Ocasta

Sunday was a bonus day for me. Last year, for the first time in sixteen years of Essening we decided to arrive Wednesday and skip Sunday. Generally by Sunday your brain is screwed-up through too many rules, late nights and alcohol and you've pretty much played everything you wanted to. So going home a day early really didn't matter. We had planned to do the same this year but our airline had other ideas and our flight was until 4pm. This meant an extra half day at the Messe.

After the struggle of Saturday we had a plan - a door opening dash to the back of hall 6 for an explanation and opportunity to play Parthenon from Z-Man comics. Our plan worked perfectly and we had the stand to ourselves. Strangely, Sunday morning seemed very quiet and we needn't have rushed. Part way through the game a German couple we had played Il Principe with way back on Thursday turned up. It was good to see a familiar face.

Parthenon is a game of developing civilizations in the ancient eastern Mediterranean (sound familiar?). This time the emphasis is on trading and investment - there are no people counters at all. Suprisingly for a trading game there was remarkable little player to player trading after Year 1. We were largely playing solitaire against the game system. There are other games that do this and while they aren't my kind of game I thought Parthenon did this rather well. There were plenty of choices of what to build, where to trade and what risks to take for all of us. Although I have the feeling that with repeated play optimum strategies will appear for each nation the random element will keep players alert.

The production uses muted tones and provides lots of card giving good heft value. As I say, not my sort of game, but if this is the type of game your group likes then its worth a look.

After this I tried to get a game of Skyline but failed as my the two German I was playing with became involved in a marital dispute (well it sounded like that anyway, but my German is very poor). So off to the airport

Was this a good Essen? For me this year was as good as recent years. I go to Essen to play new games and appreciate the company. This I did. There were lots of games to try, new companies to discover and old faces to meet. But from my jaded (and critical) point of view there were few games that caught the imagination. If my weekly playing sessions weren't dominated by play-testing I would have bought Indonesia and Kaivai but actually only purchased Railroad Dice 2. As usual I picked up a couple of lighter card games - TaTaTa and (unplayed) Adling Spiel's Zauberschwert & Drachenei with its expansion Helden & Zauberspruche.

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Angelo designed and produced the highly successful game War Angel (well successful in Italy anyway). TaTaTa is the sound the guns of your fighter plane makes when shooting your opponent in this silly/fun dogfight race card game. Often fun games to be a fun idea but no fun to play we found this one to be both.

The game cost €10 and I was happy to pay this for the 45 minutes of entertainment we got from the designer, let alone the card game. The game can be played with 2 to 8 players although with eight chaos may reign. Having played a game ourselves this evening, next time I play I will take great care in the selection of the clouds. Clouds contain nothing, special weapons or events. Too many events slows the game down something awful. While not ruining the game, you may want to cut it short if this happens.

There have been reports from other players that the English rules were hard to follow and if I hadn't already played it I might agree. But its the sort of light, fun game that you can be fairly free and easy with rules interpretations - actually you have to be! The designer suggested counting down slow players (10, 9, ...) to keep people from getting bogged down in their turn planning. I'd recommend it too.

Generally I find fun games to be a fun idea but no fun to play.Often a game you buy at Essen turns out to be rubbish when you get home to play it. TaTaTa may be that game this year. I hope not, we really enjoyed it in the silly but playable category.

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A multiplayer abstract game themed on Druids and magic circles. Each player has a number of druids that moves around a grid of interlocking stone circles (or varying value). Each time a druid moves it leaves behind a stone. If you have a majority of stones around a circle you may put a score tile face-down in the centre of it. Several score tiles may end up in one circle and each player's tiles have values from 1 to 4. Final scores are determined by the value of the circle, the value of the tile and whether your tile was top of the stack in the circle or not.

This is a good game. It has interesting decisions and has some good interactions between players in the competition for stone circles. It plays quickly without too much downtime. The productions is adequate rather than inspired. You don't get much for your money in terms of components or game length.

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We found this game in the test area of the show. We probably wouldn't have tried it if Saturday mornings weren't so darn busy. We arrived late this morning and the halls were teaming and available demonstration tables few and far between.

High Kings of Tara is an interesting game that will be produced in 2006 in the UK. It is an abstract game where you are trying to get two of your pieces into the position of King. Being ancient Ireland there are three or four Kingdoms avavilable. You position your pieces by playing cards that give enough choice to plan your tactics but not too many choices that analysis paralysis sets in.

The problem for me with this game was that there was a huge amount of positive feedback. Falling behind early meant you had poor placement on the board and less money than the other players. This was made worse by our game having five players. One of our opponents called it a day half way through which was fine by me.

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A game about land reclamation and farming set in Holland and decided with the fields workers taking part in the Tulip Race sounded too good to miss. On top of the subject the execution is amazing with 3-4" tall plastic windmills, supported by filed worker figures and farmhouses. Combine these with the colourful fields of crops and tulips and the game looks stunning in a cute way rather than an Eagle games spectacular way.

The mechanics works well. The player actions range from planting crops to reclaiming land by pumping out the water with their windmills. The game consists of six years of your seasons each; Spring (plant and build), Summer(drainage), Autumn (weather and harvest), Winter (invest in new supplies). After the sixth year the Tulip race takes place.

While the game revolves around running and growing your farms you need to ensure that you are accumulating field workers and your windmills have good access to good Tulip fields. There are no victory points or scores awarded until the Tulip Race which makes it hard to know who is winning and therefore reduces negative play.

Unfortunately while the game works it takes too long and outstays its welcome - each year is too repetetive. Four years would have been enough. Good for value and appeal, but I can't see it getting enough play to work out the startegies

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Our initial experience of this game was hampered by a partial rules explanation that explained the rules but not how to play while also missing out a couple of end of game rules that were crucial. This is yet another game set within an island atoll. This time we sail, fish and build.

The game revolves around the use of influence tokens. There are a number of actions, to select and perform an action it must be paid for with an influence token. When the first player to choose an action the influence token comes from the bank, after that the players must pay for it themselves. In addition these influence tokens can be used to help establish island majorities at the end of the game. Token management is probably key to the game

We were all at sea, so to speak, for the first half of the game. After this we were starting to get the hang of the game and seeing its depths. The problem is until we play this again we wont be sure whether this is truly a good game. Excellent production values for the price (although the counters seem to be wearing quickly) One to watch.

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Another Wolfgang Kramer placement game centred around action points. This time set on the Pampas of Argentina. There's going to be plenty written on this, so I'll keep it short.

A decent family game a bit like Through The Desert but without the tension.

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Breaking off from Indonesia we headed up for another Brotwurst. On the way we passed the DaVinci stand and on the basis of a passing recommendation thought we would give Lucca Citta a go. It's a card game of building towers and scoring points. There really was nothing to this game. All decisions required little thought. There was a good spread of points between the three of us at the end, but we were struggling to work out whether those of us that lost could have done anything about it.

Short and it passed the time.

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Day 2 started badly when all our initial plans fell apart. This Friday felt as busy as most Saturdays and the tables filled up fast. Wandering in the lower halls we were lucky enough to find a table at Splotter un-taken and sat down for an explanation of their new game Indonesia.

This is an economic game set in the Indonesian islands. There are companies producing rice, spices, ready meals and oil. Shipping lines carry these between the islands to cities to earn player's money. Cities grow and companies and shipping lines spread and merge. There's lots going on here delivered through an elegant and simple (for this type of game) system.

Splotter generally produce big games. However while they are involved I find them overly complex. Indonesia is an exception. The game maintains the depth and interest that is customary but without the clutter of fiddly rules. This is by far the most involved game of this years Essen and I heartily recommend it for those people looking for something less fluffy. Playing time is estimated at 3 to 4 hours. My only criticism would be the map colours and graphics could be clearer.

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After dinner at the Istra (lots of meat and a dodgy salad) we headed over to the Jung to join with a many of the visiting Americans, Brits and assorted other foreigners. We crammed in three games before our eyes glazed over and we headed for bed

Old TownA nice idea this and a little different from the average deduction game. The players are trying to rebuild an old western ghostown from the clues on the card (e.g. The church is opposite the cemetry). Most of the game you don't really have a decision, the game plays itself. Not recommended.

Silver MountainA playable little game. It works but the production quality leaves much to be desired.

Hey, Thats my Fish!A simple little game of penguins, ice flows and fish. Eat the fish until the ice disappears. Pleasant little game for the end of the night.

The last game of the first full day. This brightly coloured stand containing a game we hoped was about scantily clad beach babes caught our eye because there was a table free as we walked past the stand.

The game centres around the exploration of a Pacific atoll. Each hex tile contains three islands each containing a mix of; harbours, island officials, tabbaco factories, island trinkets and breeding centres. Most of these tiles are face down and placed in a grid. Each player starts on a face up tile in one of four corners.

The game plays quickly, there are plenty of decisions (generally relatively simple ones) with only light competition for resources. The interaction centres around the selection of activities and the occasional election for island president.

I'd rate this a game as an acceptable way to pass an hour. It's enjoyable, the result was close and down time minimal.

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From the makers of Spank the Monkey and Kablamo comes another chaos card game. You are a member of the Goblin research labs trying to defuse various bombs. Every card is a special card and has its ability described along with an attractive drawing. The game is available in three languages English, German and Swedish versions.

So draw cards, play cards, bomb explodes, earn points (if you survive the explosion). This makes the game sound better than it felt. I'm sure there are players who will like this game, but I'm not one of them.

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During this meandering we came to the Wasser Tal stand. As luck would have it there was an empty table so we thought we might as well find out whether Railroad Dice 2 had addressed the well discussed flaws in the original.

What we discovered was a slimmed down, tighter game that plays in 45 minutes. The basic build track with Railroads on dice is still there, but the board is predetermined, the playing space compact and the pace aggressive. It's nice to play a game that doesn't outstay its welcome yet at the same time doesn't leave you thinking that you needed more time to evolve your masterplan. I liked this game a lot. For a 30-45minute game it had plenty of decisions and it felt like everyone of them mattered.

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From the designer that brought you Oltre Mare this year a game of Italian cities, provinces and coloured cards.

Each player represents a noble family vying for influence via building the cities of the renaissance. Each turn the players draw building cards, auction building cards and build! Success with building is rewarded with victory points and people of position. The later giving more victory points and each has a special ability (draw a building card, gain two money etc.)

There are a lot of different mechanics going on in the game and many different ways to score victory points. What this means is that at any given time you really don't have many choices, usually just one or less things you wanted to do. There's no room for strategy. On top of this the final turn sees many small victories point scores decided and handed out maximising the feeling that many of you early actions had little bearing on the game.

All in all another good looking game that ultimately doesn't deliver.

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Having made it through the throngs at the ticket office we had a plan to head down to a couple of games on Andy's list - Antike and Il Principe. First up was Antike and when we arrived at the stall a table was free so we wasted no time in getting an explanation and starting the game. Ah, the first game of the day.

A boardgame of growing empires in the Mediteranean. Sound familiar? it should do. There a plenty of games that try to blend economics, expansion and warfare in the ancient world and this is another. I think this one fairs better than most in that for most of the game there was only little fighting. The problem we stopped beofre then end and in the three player game things were getting repetitive. Once everything is occupied warfare is inevitable.

The mechanics are clear and simple, the summary cheats and board (well one side at least - it has two sides with subtley different geography) are in english. Once familiar with the game playing the German side of the board will not be too difficult.

Each player takes turns choosing to produce iron, marble or gold; turning these into armies or navies, temples or progress or moving armies to claim new territory (or invade if you prefer). Combat is simple - largest army wins and the turns are quick. I wouldn't hesitate to play this with five players and maybe even the six it can support. Downtime is minimised.

I'd happily play this if it was brought out at a games session. However, the game doesn't stand out in any way and therefore wont be bought by me.

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Forget the photo's. I had hoped that my phone's camera would be good enough, but the VGA camera in a SE K700i just doesn't show any detail. Time to get a new phone. 2 mega-pixel and Symbian looks likely. If only they could make it smaller. I do love the small size of the K700i after three years of Series 60 handsets.

My first game played at Essen this year was Havoc from Sunriver Games. This is a very nicely produced card game, loosely themed on the Hundred Years war.

The game consists of six suits (colours) numbered 1 to 10 plus a number (6?) Dogs of War and eight battle cards. The suit cards are nicely designed, contain a medieval drawing and some flavour text. The battle cards are named after the major battles of the Hundred Years war and contain the victory points allocated to each player for placing in the battle (1st, 2nd and 3rd).

Game play is remeniscent of Reiner Knizia's Attack (or Ivanhoe). Draw cards or start a fight. The difference being that in a fight you takes turns a playing cards to build up Poker hands (modified for six suits) rather than just fighting in a colour. It's not easy to remember the sequencing of hand values but a handy summary chart is provided. The winner of the fight gets the most victory points, 2nd and 3rd less (if any). The key to the game is to minimise the number of cards played for the points you win. There isn't enough time to rebuild great hands so over bidding is costly.

Most people come away from Essen with 10-20 games. These days I buy one or two. So it was no suprise that I didn't buy a copy. A nice filler, but nothing particularly new or special. My fellow Essenite enjoyed it enough to buy a copy.

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Spiel is probably the largest consumer games fair in the world and takes place in Essen, Germany every October and covers boardgames, RPG's, CCG's, LARP's and comics. The official start of this four day extravaganza is tomorrow but you can wander round the half built stands and get a feel for this years layout on Wednesday afternoon.

I thought that this year I would try the impossible and blog the fair as it happens, posting brief reviews and photo's of each and every game played. Stay tuned to see how well I manage.

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