Patrick Brennan: Gaming Snapshots 2009

It’s that time of year for reflection on the gaming that was; on the good, the bad, and the ugly. (And the eternal question of just how does that movie get rated so highly by so many people. Good movie, sure, but #4 on IMDB’s all-time list?) Anyway, the envelope if you’d be so kind…

Most Time Played

Battlestar Galactica – Far and away the leader here. I thoroughly enjoyed the series (which I began after I picked up the game), which had a depth you don’t find in most TV, delving into the question of what is humanity. The game does a wonderful job of allowing the players to immerse themselves in the mythology. The Pegasus expansion adds further theme to the endgame in a nice attempt to distract the players from feeling they’re in skill check overload at the two-hour mark. It does add some cruciality to the endgame because you wanna make pretty damn sure the Admiral is not a toaster before you get off New Caprica – but it’s a real coup moment for a Cylon if they can lie low long enough, pull the trigger and jump Galactica with all the civilian ships and humans planet-bound! A new decision to weigh up. One of the few games I play for the experience rather than the challenge.

Most Times Played

Dominion – Only just edges out Bluff for the title. I’ve picked up and enjoyed the Seaside expansion recently, liking the addition of the extra decision layer vis a vis get stuff now or get more later. The Intrigue expansion I didn’t enjoy, feeling the new layer of interaction and pussage did little but add unnecessary length to the game, moving it away from the game’s core: speed and growth.

Worst Rules

Duel In The Dark: Baby Blitz – Duel In The Dark is a wonderful thematic ride for two players, with top-class artwork and components. True, there aren’t that many decisions for the Englishman once the game’s up and going, but it’s tense nonetheless. I acquired the Baby Blitz expansion to expand the scope and ramp up the decision making, but all that’s happened so far is I’ve spent an afternoon and early evening writing up my own rule summary, trying to rationally organise all those little rule gotchas that are scattered throughout the original and the new rules into something sequential, understandable and followable. I think all but one question is resolved, but for a game that is nothing but procedural, how can rules go so wrong? I’m still looking forward to playing though.

Dog of the Year

Tain – Ignoring all the kid’s games a la The Wiggles Mix and Match Game and restricting ourselves to grown-up directed games, this year Tain slices through the opposition. Imagine playing Rock-Paper-Scissors ten times a round for eight rounds, and you’ve about got the nub of it. It couldn’t end fast enough. There was no tension, and guesswork left no room for tactics or strategy. A Polish purchase experiment for one of my gaming buddies that unfortunately went unrewarded.

Party Game of the Year

Gambit 7 – It’s a new version of an older game, Wits And Wagers, which we’ve cracked open for the first time this year. Seven questions, 20 minutes, everyone can win, you don’t have to do stupid things like drawing or charades, the best knowledge of trivia has maybe only a possible advantage. There’s huge come-from-behind win possibilities and everyone’s engaged throughout. We’ve enjoyed it.

Best Aussie Game of the Year

Endeavor – I could be claiming the traditional Australian naming rights of calling anything good from New Zealand Australian, but let’s go with making Aussie short for Australasian and we’re all good! Either way, Endeavor‘s a solid game, despite getting half the world offside with the Americanised spelling. I’ve talked about it recently and won’t re-hash, but we’ve had five plays or so over the last two months and it’s been earning its chops. Heads of State was another solid effort, but just lacked that finished sparkle which meant it hasn’t re-hit the tables. Sorts For Kids, and its parent Sorts, are both fun family-type games that I enjoyed through the year. The Wiggles Mix and Match Game ... not so much.

Favourite Two-Player Game of the Year

Roma – Now that the second edition’s out, I can claim this as a new release and help promote it a little. I can only really play my old icon-based version with fellow gamers as even we are still looking up the cheat sheets to confirm what some cards do, the icons being so vague and inconsistent. On the upside, the new version has English text and I may be able to insinuate its charms into spouse territory. It’s a wonderful mix of luck and strategy turning decisions that’s still earning plays five years after release.

Best Camel / Pirate / Ninja Catgirl Game

Uruk: Wiege Der Zivilisation – It’s oft said about these parts that any game can be improved by adding any or all of these three “essential” thematic elements to a game. We’ve enjoyed Uruk this year; it’s a nice tech-tree development card game, and I’m thinking there’s camels on one of those cards somewhere. The problem, of course, is finding wider distribution so we can find cheap copies to buy locally and then I’d be able to check for camels. (We play a friend’s copy.) Adding camels, pirates and ninja catgirls to a second edition would make the game très popular and solve all those distribution problems! It’s deserving after all.

Here’s wishing everyone a happy new year of gaming.

Cheers,
Patrick

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