New Games (or new to me, at least): Part One

Yet another "I've been meaning to blog about this" project - wherein I give you, my faithful readers, some quick reactions to the games I've played in 2010 for the very first time. (There's a lot of them - 51, to be exact - so I'm dividing this post into multiple parts.)

New Games (To Me): A & B

• A Brief History Of The World - a redesign of a classic Ragnar Brothers game that not only shortens the playing time (with slow players, actual history could move faster than the original game) but also tightens up the system & gives each player more control. If possible, I like it even better than my much-loved copy of the Hasbro/Avalon Hill edition of the game. (But I do miss all the plastic minis...)
• Adios Amigos - A real-time game of Wild West gunfighting that uses basic math (addition & subtraction) as a main mechanic. Yes, I know that sounds tedious - but it isn't. This 20 minute filler game for 4 players is a lot of fun.
• Alea Iacta Est - I've played this dice game (with a Roman empire theme) with 2, 3, 4 & 5 players... and I think it's best with 3 or 4. Each additional player adds to the playing time and that finally tips over the edge with 5 folks at the table. I like the way you manage your supply of dice - but the Senate cards iconography is a little weird and makes the first play pretty slow for newbies. (Review copy provided.)
• BasketBoss - I was really excited to try this auction/basketball team management by the designer of Streetsoccer... the changing value of the players from year to year is really nifty. The game, however, runs a little slow & the moving of the strips can be a bit fiddly - not enough to ruin the game but certainly enough with a full contingent of players to make me cautious about playing again.
• Birds, Bugs and Beans - Standard issue speed recognition game with the added attraction of getting to make animal & farting noises. I will play it ONLY if one of my boys asks...
• Buccaneer - Interesting think-y filler with a pirate theme... worked better than I thought it would but feel like there might be a kingmaker issue in the final turn.
• Burger Joint - Disclosure note: the designer (Joe Huber) is a good friend of mine & I playtested one of the earlier versions of the game. With that said, I like Burger Joint a lot - while the theme is fun, it's a pretty abstract game of manipulating resources for two players that plays in 30 minutes. (Review copy provided.)
• Burg der 1000 Spiegel - The mechanic (using mirrors built into the board) is awesome - you peer through a hole inside of the box & what you see is bounced around off a series of mirrors - but it's really just a standard memory game with a slight betting element. Fun with kids but doesn't have the oomph to be played by just adults.