My journey to Mar Vista today was unexpectedly pleasant (fewer bus stops, fewer people). There was a petty annoyance upon my arrival; I discovered that I had neglected to bring my usual instruments of writing with me and only a quick stop in a nearby 98 cents store put me back in good humor. When I reached St Bede’s, Brian was still in the process of setting things up for the final Games Day of 2010. After signing in and name tagging, I gave Brian gifts for his and Jen’s soon-to-be transferring from womb-to-world daughter (found out later that the bright shiny red shoes were the biggest hit!). Now onto my game travels of the day.
The first stop was to the ancient world and a visit to the “7 Wonders”. Brian was the tour guide for the group which, along with me, included, Andrew, John, Marc, Mary T., and Matthew. – seven wonders, seven visitors. – perfect! As this was a new experience for all of us (made its debut yesterday according to Brian), explanations on how to procedure were quite necessary. It was somewhat complicated as were staying around for three ages and in addition to gathering various resources and building towards the future, we all had to contend with the military buildup around us. Each of us had our own specific “wonder” and mine was the Statue of Zeus at Olympia with its own unique requirements for going forward. The “7 Wonders” journey is conducted like this - In each age, players receive seven cards from a particular deck, choose one of those cards, then pass the remainder to an adjacent player...Players reveal their cards simultaneously, paying resources if needed or collecting resources or interacting with other players in various ways…Each player then chooses another card from the deck they were passed, and the process repeats until players have six cards in play from that age. After three ages, the game ends. – boardgamegeek.com. I really didn’t know what I was doing for most of the trip – somehow I managed to build what I needed to in the First Age, but I think I missed an opportunity in the Second Age, and I was very happy when the trip finally ended in the Third Age. At the recap of the trip, John was declared the winner and I tied with Matthew for fourth place (at least we were not last!). Hadn’t realized until the tallying up of points, that there were seven categories in which to accumulate them and I only had points in five categories; though in one of those categories I had more points than anyone else and tied for first in another one with Andrew and Brian – minor consolations. There’s much going on with this trip and I think it is too much – the only person to have points in each category was our guide, Brian (of course!). Some of the distributed materials had information for multiple possibilities from which to choose and graphically the images were not always easy to decipher. Plus not enough coins for earning or paying. As this was my first trip to the “7 Wonders”, I was surely overwhelmed with all the activities involved in the visit. Before the next time I venture here, I will have to read up on how best to approach the “7 Wonders”.
Moving forward in time, it was off to sailing around in a “Tongiaki” and I was joined by five other sailors – Eliot, Lucy, Robert, Sari and Todd. And our reason for sailing from one Pacific Island to another - 300 AD: The Polynesians embarked on daring sailing trips and explored thousands of Pacific Islands. Driven by overpopulation and a desire for adventure, they set forth into the unknown on simple catamarans called Tongiakis. – boardgamegeek.com. This was a much simpler and straight forward visit than my first journey of the day. We just had to populate deserted islands with sailing over the open waters being the dangerous part of the adventure. Having the most presence on the islands was the ultimate objective of our journey. The winner of the most presence was Robert and for this trip I ended up in second place – a vast improvement over the results earlier in the day. Although it was a more relaxing visit than “7 Wonders” and I have figured out a strategy, I probably won’t make a return trip to “Tongiaki” – doesn’t hold my interest.
Before heading off to a contemporary time and the “Winner’s Circle”, I encountered “The Bucket King” and “Category 5”. Think “The Bucket King” should be renamed as half of us indulging in this diversion were women and this was another second place finish for me. A good ending for my first time meeting TBK and feeding the animals. Would be willing to see TBK again. Fourth place was my result in “Category 5” and I had been acquainted with this specific entity at an earlier time. It’s fun and a degree of luck is needed in the interaction.
The final destination of the day was a return to the current age and horse racing in the “Winner’s Circle”. Joining me on this jaunt to the race track were Eliot, Mike, Robert, Steve, and Todd. This was my second time here and still my one complaint is the difficulty in distinguishing five of the seven horses running. Jockey colors on the horses would be helpful. Anyway, the activities surrounding “Winner’s Circle” - A lively game of horse racing where players bet on several of seven horses to try to gain the most money by the end of the game…Players roll the die and choose which horse you want to move from those not taken their turn yet. The seven horses vary in strength, but even the weakest horses have some amazing bursts of speed. Players bet on the horses before each race and so either co-operate or compete to get their horses over the line. – boardgamegeek.com. The day began with Three Ages and ends with three races. Betting on the horses is good (if only I could remember which horse had the zero bet!), but obviously my skill in horse racing is lacking as I finished in fifth place – my worst position in the trips taken today. The win, place, and show people were Steve, Eliot, and Mike. An experience to be had again, if only with distinctive horses of any color.
Such were my game journeys today – a couple of new places and an old one. Fun was surely had. At some point in the late afternoon Jen and Finn arrived and I broke away from one of the travel groups and talked to Jen for a few minutes. Won’t see Jen again until after her daughter has made her world debut (any day now). My arrival was by bus, but my departure was by car, thanks to fellow games traveler Robert. Having pleasant comings and goings is always a treat. And until the next day of games – keep playing those boards!
Images:
Left: Box cover of “7 Wonders” from the website boardgamegeek.com
Center: Box cover of “Tongiaki” from the website boardgamegeek.com
Right: Box cover of “Winner’s Circle” from the website boardgamegeek.com
The first stop was to the ancient world and a visit to the “7 Wonders”. Brian was the tour guide for the group which, along with me, included, Andrew, John, Marc, Mary T., and Matthew. – seven wonders, seven visitors. – perfect! As this was a new experience for all of us (made its debut yesterday according to Brian), explanations on how to procedure were quite necessary. It was somewhat complicated as were staying around for three ages and in addition to gathering various resources and building towards the future, we all had to contend with the military buildup around us. Each of us had our own specific “wonder” and mine was the Statue of Zeus at Olympia with its own unique requirements for going forward. The “7 Wonders” journey is conducted like this - In each age, players receive seven cards from a particular deck, choose one of those cards, then pass the remainder to an adjacent player...Players reveal their cards simultaneously, paying resources if needed or collecting resources or interacting with other players in various ways…Each player then chooses another card from the deck they were passed, and the process repeats until players have six cards in play from that age. After three ages, the game ends. – boardgamegeek.com. I really didn’t know what I was doing for most of the trip – somehow I managed to build what I needed to in the First Age, but I think I missed an opportunity in the Second Age, and I was very happy when the trip finally ended in the Third Age. At the recap of the trip, John was declared the winner and I tied with Matthew for fourth place (at least we were not last!). Hadn’t realized until the tallying up of points, that there were seven categories in which to accumulate them and I only had points in five categories; though in one of those categories I had more points than anyone else and tied for first in another one with Andrew and Brian – minor consolations. There’s much going on with this trip and I think it is too much – the only person to have points in each category was our guide, Brian (of course!). Some of the distributed materials had information for multiple possibilities from which to choose and graphically the images were not always easy to decipher. Plus not enough coins for earning or paying. As this was my first trip to the “7 Wonders”, I was surely overwhelmed with all the activities involved in the visit. Before the next time I venture here, I will have to read up on how best to approach the “7 Wonders”.
Moving forward in time, it was off to sailing around in a “Tongiaki” and I was joined by five other sailors – Eliot, Lucy, Robert, Sari and Todd. And our reason for sailing from one Pacific Island to another - 300 AD: The Polynesians embarked on daring sailing trips and explored thousands of Pacific Islands. Driven by overpopulation and a desire for adventure, they set forth into the unknown on simple catamarans called Tongiakis. – boardgamegeek.com. This was a much simpler and straight forward visit than my first journey of the day. We just had to populate deserted islands with sailing over the open waters being the dangerous part of the adventure. Having the most presence on the islands was the ultimate objective of our journey. The winner of the most presence was Robert and for this trip I ended up in second place – a vast improvement over the results earlier in the day. Although it was a more relaxing visit than “7 Wonders” and I have figured out a strategy, I probably won’t make a return trip to “Tongiaki” – doesn’t hold my interest.
Before heading off to a contemporary time and the “Winner’s Circle”, I encountered “The Bucket King” and “Category 5”. Think “The Bucket King” should be renamed as half of us indulging in this diversion were women and this was another second place finish for me. A good ending for my first time meeting TBK and feeding the animals. Would be willing to see TBK again. Fourth place was my result in “Category 5” and I had been acquainted with this specific entity at an earlier time. It’s fun and a degree of luck is needed in the interaction.
The final destination of the day was a return to the current age and horse racing in the “Winner’s Circle”. Joining me on this jaunt to the race track were Eliot, Mike, Robert, Steve, and Todd. This was my second time here and still my one complaint is the difficulty in distinguishing five of the seven horses running. Jockey colors on the horses would be helpful. Anyway, the activities surrounding “Winner’s Circle” - A lively game of horse racing where players bet on several of seven horses to try to gain the most money by the end of the game…Players roll the die and choose which horse you want to move from those not taken their turn yet. The seven horses vary in strength, but even the weakest horses have some amazing bursts of speed. Players bet on the horses before each race and so either co-operate or compete to get their horses over the line. – boardgamegeek.com. The day began with Three Ages and ends with three races. Betting on the horses is good (if only I could remember which horse had the zero bet!), but obviously my skill in horse racing is lacking as I finished in fifth place – my worst position in the trips taken today. The win, place, and show people were Steve, Eliot, and Mike. An experience to be had again, if only with distinctive horses of any color.
Such were my game journeys today – a couple of new places and an old one. Fun was surely had. At some point in the late afternoon Jen and Finn arrived and I broke away from one of the travel groups and talked to Jen for a few minutes. Won’t see Jen again until after her daughter has made her world debut (any day now). My arrival was by bus, but my departure was by car, thanks to fellow games traveler Robert. Having pleasant comings and goings is always a treat. And until the next day of games – keep playing those boards!
Images:
Left: Box cover of “7 Wonders” from the website boardgamegeek.com
Center: Box cover of “Tongiaki” from the website boardgamegeek.com
Right: Box cover of “Winner’s Circle” from the website boardgamegeek.com
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