Welcome to Frank's Games

This blog is where I talk about games, write gaming session reports, review my favorite Euro Games, and occasionally provide news on upcoming releases. 
I hope you enjoy it. If you're new to this kind of gaming, and are interested in learning more, I would be glad to hear from you. I encourage you to subscribe and get email notification of any additions I make to my blog.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Games I've Played The Most (as of March 2010)

One of the great things about Board Game Geek (boardgamegeek.com) is that you can record every game you play along with details (players, score, recap, etc.). Recently I checked to see which games I'd played the most since I started posting to the site. The following is a table of my top 17 most played games (an odd number, but that's how many games I've played 15 or more times). This doesn't exactly equate with my all-time favorites, as some games are extremely quick to play and I can play it 5-6 times in a single night. However, the first and second most played games (Attika and Race For The Galaxy) would be on my all-time favorites list, as would Settlers (#7) and Agricola (#8). However, other top 10 favorites don't make the list, most notably - Power Grid. But this is because it's a fairly long game.



Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Tinners' Trail

Last night, Oct 13, 2008, got to play my second game of Tinners' Trail at Via Cappuccino. I played about a month ago at That Board Game Thing, and loved the game enough to order a rare copy of it. Martin Wallace (designer) published only 1500 copies, and I got signed copy # 1482. Wallace is one of my favorite designers, and this one is the best of the lot. 

TT is the first of his new Treefrog line of games. The next (After the Flood) is due out next week. I have it on pre-order.

TT is a medium length game (experienced players can play in no more than 75 minutes), and I would say a medium weight game. Easy to set up and explain, you can be up and running in just a few minutes.

A characteristic design for this and all future Treefrog games is that no cards are used and all "bits" are made of wood, except the game boards and dice. Very nice as I love wood playing pieces.

In the case of Tinners' Trail, each player gets a set of wooden Mines, wooden discs, and investment cubes. In addition there are sets of orange cubes representing Copper Ore and white cubes representing Tin. These are the items you "mine" during the game.

In a nutshell - you bid to place mines in likely places, then improve the mining capacity of the area, mine the ore, sell it for current market prices, and then invest your earned money in the "market" for victory points. The most victory points (VPs) wins the game. The only way to get VPs is by investing your money to purchase VPs. However, you also need money to win auctions for land to mine and to mine the land. So, there is a delicate balance in the use of your money between investing, mining, and purchasing land. This creates lots of delicious choices. 

More detail. There are several improvements to be made to increase the capacity and/or to lower the costs of mining. One can obtain water pumps (to pump water from a mine and lower mining costs), adits (canals to drain off water, and increase mining yields), workers (to increase mining capacity), ships (to reduce water), railroads, etc. However, only a limited number of theses are available each turn.

The game lasts 4 Turns. Each turn consists of many "action rounds." Each round a player can take only one action - take a ship, railroad, worker, water pump, adit, bid for a mining site, mine ore, sell pastries for $1, or pass. Once he passes, his turn is over. 

Each action taken uses different amounts of "time" and each player has only 10 "time points" each game turn. So, when he has used up his last action time, he must pass and his turn ends.

After all players have passed, players sell all the ore they mined that turn at the current market prices. Players then take their money and invest it, prospect for new minds, and then end their turn.    

At the end of 4 turns, players total up the VPs they purchased during the game. Most VPs wins. 

I really enjoy this game and think it provides a lot of meat in a short time length. Other games are meatier, but longer, and much more fiddly. I like the fact that this game is fairly "clean" in the sense that it is not a fiddly game. Further it plays in a fairly short time and offers great decisions in a short time. Winning gives you great satisfaction, and everyone sits back and discusses what they did right or wrong. That's the sign of a good game.

Hopefully other publishers will pick up this game and make it available to a wider audience.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Playing Agricola Online

I recently found an online site for playing Agricola! So far I've only played it twice, solitaire. I think you can play it multi-player (but live, not email). The interface is a bit fiddly, and there's a lot to fit on a single computer screen, but each card, board, etc. can be zoomed so that you can see them. I still fumble around with the interface, but have started to catch on. I've really enjoyed my first two games. Scored 47 points last night.
If interested, check it out at  

http://math.ucsd.edu/~cdeotte/Games/Board2/Agricola.html

once we have enough of us there, we could possibly set up a multi-player game.

I only wish it was turn-based. 

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Games On Pre-Order

I always say I'm not going to buy many games this year - and then I do! However, I have become a bit more selective and purchase fewer games in recent years. This fall, however, I have a number of games on "back-log." That is, games I've had on order for some time, but am waiting for them to be released. In addition, I have other games on order that are waiting for the back-ordered games to be released so I can save on shipping. The games on order (most should be arriving sometime this month) include:
1.  Race for the Galaxy: The Gathering Storm (Race for the Galaxy Expansion) 
2.  Rails of Europe (Railroad Tycoon in Europe)
3.  Dominion (Greatly anticipated new release, scheduled to arrive later this month)
4.  Carcassonne: Abbey & Mayor (an expansion for Carcassonne)
5.  Power Grid: China & Korea (an expansion for Power Grid)
6.  Tribune (recently arrived in the USA though published in 2007)
7.  After The Flood (soon to be released in Europe - I should get it in about 8 weeks)

All of these are excellent games and/or expansions to excellent games. I'm not sure how often I'll realistically get to play most of these, however. Certainly, Race: The Gathering Storm will get played as I play Race a LOT. Dominion will undoubtedly get played a lot because it takes only 30 minutes or so to play, and is a great game. The rest will get played rarely. Rails is a longer game as is Tribune and After the Flood. Carcassonne: Abby & Mayor will not be played a lot because I don't play a lot of Carcassonne. Power Grid is likewise a long game and so China & Korea will not get played very often.

Nevertheless, these are games i really have to have! For the few times I will get to play them, I'm sure I'll enjoy them. They will mostly get played when I go to Gaming Cons and at our occasional Marathon Game Days. 

Strangely, though, when you get "hooked" on games (as I am), you simply feel that you must have these games! After The Flood, for example, is a 3-hour game playable ONLY with 3 players! So, it will rarely make it to the table. No matter - this one is a limited edition game (only 1500 made, signed by the designer), and its theme (Sumer, right after the Flood), the reputation of the designer, and the fact that this is the second in the new Tree Frog Series - made this one a "must have" for me. 

So, October of 2008 is an exciting time for me, Game-wise. And to add to the excitement, this is the month of Essen - the great Game Exhibition in Essen, Germany, when all the new games are released. I'm already studying the huge list of new games to appear and making my list! :) So far, LaHavre is definitely on that list (by the designer of Agricola, and getting good reviews). But, I don't have much else on the list. I'm sure that once the "gang" starts sending reports from Essen, several games will come to the fore. 


Thursday, October 2, 2008

I Play (Euro) Games!

Some might think it funny that an "old man" still likes to play games! But "board gaming" has been my life-long hobby. Now, I'm not talking Monopoly, Parcheesi, and Scrabble; nor am I talking Trivial Pursuit, Cranium, and other "quiz or party" games. My brand of gaming is grounded in Germany and Europe. I play "Euro" games. Euros are different from typical American games in several respects.
1) They play in 20 minutes to 2 hours.
2) The rules are generally very simple to digest (there are obvious exceptions)
3) The "bits" (playing pieces) are of high quality - wooden pieces, beautiful boards without the pronounced "valley" where they fold, quality cards, beautiful art.
4) They are strategy games that require differing levels of planning and thinking.
5) They are usually "non-conflict" games (you do not win by hurting/attacking the other players, but by being the most efficient/effective in managing your hand or position on the board. 
6) The designers names are printed on the games, and become well known in the Euro gaming scene.

There is an entire community of Euro gamers world-wide who connect via the internet (where they write reviews and "session reports" of games played, post rules & pictures of new games, etc.); and connect through Board Game Conventions (I attend 2-3 a year). Usually you will meet game designers at these "Cons" and get to try out the new games even before they are published! 

There is a huge show in Essen, Germany every October during which the new releases are on display, and over 100,000 people flood the exhibit halls to play the latest offerings. Games are "rated" by the hard-core gaming community on the boardgamegeek.com website.

I currently own about 300 games, and serve as the co-organizer of Tar River Gamers (a gaming club in Rocky Mount). We play every Monday night at Via Cappuccino (coffee house). We currently have around 25 members. 

My favorite games include - 
* Agricola
* Attika
* Race For The Galaxy
* Settlers of Catan
* Euphrat & Tigris
* Tinners Trail
* Hacienda
* Power Grid
* Dominion
Most are not well known in the USA (though Settlers of Catan and Ticket to Ride are starting to break through to the mass market crowd). 

If you're interested in finding these games, contact me. There are thousands of games and most look good, and "newbies" will have no idea what to buy. I can steer you away from the "dogs" and help you find the really great ones. Purchasing is easy via online stores (you seldom find these games in brick-and-morter stores). If you want to jump right in go to www.gamesurplus.com and order from Thor and Sarah Samuelson. Tell them Frank H sent you. They are great people to deal with. But I will be happy to give you advice as I have knowledge of the vast majority of them - knowing some of the designers, publishers, and play-testers. 

It's a great hobby, and has been a great way for me to meet people and get involved in their lives! Further, it is a great Family activity. Germans put a great emphasis on families playing games together at night and so these games are great for moms, dads, and children from 10 years old and up. There is also a complete line of children's games but I am a bit out of touch with that grouping.