At The Table: Adventures In Neopia / Flash Point / Pandemic / Power Grid

After commenting in my last post that as a gaming group, we've not really been doing much gaming, things have really exploded over the past few days.

Pandemic: A New Challenge

Despite being a new addition to games we play (along with all of the others in
this post to be fair), Pandemic has fast become a favorite at the games table. It's no surprise either, given that it has so much going for it. Easy to play, quick to learn, variable set-up and, a constant sense of challenge.

The challenge is the thing too. I have become quite tired of games where victory come all too easily and, have certainly set out to challenge myself more on the gaming front.. Which is probably why I have taken to Power Grid.

Power Grid

Building power plants and cities whilst investing in pipelines and raw materials
really doesn't sound like much of a game does it? Unless you're a telegraph pole enthusiast that is but, then again the theme of laying railway tracks isn't exactly riveting but, Ticket to Ride is a great game. So as long as you can put the theme aside, the immersion that this game can offer will likely bring you back time and time again.

The challenge level is just dandy too as you try to balance your finances over auctions, purchasing pipelines, cities and, natural resources. Although I could easily see that this game would bore the hind teeth off of a casual gamer, so this title certainly isn't for everyone.

Flash Point: Fire Rescue

On the complete flip-side of Power Grid, another game that is proving popular
at the table is Flash Point, which even at it's deepest level of complexity is still very welcoming to hardcore and casual gamers alike.

If I were to compare this game, I would most likely suggest that it is very similar to Castle Panic in feel as you play it (so no wonder I love it) and, an ideal addition to any group. Even groups that already own a copy of Castle Panic as despite the feel being very similar, the way the games play is worlds apart.

Adventures In Neopia

Last up at the table is one that was at my own personal gaming table only
yesterday.

It's not big, deep or, complicated but as regulars on the Neopets website, both the girlfriend and I have got a real kick out of this game. Even when I absolutely cheesed a victory. With 7 mini-games inside the main game, Adventures in Neopia is deeper than your standard roll and move.. But not by much. We had a giggle though. :0).

Would I recommend it? Yes, but despite it's simplicity, not for younger audiences as it does contain elements of gambling which I don't think is appropriate for children or young adults.

You Put The What In The Where Now?

Did you ever see a game that you just had to have? Not because it was the creme dela creme or, a shining example of games design... But because it was the odd one out.

There's been a game sitting on the shelf of a local thrift store for a while now that I have been drawn to for this very reason. On the face of things, Black Box looks like a fairly simple game. That is until you actually get to the rules that is, which are in German.

Ah..

Now as much as this might settle many rules arguments (if you can't understand the rules, you can't exactly argue over the "right" way of  doing something), actually playing the game might also present, shall we say a "challenge".

Not to worry though, once I cracked open the box, I was happy to find that the rules where short enough to fit on the inside of the lid (something that's unlikely to happen with a modern game), so typing them by hand into a translation engine wouldn't be too much of a problem and, there was another rulebook inside.. In French.

Now whilst my German is limited, my French is virtually non-existent. Which means that the French rules may as well have been in double-dutch. For some reason they also stretched to several A4 pages to boot and, they were not quite the end of the languages saga.

The previous owner had obviously found themselves in a similar situation to me and, painstakingly had sat there and translated the rules into English, by hand!

However..

As much as I appreciate the effort that the previous owner went to, their handwriting is pretty much illegible. Time to Google this one I think.

More Light Strategy: Numerix

After my recent post on Super 3 by MB Games I felt the urge to break out and post up another great light strategy I picked up at the UK Games Expo a couple of years back, Numerix by Tied to a Kite (who are coincidently a great bunch of guys).

No need to write up the rules for this one though as they are freely available from the designers website, along with a printable board.

Definitely worth checking out. It's free at any rate, so what have you got to lose?

Quickstart: Super Simple, Super 3

Can you believe that MB actually released Tic-Tac-Toe as a boxed game?

Okay, not quite Tic-Tac-Toe but, not far off and, it goes by the name of Super 3.

The game does differ slightly from the childhood classic but, only in the respect that you roll dice to place your pegs instead of having pure autonomy over placement and, rather than just trying to claim a single grid, you instead need three to five of them depending upon how the game develops.

It's still super simple though.

The Rules:

Every turn you roll 2D6 and place a peg in either a hole that's marked with that number or, any hole in the "box" marked with that number. The only rule here is that you can't take the center hole (you need a 7 to do that).

If you get three pegs in a row in a box or, 5 pegs anywhere within that box, it's yours! Remove all of your opponents pegs from that box if there are any and, fill them with your own. Also fill any empty holes in that box. No more pegs may now be placed in that box for the remainder of the game and, none may be removed from it by the roll of a 2.

If you roll a number that cannot be played because there is no longer any holes available that correspond to that number, you must roll again, up to a total of three rolls until you roll a playable hole. If you cannot do this within the three rolls, you forfeit your turn. 

Capture three boxes in a row or, any five boxes on the board and you win!

Other than the three special rolls that can mess with play, that's about it.

Special Rolls:

2: Remove any one of your opponents pegs from the board and roll again.
"Lucky" 7: Take any center hole in any box or, any hole in box 7.
12: Place a peg in any hole on the board.

The Aladdin's Cave #1: Heroes Of The Maze

The Aladdin's Cave is a new feature that I plan to run as often as my collection will allow, where I will be taking a look at some older obscurities that I think are well worth owning should you ever get the chance.

First up we have Heroes of the Maze by Waddingtons.

From the outset it would be easy to look at the box and think to yourself that what you have here is yet another 90's dungeon crawler in the vein of say Heroquest. Perhaps an attempt to clone it as copyright really wasn't what it is now back then.

You would be wrong though. Oh so wrong.

For a start, there's not a cardboard component in sight. Even the boards plastic! This is to say the least unusual. It also includes mechanical parts, which is almost unheard of in the context of board games. Well other than Mousetrap that is but, this was no one off as Waddingtons used a similar mechanic in another of their games that I was lucky enough to get hold of, Treasures and Trapdoors.

Also, unlike Mousetrap the mechanical part in this game (that rotates sections of the maze) is actually integral to play, rather than simply being a gimmick to engage younger audiences. Not that I would say Heroes of the Maze is by any stretch of the imagination a game aimed at adult audiences. In my eyes, it is more a toy with rules.

So in conclusion what else can I say about this game?

Well, for one thing the production quality is excellent. Despite my copy being in the ball park of 21 years old the mechanical wheel still functions without difficulty, the dice have not faded with age and, none of the other pieces are showing any signs of wear. Considering how fragile plastic was back then it's clear to me that Waddingtons were certainly a cut above the competition, building games to last.

I would also say that should you decide that you want to pick up a copy for yourself, prices are still pretty low on E-bay as it hasn't really gained any value with time.

So don't buy this game if you're looking for an investment but, should you want a light-fantasy game to play with the little ones there are few finer candidates than the one we have here.