Finally we have gone back and played a slightly older game that, at one time, was played frequently. Well, at least for a month or so. And then it was pushed off into a dark and dusty corner when newer games came into the spotlight.
This is a lightweight civilization that has been distilled down to its bare essence. Perhaps a little bit too much, in my opinion. The theme and feel has been eroded away and you only catch a brief glimpse of a civilization game here and there. But that is not too much of a bad thing since the game works just fine as an abstract game.
During the game play we were a little bit rusty. And far too pacifistic. I lost some crucial fights in some key eras. And that hurt me a little bit. At the end of the game, I was the last person to move. I had been planing an action for a while now. This was my last ditch effort to grab second place. And it just barely worked for me. Amusingly, Ed, who was clearly in first place, was complaining that I was playing king-maker. However, I ignored that accusation as it both attacked the leader and gave me a fighting chance for second place.
To end out the night, we played Blue Moon City. It is a game built from a two-player Knizia game. The beautiful artwork on the cards depicts many different races. You run around the board and turn in cards to build the corresponding color. Once from one to three of the spots on an area are filled, the majority owner gets a resource and everyone who builds gets another resource. Usually it is crystals which are turned in for victory points. But it can be cards or dragon scales as well.
It is a nice, lightweight game. One that doesn’t require much analysis. The only skill required is predicting what areas people will complete and timing aspects where you can get the jump on other people.