Dominion: Intrigue on trial
Last week my gaming group sat down at lunch, eagerly anticipating our first play of Dominion: Intrigue (I had played it only once at home with my wife before then). Everyone quickly got busy reading the text on each card as we laid out the randomly chosen set of 10 kingdom cards. There was brief commentary on artwork, questions about specific card rules, and we dove in.As would be expected, we started playing with fascination at the new combos and possibilities, reminding ourselves frequently what this or that card allowed us to do.Before long, though, Swindler was on the loose, and not long after, Saboteur showed up in a couple of people's decks. Expressions became more and more grim as card after card was added to the trash pile. There goes one guy's Harem. Ouch - that guy lost another Gold card. Hey, the Saboteur got another one of my Duchies!It took about half the game to realize we weren't in familiar territory anymore. Our old comfortable strategies were useless. With the kingdom card set we were using, there was simply no way to afford a Province (although one lucky chump managed to buy a single province). I saw this trend and started focusing on Silver - low cost and valuable.Gripes were only half-jokingly tossed about as people questioned the fun of the new set, leaving me wondering, "Will anyone ever want to play this again?"Though decks were small and the trash pile large, I enjoyed it personally. I like having to readjust my strategy to each new combination of kingdom cards. I just hope I can convince the rest of the crew that this is a feature of the game, not a flaw. My silver plan almost worked (I ended up with only 2 kingdom cards in my deck), but the guy who got a Province beat me by one point....
Geekdo
With much gladness, I have been participating in the beta test of the new RPG Geek, which will actually just be a part of the new comprehensive Geek site known as Geekdo - The Way of the Geek. BGG and RPGG will be combined into this one site. So far, it's a bit complicated, but it seems to be working well. RPGs are definitely trickier to catalog, and I've been frustrated at the limitations placed on non-admin users when adding various RPG-related data to the database.
I know that once everyone sees the new system they'll be calling out, "Okay, now what about Video Game Geek? Book geek?! Movie geek?!" It's staggering how much work the admins must have put into just getting the RPG element scripted. Yow.
RPG fans, look forward to Geekdo.
Dominion: Intrigue is now mine. I've sleeved the nearly 500 cards. I've read through most of the manual. Now I just need to play it.
This time around, the art seems a smidgen better than the first Dominion set (which seemed weak artistically to me). Franz Vohwinkel participated in some of the card art this time. It's always a delight to see such excellent artwork as his. Unfortunately, there's still some really bland, uninteresting art.
One thing that mattered to me was the kingdom card balance. Here are the stats on the new kingdom card types:
16 x Action
4 x Action - Attack2 x Action - Victory
1 x Action - Reaction1 x Treasure - Victory
1 x Victory
One cool thing I learned from the manual is that when you are attacked, you can play as many reaction cards as you have. So, if you had both, you could play a Moat and a Secret Chamber, gaining both benefits.
Now, I'll just mention a couple cards that caught my attention while I was browsing and sleeving (which reminds me of the movie Roxanne - the scene where Roxanne says to Charlie: "I thought you said 'earn more sessions by sleeving.' " What a classic scene.)
To begin with, we have this nasty masked fellow who calls himself the "Torturer."
The ability text reads:
Each other player chooses one: he discards 2 cards; or he gains a Curse card, putting it in his hand.
This is the Witch of the new set, in that he's the one guy who can give you Curse cards. You'll notice that, like the Witch, he costs 5 money to buy, but whereas the Witch allows you to draw 2 cards, this fiend allows you to draw 3 cards. The only other difference between this card and the Witch is that this guy allows attacked players to choose their poison - discard 2 cards, or pick up a Curse (which goes to the hand rather than the discard pile, so it doesn't sting quite as much as the Witch. Heck, the other player might have a Chapel or Remodel in his hand to deal with that Curse on his very next turn). So, this card seems to be similar to the Witch, but it's better for all parties involved.
Next, we join the blacksmiths in their sweet-looking metal shop.
The ability text reads:
Gain a card costing up to 4. If it is an...
Action card, +1 Action
Treasure card, +1 money
Victory card, +1 Card
Admittedly, the main thing that drew my attention to this card was the art. The only light illuminating the work of these sweaty brutes is the light of their molten swords. It's just a cool-looking picture.
Still, the ability is interesting. This 4-cost card, when played, gains you a free 4-cost card and a choice between three other benefits. This could come in handy as a wild card of sorts. Sometimes you need one ability, but all you have is the wrong ones. This card allows you to choose which benefit you need.
There are a batch of other interesting cards from what I've seen so far, but I'll let you discover them for yourself.
By the way, I must have been out of the loop because I only found out yesterday that Dominion won the 2009 Spiel des Jahres award. I'm glad the judges didn't find the game to be too complicated. I mean, really, the game deserved it. Nice work, Mr. Vaccarino!
You'll notice that I've removed all of the casual game posts I had made. I realized that there were just too many. That's what I was playing, so that's what I was posting about, but I realized it was starting to go against the theme of this very blog.
So, to keep things organized properly, I've created a new blog.
If you are interested in casual computer games, head over to my new blog: A Game For Everyone.
You can read about good deals there, as well as reviews and news.
In other news, my game order has shipped from Boards and Bits, so expect to hear about the Dominion expansion soon!
Today marks my 9-year wedding anniversary, and my wife continues to be the woman of my dreams. "The Queen" is my nickname for her, and she is still my royal treasure after 9 easy years of marriage bliss. In honor of my dear wife, I'm going to highlight her favorite games today. So, if you're interested in wife games, you might want to pay attention!
My wife's top pick:
Race for the Galaxy
Image by kilroy_locke at BGG My wife's favorite game mechanics seem to be:
- hand management
- set collection
- card drafting
She also likes colored groups of things, cards, and low-conflict (multiplayer solitaire).
Almost all of these features are present in Race for the Galaxy in some measure, but especially hand management. My wife really likes being able to control the constantly changing hand of cards, and then using those cards to control her tableau (play area) for maximum benefit. I agree that these features make RftG an outstanding game, and it still holds slot #2 on my personal top 10 list. This is one of the few games that my wife and I enjoy equally. My only complaint about this game is that a lucky set of early card draws can set you up for the win. There are killer combos, and it rocks to be the person who draws them.
Somehow, my wife almost always gets lots of Alien combos, and frequently has military power to boost her Alien strategy. It's uncanny. I probably win about 1 out of 7 or 8 plays.
My wife's other favorites:Wyatt Earp
Image by Geosmores at BGG
This game has hand management, set collection, and colored groups, which explains why my wife picks Wyatt Earp so often when it's her turn to choose the game.
We always cringe when one of us finally plays the Hideout card instead of just discarding it. The feared Hideout card is the one attack in the game that really hurts. Fortunately, it doesn't get played very often, unless it's a desperate situation.
We both like the Western theme to the game. My wife is always willing to play this one.
Thurn and Taxis
Image by swiftcorp at BGG
I think my wife really likes that there is no way to directly attack others in Thurn and Taxis. I agree with her - I typically prefer games where you can safely work on your own position without worrying about being targeted.
This game has colors, cards, and a unique mechanic for building postal routes. It's very simple to learn and play. All these features, I think, make this one of my wife's top picks.
Lost Cities
Image by Araneuz at BGG
Lost Cities is an example of a game I am glad to not play, but which my wife loves. You can see why - cards, colored sets, and a bit of hand management as you decide what to hold, play, and discard. Also, you're mostly just building your own position, even though it is easy to manipulate each other's options. I see this game as just another Reiner Knizia numbers game. The theme is cool, but doesn't factor into gameplay in any way. I think my wife likes the simplicity of designs like this. If you're looking for wife games, you've probably heard about this one. As much as I don't like this game, I actually would recommend it as a wife game because so many wives are reported to like it.
Alhambra
Image by Martin Ralya at BGG
Just look at the picture above. It's a deck of cards in 4 colors and a bunch of tiles in six colors. You manage a hand of money cards, you pay for colored tiles, and you build your own nice little city. My wife has chosen this game many times. We find that it works best with two players, which is great since most of our plays are at home, with just the two of us. We actually haven't played this one for a while. I'm sure my wife will want to pull it out again once she's played a few more games of RftG. If you're looking for a good 2P game to play with your spouse, you might want to give Alhambra some attention.
Thanks for reading, as always. Happy anniversary, my Queen!
I'm on vacation this week. Every year at this time we spend a week with my wife's family for the 4th of July. Vacation time means gaming time.
Games ON the table
So far, only one game has been played, and that game is Dominion. I introduced the game to my brother-in-law on Monday, and that's all he's wanted to play since (and I'm not arguing). So far, we've logged 11 plays of Dominion. Our 7th play ended in a clean tie. We had had an equal number of turns, so there was no tiebreaker. As I've mentioned before, I love when games in in ties. I like when different strategies lead to the same result and players can share in the victory. My brother-in-law finally won a few plays today and he was very glad. I got his computer all set up with BrettSpielWelt so that he can play online if he wants to. He loves Dominion.
I also noticed that BrettSpielWelt has already incorporated new Dominion expansion cards. I played against someone yesterday morning and had the pleasure of trying out a couple of these new cards for the first time. One of these, the Baron, I found to be a welcome addition to the game because it gives you something interesting to do with Estate cards. The Baron (as I remember it) allows you to trash an Estate to gain +4 money for the turn. If you don't do that, you may choose to gain an Estate card.
I keep checking Boards & Bits to see if the Dominion expansion has arrived yet because once it does, my game order ships.
You like wine?
If you've read (or skimmed) this far, thank you. To close the Games on the Table vacation post, I'm going to leave you with some wine recommendations. My father-in-law always has a stash of great wines on hand, and we taste many of them during the week, often side by side and with cheeses and foods. Below, I'll give some feedback on the wines I enjoyed this week. All are highly recommended by yours truly.
Castoro Cellars 2008 Fume Blanc - My top pick of the week!
This white wine is just excellent. It manages the sourness of a pinot grigio alongside the sweetness of a riesling. The complexity and flavor through and through make this wine one that I would enjoy at pretty much any meal. My father-in-law reports that you can pick this wine up for a great price at Trader Joe's (which is where you will find all the good wines for great prices in my experience). I'd say this was the favorite of the menfolk this week.
Peachy Canyon 2006 Para Siempre
While the $40 price on this wine doesn't make it that much better than many cheaper wines, this rich and complex red is very tasty. I didn't sense many obvious distinct flavors here, but the overall experience was very good, which explains the high price. All three of us who tasted it agreed that it had a silky thickness to it that made it smooth and complex from start to finish. When it first touches the tongue, you can tell this is a well-balanced wine. As it moves back, the flavor spreads into the rest of the mouth, and finishes with very little warmth and no sting. We were all pleased with this selection.
Castoro Cellars 2007 Muscat Canelli
When you want a dessert wine, you can't go wrong with Muscat. The apricot/peach flavor is here, as it is with Barefoot's Moscato, although, I still can't tell whether or not I like this more than Barefoot's. It's not quite as simple and light as the Barefoot Moscato, which could be a good thing. This was the favorite of the ladies this week.
Happy 4th of July to all of you American readers! Thank you for reading, and may you have good summer gaming!
