Boardgaming Finland
Our team also often plays online video games, some parts of gameplay are insanely time-consuming, but boosting services help with these parts a lot! We are using Boosthive services to have more time for working on the site for you.
-
Gameweek 8/2013: Under the Hammer, Saint Petersburg and The Dwarf King
One session live and lots of games at yucata.de
I was set for Small World which is a fun game to play but we ended up being a group of six and Small World goes up to five. Thus I ended up playing a very tight game of Saint Petersburg with Aapo. SP is a game I adore and it’s a solid example of a game which is interesting to play even though it has been around for a long time. I also feel that it’s best with two players when there’s the most control in the game and in this way itäs very similar to San Juan which is one of my favorite games.
Second game of the evening was Under the Hammer which is the latest game from the Moliis Brothers and RollD6. I had played the game once before and with slightly wrong rules. Normally I would have used the correct rules once finding out a mistake but in this case I actually developed house rule for action cards used in the game. Under the Hammer is a negotiation / set collecting game with added chaos in a form of the action cards. I like the negotiation and set collecting mechanisms in the game and therefore I do like the basic concept of the game. What I don’t understand is why there needs to be actions anyways since all they bring into the game is chaos and I can’t really see that even with non-gamers, more chaos really improves the game. UtH if not a bad game and with house rules the actions can be interesting part of the game.
Last game of the evening was Faidutti’s The Dwarf King which is a light trick taking card game with a fantasy theme. What makes this game interesting are the changing score system for each hand and some special cards which are also added to each hand. The basic trick taking game is simple but with these changes The Dwarf King becomes more interesting and it can be enjoyed for a longer time. For more experienced trick taking game veterans there’s not much new here but with newbies to the genre or with families this game is a keeper (especially if you love trick taking like I do).
I did not play any live games during the 9/2013 so the next report will come from the week 10/2013.
-
Gameweek 9/2013: Kingdom Builder, Tichu and Crazy Lab
Live session at Leppävaara game club and online games at yucata.de
First and last game I played was the new trick taking card game from Amigo called Crazy Lab which is designed by Jordi Gené and Gregorio Morales. I love trick taking games and I tend to buy every trick taking game I can get my hands on. Amigo’s trick taking games tend to be good and my expectations were high.
Crazy Lab lab is a quite basic trick taking game with one positive color and one negative color for each player and a changing trump color for each trick played. What makes the game unique is the fact that each card has up to three colors and with changing trump color the game play is interesting. I feel that this is a lighter trick taking game which should be played with less player than 5 because the level of chaos increases rapidly with more players. I need to investigate my views a bit more with more plays but for now this is how I see the situation.
Second game of the night was Spiel des Jahres winner Kingdom Builder which I had played once at Spiel Fair when the game came out and I did not have fond memories of that session. This second play did nothing to change my opinion which is that the game has solid mechanisms but is lifeless and dull. Not a game for my taste that is but I do understand why some might like the game a lot.
It was also fun to play a game of Tichu even though we lost after a strong end game. I don’t play Tichu as much as I did previously but it’s still a game I play without a hesitation when I get the chance.
-
Gameweek 10/2013: Steam
Live session on Wednesday and games in yucata.de
We played Steam at the N-BGC game night with four players. None of us had played the game much and rules explanation took a long time. US map is a noninteresting if you ask me because it’s balanced too well. In our game two players ended up doing most of the time their own stuff and the other two played against each other. I was one of the lone builders and ended up on second place far behind the winner but also confortably in front of the duo left last.
Steam is an interesting game and it would be great to play it a bit more often. More plays would definitely make it easier to gather points in the game and I could probably also get rid of the very stupid mistakes. But all and all that’s what I could say about most of the games I own and reality is that these games are not going to hit the table often enough that I’d become an expert in them.
Steam played at N-BGC -
Gameweek 11/2013: Big Five and Kings of Air and Steam
Live session at N-BGC and several games at yucata.de.
We began the live session with five player Big Five which worked surprisingly well with five for a maximum 4 player game. If you’ve played Qwikle you pretty much know what’s going on in this game except the fact that Big Five is playd with cards. It’s definitely not the best game Reiner Knizia has designed but it’s definitely not bad either and with five players game took less time than with less players.
Second game of the evening was Kings of Air and Steam which I got couple days earlier. This is a game which was in works for a long time after successfully pledging funds at Kickstarter. We had a 10 people pledge and I forgot many times that I had participated in such a Kickstarter because it took so long for the project to complete.
Kings of Air and Steam is a pickup and deliver game with two difficulty settings, basic game and standard game. We played with basic rules and I enjoyed the game. What you try to do is to move resources to cities which demand them and generate money in the process. Graphic design of the game was very good and I liked the stream lined way in which game plays. There seemed to be several ways to fight for the win and none of the strategies seemed to be over powered at least based in the first play. Kings of Air and Steam is a game which I suggest if you can find it and I hope it’s going to hit the table sooner than later.
All in all a good week of gaming and I’m pretty confident that Easter does good for my gaming life (and personal life as well even if it’s outside the scope of this blog).
-
Finnish Games of the Year 2008
Finnish Toy Association picked the finalists and winners of the Game of the Year in three categories: children, family and adults. There were plenty of good games participating and these games made it to the end:
Children’s Category
* Winner : Eläinpyramidi (Tavella)
* Finalist: Koko perhe näyttelee (Tactic)
* Finalist: Muumien sanasirkus (Egmont)Comment: I have to admit that I have not playerd any of these games. This is going to change though because I’m planning on a podcast on all the finalists and have gotten hold on most of the games.
Family Category
* Winner : Bandu (Bausack) (Competo)
* Finalist: Oregon (Lautapelit.fi)
* Finalist: Qwirkle (Competo)Comment: We had a great selection this year in this category and some good games were left out of the final three. Bandu is a game for the whole family and is fun with anyone. Oregon is a solid game as is Qwirkle but they might have done better in the adult category because they are more complex than Bandu.
Adult’s Category
* Winner: Modern Art (Lautapelit.fi)
* Finalist: Taidolla ja Tuurilla (Wits and Wagers) (Competo)
* Finalist: Maximus (Gambit Games)Comment: I was pretty sure that Taidolla tai Tuurilla would have won because it’s a game that is fun with gamers and non-gamers. Usually these games have done best in the competition. But this year Modern Art took the win and there’s good reasons for that: the game is excellent and Lautapelit.fi produced a Finnish version out of the game with unic graphic design. I was also pleased that Gambit Games and Maximus got among the finalists. Maximus is a solid game and a example of the possibility to develop and produce a Finnish board game in every sense.
Overall I must say that I’m very pleased with these results. It’s great to have good games winning the prizes than bad and these are games which I can recommend to anybody.
-
Gameweek 12/2013: Kings of Air and Steam, The Hobbit Card Game, The City and more
Fun week of gaming with two live sessions and games at yucata.de
First live session was at the N-BGC game night and it began with three player Saint Petersburg. I got behind in workers which meant that I was short on money all the time. Positive side was that I got both Observatories and was able to find Aristocrats with them. All in all it was a tight game which I won by a margin of three or four points to third place. SP is a excellent game and I definitely willing to play more.
After SP we lost the third player and ended up playing three rounds of Schotten-Totten. I had played Battle Line before and had high expectations which weren’t quite met. Game mechanisms are simple in SchT and game plays fast. There’s also some decisions to be made but all in all I did not get invested in the game.
Last game of the N-BGC session was The City which had collected dust in my collection far too long unplayed. Aapo had played it before and with some figuring out we managed to get game going. The City is a card driven engine building game which reminded me of Race for the Galaxy. Big differens between the two is that The City is a quick game to play. My biggest problem with the game is that I’m not too fond of games of this type. There’s not much interaction and you have to cope with the cards you draw. Maybe it makes more sense with more plays?
Second game night of the week was a fun one because I had three good friends come by to play games. Our first game was The Hobbit Card Game which is a Martin Wallace trick taking game. The purchase point of the game for me was the trick taking mechanism but it typically doesn’t hurt that game is designed by Martin Wallace.
In THCS players play characters from the movie/book and form teams of good or evil. Our four player game meant that we had a team of three good characters and one evil one. The basic trick taking game is rather simple but there’s quite interesting scoring mechanism involved and obviously the team aspect is also interesting. We soon found out that game was really hard for the good guys and the two games we played ended both in the defeat of the ones who should have won.
Four player game with curling boards. Kings of Air and Steam was also fun and now we played a standard game of it. My role was pretty lame with only one extra depot in the starting setup of the game. There was also some serious AP i the beginning of the game when newbies tried to figure out how the game works. Pre planned actions are harsh for inexperienced players because mistakes are costly and players tried to avoid them using a lot of time in the planning phase. I still enjoyed the experience and had fun with the game.
Last game of the evening was Rainer Knizia’s Genial which I like quite a bit even though it does not hit the table that often nowadays. Genial is one of the best abstract out there even though I do think it’s not at its best with four players. I won the first game quite easily but in the second game I got smashed because everybody obviously played against the winner of the first game. Two player Genial is superb and it’s not bad with more players either.
First of the two games in its initial phases. Again a fun week of gaming and there’s some interesting news also bubbling under like the coming kickstarter for Gear & Piston which I’ve played as a prototype and liked quite a bit. You should check the game out!
-
Gameweek 13/2013: Targi and Bora Bora
One live session and games at yucata.de.
We had only two players in N-BGC meeting and Targi was a solid option in such a situation. Targi is a very elegant worker placement game for two where theme is secondary and interesting mechanisms combine in a way which I have not seen before. It’s not the deepest game but there’s definitely a lot to digest and take into consideration in one’s turn. I do also like the fact that there’s some luck involved which keeps things interesting.
Targi’s biggest faults are in the production. Firstly, there’s barely enough counters in the game and more importantly there’s a lot of text in the cards which both players should be able to keep track at. With clever icons this could be possible but reading text is next to impossible and is very frustrating. Fortunately the game is good enough that problems with bits and pieces does not matter too much and if you haven’t already you should definitely try Targi out.
Second game we wanted to play was Bora Bora even though we did not quite know whether we had time for it. Bora Bora is a game which has a lot of things going on but the basic concept of the game is relatively simple. Thus the game rounds are easy to explain and game flows nicely but how to win the game is then another issue. We spent a good deal of time going through the rules but once we got the game going it did not take that long.
What you do in Bora Bora is that first you throw three dice which you use to take actions. Then you use character tiles to which you bought with the actions to duplicate some of the options available in the actions phase and you end the round players score points from several places. Doesn’t sound too tough and it isn’t except finding the ways to generate most points.
I liked the game but need to play more to be able to give an educated opinion about it. What I definitely did not like was the player boards which were trying to tell everything you could do in the game but ended just being too packed with information. Separate player aids would have done better job but unfortunately publisher had chosen another path here.
Targi @ N-BGC -
Gameweek 22/2013: Dominant Species, Bora Bora, Kings of Air and Steam and Oregon
Huh. It’s been a long while since last update. I’ve been busy but fortunately have found the time to play some games live which is quite rare these days.
Here’s quick thoughs of some games I’ve played:
Dominant Species:
We had a 5 player session which took 5 hours or so. I like the mechanisms in the game plus the theme but the game takes usually too darn long. It’s almost impossible to find the time and players to play the game.
Bora Bora:
I’ve played Bora Bora maybe three times and even though it has some neat aspects in it I still feel it’s a bit too heavy on analysis for me. Games tend to take quite a lot of time and there’s heavy risk for AP. There’s also just so many ways of scoring points in the game that it’s nearly impossible to figure out even the close to perfect moves.
Kings of Air and Steam:
Normal game without any special characters is a very good pick up and deliver game but characters and their special powers are quite far from being in balance. We played a 7 player game which moved on better than I expected but man were the special powers unbalanced. Some players got extra actions right and eft and my guy just got to choose which cities wanted what type of good. I probably leave the characters into the box from now on when I play the game but I will play the game more.
Oregon:
Oregon also found it’s way on the gaming table and I must say that this is a game which doesn’t get the love it deserves. Oregon is a solid family game with interesting mechanisms and scoring, good looking art in it, reasonable playing time and it’s good with 2, 3 or 4 players (not so common for a game of this type). There’s even a Finnish version of the game available (probably only at the second hand market but anyways) which should make Oregon a bit more played and loved than it seems to be at the moment.
I’ve played some games this week too but lets keep ‘em secret until the end of the week. I’ll also get a look at the coming second expansion to Eclipse during the week and I hope I’ll be able to tell you more about it in the next post. Don’t know if I’ll get the permission but I cross my fingers for that.
-
Gameweek 23/2013: Langfinger, The Manhattan Project and Eclipse
Gameweek with two live sessions and some games at yucata.de.
Firstly, I attended the N-BGC session on Monday where we played two games. Langfinger was the first game on the table and it has been waiting it’s turn on my car’s trunk for a long time. I bought it with 3 euro maybe a year ago so I did not have huge expections but suprisingly my expections were easily met.
Langfinger is a relatively easy worker placement game with a crime theme. Players gather up resources and loot and use the resources to open their loot and gain points by doing so. There’s quite a lot of luck involved in the process but in a short and simple game such as this I did not mind the luck factor too much. Scores were also quite close with all 5 players playing the game inside three point marginal which intensified the game nicely.
Second game we desided to play was The Manhattan Project which I knew by reputation but had not played before. Building nukes is for sure a huge negative for some players but for me the theme rocked. The Manhattan Project is a worker placement game where players score points by developing their bombs as big and ugly as possible. Players gather up the resources with workers who come in in three different profession and many of the actions in the game require a spesific worker in order to activate. TMP is a pure worker placement game and I really liked what they had done with the mechanism – nothing particularly new and innovative but finding a good way to use old innovations in a interesting way.
I liked TMP in general but feel that the direct interaction between the players via military operations is totally unnecessary and it slows the game down too much. Worker placement is an interactive mechanism in itself thus the need for a second direct medium for interaction isn’t there. Direct attack in The Manhattan Project will also leave attackers back door open for other players’ attacks which they will utilize when the opportunity rises. Without the direct attack mechanism I would have given the game very good review but now it just a good game.
After the good but not great games at the N-BGC meeting I had a chance to participate in a developing session of a great game – Eclipse. I had an invitation to test some new features for a (possible) coming expansion of the game and I gladly took part in the session. I got Hydran race to play the game with and a brief info on what were the new mechanisms we were testing out. This time there was a new mechanism to the core system which seemed to be a game changing mechanism and some more minor additions to the existing rules set.
I had fun playing the game and did very well (ended up winning the game) even though the start of the game could have gone better for me with the discovering of new systems. I was lucky to get the advanced hull tech and found some superb alien systems to spread my influence. I also researched the only computers of the first 5 or so rounds which made my rise to the power possible. All in all I think the new mechanisms were quite close of being ready for publication but I suspect there will be some polishing to be made before the design team gives more information out to the public about them.
Fun times and interesting games which means that the week of gaming was solid.
PS. Look at that table cloth. It’s hard to find a worse cloth to play Eclipse on since it blends the game in extremely well. I spent probably 2 minutes just to spot the tech board on the table before we started he game…
-
Lautapelisuomi podcast 29 tiistaina 11.6.2013
Tässä jaksossa käymme Tuomo Pekkasen kanssa läpi:
Pelatut pelit
Muun muassa Bora Bora, Kings of Air and Steam, Love Letter ja monta muuta
Suomalaiset julkaisut 2013
Competon ja Lautapelit.fi:n uutuuslistojen läpikäynti kommentein. Mukana myös ensikommentit Gear & Pistonista
Spiel des Jahres
Käymme läpi ehdokkaat SdJ ja Kennerspiel des Jahres -kategorioissa.
Voit itse käydä tutustumassa kilpailuun kilpailun kotisivulta
Suomen Vuoden peli 2013
Käymme läpi osallistuneiden pelien listaa ja poimimme sieltä muutamia omia suosikkejamma sekä analysoimme osallistujia noin muutoinkin pikaisesti.
Täydet listat osallistuneista peleistä löydät Suomen leluyhdistyksen kotivisulta
Työläistenasettelupelit (Workerplacement)
Käymme läpi mekaniikan määritelmän, hyvät ja huonot puolet sekä listaamme luonnollisesti loppuun TOP 5 peliä, jossa kyseistä mekaniikkaa käytetään.
TOP 5
Antti
5 Village
4 Caylus
3 Walnut Grove
2 Stone Age
1 Targi
Tuomo
5 Lancaster
4 Alien Frontiers
3 Walnut Grove
2 Lords of Waterdeep
1 Agricola