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= Seattle Cosmic Game Night, Saturday, 11 October 2003 = == The Big Game Sale Day == http://www.ludism.org/scpix/20031011/02_great_game_sale.jpg Seattle Cosmic met again on 11 October 2003 at 5:00 PM. Present in approximate order of attendance were ["Timothy Higgins"], ["Marty Hale-Evans"]; ["Meredith Hale"] and ["Kisa Griffin"]; ["Dave Adams"] and ["Kathy Kizer"]; ["Steve Vall\xE9e"]; ["Alex Rockwell"]; ["Steve Dupree"] and ["Nat Dupree"]; ["Ron Hale-Evans"] (that's me); ChadUrsoMcDaniel; ["Kayne McGladrey"] and ["Jennifer McGladrey"]; ["Ben Sklar"]; the Kaldor family: ["Bob Kaldor"], ["Josh Kaldor"], ["Kendra Kaldor"], and ["Nate Kaldor"]; ["Mark Purtill"]; ["Mark Haggerty"], ["Eric Yarnell, ND"], and ["Dave Howell"]. I make that 23 people, which is either a record or close to it, outside of the Fourth of July LongGameDay''''''s we've had. --["Ron Hale-Evans"] === Evo === http://www.ludism.org/scpix/20031011/01_evo.jpg '''Game:''' ["Evo"] [[BR]] '''Location:''' Kitchen[[BR]] '''Time:''' 5:00-6:20 PM[[BR]] '''Winner:''' ["Alex Rockwell"] [[BR]] '''Prize:''' Gamer baggies[[BR]] Scores | '''PLAYER''' | '''SCORE''' | | Alex Rockwell | 53 | | Kathy Kizer | 49 | | Dave Adams | 42 | | Steve Vall\xE9e | 35 | The first four attendees were finishing a pre-game-night activity when I arrived around 5:30. Meanwhile, the next four had started ["Evo"]. Comments from the players? --["Ron Hale-Evans"] === Amun Re === http://www.ludism.org/scpix/20031011/05_amun_re.jpg '''Game:''' ["Amun Re"] [[BR]] '''Location:''' Den[[BR]] '''Time:''' 5:55-8ish PM[[BR]] '''Winner:''' ["Ben Sklar"], [[BR]] '''Prize:''' Wooden backscratcher (Ben), [[BR]] Scores | '''PLAYER''' | COLOUR | '''SCORE''' | | Ben Sklar | Blue | 43 | | Nat Dupree | Red | 35 | | ChadUrsoMcDaniel | Black | 34 | | Kayne !McGladrey | Green | 27 | | Jennifer !McGladrey | White | 23 | http://www.ludism.org/scpix/20031011/06_amun_re_betting.jpg What happened during this game? Comments from the players? --["Ron Hale-Evans"] === Heave-Ho! (x2) === http://www.ludism.org/scpix/20031011/10_heaveho_board.jpg '''Game:''' ["Heave-Ho!"] [[BR]] '''Location:''' Card table in kitchen[[BR]] '''Time:''' 6:00-7:45[[BR]] '''Winner:''' ["Steve Dupree"]; ["Ron Hale-Evans"][[BR]] '''Prize:''' Styrofoam glider (Steve), chocolate casino chips (Ron)[[BR]] Scores | '''PLAYER''' | '''SCORE (GAME 1)''' | '''SCORE (GAME 2)''' | | Steve Dupree | '''3''' | 2 | | Ron Hale-Evans | 1 | '''3''' | What happened during this game? Comments from the players? --["Ron Hale-Evans"] The first round of game one was played with randomized decks for each player. After that we followed the rules for each player dividing the cards into piles for himself and his opponent. Whoever finished dividing first got huge advantages. Since I am more physically dextrous than Ron, I won those. The second game was played with random decks throughout. The advantages given to the dextrous are overwhelming - essentially deciding who will very likely win the tug of war. As such it changes the game from a card game to a dexterity game, with the card portion just playing out the inevitable result of the dexterity portion. However I would recommend one change if you choose to play without the dexterity portion, which is to alternate the starting player rather than always have the older player start. Another potential fix is to distribute the advantages from the dexterity portion around more evenly, for instance by letting the other person finish dividing their cards up, putting the barrel on their side and letting the first finisher get the first turn. Nat and I have played a few times since then and have found the game to be enjoyable using these more balanced approaches. --["Steve Dupree"] === Phoenix === '''Game:''' ["Phoenix"] [[BR]] '''Location:''' Kitchen[[BR]] '''Time:''' 6:30ish-8:30ish[[BR]] '''Winner:''' ["Alex Rockwell"][[BR]] '''Prize:''' Gamer baggies[[BR]] http://www.ludism.org/scpix/20031011/03_phoenix_closeup.jpg http://www.ludism.org/scpix/20031011/04_phoenix_players.jpg Scores | '''PLAYER''' | '''SCORE''' | | Alex Rockwell | 5 games | | Steve Vall\xE9e | 1 game | Alex comments, "It's very mathematical." Comments from the players? --["Ron Hale-Evans"] === Settlers of Catan (with Cities & Knights) === http://www.ludism.org/scpix/20031011/07_settlersc+k_players.jpg '''Game:''' ["Settlers of Catan"] (with ["Cities & Knights"]) [[BR]] '''Location:''' Dining room[[BR]] '''Time:''' 6ish-9:20 PM[[BR]] '''Winner:''' ["Kathy Kizer"][[BR]] '''Prize:''' ''Games Magazine'' August 2002[[BR]] Scores | '''PLAYER''' | '''SCORE''' | | Kathy Kizer | 13 | | Marty Hale-Evans | 10 | | Dave Adams | 9 | | Tim Higgins | 9 | http://www.ludism.org/scpix/20031011/08_settlersc+k_kathy_tim.jpg http://www.ludism.org/scpix/20031011/09_settlersc+k_board.jpg What happened during this game? Comments from the players? --["Ron Hale-Evans"] === Fury of Dracula === '''Game:''' ["Fury of Dracula"] [[BR]] '''Location:''' Living room[[BR]] '''Time:''' 8:00-10:40[[BR]] '''Winner:''' n/a[[BR]] Scores | '''ROLE''' | '''PLAYER''' | | Dracula | Kayne !McGladrey | | Lord Godalming | ChadUrsoMcDaniel | | Doctor Seward | Ron Hale-Evans | | Van Helsing | Kisa Griffin | http://www.ludism.org/scpix/20031011/14_furyofdracula_closeup.jpg What happened during this game? Comments from the players? --["Ron Hale-Evans"] I think there is a lot to like in this game but it has a delicate mechanic: Dracula is essentially the game master in an RPG sense. If the Dracula player wants to be aggressive and leave lots of encounters around it will give the hunters plenty to do. On the other hand if Dracula wants to be evasive then the game can drag out without much interaction going on. One of the key properties that I associate with German games is that there is steady and known progress towards the goal and end of the game. In Fury of Dracula it's really hard to tell how much progress is made. This was my only play of the game so I can't judge how delicate this is but it does seem significant. I thought Kayne made it a fun game even as we went around the wrong parts of Europe. --ChadUrsoMcDaniel That's an interesting way of looking at it. Otherwise, Dracula's advantages seem too overwhelming. The one time I played this, we wandered around for a long while without finding anything, and then when we finally did corner dracula we found that he could easily just escape from combat and run past our cordons. It was too frustrating for my tastes. --["Steve Dupree"] === Nuclear War === http://www.ludism.org/scpix/20031011/12_nuclearwar_players.jpg http://www.ludism.org/scpix/20031011/13_nuclearwar_layout.jpg '''Game:''' ["Nuclear War"] [[BR]] '''Players:''' Ben Sklar, Bob Kaldor, one of the Bros. Kaldor[[BR]] '''Location:''' Card table in kitchen[[BR]] '''Time:''' 8ish-9:30[[BR]] '''Winner:''' ["Ben Sklar"][[BR]] '''Prize:''' Gamer baggies[[BR]] What happened during this game? Comments from the players? --["Ron Hale-Evans"] === Aladdin's Dragons === http://www.ludism.org/scpix/20031011/11_aladdins_dragons.jpg '''Game:''' ? [[BR]] '''Players:''' ?[[BR]] '''Location:''' ?[[BR]] '''Time:''' ?[[BR]] '''Winner:''' ?[[BR]] '''Prize:''' ?[[BR]] Scores | '''PLAYER''' | '''SCORE''' | | Player 1 | ??? | | Player 2 | ??? | | Player 3 | ??? | | Player 4 | ??? | | Player 5 | ??? | What happened during this game? Comments from the players? --["Ron Hale-Evans"] === Traumfabrik === '''Game:''' ? [[BR]] '''Players:''' ?[[BR]] '''Location:''' ?[[BR]] '''Time:''' ?[[BR]] '''Winner:''' ?[[BR]] '''Prize:''' ?[[BR]] Scores | '''PLAYER''' | '''SCORE''' | | Player 1 | ??? | | Player 2 | ??? | | Player 3 | ??? | | Player 4 | ??? | | Player 5 | ??? | What happened during this game? Comments from the players? --["Ron Hale-Evans"] === Chinese Checkers === '''Game:''' ["Chinese Checkers"] [[BR]] '''Players:''' Mark Haggerty, Meredith Hale, Dave Howell, Eric Yarnell[[BR]] '''Location:''' At the top of the stairs[[BR]] '''Time:''' 2030-2100 h roughly[[BR]] '''Winner:''' Mark Haggerty[[BR]] '''Prize:''' a pat on the back[[BR]] Scores | '''PLAYER''' | '''SCORE''' | | Mark Haggerty | Winner | | ["Dave Howell"] | 2nd pl | | ["Meredith Hale"] | 3rd place | | ["Eric Yarnell, ND"] | Last place | Mark & Dave did a much better job at building up their express ladders through the middle and exploiting them. Meredith was a novice player but still did an excellent job. Really this is a good game, with a simple rule set yet complex strategy. I don't like it that much for reasons I can't grasp--maybe because I suck at it. --["Eric Yarnell, ND"] What happened during this game? Comments from the players? --["Ron Hale-Evans"] === Through the Desert === '''Game:''' ? [[BR]] '''Players:''' ?[[BR]] '''Location:''' ?[[BR]] '''Time:''' ?[[BR]] '''Winner:''' ?[[BR]] '''Prize:''' ?[[BR]] Scores | '''PLAYER''' | '''SCORE''' | | Player 1 | ??? | | Player 2 | ??? | | Player 3 | ??? | | Player 4 | ??? | | Player 5 | ??? | What happened during this game? Comments from the players? --["Ron Hale-Evans"] IIRC, I won this, and did so by touching a whole lotta oasises (oases?). --["Steve Dupree"] === Can't Stop === http://www.ludism.org/scpix/20031011/15_cantstop.jpg '''Game:''' ? [[BR]] '''Players:''' ?[[BR]] '''Location:''' ?[[BR]] '''Time:''' ?[[BR]] '''Winner:''' ?[[BR]] '''Prize:''' ?[[BR]] Scores | '''PLAYER''' | '''SCORE''' | | Player 1 | ??? | | Player 2 | ??? | | Player 3 | ??? | | Player 4 | ??? | | Player 5 | ??? | What happened during this game? http://www.ludism.org/scpix/20031011/16_doggie.jpg Comments from the players? --["Ron Hale-Evans"] === Hearts === http://www.ludism.org/scpix/20031011/17_hearts.jpg '''Game:''' ? [[BR]] '''Players:''' ?[[BR]] '''Location:''' ?[[BR]] '''Time:''' ?[[BR]] '''Winner:''' ?[[BR]] '''Prize:''' ?[[BR]] Scores | '''PLAYER''' | '''SCORE''' | | Player 1 | ??? | | Player 2 | ??? | | Player 3 | ??? | | Player 4 | ??? | | Player 5 | ??? | What happened during this game? Comments from the players? --["Ron Hale-Evans"] === Medici x2 === http://www.ludism.org/scpix/20031011/18_medici.jpg '''Game:''' ? [[BR]] '''Players:''' ?[[BR]] '''Location:''' ?[[BR]] '''Time:''' ?[[BR]] '''Winner:''' ?[[BR]] '''Prize:''' ?[[BR]] Scores | '''PLAYER''' | '''SCORE''' | | Player 1 | ??? | | Player 2 | ??? | | Player 3 | ??? | | Player 4 | ??? | | Player 5 | ??? | What happened during this game? Comments from the players? --["Ron Hale-Evans"] At one point in the second game, we threw away too many cards early in a round and we all realized that there wouldn't be enough cards for everyone's holds. Suddenly prices shot up like crazy and the bidding got out of control. I tried a strategy of getting whatever I could for cheap, but it worked very poorly. I believe Jay was trying the same strategy last night (in Tacoma) and it didn't work for him either. --["Steve Dupree"] === Apocalypse === http://www.ludism.org/scpix/20031011/19_apocalypse.jpg '''Game:''' ? [[BR]] '''Players:''' Mark Haggerty, ["Eric Yarnell, ND"][[BR]] '''Location:''' Top of the stairs[[BR]] '''Time:''' 2130 h roughly to midnight[[BR]] '''Winner:''' Mark[[BR]] '''Prize:''' An interesting experience[[BR]] Scores | '''PLAYER''' | '''SCORE''' | | Mark Haggerty | Wild victory | | ["Eric Yarnell, ND"] | Miserable defeat | What happened during this game? There was an immediate problem with this game--the randomized start conditions led to Mark's forces being consolidated in northwestern Europe and Eric's being scattered all over the place. Since consolidation of forces is the name of the game, Mark had a huge initial advantage, which he fairly quickly parlayed into a dominating position including taking and holding several nuclear missiles. By the time midnight rolled around, our preset time to leave, it was so obvious Mark was going to win there was no reason to continue. Oddly, Mark chose not to fire off any of his nuclear missiles. Eric was also dramatically more effective at guessing Mark's combat numbers than the reverse. Comments from the players? A war game at Seattle Cosmic? What is the world coming to? Ha ha. The randomized start condition has got to go. A simple process of each player alternately choosing the starting cities, akin to setup in Risk, would easily compesate for this. Some other game mechnanics seem rather odd. For example, units cannot move unless they remain connected to the territory they left (ie one unit must always remain in a territory if others move out of it). Additionally, nuclear missiles can never move unless they are being fired. The combat method of the attacker choosing a number on a die then having the defender guess at it is intriguing but also really slows the game down, if one attempts to figure out the psychology of things. If definitely seems like it would be worth playing this game again without randomized start conditions, and then to tinker with some of the bizarre-seeming other mechanics. Perhaps they keep the game balanced, perhaps they are just weird. Only playtesting time will tell. --["Eric Yarnell, ND"] == NEXT MEETING == Saturday, 18 October 2003, 5:00 PM at the house of ["Kisa Griffin"] and ["Meredith Hale"] in Tacoma. Come play for fun and FABULOUS PRIZES from the PrizeBag! Remember, Seattle Cosmic Game Night occurs every weekend, in one of three locations: Kent, Mill Creek, or Tukwila. [mailto:rwhe@ludism.org Email Ron Hale-Evans] for a full schedule and directions. If you come, please bring a snack or drink to share (cookies, chips, soda, juice, etc.) == Supporting Seattle Cosmic and Games to the Rescue == GamesToTheRescue is a philanthropic project of the [http://www.ludism.org/ Center for Ludic Synergy] and [http://www.ludism.org/scwiki/ Seattle Cosmic Game Night]. The aim of the project is to provide game equipment and a book of game rules to hospitals, for use by patients and visitors. You can support GamesToTheRescue by buying games via [http://kumquat.com/cgi-kumquat/funagain/home?;;CFLS our Funagain affiliate program], buying [http://www.cafeshops.com/seattle_cosmic,sc_2 Seattle Cosmic Gear], and in a number of other ways. See the GamesToTheRescue page for more details. ---- NewslettersFor2003 | CategoryGameNight | FrontPage
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