‘Aladdin's Dragons’ by Richard Breese.
Spiller and Dicken are examining one of Spiller's websites - that he designed- ed.. This one comprises sketches of the famous (Norman Wisdom - remember the little funny chap?) and the not so famous - quite good actually - ed.
Kendall arrives gone 8.30 pm, giving Spiller chance to comment on time-keeping. Malcolm is likely to be even later. He and Kendall have been at the same music rehearsal, Kendall needing rather less practice. Time for a quick game of 'Carcasonne'.
To Dicken's dismay, Spiller insists on carefully lifting the 'Aladdin's Dragons' board, cards and counters from the table and into the next room. It is agreed that 'Carcasonne' will continue until the first knock on the door. Kendall cannily starts and places a man in a city, Carol (who has joined for the evening) elects to farm, followed by Dicken, followed by Spiller. Kendall finishes his City (four points) and places a farmer .. And there's the knock on the door. Kendall is jubilant, winning by a clear four points. Pathetic.
The 'Aladdin's Dragons' board, cards and counters are carefully returned - cards and counters scattered everywhere.
For Carol and Malcolm this is their first attempt at 'Aladdin's Dragons'. Kendall is invited to explain the rules, but Spiller insists upon taking the honours. He makes a good fist of it, with Dicken and Kendall remaining admirably restrained. Under starter's orders and Kendall politely asks if Spiller has mentioned about buying Artefacts. Spiller has, Kendall hasn't been listening. However, Kendall's point is to remind Carol and Malcolm of the Big Mistake made by 'Phil the Friend' when he played. It's no good bidding a lot of points for Artefacts on turn 1, because you won't be able to get enough treasure to pay the cost. Dicken and Spiller agree that this has been a worthy interruption and play begins.
Malcolm is turning into quite a handy Games Evening guest. Sure, he doesn't win very often - in fact, he has come last on every occasion so far - but he does get his head round the rules and doesn't dawdle when taking his turn. These are worthy attributes.
Dicken is dawdling. Carol comments that this is 'Typical' and receives enquiring sideways glances from Spiller and Kendall.
'Aladdin's Dragons' is a game on the up. Initial qualms about the chaotic nature of magic have become less of an issue. It is essentially a secret auction game, with a few rogue tactics available. What keeps the game on the rails is that players may only play one Artefact each per turn. That's enough to make it manageable and yet still decisive. One player per turn will get chance to play two Artefacts, but that's at the cost of bidding for the 'Two Artefact Use' space.
Laying counters in turn 1 ought to be fairly quick as players have no Artefacts to compound their thinking and few treasures to start with (hence any bids for Artefacts will tend to be 1, 2 or 4 treasures). However, to new players the possibilities and probabilities are peculiarly baffling, and each player has to lay eight counters before any results are declared. In a five player game that makes for not too quick.
Revealing counters begins, with Kendall doing particularly well down in the old Dragon caves. Malcolm and Carol seem to be missing out quite badly. And why? Because, up in the Palace they've been bidding 8 and 9 point counters. Phil the Friend's Folly strikes again. Carol is awarded 1 treasure for naivety, Malcolm isn't.
Spiller starts to tell a joke. It's the David Beckham joke he told last week, so when Spiller draws his first breath, Dicken jumps in with the punch-line - 'The crocodile wasn't wearing any shoes'. Carol insists on hearing the whole joke and Dicken has to oblige. A good joke, ruined.
Round two starts. Kendall leads, but makes a fatal error. Placing his counter in Palace room 1 he manages to flip Spiller's counter - a 4 pointer. Spiller cannily asserts that no more counters be placed in said room, effectively guaranteeing his own success. General (and very generous) agreement.
Kendall's strategy has been to tool up with magic, but he is having some difficulty getting a Lamp (you need a Lamp to use magic). Carol has a Lamp and some spells and she sets about zapping people in a minor sort of way. Spiller and Dicken shrug it off - like the robust gamers they are - ed.
Dicken flips his own counter down in the third cave. General (and very generous) guffawing.
Magic is well handled in the game. You have to get some spells and a Lamp Artefact before anything happens. Then, however you can have a really good blast! Playing the Lamp Artefact allows a player to use any number of spells in the turn. Great fun - if you're the one waving the wand.
Malcolm flips his own counter in another cave. General (and very condescending) sympathy.
There's a bit of a pile up of counters in cave number 1. Dicken and Spiller are well represented and throwing Artefacts into the fray. Kendall gets his wand out. Zz-Zzumm - no resolution of this space this turn. Dicken is aghast - 'You're not even in the cave! How can you play magic in there?' Clearly, Dicken does not understand magic. Kendall explains he is playing to the rules. Others claim he is interpreting them (??).
Kendall plays more magic. It is sullenly received.
Turn 5 and it looks like being the last (there should be at least two more) - not much time left. Carol plays some magic; all other players must play their counters face up. Time passes and passes and passes. Definitely, the last turn.
Cave number 1 is awash with treasure and Spiller grabs most of it.
Zz-Zzumm - Kendall waves his wand, everyone ducks. Kendall is out of decent spells, but exploits the fear-factor. Carol picks and chooses her way through various victims. Spiller and Dicken enjoy a titanic struggle in Palace room 1 (more rules get interpreted). Kendall is mugged by Carol for the final Artefact. Spiller holes out with 6 Artefacts, Dicken and Kendall share second spot with 5 apiece. Malcolm romps home in fourth place (4 Artefacts). Carol manages just 3.
Let it be recorded that Spiller has won and that he has won without the use of magic. He claims this to be a magnificent achievement.
Zz-Zzumm - 'til the next time!
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'Aladdin's Dragon's' - 28/02/01
A perishing cold evening, so there is some surprise when Ian arrives at Dicken's wearing thin nylon jogging trousers. "Going for a run?" , quips Dicken. Ian is stoical, taciturn, all set for a marathon session of electric wit and hard-nosed gaming. On a lighter note, Kendall presents his brother with gifts from America. It's only been a month since he got back and Woking is a long haul at this time of year. Unimaginative though it may be, everyone agrees that a T-shirt is always useful and preferable to a crystal Statue of Liberty. Ian recalls - with genuine horror - a friend's salt and pepper pot in the form of the Empire State Building and King Kong.
Spiller is late. So late that by the time he arrives, Ian has already had a run-down of the rules for 'Aladdin's Dragon's . Spiller sees fit to explain some of the rules again. Kendall reminds everyone that he won this game on the previous playing, and manfully offers to be first player (he takes the Camel marker) as this is generally perceived to be a disadvantage. Dicken has suggested that it's probably a very different game with 4-players. We are about to find out.
'Aladdin's Dragons' is a bidding / auction based game. Bids are made in turn and secretly, using tokens valued 1 to 9 - excepting 3 (there may be some deep significance behind the absence of 3, but there's no explanation). Placing these tokens is the 'action' part of the game. Once they are all placed, they are revealed room by room and the player with highest value takes the spoils in the respective room.
Dicken got the game for Christmas from his Mum and Dad. There's something very 'Waddingtons' about that, isn't there? 'Careers'... 'Wildlife'... 'Buccaneer' ... jumpers for goal-posts. It's also the sort of game that any Mum and Dad would like to buy, then and now, because it's got a big, colourful board. And at the bottom of the board are the five Dragons! In their Lairs!
All tokens being placed the spoils are allocated. Everyone has managed to get some treasure from the Lairs, Spiller has cornered the one treasure for three market (' Old Lamps for New' ) and Kendall, in the Camel market has decided that offering to go first wasn't such a good idea after all.
The Guard is only valued at 2 points and so everyone is able to slip by him (having placed tokens higher than 2) and into the rooms of the Palace.Now winning the game is all about getting artefacts from the four rooms of the Palace. These are revealed at the start of each round and players may bid for them as they choose. The highest bidder in each room can buy the artefact paying treasure equal to the amount bid. It's a very good system and keeps you on your toes.
Dicken manages to scoop three of the four artefacts, with Spiller taking the other one. Kendall is furious. Dicken has gained a huge advantage at very little cost. What were the others playing at! Not only does Dicken have points in the bag, but the artefacts also give him extra powers in the game. A Key allows him to slip by the Guard at no cost, another artefact allows him to double the value of any one token, whilst a third give him a 3 point bonus in any room. Perhaps as much as a twenty point advantage.
He's on a roll. "I don't know what you'll think of this. Try it." Dicken tears the shrink-wrap off his home-made salsa. Pringles are hesitantly dipped. "Too sweet". "Much too sugary" . "I wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't mentioned it. But, now that you have ...." Ian has got the hang of it. He hasn't done too well, but he's afloat with the idea of the game. Round two sees him bidding 15 for an artefact. No-one has ever had fifteen treasures in stock in this or the previous game. Ian reveals he has six - he can't buy what he's bid for. More-over his bidding in earlier rooms has been weakened allowing Spiller and Dicken to capitalise. Kendall suggests that the game is ruined and should be revoked and a fresh game started. Spiller compromises on Ian getting the artefact for six. Kendall has yet to claim an artefact. "He must have loads of treasure" ..... Dicken, the master of disinformation, slips smoothly into action.
On cue, Dicken's tooth shatters. Could he have deliberately engineered this incident to distract from his winning form? Surely not .... He spits the debris into his hand whilst explaining that it's happened before, and that his dentist will charge him £200. Spiller moves into role play mode..."That'll be £200, Rinse! and don't go eating that home-made salsa in future...Kendall brightens up, has a look in Dicken's mouth and contemplates life with false teeth.
Dicken is still on a roll. Spiller and Ian chip away at the edges, Kendall tries to match him head-to-head. He is unstoppable. After five rounds Kendall has collected two artefacts which, at the end of the game will count as a plus in the event of a tie for first place - this does not console him. Some plussing chance of that happening!
Dicken wins out with ten artefacts; Spiller has seven, Ian has four, Kendall has three. It's generally felt that the magic rules will need to be in operation in the next game in order to mount attacks on the tall poppy. Over all, it's felt that this is an interesting game with good production values - but we await final judgement until after trying the 'magic', rules. Watch this space.
It's 10.00 p.m. and Ian feels there's not time for a second game. He is rudely proved wrong, being thrown into 'Carcasonne' without any attempt to explain the rules to him. He comes last. Kendall wins with a welter of farmers and just the right type of tile at just the right time to stop Dicken making it two in a row!. No mention of foot and mouth for the entire evening. We do have some taste.
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