Convention Report: Gulf Games 50

I was there at the (nearly) beginning… my wife & I were one of nine families who made up the attendees of Gulf Games 2. For the next 4 years, I was a pretty regular fixture – then we moved across the country and I only managed to make two Gulf Games events between 2004 and 2014. Beginning in 2015, I began bringing my sons (first the oldest, then both of them) to enjoy one of my favorite family-friendly gaming events.

This summer was the fiftieth Gulf Games… and my younger son & I attended for 5 days (Wednesday – Sunday). What follows is my quick recap of my weekend of gaming (and a bit of his) – and it doesn’t begin to cover the entire event and the joy of gaming with folks I’ve known for years.

Wednesday

Greeneville, SC, is a fair piece down the road from Nashville, TN – so we took off early in the morning and arrived mid-afternoon… in time to both play some games and be able to attend the Welcome Party (a tradition that started after I headed west… and that I managed to miss multiple times due to schedule vagaries and missed flights).

Heat: Pedal to the Metal

I taught and/or played Heat five different times (with 22 different players) during the convention… which isn’t really a sacrifice as I enjoy the game immensely. It may well be my favorite auto racing game. (That’s not to downgrade Downforce… which is still splendid – but it doesn’t actually put you in the driver’s seat like Heat.)

I won one game outright… and another game I managed to finish 2nd to the Legend car (bot). But the best game we played was Sunday morning, when we added in the weather and car customization “advanced” rules – they take a solid game and make it even more enjoyable.

I’ve now played Heat: Pedal to the Metal 26 times … it holds up to repeated play very well and is easy to grasp for most (but not all) players. I’m waiting somewhat patiently for the good folks at Days of Wonder to announce the expansion (since there’s already room for two more cars in the game insert!).

Ready Set Bet

This was a fast-moving and delightful betting game… made even better by the use of the app to run the races for us. It’s real-time – something I try to avoid as my brain and reflexes slow down with age – but it works really well here. I don’t own a copy, but I’d be happy to have it in my collection.

Splendor Duel

Here’s the deal… I play Splendor (the original game or the Marvel re-theme) because other people like it. There’s nothing wrong with it… but it’s just not something I love.

So I was pleasantly surprised by how well Splendor Duel works – the addition of multiple victory paths and the tricky decisions about which line of pieces to grab and/or whether to hand over an advantage to the other player raise the level of the game system nicely. (I won – but just barely.)

KuZOOka

I’m on the record as having a miserable first playing experience with this the first time I played it… but was coaxed by David Sidore into trying it again. And, with his suggestion of certain conventions for bidding and a couple of strategy hints, I can see what other see in the game. Our experience was tense but enjoyable… and we lost (but it was close).

I’m still not convinced, though – I think the game is fragile and really needs a gamer crew plus some discussion of conventions to work… which just isn’t enough for me.

Wild Tiled West

Another game I was looking forward to – I’m a big fan of Paul Dennen’s designs for Dune: Imperium and the Clank! family of games. The production is top-notch: multi-layered game board that holds all the tiles that you draft and clear art design & iconography.

I appreciate Kevin & Rhonda Bender teaching us the game… but I think it runs a bit long with four players. Despite the whimsical art style, there are some real decisions to be made and the playing time of 90 minutes felt too much. I’d like to try it again with two or three players.

Thursday

Crokinole

Mark Smith is an able partner, but I am not a particularly skilled OR lucky Crokinole player. Ted & Toni Alspach let us hang in for a couple of rounds then put us out of our misery.

Imperium: Classics

I wrote an extensive review of my love for Imperium: Classics and Legends… so it was a joy to get it to the table with two folks (Mark & Toni) who wanted to play a second time to make sure they grokked it. It was a tight game, with Mark’s Romans edging out Toni’s Macedonians & my Persians (64-61-61).

I’ll say it again – this is an amazing card game that works well with 1-4 players. Please give it a try!

Archeos Society

This is a re-imagining of Ethnos… but since I’ve never played Ethnos, I’m unable to compare the two. On its own merits, this is a relatively straightforward drafting/hand management, where scoring depends on working the tracks as well as collecting larger sets. The wise use of the various special powers is key.

Again, the Benders welcomed me to the table and taught me the game (along with their friend Lee, who you can see in the picture at the top of this post.

Mosaic: A Story of Civilization

One of my top ten new (to me) games from last year… and this play with George, Greg Hoch, and Floyd was no exception. Clocking in at just over 2 hours for four players (two of them new to the game), it’s quickly becoming my favorite “civilization” game. (And, yes, part of that is the cool bits of the Colossal Edition.)

I managed second place in spite of avoiding building any military – while Greg’s belligerent empire took the win.

Gnadenlos!

After a game of Heat (see comments above), four of us jumped into a long-time Klaus Teuber favorite of mine – Gnadenlos! This bidding game of provisioning Old West characters doesn’t overstay its welcome – and offers enough randomness to encourage unwise usage of promissory notes. In the end, Ed defeated us. (It’s OOP – but worth tracking down a copy if you like 3-4 player games that play in 35-45 minutes.)

Thunder Road: Vendetta

The first of three plays of what will surely be on my top ten list for 2023… this re-imagining and chroming of the late 80s mass market classic is a joy to play. Kim – who’s not normally a love of chaotic shoot-em-up’s, noted later that she enjoyed it a lot more than she thought she would.

My son, Collin, took the win… this time.

Kalimambo

We finished the night out with an oldie (10 years?!) but a goodie – the very random but ridiculously fun Kalimambo. Best as a late night closer with 5+ players, this game of “I don’t have to outrun the rhino, I just have to outrun you” generated a lot of laughs as Sharon Madden emerged with the victory – while Warren Madden managed to win the award for “Most Likely to Be a Hood Ornament for Mambo the Rhinoceros”.

Friday

In the Footsteps of Darwin

The first of three plays of what Ted Alspach declared was “an incredibly pleasant game” – he’s not wrong. This is a beautifully produced tile-drafting game with a variety of scoring options… and a pretty consistent playing time of 5-8 minutes per player. Ted edged me out in a two player game… but I’d do better at it later in the day with a larger group.

Gipsy King

Weird little placement game from Cwali that uses a random board to force players into tricky decisions… I’ve enjoyed it both times I’ve played it… but I don’t think I’ve ever really been in contention of winning. (Congrats to Bob Trezise, mi compadre, for the win.)

Scram!

In my convention report from Gulf Games 49, I mentioned loving a prototype from Bezier Games, but not being able to talk about it. Well, it’s here! (It lands at GenCon next month.) Scram! is my favorite of the Silver/Cabo family – probably because the partnership element allows for some really clever “bump-set-spike” kind of plays. Thomas & I beat Ted and Bob… I’m 2-0 at this game… another reason to like it! :-)

We followed that with another playtest of an unpublished prototype. My lips are sealed.

Team Play

It was a morning of card games as Bob & I joined our esteemed founder (Greg Schloesser) and Gail for another partnership game I enjoy – Team Play! (Note: I like the original German edition much better than the U.S. edition – easier to read across the table.) Either way, Bob & Gail beat Greg and I.

Cape May

Anye & George joined John & I for a game of Cape May – and while I had enjoyed my first try of it solo, my first four player game was even better. Not only does it look nice on the table as the city grows, there’s a really solid game under there about balancing income and development of points. I’m glad I own a copy!

George managed the win – even if it delayed his brew pub tour by a few minutes!

Kabuto Sumo

Following another game of Heat (at the request of Chip, who won!), Collin & I talked Anye & Dallas into Kabuto Sumo… which Collin describes as a “coin-pushing” wrestling game. He’s not wrong… and went on to prove his prowess by beating all three of us. (It’s not really a dexterity game – I’d call it a physics game with a wry sense of humor.)

Thunder Road: Vendetta

Two games back to back – including Tyler rolling 6 on 4d6 two rounds in a in a row and a Dan Calhoun win, followed by my large vehicle being chased by a plethora of choppers as I sped ahead to leave everyone else in the dust. The final game was played with the Choppe Shoppe expansion in – which I highly recommend for gamer-y types.

Man, I love this game.

Minigolf Designer

Ed & finished up the night with the excellent Minigolf Designer… it was close – my slightly more difficult property card was the main difference. (Short description: imaginge crossing Kingdomino and Carcassonne to build a minigolf course.)

Saturday

Anno 1701: Das Brettspiel

Another sadly under-appreciated Klaus Teuber design – Earl & Michelle joined Bob & I as we tried to please the Queen and explore the islands of, well, Catan (or something Catan-like). I think this is the best mixture of Catan resourcing and Entdecker-ish exploration in the Teuber catalog.

Bob had feelings about the Happy Colonist icon (see the picture here) – I will admit that the happy colonists do bear a striking resemblance to someone being electrocuted while wearing a tri-corner hat.

While Michelle got left behind, it was a tight finish between Earl, Bob, and I – and Bob took the win.

Liar’s Dice

The Liar’s Dice tournament is a Gulf Games tradition… as is me getting knocked out in the first round. I do take pride in the fact that I was the last person knocked out at my table (and by the eventual tournament winner, Ken Girton!)

Skylanders

While there are couple of odd graphic choices (why not put the bonus for the player each action on the VERY large action spaces?), this re-think of The King of Frontier was fun to play… even if the Soylent Green/Logan’s Run-ish nature of some of the thematic elements was strange. It was also really good to play with Frank Branham for the first time in a a number of years…. and I won!

Memoir ’44: Overlord

Since 2016, I’ve been hosting an Overlord game at the winter Gulf Games event… this summer, I hosted two!

The first battle was Encirclement at Khalkin-Gol… with Soviet and Japanese forces (including cavalry units on both sides!) engaging in a pitched battle in 1939. The Japanese side (commanded by Sheldon Smith) began to collapse the middle of the Soviet forces (commanded by me)… but Field General Rozmiarek fought back valiantly. The battle see-sawed back and forth as we fought over two ridges on the left and center sections… with the Japanese finally prevailing 18-16. (Eight player Overlord is so much fun – even when I lose.)

The second battle was Operation Lightfoot – with British tanks trying to plow through German minefields in North Africa in 1942. This time, I was the British commander (ably assisted by Ian Moore) while Charlie Davis (and TJ Bailey) led the German forces… Despite our best attempts, the Germans held us back and captured the win 15-12.

Take It Easy

160 people (or more) all playing one game of Take It Easy – yet another Gulf Games tradition. My score was decent but not spectacular. (If you’ve never played Take It Easy, it’s math-y gamer Bingo. For less math-y gamer Bingo, try Rise of Augustus.)

Rolling Heights

I’m really conflicted about Rolling Heights – I tend to like John D. Clair’s designs (Dead Reckoning and Ready Set Bet, for example) and the underlying game system here is solid. But the graphic and component choices for this game are, well, not solid.

Bob played with Kevin & Ed & I – and Bob’s colorblindness was challenged by the meeple colors. All of us struggled with the tiny print… and the fact that building structures often obscure the information you need to read.

In addition, the buildings are made with stacks of pieces – which, granted, looks very cool. Unfortunately, they are not Lego pieces that click together – instead, they are simply stacked and can be knocked over by, well, me. At least five times I brushed the top of a tall building and sent it crashing to the table. (In discussing the game online the next day, I described myself at the Destructor – and Bob published the following picture.)

As is, it’s not a game I’ll purchase, even though I love the theme and the way it looks on the table. I’d love to see an online version on BGA.

Sunday

Jump Drive

I talked Bob into a quick game using the new Terminal Velocity expansion cards… and my experience carried the day.

Trails of Tucana

Another quick flip’n’write game against Bob in which my experience proved worthless.

After a final game of Heat with the advanced content (weather/car mods – the best way to play, btw!), we headed home.

Final Thoughts

Gulf Games is always wonderful – both due to the gaming AND (more importantly) the people who make up the GGs family. Thank you again to Greg & Ted & Ty for starting this thing so many years ago.

The picture below is from a wall display in the game room… and yes, I’m thinner and without gray hair.

This convention report originally appeared on the Opinionated Gamers site.

Convention Report: Gulf Games 49

With the 50th Gulf Games just around the corner, I figured it was about time I posted my convention report from Gulf Games 49 (from February 2023)...

To paraphrase Chandler Bing (aka Miss Chanandler Bong): “Could the title to this post BE any more boring?”)

He has a point… but our three days plus change with the Gulf Games “family” was anything but generic and boring. There were epic battles, masterpieces painted, drift systems explored, and miniature golf courses designed. I terraformed Mars, raced Formula 1 cars circa 1961, and finally found the time to collect me some birds. (“The bird is my prisoner!”)

Collin (my 17 year old son) and I road tripped to North Carolina to enjoy our first Gulf Games adventure since 2019… and it was worth every long mile. This is Gulf Games 49 – wow. (Background note: while I wasn’t at Gulf Games One, I was at Gulf Games Two in the fall of 1998.)

What follows is my quick recap of my weekend of gaming (and a bit of his) – and it doesn’t begin to cover the entire event and the joy of gaming with folks I’ve known for years. I’ll end with a bit of rumination on why I think I enjoy invitational events so much.

Wednesday

Five hours (or so) of driving – including getting stuck in an inexplicable traffic jam around Sevierville and going over the Great Smokey Mountains on a moonless night – ended with our arrival at Gulf Games… and the fun began.

Sentinels of the Multiverse: Definitive Edition

This isn’t my first play of the new-ish Definitive Edition (it’s actually my 11th play) but only my second with the Rook City Renegades expansion. Our team of Ra (Bob Trezise), Setback (Collin), and Nightmist (me!), managed to finally capture Ambuscade in the Realm of Discord.

For those (like me) who own the original game (and literally ALL of the expansion content) – Definitive Edition is really good. The re-tuned decks almost all have more interesting choices (and there are fewer “unusual situation only” cards), the artwork is more consistent (especially compared to the original box of Sentinels), and the game has tended to play with in an hour for most team-ups/villains. I don’t feel a need to get rid of my beloved (113 plays) original set, but I’m glad Collin has the new edition where I can play it.

Thursday

Can’t Stop

Being early in the game room means I had the opportunity to teach a old game to some new friends – the Norman family! Mike and his sons joined me for the classic Sid Sackson game – and Jonah rode the 2 and the 12 to victory.

Split It!

This simple card game hadn’t been on my radar – but it got a good bit of play this weekend… and for good reason. With four players, the combination of “you split, I choose” and simultaneous selection translates into a great filler with lots of moments of inadvertent mind melds and lots of laughter.

Peter McCarthy (one of the other “original” Gulf Games Two folks) beat Bob, Ted Alspach, and I. (Ted – in addition to running Bezier Games and designing things like Suburbia – is an excellent game teacher.)

Note: Bob & I played this two-player later in the weekend… it functionally works as a 2 player game, but the fun is missing.

Fresco

Renee and I have been planning to play Fresco (a favorite of mine and hers) for a number of years – and the chance finally came at Gulf Games. We threw in a number of bells and whistles (but not the Bells expansion): the Wishing Well, the extra paints, the Portrait Studio cards, the mixing bonus tiles, the Bishop’s Favor, the Glazier, gold foil, and even the Wall Fresco. I’ve written about my love for Fresco numerous times before.

Floyd pipped me out by three points at the end of an excellent and well played game against Renee and her sister Alison.

Wingspan

Yes, it’s taken me four years to actually play Wingspan… and, after all that time, I’m a bit mystified about all the love for the playable and solid game. There’s nothing mechanically wrong with it and there’s interesting decisions to make it, but it didn’t really blow me away. (Collin, on the other hand, found it very enjoyable.

This impression is despite my win over Collin, Bob, and Kim. I’m pretty sure some of you will have something to say about my “no big deal” mini-review.

Maui

An old-school Euro (stylistically – it was just published last year) with my long-lost Gathering racing buddies: Mark, Teri, and Kurt. A simple drafting game with some tricky decisions on when to spend your sand dollars and when to just take any ol’ towel and move on. The scores were extremely tight and Mark Noseworthy came out on top.

Xia: Legends of a Drift System

One of the treats of Gulf Games is seeing old friends – and it was a real pleasure to see Chris & Elaine again after all these year… and even more fun to get absolutely SCHOOLED by Elaine (the Xia newbie) in this incredible sandbox space exploration game. Highlight #2: finally getting to meet Kyle in person after years of conversation online!

We played to 10 points… which took right at two hours with four players. My noodling about and exploring led to a variety of close scrapes but not nearly enough points – while the serious scoring/economic/fighting action all took place on the far side of the board from me.

TEN

I ended the night by playing TEN with the head honcho of Gulf Games, Greg Schloesser. (Greg is a wonderful guy whose hard work and incredibly warm personal touch keeps this whole thing going.) Martin, Bob, and I lost to Greg in this odd combination of push-your-luck and auction that was actually a good bit of fun.

Friday

Bezier Games Prototype (Scram!)

I am sworn to secrecy… but I’ll just say that the prototype I got to play with Ted Alspach, Bob, and Michael was a lot of fun. I’d be happy to play again!

Note: I am no longer sworn to secrecy - Scram! was the game we played. And, although it is based on Cabo/Silver (which I don't enjoy), I think the partnership element in this version is the missing element that brought me so much enjoyment.

Catan: Explorers & Pirates

Sheldon’s last game of Gulf Games (since he had to go be the best grandpa ever) was this very long but really neat Catan variant that includes boats that move goods and crew about the map. I’m a big fan of this one – but have never bought it due to it not matching my much older German Catan sets. Collin beat us – his review was that he was glad he finally got to play it but didn’t need to play it again. On the other hand, I’d happily jump into this one.

Minigolf Designer

My first of two plays of Minigolf Designer at Gulf Games… in both cases, I got to teach new players the joys of this fantastic tile-laying game. And, in both cases, I did not finish first – which has been pretty typical for me in multiplayer play. That’s OK, though… I find the mental exercise of building the golf course within the given blueprint and preferences of the owners to be an interesting challenge – and, weirdly enough, relaxing.

David edged out Dan for the win, with Floyd & I getting participation trophies.

Race for the Galaxy

Bob was working to get certain games played for one of the Gulf Games contests (more on that later), so I agreed to play one of my favorite games. (He did not have to twist my arm.)

We played with the first two expansions in – which is a format I haven’t played in years – but I still managed to pull out a win, partially on the strength of my three 6-cost developments.

Let me put in a plug for those newer to the hobby who haven’t tried Race for the Galaxy – the iconography is not as difficult as some gamers grumble about and the game itself is worth your time and energy to learn & enjoy. (Plus, you can play it on BGA and/or the excellent iPad app.)

Dune: Imperium

Continuing on Bob’s quest to play games, he once again had no difficulty into convincing me to play another personal favorite… and we managed to rope in Charlie. Playing with the base game only (both expansions are really good, though), I led for most of the game… only to be edged out by Charlie on the ninth round with a well-timed drop of troops from the Spacing Guild.

Foundations of Rome

David S. brought his blinged-out (metal coins, wash on the buildings, etc.) copy of Foundations of Rome… a game I’ve really wanted to try. The table presence is stunning, especially with us using the Monuments expansion. The game itself feels like a bit of an old-school throwback city-builder… but it’s a solid medium-weight game that moves at a nice pace. I wish I could justify the hefty price point to own a copy for myself.

Saturday

Clash of Cultures: Monumental Edition

Thanks to Kevin & Joy, Jon and I were able to continue our tradition of trash-talking and playing Clash of Cultures together… of course, Kevin the Celtic leader won over Jon’s Phonencians, Joy’s Greeks, and my Huns. And, yes, Jon scored more than I did – but it was close!

The Monumental Edition has a number of positive steps forward from the original game – less rules clarity problems, better graphics, cleaned up combat system, actual miniatures for the wonders, a better system for events, and the impossible-to-find expansion in the box to begin with. I’m sorely tempted to pick up a copy – even though I already own the original version (which I love).

Note: if you're tempted at all, the new version is $67 bucks on Amazon right now, which is almost 1/2 price.

Memoir ’44: Overlord

Another Gulf Games tradition is me hosting a Memoir ’44 battle. (Note: if I end up at a summer Gulf Games, I’m going to need to plan on two battles to make sure everyone who wants to play gets to jump in.) Man, I love this game.

This year, it was Guadalcanal – the Overlord map in the Through Jungle & Desert expansion. Japanese forces (Chris, Collin, and Jon – commanded by Floyd) attempted to break through the American marines (Charlie, David C, and John – commanded by me) to get to Henderson Field. Note the word “attempted” – they failed.

It looked like a blowout at first, with American air power decimating a section of Japanese forces and scattered units being picked off… but then the tide turned (to some extent) and the final score was 13-10 Americans.

Tenpenny Parks

I received this as a Christmas gift… and I’ve had a lot of fun with it. Four of us sat down for a quick (45 minutes) series of rounds of building an amusement park. I managed a commanding win – but I think it may have been one of those “experienced guy takes advantage of the newbies” wins. Still, the production of the game is nice – chunky cardboard pieces, great artwork, and a cool 3-D carousel as part of the board – and the gameplay is fun.

Minigolf Designer & Split It

My second plays – see my thoughts above.

Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition

I’ve come to believe that the game works better (at least in the original box pre-trio of expansions that are about to ship) with 3 or 4 players… the speed of the game is just about right and the variety of actions chosen makes the game move along at a better clip. That said, I terraformed the heck out of Mars… and mostly by spending money.

Note: the new expansions arrived a couple of weeks after GG49... and they are very good additions to the system that raise my rating of the game.

Take It Easy

Take It Easy is, not to put too fine a point on it, basically “Gamer Bingo”. (In fairness, so are Rise of Augustus and Karuba.) But it’s been a long-time Gulf Games tradition to play a massive game of Take It Easy together on Saturday night – and Greg Schloesser (our hero!) tapped me to be the caller.

So, I call the game, playing along with everyone else (and doing a miserable job, thank you very much). Tradition dictates that once all the folks have completed their scoring, the group stands. As I announce different score thresholds, people sit if they haven’t scored that much.

When we went from 190 to 200, only two folks were left standing. Bob (my former boss when I worked at the TN State Legislature) and Collin (my 17 year old son). Collin beat out Bob for the win with 216 points!

Clank: Catacombs

We’d played a number of games of this two player (Collin is a big fan), so I was curious how it would do with four players. Warren, Sharon, Jay, and myself delved into the dungeon… and had one of those weird games where very few monsters appear. (This led to much shaking down of goblins for $ and an opportunity for a John Cusack reference.) We managed to explore most of the dungeon… with all of us finding our way back to the crypt except Sharon (who expired one space away). In the end, my backpack full of artifacts and pile of Secret Tomes won the day.

Side note: Warren & I realized that our advancing age means quoting “I want my two dollars!” is dating us in a rather serious manner.

Heat: Pedal to the Metal

Heat is what happens when you partner the designers of Flamme Rouge with the production quality of Days of Wonder – an auto racing game that zips along and was very enjoyable to play. My first play was a lot of fun… but now that I have 19 (yes, nineteen) plays under my belt (including racing the 1961 campaign solo and the 1962 campaign head-to-head against my son), I’ll declare Heat as one of the best racing games I’ve played. It’s easy to teach the base game – and then easy to add the extra elements (upgrades, weather, etc.) after that. Recommendation: use the Legends expansion to fill out the field to 6 cars regardless of the number of players… makes the race much more race-like!

I played twice at Gulf Games – once on Saturday night (in which I won handily) and once on Sunday morning (in which I was two full turns behind the rest of the field). Here’s the deal – I’d play it again right now if someone asked.

Sunday

Baseball Highlights: The Dice Game

While I adore Baseball Highlights: 2045, I had a less than positive reaction to Football Highlights that has caused me to avoid the Baseball Highlights dice game until now. I was pleased as punch to find out that I like this roll’n’write baseball game that works with 1-4 players. Kyle, David C, and myself had a a great early morning game – which included extra innings when David & I tied. My superior number of power dice gave me the win.

Now I’m curious about Mike Fitzgerald’s Football Highlights dice game, too.

Final Thoughts

• Interestingly enough, I got to play five of the games on my very recent One Game Per Page geeklist during the weekend.
• A water main down the street broke in the middle of Thursday night… which made restroom stuff tricky for some portion of the day.
• I didn’t get to play my copy of Mosaic: A Story of Civilization… but it got a lot of play this weekend.
• Collin’s favorite games (that I didn’t play) included Mantis Falls, the annual kids/youth Werewolf game led ably by Tae, and Kabuto Sumo.
• Thanks to Bob, who finally got Collin to play The Princes of Florence… then beat him on a tiebreaker. :-)
• Other popular games: Heat was being played a good bit, as was Castles of Mad King Ludwig: Collector’s Edition and Everdell: Complete Collection.
• My quick thoughts on invitational events:
• Consistent groups of people over time form relationships and connection that are very enjoyable
• Less issues with problem players (belligerent, hygiene issues, etc.)
• Easier to trust people with valuable and/or interesting games in your collection
• Can create events where children are welcome
• Less people equals less stressful situations
• Smaller events tend to less crowded schedules and more freedom to jump into games
• Important invitational event safety tips:
• You’ll need new blood (new invitees) to not age out your event over time
• Know your target and communicate it clearly to your attendees
• Make good decisions on invitations so you don’t have to do the hard work of un-inviting someone
• Get a team to help you run the event

Can’t wait until the next Gulf Games!

picture credits

top row: Foundations of Rome, Memoir ’44: Overlord, Tenpenny Parks

middle row: Clash of Cultures: Monumental Edition, me sporting an Esoteric Order of Gamers shirt, Xia: Legends of a Drift System

bottom row: Collin & Bob playing Princes of Florence, Fresco, Jon trash-talking me prior to Clash of Cultures

Pseudo Gulf Games

Fresno, CA, isn't near any gulf that I know of - heck, the largest body of water near our home is an irrigation canal - but that didn't stop the Jackson family from enjoying a wonderful weekend visit from the Vander Ark clan. They were roughly 1 week into their month-long "family adventure" when they arrived on Saturday evening (and if you'd like to check out more details, along with some great pictures, you can take a gander at their Road Trip 2007 blog.)

David (and his family) & I first met at Gulf Games Nashville in the summer of 2001. We've kept in touch since then, and they have become not only gaming buddies but good friends. I can't express enough how much his support over the last 9 months has meant to me.

So, when I get to hang out with Dave, Theresa (his wife), and the kids, I'm one happy camper. As were my boys - Braeden skipped a birthday party with a friend to play with Sam & Bryce, and Collin was loving on all of them before they left like he was losing a family member.

They got to experience a "full" Sunday at NewLife Community Church as well - complete with Sunday School, Sunday morning worship, and Cool Summer Nights.

Lots of game playing went on as well - this comes as no surprise to anyone who knows our families. Here's the highlights:

Saturday

• That's Life! - we played with the Verflixxt nochmal expansion, which I think is a lot of fun. I'm not sure the extra player pieces are necessary, but Flixxy & the worms are both nice additions.
• Das Faultier - the first of two games of this sloth anti-racing game this weekend, great fun was had by all (and I won!)
• Halli Galli - Allison begged to play this... this is the one time we let her.
• Twitch - I taught Allison & the boys this oddball speed game from WOTC... and Sam edged me out at the end for the win. Well done!
• Giro Galoppo - This is one of the hidden gems of gaming... it LOOKS like a kids game (and works just fine that way) but can be played with lots of doublethink & meanness by older kids & adults.

Sunday

• Das Faultier - a 2nd game to teach Dave the joys of sloth-sleep!
• Emerald - Braeden managed to pull out a win against Dave & I... sigh.
• Gulo Gulo - Allison & I went head to head (I lost) in this dexterity game
• Wallamoppi - OTOH, I beat Allison at this other dexterity game.
• Ticket to Ride: USA - my first chance to play with 1910 cards (we played the Mega version) and I loved it... even if Dave beat us
• Die Siedler von Catan: Das Würfelspiel - a simple dice game that I really like for 2-3 players... I still want to try the "advanced" scoring system that Teuber posted on his website. (Yes, the word "Catan" is there because it's based in the Settlers world.) I beat Dave by building three cities.
• Coolympics - weird dexterity game that Frank Branham recommended to me... too tough for kids (and most adults)!
• Magical Maze - now called Goblin's Gold, this is a maze game with a hidden maze that you navigate via a magnetic figure... pretty nifty
• Niagara - we played with both Diamond Joe & the Spirits expansion... Braeden won this game as well against Allison, Dave & myself
• Mamma Mia! - Allison requested this... and I did REALLY well. Man, I don't get to play this one nearly as much as I like.
• Rabatz auf dem Riesenrad - Teuber kid's game with great components...
• Tier auf Tier - even Collin (my 2 yr old) got to play this bit-o-licious animal stacking game
• Goldener Drache - very cool racing game from Wolfgang Riedesser (the same guy who did Ave Caesar), complete with dragon's tail tile racks!
• Schildi Schildkröte - I didn't get to play this Haba gem with the rolling turtles, but the point was for Dave & my boys to play... Nick & Braeden won the 111th Turtle Olympics
• Kiki Ricky - Ravensburger silliness (essentially a King of the Mtn dice game with an egg-throwing chicken to knock you back) that's been a hit with every kid who's played it - Sam won.

Monday

• Heroscape: I'll Dance On Your Grave is the scenario we played (probably the best 1 master set 4 player scenario I know - it's a 6 round free-for-all.) Each of us had 300 pt teams: Nick had Deadeye Dan & a passle of Vipers, Sam had the Marcus, Roman soldiers & archers, and Guilty McCreach, I had Sir Dedrick, the Knights, Cormac & the Vikings, and Braeden had Deathwalker 8000, Krug & the Deathreavers (aka "pesky metal dogs"). Sam was wiped out late in round 5, yet Braeden survived the death of both big guys and played a pivotal role with the Deathreavers. After all the fighting, Sam & I ended the battle trying to kill each other - Sir Dedrick vs Marcus. Final score: Mark 100, Sam 100, Braeden 40, Nick zero. (And a great time was had by all!)

Gulf Games 18: Friday (Part 2)

I started writing this back in August of 2006... about a month after Gulf Games 18. Then it got shuffled to the bottom of the virtual pile of "to be written" stuff on my virtual desk. So, some 8 months later, here it is. Sheesh.

My Gulf Games Friday continued with a "GG-only" game - Pick Two. (By GG-only game, I mean a game that I only end up playing at Gulf Games.) Pick Two is a bit of a Gulf Games institution, what with Gail Schloesser & Vicki Watson both being "word sharks"... and it doesn't hurt that the game easily accomodates 6 players (or 8 with the new deluxe edition). This was my opportunity to play a game with Cassie Berg & her "friend", Adam - as well as Bill Hembee, Kevin Rozmiarek, and the shark herself, Gail Schloesser.

Pick Two is a real-time crossword game - you get 8 letter tiles to begin, quickly attempting to fit them into a crossword-like format. The first person to do so howls out, "Pick two!" and everyone at the table grabs two more tiles from the pile in the middle. Of course, unless you've set yourself up correctly, these tiles may do more harm than good, as they must be fit into the grid as well. This goes on, usually for 5-10 minutes, with cries of "Pick two!" followed by grumbling, moaning, and an occasional "whoo-hoo" as the right tile falls into someone's lap. When the tiles are exhausted (not to mention the players), the first person to finish calls "Done!" and play stops. The game is scored based on the tiles you didn't use - each tile has a point value. You play 5 rounds (I think?) and the lowest score wins.

This was an esp. good Pick Two GG for me, as I not only won this game over Gail (thanks to her drawing both Q's in the final round) but I also managed to win in an 8 player game later on Saturday, this tim with BOTH Vicki & Gail at the table. (My discovery - there are two odd words that are very helpful in Pick Two: "queue" and "valve".)

Possibly the least successful gaming experience of Gulf Games followed my euphoric Pick Two win: I talked five other folks into playing Fat Messiah's Lifeboat. Note: this is NOT what many Eurogamers call "the Lifeboat game" - that's actually Rette sich wer kann (which is also about lifeboats & negotiation, but is a completely different animal.) This is a role-playing card game, with each person taking on one of six preset characters: the Captain, the First Mate, Sir Stephen, Lady ?, Frenchie & The Kid. Players are also dealt a Love card & a Hate card - at the end of the game, they are rewarded for the character they "love" being alive and the character they "hate" being dead... and yes, there are rules for if you love or hate yourself - or both.

Normally, this game is a boatload of silly fun... but something weird went wrong here. Despite the joys of playing something like this with Craig Berg, James Miller & others, it fell completely flat. And when I say "flat", I mean like a pancake that was crushed underneath a brick that was then leveled by a steamroller. I won - but, youch, we managed to create negative fun space in the room.

We quickly jumped over to play a hard fought match of Tumblin' Dice, where I snaked out a 7 point win over Craig. (If you've seen Tumblin' Dice, you realize that this had very little to do with skill.)

I'm not sure how the transition worked, but I found myself invited into a 6 player game of Iliade (the English version is Iliad.) With six players, you play in partnerships, so I was matched up with Dale Yu against the teams of Alan Moon/Valerie P & John P/Tyler P.

Ilide reminded me a bit of Taj Mahal in trying to decide when to drop out & take points and/or cards - but the partnership aspect helped to keep some of the "futility of hope" sentiments I feel during Taj Mahal at bay. (Others say it reminds them of Condotierre, which I've only played once and didn't particularly enjoy.) I don't think I'd buy a copy of Iliade... but I'd gladly play it again.

Dale & I made a valiant effort to catch up standing on John & Tyler, but it was to no avail. Alan & Valerie had built too much of a lead.

My notes become a bit iffy here... I think I ate dinner around this time. I know this was the same afternoon that the storm came roaring down the river - one minute you could see downtown Louisville across the Ohio (it is the Ohio River, right?!) and the next minute the rainstorm was blowing so hard that the city was gone. I mention this primarily because living in Fresno, I miss summer storms. Heck, I miss summer rain - it dries up in late May & we don't see another drop until late October.

And then, whatever I ate & wherever I went, it was back to the gaming. I had the privilege of playing Volle Hutte, a game I was introduced to at my first Gulf Games (GG2/Panama City Beach). I don't remember which bar I had (I'm usually partial to the Black Pig) but both Matt Albritton & Theresa Vander Ark managed to attract more paying custormers than I. (Thankfully, the other Vander Arks in the game - Dave & Sam - were eating my dust. Esp. Dave... whose score was 1/2 of Sam's!)

Then came a game of Expedition with the newest version of the game: the National Geographic edition. Imagine my surprise when we found that the rules were different and so was the map. My memory is very fuzzy on the rule changes - it'd be nice if someone did a comparison over on the Geek - but I do remember being irritated by them. Curt won, with me only 2 points behind him. Doug & Shelly, Rob Wood & Anne were also a part of the fun.

Next up was a personal favorite, Viva Pamplona. This "running of the bulls" game is lots of fun, and playing it with a Gulf Games crew (Elaine, Larry, Dennis, John P & Peter) only makes it better. I stayed in the middle of the pack, with John playing the coward (11 pts!) and Larry taking the win (37 pts).

Somehow I ended up with the Atlanta contingent at this point in the evening... not that that's a bad thing, but the final four games of the night all involved one or more folks from down Georgia way. The "Peachtree Street" (there are, btw, 17+ Peachtree streets in Atlanta) gaming began with Around the World in 80 Days - the new one. (The older one by Wolfgang Kramer is very good as well - I'd recommend folks give it a try. In fact, you could make an entire night of "around the world" gaming, what with the Krismus card game & Parker Brothers The Magnificent Race.)

I think my only real beef with Around the World in 80 Days is how many times the blue "reshuffle" cards mess over my carefully laid plans... but that's a randomness that you can foresee, so I'm not sure it's a problem with a game. We played with five players (Jack, Jim, Anne & Maria) and the order of finish was very interesting:

1. Me (77 days)
2. Maria (84 days)
3. Jim (66 days)
4. Anne (78 days)
5. Jack (DNF)

As you can see, my early finish was eclipsed by Jim's superior use of time - a feature I really like about this game. (It's also one of the things I love about Jenseit von Theben... which is coming out in English in time for my birthday, people - hint! hint!)

I was then initiated into the cult of Gemblo... dang, that's a weird-shaped box & a very large board. I'm pretty good at Blokus, and some of the same skills (recognizing spatial patterns) are essential in this game as well, so that translated into a win for me against players with more experience. (Note: I also got lucky I wasn't getting messed with - another vital "skill" in Blokus.) It's a little harder to see the patterns in this one, but it's still enjoyable. I think the real attraction of Gemblo is that it will play well with 3, 4 or 6 players, whereas Blokus is really only good as a 4 player game (or 2 player with the travel edition). Jack was only one gem behind me, followed by Peter & Maria tied, Mike Green, and finally Anne.

Then the Atlanta crew introduced me to Dancing Dice... a game I liked enough that I've since picked up my own copy. It's a dice game with no down time - amazing! - but it does have a "arrange your dice in secret" element that would make me nervous playing with people I don't know. (The ability to cheat is pretty much unlimited.) Anne went from worst (Gemblo) to first here, outlasting Warren, Shana, Jeanette & myself.

Finally, we played another game of Pizza Box Football... this time Warren & Sheldon (I _think_ it was Sheldon?!) led the Patriots to victory over Curt & I playing the hapless Bills. We were just behind by 3 point lead at halftime that turned into a 13 point lead by the end of the 3rd quarter... but, because the dice in this game HATE ME WITH A PASSION THAT MAKES TELENOVELLAS LOOK LIKE A STEPHEN WRIGHT COMEDY GIG, we managed to score 13 points in the fourth quarter and still lose 43-33. Sigh. (Good thing I enjoy the experience, because I think I've only won one game of this EVER.)

With that defeat, I trundled off to bed.

Gulf Games 18: Friday (Part 1)

It was still pretty easy to pop out of bed on Friday morning, despite the late game of Dynasty League Baseball the night before... because Friday was the scheduled day for Descent: Journeys in the Dark!

But before we reach that sublime playing experience, gentle reader, we must not gloss over the game that proceeded it: Darkness Falls in Sevinpold. Six of us (James, Earl, Michelle, Kevin Nunn, Greg, & myself) set out to find the Scepter of Power & the Living Throne... opposed by "the darkness" (aka Ted). Alas, while the artwork & bits for the game are quite nice, the gameplay is backgammon crossed with action cards. In the game's favor, it does play quickly with a large number of players, making it an odd but usable filler. OTOH, it's too convoluted to appeal to non-gamer families, while not meaty enough to appeal to gamers. Sigh. Anyway, we managed to get the both of the items & win the game. Darkness is defeated in thirty minutes - woo hoo.

Now, from one end of the fantasy game scale (ridiculous) to the other (spectacular)... we taught Greg Schloesser to play Descent: Journeys in the Dark. (How, you ask, did I manage to convince Greg into playing a game which is legendary for running 4-6 hours? Simple - I told him it would only take 2 hours. Of course, many of you are now asking, "Mark, you are not only a follower of Jesus Christ but also a pastor. How could you lie like that, breaking at least one commandment in the process?" Here's the rub: I didn't lie.)

That's right - we finished a quest (well, the Overlord - that's me -won) in right at two hours. It didn't hurt that Greg was playing with three experienced players (Kyle Berg, Kevin Rozmiarek & Alan Moon)... but the fan-built scenario "The Rescue" is the primary reason we finished on schedule. (For those who've played the game, it's a small scenario with only two treasure chests & no glyphs.)

Things were difficult for me (the Overlord) early on - no spawn cards (which allow me to add monsters to the dungeon) meant I spent a lot of time hoarding threat tokens. They used "Lug" (our nickname for Kevin's bruiser character) to bulldoze into the first room... but then they let him stay behind a bit to kill something. And that's when I started drawing spawn cards. I kept Lug awash in spiders, which couldn't really hurt him, but blocked him from joining the rest of the party. Then, when they opened the wrong door, a heap of hurt triangulated on Alan & blew his character off the map for 4 points. Killing Greg a couple of turns later for 2 points ended the game.

We had a blast - Descent has all the good stuff about your typical dungeon crawl, packaged in a gorgeous & very clean format. I'm still fighting with myself about owning a copy. (And hoping that someone from FFG is reading this blog & thinking, "Gosh, if this guy is such a fan, why don't send him review copies of the expansions?" Not likely - but I can still dream, can't I?)

OK, back to your regularly scheduled Gulf Games coverage.

A herd of mice joined in to play Haba's Hasch Mich! (man, Haba likes those exclamation points, don't they?) - which is essentially a wooden version of the classic game, Pounce. (No, there is no wooden plunger... instead, you have a wooden bowl you slap down on the mice.) It's actually more of an activity rather than a game (there is a point system in the variants to give it some substance) - it's mainly a chance to scream & holler & slam a wooden bowl into a table or scream & holler & yank a mouse so hard it hits you in the face (as it did Robbie Wood). Joining Robbie in this masochistic excerise in noise-making was Anye Sellers, Robbie's dad (hi, Rob!), Emma Samuelson, Kim Berg & Collin McCarthy. The younger mice had such a grand time that they wanted to play again - the adults opted out.

In my case, that meant dragging out an old favorite to play with Ted Cheatham & Rob Wood - Nizza.

Before we get to the game, some background on Rob & Ted's role in my life. Rob was the first gamer I met over the Internet - and I was sufficiently nervous about the whole "could I be inviting an axe murderer into my home?" thing that I actually had him to come to my church... and made sure I had two good friends with me. (Hi, Chris & Buster!) He turned out OK, even if he did make us play Die Hanse.

Rob & I kept getting together to play games - at his home on the far west side of Nashville, at a gaming club I started on my side of town, etc. And then, one evening out at his place, he invited another guy to join us who was visiting in Nashville for business - Ted Cheatham. This was also the night he announced he'd found a much better job with a longer commute - in Tucson, AZ. So, Ted & I exchanged phone numbers... and the next time Ted was in town, we got together for some gaming. (Tikal, if I remember correctly.) Anyhoo, long story short, after about a year of this, Ted invited me to Gulf Games 2. And the rest is history.

Back to your regularly schedule Gulf Games coverage. (Again.)

So, before I dithered off into ancient gaming history, Rob & Ted & I were sitting down to play the much-maligned Kramer game, Nizza. I believe, btw, I've finally figured out why it has such a bad rep. Most people have played it with 4-6 players. Yes, my friends, it's another one of those games that "technically" works with more players (it has enough pieces provided and so on) but actually should be restricted to 2-3 players.

And with that number, we had a good time. Nizza is a game about being a jewel thief in a small European coastal town (Herr Kramer had watched To Catch A Thief one time many times on AMC when he came up with this one). It has a couple of nice mechanics - first, movement is determined using a ladder & "ropes" (which swing from chimneys in the board) rather than moving on some kind of grid. Second, you get to use the various forms of movement and/or grab the loot and/or push your opponent into the water by a Yahtzee-like dice rolling system. If you've avoided this game over the years because it's bad reputation (or because you've never heard of it), I'd suggest giving it a try with 2 or 3 players (but NO MORE than 4!) - you may find a hidden gem.

Ted got ahead of Rob & I late in the game, managing to jump to the boat & climb the ladder into the waiting helicopter to make good his escape. Sigh.

Being a crook was the theme for this part of the afternoon, as Ted & I moved on to play a game high up on my "need to try" list, Ca$h & Gun$. Honestly, I make a pathetic "bad guy" - not only was I unable to reign in Ted's cat burglar tendencies in Nizza, but I also managed to get myself killed in this wild & wooly game of divvying up the loot while pointing guns at each other. (Ted didn't win, though - he was outfoxed by the dynamic duo of Andy Hembee & Tim McCarthy. Joining me in the morgue was Leon Hembee & Anye Sellers.)

And not just imaginary guns, mind you, or finger guns - big, chunky black foam guns. Nothing says "I want you to back off and leave the money on the table" like a pointing a foam gun at someone. (There's even an "expansion" set with a foam shotgun... too funny.)

The game itself is pretty simple - it's a bluffing game with great props. Sad to say that this nifty game will set you back 30+ Euros (more than $40 US w/shipping) - yikes! That dollar threshold is really all that keeps me from getting a copy, as I can imagine this one seeing a lot of play.

Gulf Games 18: Dice Box of Mystery ANSWERS

I posted some Dice Box of Mystery pictures earlier this week - here's the answers.

• die w/hand grasping token - A TO Z
• die w/dog & moles who look like they have mop-top haircuts - BUDDEL BANDE
• multi-colored 10 sided die - CRANIUM HOOPLA
• long black die w/pink circle - DROPS & CO (it's supposed to be a licorice stick, thematically)
• die w/cloud & flying carpet guy - FLYING CARPET (duh!)
• die w/X and what looks like a fraction - FURY OF DRACULA (this one was esp. tricky)
• die w/bat wing - IN TEUFEL'S KUCHE
• die w/identical blobs that look vaguely like a fat guy preaching - MYSTERY OF THE ABBEY
• die w/briefcase, walking person & person holding rope - NIZZA
• 8-sided die with a not-so-Hidden Mickey - DISNEY SCENE-IT
• die w/castles & ship - SETTLERS: CITIES & KNIGHTS

Thanks for playing... how'd you do?

Gulf Games 18: Dice Box Of Mystery

Once before (back at the Gulf Games in Orlando in spring 2001 - wow, that was a long time ago) I created a contest - a box full of dice that players had to identify to win fame & semi-fabulous prizes.

I decided to create another version of the Dice Box Of Mystery for Gulf Games 18... players were faced with a clear tackle box with 27 dice. Thanks to an answer sheet with the first letter of each answer in alphabetical order, it wasn't an impossible task.

8 players competed... with the top three scores moving on to the "live" finals during the Saturday night festivities. Craig Berg (21 correct), Ed Rozmiarek (16 correct) and David Vander Ark (also 16 correct) then faced 8 dice projected on the big screen - with 15 seconds or so to identify the dice and write down their answer. David earned a 3-1 win over Craig, while Ed did some impressive charades and moaning (in one case, he'd played the game only a week or two before, but couldn't bring it up out of long-term memory).

Here's your chance to play along - the following 11 dice pictures were either answered correctly by only one of the finalists or managed to stump them all. I'll post the answers at the end of the week. (Hey - no fair looking 'em up on the Geek!)

Gulf Games 18: Thursday

I didn't get a huge chunk of sleep... but sleep is never really an issue for me at Gulf Games. (I figured I'd make up for it at the end of the weekend - more about that in a few days.) So, I rousted out of bed bright & early.

The hotel layout (as Dale Yu said in his column over on Boardgame News) was absolutely perfect for Gulf Games. And the room I shared with Ted Cheatham (thanks again, Ted!) was centrally located - on the 3rd floor, just a hop/skip/jump to the stairs down to the second floor. Directly across from the stair door was the breakfast room (continental breakfast each morning). Down the hall was a Mexican restaraunt (which was OK enough for me to eat there 3 times) and a sitting area. Make a hard left and go down another long hall and you've reached the gaming area. Total time from room to games: usually less than a minute. Sweet.

Alan Moon (yes, the Alan Moon, designer of personal favorites Union Pacific & Mush, not to mention his Spiel des Jahres winning games Ticket to Ride and Elfenland) was plopped down in an easy chair in the sitting area when I came down. Both of us thought the doors to the game room were locked (where was Greg?!), so we proceeded to talk about... life. I think a game or two got mentioned, but mostly it was about his wife & her schooling & spending time with his folks - normal people conversation. Which, frankly, is one of the beautiful things about Gulf Games... a conversation about the intricacies of Memoir '44 can coexist peacefully with sharing stuff about family life and/or schooling and/or knitting. (Hi, Anye!)

Of course, Greg arrived and let us know that the door was open. (Whoops...) So in we went, and the gaming quickly got underway.

Ted taught four of us Rum & Pirates... OK, I've sat here for a couple of minutes trying to come up with a short description of the game that does it justice and I'm stumped. I'll start with the easy part - I liked the game enough to make it my first prize table pick on Saturday night. Here's some things I like about it:

• It's a a sophisticated push-your-luck game with a plethora of scoring options.
• The design of the game is splendid - from the variable board to the tile holder complete with cover.
• The phrase I used on my BGG comment was "It's light without being lightweight."
• Played at a nice clip, it's delightful. (However, I can imagine the torture of playing this game with someone slow & ponderous - sigh.)

Ted managed to win over Tim Watson, Michelle Corbin & I (our scores were tightly packed some 15 points behind him)... while Earl evidently lost his dice hand in some sort of pirate accident.

Allison Vander Ark had spotted me earlier, demanding a game - so we jumped into Au Backe next with the assistance of Dale Yu & James Miller. I really like Au Backe (it's a memory game with great Doris M. art - we even have large size reproductions of some of the cards up in Collin's room) but this is the first time I've played it where the game evidenced a kingmaker problem. James & I both had one card left, Dale had 4 cards - and Allison managed to turn over both poops. (Yes, the game has poop cards. Sue me.) That required her to draw four cards from her opponents - meaning that she could hand the game to any of us. We finally did "pick a number" to determine the winner, but even though I won, it was a hollow victory.

I think Jay Bloodworth was the only experienced player in our game of Cleopatra & the Society of Architects... so he taught us the game. As usual, the Days of Wonder production is spectacular - molded plastic bits, easy-to-use reference cards, etc. For lack of a better description, it's a cross between Ticket to Ride (the drawing of cards) and Settlers of Catan (the building of stuff)... with the scoring mechanic from High Society (the person with the most corruption automatically loses) thrown in for good measure. I know that the reviews of this game have been lukewarm, but I think there is more game in the box than people realize. Even with my big win (I was 23 points ahead of Jay), I was just coming to understand more of the things I could do to affect the outcome as we were finishing up: how I positioned the cards for the market, when to buy something out from under another player by watching what they were collecting, taking too many cards so I could pay a single corruption to get rid of high corruption cards, etc.

My next adventure was a particularly Gulf Games experience - playing Ticket To Ride with 4 teenage girls. Kayla Berg (daughter of Invisible Craig), Amanda Tullis (daughter of Scott "sorry I monkeyed up your last name as your e-mail address" Tullis), Ariel Douds (daughter of Ty/Talon Douds, designer of the trick-taking brain-burner Victory & Honor) and Emma LaBranche (daughter of Michael & Shauna) joined me in playing the Spiel des Jahres winner. Kayla pursued what I call "the Southern Pacific" strategy - she managed to create a line from Miami to Portland - while the rest of us fought over Middle America. The results were predictable... Kayla won by 30+ points. Even so, it was fun to get in a game with this group of funny & delightful young ladies.

Somewhere around this time I ate lunch. But I'm not sure. You probably don't care.

Next up: a couple of children's games from the collection of Dale Yu - first was Geistertreppe, which won the SdJ for Kinderspiel (children's games) a year or two back. It's a pretty standard memory game with very nice bits (the wooden ghosts with magnets inside them is nice) but it's not a hoot & holler experience (like Pyramidos, which saw a good bit of play at Gulf Games). Jeanette Vander Ark (aka Little Miss Friendly) beat James Miller, Elaine Lohroff & I at tracking where her ghost child was hidden.

The same crew joined me for the children's game "find" of Gulf Games (for me, at least): Selecta's Gira Gallopo. Appropriately enough (for the GG theme), it's a horse-racing game. Players choose their wooden jockeys and their horse (which are mix'n'match for imaginative play) and a set of 6 numbered cards (1-6). Each turn, players simaltaneously lay down a card & then reveal it. The lowest number player moves 1st, followed by the next lowest... and so on. (Ties are broken by which horse & jockey are farther behind.) If you land on another player, you send them back to the next empty space. If you land on an obstacle, you don't get to move. What ensues is a pretty vicious kid's game - lots of knocking each other around - tempered by the tactical decisions you need to make in order to dodge the 8 obstacles in the game. (5 of those are pieces which are set by the players each game - giving it some nice variablity.) Like I said, this was the niftiest of the new kid's games I played - and, appropriately, it was nominated for the SdJ Kinderspiel this year. (Jeannette won this game as well - so I stopped playing with her. He... not really.)

I've long been a fan of Diceball!, so it didn't surprise me at all when I fell in love with Pizza Box Football - so much so that it was my 2nd pick off the prize table. (Now I've got to order the expansion pack - and track down the rumors of the 2nd expansion pack with 2005-6 teams!) It has the same clunky wonderfulness as Diceball! - too much dice rolling that translates into a pretty realistic sports game. Warren Madden (no relation to John, I assume?) was partnered with me against Hans und Franz (aka Craig Berg & Chris Lohroff) in a four player game. (To make this two player game work with four players, we simply alternated playing defensive & offensive coordinator... the team member not playing helped keep track of downs, time & yardage. It works like a charm, btw!)

It was the Seattle Seahawks (boo!) against the Tennessee Titans (yeah!)... and while the Titans went out to an early lead (10-7 at the end of the 1st quarter, any good Titans fan knows what happened next. That's right, absolutely nothing. Hans & Franze went on to score 30 unanswered points to leave Warren & I in the dust, 37-10. Sigh. (Still, I had a great time.)

My next game was the Essen 2005 release Big Kini - which has an odd theme (in fact, I'm not sure I could explain it thematically) and only so-so gameplay. I did OK at it (just 4 points out of 1st place) but the game was notable primarily for the company (Sheldon & Regina Smith, Greg Schloesser & David Vander Ark) rather than the game itself. Sheldon won, btw.

Somewhere in here I went to dinner at the Mexican place down the hall... after making my only excursion outside of the hotel building until Sunday afternoon. (A large group of us went over to Rocky's to eat dinner - then, told we'd have to wait 45 minutes, split into two groups.)

An hour plus of fine conversation later, I began playing games again - this time, it was Knizia's Through The Desert, which is not my favorite game. (Still, I haven't managed to trade my Kosmos copy away yet - it's right on the keep/trade line for me.) Peter McCarthey smoked us with professional level camel-herding, leaving his wife Kim, Leon Hembee & Tessa Samuelson in the dust.

Another game of Gira Gallopo followed, this time with Sarah Lohroff, Kyle Berg, Warren Madden & his wife Sharon... and me. Experience did not prove to be helpful - Warren took off & won big.

Warren then really took off (taking Sharon with him), leaving Kyle & Sarah & I to join Elaine for another Selecta bit-happy children's game: Piratissimo. The production is gorgeous - ships with plastic sails, a wicker basket for the gold pieces, great artwork. Too bad there isn't much of a game here. While it was fun for a short period of time, it overstayed its' welcome by about 10 minutes (which can be an eternity in kid's games.) Look, I'm not just moaning about a loss, either - I won this thing by getting my pirate gold first.

Over the weeks prior to Gulf Games, a group of us had chatted over e-mail about a Memoir '44 rematch... in New Orleans last summer, my Young Guns (Timothy, Paul Cortazzo & my nephew, William) were beaten at the Battle of the Bulge (the Ardennes scenario) by Hans, Franz, and their cousin Heinrich (Craig, Chris & Eddie Bonet). Their commander was Ed Rozmiarek. I asked for (and received) their blessings to recruit a more experienced group of generals - and what I ended up with was Sheldon Smith, David Vander Ark & Alan Moon. (What with Eddie going AWOL, James Miller joined the Axis side.)

Not to talk bad about any of them - because we stomped the Axis menace into the sandy shores of the Sword Beach scenario. (The final score, 10-6, makes it sound closer than it was.) My vindication about my superior field command skills was tempered a bit by the unbelievable hand of cards I had... we managed to jump off the beaches with two Assault & one Attack card, followed by another similar round, followed by "Their Finest Hour". (One of the key issues in any Memoir landing scenario is to get into firing position quickly - with that accomplished, the rest was a piece of cake.) The German far left held (under the leadership of Herr Miller) but there was a gap between each German commander that allowed us to begin exiting units for the win.

I roped Timothy McCarthy into trying one of my newest acquisitions - the beautiful & odd Du Balai from Asmodee Games. It's a dice-rolling/memory/real-time/action card mishmash where sorcerers race around the board attempting to win first place in the race while doing hot dog manuevers. While I have questions about the scoring (it seems to break down in a 2 player game), the idea of the game is wonderful. And it comes packaged in a book-shaped box that is actually a part of the game - nifty.

Warren, having discovered a kindred spirit when it comes to sports gaming, grabbed me again late in the evening & taught me how to play Dynasty League Baseball. Like I said earlier, I like Diceball!... which is a pretty abstract baseball game. Dynasty League, OTOH, is a detailed sports sim - each player has his own card chockful of ratings & percentages based on his actual stats for a particular year. The level of detail even extends to the weather, the size of the ballpark, and the umpire crew.

With games like this, it's helpful to play with someone experienced who can quickly reference the appropriate charts & rulings... heck, it's darn vital for your first playing. IMHO, Warren (or at least his clone, so Sharon wouldn't be lonely) should come packaged in every box - not only would it be easier to play... but you also wouldn't have to worry about finding an opponent!

It was in the 60's - unseasonably cold weather for a July night game at Pico Rivera. Oral Herschieser started on the mound for the Dodgers (my team!) and John Smoltz started for Atlanta (Warren's team). Both pitchers were sent to the showers after the run-fest that was the second inning (7-6), so both teams went through a procession of relief pitchers. The Atlanta bullpen turned out to be walk-happy (7 walks) and late game surge by the Dodger bats sealed the game for the good guys, 18-8.

And with that, I was off to bed. Man, what an excellent day.