FIRST OFF: Iain! Your turn in Amun-Re! Taken care of. Many thanks!
SECOND OFF: I've been toying with the idea of buying Space Alert, the latest from Czech Games Edition. The reviews I've heard have been mixed; I'm mostly attracted by the fact that it's solo-able. The idea, if you're not familiar with it, is that the player[s] are cooperating to beat back waves of alien ships attacking their spacecraft. The attack lasts ten minutes, moderated by either a deck of cards or a track on a CD. I'd have bought it already if it had a slightly different theme: Taffy III at Leyte Gulf. (UPDATE: I'm wrong! What am I thinking of? There's some relevant clash between a destroyer and waves of Japanese planes.) I realize that significant chunks of the mechanics might have to change, but I still claim a historical theme might be interesting for the basic engine and idea. Of course, I like historical themes more than fantasy/SF ones (EXCEPTIONS: When they're faithful to books: Cthulhu, LotR, etc. I can't explain it.) I like Smallworld fine, but...Vinci has a map of Europe and classical-ish markers, so it wins for me.
I headed over to Jorge and Eva's place last night, after far too long of a layoff. We played a few games, but two stand out in my mind. The first is Royal Palace, which has interesting features you can read about in other places. What struck me about it is that, to my astonishment, I won. I thought I was doing OK, but not anywhere near Jorge, who I thought was at least ten points ahead of me at any given time. I ended up being wrong in my assessment by about twenty points. The funny thing is, everybody thought Jorge was safely winning, and thus helped me maximize my score. Oops! I think I would have been able to find a win on my own, although--once again--I didn't think I was looking for one.
We also ran out of money--which by happy accident is the top post on BGG for the game. I think I had the least money by the end, which I suppose could mean I used my money most efficiently? I guess?
The other game I thought I'd mention is my first play of Stone Age, which is currently ranked 31st on BGG, and has some extremely gaudy numbers and reviews and everything else. It is, of course, what I assonantly call a "place your dudes and get your cubes" game; BGG prefers "Worker Allocation," which is certainly shorter. I thought it was all right. GRANTED: I finished last. It's a good game, but it doesn't do enough things newer or better than my beloved Pillars of the Earth to really suck me in. Besides losing with a bullet, the game kind of dragged on; three-player would not seem to be its sweet spot, and I agreed with my hosts that four would be a better fit for the game. Definitely one to try again. UPDATE: It would appear, thanks to diligent questioning from Russ, that we were playing things wrong, which added a turn or three to the game. I'll certainly give it another try.
And finally: My "go book or chess book?" "contest" below was, indeed, from a go book: Kamakura from Slate and Shell. Vastly recommended! Nobody asks a 73 kyu player if it'll help their game, so I'll stick to the text part of the book. It's about, as those better versed in such things than I may already know, a ten-game match between two of the giants of mid-20th-century go: Kitani Minoru and Go Seigen. It took place in the Kamakura temple complex over a quite-long period. Much of the book deals with the events surrounding each game, from the physical surroundings to the verbal banter between the players (!). One learns a great deal about go culture ca. 1940. It is remarkable that in one of the biggest events in Japanese go during the period, players talked between moves, Kitani shaved his head in an effort to restore his balance--it's fun to imagine the Fischer-Spassky match going like this go match. Great reading--and, like many S&S efforts, the game diagrams have very few moves each, so it's very easy to follow. With any luck, diligent study should bring me up to about 69 kyu; whether it'll improve your game by four stones is another matter.
