Two new games were purchased this past week in our household. These two games have managed to monopolize our game playing time as well as all my free time this week. While I don’t feel qualified to give full reviews of the games at this point I would like to give you a quick overview as I would recommend both of these games to all gamers.
Small World
is a fairly simple land control game. It’s simple to teach and doesn’t rely heavily on luck. There is only one die which is numbered 0/0/0/1/2/3. The fun comes in with the multitude of different attributes and races. While there are limited numbers of each, the combinations change from game to game and sometimes even within a single game. Each attribute/race gives you a special power or bonus as long as you are in control of that race. After playing the game two or three times you will be able to decipher all the symbols and won’t have to look in the instruction booklet every other turn. Any game that you can play as Bivouacking Amazons is a winner in my book.
I think I can now officially crown Uwe Rosenberg as my favorite game designer of all time. With Le Havre
he has created his second Top 10 board game in two years (Agricola: 2007, Le Havre: 2008).
Quick side note to all you Wisconsinites out there. Yes, it is spelled like #4, but it is not pronounced the same.
Le Havre, like many other Top 10 games, has a lot of bits and a rather complex/intimidating nature. In Le Havre, you collect resources to build buildings and ships as well as to feed your crew. As the town is modernized, better buildings are constructed and better ships can be built. Eventually you will be able to ship goods via the ships you have built to gain money to buy more buildings and ships and ultimately win the game. Cards are added or subtracted depending on the number of players to balance the game. Although the cards and resource allocation is the same in each game, the order is randomized at the beginning of each game providing great variety and a need to adjust your strategy for each game. Le Havre will continue to get its fair share of play time in our household.
Have you learned any new games lately?
What would you recommend?
Game On!
