The Twelve Plays of Christmas

Christmas is a wonderful, unique time of the year - centered around the modern interpretation of a Christian Holy festival.  At Gaming with Chuck headquarters, we do many of the things (both religious and non-religious) that others do - we decorate the house, celebrate with family time and food, immerse ourselves in medieval Carols, as well as Victorian and modern songs, and try to spend time with friends, as well as much more family time than the rest of the year. Celebrating the birth of Christ with as much joy as we can muster.

During this time, one of the ways we spend our relaxation time together is (of course) by playing games.  So, once the weeks of the Advent started ticking down, and vacation times started, we started having multiple opportunities for board game sessions.  I wanted to get at least twelve good plays in this year (the "Twelve Plays of Christmas"), and if you count everything (including card fillers, etc) between the Saturday of December 13 (the weekend when vacation time for me started), up through January 1, we had 28 games.

For a list, check out these Board Game Geek stats.

Now, granted, at least 8 of those plays were lightweight filler games, but that still leaves a respectable amount.  I didn't get to play some of the heavier Euros I like to play, and no wargames included, but this was Family time, and Friend time, and we did get in some pretty respectable titles, regardless.

Breaking it down by Title, here is the list (from most plays to least plays):

Shadows over Camelot (3)
Trans Europa (3)
Yardmaster (3)
Guillotine (2)
Power Grid: The First Sparks (2)
Sushi Go! (2)
Ticket to Ride: 10th Anniversary (2)
Carcassonne (1)
Category 5 (1)
Easy Breezy Travel Agency (1)
Flash Point: Fire Rescue (1)
Lords of Waterdeep (1)
Munchkin Adventure Time (1)
Pandemic: The Cure (1)
Salmon Run (1)
Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries (1)
Trekking the National Parks (1)
Valley of the Kings (1)

This did not include iPad plays of Ticket to Ride, Agricola, Stone Age, and Lords of Waterdeep (of which there were many, especially of the first two).

Of this list, some of these titles were new.  Here is a brief comment on those that are new to the staff at Gaming with Chuck:

Yardmaster - We got this title recently, benefits of a Kickstarter campaign.  It is a great little card game, with a nice industrial age Train theme, and we like it a lot.  Also came with Yardmaster Express,which we have not tried yet, but also looks good (and even shorter time to play).  Played a three way game with myself and two other competitive card players - it was quite tight and close scoring. Very satisfying.

Power Grid: First Sparks - We have owned this for a few years, but with the move last year, and other things going on, this is one of those titles that has been waiting to be played.  We finally tried it, and we like it.  Compares well with Power Grid - simpler, less complex economy, but much shorter playing time.  A good trade off - makes both very attractive, for different reasons.

Sushi Go! - This one was a Christmas gift for a good friend, and as we all enjoy drafting games, we thought we would like it.  I think we liked it more than our friends did!  Lightweight, but plays in a few short moments, and would be a good "set the mood" game for something deeper.

Easy Breezy Travel Agency - This is the first of the six pack in Dice Hate Me's "54 Card Rabbits" series, that we received recently (again, compliments of a Kickstarter campaign).  This is a really fun little game.  There might be a strategy hidden here, but it seems like it is over too quick for someone to get bent out of shape over not finding it.  Fun, and fast.

Munchkin Adventure Time - We don't care for Munchkin too much at GwC headquarters, however we do love Adventure Time - so this was a good compromise.  The character cards seem to be just right, and the many, many references (some esoteric) to elements of the TV show had us all giggling.  Played with a youngster, a teenager, and several adults - all fans of the show - as well as an older friend who didn't know what it was.  All of us loved it, regardless, and had a great Munchkin game (Editor: is there such a thing?) in the process.

Pandemic: The Cure - The staff at Gaming with Chuck are split on Pandemic.  Actually we are split on cooperative games in general.  Meaning, I like them, and the Mrs does not.  However, given that this (the Pandemic dice game) plays fast, is very interesting, and isn't too terribly cooperative, it was quite fun, and still didn't feel like a bunch of individual solitaire games going on (like, say, the Catan dice game, or some others).

Trekking the National Parks - This one is pretty fun.  It is a draw cards and move game, with the goal of getting Park card by visiting parks on the map, and turning in sets of cards.  Or is it a move around and collect stones to have the largest amount of certain colors?  Or is it a collect post cards, and then turn them into VPs by playing sets of cards?  Any of these three things seem like a reasonable path to victory in this deceptively simple (but fun) game about our national park system.  Very fun - drew many comparisons to Ticket to Ride - I felt like it was of an older Alan Moon vintage - one of his Elfen games.

Valley of the Kings - We have played this one a few times now - during this recent Christmas period, and a few times back around Thanksgiving.  It is a great little deck builder, with some innovative mechanics.  We love it - the theme, the play, the length of time, all of it.  Some really neat ideas for different strategies, but the strongest seems to be concentration on a particular category or two.  Not sure about timing of the collection of scoring cards (unlike Dominion, etc - this one has you removing cards from play in order to have them count as final scoring artifacts).  Is it better to score all throughout, or to get some big stuff at the end?  Will have to play more to experiment.

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Secret Santa - wonderful gifts!!

Each year, we participate in the Secret Santa list at Boardgamegeek, which is a great way to exchange board games with the community.

It works like most Secret Santa lists - you submit your name, and there is a randomizer that spreads them all around - so you get another name in return.  Then you purchase some gifts ($50 minimum is suggested for this one), and send them to your target.  The person who got your name does the same in return.

By looking at people's wishlist on BGG, you get to see what they want, and it encourages people to keep their wish list up to date.

This year, my Secret Santa really did a great job.  I got three really fantastic, and different, gifts.

 

Image from Z-Man Games website.

First, I got the board game Troyes.  From the publisher (Z-Man Games), the following blurb appears:

Built by the Romans during the first century in Belgian Gaul, Tournay experienced most of its growth along the Scheldt river.

Unfortunately, the river also contributed to its troubles, because in 881, the Normans traversed its watery path, and thereby easily captured the city. That act of aggression stunted Tournay’s prosperity. This game invites you to participate in the reconstruction of the city, in order to establish a glorious era that will last for more than seven centuries. Help your district flourish by cleverly coordinating the work of the city’s three domains: military, religious, and civil. Certainly the prestige of your buildings will brighten the entire city!

 On the Boardgamegeek website, a different blurb appears, that is more about the actual game play.  I haven't played yet, but it involves rolling dice to generate possible actions where you place markers to control areas/actions, and improve your situation that way.

In Troyes, recreate four centuries of history of this famous city of the Champagne region of France. Each player manages their segment of the population (represented by a horde of dice) and their hand of cards, which represent the three primary domains of the city: religious, military, and civil. Players can also offer cash to their opponents' populace in order to get a little moonlighting out of them—anything for more fame!
Make your underlings:

• work on the cathedral
• combat misfortune
• bustle about the city
• and other such tasks that are below your family's stature

I am really excited about this one - it looks like it has tons of theme, and lots of medieval history and medieval inspired (and actual) art in the game.  Just from looking through the cards, I am sure Anita and I will love this one.

The next game in the gift package is Unexploded Cow - the Deluxe edition from Cheapass Games.  This game, from the fertile mind of James Earnest, involves using Cows with mad cow disease to wander across fields of unexploded ordnance in France, trying (or not) to blow it (and the cow) up.  Wonderful theme for a game, I can't wait to play this one with friends over Christmas travels!!

Here is an image from the Paizo blog, although I suspect it might be a Cheapass Games image...

Nice full color components, including money chits, cards, box, and even a dice.  Color rules folio?  Cheapass games has come a long way from their beginnings (with everything printed on cheap white paper, and stuffed in a plain white envelope, with dice and money, etc coming from your own collection).


Here is a video of James, and friends, explaining the game.  Very nicely done.




And finally the third game that came in the package is not a game at all, but the latest "big" expansion for Carcassonne.  This one is called (in English) "The Count, the King and the Robber".  It wasn't availabe in English for a number of years, although the component expansions (it includes several smaller add ons that were published, separately in other places, previously) were part of some of the Big Box releases.  It comes with River II, the Count of Carcassonne, the King, and the Cult.

image from the publisher - Z-Man Games

 The last one (the Cult) was the one I was most keen on getting, as well as another copy of River II (we like using a big sprawling river to play our games, gives everyone lots of room to spread out, so another dozen or so of river tiles and branches are very welcome.  Curiously, rather than being published in English by Rio Grande Games, this one was published by Z-Man games.  Strange.  But, Rio Grande had given this material out in small expansions, and part of Big Box 2 previously, so maybe not so strange.

So, some wonderful new stuff to try and play, over our Christmas holidays.

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