This week we followed our self-imposed brief of constantly exploring new games in our group with 3 additions to the Bromsgrove Board Gamers universe. Aaron, Colin, Neil the elder and I voluntarily submitted to the torturing affections of Ignacy Trzewiczek with Robinson Crusoe, the co-operative experience that leaves players wondering how on earth they can possibly win. Out of the combined approx. 15 plays between us before this evening, only 2 victories had been racked up. The early signs were good for us; by round 6 we had established a base providing 2 food every round, largely avoided major disaster and built the woodpile we needed to signal approaching ships. All we had to do was survive until round 9 when the ships first come into range and offer hope of salvation and rescue. Of course, this is exactly what Robinson Crusoe does: builds your hopes up, lets you think you've got a chance, and then kills you. All of you, pretty much. The bad weather hit suddenly and brutally, we couldn't get enough wood to upgrade our shelter sufficiently and 3 of us died immediately! Bearing in mind that one death is sufficient to lose the game, this indicates the depth of our demise.
Robinson Crusoe is a clever game, beautiful to behold, with good mechanisms and involves all the players in the desperate struggle to escape this cursed place. However, unless you are a committed masochist there will be times when you question why you play this game. I certainly feel that I wouldn't choose to play this 2 player; maybe the joy of this game is that you struggle futilely for a while, but in the end we all fail. Is this a metaphor for life?
Meanwhile, 'Princess' finally got to play Florenza: the card game. This vast, card-based game could surely not be played on anything smaller than a pool table; it made Robinson Crusoe's form factor look tiny by comparison. The first of two hideously complicated scoring games played by Jon, David and Peter M, Florenza is a game in which players are the heads of the most important families of Florence during the Renaissance. Players try to hire the best artists to embellish the monuments of the city, but they can also build workshops and houses or join guilds to strengthen their power and have more resources and money to manage. Here's Rahdo with his runthrough:
Robinson Crusoe is a clever game, beautiful to behold, with good mechanisms and involves all the players in the desperate struggle to escape this cursed place. However, unless you are a committed masochist there will be times when you question why you play this game. I certainly feel that I wouldn't choose to play this 2 player; maybe the joy of this game is that you struggle futilely for a while, but in the end we all fail. Is this a metaphor for life?
Meanwhile, 'Princess' finally got to play Florenza: the card game. This vast, card-based game could surely not be played on anything smaller than a pool table; it made Robinson Crusoe's form factor look tiny by comparison. The first of two hideously complicated scoring games played by Jon, David and Peter M, Florenza is a game in which players are the heads of the most important families of Florence during the Renaissance. Players try to hire the best artists to embellish the monuments of the city, but they can also build workshops and houses or join guilds to strengthen their power and have more resources and money to manage. Here's Rahdo with his runthrough:
Aaron, Neil C and I rounded off our evening with a quickfire game of Red7 while Jon, David and Peter M played BoardGameGeek: the card game for the first time. Cue yet more complicated scoring!
Robinson Crusoe
Aaron
Colin *Players lost
Neil C
Peter H
Florenza: the card game
David 62 (2nd place on tie-break)
Jon 79
Peter M 62
Red7
Aaron 42
Neil C 15
Peter H 0
BoardGameGeek: the card game
David 132
Jon 122
Peter M 73
My gamer of the week, based on pure arithmetic as nothing could separate them, is Jon ahead of David for victory in Florenza and 2nd place in BoardGameGeek.
Robinson Crusoe
Aaron
Colin *Players lost
Neil C
Peter H
Florenza: the card game
David 62 (2nd place on tie-break)
Jon 79
Peter M 62
Red7
Aaron 42
Neil C 15
Peter H 0
BoardGameGeek: the card game
David 132
Jon 122
Peter M 73
My gamer of the week, based on pure arithmetic as nothing could separate them, is Jon ahead of David for victory in Florenza and 2nd place in BoardGameGeek.