We need to talk about Kiev-ing

If it’s Tuesday, then it’s games day. No need for explanation, just turn up at the pre-arranged house and spend a happy evening in the company of like-minded people.

I got there a little early, and found Ian, Martin and Joe (the host) trying out a new game that Joe picked up in a charity chop, called Stack. In this game, everyone has lots of dice, that they roll at the same time (try to avoid the “dice everywhere” effect, the rule book warns) and then you have to stack the dice, without them falling over, with each die going on top of another die of the same value. Anyone who successfully stacks four dice gets to keep them, and scores that value.

We were halfway through when my deliberately wonky stack of three collapsed under Martin’s fourth dice. We checked the rules to discover his forfeit. We discovered that he had to miss a turn and maybe roll a die to see how many points he lost. We also saw that anyone attempting to use an opponent’s die would be penalised.

We weren’t sure when you would want to do that, unless you’d forgotten which colour you were. We suspected that some of these rules had little to do with strategy and more to do with padding out the rules to cover at least one side of an A4 sheet of paper.

During the game, Sam, Gonz and Matt arrived, and Martin suggested that if we stopped now, we could pretend it never happened. Still, at least Joe got some nice dice for only a pound. So the seven of us discussed what to play. Russian Railroads returned to the table as Game Of The Month. Me, Joe and Martin said we’d be happy for another go. Then, after some debate, Sam joined us too, while Gonz, Ian and Matt chose Kingdom Builder.

By now, you would think that a winning strategy would have been found, but not just yet. Matin, who’d won so easily by using industries decided to mix things up and try building a railroad. Sam went for his classic tactic of a railroad plus multipliers, and I ended up going for a bit of everything. I had wanted to try industries, but everyone else got in on the action, too.

Martin cursed Sam’s ability to go where he wanted to go and, later in the game, my habit of picking up multipliers, apparently for no reason (I had an end-of-game bonus related to how many I had, though).

Joe, meanwhile, played smart. He maxed out industry and Kiev and St Petersburg and he got the 9-level train as a bonus, which I had my eye on. It was to prove a successful combination, as he broke the 400-point barrier and during the game he lapped first Martin and then me. Sam kept his dignity intact by only a few points.

Sam (yellow) in second just avoids being lapped by Joe. I'm further back, in third.

Joe 401
Sam 303
Andrew 292
Martin 262

On the other table, they’d managed to squeeze in two games of Kingdom Builder. The first saw Gonz hit by Explainer’s Curse, as he lost to two newbies.

Matt 29
Ian 22
Gonz 19

Or maybe he was just trying to lure them in: make them think they stood a chance and then, once they’re addicted, hit them for all they’ve got. That’s my theory, anyway. Gonz managed to win the second game by a narrow margin.

Gonz 59
Matt 56
Ian 47

We were still midway through Russian Railroads, so they began on a game of Trains. This time it was Matt’s turn to explain, as Gonz and Ian were playing the Dominion-esque game for the first time.

The four of us decided on a game of Quantum. This dice-based space-opera is “all about the fighting,” as Martin reminded us. Indeed, Sam needed no reminding after one brutal round which ended with him having no ships at all on the board. Joe’s tactic was to act like the school snitch, telling everyone when someone was about to place a cube, hoping to start an intergalactic war between his rivals. I didn’t work. Martin managed to close the game up nice and quickly, before the rest of us had really got started.

Martin 5
Sam 2
Andrew 2
Joe 1

Trains was still rolling along, so we dug out 6nimmt. It remains a chore and a joy. You face down impossible odds, placing hopeless cards, only to be saved by another player’s worse fortune. At least, you do if you’re Martin.

Woah! Super space age filters!

Martin 22
Sam 45
Joe 61
Andrew 69

And the game of Trains ended

Gonz 62
Matt 44
Ian 27

After this, we set off into the night. All of this activity leaves the form table looking like this:

						Points
Sam	2	2	2	1	1	8
Martin	1	1	4	1	2	9
Gonz	1	1	3	4	2	11
Joe	3	3	1	3	1	11
Ian	3	3	2	2	3	13
Andrew	4	2	3	3	3	15
Matt	2	2	1	5	5	15
Will	2	4	2	3	5	16

Rule Fuel

That’s what Joe should have taken before two games which both needed a walkthrough of the rules before we began, and Joe felt the full force of The Explainer’s Curse.

But to begin at the beginning: It was the core four in attendance, with a possible late arrival from Will and faint rumours of a new gamer who may have joined us but couldn’t. This newcomer is one of Joe’s “internet friends” and we worried that Joe is being groomed.

Sam and Adam ate chips and we brought Trains! to the table. This “Dominion Plus” was raved about by Joe and Adam after there first encounter with it, so Sam and I agreed to it’s quick return to the table. Joe cleverly combined rule-explanation with the lengthy time needed to set out all the cards.

We chose the Tokyo side, which meant there were only two places where I could say “I’ve been there” so I didn’t bother. When we began, Joe seemed to be in prime position, with almost half the board to himself and the rest of us clustered in the Western half. However, we found that this game relies on riding in on others’ good works. It’s all well and good keeping all your points to yourself, but to get a good score needs a little (unwilling) co-operation.

Adam was chaining his cards together so efficiently that I wondered if he’d actually dealt himself more than five cards. I asked if he was cheating, but it was meant as a compliment. Sam picked his way through the rules and seemed to be doing okay. I seemed to be the only one discarding waste when I had the chance. In fact, we managed to exhaust the waste deck which can’t have been good for the environment.

In the end, Sam won comfortably, with Joe amazed at how badly he did.

Sam 53
Adam 41
Andrew 31
Joe 28

After this, a selection of games was considered, with Zooloretto being chosen. Not the tiny dice-based game, but the full, widescreen experience of tiles being drawn from bags and zoo expansions. Sam and I were newcomers, and Joe talked us through the game. Draw tiles, place tiles on a truck (of three tiles, maximum) or take a truck or pay money to do something. That’s the bare bones of the game and I’m sure that, given time, it’s underlying strategy may reveal itself in all its clever glory. On first play, though, I simply tried to specialise and hoped for the best.

There was a notable lack of money in the game and it wasn’t until the game was almost over that Joe remembered the rule that finishing certain areas got you some cash. By then, it was too late, and when we came to count up Sam discovered that he’d misunderstood the scoring rules, and his half-finished areas weren’t as valuable as he’d thought. Joe’s paternal instincts must have distracted him once again, as he trailed in last.

Andrew 22
Adam 21
Sam 19
Joe 17

On the Form Table, I remain top but Adam looks ready to pounce.

						Points
Andrew	1	3	1	2	1	8
Adam	2	2	2	1	2	9
Sam	3	1	1	3	3	11
Steve	2	3	3	3	4	15
Hannah	3	3	4	1	4	15
Anja	3	2	5	1	5	16
Joe	4	4	4	4	2	18
Miles	2	3	5	5	5	20
Quentin	3	3	5	5	5	21
Lizzy	2	5	5	5	5	22

Chips with everything!

It was the third Roll for the Soul evening, and after the hoards that attended last time, this week we were somewhat fewer in number. Five, at most, with only four playing at once. At first, there were two: Adam and Joe, playing Zooloretto. I watched for a bit and discussed with the cafe owner the fact that board gamers don’t ask for a glass with their bottle of beer, for want of precious table space. The game itself is baffling, and Adam won as I recall. But Joe’s chips were the real winner. Very nice, they were.

Then Hannah arrived and we bagsied a bigger table (not the sticky one in the corner, though) and played Tsuro of the Seas sans dragons. I won, thanks to Adam and Hannah passing the chance to finish me off to each other until I was able to place a tile that sent them both off the board together. Joe came in second once the space in his corner ran out.

We were perhaps a little put out by the fact that, outside, a family were playing an interesting board game, which involved using a length of elastic to twang small wooden pucks through a gap in a centre partition, while your opponent tries to do the same. I wish we'd popped out to ask what it was, because I can't find it on the internet. Alas, our geek pride wouldn't allow it.

Then we played a new game. Sticheln. The simple game of trumps, except you want to avoid tricks with a certain suit, and the first card in a round is never trumps. If it sounds peculiar, then it should. But I think we got the hang of it fairly quickly.

Hannah misunderstood the rules and went through the first round trying to not pick up tricks at all, but she has an excuse. We were all distracted by a big bowl of chips being delivered to our table for free since the chef had made them by mistake.

After round one, Katy arrived, and watched us play a second round of Sticheln while she ate roast veg in a wrap or something. With chips! By now, though, we’d all had our fill so she did not have to put up with us diving in like starving seagulls.

As far as the scores went, Joe scored most (9) in round one and Adam scored most (10) in round two, with everyone else getting negative points. I enjoyed it. It’s got a flavour of 6nimmt, but without taking up so much space and also it has the added aspect of sometimes wanting to pick up cards.

Afterwards, we pondered about what the five of us could play. Then Katy said she had to dash off in a bit, so we pondered about what the four of us could play. Then Hannah said she should probably go soon, too, so the three of us decided to play Trains! The Japanese train game that is just Dominion with a board and cubes and stuff.

The idea is to use your hand of five cards (which gets recycled into your own personal deck a la Dominion) to connect and upgrade stations around Japanese cities. I chose the Osaka side of the board, since I’ve been there twice and I was able to say “I’ve been there” whenever certain stations were mentioned.

It was very Dominion-ish. I’m not convinced the board made a huge difference, but it has been a long time since I played Dominion. Adam said he was enjoying it even before he won (beating Joe by two or three points, I was miles behind). Maybe it needs a little more time for it to grow on me.

Otherwise, a nice evening and, hopefully with a little more publicity, we can get right back to an attendance in double figures next time.