a wolf angel is not a good angel

We played two games, which lasted about 90 minutes each. There were 5 of us for a 4 person game (max, but you can play with 3), so I paired up with the other new player. We did poorly, but I have a much better grasp of the strategy now.

It’s pretty easy to pick up, actually. You want to get to 10 points first (everyone starts with 2, which you can’t lose). There are a number of ways to get those points — you can build settlements, upgrade them to cities, have the longest road, have the biggest army, andcolleect “victory points”. There’s no money, just 5 different kinds of resources. Building different things takes different resources. At the beginning, it’s pretty crucial to build up your territory, otherwise you’ll never win. (I gather tehre are other strategies, but you still need some territory.) We had very badly laid out boards both times, and we always seemed to be heavy on the sheep. However, that’s just luck. That and our CONSTANT rolling of 3s and lack of 7s.

Anyhow.

It’s a fun game, and it’s probably fine if you’re all around the same level; it’s so heavily skill-based that if someone has played more, they’re almost guaranteed to win. (The only luck is in the initial setup of the board, and the rolls of the dice. Not much.) It’s very easy to learn, though it’s one of those games that’s best to pick up as you play. But perhaps that’s just the way I prefer things, I’m not sure. Regular game players like it too; there are also a lot of ways to increase the strategy required (something called “towns and cities”, I believe), but we vetoed that option.

We all intend to play again — hopefully next time I will lose by a little bit less.It’s replayable, and because there is some luck to it, both games were very different. The games aren’t too long. I really don’t know what else to say. It was fun, and if it’s not a particularly pricy game, it’s probably worthwhile.

I don’t play anything else regularly — I’ve played a few games (Quattro, mostly) with a friend back home, but nothing here (except Set). This was our first time trying to play something as a group. It was great fun — but I would be all for a game where I am not the only person who has never played before. (I lost both games. I am trying not to practice on the online Java version becauseI should be doing work, but I have been playing there. Only the interface is shitty so half the time my trades go through twice, which is bad. I think it’s probably easier to start playing it for real before you play it there, though.)
So other suggestions would be nice.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 26th, 2003 at 11:11 am and is filed under Games. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.