Saturday saw a bizarre board game day where most of my gaming done was 2-player, even though we had about 8 people there!

First, I played New World (a Carcassonne Game) with Randy and Joshua (age 6). That was somewhat odd due to Joshua’s age and lack of attention span. 

Then, with the others involved in a game of Galaxy Trucker, Randy and I went to another of Vlaada’s great designs and played Through the Ages. Randy won – again – but it was a fascinating game that saw us build nine wonders between us!

Galaxy Trucker eventually finished, and Pat, Rich and I had a game of Settlers of Catan, in which Rich pretty much wiped the floor with Pat and me!

The other games of the night still need their session reports written, but there were two games of Carcassonne with Michael, two games of Space Alert with Rich, Pat and Randy, and a game of Agricola with Rich. Space Alert was fantastic! It’s yet another winner from Vlaada Chvatil – sort of a cross between Red November and Galaxy Trucker. You see, you’re all crewmembers on a survey spaceship (the Sitting Duck design) which is being attacked by all manner of aliens and hazards. You have to react and plan to the hazards in real time (aided by a CD track). After the ten-minute action phase ends, you then map out the actions you did and see if you survived or not.

We took on two training missions and survived both – just! There were a few nasty moments there, though, with Pat and Rich scrambling to do the same action at once, and our energy getting low just at the critical time (with Rich powering up the shields to protect us… on the wrong side due to the weirdness of the attack!) It’s great, great fun and I recommend you have a look for it. (2-5 players, but recommended with 4-5). I’ll post a better session report soon.

(Vlaada Chvatil is a genius in the realm of boardgame designs. I don’t really like Prophecy; but Galaxy Trucker, Through the Ages and Space Alert are amongst my favourite games!)

Arriving for me today in the realm of “new” games was Thebes, a game that Randy has but it’s such a great game that I want my own copy, especially given my extra board game sessions at Good Games Ballarat. 

Also (and not surprisingly, a couple more expansions) arrived was The Vizier’s Favour, four mini-expansions for Alhambra. To describe each:
* The Vizier’s Favour which allows you to take your turn out of order if you can pay “exact” change for a building, but you have to miss a go later on.

* Bonus Cards, which allow you to gain bonus points for playing certain buildings.

* Worker Huts which act as extra buildings if placed correctly on your map

* Bureau de Change which allow you to use two currency types when buying a building.

All small, all fun. The first will probably be used in many of our Alhambra games from now on.

The final box in the package was Railways of England (and Wales), which was the reason I made this order in the first place. Yes, it’s another expansion to Railroad Tycoon, or Railways of the World as its been rebranded. New map, new barons… and also a new set of rules designed by Martin Wallace for those who want something more complicated. The initial reports from BGG have been mixed about the new rules, but I think I have to play them to get the idea of whether they’re worth it or not.

You see, instead of owning a railroad company, you now become an investor in that company. There are always six railroad companies at the beginning of the game. Shares in those companies are auctioned off, and whoever has the most shares controls that company… until someone else buys more shares! You win by having the most money, with your holdings converted into cash at the end.

The thing which will really get people is that the share price goes up and down based on the dividend returned by the company… which is determined by its controller. So, if it can’t afford to pay people a good dividend, the share price goes down. If it can afford to pay them a lot, the share price goes up (but will it have the cash to expand later?)

There seems to be a lot going on, although the rules aren’t actually that difficult. I suppose that Randy will end up winning when it eventually hits the table. 🙂 It’s really two games in a box, though, and I’m happy to have it.

I also ordered a few more classic AD&D modules from ebay. I’ll update when they arrive.