Intro and a Session Report (very long)

[Susan Rozmiarek <susan@...>]

Hi everyone,

I've been lurking on this forum for a while now and enjoying the
conversations, but I think this is my first post.  A few of you may
recognize me from the Spielfrieks and Nigglybits yahoo groups.

I'm a fan of a few Icehouse games, which led me to the Piecepack
system.  So far, I haven't had any inclination to design games, but I
sure like to play them.  I've read a lot of rules to Piecepack games,
but I finally got around to creating a set and playing a few of them.
I wrote a session report in my blog and included a few pictures:

http://www.rozmiarek.info/games/index.html

Here is just the text:

All the recent activity on the Piecepack Yahoo group following the
results of the latest contest, Solitary Confinement, compelled me to
finally finish throwing together my own homemade Piecepack.  It's
nothing fancy.  I simply downloaded the graphics from the Piecepack
website and printed them out on Avery sticker sheets.  I then stuck
them on wooden discs from Hobby Lobby and squares cut from some scrap
1/4" plywood.  Voila!  Instant access to a hundred games.  I really
would like to make a nicer set.  As Ed pointed out, given the amount
of time and dollars spent on just this quick and dirty set, wouldn't
it just be easier to buy a nice commercial one?  He's right, of
course.  I guess it is just the satisfaction of creating one yourself.

I first tried out a few of the solitaire games available, while
waiting for dinner to cook:

PieceGaps:  A nice little puzzle game by Chris Brooks that is based on
a solitaire card game, Gaps, which I've never played.  This turned out
to be much harder than it looks.  I nearly won on my first try, but
then couldn't even come close.  I can see that there are some definite
strategies involved which I am still trying to figure out.

Fujisan: Next I tried this game by James Kyle, simply because the
staircase looked neat.  Another puzzle game, but quite a bit easier.
I won the basic game every time, but it was a enjoyable figuring it
out.  I then tried the variant a few times and was unable to win.

Tula:  Finally, I tried this older game from James Kyle.  It reminded
me a bit of card solitaire games like Pyramid, where being able to win
simply depends on how the cards fall.  There is only a very little
skill involved, but was a fun exercise.  I only won one of the half
dozen games I played.

I enjoyed all three of these games and am looking forward to trying
out some more, especially the contest winner, Piece Packing Pirates.
The rules to that one looked a little too long and involved for the
time I had.

Froggy Bottom: After dinner, Ed and I played this two-player game by
Clay Blankenship.  It's a race game between frogs trying to visit
their lily pads and get back home.  It is another puzzle-type game,
where you try to set things up for clever moves that allow your frogs
to cover more distance in a turn.  Ed wondered if it was a little too
easy and wants to try using only one neutral color instead of two.  I
won, but barely.  This game had some really good ideas and was better
than many published games I've played.



--

Susan Rozmiarek
http://www.rozmiarek.info