Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization

It’s been a while since we have played TTA. Especially a four player game of it. This game is tough to balance. There are just so many variables to juggle. And, for tonight, my problem was science and rocks. My lack of science kept me from putting down a lot of buildings. I had to really pick and choose. And my lack of resources coal/iron/oil kept me from building more high value buildings. Especially my army. I knew it would be scored at the end of the game and I came in last in that race. But no one attacked me during the game which was nice. And I was able to keep in second place. Ahead of Marty, who seemed to pick up steam in the last couple of rounds.

Shadow Hunters

We started the game day off with a filler game. Which was so-so. We probably should have waited for some more information on who is your enemy and who are your allies before attacking. But as we gathered information, we just started wailing on each other. Which is a good thing as it sped the game up.

Stone Age

Next up was a game that I wanted to play. It had dice in it and sounded interesting. You collect resources to trade in for victory points. There are some factors which mitigate dice rolls. First, you can gather tools which will bump up bad dice rolls. Next, the only critical dice roll is where you gather food and you start out with enough to last you for two turns.

I liked this game and would buy it.

Neuland

We played this classic game. But the new version. Which I hate compared to the old. The graphics are worse. The changes to the rules are horrible. Ugh. Give me the old version anytime. Fortunately, we used the old rule set with the new board (we did have to use a special counter to show where your turn ended ten spaces away from your current start position).

In this game, two things were painful for me. Both the mines and the coal mills were far away from my starting position. So I ended up being very inefficient. I also took a huge risk and left my food generation spot unguarded. I did this for two turns. But I was rewarded for this. I was able to get ahead of the pack and acquire the resources to build the final victory spot.

Can’t Stop

There was some serious Grimming going on in this game. So we started up a game of Can’t Stop at the table. That game is easy to pick up and leave. You do not need to remember any strategic information while you are away.

Ricochet Robots

Marty wanted to play this classic Russcon game. I was a little worried though. We had two new gamers at the table and I didn’t think they were up to the spacial challenges that this game requires. But, towards the end, they started to get the hang of the game and even scored a victory point. Without Jeffles or MarkY at the table, this game is much easier to win.

Gipsy King

We ended out the night with this abstract game. I like it and should add it to my shopping list.