I have just came back from the invitation only 20th Gathering of Friends and as usual had lots of fun. Gaming for a week is both a lot of fun but also very tiring. I played about 36 games in total including a prototype and a couple of Liars Dice games for a tournament. Alan Moon as usual put on a great convention and it is always a blast to play with a mix of game fans, game publishers and game designers. There were people from North America and Europe and our usual lone representative from Australia (talk about dedicated). This year had no real break out game (no Through the Ages or say Carcossone equivalent). Most games were good but only one or two stand out. I will give a quick run down on the very good, average and poor games I played plus a comment on the one prototype I played by Fredlemann Friese (Powergrid designer).

Very Good Games

Based on what I played both Snow Tails the sled dog racing game, (Modern Art the Card Game), a quick 30 minute filler and Tabernacle a Print and Play Game and Masters Gallery nd were very good games.

Snow tails using a unique yet simple movement system combined with card play makes for a fun race involving good card management and movement planning in order to win the game. That you can build your tracks in various configurations means lots of replay values. I look forward to picking up a 2nd edition when Asmodee releases it later this year.

Masters Gallery one of the nine new family games from Gryphon Games (Roll through the Ages, Gem Dealer and For Sale are among the others) distills the fun of selling paintings in Modern Art into a quick 30 minute card managment game using paintings of the French Impressionists. My first pick of the prize table.

Tabernacle is a print and play game by a Canadian designer which was recommended by an article on Print and Play games in Counter Magazines. Though about three years old it has taken me to this year to get enough pieces to play the game. An interesting take on producing and developing resources it had a good reception with three players. I have played it twice with four before and it works well with those numbers as well.

The Average to Good Games

This year most games fell within this catagory. These games are good worthwhile games but nothing really great.

Roll Through the Ages

One of the New Gryphon small box games. A decent dice managment game of civilization development. A good 30-45 minute filler for gamers. Some intersting decisions but nothing too exciting.

Storm Over Holland

One of the newer 18xx rail games which is a decent introduction to the 18xx rail games. However almost all these games and this is no exception turn into stock manipulation games rather than route planning. Good for fans of this series but at 2.5 hours give me Age of Steam.

Fits

A simulation of tetris where people try and cover the most area of the game board with the pieces they have (empty spaces count negative). You play four different mini game and the high score at the end wins. A fun gamer/family game.

Alea Jacta Est

The latest small box game from Alea with a Roman Theme. This semi abstract game is about dice managment where you assign dice to various building in order to best score points. Light gamers game or heavish family game.

Finito

Fx Schmidts latest abstract game (brought out Big Points last year) involving arranging numbers in sequence on a bingo like board. Quick 10 minute games are good for short fillers or family/non gamers since the rules are very simple.

Diamond Club

A good game of action choosing and building. A unique way of choosing actions though a variable grid and having to collect the right gems in order to build the right buildings makes for an intersting game. The semi-solitaire aspects of this game dropped it from the very good to good catagory

Small World

A revamp of Vinci with better rules but a much more cluttered board (art overwhelms symbols). The fantasy theme of dueling cultures each with a unique power and special power can lead to some interest game play (Diplomatic Orcs anyone). The map varies depending on the number of players but is fixed so I have the feeling the interest in this game might drop off quite quickly after a number of plays. An above average game but mostly for the fans of Vinci.

Automobile

A preproduction copy of Martin Wallaces game of American Automobile development. This is a very heavy gamers game with lots of math and tough decisions to be made every turn. The game slowed down as the game progressed as people spent increasing amounts of time calculating how many cars to buy and sell. This downtime coupled with the math and a feeling that the first player might be at a disadvantaged made this game average for me at best.

War of the Roses

The next game out for the Designer of Heads of State. This game will hopefully be released by Z-man games later this year. An interesting plan and execute action game with a War of the Roses English civil theme was interesting but somewhat long due to the extensive planning involved. Shorter than Kingmaker and more interesting it will be interesting to see if this becomes the breakout game for this designer.

Heads of State

A long game of card managment where you have to place your various nobles in Europe in order to score points over the course of three turns. It felt a bit long (2.5-3 hours) for what it was and some of the game mechanisms were a little akward. An above average game.

Fuch Der Mumie

A fun family games where one player sits opposite the other playing the Mummy while the others try to get there treasures. Sort of a battleship like feel where the mummy player tries to gues where the players are going to go based on limited information. Fun and a good family game.

Perry Rhodan

A decent two player Kosmos game themed with the popular German Science Fiction series Perry Rhodan. Essentially a pick up and deliver game with some interesting delivery mechanisms and a deck to influence card play. A decent game in the series but most probably will not be maed in English.

Dog

Yet another abstract game from Fx Schmidt. This is a parcheesi varient which plays really well as a partner game with four. A card deck with some special powers makes this game interesting for gamers and non gamer alike. An Above average game.

Valdora

An average gem collecting game where you collect gems in order to fufill contacts for points. Poor graphics on the resource cards and lack of innovation in this game made this an average one for me.

Planet Steam

A way overproduced resource managment game with a sci-fi/steampunk theme of mining while interesting was overly long and a bit clunky in various action phases. The resource stock market was quite innovative and was perhaps the best part of the game apart. The bits and artwork were gorgeous making this the prettiest game of the gathering. An average game and at over $100.00 dollars very expensive.

Eine Fruge Der Ahre

Essentially farming dominoes was a ligh mid level gamers game. Very abstract but fun for both gamers and non gamers alike.

Finca

An average set collecting game with a farming theme. An interesting collecting and delivering gaming mechanism but nothing too new. An average game for me.

Bad Games

Nothing really bad this year though I did find both Heads of State and Automobile to be somewhat disappoint for me due to length, down time and in the case of Automobile the math involved in the game. Looting London (Gryphon games) was geared more towards younger children and did not offer much to the mainline gamer.

Old Games Played

I played a number of older games including Gypsy kings (a good gamers filler), Outpost (a great Tim Jim Games classic), Hanging Gardens (average), Strozzi (very good) and Castle for All Seasons (yes very new but I had played it before and a good average game)

Prototypes

I only played Fredelmanns Friese prototype this year and look forward to its release at Essen. It is an interesting game where you have to balance your actions with the number of pieces you need to run your points machine. In some ways a follow up to Powergrid. Keep an eye out for this one.

So overall most games were average with a few new gems shining through. I almost played the same number of old as new games. I had lots of fun socializing and talking to people ranging from Tom Lehmans discussions on the ins and outs of the game business, Frank Branhams musings on various game to discussions with Doug Luke on Urban Development. The award ceremony was a little different with Cake as well as prizes and some "gaming films" made by some the attendees. I adored the one made by the Davises on there trip to the Gathering (hey I even had a bit part in that one). Look forward to the next Gathering and the games I will hopefully play there next year.

Chris Kovac
Toronto, Canada

Good seeing you Chris, just a minor correction it's Steam over Holland.

I beg to differ about your evaluation of Diamonds Club and Snow Tails. I found Diamonds Club to be as good as any of the other recent point delivery device games (Thurn & Taxis, Notre Dame). Not great, by any means, but better than the middle area. On the other hands, Snow Tails was just painful. It was essentially Mississippi Queen without the elegance. The turning mechanism (and components overproduced to the point of getting in the way) was just way too fiddly.

Finito needs to change the sequencing numbers to letters and it would be a much better game.

Chris, I have read your commentary on games and gaming for many years, and I think you may have finally reached the pinnacle of mangled spelling. I'm glad you had fun at the Gathering.

Diamond's Club has been popular locally and your summary seems fair. It is a reasonable game, nothing great or special, but it works well enough and probably has 6-8 plays in it before exhausting (the other games you list didn't last that long).

Thanks for the report. Being that Power Grid is my all-time favorite game, can you tell us more about his prototype concerning theme and/or primary mechanics or did playing come with a gag order?

Snow Tails is one of the stronger games I've played in the last year and easily the best racing game I've played although I have yet to play Ave Caeser, Um Reifenbreite, or Breaking Away. I suppose turning the sled around to orientate it against the board could be considered “fiddly” but good grief, how lazy have we become as gamers where a game like Snow Tails is considered "way too fiddly"?

Great report! The Gathering was a blast!

That's not the only fiddly part to it.

There's the whole unequal balancing of the sled dogs to make things turn. And the issue of moving when you're jammed up against a snowbank (edge of the board) and have to move, essentially, sideways (1 total movement, one to the side). The braking token is completely useless, as you have the card down to indicate that, so why fiddle about with a little token with a little circle in the middle of it to go over the current brake speed? Why didn't they just put a "3" card in the place where the brake is like they did with the dogs? Doesn't make sense AND adds expense. And there is absolutely no need to for the turning mechanism. I don't think anyone in our game ever bothered to pivot the sled (another excess expense). It's just way overproduced (and poorly engineered, at that) for what it is.

All the other games you mentioned, plus Jockey and Top Race are much better games. Hell, Six Day Race is even better.

Not sure why this is a complaint, managing your sled is the game. You can never move perfectly sideways in the game, there's always at least 1 square of forward movement, even if it's a tiny amount (because a speed of 0 doesn't move at all). For example, a 2-1 dog with a 2 brake moves you from A to B, or from X to Y.




Because this would no longer look like a dogsled:

Also, it technically changes the game. The card you use for your brake immediately goes in the discard pile, so on a re-shuffle, it's available immediately, and you still have a brake value set that lasts until you change it. Your top 2 dog cards are not available, so this would make 3 cards unavailable instead of 2. Small, but different.

Forgot to mention, you may not need the rotating boards, but I've seen others use it and appreciate it. So it's not useless. (And it appears to be dead in the Asmodee version, so happy news for you )

I entirely disagree. For me, Snow Tails is the best game of 2008 that was not an expansion or re-issue. I even wrote a review of the game (something I don't do very often.)

Since FF did not give specific clearance, I'm going to assume a gag order is in place, but I will say that if PG is your FAVORITE [mine too], then you're gonna *LOVE* this one. Seemed like a much quicker game, but with just as much 'stuff' going on. Auctioning is not as cutthroat and eliminating, and there are more crucial components to "the machine" than just a device [Power plants in PG] and its resources.

I'm hoping it gets a release this year. Be ready.

Awesome news, thanks.

Let me add to the love being heaped on Snow Tails. It's my favorite pure racing game by a considerable margin and I consider the central mechanic to be wonderfully elegant and thematic. I should add that I don't care for most racing games, so that may be a prime reason that Randy and I aren't seeing eye to eye here.

As for the turning mechanism, it's pointless for people with normal spacial reasoning skills. But for folks like me, who struggle with games like RoboRally and Factory Fun, it's a godsend. Based on my games, I'd say at least 20%-30% of the players use it, so I'm not alone here. If nothing else, it adds to the game's coolness factor (much like the D3's in Powerboats--Cwali obviously could have used D6's instead). Given that it doesn't affect the people who don't need it and really helps those that do, I think it was an excellent addition by the Lamonts.

Chris: Is Snow Tails Tim T approved?

Eric Martin's contrasting summary of Automobile vs Lokomotive Werks seems about right per what i've read. Quoting from: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/listitem/915834?commentid=10635...



Lokomotive Werks is extremely arithmetic.

Snow Tails has done poorly locally. I played it, won, and thought it wasn't worth a meh. But I'm also not a fan of race games in general (exception: I sorta liked Bolide). The owner of the game I played quickly sold his copy on. Across the larger population of the groups I play with Snow Tails blipped into sight and as rapidly disappeared. Ditto powerboats (though Powerboats was faster to come and go). Horses for courses. Both games seems eminently forgettable.

Snow Tails has done poorly locally. I played it, won, and thought it wasn't worth a meh. But I'm also not a fan of race games in general (exception: I sorta liked Bolide). The owner of the game I played quickly sold his copy on. Across the larger population of the groups I play with Snow Tails blipped into sight and as rapidly disappeared. Ditto powerboats (though Powerboats was faster to come and go). Horses for courses. Both games seems eminently forgettable.

Yes Dave Tim T, Mr Race Game himself introduced me to this one. One of my favourites with only Homas Tour and Formula De beating it. A very innovative game and fun to boot.

Chris Kovac
Toronto, Canada