We had a big crowd for game night, which led to more socializing than playing. But we did get to play some smaller card games that were enjoyable, like Bang! and Coloretto. Bang! definitely needed more players, four just didn't cut it and was way too easy for the sheriff and deputy to win. Coloretto uses a unique mechanic that is the basis for Zooloretto, a game of the year winner. In it you either draw and place a card in a row, or take a row. There can only be a maximum of 3 cards in a row, and they are generally chameleons of 7 different colors. In the end you score from only 3 colors, and the rest count against you. So you must decide when to take a row before you are forced to take colors you do not want. The two big games that were played were Power Grid, which had an intense (and long) 5 player game, and the other was Tobago.
Tobago is a very ingenious and unique game of finding buried treasures on an island. Cards are played based upon island features that narrow down the location of treasures until it can only be in one spot. Not only does the finder get treasure, but also anyone who contributed a clue card to its location. There are many decisions and strategies as you can work on four different treasures at a time. You also must move your Jeep to pick up amulets and get to the treasures. I have never failed to have a good time playing this. The game came down to selecting treasure cards, and Mike H bluffed me into passing a good one and I ended up losing by one point!
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| Mike contemplating his move in Tobago |
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| Our Tobago island configuration, courtesy of Lexi |
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| How to whittle down the location of the white treasure . . . |
We ended up the evening playing a few games of Werewolf, which many had not played before. We'll have to try it with a bigger group of people next time.
Bang! - W - Nate J, Charles G; L - Tim R, Brett H
Coloretto - 1 - Brett H, 2 - Nate J, 3 - Tyler H, 4 - John L, 5 - Lauren T
Power Grid - 1 - Daniel S, 2 - Dallin E, 3 - Joseph J, 4 - Charles G, 5 - Tim R
Tobago - 1 - Mike H, 2 - Brett H, 3 - Cristina G, 4 - Lexi H
Werewolf
W - John, Dallin E; L - Charles G, Tyler H, Mike S, Lauren T, Nate J, Tim R, Daniel S; M - BrettH
W - Charles G, Tyler H, Nate J, Lauren T, Tim R; L - Dallin E, John; M - Brett H
So this week my son Caleb came to me in a dream and said, "Dad, I have an award-winning design" and proceeded to explain a game concept to me. The game was about a board with paths, and some type of hunter moved along the paths eliminating subjects. When I awoke the concept quickly evolved to a person stomping around a room killing cockroaches, and Splat! was born. I made the game in about a day and actually playtested it tonight for game night. A variable tile set-up created pathways with nodes for the cockroaches to follow, and every player had a number of cockroaches. The hunter, or "big shoe" was played by each player on a rotating basis, and each player would play a card from 1-5 each turn representing the number of movement spaces they could move the shoe or their cockroaches. You got a point for each cockroach you smashed and collected, and you get points for how many of your cockroaches survive. I haven't got the end game completely figured out, but there is a ball that can be kicked by the shoe to also turn over some cockroaches to make them easy prey. It was kind of fun to play it, we'll see where it goes.
We also played Tobago tonight, that game is never a bad time. I finally played some of the reverse side boards which made for an even better experience. I would say that Tobago is easily in my top 25, it has strategy, replay value, is not long nor difficult to learn. And you make really cool grinding noises whenever you rotate the idols on the island.
