Wade
United States
Pueblo
Colorado
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Now I should say I am sort of an ex-archaeologists since I no longer do it as a living but I did for seven years, although it was not the exotic Classical Archaeology of the Mideast, but rather than sparse hunter gatherer/Puebloan archaeology of the American Southwest. I generally dislike archaeology games since if it’s a game I can actually play IN history rather than try to dig it up. Also, most of archaeology is rather, umm…boring, and involves incredible tedium. So I ignored the initial reproduction of Thebes until session reports and reviews finally caught my interest as a gamer (since it has unique mechanics), as an archaeologist because it has a strong theme, and because I enjoy the Turn of the Century Art, since I now deal with historic preservation from the 1870-1930 period.
So we finally played our first game of Thebes last week after I read the rules a couple times. I tried to explain the game quickly and it didn’t quite seem to set in with everyone right away. My love for the time as currency mechanic didn’t seem to translate immediately but after a few rounds everyone seemed to grasp the idea, and really enjoyed this interesting play system.
We all started collecting items, assistants, zeppelins, cars, coffee you name it, throughout Europe. We were all waiting for the first person to head for the dig sites. My father was first, in an uncharacteristically bold an impulsive move he headed to Palestine with only a little knowledge and dug for a short time hauling out a few relics. Now I love that the first person to each site gets an additional token. It perfectly fits the theme that the survey crew would find some important surface fine, which would guide them where to dig. However I thought my dad was way too impulsive and I gallivanted around Europe raiding libraries and listening for rumors. I had built a formidable array of knowledge for Egypt and Greece.
With my dad in Palestine I finally approached Egypt and set up the tents and conducted the survey. My long dig took me to the end of the year and I got about 8 pts or so, which was pretty good. At this point I realized Larry had a formidable arsenal of shovels and assistants and he headed to Crete where he had one of a few unlucky digs. My father raided Mesopotamia for some lucky loot with little knowledge.
The first round of excavations was interesting as people finally grasped the impact of different amounts of knowledge. The luck aspect was really fun and exciting, although it did seem to relate to the amount of knowledge brought. Another factor is how late you arrive. A valid strategy is arriving early and digging a medium amount of time to have that chance at the 5-7PT relic. I have very solid luck and came in last, Tim and Larry had digs with zero relics a they surpassed me, so it wasn’t a game breaker.
Tim meanwhile visited Egypt and then hit Greece before I could dig there a second time, leaving little to be discovered by the trowel. I had warned people about the Congress cards and everyone scooped them up as soon as they appeared so nobody had more than 3 and all the others had 2. The congress cards are the only luck I really didn’t enjoy, if they pop up on someone else’s turn you have no way of getting it, however they still miss out on some good items to grab the cards so I suppose it evens out.
The game wound down, and I made a last ditch effort to dig Crete and came up with 1 PT where I could have nabbed a knowledge card to give me the lead in Greece.
One note is that we played the Exhibitions Cards wrong and mixed them in with the main deck, so as they came out nobody had any of the artifacts and none were claimed all game (big ones came out first). Yes I know that’s a big difference. Since nobody claimed them it all equaled out.
We finished with my dad at 46, Tim at 44, Larry 41 and me at 35.
Remarks
Overall I really enjoyed the game. The time mechanic is excellent, and there are just tons of simple but engaging decisions throughout the game. It has that fine ‘push your luck’ aspect I usually enjoy in any game. How long do you build up before you dig? How lucky do you feel? Do you dig for a long time or a short time and then move on? Did Tim get the sacred 6-7pt artifact so should I even go back? It also has the mark of any good game; you do not have enough time to do everything you want to accomplish. The time frame scales with different amounts of players and it ends just when it should.
Finally, as an archaeologist by training, the game nicely represents the anticipation and excitement of a successful dig, and the utter demoralizing let down when you spend months of your life to find a couple of minor artifacts. The theme also captures the fact that through research, local rumors and equipment, archaeologists mitigate the risk of finding nothing. The dig mechanic also nicely represents the archaeologists usually finding something interesting, perhaps even engaging, but only rarely is something amazingly important. The exhibitions are a final nice touch. Instead of just collecting loot, (because I hate reinforcing the stereotype of archaeologists as grave robbers) you share your discoveries with the world.
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David Seddon
United Kingdom
Congleton
Cheshire
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I share your feelings about the game.
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Paul Orr
United States
Martin
Tennessee
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This game sound really interesting, based on your report. I'd buy it. Good Job!
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Chris Bailey
United States
Broomfield
Colorado
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denverarch wrote: I had warned people about the Congress cards and everyone scooped them up as soon as they appeared so nobody had more than 3 and all the others had 2. The congress cards are the only luck I really didn't enjoy, if they pop up on someone else's turn you have no way of getting it, however they still miss out on some good items to grab the cards so I suppose it evens out.
I like the Congress cards and I don't think they're a game breaker. I saw how much they were worth so I picked up six the last time I played and came in last place because of the time spent getting them. I simply didn't have enough experience to dig and by the time I DID go to some sights, much of them were already picked clean.
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Bruce Keeney
United States
San Jose
California
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ixnay66 wrote: denverarch wrote: I had warned people about the Congress cards and everyone scooped them up as soon as they appeared so nobody had more than 3 and all the others had 2. The congress cards are the only luck I really didn't enjoy, if they pop up on someone else's turn you have no way of getting it, however they still miss out on some good items to grab the cards so I suppose it evens out.
I like the Congress cards and I don't think they're a game breaker. I saw how much they were worth so I picked up six the last time I played and came in last place because of the time spent getting them. I simply didn't have enough experience to dig and by the time I DID go to some sights, much of them were already picked clean.
The one game I played was very enjoyable. EvilTimmy taught us the game and warned everyone about the Congress cards. But no one (including Tim) made the effort to stop me from getting seven. I won. Final score: 57, 46, 40, 40.
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