Doge' by Leo Colovini and 'Peanuts' by Heinz Meister .
Games night...... 2nd January2003
8.00 p.m. and Dicken knocks and enters. Kendall is aghast. Games Nights don’t start until 8.15. The kids are still up, in fact the girls are just finishing a ‘show’ – dancing along to ‘Hey baby!’ Worse still, Dicken has only just explained that he told the others 8.00 p.m. when Malcolm knocks and enters! After the pleasantries about the New Year, the three gamers stand around like over-grown schoolboys. ‘What’s this game about?’ demands Kendall’s eldest.
Timing is everything. Kendall has it down to a fine art. Too early and the kids don’t settle, the wife (Sandi) gets annoyed and the evening is frosty. Better to pack them off to bed in a relaxed fashion, run the Hoover round and make pleasant noises about how helpful everyone is. Tonight even Spiller arrives early.
The good thing is that there are two new games to get heads around, so without much ado Kendall zips through the rules to ‘Doge’. This is Kendall’s Christmas present from Dicken and Spiller – though there was something of a mix up which resulted in Spiller forgetting he’d contributed to it, only to remember again having already begun to organise another present, which now has to be cancelled ( Sandi will be getting a little something and will not have to share ‘Doge’).
Having read the full rules twice, Kendall is able to use the crib sheet to guide others through. It’s the sort of game that needs a crib sheet as the mechanics overlap between different sections and it takes a bit of time to hold the pattern of elements in the head. The game features Venice (where the designer lives – nice touch) and is essentially a bidding game in which players build houses, which convert into palaces. References to Monopoly cannot be avoided. The notes and the box wording suggest a tie up between the systems in the game and the peculiar system for electing the actual Venetian Doge. Phil’s Venice game featured this (excellent fun in itself), but memory fails as to whether there is a similarity.
Talking of Phil .... there is money to be paid. £30 each for the Ragnar Bash in Derbyshire this March. 8 or 9 Ragnars due to be renting a converted barn over a weekend. Dicken produces his and Spiller’s cheque, but no envelope. ‘I thought we could save on postage’ i.e. ‘I thought I could save on postage’.
Much of ‘Doge’ happens simultaneously. Everyone secretly selects a card showing one of the Districts of Venice (or the Quarantia) and then places 1-4 markers onto it to make a bid. The cards are then revealed and the markers placed (though not revealed). In a four player game this happens three times and then Phase 1 is over. In Phase 2 bids in each District are calculated. This follows a random order, but one in which players know which Districts are coming up next. The winner gets to place 2 houses, the runner-up places 1 house. The winner also gets to place an Advisor or move a house between Districts. An Advisor will give an extra vote in another District; moving a house may enable speedier building of a Palace. Palaces are built when a player has the correct number of houses in a District – which starts at 3 and increases to 7 as Palaces get built.
Malcolm hasn’t been with us for some time. He has been doing the work of two men, whilst being paid his usual salary – not a good gaming mechanic. He and Spiller begin a happy period of bidding into the same Districts – not a good thing.
The winner of the game is the first player to get a Palace in each of the 6 Districts or 7 places in 5 Districts or 8 Places in 4 Districts.
Kendall makes the best start and by moving houses around is able to build two Palaces in the first turn. There’s not a lot anyone can do about this sort of thing at the start. As the Design notes say, patterns of play begin to emerge as the game progresses. Kendall’s flying start means that the others are playing catch up.
Beer and Pringles are silently consumed. Dicken remarks on the lack of banter that this type of game generates. The others mutter distractedly and get back to mulling over their next bid.
Spiller savours the delights of the Quarantia. No houses or Palaces here, but the chance to place 2 Advisors or move 2 houses. Advisors are very useful and if placed well can be used twice before being ‘neutralised’ by someone else winning in their respective District. They are also quite charming fellows, sporting the Insignia for their District and wearing the hat of the player who controls them.
Kendall storms on and manages to get a lead of two Palaces over the rest of the field. Sandi (still irritated) asks why the cheese and biscuits haven’t been brought in, only to be met by polite mutterings from the brain addled crew.
Dicken sets a record for the longest delay in making a decision – a good two minutes pondering whether to place an Advisor or move a house. Time for Kendall and Spiller to discuss the merits of the ‘Two Towers’ and to recall the Ent Moot (‘We have decided you are NOT Orcs’).
Occasional mistakes are made. Typical is the placing of Bids in the wrong District, which is usually a result of pre-planning the next two bids and then putting the wrong card down. Dicken first, then Spiller then Kendall. If Malcolm makes the same mistake he cannily keeps quiet about it – or maybe just doesn’t realise what he’s done.
Kendall gets to 6 Palaces in 5 Districts and the rest are still on 4 Palaces. It should be plain sailing from here, but players can begin to stalk the tall poppy using Advisors and countering bids made. Spiller successfully thwarts Kendall on two occasions and gets within sight of the winning post himself. Dicken and Malcolm start to come up on the rails. Kendall begins to sweat and mumbles about players looking at the number of markers he places on the card prior to it being played (this may or may not be a valid objection). But luck is with him. San Cristo District pops out first and the others concede.
A good game (Dicken insists it has a high ranking in at least one review), but perhaps not one that will be played so regularly. After all there are plenty of these City based games around and plenty of other bidding games. Might we be tiring of the genre?
Kendall gets out his ‘Peanuts’ (no relation to penis) game – a Christmas present from Phil. Moans and groans from Spiller and Dicken as it’s getting late, a new set of rules and a not very inspiring board. Kendall insists they’ll enjoy it, tempting them with a comparison to the classic ‘Liar’s Dice’. Setting up is easy but preposterously time consuming ( Dicken compares it to the awesome set up needed for 'Warrior Knights', which some of you may remember - nice one Derek – each player gets 17 (!!) x $100 notes, 8 x $500 and 4 x $1000. This is a game in which players lose lots of money.
Kendall zooms through the rules, leaving everyone at least as baffled as at the start of ‘Doge’. No time for further explanation – Kendall merely playing everyone’s first turn for them. Malcolm wins round one and as a result everyone else pays him pots of money. Spiller immediately sets out to ruin himself and the game. Throwing recklessly, paying the bank and others to move on he completes a full circuit, but as luck would have it ends up on $2400 – top dog. Everyone else pays Spiller pots of money.
And so it continues – another review needed to explain the rules to this one. If you get a chance to play it, do. It’s got some decision making, but is essentially a gambling game with lots of good honest luck floating around. One of those games where nobody minds helping other people and where there’s rampant delight at the rotten fortune of others.
Kendall runs out of money and loses. Malcolm has most money and wins. His first victory since joining with us over a year ago. A man of few vices – no drinking, no swearing – but clearly a gambler at heart.
11.00 p.m. finish, so a good long session to start the New Year.
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