In Depth

The Long Island Boardgame Organization (LIBO) has been printing recaps in a online 'zine called INDEPTH. Check out their December issue here. Excellent full-color recaps mixed with game reviews and a fantastic scoring/ranking system. Eventually, I'd like to develop something similiar for our group (Northampton Gathering of Friends, NGOF?)?

Board Game News

Rick Thornquist, writer of board game news for a long time, has created a new webstite: www.boardgamenews.com that you should check out.

Tom Vasel, Rick Thornquist, Ryan Bretsch, Patrick Korner, Greg Schloesser, Larry Levy, Valerie Putman are writing daily game news along with reviews in a site very much like what I had envisioned for BrettSpielCafe. If you've browsed Chessbase.com, they also have an excellent site focused on chess news and software that I've tried to imitate to a degree as well.

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The purpose of BrettSpielCafe is to

* Bring together news, information and tips on game that I come across in the form of short articles and links.

* It is to share the fun of our gaming events, and spotlight a fun, healthy, and affordable pastime.

* It is to be a destination for our friends to keep in touch and communicate on past, present and future gaming events we have/are/will be participating in.

Thank you for reading, and commenting the last 11 months.

Games as Art

Tammy was kind enough to help decorate my new "boardgamecafe" in the basement. She framed the map of Hansa (one of my favorites), and also made a shadowbox of the bits. Art? Yes.

She also framed China, Merchants of Amsterdam, and Struggle of Empires, all stunning.

This "geeklist" has 90+ titles suggested as excellent looking maps to frame!

Weekend in New York

A rare opportunity is spend a weekend in New York with Mike.

Good food will be involved in any event, but with the holiday weekend I doubt there will be opportunities to do any shopping. One store I thought of visiting? The Compleat Strategist.

We may visit Times Square (saw a movie there with Mike last year), and will certainly walk through Brooklyn Heights.

I've been trying to introduce Mike to gaming, and have been successful in introducing Twixt. Perhaps I'll bring San Juan, Lost Cities, Canasta Caliente, or Abalone?

Very helpful Play Aids

I spent a few hours hunting through various Play Aids from Boardgamegeek. I received Sid Meier's Civilization : The Boardgame as a gift from my wife last week, and hunting down information on the game I discovered new "tech trees", rules summaries, an excellent comparison of rules editions, a beautiful 2-page handout, and even an excel spreadsheet for managing each player's position and resources in the game!

I wanted to include a few links here, for you to check out some interesting and help links to some popular games that many of us own. Thanks to the Geek and to the authors of these amazingly helpful tools:

* Risk 2210 Turn Order and Commander rules summary
* Power Grid Summary Aid
* Puerto Rico 1-page Rules Summary
* Alhambra Player Aid
* Star Wars: Queen's Gambit Summary

There are many many more of these on BGG- have a look and let us know if you discover something particularly helpful.

Tab put on a Settlers clinic at the Gathering in Dayton. Stay tuned for his strategy guide, detailing his exploits and hints for how you to can go 12-0 in the Klaus Teuber classic! 

Puerto Rico: position matters

There has been some debate about the importance of seating position in Puerto Rico. Results from the World Boardgaming Championship just held in Lancaster, PA seem to back this up:

#1 indigo: 42.18 ppg (11 wins)
#2 indigo: 41.77 ppg (13 wins)
#3 corn: 44.79 ppg (27 wins)
#4 corn: 43.71 ppg (23 wins)

These results were based on 74 games (1 game having double winners due to no tie-break being declared), and clearly indicates a big advantage for corn players in 4-player games.

Now, what to do about it... A monetary balance reward? Or perhaps a bonus victory point for players in the first and second position? (Source: John Weber, WBC GM @ BGG)

11/20 Update: I emailed John about the subject, and he took the time to craft a response. He gives an excellent proposal involving bidding. Take a look by clicking on "x COMMENTS" below.

Archives work, and other fixes/wishes

Well, I'm in the middle of a 3-week vacation of sorts. Part of my to-do list includes fixing the archive function of the blog. I've been storing the blog on my free webspace at Adelphia.net for almost a year now, and have never been successfully able to figure out the path for my blogger archives. I've toyed with the idea of hiring a web expert to assist, I've tried email and live chat with Adelphia. Finally, I decided to let Blogger to the hosting. You'll see them at the top of the blog now, a necessary evil.

Voila! You can now access blogs of the archive on the right hand side, by month. I may change this in the future, but for now, you can get a quick snapshot in 30-day increments. Also, by clicking on the "previous posts" on the right, you can view articles by header instead of having to scroll all the way down. I plan on reducing the number of articles displayed at one time to reduce load time.

Interestingly, I've discovered a new service called Google Analytics, which lets you research the hits on your website. It's scary the amount of information that you can harvest about someone based on a simple script that you paste into your HTML. The neat thing for me, is I can get some idea of who is lurking out there, reading but not posting, and from where they are from!

I've long planned on keeping this blog small and discreet. The intended audience is family, really, and friends. I asked Kevin and Tab to assist with some articles if and when they can find the time. Really, the blog is a convenient way for me to post some of the interesting things I come across in my daily websearching, and an outlet for all the boardgaming thoughts I've had over the years but never have been able to write down.

My new job will allow me significantly more time for the most important things in my life, but this little hobby will get a quality upgrade this year too. I'd like to post more in-depth articles, statistics, and analysis of various boardgame topics. I'd also like to expand this as a location for our groups to link up and discuss games to be played, along with post mortems, etc. I still have some good content from my efforts in 2003-4 that need a home. A new organization method of all of the posts, perhaps by subject would be helpful. And I must figure out how to increase the font size of the names on the contributors on the right! (Anyone know how?)

So here's my wishlist for 2006:

1) One in-depth article per month, on an advanced topic.
2) More posts from Tab and Kevin (can I get one a quarter guys?).
3) A subject tab on the right where articles can be stored and referenced by subject, not just date.
4) Links to previous and future "Gatherings" (e.g. Gathering in Clarks Summit, Gathering in Northampton, Gathering in Dayton, etc.)

That's probably enough for 2006 - Any comments would be appreciated! (click "x comments" below!)

Thoughts about G.i.D.'05

A few days before our Gathering in Dayton 2005, I posted a list of things I was looking forward to. How did it pan out?

Seeing Tab's Settlers record fall - did not happen. Tab crushed us in two 4-player games. It really wasn't close in either one. He has a real feel for the game, no doubt about it. One unusual aspect that I believe he benefited from was the "tournament start". Every player began with 1 Settlement and 1 City, and a 3rd road. Negotiation was minimized somewhat, and with excellent starting locations, and a balanced board, no one really struggled to get resources. Tab went right for development cards both games, and won with the largest army both games as well...

Revenge in Serenissima. We never seemed to be in the right cycle for a tough long game (2+ hours), so this never hit the table. I did scan the rules a bit with Tab one night, but I came away thinking we needed to print some play aides, and he needed to do a trial run to teach it to us as it's been years since I've played. One concern for me is the weird bonuses for exclusive use of ports and such - the game has little margin for error, and it seems that if you get behind, it may be extremely tough to catch the leader. I may need to set up a demo game solo, before taking on Taber...

Delighting them with... Through the Desert? Dad forgot to bring it, Mom brought my copy of Empire Builder (yuck) that I left there a month ago. Roborally? Kids did enjoy it, we only had one small game with adults. Should have left it for Tab to try with the kids again. E&T? I loved it, Bob found it interesting, Dad is still trying to figure it out. Tab? Not sure - he was so tired by then, I wonder if he even remembers our game... Nexus Ops? Needed one more play, with everyone awake. I think everyone enjoyed it, not sure if the group will be clamoring for it next time, as there are so many other good titles out there.

One monster game. Nope. Never made it. We talked about it, but never had the strength to break one out. Sigh.

The kids. Did great really. Grayson had most of his fun riding bikes, as did the twins. Austen did very well, playing China (twice), Roborally, Carcassone, Edel Stein & Reich, and Cartagena. Kim and Tab did tease him about "playing by mail" on his Cartagena game, as he could not sit still long enough during his downtime, and kept wandering in to watch the Muppet Show DVD that I had brought... I look forward to more playing with the younglings.

LPH: Our Laughs Per Hour meter shot the highest during... Pass the Pigs and Foosball. Translation? Keep the games on the simple side, and short. Odds are good we are never going to get enough sleep and have enough time with the diversity of our Dayton group to get a Monster Game in.

Pit at Gathering in Dayton - the cat won this one...

G.i.D. Day 4 and Wrap

Somewhere during day four (my mind is still a blur), we played Pit, and Pass the Pigs. Pit only lasted a few rounds, but of course was hilarious. The kids struggled a bit, as they hung on to too many single cards in their semi-paniced state: there was a lot of shouting as there always is in Pit. We ended after only a few rounds because of this, but it was fun while it lasted.

Pass the Pigs was next, and turned out to be the final game of the weekend. I won a quick intro with Bob and Austen, then Tab joined an won our four-player. The highlight of the day was Austen's yelling "soooooeeee" and correctly guessing one of Tab's final rolls, sending him back 10 points and Austen ahead 10. For naught, as Tab won anyway, but it was a fantastic moment...

What an enjoyable four days. Grayson had a great time with the kids, we both got to visit Mom and Dad, Bob, Tab, Kim and the boys. Kim and Tab were fine hosts, and it was a really fun time.

Thanks to Julie for her famous salsa sent with Bob, and for the few cookies that Bob left us! And Bob for all the liquid refreshment...

Enjoyed the study, and meeting at the Miamisburg congregation, friends were very nice.

We finished Sunday evening with an excellent whupping of the Browns by our beloved Steelers, and got to witness Hines Ward's record-breaking catch against them. He is now the number one Steeler all time in catches, ahead of John Stalworth, and Lynn Swann. Joe Green, and Lynn were at the game, but I didn't catch Stalworth or any other old-timers on TV (although they may have been there). We learned that Troy Polamalu lands on the SI cover this issue.

We'll be packing up and heading home Tuesday, was great seeing everyone.

Tab is Lord of Catan and King of Pigs!

Yes, he won the big Settlers battle, not just one but two 4-player games! He also won Pass the Pigs, Nexus, Foosball, and Gobblet. Nice work, Tab!

Words and phrases of G.i.D.'05

Some funny words and phrases that have come up during G.i.D.'05:

1. ham-fist·ed
(hăm'fĭs'tĭd) adj.

Ham-handed. The adjective ham-fisted has one meaning:

Meaning #1: not skillful in physical movement especially with the hands
Synonyms: bumbling, bungling, butterfingered, ham-handed, handless, heavy-handed, left-handed

During a semi-epic game of foosball, I remarked that perhaps Bob felt "ham-fisted" due to a play where he was tied-up on the back rank.

2. "I sure glad I'm not playing me."

Meaning: Dad was talking some trash when playing foosball, faced me, and said the above. This elicited some major laughter, and was repeated in many variations over the next few days by all of us.

3. "The two of you are louder than the four of us."

During a game of Nexus Ops down in the basement, the ladies made their way down, and began chatting nearby. The guys were a little noisy, rapidly discussing the game rules, and talking about strategy, etc. Tab noticed our volume level rising steadily of our conversation, stopped talking, looked over to the girls and listend. The volume of Kim and Mom was actually LOUDER than the volume of the four of us! His comment, the above, was not appreciated!

One of our many foosball battles...

G.i.D. Day 3

Big output so far, here's the list of today's titles as of 4:30pm:

1. Cartagena - 4 plays
I really like this game, especially with mixed groups. Played with Dad, Austen, Bob and I. I think I won three of them, and Bob snagged the last one. Fun little pirate game that plays fast.

2. Edel, Stein and Reich
I was excited to finally get to play this live, and was not disappointed, although I was beaten down pretty badly. Same group as above, Dad crushed us due to a last second tie-breaker buster (kingmaker). Game is fascinating due to blind action-bidding mechanism, which makes for some anxious moments and tense sub-bidding wars. In case of ties for one of three actions, you must offer your opponent on number of your precious gems (victory point creators) for the right to take the action. There's a big game of "who blinks first" as you sacrifice potential majorities for the right to take actions which may help you in other areas. Was a big hit, and "fun", as contrasted to what they thought of the next title...

3. China
Played it twice, first time I won a crushing victory with a huge disparity in points, which reflected everyone's lack of appreciation for the emissaries. These end-of-game point makers really pack a punch of you play correctly. The second game, scores were much tighter, winner was separated from fourth place by probably only 12 points, so any one move made at the end could have made a difference. Bob cleverly played a single house onto a region where Austen and I were tied, and managed to land an emissary scoring him another 4, which was the margin of victory between him and Austen. Austen caught on FAST, and finished second in both games - Dad finished last both times, and found the game annoying, as did Bob. I was surprised, as I really enjoy area control games. This was their first experience, and Dad/Bob just didn't think it was any "fun".
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4. Settlers
Okay, Tab is Lord of Catan. He won two tournament style games (start with 2nd building as a city, and a third road piece), decisively defeating Dad, Bob and myself. I came in second both times, but I really didn't think I was close. Tab won with what appears to by a typical strategy: cards. He won with largest army and/or victory points both times. What can I say? Should we retire this thing? His streak is amazing. I don't think he's ever lost. Probably over 12 plays. That's incredible.

5. Foosball
Another big match, we played 5-6 games, and Bob and I won one, Tab and Dad did very very well. Tab played the middle, Dad defense. I took the middle on our side, and didn't really feel comfortable till the last few games, but could not generate enough "shots on goal" in any event.

6. Cartagena
We played 2 games, one with Bob, Tab, Kim, Austen and me. I won due to a three card play thanks to a "ladder" that Austen did not roll up. Bob coined this term for the tactic of moving a piece towards the top of the board up further to a different labeled position, so as to not allow players behind to use your path. I won the second, 4-player game (minus Austen), using the same three card play only with Bob as the ladder. Tab would have won for sure to plays later had it not been for Bob's move. Neither he or Kim really were in position to win, and I was out for sure, until Bob made the fortuitous play. The only credit I give myself, is a good play the turn before, where I maneuvered deftly (if I do say so) to capture about 5 cards and ended up pulling a great combo to take advantage of Bob's situation.

7. Princes of Florence
We set it up, and Tab almost fell asleep during rules explanation. I know the theme is a little dry, but... Bob wasn't comfortable enough with the rules to teach it, and it has been over 2 years since I've played it. Since it was 1am, there was no chance for this one.

8. Gobblet
Tab and Bob faced off four times, and Bob came ahead 3 to 1. Tab was "too tired" which is how I feel even looking at this abstract. It's not worth the mental energy for me.

That was it for Day 3, and there was a lot. Doesn't look like the monsters are going to make it out. Day 4 is starting just as I write this, so we'll see.

G.i.D. Day 2

After a few hours of sleep, we were back at it. Dad an Bob joined us late in the afternoon, and we went after:

1. Nexus Ops
Tab one with a 4-point dragon jump on Bob. Final score: Tab 12, Dave 10, Dad 9, Bob 8. Bob held the monoment almost all the game, Tab took it at the very end with a huge force of heavies, and did the jump for the win.

2. Euphrats and Tigris (twice, 4p and 3p)
Our four-player game was marked by chaos, as players were all trying to understand the rules and possibilities. This is normal, and we played a 3-player (Bob, Dad, me) which went better. I think Bob won the first, and Dad the second. We played hidden victory points, which sped the game up some, but I think I would do better with open points...

3. Roborally (kids)
Four player, Austen and Gray versus Ethan and Ryan. Ethan snuck onto the second and last flag on his fifth impulse. Austen and Gray were hung up on the idea of upgrades (a common distracton in this game), and although they knocked the other boys' robots about, the game is about capturing flags, which they did not do, eventually losing. The boys were good sports, and I was pleased and surprised they stayed at this game for the 2 hours it took.

4. Foosball (yes it's on BGG)
Bob and I versus Tab and Dad. Best of three games, to 10 points. We split 1-1, and lost on the last game by a score of 10-8. The best game was the second, where we got up to 8-2, They came back bring it to 8-8, and we won 10-8 - amazing runs. Quite fun, hopefully we get a rematch today.

Grayson, Tab and I playing Nexus Ops. I won the first game with 4-point "dragon jump".
Tab repeated the manuever in our 4p game the next day for the win as well.

G.i.D. Day 1

Arrived in Dayton at about 9:30pm after a 9.5 hour drive from Clarks Summit. Was immediately greated by Tab, Kim and 3 of the 4 boys (Weston was sleeping). Naturally, after exchanging gifts and hugs and a quick chat, it was off to the games!

Game 1: Gobblet!
Tab crushed me, again. I always lose this game. I stink. I can never remember what is buried. I tried to use the pieces not on the board as sort of markers, to remind me which column (the board is 4x4, connect four nested pieces together) has covered pieces. Of course, this didn't help, and Tab crushed me in about the 8th move. Tab 1, Dave 0.

Game 2: Canal Grande
My first real game, Tab's as well. Neat little Alan Moon card game, Euro style (multi-language rule book, with English as the 2nd or 3rd choice). Gain control of territories, or voting districts. Cool cards, with names like "spy, Doge, traitor, gondola". Was really a practice game, and we folded it after a few districts were scored. Tab enjoyed it, as did I. We'll see if we can break it out once more later.

Game 3: Roborally
Tab's first again, and there was some confusion in the rules (he forgot that flags had to be touched in sequence). It was not super-important, but I did end up winning, with 3 flags to Grayson's 1 and his zero. Passed out one random technology, Tab ended up with rear-firing lasers, Grayson with double-barreled, and I had a 3-point shield (which Tab burned through on turns 1 and 2). There was some excitement when Tab blew up, after being pushed onto a conveyor after a bad lock-up. He tried to play spoiler and block the last flag, but I snuck in while he was powered down. Dave 1, Tab 1.

Game 4: Nexus Ops
Was 2am at this point, and we were somewhat tired. Busted out this sharp game, and little Grayson played with Tab and I. We ended up ganging up on him a little (I am ashamed to say), to sneak some cheap victory points. I had the 4-point "dragon jump" card, where you can score big with a 2-dragon swoop to an opponents home base, and won with 12 to Tab's 11 and Grayson's 6 points. Tab probably could have won it the turn before me, but was still a little shakey on how to get the last battle. We avoided a battle-royale all game - hopefully we can get one in a 4-player with Bob or Dad. We all enjoyed this one... Dave 2, Tab 1.

Things I am looking forward to at G.i.D. 2005

Things I am looking forward to at the Gathering in Dayton 2005:

1. Seeing Tab's Settlers record fall.
Bob agrees, Tab must go down, or prove to us that he's the champ. He claims to be unbeaten, in something like 10 plays. Granted, I cannot remember him not winning. But there is no way he wins every game against Bob, Dad and myself. (My strategy tips are posted on Microsoft's website, after all!)

2. Revenge in Serenissima
Not actually revenge. Maybe redemption is a better word. I want to show the fellas that I learned from my "nuclear" mistake. (That is, threatening to destroy the game by only attacking Dad for the rest of the game, handing the win to Tab, unless he allowed me to make a ridiculously advantageous play). I will be a good boy this game not play gunboat diplomacy.

3. Delighting them with...
Through the Desert. Roborally. E&T. Nexus Ops. They will love this batch of games. My prediction is that TtD wins the LPH award (laughs per hour, or entertainment for invested time), clocking in at under an hour with some really satisfying gameplay. Kids will love Nexus Ops with it's interesting bits, and guys will enjoy simple Euro-style wargaming. Roborally will be famous for it's chaos, mostly. I don't see how any real gamer won't be able to gasp in awe at the brilliance of E&T. It make take 2-3 plays to really see how beautiful it is, but it's a beauty.

4. One monster game.
Just one. Twilight, Axis, Mare Nostrum... just one. Please?

5. The kids
Our kids are getting older now, Grayson's 7. Tab's boys are between 8 and 10 (not counting little Weston). They can all handle Settlers, and many of the other games. It will be a hoot to see them going toe-to-toe with their Dad's, cousins, and uncle.

Is this a game? Rubik's cube

I stumbled across this on slashdot.org, http://www.speedcubing.com/.

Did you know that the world record for "speed solving" a Rubik's Cube is 11.75 seconds?

Did you know that people regularly solve this puzzle with their... feet? (1 min 18 sec) one handed? (22 sec)

Stopped by Jamie and Jody's, saw that James was attempting to solve the puzzle, and reported difficulty finishing one side (!). At my suggesstion, through the power of the web, Jody reported he solved it two days later. James - how about going for a speed record!

More on Gathering in Dayton...

Here's a couple of ways to look at our game list for the Gathering in Dayton:

By Rank / Play Time
------------------------------------
1. Euphrats & Tigris (2) 90 min
2. Twilight Imperium (17) 240 min
3. Through the Desert (40) 45 min
4. Carcassone (49) 60 min
5. Acquire (51) 90 min
6. Roborally (72) 120 min
7. China (100) 45 min
8. Queen's Gambit (107) 120 min
9. Edel, Stein & R (157) 60 min
10. Settlers (5-6p) (162) 120 min
11. Cosmic Encounter (165) 90 min
12. Axis and Allies (171) 240 min
13. Formula De (191) 120 min
14. Chess (w/clock) (234) 15 min
15. Nexus Ops (252) 60 min
16. Serenissima (313) 120 min
17. Mare Nostrum (348) 120 min
18. Cartegena (372) 45 min
19. Canal Grande (942) 45 min
20. Canasta Caliente (969) 60 min
21. Pit (737) 90 min
22. Pass the Pigs (2331) 30 min


By Play Time
---------------------------------
2. Twilight Imperium (17) 240 min
12. Axis and Allies (171) 240 min
17. Mare Nostrum (348) 120 min
8. Queen's Gambit (107) 120 min
6. Roborally (72) 120 min
10. Settlers (5-6p) (162) 120 min
13. Formula De (191) 120 min
16. Serenissima (313) 120 min
1. Euphrats & Tigris (2) 90 min
5. Acquire (51) 90 min
11. Cosmic Encounter (165) 90 min
21. Pit (737) 90 min
15. Nexus Ops (252) 60 min
20. Canasta Caliente (969) 60 min
4. Carcassone (49) 60 min
9. Edel, Stein & R (157) 60 min
18. Cartegena (372) 45 min
19. Canal Grande (942) 45 min
3. Through the Desert (40) 45 min
7. China (100) 45 min
22. Pass the Pigs (2331) 30 min
14. Chess (w/clock) (234) 15 min


Games that Need Lengthy Explaination
------------------------------------
2. Twilight Imperium (17)
7. China (100)
9. Edel, Stein & R (157)
11. Cosmic Encounter (165)
12. Axis and Allies (171)
15. Nexus Ops (252)
16. Serenissima (313)
17. Mare Nostrum (348)
19. Canal Grande (942)

Gathering in Dayton

I'll be visiting beautiful Ohio this weekend, spending time with my brother and family in Dayton. A long overdue gaming session is in the planning stages. Below is a list of titles we are working on playing (with BGG rank in parenthesis). I'd be curious to see what Tab/Dad/Bob thinks we will actually get to play on this list.

1. Chess (234)
Always fun, especially with a timer. Will try to play a game or two, but mostly try to encourage Grayson to play with his cousins. Good for the brain, to me it's a mental sport.

2. Acquire (51)
This one brings back memories of all the great plays with Bob Oberheu and his brothers in Benton Harbor, MI. They introduced this one to us back in the late 1980's (the game is from 1962). I still have an older copy from that time, well played. Might be one of the most played games in my entire collection, although almost all of those players were between 1986 and 1991.

3. Queen's Gambit (107)
Tab owns this one. My only two plays were in 2001 during a visit to Bob's. Emma and Sarah played with us if I remember correctly. Fun 4-player theme heavy game. My first game review (posted on Funagain.com) was of this title. It inspired me to start my German boardgame hunt on the internet, where I stumbled upon Funagain, and the 'Geek. The rest is history.

4. Twilight Imperium (17)
Played this twice solitaire, and once face-to-face against my Dad and brother earlier this year. It's a monster, and pretty complicated for a weekender with all the likely activity around (5 kids, wives, etc.), but I would really like to break it out. Austen is probably old enough now (10 years... wow) to give it a whirl. If Bob comes we'd definitely like to try it.

5. Cosmic Encounter (165)
Purchased this in Dayton on one of my visits late last year (?), I've played it 2-3 times with Dad, and once with Tab. Really enjoyed it, the variable powers are a completely unique element. Good because it's not balanced, and it will lead to a lot of discussion. Not sure about playing it three players, but then again, the random draws prevent you from ganging up on one player, really. I'm bringing this one...

6. Axis and Allies (171)
Mostly for me a nostalgia pick, my brother actually brought this one up (for the same reasons). None of us have played the new version (although I own it), so there may be some rule-book fiddling. Might be an interesting 3-player, problem would be length. Enjoyable because of the multitude of "what-if?" scenarios. I'll bet if we do play, it's me and Dad as the Allies against Tab as the Axis.

7. Canal Grande (942)
I like this little card game, based on San Marco. Have only played solitaire, but I think I will bring it to see if I can get it in-between some of the other titles.

8. Canasta (969)
Again a huge nostalgia play, I have played this game hundreds of times, mostly against my grandfather, David Barlowe. He passed away about 20 years ago, and I miss him very much. Tab and I can still do all his classic lines, an ancient trash-talk he used against us in his Southern gentlemen kind of way. He was a wonderful grandfather, and I hope to see him again...

9. Carcassone (49)
Tab has only a few dozen games (that I know of), and I am proud of him for picking this one up. Grayson and I have played this one more than any other together, and Tab has introduced it successfully to his kids. You can play it "aggressively" blocking other players, or "passively" and more non-competitively as a building type of game. Guess which style I will use against Tab?

10. Cartagena (372)
This one takes up little space in the trunk, which is starting to become a factor based on the length of this list. I love this small game, and play both versions (hidden cards and open), although I like the more random game a little better. Fun to make pirate noises when you win, and good for a diverse group of people (e.g. wives, kids, non-gamers).

11. China (100)
I've written a little about this one. I like this very much, but have only played it solo. Card-driven area-control game. Simple, clean and bright components. Hard to see the depth initially, but this one has a lot of subtlety in the various ways of scoring: majority-area, road length, connected areas. Supposedly really good for three players, so this one's coming.

12. Edel, Stein and Reich (157)
Another card game, with neat little gems as bits. A German translation (which makes it somewhat mysterious), I've laminated some play aids, and played it solitaire a few times. I like auction games, which this has, plus a bunch of agonizing decisions on how to big and play the special cards. So many other titles, I don't know if I can convince them to play this one.

13. Euphrats and Tigris (2)
Perhaps the greatest German game of all time, in my opinion. It's components are kind of dry, as is the theme, but there is enough there to catch an eye. Can I get them to devote a couple of hours to this? It will require more than one play to really get the flavor. Would be a blast to try this with Bob, Tab and Dad... I love this game.

14. Formula De (191)
This French game about Formula One racing can be played with up to 10 players. Not mechanically difficult, it would be fun to play with all the kids, in teams. No one in my family is into racing (my brother and I went to Michigan for a Nascar race once), although I TIVO Formula One and World Rally races through the year. We'll see.

15. Mare Nostrum (348)
Another one of my favorites, this one really needs five players. I know they would like this, but it takes 2+ hours, it's new, has some tricky non-intuitive rules (especially the trading phase). I'll bring it, but we will probably end up playing...

16. Serenissima (313)
There was a classic game of this about 4 years ago at Tab's (he owns this one, I grabbed it just recently but have not assembled it), where I used old-school tactics to try to bully my dad into not attacking me. There was an ethics debate about this, which never did get settled entirely... I probably was in the wrong. Anyway, we do agree that there needs to be a rule about not attacking anyone in the first couple of turns. If this one comes out, will be tense at the beginning to see if our aggressive play continues...

17. Nexus Ops (252)
Just grabbed this, see the post below. This one's coming, and will be played. Reason? Short set-up, short rules explanation, quick-play time (60-90 minutes), no-elimination required, great bits. Winner.

18. Pass the Pigs (2331)
Yes, it's dice. Yes, they're pigs. How can you resist playing this? A good "in-between breakfast and the first game of the day", or "you're exhausted but need a 20 minute diversion before bed-time" game.

19. Pit (737)
You have to be in the right mood, but if we can get the women to play with the guys and kids, this could be a big hit. Had a ton of fun with mixed-age groups in Benton Harbor years ago. Plus, it's a small box.

20. Roborally (72)
Eight players. Cool robots. Lots of chaos. This one's in for sure.

21. Settlers of Catan, The 5-6 Player Expansion (162)
Gotta remember the middle-turn build phase. We will probably play this with the kids, which will require the expansion. Tab claims to be the king of this one. I highly doubt he wins with more than 4 players.

22. Through the Desert (40)
Dad has my copy. See some of my earlier posts. This is a great game.

Wow - big list. Next I will post the games I own that won't be coming, and why.