How not to pace yourself: My 2nd Gathering
Erin O'Malley
United States
Cleveland
Ohio
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These are the games I played at this year's Gathering of Friends. I haven't yet learned how to pace myself; I averaged 4.5 hours of sleep each night for 9 straight nights.
I'm not going to talk about the few prototypes I played, other than what I brought with me.
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1.
Board Game: Valdora
[Average Rating:6.99 Overall Rank:455]
Erin O'Malley
United States
Cleveland
Ohio
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I arrived a little after noon on Friday the 3rd - about 5 minutes too late to join in on one of my favorite games, Lokomotive Werks! Curse you, Scott Mellon!
Joined a game of Valdora instead; at first I thought it was interesting, but in retrospect it was bland. Nice book bits, though.
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2.
Board Game: Bombay
[Average Rating:6.49 Overall Rank:1100]
Erin O'Malley
United States
Cleveland
Ohio
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Next up was Bombay, the new Ystari. I liked it a lot! There is plenty to think about in the 30ish minutes this one takes; it'll probably see some play here in Cleveland and I won't mind it a bit.
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Erin O'Malley
United States
Cleveland
Ohio
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I received Ice Flow in the Math Trade, which Dan handed off to me during Bombay. Chad Krizan taught myself, Kevin O'Brien and Ann Daporte. It took me a bit to get the flow of the game (bum dum tsssss), but in the end I emerged victorious!
I'm not sure I'll keep this one but it was worth a play. Nice bits, anyway.
After this, I went to dinner and attempted to go to the CABS meeting, but it was crowded and I couldn't find anyone to game with, so back to the Gathering I went.
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Erin O'Malley
United States
Cleveland
Ohio
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I returned to the Gathering just as Scott Nicholson was arriving and was recruited to play Small World!
Now I had zero interest in Small World, but the company was worthwhile so I headed off with Scott, Ron, David and Joe. Vinci never captured me; it was dull and too long with my AP friends.
Small World really captured my attention, though! I'm not sure what it is, but likely it's the limited number of turns and the characters. It's great and one of my few must buys coming out of the con.
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Erin O'Malley
United States
Cleveland
Ohio
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Next up was the one game I was dying to play - Martin Wallace's Automobile. I was swept away by the hype and excitement!
My first game was fantastic and I ended up winning on the tie-breaker. It's heavily borrowed from Lokomotive Werks (with Tinners' Trail's decision box and Steam's role selection/turn order box), so it felt great.
But that opinion is going to change by a lot after you see this game 2 more times, so hang on.
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Erin O'Malley
United States
Cleveland
Ohio
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Since I now own it, I feel free to say that I played JC Lawrence's Corner Lot. It's a neat little bidding game of filler length with a little more depth.
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Erin O'Malley
United States
Cleveland
Ohio
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My friend Ken Boone had shown up during the first Automobile game and, knowing how excited he was to play it, we played again. The second game was good, but the sameyness was getting to me - I would rather play the more elegant Lokomotive Werks.
(But wait, there's one more play of this to go!)
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Erin O'Malley
United States
Cleveland
Ohio
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April 4th
After 5 hours of sleep, I was sadly wide awake, so down to the ballroom I went.
I taught Automobile to Scotts Nicholson and Mellon, Dave Andrews and Kevin Wood. Now I don't know - maybe 5 players was too much - but the game just didn't seem to flow too well. Its borrowed mechanics grated on my nerves; they didn't seem to go together as well anymore after the repeated plays.
I will certainly be playing this more in the future, as my gaming group is in love with Martin Wallace, so it remains to be seen if 3 plays of it in 15 hours was just too much.
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9.
Board Game: Maori
[Average Rating:6.63 Overall Rank:1019]
Erin O'Malley
United States
Cleveland
Ohio
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They say it's like the tile-laying portion of Vikings? I forget, Vikings was forgettable to me - so it has that in common with Maori. Multi-player solitaire with a cute way of selecting tiles for purchase.
This and Lungarno both make me wish I were playing Carcassonne instead.
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10.
Board Game: YINSH
[Average Rating:7.68 Overall Rank:65]
Erin O'Malley
United States
Cleveland
Ohio
-
Scott and I wandered off after Maori and tried to set up a game of Railroad Barons, but was unable to lure anyone over.
YINSH is my favorite GIPF game, but it has been a few years since I've actually played it. I needed to be reminded of the rules at a few points but I still pulled off a fantastic victory!
Definitely need to find someone to play 2-player games with back home.
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Erin O'Malley
United States
Cleveland
Ohio
-
Having lured Dan and William over, we dived into a game of Railroad Barons - my friend Tim Harrison's prototype.
It went over well and I got some great ideas to pass along to Tim, thanks to Dan!
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Erin O'Malley
United States
Cleveland
Ohio
-
After hitting up Bar Louie for their famous loaded tater tots, Dan taught us Jet Set. The first game hurt my head - I was too tired and didn't get it until the end.
But I enjoyed my 2nd play of it very much and this is another purchase for me.
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13.
Board Game: Wadi
[Average Rating:6.25 Overall Rank:3544]
Erin O'Malley
United States
Cleveland
Ohio
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What a huge disappointment after playing and loving Cities; Wadi was dull, perplexing, and weird all in one package.
One for a 'worst' list, though not quite the worst game I played all week.
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Erin O'Malley
United States
Cleveland
Ohio
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Ken, Scott and I made our way through A Castle for All (2) Seasons, with Scott being new, 2 plays under Ken's belt and 1 play + 1 watched play under mine. We decided that as seasoned gamers we ought to dive in and play the winter side.
The winter side kicked my butt, as I ended up losing the card that gives you money straight away.
This game is nice to look at and fine to play, but it's like all those other worker placement games. I'm sure I'll even own it one day, and it can join Pillars of the Earth, Stone Age, et al on the shelf.
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Erin O'Malley
United States
Cleveland
Ohio
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Deciding that 11PM must be Martin Wallace hour, Ken and I grabbed the newly arrived Evan and cracked open one of my most favorite AoS maps - Montreal Metro.
Unfortunately for me, though, this time Ken was hip to my strategy and shut me down; the last time I won by 1 point by using the government track as blocking track. Ken built around the government while Evan made wise use of it - they were tied for first, I was kind of sort of just there.
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Erin O'Malley
United States
Cleveland
Ohio
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April 5th
After a lackluster breakfast at Panera (and an accidental coffee purchase that left normally caffeine-free me absolutely jittery), Ken, Scott and I settled down to City and Guilds, which Scott had just purchased. During the rules explanation, Scott said he probably wasn't going to enjoy it, so I promised to buy it from him at the end if he still felt that way.
I really enjoy City and Guilds and am happy to now own it!
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Erin O'Malley
United States
Cleveland
Ohio
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After City and Guilds, Scott had to return to his D&D adventure so we joined Gail & Ken Spontelli and June King for a game of Snow Tails.
It was Mississippi Queen-like, but for whatever reason I enjoyed this one more than MQ. I think it was getting to throw the paw at slow players.
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Erin O'Malley
United States
Cleveland
Ohio
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Everyone else really enjoyed this, it fell somewhat flat with me; it was just okay. A fine idea and a fine execution, it's just me.
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Erin O'Malley
United States
Cleveland
Ohio
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x2
We played with the difficult rules (a first for both Ken B. and I) and it was fantastic! It's almost a miracle for me to enjoy a tile-laying game, let alone the love child of Take it Easy and Carcassonne.
Right on the top of my must-own list.
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Erin O'Malley
United States
Cleveland
Ohio
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Deduction games get next-to-no play back home - the Spontellis need to move back so that I can actually get them in!
Deduce or Die is my favorite deduction game; it's simply amazing. There's no reason not to try it out since you can just print out the score sheets and grab 3 decks of cards.
We taught Michelle, and Ken B. won because the rest of us made mistakes (and also because he actually solved it.).
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Erin O'Malley
United States
Cleveland
Ohio
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This game is ridiculous amounts of fun. Most players are archeologists running around, trying to collect treasures while avoiding the dreaded mummy. The only way to play is by making a lot of mummy noises.
I played as the mummy and it's difficult! I quickly captured 3 ankhs, but the other players just used their captures to launch them closer to their needed treasures.
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22.
Board Game: Akaba
[Average Rating:6.63 Overall Rank:1987]
Erin O'Malley
United States
Cleveland
Ohio
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Fantastic children's game; a little bit of memory, a little bit of hand-eye coordination (so I definitely lost). After watching several tables giggling over this one, I knew I had to try it out.
Will definitely buy this for the kids I watch, but in a few years because they're only nearly 3.
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23.
Board Game: Finca
[Average Rating:7.07 Overall Rank:284]
Erin O'Malley
United States
Cleveland
Ohio
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I didn't care for this after the first play but grew fonder of it later. A simple rondell game of fruit collection and delivery; it's chaotic at first, but it becomes easier to anticipate others' moves (and hence, be able to anticipate what your actions could be).
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Erin O'Malley
United States
Cleveland
Ohio
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I taught this to Ken as a 2 player and it was bland; I much prefer the 3-4 player game. We were both tired and cranky, though, so that might have made things worse than they were. It was over very quickly, even with his learning on the fly.
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25.
Board Game: Brass
[Average Rating:8.08 Overall Rank:8]
Erin O'Malley
United States
Cleveland
Ohio
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After taking a break, Ken and I decided to return downstairs for a game of Brass! We ran into Lorna, who happily agreed to a game.
Unfortunately we all forgot how to play, so there was some relearning involved, but in the end it was great! I love this game so much and am looking forward to getting in some more plays.
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