How much is too much?

The past two years ('05 & '06), I've kept a game log of what I've played. Not as detailed as some, mind you, but I will track a game and however many plays I have of a given game. For example, as of today, I've played eight games of Ingenious this year but only one of Balloon Cup. Moreover, it also tells me that I've played a grand total of (as of right now) 75 games so far in '06.

What does that mean? Well, it means I've averaged about one play every 2.5 days. But again, what does that mean? At some point, statistics break down. Is a play of San Juan, for example, the same as a play of Power Grid? Or, is a game of Blink the same as a game of San Juan? I could easily inflate my game play numbers by breaking out Blink and playing about ten hands of that with my wife in one sitting.

I know that many gamers tend to look at Five & Dime lists and say, "Hmmmm, people are playing Game X a lot." And that is valuable to a point. But as we reach the half way point of 2006, we will see a lot of Five & Dime lists for that period, sometimes numbers don't tell the whole story.

Just a thought, but as the old saying goes, there are liars, damn liars, and statisticians!

Loot, Ingenious and the Good Doctor

People who know me know my appreciation for Reiner Knizia's game designs. At one time, I probably would have said that the Good Doctor was my favorite designer. While that particular attitude has cooled in recent days, I still find that knick designs a solid game.

I had that feeling recently reinforced when I had the opportunity to play Loot for the first time. For those of you who don't know, Loot is a simple game of trump and the winner gets a card that has a value that adds up to determine the winner. In thematic terms, you are trying to capture merchant ships by sending your pirate fleet out to stop them. If you've ever played Nobody But Us Chickens, the game play is similar, but Loot has much more strategy and arguably a better theme. I really enjoyed my first experience with Loot and hope to pick it up soon.

Tonight, however, Julie and I played Ingenious yet again. And is our custom, we played a best two out of three match. I discovered tonight that Ingenious isn't so Ingenious after all. While I'm not opposed to luck in a game, a game should provide a means to win even if Proverbs 16:33 happens. Such is not the case in Ingenious. If I fail to draw any yellow stars, or only one or two early in the game, my score will remain low and there is nothing I can do about it. Luck can conspire to keep me from winning what is otherwise a fantastic strategy game.

Don't get me wrong, I still like Ingenious. But that occurred to me tonight while playing and because of that, I need to either change my perception of the game as being a solid strategy game or accept that it has more luck than I might otherwise like in my solid strategy game. I suppose in the end it really doesn't matter because I still really like the game and would recommend it highly to just about anyone.

But that doesn't mean I can't nit pick it, right?

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Thanks!

Alhambra Part II

Julie asked me what I wanted to do tonight and I said, "Let's play a game. You pick." She scanned the shelves and decided on Alhambra. Ironic, in a way, since I just posted a review of the game at the GBJ site (linked HERE) and we hadn't played in awhile.

At the risk of sounding like I'm bragging, I scored my single best score EVER at the game (over 150) and pretty much cleaned up. Man, I love gaming.

I still think Alhambra is one of the best games in recent memory and deserving of the accolades it has received. It plays fast, has tough decisions, a decent amount of luck and comes with it's own third player (His name is Matt). I really, really like this game. And despite the thrashing I gave her tonight (now I'm in trouble), Julie just affirmed she likes the game as well!

Alhambra Review

Wrote a review for work the other day...

Alhambra Review

Enjoy!

Go Directly to Hell, Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200

A local church (I promise not to name names so I don't seem like I'm bashing a particular denomination or anything) has signs up for their upcoming VBS. This year's theme: Jesus-opoly!

Insert funny joke here.