&games

Mi kaj miaj filinoj lernas Esperanton.

Ĉu vi loĝas proksima Fairbanks kaj parolas Esperanton? Alaska?

I've had the opportunity to play several games of Through the Ages and I must say I am disappointed. TtA looked like a promising game and I was eager to get a copy. It is not a bad game, but it is not nearly good enough to meet my expectations. I find it to be an average game that I will probably never play again. Not only is it disappointing, it is a long game. Too long to justify the effort of playing.

TtA is a civilization building game in which there is no map. Players have a mat in front of them on which they build their respective civilizations. Players develop technology and build their civilizations keeping in mind that their citizens must be happy, fed, prepared for aggression from other players, and prone to corruption. Sounds like it should be right up my alley. I love empire building games where you start with little and build into a large empire. Win or lose I always feel a sense of accomplishment at the end. Not so with Through the Ages.

Without giving a review of the game I find it to be overly luck dependant, especially in a four player game. In a four player game it is possible that the good farming and technology cards never get around to you or get around to you much too late. This makes it quite difficult to keep your civilization advancing at the same rate as your opponents.

I find the final scoring to be overly luck dependant and entirely out of proportion to the scoring that occurs during the game. Each player has opportunities to secretly add cards to the deck that will determine what bonuses each player will earn on final scoring, but the possibilities are numerous. Because the final scoring is very much an issue of luck, I would say that final scoring should add no more than 10% to one's final score. It may add 70% or more to your score.

The rulebook is a mess, a horrible mess. The rules were written for a simple game, rules were added for an advanced game, and more rules were added for the full game. Sounds simple enough, but finding a particular rule in the book is not easy. On top of that the rules are wrong in several spots, do not clarify certain basic questions, and are confusing.

I give it a six. Through the Ages is the first of its kind. There is the kernel of a great game here. Someday, someone will take that kernel and make a great game with that system.

Regional World Cities. I find this stuff to be very interesting.

For starters, if you aren't familiar with the Strange Maps blog, you should bookmark it. It is certainly one of my favorite reads.

This map and a brief discussion of major world cities were posted on the Strange Maps blog. Basically it is a map of the most economically important cities and the regions with which they interact. The think-tank that came up with this map subdivides the world in to three major economic regions: The Americas, Europe/Africa/Middle East, and Asia/Oceania



The source site is The Globalization and World Cities Research Network.

The GaWC defines 5 broad categories of regional cities: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and two minor categories High Sufficiency and Sufficiency cities based upon how they link their region into the world markets. New York and London are the only two Alpha++ cities. In the 2008 list Miami isn't even listed, while on earlier maps it was considered to be the focal point of South American economic activity.

You might surf their site if stuff like this interests you.

Well, the wife took me out for dinner on my birthday. We had a great meal at Bobby's. Had calamari (the good kind, deep fried with tentacles still dangling) and the stuffed grape leaves for appetizers then some (unremembered) pasta dish for the main course. The wife had shrimp. They were kind of rubbery, I'm glad I went with the pasta. Good stuff. The kids hated it. To be fair they hate all restaurants that don't serve smiley face pancakes.

I ate so much that I was ready to go home and take a nap. I was uncomfortably full.

But my wife had a surprise up her sleeve. She had arranged for an evening of gaming at the local game store with some of my gamer buddies. Something like 10 adults showed up, plus a few kids. That was fun. Played some Puerto Rico and Dominion. We had to be out by 10, but that wasn't much of an issue as I had to be at work by 11.

Good times. Thanks to my wife and everyone who showed up.

Well let's see.

Met local blogger Michael "Sudsy" Sutherland at the gun store the other day. I was wearing a Boardgamegeek T-shirt which he noted and was the spark for our conversation. Talked about getting together for a game. Sounds like we will have to work to find a mutually acceptable time, but I hate knowing that a potential gamer lives just down the road from me and we haven't been able to meet for a boardgame.

Haven't been driving a cab much lately. I got drafted to go full time at my second job. Been full time there in the past, and part time suits me much better. I like the hours and the eight hour shifts, but I'm getting burned out. I'd much rather have two part time jobs than one full time job.

Played Through the Ages..... finally. Don't know about it. It wasn't what I was expecting, and more fiddly although not excessively so. It is currently the #5 ranked game on BGG. It is a pretty good game, but I'm not ready to get on the bandwagon. Seems like more of an exercise in card drawing along the lines of Ticket to Ride, but with a ton of chrome. I am itching for another game, though. It did leave me intrigued enough to play more. :fingers crossed:

Chicago Express is now the game I'm itching to learn.

Dropped Phoenicia down to an average rating with more play. Confusing rules played a role, too few options played a role.

Bumped Indonesia up to a 9 with more play. Great game. Serious component flaws. With better components a few rules could be changed to make a great game. For example a way to distinguish plantations of different companies would be oooooh so helpful.

I am dying to get Antiquity and Indonesia to the table again.

Took Antiquity for a test drive some time ago and just haven't been able to get it played again. Haven't played Indonesia for some time although it has the potential to be as good as Puerto Rico considering the way it plays so well and so differently with different numbers of people.

And for what it's worth.

I suppose, other than my mother, there are close to zero people who read this blog who hail from the Montana High Line.

At any rate, I heard this guy's music on the local college radio station for some time now. I was prompted to see if his music was on YouTube, and indeed it was. I can say that zero (0) other artists I have heard on college radio have prompted me to do any research at all. Unbeknownst to me he is from right across the border in southern Alberta. Close enough, I'll claim him as a homeboy. He has some references in his music that take me back to my childhood. For non-locals his music can stand on its own.

I present to you, Corb Lund.




And perhaps his weakest song, certainly the one with the most unfortunate title, but one that brings me back to the good old days: