hoe - Merry Christmas

bwtcf — 2006-12-12T23:20:55+00:00

Oh Lordy - Lordy!

The Knizia brotherhood had a clandestine meeting last night. It was a controversial 'parallel to the chall's final meeting of the year' affair due to:

1. The need to get Brother Mark along, in order to allow Brother McSean and I to give Brother Mark his Christmas present; and
2. Brother Mark only being allowed out to attend the chall's final meeting of the year; and
3. the Chall's no alcohol restriction.

You see Brother Mark has for some time been the target of incessant ridicule and derision due to the range (or lack of range) of suitable glasses available at his house. There are several VERY small Simpsons kids' cups, and a range of wine glasses, but no beer glasses. Recently he alleges that Michelle bought some beer glasses, but rumour has it they have flowers on them!

So when I saw that Liqourland were selling Hoegarden gift packs - 4 Hoes plus a Hoegarden glass for just $16.99 I rung Brother McSean and suggested we go halves on 4 such gift packs, and give the 4 glasses to Brother Mark so that when we went to his place we'd have something decent to drink out of. We discussed the moral dilemma as to what we should do with the 16 bottles of Hoegarden we would inevitably left with, and our considered opinion was that we should drink them. Clearly we could not give them to Brother Mark, as it was his steadfast refusal to cough up and purchase decent glasses that had got us into this predicament in the first place. However it was equally clear that we could not give Brother Mark 4 Hoegarden glasses without offering to christen them.

So...

At the appointed hour of 7pm I arrived with 8 Hoes, opened the front door, (as you do) and let myself in, and added my Hoes to the fridge. There were now 24 Hoes in the fridge. Shortly thereafter Brother Dan knocked on the door. Kus yelled out "It's open". Brother McSean went to the top of the stairs and yelled out "Come in. It's open."

Dan knocked again. Kus again yelled out, from in the garage, quite close to the front door, actually, "It's open... come in."

Silence.

Brother McSean looked at me and said "It's gotta be Dan".

Finally the Wonkey Donkey let himself in. His 4 Hoes were squeezed into the fridge. (Running count 28).

Not long after, Brother Mark arrived avec 12 more hoes (running total 40 Hoes!) and was (a) taken aback by the vista of a fridge fairly bulging with Hoes, and then, not long after that, (b) taken aback by the stark visage of Brother McSean's new 40 inch Sony LCD Panel TV.

Hoes were poured. Brother Mark had bought (at long last - we've been waiting some time for this great unveiling) Reef Encounters of the 2nd Kind. The Wonkey Donkey had a brief Reef Encounter rules revision session, and then Brother Mark began the rules explanation for REot2K.

Firstly, let me observe that the rules to the expansion are:

i. as well written and presented as the original rules.
ii. lengthy.
iii. an excellent expansion to an already excellent game.
iv. require approximately 3 Hoes per person (13 in total) to get through them.

Luckily we had a few Hoes in the fridge that we had prepared earlier. And, of course, we also had delightful Hoegarden glasses to drink them out of too.

So the game began, and we introduced a rule for the evening that take backs were allowed, but only if one supped. There was much supping. Both of the take back induced and voluntary kind. The Sony 40 inch LCD panel was hooked up to the X box and the music rolled. The image was inspiringly sharp. As was the wit, and the intakes of breath when I introduced a crown of thorns early in the piece right between Brother Dan and Brother McSean's corals.

There was some Khanage that ensued, and Brother Mark had some particularly powerful cards which allowed him to cultivate a large Orange and a large Yellow coral successfully. Much less alga cylinder play was pursued than is normal in a standard game, as a LOT of card buying was seen as preferable.

The first spillage event occurred when the empty bottle count had reached 25. No major damage was done due largely to Brother Mark's excellent laminating of the cards.

The game finally wound up at about 1am. All 40 Hoes were now in the empty bottle stack. There are photos to prove this which Brother McSean will be circulating.

Final score:

Brother Brandon 37
Brother McSean 32
Brother Dan 31
Brother Mark 30

That's the first time I've won a game on the reef.

BC

Thread: Re: Blue Shrimp Sacrifice

MWChapel — 2006-11-29T21:43:55+00:00

Richard Breese wrote:
MWChapel wrote:
The rules state that in Action 1: When a player eats his first coral, a player must also play an action card that depicts a blue shrimp.

Is this card just discarded, or can we also play the action stated on the card?

It is just discarded. You only get the benefit of the card if you play an action card in action 8c.

Thanks. That straightens it out.

Thread: Re: Blue Shrimp Sacrifice

Richard Breese — 2006-11-29T21:36:37+00:00

MWChapel wrote:
The rules state that in Action 1: When a player eats his first coral, a player must also play an action card that depicts a blue shrimp.

Is this card just discarded, or can we also play the action stated on the card?

It is just discarded. You only get the benefit of the card if you play an action card in action 8c.

Thread: Re: Blue Shrimp Sacrifice

kvn299 — 2006-11-27T16:40:40+00:00

I've only played the prototype, but IIRC, it's either use the action or the shrimp token.

Thread: Blue Shrimp Sacrifice

MWChapel — 2006-11-26T14:20:17+00:00

We had a rules question.

The rules state that in Action 1: When a player eats his first coral, a player must also play an action card that depicts a blue shrimp.

Is this card just discarded, or can we also play the action stated on the card?

Image

stray_flux — 2006-10-26T06:48:08+00:00

New tiles

Image

toulouse — 2006-10-25T15:21:29+00:00

Image

toulouse — 2006-10-25T15:01:07+00:00

Thread: Re: Breakin' The Rules With More Shrimp and Coral

ropearoni4 — 2006-10-04T15:25:26+00:00

I don't know what you are missing, nothing that I know of, but I got flamed for nearly the same review, so I thought I might mention that some don't think that, that is a review. I think they want more along the lines of a Tom Vasel review with bold-faced titles and components separated from the rest, and each individual thing reviewed separately, and then the fun-factor at the bottom with various likes and dislikes, etc. But, it is an expansion, and thus is not a complete game in itself, so what you have written is about all you can do without reviewing RE base-game as well. I'm guessing no one has complained, then you're safe.

Thread: Re: Breakin' The Rules With More Shrimp and Coral

AmazingIntern — 2006-10-03T14:50:25+00:00

Oh, but I have played it, as mentioned above, in both 2 and 3 player games. In both circumstances, all players purchased cards nearly every turn, as the abilities of the cards are just too powerful to ignore. Also, there was a bit more love for the new tiles rather than the card abilities and the blue shrimp. I'm not sure what more I could add. Getting into too many more specifics would put this into a Session Report category.

What element of a Review am I missing here?

Thread: Re: Breakin' The Rules With More Shrimp and Coral

ropearoni4 — 2006-10-03T07:57:18+00:00

better watch out, the PC police might get on you too, for giving a non-review in the review section. I deleted mine - a similar bout of what is new, and how it affects normal gameplay - causing a lot of flac that I gave up caring about, and removed the post. Happily, some readers used it for what it was: to see if it was worth justifying the costs, especially USA postage and Euro costs compared to the dollar exchange rates. Good luck on not getting the same annoyance I received. And, good job on the review. Hope it helps everyone figure if it is worth the cost.

Thread: Breakin' The Rules With More Shrimp and Coral

AmazingIntern — 2006-10-03T01:48:46+00:00

Writing a review of a game expansion is a bit of an odd thing to approach. Obviously, if you're even considering the expansion, you've played the original game, and you probably have it in your collection. So, what you're really looking for from this review is whether or not it's worth spending the money (fairly considerable if you're not picking this up at Essen) to add the new rules and components to the game. Does the expansion add enough to warrant the expense?

Well, I guess I'll just come out and say it: Yes, it's a significant difference from the original, and if you're looking for some more variety in your Reef Encounter play, it's worth the purchase. However, and this is important, the expansion adds a substantial amount of chaos to the game. If this isn't your thing, you might want to tread with caution.

Again, I'm guessing that you're familiar with the basic game, so I won't go into that element of the gameplay.

So what do you get in the expansion? First, there's a set of action cards (two sets, actually, in both English and German) that allow you to break some of the game rules. For example, one card lets you perform a (limited) coral expansion before you eat a coral at the start of your turn. Another lets you unlock a locked coral tile on the open sea board, and others add bonuses for specific coral colors at the end of the game. You can buy one card per turn at the cost of a coral tile or a larva cube. Though you can purchase only one card per turn, and you can only hold three in your hand, you can play as many as you want.

Most of the action cards have a little blue shrimp in the corner, which brings me to the other major element to the expansion: four blue shrimp that can be summoned to help protect your coral. Playing a card with the shrimp symbol allows you to place one of the little blue guys on your coral, instead of using the ability on the text of the card. The blue shrimp aren't as powerful as your own, though. They only protect the tile they're on (rather than the cross pattern for the standard shrimp), and if enough blue shrimp are on the board, your blue shrimp could be lured away when somebody plays a shrimp card. Some of the action cards move the shrimp around as well. In other words, they're useful, but not foolproof.

Finally, the expansion adds a bunch of new tiles to the game:

x2 Tiles - They take up only one space, but they act as 2 coral tiles.

1/2 Tiles - They count as a full coral for scoring, but only two edges have coral on them. The other two are bare rock, so the coral can't be attacked from those edges. They act as a sort of shield.

Hybrid Tiles - Different on either side of the tile, they can be played to the board as either color. They stay static on the board, but once eaten, they can act as either color (as consumed or scored tiles.

Blue Shrimp Tiles - Just like regular coral tiles, but they come with a blue shrimp perminantly attached to them.

Deep Water Tiles - Turn a rock space into a water space! Played to the board for free.

Bare Rock Tiles - Turn a water space into a rock space! Played to the board for free.

And last but not least, Crown of Thorns Starfish Titles - These little buggers get played to the board for free, and on subsequent turns, they try to eat ajacent coral tiles. At the start of your turn, it will eat one of your coral tiles (before you get to eat anything). If it can't eat your coral, it'll eat unowned coral, but it won't eat coral owned by other players (until their turn, that is). If it's ever not next to coral tiles, it dies, and is removed from the game.

The quality of the components is up to par with the original. Tiles feel exactly the same when you shuffle them in the bag, and the new shrimp are just as cute as the other colors. My only complaint is with the player aids, which detail the revised set of actions that can be taken on a player's turn. Rather than the thick cardboard and detailed design of the original player aid, these are just a list of the actions printed on the same cards as the action deck. However, a more detailed player aid, in the style of the original, is printed on both the rule book and the expansion box, so it's not that big a gripe.

As for the gameplay, things get a lot deeper thanks to the shrimp, cards, and new tiles. There are just a bunch more options available to you. Nearly every one of the "safe" strategies from the basic game (securing yourself a corner of a rock, for example) can be counteracted with a lucky card or tile draw, or careful placement of an evil starfish.

The new tiles make the decision of what tiles to grab at the end of your turn that much more difficult. Grabbing a single hybrid tile may be better than three standard ones under the right circumstances. The blue shrimp, open water, and 1/2 tiles provide new ways to protect your growths.

The action cards are vastly important, for both the blue shrimp ability and the specific powers of the cards. In both the 2 and 3 player games I've played, each of us purchased a card on nearly every turn. They're just too powerful to ignore. Obviously, luck of the draw plays a big part here, as some cards can be far more useful than others in the right circumstances. I mean, who wouldn't want the ability to change a low-scoring tile for a top scoring one at the end of the game?

Most powerful, though, is that dreaded starfish. If a player's lucky enough to get one of those tiles, he or she can cause all sorts of chaos on the board, sending the starfish to worm its way through the other player's coral growths. I'd highly recommend playing with the published variant, which gives one starfish tile to each player at the start of the game. It evens out the luck of the draw just a bit.

One gaming buddy has even suggested playing with the new tiles, but not the action cards. I imagine that would be one way to cut down on the chaos while still keeping many new elements. I'm just not quite convinced that the randomness is a bad thing.

So, to sum up, the expansion adds a lot to the game. New strategies, new components, new possibilites. I'm glad we own it. Was it worth nearly the price of the original game? Maybe. As long as you know that the game with the expansion is going to be a lot more crazy than the game without it, I would recommend the purchase. If, however, it will drive you crazy if your perfect strategy will be ruined by a perfect card draw, you might want to stay away.

Thread: Re: As to be expected: beautifully produced

Richard Breese — 2006-09-25T20:59:35+00:00

Hello George, Your game was posted on 4 September. Hope it hasn'e been netted on the way.

GeoMan wrote:
Anyone in Europe got their copy? I am waiting for it to arrive for two weeks now (and i am located in Greece!)

Thread: Re: As to be expected: beautifully produced

SteveK2 — 2006-09-25T15:12:46+00:00

GeoMan wrote:
Anyone in Europe got their copy?

I got my copy on the 5th or 6th of September.

Thread: Re: As to be expected: beautifully produced

GeoMan — 2006-09-25T14:36:15+00:00

Anyone in Europe got their copy? I am waiting for it to arrive for two weeks now (and i am located in Greece!)

Thread: Re: Is Z-Man doing an editon of this?

cymric — 2006-09-23T09:39:28+00:00

Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou.

Oh, did I mention 'thank you'?

Thread: Re: Is Z-Man doing an editon of this?

maelic001 — 2006-09-23T08:40:34+00:00

>S. Matthew Fullenwider wrote:
>Will you guys be doing an edition of Richard Breese's recent expansion >to Reef Encounter that matches the wonderful artwork of your edition of >the original game?
>
>Thanks,
>---Matt Fullenwider

Yes, that is the plan. But it won't be until sometime in 2007.
Zev

Image

AmazingIntern — 2006-09-19T15:56:44+00:00

Box Front

Thread: Re: Reef Encounters of the Second Kind sold out

40thann — 2006-09-16T11:39:31+00:00

I also need the email as I ordered a copy to be posted. Thanks.

Thread: Re: As to be expected: beautifully produced

Colorado_Jeff — 2006-09-14T14:09:41+00:00

Mine arrived yesterday, and I'd have to agree with you. This is a very nice quality product. I'm hoping to try it out Saturday, as we should have 4 at the table that night, who have all played the original.

At first glance, it seems to have enough additional complexity that it should probably not be taught until after the basic game is played and understood.

In addition to the full summary on the front of the box, and one on the back page of the rulebook, the cards included four individual summaries, as well.

Thread: Re: Reef Encounters of the Second Kind sold out

AnakinOU — 2006-09-13T02:47:58+00:00

I didn't give a preference for either pickup at Essen (which I can't do personally, but can have someone else do for me), or posting. I haven't got an email, either.

Is my copy reserved for Essen pickup?

Thread: Re: Is Z-Man doing an editon of this?

Tom DeMarco — 2006-09-10T21:32:05+00:00

I'm pretty sure that they are planning to do an z-Man version of this.

Thread: Is Z-Man doing an editon of this?

mmarshallmd — 2006-09-10T17:33:09+00:00

I have the second edition with the new art. Will Z-Man be doing an edition of this to match the second edition art?

Image

Badger on the move — 2006-09-10T15:10:59+00:00

Game box and contents

Thread: As to be expected: beautifully produced

gashlycrumb — 2006-09-07T00:14:51+00:00

I am happy to report that my copy of the expansion arrived today.

Once again, the game is really nicely put together. The artwork on the action cards is fantastic, and the tiles and shrimp look great as well.

A few little things that were great ideas:

1. The expansion comes with 2 sets of action cards, one in German and one in English. I don't mind multilingual cards, or cards that are "language free" just so long as the iconography is easy to understand. Just the same, I appreciate having cards with just English text.

2. I guess knowing that there would be only be 500 of these, R&D decided to go without box art and instead, print the new turn order summary right there on the front of the box. It will be easy to set it up for all to see, so I think this was a nice practical move and a good idea.

3. There is a nice little plug for BGG and some other folk on the side of the box. When you open up the box lid, you will see on the sides of the box some resources for the Reef Encounter enthusiast. BoardgameGeek.com, the International Gamers Awards, Spiel by Web, and Meeple People are all mentioned along with a plug for the upcoming game, Fowl Play.

This is by far the most expensive expansion that I have ever bought, but I am so far pleased with what I see. Now I just need to play the darn thing and see how mischevious these new blue shrimp are.

Thread: Re: Reef Encounters of the Second Kind sold out

ColdBeverage — 2006-09-02T22:02:08+00:00

I guess the lesson here is not to put off ordering too long . Congratulations on the sales and thanks for the extra cylinders you posted to me. I'll just hope Z-Man does a reprint even if it doesn't match the artwork.

Thread: Re: Reef Encounters of the Second Kind sold out

Richard Breese — 2006-09-02T20:59:36+00:00

Walt Mulder wrote:
I also haven't received a notice yet. And, I would still like to pick it up at Essen as previously arranged if possible.

E-mails have only been sent to customers who wanted their copy of RE2 posting. If you asked to collect the game at Essen there is no change to the arrangements and there will be no e-mail.

Thread: Re: Reef Encounters of the Second Kind sold out

Richard Breese — 2006-09-02T20:54:02+00:00

mikehibbert wrote:
I haven't received that yet - have they all gone out together?

Yes, they all went today. I've resent your e-mail in case its gone astay.

Thread: Re: Reef Encounters of the Second Kind sold out

verandi — 2006-09-02T18:28:54+00:00

guess I won't be having any encounters of the second kind any time in the forseeable future

Image

Thommy8 — 2006-08-27T17:16:23+00:00

Playing a prototype of Reef Encounters of the Second Kind on March 23, 2006 with Richard Breese himself when he visited my gaming group in New York City (http://www.columbia.edu/cu/csss/)

Image

Thommy8 — 2006-08-27T15:59:51+00:00

Playing a prototype of Reef Encounters of the Second Kind on March 23, 2006 with Richard Breese himself when he visited my gaming group in New York City (http://www.columbia.edu/cu/csss/)