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GenCon 2006
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Well, another GenCon has come and gone. Thanks to the initiative of Bob3K and the BGG buttons provided by Mike Z., several BGG'ers managed to find each other in the 500 Ballroom area. And despite the best efforts of Game Base 7 to disrupt us, much pick up gaming occurred. While we were generally were not hassled there were enough exceptions where we were asked to move than I just appreciate the Board Room they provided at Origins all the more. This is a list of the games I played, demo'ed or otherwise checked out at GenCon. It was great fun to meet several Geeks, and my buddy list has grown as a result.
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Posted Mon Aug 14, 2006 1:01 am
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1.
Board Game: Masons
[Average Rating:6.74 Overall Rank:470]
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I try to play demos on Thursday before things get too crowded. First up was Masons at the Rio Grande booth. I played with 2 and thought it was fine. It didn't excite me enough to buy it right away but I would have no problem playing it again.
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Next was the Mayfair booth. I did not get into their ribbon program at Origins, but thought I would do it at GenCon if I didn't have to spend too much time waiting to get into games. I've had Bison on pre-order at Boards and Bits but don't have it yet since they decided to move their business the week the game was released. While the theme is different, its still a area control game. While it seems many of the new games lately are about area control this one seemed like it would be good, but I'm not ready to rate it about that without another play or two.
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This one was next. I thought this was an excellent filler. Simple rules but there's some strategy here. Carving off a nice size ice floe for yourself seems to be where the big points are.
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This is definitely a kid's game. It would make a good gift for younger children. It's pretty much a memory game. With a 5-minute play time this was popular for getting a quick Mayfair ribbon.
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This wasn't bad. A little long for what it is, which is basically a filler.
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6.
Board Game: Figaro
[Average Rating:5.49 Overall Rank:4295]
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I didn't really care for this one. I guess all of Knizia's games can't be winners.
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This is the game I got with my Mayfair half-price coupon. We set it up with the BGG group and played it Friday night. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Not having played the original game, I have no strong feelings on the huts that were added. I do think the points for the fruit and goods should also be awarded for 2nd, 3rd. etc. Otherwise the 15-point items can really swing the game big time. The 3-D huts wouldn't be needed either if the fruit counters were just printed on one side.
Good game though.
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8.
Board Game: Tempus
[Average Rating:6.73 Overall Rank:448]
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I played this one twice with 5 players after a 4-player intro at Origins. It's grown on me each time I play it. The 5-player game definitely has more tension. While there was not a lot of warfare in the games I played, that didn't mean people were moving into other players area and dropping in cities. I've raise my rating on Tempus to an 8 at the moment. I was around a 6.5 or 7 on the first play. Cafe Games did not have a booth at GenCon but Zev at Z-Man was selling them.
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9.
Board Game: Emira
[Average Rating:6.19 Overall Rank:1496]
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I'm not sure what to think of this one. The gentleman who taught it to us was streamlining some of the rules since he was trying to find a way to shorten the game enough to demo it at the Mayfair booth. It's certainly not politically correct, which might be a selling point for some. You are a sheik who is try to attract additional princesses to his harem. I saw he had a couple of women playing it in the game after mine. I was curious how it might be received by women, but never found out.
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Okay, I don't even like CCG's so I don't know what possessed me to try this. I guess I was intriqued that it could actually support 3-4 player games. It was interesting and I picked up a booster box they were selling for $10 in a weak moment. I say that with the expectation I'll never play this with my regular group. My son also refuses to play any CCG.
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I would really like to try an 18xx game. The presence of the Train Gamers Association at GenCon is always impressive. With the number of people who seem to enjjoy train games I feel like I must be missing something good. I discovered another group member bought 1825 unit 3, so may there is hope we will get these out on the table. I was told at the Mayfair booth that Unit 2 is out of print (at least until Francis Tresham decided to put more together). Anyway, that and the fact you can supposedly play it in 2 hours convinced me to buy unit 2. I picked up a couple of the small expansions with additional tiles and trains as well.
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12.
Board Game: Hansa
[Average Rating:7.09 Overall Rank:193]
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Dave K. (McGuit) had picked this up and a couple of different geek groups gave it a shot. I thought it was a solid game, and the playing time was about right. Any thing longer than an hour and I think it would become a bit repetitive, but its fun all the same.
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Wow, was this one a winner. Dave K had this one too, and Gamer-Dog taught it to myself, shotokanguy, and shotokanguy's wife Barb. I wouldn't have thought a 45-minute game could be this heavy. Yastari has come up with another winner.
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We decided to start off Sunday morning with a filler to get the brains moving again. Corey, Barb, myself, Steve (wargamer66) and Adam (ooogene) played a few games of No Thanks. I'm not sure there's a lot of skill here, but it's fun every once in a while.
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15.
Board Game: Manila
[Average Rating:7.08 Overall Rank:224]
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Before the out-of-town folks hit the road (I live only 10 miles from the Indy convention center), we kept with the theme of games that weren't too heavy with a game of Manila. I had not played Manila since GenCon last year. I had wanted a copy but just never seemed to obtain it through trade or sale. Well, I picked it up Saturday and it was enjoyed by all. I will say the 5-player game fills up the investment slots a lot quicker than the 4-player game. This game has dice and a lot of luck involved, but it is just plain fun.
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Three big cheers to Rio Grande for reprinting this one. I didn't play this one at GenCon, but it definitely hit the table with a group of Geeks.
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17.
Board Game: Metro
[Average Rating:6.46 Overall Rank:661]
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I hooked up with jasonofindy and King Custard, a couple of other Indy gamers, and fellow geeks, for this one. It was my first play of Metro. I thought it was fine for a quick short game. I wasn't too sure how much skill was really involved though.
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An interest in dinosaurs and a lonely looking salesman in a booth triggered a purchase of this one.
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I had received a free starter at Origins in the swag bag, and finally played a demo at GenCon. I did not have high expectations, so I wasn't disappointed. Definitely a unique mechanic here, and they were generous with the people doing the demos. I got two boosters and a ready-to-play stack of the new Merfolk faction. I could see my son's friends liking this one, as it is all about confrontation. It would also be excellent for playing on the beach or other places where sitting up a table or playing regular board games would not be practical.
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I picked this up right before leaving Sunday afternoon. I really like Dungeon Twister but don't get to play it often. I'm hoping that having the 3/4 player expansion might get it on the table more often.
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My final purchase. The Asmodee booth was selling some Descartes and Euro Games. On Sunday they had Clippers for $10. Seemed worthwhile for an Alan Moon route building game.
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This was out at Fantasy Flight. I really like the art work and I recall Joe Steadman always gave it a thumbs up.
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This was not available for sale at the FFG booth. In fact, they had a demo table for it, but on Thursday it had a sign, "Demos on Friday". On Friday the sign said, "Demos coming soon". I'm assunming they finally got the demos going, and they raffled off 3 copies. So somewhere out there, three people now have this game.
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This was the one I wanted to try, but did not get to. I've heard nothing but good things about it. The FFG demo tables were busy every time I went by, so I didn't get to try anything there. The new Knizia Great Wall of China was available as well.
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Posted Mon Aug 14, 2006 1:01 am
