Recent indulgences in board game purchases necessitated a blog entry. I am fortunate enough to be friends with a slew of people who enjoy board games as much as I do, and we've been playing a lot lately. It's an excellent outlet for my fiercely competitive side, and most games usually result in maximum amounts of laughs and jokes and minimal amounts of throat slashing and tears. I've played the following games in the past week and would like to offer a few brief thoughts.
Carcassonne- This came to my attention as a top-ranked game on Amazon (which, for some reason, regularly sends me e-mails about games and toys). It's a strategic tile-laying game in which players use strategy to compete for land, roads, cities and monasteries in a medieval French City. Because players lay tiles with each turn, the game changes every time you play it and can never be played the same way. Players place game pieces in land areas and designate the pieces as farmers, thieves, knights or monks, respectively. When areas are completed, players get points if they have placed a game piece there. Tiles are drawn randomly; chance plays a role in the game, but real winners will use strategy to maximize points by owning the most or largest completed cities, roads and monasteries. The more you play this game, you'll find added dimensions and opportunities to strategize and help yourself or disable your opponent. But occasions will arise when the decisions could be difficult--ie possibilities to help yourself that could backfire and give your opponent points. First-time players will find the directions long and complicated, but play through a couple of rounds and it all becomes clear very quickly. Carcassonne is for ages 8 and up, and can host 2-5 players. Depending on the number of participants, gameplay may last from 20 minutes to an hour. You'll find yourself strategizing long after you've won or lost, as there are many points to be gained after all the tiles are put down, depending on where you placed your game pieces. Farmers are particularly valuable and are not scored until the end of the game. f the siren song of Carcassonne keeps you up at night, racking your brain about action plans and point systems, never fear, because there are sites online where you can play. Watch out though, strangers online may play dirty, and there's something satisfying about staring into the face of your opponent while you score major points by making a kick-ass monastery.
Grade: A-
Election USA- Are you a political junkie tired of watching endless cycles of election coverage on MSNBC, or do you find yourself refreshing your Politico.com browser window more than fives times in an hour? Give yourself a recess (Congress does it all the time!) and indulge in Election USA, a satirical board game that encourages players to win the Republican nomination. Yes, you have to play a Republican, but bleeding-heart liberals shouldn't fear, because most of the playing cards are witty spoofs on Republican policy. To win , players must use their fundraising money wisely, avoid journalists looking to air dirty laundry, and compete for advertising money in six areas of the country. Players also bid for policies using "sincerity points." Patience, planning and bluffing skills are important for a wise player. But political neophytes shouldn't shy away, this game is easy to understand and doesn't demand any real electoral acumen of participants. Watch out though, this isn't necessarily a game to whip out at the next family Christmas party, it's targeted to a certain audience, and fans may have trouble finding enough people to play with. This is the first political game I've ever come across, and it's a refreshingly entertaining new topic. For me though, this game could be better. I think the novelty will wear off after a few run-throughs. If the card-drawing system was reworked or higher stakes were added, the game might be more interesting. I'd like to see more gaming companies expand on this political concept. Health Care USA! Foreign Policy APOCALYPSE. And hey, if they're useful enough, maybe we could pass them along to some of our more misguided and ill-informed politicians. For 3-5 players, ages 12 and up.
Grade: B-
Bananagrams- So far, this is the runaway hit among my posse. A clever word game combining elements from Scrabble and Boggle to make a hybrid that is impossible to stop playing. Players form words in a crossword-style, as in Scrabble but without the constraints of a game board, and are free to re-arrange and start over as many times as needed. Once players use all of their tiles, more are taken from the middle pile until all the tiles are gone and a winner has used every tile in his crossword. "Dumping" is allowed, where a player can dump a difficult letter and take three more as a penalty.
Tip: Be weary of this when the game is drawing to a close, because you'll likely come back with a handful of x's, z's and k's. If you love word games, you'll adore Banangrams, but don't expect to play it with anyone who doesn't like Scrabble or Boggle. People who have a difficult time forming words under timing and letter constraints will be easily frustrated and find that using all of their tiles is a significant challenge. One of the best parts about this game is that it's highly portable. It just comes in a small sack shaped like a banana and can be thrown into a purse or carry-on bag. Because there's no game board or scoresheet, you can play it anywhere--airports, classrooms, homeless shelters. Our favorite place to play is nestled in a cozy coffeeshop where our brains will be more linguistically inclined with a steady flow of coffee and hot chocolate. Ages 7 and up, players 2-8. Games with 3 or more players take 15 minutes or less, but games with only two can take up to an hour.
Grade: A
