I did go to the Murder Mystery Theater, so let me offer a review that puts a finer point on it:  Don’t go.  It’s just a very amateurish improv show with a vermicelli thin skeleton of a murder mystery “plot”.

Eh...Lokomotive Werks is very OOP now. I’ve been looking for a copy for about half a year now, to no avail.

Curses hurled in your general direction for making more people aware of this game Dale! ;-)

Ow!  I STILL have a few festering wounds from all those attacks Dale made on my buildings in Balam!  (Although to be fair, pretty much the whole table took delight in trashing my structures--and I even managed to crash down a few of my own due to poor dice rolling!) I’ll be talking about my Balam experience in a future column.

Just to be clear, while I agree with Dale’s assessment that the part of the city the hotel is in is a bit run down, it is in no way seedy.  I felt completely safe walking the streets of Chattanooga at all hours of the day.  That’s quite an accomplishment for a city of over 100,000 people.

I may have to give Locomotive Werks another try.  It got a good deal of play in our group when it first came out, but we concluded the design, while interesting, was flawed.  But it’s getting such praise lately that I may have to revisit it.

Finally, I agree with Chef Dale’s assessment concerning the state of Italian food in Chattanooga (and let’s face it, you can’t help but trust the opinion of a man named Yu where Italian food is concerned).  I went to one small Italian restaurant which had only three sub sandwiches on the menu.  No steak and cheese, no sausage.  But they did have plenty of types of Muffalettos!  I got a very weird meatball sub that featured burnt meatballs (which, if you think about it, is pretty hard to accomplish) and a spicy sauce.  Quite edible, but not like anything else I’ve ever sampled.  I think I’ll try to steer clear of the Italian cuisine in future visits to the city!

Sounds like a good time, with good games, and great people.  Awesome.  I need to get my name on that invite list somehow...does anyone know what type of bribery Greg is most susceptible to?

Michael - pfft.  You should have purchased the game when it was available! <g> I’ve now convinced at least four people in the past two years that they really want Lokomotive Werks… Just wait until Great Lakes Games—I’ll likely find yet another convert!

Larry - pfft.  You should try Lokomotive Werks—but I warn you, it may not be readily available <g>

Dale

Chattnooga is a wonderful place for a convention.  15 years ago the downtown area was a dump, and I was actually afraid to venture into it.  It has gone through—and continues to go through—a renaissance of sorts, thanks in large part to the incredible Aquarium that is located alongside the Tennessee River.  It is truly a remarkable place.  The entire area around it has blossomed, filled with shops, restaurants, art district and amazing park on the north shore of the river. 

The renovations are slowly expanding southward.  Many buildings are under renovation, and new shops and restaurants are opening in these once abandoned buildings.  I hope this renaissance continues.

Regarding the Murder Mystery Theatre, I was quite disappointed in the show.  I expected a murder mystery and, as Jay says, what we received was an amateurish comedy show.  Yuck.  I will say, however, that I enjoyed the food quite a bit.  There were several Italian offerings that were quite tasty.  My favorite restaurant, however, was the Easy Seafood Company, which is owned by a guy from N’Awlins.  The food was excellent!

Don’t let Dale pfft you Larry.  My reaction after playing Locomotive Werks was that there was a flaw in it as well. I can’t remember what we thought the flaw was now.  Though I do remember liking the game and I guess it will need to come out for another play soon. 

I’m actually surprised that someone didn’t pick the game up and try to develop it a bit.  Whatever I thought the flaw was, there was plenty there.

While your description of Gulf Games does sound inviting, it is my understanding that it is another one of those invite-only conventions?  You might want to point that out in your run down of the next Gulf gathering in case folks don’t know and try to figure out how to attend.  Or am I mistaken - it seemed to be invite-only when I looked into it a couple years back? 

I’m sure you focused on your own experience, but is it still a very highly family-oriented thing with quite a few younger folks around?  (I couldn’t tell from your comments.)

Italian food?  From what I remember, Chattanooga is THE place to go for ribs (can’t remember the name of the restaurant, but it was well-known by the locals). 

Maybe it’s time to start lobbying an American (or Canadian) publisher to redevelop Locomotive Werks.  They could even rename it “Chattanooga Choo Choo.”

The “rib” place in Chattanooga is “Sticky Fingers” and, yes, it is quite good. Sadly, I didn’t make it there this time.  My wife has grown a bit weary of BBQ since we moved to East Tennessee, so I try to take her to enjoy different fare whenever I can!

Matt:  Yes, Gulf Games is an invitation-only event.  We do that for a number of reasons, which I have discussed in one of my previous columns on this site.

Children are welcome, and a significant part of the events.  Games are played with them throughout the event, and there are contests in which they participate.  For the most part they remain well behaved.  We do maintain an 11PM curfew for the younger children, and have found that is effective.

Matt—sorry for not making in clearer.  Gulf Games in an invitation only event.  However, there are some open events that give you a similar feel.  First of all, BGG.con (held each November in Dallas) is a similar-type event, though a bit larger!

Also, the open gaming room at Origins gives you a similar feel as well—though not necessarily quite as intimate.

There are also many other smaller invitational gatherings across the country that you may be able to be involved in that have started up in the past few years.  (Such as my own Queen City Confluence!) You could always work on starting your own too!

Dale

Sadly, I got my ribs from a place other than Sticky Fingers and was quite disappointed.  Next time, I’ll have to ask around about the quality rib joints!  (Mmmm...ribs!)

And the kids at Gulf Games are great!  They’ve been raised around games their whole life, so not only do they like games, they learn them easily and are usually tough competitors.  There is no shame in losing to a 7-year-old at Gulf Games!

I understand the invite-only reasons, wasn’t sure how broad your target audience for your column was… was thus just suggesting you make a note of that somewhere next time.

Is BGG.con quite so family-friendly?  I got the impression it was far more “boardgamer hardcore” similar to Origins’ open gaming room.  I don’t think I’d feel comfortable with my kids (which are a bit too young for games at the moment, but work with me here) playing at Origins or BGG.con unless I was playing the same game with them or at just one game over or something… Maybe others would have less “paranoid” preferences.

Matt—Gulf Games is invite only, but I don’t think that talking about it limits the audience for my column… However, you point is well taken, and I will try to make clear when I’m talking about an invitation-only event

As far as BGG.con goes, I would not call it family friendly.  There are really not many other events planned for the family, and when I was there last year, there were no kids that I can remember.  The Board Room at Origins was a bit more open, but you’re right that most of the players in there were adults. 

Though I don’t even take the kids to Gulf Games, I would really only consider bringing them to events such as Gulf Games or Great Lakes Games (another invitation-only event) that are also focused on families.

Dale

Matt,
If you are looking for a gaming convention that is family friendly, I might suggest WBC (the World Boardgaming Championships).  I say might, because it is definitely not the right venue for everyone.  The focus is on tournaments, but I understand that open gaming has increased.  Like Gulf Games, WBC has become a family tradition for many gamers with kids that have been attending for so long that they are soon going to be adults bringing their own kids back.  There is a junior tournament track with events scheduled just for kids.  There are also family oriented events like the father-daughter crokinole tournament.  I would caution that, like Gulf Games, the “family” best suited to the environment is the traditional “man as the head of the household” kind of family.  Men can play their games while their non-gaming women-folk supervise the children playing games, take the kids to the pool, or go shopping while the men “babysit”.  I am being sarcastic and a bit feminist, but the point I am really trying to convey is that even at family friendly events, at least one of the parents must take responsibility for their own children.  There isn’t a day care set up to watch the kids while both parents game to their hearts content.  For example, if there is a curfew in the game room, then typically a parent must sit in a dark hotel room after putting the children to bed.  Of course, this may be better than not getting to go to game conventions at all--a reality for many gamers with kids.
Just another point of view…
Valerie Putman

Lokomotive Werks was designed by Dieter Danziger, not Han Heidema.  Han’s games for Winsome are West Riding and its successors.

Okay, I went back to see what my objection was to Locomotive Werks when we first played it back in 2002.  Here’s the note I sent about it to Counter.  We never played the game again after I penned this, so I don’t know how relevant it is, but I present it for what it’s worth:

“The difficulty in the game is the iambic pentameter set up by the fact that the turn order is in inverse order to the player’s cash on hand.  This happens because a player will invest in a pricey railroad, giving him little money and an early spot in the turn order.  Usually, he won’t make enough on his next turn to invest again, so now he has quite a bit of cash, giving him a late spot.  Next turn, he can invest again, and so on.  This seesawing doesn’t feel quite right, but for most of the game, it’s not a serious problem.  During the endgame, however, it’s deadly.  The issue is that going first during the last turn is a huge advantage (and going last is a killer).  Unfortunately, when the last turn will occur is quite unpredictable (since it can depend on the dice values) and one’s turn position during this turn seems to be neither a product of skill nor of how well one is doing in the game.  This leads to a fairly unstable game where accidental timing tends to be more important than how well you’ve played.

“Here are a couple of suggestions we’ve come up with to try to avoid the end game problem.  One thought is to use averaging dice to generate demand, making this process more predictable.  A better idea might be to only use those dice for the ‘immortal’ trains (the four trains that never become obsolete).  Since these trains dominate at the end, this would go a long way to reducing the extreme variability in train orders at the end, without affecting the ordering mechanism during the rest of the game, where it seems to work.  I still feel, though, that this only addresses half of the problem.  I just don’t think basing turn order on money is a sound idea.  Cash on hand is a very inaccurate estimate of how well a player is doing and this plagues the game throughout, not just at the end.  I think the best indicator for how well a player is doing (and therefore, how late they should be going in the turn order) is the total amount of income they have earned throughout the entire game.  This money could have been reinvested or held for another turn, but either way, it represents how strong the player’s position is.  So my suggestion is to keep a running total of how much each player earns, either on a scorecard or on paper (probably the better method).  Use the total to determine turn order each turn.”

Larry, I agree somewhat with you comments—but I counter with the argument that manipulation of your place in turn order is paramount to success in the game.  There comes a point where the player has to decide whether he is going to spend all his cash and invest in the future—even if he cannot sell all the trains that he will produce that turn—in order to end up with a low level of income which in turns allows him to go first in the next round. 

Early on, I think it is likely best for players to spend down as much as possible in order to get their economic engine started.  However, come the midgame (once the first 3 train is developed) there is a lot of strategy in trying to manipulate your turn order.

Not only do you need to make decisions about where you will be in turn order, you also have to start deciding when you’re going to begin saving money to push for the goal of $300.

Finally, there is some benefit to going last in turn order near the end-game.  Going last gives you a shot at developing the most advanced train without having any competition from your opponents for at least one turn.  Sometimes, just that small advantage can reap large rewards in Lokomotive Werks.

Anyways, if you ever get it to the table again, it’s a few more things to think about

Dale

Well, I’d be happy to be wrong in this instance, Dale, as there was much in the game we liked.  Maybe we can have a game the next time we get together--assuming I can keep you from repeatedly trouncing me in Balam!