5/30/06

We had a short crew last evening with only three, James, Kris and Ted. But, it did give us a chance to get in a couple of games everyone wanted to try.

Zehn Vassenspiel

This is a “move around and collect” game where you are trying to build vases/urns by Jon De Poel. We only played with two and it was very dry. It reminded me of Kupferfessel but not quite as good. But, it did inspire us to play that next. This one will hit the trade pile.

Kupferkessel and Co.

Kris and I next moved into this collection game that I really enjoy. It is a nice quick two player time distraction with a little bit of memory element. Always willing to play this one even if Kris did beat me.

James arrived and we took on my latest prototype for about an hour. Still needs a bit of work.

Caylus

Kris learned Caylus a couple of weeks ago and apparently has been dreaming about it ever since. He asked if we could break a house rule and actually play a game twice!!! Of course we were more than willing. And, a three player game clocked in at 1 hour and 10 minutes! Kris really had been thinking about it the game as he jumped out to an early lead and maintained it the whole game.

California

This one has just the right amount of stuff to make it work for me. Yes, it is a little dry set collecting game with some neat money management ideas and the ability to mess with your neighbor. What more can you ask for in a quick 30 minute game.

Um Ruhm and Ehre

For the last game of the night, we decided on this one. With three players, it played pretty fast. If we didn’t have to cover rules I think it could hit ½ hour. At that pace, it is light fun. The downsides to this pirate collecting game for most players are a lot of luck and the time it takes. At ½ hour it is cute. James pulled off the win by $2 and immediately asked to borrow the game to play with his children.