boardgaming in photos

20 Nov 2011. The Bottle Imp, which many call the best 3-player trick-taking game. I have only played one hand, i.e. not even a complete game, so I won't write much about it yet. So far I can see that it is indeed very clever. Every hand everyone will score points except for one player who will score negative points. So it's about carefully winning tricks worth points and avoiding being the big loser of a hand. It reminds me of the feeling when playing Sticheln, which, come to think of it, is an excellent card game that I have not played for so long.

10 Dec 2011. Han and I were planning to play War of the Ring, but unfortunately due to a last-minute change he couldn't make it. The last time I played this was a very long time ago, and upon bringing it onto the table again, I was amazed at how well-produced it was. A new edition just came out I think. I hope they maintain the quality.

This photo is the Fellowship of the Ring. 8 pieces instead of 9, because Sam is always with Frodo, so they are the same piece.

The bad guys. The plastic used is sturdier than that used in Middle-Earth Quest, a more recently published game also based on Lord of the Rings. That one came with quite a number of broken bits.

The bad guys are marching in.

The box is very full.

This box size is very justifiable. This is not the double-sized box (double of the commonly found Ticket to Ride / Dominion square box). It is actually shorter than the square box, and only about one third wider.

24 Dec 2011. It has been quite a while since I brought out this home-made copy of R-Eco. I played it with Wan and Shan. Clever little card game.

First Train to Nuremberg. I liked it the first time I played it, and delayed buying it for about 6 months. Only when I was sure I wouldn't hit my 2011 game acquisition quota I ordered the game.

This is the most fiddly part of the game. The game pieces are quite small, and you have to fiddle with them quite frequently.

This time we (Wan, Shan, Han and I) played the Last Train to Wensleydale side of the board. This side seems to be more restrictive. Two thirds of the map are valleys with few goods to deliver. I was blue, and at this point had already sold off 4 tracks to the green company, thus coverting my blue tracks to green ones.

On the board, green is flat land, brown is hills, yellow is valleys.

Near the end of the game. Wan was black, Shan orange, Han purple, I blue.

Han, Shan, and Wan deliberating who to outbid.

One thing that I like a lot, in addition to the gameplay, is the graphic design of these periphery game boards. The one on the right showing trains is very nice too. And the main game board is definitely an improvement over the previous version which some call a dissected kidney.

25 Dec 2011. Famiglia. Every gangster is unique.