Big Trouble In Little China

I'm back in the country and back to IpBoG so it's back to regular blogs with pictures. I arrive to find people playing Secret Hitler. It looked like a print and play version. I think it's a Kickstarter that's not been delivered yet but in the mean time print and play versions are taking the board gaming world by storm. As far as I can tell it's a sort of social deduction game à la The Resistance.

Rebecca had asked if I could bring in Takenoko so bring it in I did, but before we played that we played a quick game of Zaney Penguins. I finished off the night with Danny's new deduction game Deception: Murder in Hong Kong. He actually picked this up in Hong Kong where it's called CS Files. Thankfully the components still have English text on them otherwise figuring out the text would have been a deduction game in itself. I've not played Mysterium so I can't really comment but people have been saying it's a bit like Mysterium so maybe it is. It's a fifteen minute game and so never overstays it's welcome but we enjoyed it enough to play four or five games in a row.

Alex brought along Dominion, a game by Catan creator Klaus Teuber, as well as Patronize . Mike brought along Container which made it's IpBoG debut. As this there were a bunch of IpBoG classics: Dominion, Eight Minute Empire and Lords of Waterdeep.

Chaotic and Cooperative

The blog didn't get done last week due to lazyness but I do have a list of games that were played. Here goes! Arctic Scavengers, Coup, Falling, Lemonade Stand, Onward To Venus, Pit, Splendor and Timelines.

Now on to this week. After the usual bank holiday slump we were back in full flow. We actually got a record breaking 24 people, up from 23 a few weeks ago. We had a bunch of games making their first appearance at IpBoG this week including The Walking Dead: The Board Game, Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game, Spaceteam and Zany Penguins.

Zany Penguins is a game I picked up a few days before and hadn't got a change to play before. It's a 15 minute filler card game and I ended up playing six games of it. It played a bit like a multi player Lost Cities. I've heard it's kind of like a reverse Arboretum but I've never played that game so I can't really compare it. It has a terrible name, pretty average artwork, the slipperiest cards I've held (or at least tried to hold), but pretty good gameplay. Everyone seemed to like it and newcomer Matt even said he was thinking about buying it himself.

I also played Coup and Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game. I've not played this version of Legendary before but I have played Legendary Encounters: An Alien Deck Building Game which is similar but a bit more complex and much harder. The Marvel version is semi-co-op whereas the Alien version is fully co-op but the Marvel one is much to win. So much so I wouldn't really call it a co-op game, it's almost as if you're using the win condition as a timer to end the game.

Steven had picked up Spaceteam which attempts to bring the digital game to the tabletop and labels itself as a chaotic and cooperative card game. Does it succeed? I don't know, I didn't play it, but kinda is what people seemed to say. It definitely had people shouting orders at each other and frantically running around the table.

A bunch of regulars were played too including Falling, Lords of Waterdeep, Chinatown, Arctic Scavengers and King of Tokyo.

Two Years

This week was our second anniversary. Sometimes it's hard to believe it's been two years since we started Ipswich Board Gamers. In celebration of the fact that IpBoG is still running the plan was to play two player games all night. We kind of got half way there, although there were a enough two player games to go around most of them were brought by a handful of people so there wouldn't have been anyone to teach the games.

Some great two player games did get played though like 7 Wonders: Duel, Android: Netrunner, Lost Cities, Star Realms and Tash Kalar. Games that support more than two players also got played as two player like Carcassonne, Entropy, Imperial Settlers. Although you can play Entropy and Imperial Settlers with more than two players I wouldn't recommend it. To me they seem like two player games they tacked multi-player rules onto. There were some other great two player games that never got to be played like Go, Jambo, Innovation, The Duke, and a bunch of games from the GIPF series.

I started off the night with Lost Cities, the Reiner Knizia two player classic. Dan beat me but 100 points to something embarrassing. I redeemed myself in Entropy beating Dan in that game. Then we played 7 Wonders: Duel. Dan beat me by getting six different types of research which was again pretty embarrassing. Afterwards we played Imperial Settlers, Dan got off to a good start and it looked like he was going to win but I crept ahead in the final round and took the lead for the win. I finished off the night with another game of Lost Cities, this time against Mike. I managed to beat him by ending the game before he could play his best cards. If he'd have had a few more turns he defiantly would have won the game.

A bunch of non-two player games got played as well like Boss Monster, Lords of Waterdeep, Rattus, Red7, Rhino Hero and The Big Book of Madness. Back to normal next week for the usual multi-player stuff.

Twenty Sixteen

A new blog post and a new year.  And the first IpBoG in two weeks as we were closed for Christmas last week. This week everyone came along armed with their Christmas gift board games.

I brought along Port Royal and we started with that. It's a little push you luck card game. Alex won. After that we played a few games of the IpBoG staple Love Letter.

Mike had brought along 504, the big new game from Friedemann Friese. It's got a modular setup of mechanisms that give 504 possible games. We played the intro setup (combination 123). I think it fell a little flat for everyone. Mike ended up winning. However there are 503 different other combinations that could be better. I'll be interested to see how other setups differ and how different each combination feels.

Over on another table Dixit was being played. Such a deceptively hard game. This was followed by Lords of Waterdeep which Gemma won. I finished off the night with Flip City but only got half way through the game before Cult was closing and we had to leave.

Three Weeks

Okay, so it's been a while since the last blog. Three weeks ago my camera malfunctioned (what's the point in words without pictures?) and two weeks ago I couldn't make it to the club. Last week I did make it down and we got an amazing 21 attendees. That's pretty much the number we got on the first ever night. If we were to graph attendees over time it would probably look like the smile that crept onto my face when I heard the news.

Now the bad news. I remember very little about three weeks ago. I'm pretty sure I wrote some stuff down but I'm also pretty sure it went missing. I managed a single photo of Tzolk'in so I'm pretty sure that was played. I'm also pretty sure Alex won. I also brought along Dead of Winter. We beat the game pretty easily with everyone winning their secret objectives except for me and Kenny who was the unsuccessful betrayer.

The week after I know very little about but I hear people came and games were played. Somehow, without me, the group can still function.

It was pretty busy in Cult this week and we almost had trouble finding tables for us all. I was relegated to a small table at the back, away from the main group but I still managed to get a small grasp on what was played. No worse than other weeks at least. There were a bunch of new games this week. Alex had brought The Sheriff of Nottingham and Johnny had come with XCOM. It had arrived in the post that morning and still had the plastic wrap on.

I started off with a couple of game of Biblios. I came last in the first game, scoring only a single point. With a new found determination I won the second game. We followed this with Citadels and K2. Embarrassingly enough I won those too.

Even though XCOM is a timed game it took most of the night. In place of a proper rule book it comes with a tutorial on the app. In the tutorial the first three rounds are played without a time limit so you can get the hang of things. Even still the game was lost and Earth was invaded. I for one welcome our new alien overlords.

Andy had brought Splender and Lords of Waterdeep along with the Scoundrels of Skullport expansion and both got a play along with No Thanks! Mike turned up a bit later than usual but still managed to squeeze in a game or two of Quantum.

Festive Break

I turned up to Cult last week to be greeted by a lonely Craig. Usually there are a couple of people that arrive before me. As time passed we became increasingly worried that no one else would make it so close to Christmas and it would turn into some sort of awkward, online dating gone wrong scenario. Luckily a bunch of people turned up. Two of them berating me for not writing the blog for last week, so this will be some sort of combined entry for the both.

In the last post I said something about if the cards against humanity players turned up next week I'd count them in the numbers. Well, as it happens they did turn up so true to my word I'll include them. That meant about 19 people two weeks ago and about 13 last week.

In all honesty I can barely remember what happened a week ago let alone what happened two weeks ago. I do have a small amount of photographic evidence to jog my memory though. It kind of goes a bit like this; Cards Against Humanity, Dominion, Betrayal at House on the Hill, The Resistance, Lords of Waterdeep and Settlers of Catan.

I won Dominion, which I was pretty pleased about. I'm always pleased when I win Dominion. I started off strong in Waterdeep but ended up coming last, if memory served. I think Dan came first. Mike declared it one of the few worker placement games he didn't hate so if anything it's a win for the game itself.

Surprisingly it was the first showing for Settlers of Catan at IpBoG, the game which inspired its logo. I'm sure other games were played but I don't remember what. However I do know a drink was spilt, but this time not over a game, just a bag. We have to start paying attention to the drinks on the table rule.

So last week we started off with Fluxx while we waited for people to arrive. The rules explicitly allow people to join part way through so it seemed like a good choice. After a while we had a terrible rule set where we could play only a single card but that card had to be chosen at random by another player. This started to drag so when Dan got a chance he dealt one of his keepers to me, winning me the game. Sometimes Fluxx outstays its welcome and just has to be ended.

Other Dan had brought Eight Minute Empire. I jumped at the chance of a go at this. It was a pretty fun little area control/set collection game. I've heard people call it a 4X game but it really isn't. It also isn't 8 minutes, at least with the full compliment of players. It's still pretty quick at around half an hour.

We played another 5 player game of Hanabi and did very well again (23 points, I think). Dan wasn't sure if there was a rule change for more players but we didn't think so because we hadn't played it differently last time with 5 players. I've more recently been told that we have less cards in our hands with more players. I've not verified this but it sounds likely. We probably accidentally cheated both times, it was kind of easy.

Quarriors made its first appearance. We only made it about half way through the game before closing time. Again so many more games were played but I don't have photos of them so I forget what they were. I'm pretty sure Johnny played Bang! However I do know a drink was spilt again, but this time not over a game, just a crotch. We really have to start paying attention to the no drinks on the table rule.

We'll be taking a festive break from IpBoG next week (the 29th) as Cult is closed. We'll be back with a vengeance in the new year, no doubt with a whole host of new board games we received for Christmas. See you there!

Ice Age

With what seems to be a pretty standard number these days, 15 people made it down this week.

Ever since the gushing review from Shut Up & Sit Down, fans of internet based board game reviews everywhere have been over excited about the idea of owning the hard to obtain Arctic Scavengers. After Rio Grande paid some product placement money to get it in the background of Silicon Valley surely this could only mean one thing - a reprint! But then, from nowhere discount copies started appearing in The Works. Like the true fans of internet based board game reviews we are, both Dan and I turned up with a copy this week. We set up our games next to each other and had two games on the go at once. In my game Guru got a quick head start and snowballed into the lead while I was left in the cold, trailing behind in last place. Dan won in his game (I'm all out of snow puns).

The others played a couple of games of King of Tokyo. Cathy won one and Johnny won the other. After we were done we split into two groups. I joined Theo for Triassic Terror. Andy had just acquired the Lords of Waterdeep expansion Scoundrels of Skullport and set that up for his first play through, which he ended up winning.

Triassic Terror is a dinosaur based area control game very similar to El Grande. I think it's safe to say no one really knew what they were doing in the first couple of turns except for maybe Mike who had read the rules in advance (cheating if you ask me!). I certainly didn't have a clue and chose an action where my only real option was to attack Dan. He took it personally and retaliated, attacking me on his go. From there on in the game was divided, Dan and I were just playing to do as much damage to each other as possible. Half way through the game the scores so far are tallied up. Both Dan and I were trailing way behind everyone else, my only goal was to make sure Dan didn't beat me. However, in the second half of the game I somehow managed to claw myself closer to victory and still make sure Dan came last. I didn't quite make the lead, finishing in second place to Mike's first.

There's talk of holding a King of Tokyo tournament in the next week or two along with our standard games. If it happens there will be more details to follow.

Chicken Coup

There's been a lot of talk about Coup, a Kickstarter by the same company that released IpBoG staple The Resistance. It's been out of print of a while but I noticed it was back in stock last week and immediately put in an order for it. It came on Monday morning so I brought it to Cult that evening. I arrived early and immediately launched into a game with Matt and Muir. It's a short game that you can get through in about ten minutes. I like to think I won but I really can't remember. Johnny arrived and we played a second game. I like to think I won the second game too but I probably didn't. We hit 15 people this week with 4 newcomers. I'm still dreaming of the day we hit the dizzying heights of 21 like the first ever meetup.

We split into two groups with the larger of the two playing Skull and Roses. I opted for Lords of Waterdeep. Although Waterdeep gets played a lot it was my first time playing it. I'm not always a huge worker placement fan (I find the abundance of choices overwhelming) but this game I enjoyed. Adam's Lord gained extra victory points for building and he played this strategy hard. I don't think he completed one quest in the whole game. All building spaces were filled and I think only a couple were occupied by other players. He was trailing behind on the points track, hoping to make up for it with bonus points at the end of the game. After a slow start I sped into the lead. Nothing could stop me, or so I thought. Muir sped up behind me, closing the gap. For a while there was a cold war going on, I had a mandatory quest I wanted to play on him but I knew he had one too and as soon as I played mine he'd play his back. On the last round he played his on me, also revealing that he had an influence card that would remove a mandatory quest if played on him, rendering mine pretty much useless. I completed the mandatory quest but Muir had crept into the lead. I completed one final quest but could't quite catch up. It was all down to the bonus scoring. Adam's strategy ultimately didn't pay off, although he wasn't last he was far from me and Muir. I scored well, putting me over 20 points ahead but Muir fared well too, placing him just in front and securing him first place.

After Skull and Roses the table next to us had been having the loudest couple of games of The Resistance I think we've ever had. People were really getting into the bluffing and discussions. The maximum 10 players were involved and the game really seemed to shine. There was one win for the resistance and one for the spies.

A few people left and we split into 3 different groups. The Works have had some budget Rio Grande titles in recently and I picked up Havana for £10 . It's a role selection game, a kind of cross between San Juan and Citadels, and well worth every penny. This was a tense game, it took me a long time to get off the ground and score a single point. It looked like Dan was a sure winner but everyone teamed together, using their actions so block his attempts. I was paying so much attention to his game that I missed a combination that would have won me the game. Instead Rob made the play, constructing three buildings in a single turn. However, in the end our valiant efforts were in vain and we couldn't stop Dan from claiming victory.

Next to us Matt and co. had been playing Pandemic and saved the world on the normal difficulty. Although Pandemic isn't as tough as the notoriously hard Ghost Stories, still not a simple feat.

The third table had been playing Alien Frontiers, one of the early Kickstarter board game success stories. Although not the version from the original Kickstarter, it was the second pressing with the Kickstarter-style miniatures instead of tokens. Adam won.

There was just enough time to get a couple more games of Coup in. I might have won them both, I really don't remember. But I do remember that I won the final game. It came down to just me and Dan, both with a single card left. I had been bluffing for the last few turns and it was going in my favor. If I kept up with the bluff I would be able to call a coup and take Dan out. Dan was about to call me on it but a turn too late, I stopped bluffing, grabbed a final extra coin and coup'ed  him out of the game.

Don't Talk About Dungeon Crawling

With a few new faces numbers reached 14 this week. I arrived early to find I'd been beaten to the post by some IpBoG regulars. Eager to start they were already finishing up a game of King Of Tokyo. I was greeted by Muir telling me that I still needed to write that game up on the blog, probably because he'd won.

More early arrivals came and Muir attempted to teach another of his prey how to play Netrunner while we launched into a second game of King Of Tokyo. It came down to a tense last round with all to play for. Dan and I were pretty much neck and neck, if I didn't score 4 on my attack and kill his monster he would get two victory points for staying in Tokyo and win the game. Despite my best efforts I only managed to roll three damage and Dan was victorious.

We split into three groups, one playing Terra Mystica, another playing Lords of Waterdeep and the final playing Level 7 [Omega Protocol]. I was torn between Terra Mystica and Level 7 as I've been wanting to try my hand at both for a while now but opted for the latter. However the full allocation of six players is probably too much as the downtime dragged and we got bored, disregarding the first rule of dungeon crawling - always stay together. Splitting into two separate groups the alien hordes has no problem picking off our commandos.

After Waterdeep a few guys squeezed in a couple of rounds of Love Letter before heading home. Drained from our defeat, I left as Terra Mystica was winding up. I'm not sure who was winning but Dan was coming last. Not victorious this time, Dan!

The Player With The Pointiest Ears Goes First

An amazing twenty-one people turned up last night to Cult for the first meetup. Dan was the first to arrive at the slightly too early time of ten to seven. Stumbling across a group of monopoly players he was invited to join their game and unfortunately, knee deep in hotels and unpaid debts, missed the 20 Ipbogers as they arrived. He's pretty much my hero and will hopefully be back next week to join in.

Having found a secluded spot in the corner we commenced, slowly taking over the booths and spreading further afield. Our power tonight was our sheer strength in numbers.

We split into four groups playing 7 Wonders, Lords of Waterdeep, Trains and Smallworld. I reigned victorious on 7 Wonders, but will be going to hell for beating small girls, having played with some of the youngest but most accomplished board gamers I've ever met. I'm not sure what happened with the other games as I was too busy winning but I hear Muir won Lords Of Waterdeep, beating Darren at his own game.

Next up a different group played another game of Waterdeep and I tried my hand at Takenoko while the others tried to identify the Cylon in Battlestar Galactica. As the other games were finishing up a few of us ended the night with Smallworld. Proving that he can only win other peoples' games, Darren and the forest elves slaughtered the opposing races on his first ever play.

All in all a great night. Thanks to Cult for letting us invade their table space and thanks to everyone for coming. We'll be back next week 7:30. Not ten to seven, sorry Dan.