'Doge' by Leo Colovini and 'Peanuts' by Heinz Meister
Gamesnight ………. ‘Don Quixote’ by Reinhard Staupe
Roz, Derek, Dicken arrive in that order and all bearing gifts of food and drink. Indeed Dicken has a bottle of fine beer brought all the way from Boulogne – regrettably it’s not for sharing.
Kendall has already set up his new game, ‘Don Quixote’. Bought as a game to use with pupils at his school, it is billed as a cross between ‘Take it Easy’ and ‘Carcassonne’. Roz and Derek look bemused – amazingly neither have played either.
But first to more important matters; which bag of nibbles? Roz simply can’t decide and turns to her husband. ‘Doritos!’ says Derek with a decisiveness that brings a compliment from both Dicken and Kendall. ‘…. Or… maybe….’
‘Don Quixote’ is maximum four players. Each has a grid board and the same selection of twenty-four tiles. A deck of cards determines which grid space is to be used each round and players then decide which of their available tiles to place there. The game is in three phases (9 tiles, 7 tiles, 5+1 end tiles) at the end of each, scoring takes place.
Say it or write it quick and it sounds straight-forward. And so it is. However, there are seceral scoring strategies and these cause rather more confusion – particularly the knights who defend the frontier (‘Ni! Ni!’). These have to be adjacent to the grid edge, connected by a road and in the appropriate half of the tile. Then you need 4 points worth in the first phase, 8 points in the second and 12 points in the third. Roz has got the hang of it by the end of the game – that’s to say, the second game.
Dicken is enjoying the game, but keeps looking for evidence of Sancho Panza and his donkey and Don Quixote. OK, so it’s not re-telling the story, but it does have wind-mills, churches, castles and lots of knights. All of these score points by connecting with roads and thereby creating groups. The larger the groups, the better the points.
The third phase and Kendall is bemused by the need for the sixth tile to be separated so that it and it alone is used as the last tile. Roz explains – unless thus, players would be able to allocate tiles for the best grid positions with total certainty. An ingenious solution, that still seems improbable (surely it only affects one tile?).
Game over. Kendall wins, followed by Dicken, Derek and Roz,
Time for another…..
Game over. Kendall wins, followed by Dicken Roz, Derek. Much lower overall scores this time due to a devilish initial placement of the 6 point castle.
Just got time for ‘Hanging Gardens’. This game was introduced to the Ragnars by Rob and Katrina. R + K rate it as one of their favourites and had gone so far as to tell the designer himself – apparently he was ‘very pleased’.
‘Hanging Gardens’ has a similar feel to ‘Alhambra’ – and it’s not just the gardens (actually not all gardens as it happens – there are housing, water, building and garden squares – all different colours). Player order rotates, giving each first player the chance to draw first of four cards. These are a grid of six that provide the foundations for the ‘gardens’ themselves as well as one two or three garden squares. Gardens squares must always sit on foundations, otherwise the cards can be positioned any which way overlapping previous cards. Once a group (3, 4, 5 or 6) of the same coloured gardens is made, players place a temple in that group and may then draw a tile. Tiles are in various sets and ….that’s how points for victory are scored.
Doesn’t sound to have that much in common with ‘Alhambra’, but the simple decision making, tile-laying, group scoring and overall game length make it appealing in the same way and to the same ‘gateway game’ market.
Kendall starts, but gets nothing out of the first draw – but then that’s the same for the rest of the players. Next round Roz gets a ‘no-brainer’ – a set of three on the same card. She places it, places a temple (squares near the middle seem best; cards can’t be placed on temples, so. keep them out of the way) and draws a yellow tile. Dicken and Derek soon have their first tiles, but Kendall is struggling.
The nibbles and dips are still not exhausted – no humus at the local shop; salsa and garlic dip are no substitutes.
The game progresses with Derek getting some groups of five allowing a better choice of tiles. The six tile group is a game-winner – if a player is prepared to play for it. This allows a draw of any tile on the tile board and a free tile from the top of the deck. In addition, there’s every chance that the group can be subsequently split to generate another tile taking opportunity. But it’s one of those games where the tiles that players are collecting keep appearing on the tile board. No six-pointers tonight.
Game over. Kendall wins, followed by Dicken, Derek, Roz
Verdict: ‘Hanging Gardens’ preferred of the two, but both are worthy additions to the Ragnar library.
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Games night....... 12th December ‘Diplomacy’ and ‘Lost Cities’ by Reiner Knitzia
Unusually Spiller has cried off. He is double-booked. Dicken arrives at Kendall’s armed with beer and Spicy Pringles and a Ragnar Christmas card. A generous offering on an evening where the two old adversaries will be going head to head. But that’s for later. Meanwhile there’s to be a brief look at Kendall’s birthday present from the summer (courtesy of wife Sandi). Nothing less than ‘Diplomacy’. The beginning of the rise and fall of Avalon Hill and a teenage obsession (not to be confused with Debbie Harry) for both Kendall and Dicken. Timothy (Kendall’s son) is immediately taken with the board, the components and the atmosphere – but then he is due for bed, so tough!
The only real hope of playing the great game these days is for a Ragnaring of the rules to allow more speed and less writing of orders. There is a 2 player set-up for the game, so following that Dicken plays Britain, France and Russia whilst Kendall is Germany, Austria and Turkey. Italy is neutral. A turn order is created by drawing countries randomly and play gets underway. Dicken prods a British fleet into the North Sea, Kendall’s Germans occupy Holland etc. Each country gets to do one action only and then the cycle starts again. Support is indicated by a counter, matching the country being supported being placed under the supporting army / fleet. Otherwise the game is pretty much the same as ever.
The first year (2 complete turns) comes to an end, reinforcements are placed and a second year begins. So far the familiar patterns are coming out well and amidst the carnage of 1914 Europe, there is a relative harmony. The second year doesn’t go so well. It’s soon obvious that both Russia and Germany are completely without hope, being throttled by two adversaries each. Without the secret orders there is little chance of playing a blinding move to stave off disaster. In addition the tensions created by secrecy are gone.
The game is aborted. Why anyone thought a 2 player ‘Diplomacy’could work is a moot point, but ignoring that there are suggestions for the drawing board to consider. Most notable is the idea of rolling a dice to determine the number of actions to be carried out per player in each phase of the cycle. Whether any of this would actually speed up the game is to be discovered. Game-testing with Paul and Liz is considered, but then again...... speed ?!?
And so to ‘Lost Cities’ – ‘a game that does work’, quotes Dicken eloquently enough. After the briefest of reminders of the number of cards needed, the value of bonus points etc. play commences. And this is how it goes ......
- Dicken wins game 1 – Kendall moans about his cards
- Dicken wins game 2 – Kendall moans about his cards
- Dicken wins game 3 – Kendall moans about his cards
- Dicken suggests making game 4 the last of the evening
- Kendall wins game 4 – and suggests making it first to 5 wins
- Kendall wins game 5 – Dicken moans about his cards
- Dicken wins game 6 – both players playing in all five suits (amazing!)
- Kendall wins game 7 – Kendall in just three long suits
- Kendall wins game 8 – Kendall in just three long suits, Dicken moans
- Kendall wins game 9 - Dicken moans .... graciously enough
Good stuff. Great game. How does he do it? Something to do with having to make decisions that inevitably mean shafting yourself later on. And that gives the game lots of tension from start to finish. And, recalling from many moons ago .... that’s what ‘Diplomacy’ has too.
Just time to agree to see ‘The Return of the King’ with the kids before Christmas and then Dicken is gone into the night.
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