Tom Vasel:  Early thoughts on new games

Vacation is fun, and I had a terrific time.  But all good things must come to an end, and so I’m back in Korea, back on the review typing circuit.  (And wow, that review pile is rather large).  I had a terrific time in America, gorging myself on the plethora of food and spending time with family and friends.  I brought back about 250 books to read over the next coming years (I love sci-fi and fantasy fiction), as well as picking up one of the antithesis to board games - a Gameboy DS Lite. 

I rarely buy video games systems, which is a combination of lack of funds and lack of time, but I’m constantly seeking for a good handheld system for the obscenely long airplane flights and subway trips that I take each year.  I’ve been blown away with just how good the Gameboy DS is, and Advance Wars has really got me playing - kept me happy much of the trip back to Korea. 

But the highlight of my trip to America was the Origins game convention.  This is the third time in a row that I’ve gone, and each time has gotten progressively better.  I have a ton of things I’d like to say about Origins - and much of it I will say on the Dice Tower, but I thought that I would mention some things here.

First of all, I came back with a very large pile of games!  If I can remember correctly, I picked up: Abridged, Alibi, Big Sunday, Bison, Carcassonne: the Tower, Carcassonne: the Discovery, Card Football, Castle Merchants, Chiamo!, Clout, Collide-O, Conquest of Pangea, Coverup, Dead Man’s Treasure, Dungeonville, Dynasties, Evergreen, Fairy Tale, Get Nifty!, Gipf, Il Principe, seven Killer Bunnies expansions, Kinderbunnies, King of the Beasts, Knights of Charlemagne, Kooky Kalooki, Memoir: Pacific, Mimic, Mixup, Nexus Ops, No Thanks!, Number Chase, Papa Bear, Pecking Order, Pepper, Pillage & Plunder, Planet Busters, Poison, Rat Hot, Rum & Pirates, Say What!, Scepter of Zavandor, Sea Nacelle, Sevnipold, Simply Suspects, Spy Alley, Tamsk, Tempus, Thurn & Taxis, Vegas Showdown, and Xig.  I managed to fit all of the games (plus other stuff) into two suitcases, which was a bit of a feat in itself.  Now that all the games are back here in Korea with me it’s time to start typing reviews again - watch for the first sometime today.

I got to play a lot of new games because of Origins (or at Origins).  Here are my quick takes on the ones that I’ve tried so far.

Age of Empires III - The preliminary hype is true.  This is Glenn Drover (and Eagle’s) best game yet - a very well designed, terrific game.  I think people will be floored with how good it plays. 

Tempus - Well, it sold out in ten minutes, so that’s saying something.  It gave me strong vibes of Vinci and Evo, but I’m going to have to play it again, as I was absolutely decimated in my first playing of it.

No Thanks - This is one of my favorite fillers I’ve played.  I’ve owned the game for less than two weeks, and already I’ve played it almost ten times.  It’s a terrific game, one that people keep asking for with a simple yet brilliant mechanic.

Pepper - Of course Abridged is the big news from Out of the Box Publishing, but this game really caught my eye instead.  It simulates four squares, as players attempt to get rid of all the cards in their hand.  Clever cardplay and a bit of memory round out this rather interesting little game.

Thurn & Taxis - I’ve finally played this game, and it is indeed quite good.  It is not as good as Ticket to Ride (and who’s comparing these two games, anyway?), but one that I bet is still played many years from now.  I think it would have done even better with a more memorable theme.

Rum & Pirates - I haven’t played this yet - but I wanted to mention that it has one of the coolest trays to hold counters that I’ve ever seen.  I’m looking forward to this one, simply because of the theme.

Spy Alley - For an older, roll-and-move game, I don’t know what I was expecting, but this was a lot of fun!  There are many chances to bluff and use deduction in this one - a lot of it based on body language.  Not very well rated at the ‘Geek, but I found it amusing and worth trying again.

Pecking Order - That’s it?  I guess I like the game, but I’m not sure if I think it’s long enough or engaging enough.  It’s mostly guessing, and I do poorly on it.  I’ll give it a few more plays (it’s certainly quick enough), to see if my opinion improves.

Big Sunday/Pizza Box Football/Card Football:  Three football games at the show!  Big Sunday seems to be all about the plays and is perhaps a bit too retro for my tastes.  Card Football seems to be a neat little game - although perhaps more about the game than about football.  Pizza Box Football still seems to be the best of the lot.

So that’s it for new games.  I’ll be talking about my experiences much more on the show this week, and I’m looking forward to playing all these new games!  So many reviews to write - so little time!  See you all next week!

Tom Vasel
“Real men play board games”
www.tomvasel.com

© 2006 Tom Vasel

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Glad to hear you succumbed to the lure that is Advance Wars DS… I played the first two and thought the DS wasn’t going to add much more to the experience, but it did.  Definately great for those times you can’t find a board game opponent. Totally agree on No Thanks! and am still looking foward to trying some of the others you mention. Posted by Matt J. Carlson on Jul 10, 2006 at 09:17 AM | #

Tom, Great to finally meet you in person at Origins. Special thanks for showing me my first game of Cosmic Encounter. While I got crushed, there was enough there for another try. Hope to see you back in the States next summer. Open invitation if you need a place to crash in the Washington, D.C. area. Tom McCorry Former Resident of Camp Stanley, South Korea Posted by Tom McCorry on Jul 11, 2006 at 07:11 AM | #

Thank goodness there is someone else who is willing to extoll the virtues of Spy Alley! Posted by Ryan Bretsch on Jul 11, 2006 at 08:55 PM | #

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