Ticket to Ride: USA 1910 - We are addicted!

This game has almost taken over our lives here. I don’t think we played the original game as much when we got it then! The game shines most with 4 players. we prefer playing the Mega game most. I also like the Big cities version. The 1910 version feels mostly like the original game. But the mega game - it is so fast and exciting even with 2 or 3 players. The added restriction of all the double routes being available for only one connection adn the agonising decision of needing to take more tickets or not just add to the tension of the game. Anyone out there who has played TTR get this please!! Its worth every dollar/euro/pound rupee that you spend.

Gone Gaming keeps Gaming Going!

This is the second year that Gone Gaming - A pool of bloggers offering regular posts on board games, have announced their Board Game Internet awards. Great stuff and a lot of interesting websites for us gamers and web surfers of BG related websites! Great stuff guys! Gone Gaming keeps Gaming Going!

Gone Gaming: The Gone Gaming 2006 Board Game Internet Awards

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Gaming on my birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday and we had a good gaming day. We began with Union Pacific. Superb game. We played a 4 player session with Aarthi, Shreyasi and Bharati joining in. This was the first play for Bharati and she loved it. The rules were easy and she got into the game pretty fast. Shreyasi is usually good with stocks games (She beats me regularly at Buy Low Sell High!) but this was my birthday you see. I beat Shreyasi by exactly 1 million!!! Very close game and lots of tension and fun.

We next began the hottest game at home at the moment TTR-USA 1910. Another tense 4 player session but I won easily on the last turn finishing a big route.  I then took out High Society. Srikanth had got this in December and we had not tried this out as yet. The rules were a breeze. We played 2 rounds of 5 player sessions. Sandeep joined us and this was his first intro to Eros. He got into the game pretty fast and we all enjoyed it very much. While there are comparisons with For Sale this is a very different game and there is more tightness with the money and the denominations of the money cards. A typical Knizia game but very enjoyable.

I had asked Aravind to buy me a copy of Risk as a present. We don’t get euros in India! I have never played this and wanted to get Sushanth involved in wargaming and thought this might be a good intro. Aarthi and me opened it out later in the evening for a 2 player. Got quite boring after a while and she won easily. After having access t and playing so many different euros this was a big disappointment for us.

We ended the gaming day finally with a 2 player session of Thurn & Taxis that Aarthi won easily. Lovely birthday and one of the best I have had.

Just starting out? Want to know more?

I have been through this stage. Just starting out. Wanting to know more. Visiting www.boardgamegeek.com - Intimidated by the information overload. Not knowing what to do. Just click this link below! Excellent way to get into the hobby. Super list.

GeekList: Starting Your Game Collection - A Guide for Advanced Newbies

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Tutankhamen

Tutankhamen

I had actually put this game up for trade on BGG sometime back. The game was quite a bore when I played it the first few times. But we took it out yesterday because Sushanth wanted to play a new game and it was a long time since we played this. We had a 4 player family session and it was quite entertaining with a tense finish with myself winning. I am liking this a game now. The set up is still a pain. But with more players and everyone helping in the set up it should be better. Smaller children also understand the game quickly. Sushanth is only 6! And it has a lot of decisions to be made and the end has a classic race finish to it. Good game to be had in the collection and I took it off my trade list.

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Interesting top 2 player games list

Below is an interesting link the writer’s top 10 two player games. Being a regular 2 player gamer myself I am happy that Mystery Rummy: Jack the Ripper is right up there!

Ben Baldanza: Two for the Show—My Top Ten Two-Player Games

I don’t have enough games in my cupboard to give a top 10 list. But our favorites at home are Mystery Rummy: Jack the Ripper, San Juan, Hansa, Thurn & Taxis, Carcassonne. My personal favorites also include Lost Cities & Crazy CHicken.

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2005 & 2006 - Gaming years comparison

Firstly talking about the top 15 games played, the number of games acquired in 2006 is the first reason why a no of games in the most played category has changed. The no 1 for 2006 is also a bit skewed because of For Sale being played every day among our music group when I was on tour. But just on the basis of plays the common games for both years have been Mystery Rummy: Jack the Ripper, Ticket to Ride and Carcassonne. This is good because inspite of the increasing game collection 3 out of the 15 games of 2005 still figure in 2006.

Of the ones that fell out favor from the previous year Citadels had just 2 plays in 2006. All the others had atleast 3 or 4 plays. Citadels used to be Shreyasi’s favorite game. BUt the german edition that I have ahs been a dampener. I really need to get the new revised version because it is a game that we have enjoyed and it should hit the table a bit more.

Secondly slowly I have introduced a lot of new people to this lovely hobby the past year. But time really is the constraint that is preventing me to get more organised in the form of a formal gaming club/group etc. With more and more games getting added to the collection, there is a reluctance on the part of the gamers to learn a new game. And there is increasing frustration on my part for not being able to convince them. For me the itch is in getting new games, opening them and playing them. For a lot of others it is playing a game they know. As soon as I suggest a new game there is so much resistance all the time and a lot of cajoling has to happen. So slowly the list of unplayed games in my collection is also growing.

My personal desire to read about gaming, buy new games etc is very strong. I scour the net on a regular basis to keep myself abreast of what is happening. I want to have a few of the latest games all the time. I missed Essen this year when I really should have gone. Hopefully I will go there next year. Otherwise a great year of gaming, a year of consolidation and a new year to look forward to.

Top 15 games played in 2006

2006 was my second year in gaming. A great year with a lot of new games being acquired. Finally now I have reached a stage where there is a slow pile of unplayed games in the gaming cupboard. Best way to show that I am hooked and doomed! I have to buy games frequently even though I may not find the time or the people to play them. A classic case was how I got Die Macher recently. This is like an all time classic. But reports say you need more players preferably the full quota. You also need 3 to 4 hours to play the game. Both these things are a rarity here but still I have to get the game when it has just been republished!

For Sale - 122 plays

This is a bit skewed I should say. The reason is that I was on a concert tour in the US last year and all my group members liked this so much and wanted to play it almost every day. We had so much fun and the game shines with a lot of strategy when played with 4. I rarely play this since I got back.

Mystery Rummy: Jack the Ripper - 26 plays

This really is the no 1 two player game that I play with Aarthi. The game is so wonderful and both of us are slowly getting into more and more different strategies of playing this. Every time I think of the learning curve that we had to go through I am not even confident I can teach another person and get them to play this with us!

Through the Desert - 24 plays

Again a bit skewed. My brother and sister in law were here in January last and most of the plays were logged then. Still a great game and little Sushanth has also picked up the game.

Alhambra - 22 plays

This is one of our staple games that we play 3 player when Varadu drops in during his lunch hour. There is a nice strategic feel when we play with 3 but can get chaotic with more players.

Puerto Rico - 22 plays

The no 1 game on the Geek! I finally got this and have enjoyed playing it so much. In fact apart from Aarthi and Shreyasi at home atleast 4 or 5 others have learnt the game and enjoy it. This will be a solid game to play whenever there are more players.

Transeuropa - 21 plays

Again mostly played on the my US tour with my group. Did not see much plays later. A good intro to a train game. Must be played with the full quota to get more fun out of it.

Bohnanza - 20 plays

Shreyasi’s friends Sai and Guha love this and we get a lot of 5 player sessions in. Aarthi and me also play a number of 2 player bean duels. Good fun.

The Settlers of Catan - 19 plays

Another luchtime favorite of Varadu’s. We mostly play 3 player sessions and I mostly win! One of the very few games that I win a bit more than Aarthi. Otherwise she wins most of the games.

Ticket to Ride: USA 1910 - 19 plays

The current hot game in the household. all these were played in December alone!

Elasund: The First City of Catan - 18 plays

This is surprising. I never though we had played so much of this. When I got it first it was mostly 2 player. But now we got in a few 3 and 4 player games and it is great. Aarthi however will not play Elasund if we have played Settlers recently. There is a similar feel but I like both games and do not mind playing them at anytime.

Atlantic Star - 17 plays

The new star in our gaming collection. Great great little game. I got it for 10 euros in a sale in a German game store. I bought it because it said Dirk Henn and I had liked Alhambra.

Modern Art - 17 plays

You can call it the local Knizia favorite. Everyone loves this and doesn’t mind a play.

Hansa - 14 plays

A surprise this year. I got this because I like Michael Schacht. Even the game got some not so good reviews and Srikanth agreed to the reviewer that it is a boring game, aarthi and me love playing it!

Ticket to Ride - 14 plays

After the arrival of the new edition this has petered down completely. Most of the plays were done in Australia when I was there. Mohan had not got Marklin and USA 1910 was not out then.

Carcassonne - 13 plays

Another favorite for Aarthi and me. We literally play only 2 player sessions these days. But the game is growing on us like Mystery Rummy and gets plays on a regular basis.

I have to add 2 more games that saw 13 plays so the list actually will have more than 15 games I guess!

Ra - 13 plays

A simple game to get people into gaming. We had a number of plays but spread over the year. The surprise was Sushanth picked it up easily!

Thurn & Taxis - 13 plays

Again mostly 2 player sessions but with Srikanth picking up the game we had some good 3 player sessions in December.

Games played December 06

December - The month I work most in the year. Also the month when I never travel. So it usually means a good gaming month. I had a good month with 73 plays in toto.

Ticket to Ride: USA 1910 - A whopping 19 plays. This was easily the star of the month.We have enjoyed TTR so much ever since I got it in mid 2005. But plays kind of tapered down to almost zero this year. Especially After I got TTR Marklin. We had gotten bored with the old game. But this is great! This game has 3 ways to play the game. It has a completely new set of destination tickets and train cards. Bigger and more like the new TTR games. Of the three the 1910 version is a bit boring. The big cities game is great. But we had only one play of it. We loved the mega game played with 69 tickets. The rush for train cards, and the choice between picking additional tickets etc all add so much fun and excitement to the game. I think it will take longer for us to get tired of this one. The game is superb with 4 or 5 players. If you have played TTR in the past and like it just get this one. Terrific value for money!

Atlantic Star, Coda & Elasund all had 5 plays each. Aarthi and me love Atlantic Star and will play it any day. Shreyasi played one game and hated it. I am happy Srikanth learnt it early and we had good 3 player sessions which were exciting. Coda was basically played with Sushanth. Elasund made a good comeback to the table. When I had got the game in the beginning we usually had only 2 player sessions with Aarthi. But with my sister and Srikanth both picking up the game we had much better plays this month. Elasund really shines with 4 the most. 3 is also ok but we got bored of the 2 player version.

Union Pacific - 4 plays. A new game that I got last month. I had seen it in a game store Saarbrucken but did not get it. Fortunately someone was kind enough to bring it for me and I got it sent through a student. I like Alan Moon and had read a lot of good reviews of this one. My reactions? Firstly it is not a train game. It is a stock game. But having said that I really liked the game. Shreyasi also learnt it and enjoyed playing it. But we had only 1 4 player session and could not get it on the table more often. This has potential and will stand the distance in the long run I think.

Mr Jack, Puerto Rico, Ra & Thurn & Taxis - 3 plays each. I have already written about T&T. Srikanth learnt Puerto Rico and we had some excellent 4 player with Aarthi and my sister joining in. Really wish we had played it more. Ra was good fun. Mr Jack was the new game I got. Like it but have to play it more often before we can get the strategies going. Unless we get familiar with the characters a bit more it is a pain to constantly refer to the rule sheet. Anyway I think there will be more plays of this in the coming months.

Cartagena, Hansa, Hare & Tortoise, Hexen Rennen, Modern Art, Rat-a-tat Cat, The Settlers of Catan & Zertz - 2 plays each. Modern Art is a great great game and always gives good value as does Settlers. We’ve played so much of H & T in the past. Srikanth did not like it much I think. Hansa was classified as boring. Aarthi and me love it so it will be only 2 player sessions I think.

Category 5, Crazy Chicken, Elfenland, Feuerschlucker, For Sale, Railroad Tycoon, Ticket to Ride - Marklin edition - 1 play each. I love RRT but the length seems to be a dampener and with TTR 1910 coming in it was mostly preferred. Srikanth learnt Elfenland and liked it. But then it was late in the month and plays had come down during that period generally.

Overall a happy enough month of gaming. I really wanted to get Caylus out but it never happened. I am looking forward to playing it and Goa this month hopefully.