I continue to play many boardgames online at BoardGameArena.com. In addition to my old friends Han and Allen, I am also playing with several other friends now. I'm playing with Jon and a few friends in his circle. I'm also playing with younger daughter Chen Rui. Chen Rui is studying overseas now, and we have a 7 hour time difference. Playing Innovation is a good way for father-daughter bonding. She video calls us regularly. Many years ago when I studied abroad, it was still the era of writing letters. I didn't even have email yet. No smart phone, and phone calls were expensive. 30 years later, communication technology has advanced so much. Now video calls are essentially free.
I hadn't played Carnegie for a while and was rusty. I remember the game fondly. However this time I fumbled through the game. I should have read up the rulebook properly. This is a good game and I should have relearned it properly.
I played Hanamikoji with Jon. What surprised me was our game ended after just one round. The stars really aligned for me. Hanamikoji is such a clever design. Minimalistic yet strategic.
I have played the physical version of Imperial Settlers before. This time I was Japan and Han was Rome. He burnt many of my buildings, those flipped over at the top right corner.
Han's Roman empire
This is one of the Japanese buildings, the daimyo's castle. It generates victory points (blue stars) every round.
I have played a physical copy of New Frontiers too. This is the boardgame version of Race for the Galaxy. In this particular game I wanted to focus on novelty (blue) goods and on scoring victory point chips.
At this point I had four worlds which could produce novelty goods. New Frontiers still doesn't work for me. It is not that it is a poor game. I absolutely adore Race for the Galaxy. I like Puerto Rico very much too. I just don't see the point in creating a fusion of these two games. I don't feel that way about Roll for the Galaxy, because I find the dice mechanism different enough from Race for the Galaxy. One big difference between New Frontiers and Race for the Galaxy is that all developments are available for purchase right from the start. That allows you to plan much more precisely what to do with your space empire. This is like the buildings in Puerto Rico. It makes the game more strategic because you have more control. However I don't find it more fun, or important. I end up playing New Frontiers like I am playing Race for the Galaxy. Maybe that is my problem and not the game. I feel New Frontiers is a more tedious version of Race for the Galaxy.
Han took the military path and eventually far outscored me, leaving me in the (space) dust.
We did a 3-player game of Railways of the World - Han, Allen and I. We hadn't played this for some time. Allen made some mistakes in the early game, and got himself into a hole he never quite got out of. I (red) chose to operate in the northeast. The game board is huge, and I think too big for a 3-player game. We did not interfere much with one another. The northeast was good because cities were close to one another, so building tracks was cheaper. I was a little rusty too, and did not pay much attention to the special cards in the game. I should have utilised them better.
Han was yellow and Allen blue. They both worked in the south.
Han (yellow) eventually connected to a city I (red) connected to, but even then we didn't really interfere with each other. Later in the game I crossed the mountains to expand westwards, but I didn't go far. The game came with missions. I didn't pay much attention to them and never quite worked towards them. I guess I played this game like I was playing Age of Steam, its predecessor.
One new appreciation I have now after playing Stupor Mundi more is that I need to get allies early. They score points every round, and this is an important source of points.
The house I played this time (Di Romano) was new to me, and I found it interesting. I scored points for the progress of Frederick's Specialist. At this point of the game we were near game end. Our castles were almost completed.
Frederick's castle was derelict by game end, and I realise this is absolutely normal. This aspect doesn't really jive with the theme. Frederick is supposed to be great and all. But the game is excellent, so this is forgivable. Frederick's castle is a tool for competition among the players. It is a battlefield. It is where players sabotage one another.
I played two games of Zenith recently and greatly enjoyed them. In this particular game, we managed to get many cards in play. I have never had this many cards in play. Cards in play give you discounts the next time you play a card of the same colour. Many of my cards could be played for free. Zenith is a game I didn't expect to enjoy. I look at all the rules and don't find anything particularly interesting. This is just a tug of war on five different tracks. Yet when I sat down to play, it surprised me. There are some clever yet subtle aspects to the design. The ability to increase your hand size to 5 and to 6 doesn't seem like much, but since there are 5 colours in the game, this apparently slight advantage can actually be very helpful. Having cards of the right colour at the right time is crucial. Also with a bigger hand you are able to plan ahead better. It's great fun to be able to make good use of your cards and your techs. This game deserves more attention.
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