Dominion - Count Score During the Game?

One of the things that I struggle with while playing Dominion is how closely to keep track of the score during the game.  Knowing where I stand during the game can greatly affect my strategy, and the final outcome of the game as well.

During most games I keep track of exactly how many provinces (or colonies if they are being used) everyone has and keep a an eye on how many other point cards everyone has, without necessarily keeping an exact count.  Although I have played a few three and four player games, I have played many more two player games, which makes it easier to track everything.  I have done it enough times now that I know I am capable of keeping an exact count of the score in a two player game, but the extra effort needed means that I am not nearly as social as when I don't.  Because I play the majority of the games against my wife, the social aspect is important to me, and even more so to her.  So what is the right balance?

We played a game earlier this week, which highlights what happens when I don't even keep an eye on the points cards!

As usual, we played a random set (using the randomizer cards) from among Dominion (Original), Intrigue, Seaside, Prosperity, Dark Ages and Hinterlands.  The set was: Poor House, Sage, Fishing Village, Coppersmith, Feast, Pillage, Minion, Tactician, Nobles & Forge.

Dominion Kingdom Card Set, 19-Aug-2014

I started with a 2-5 split, which actually seemed worse in this set.  I took a Poor House, thinking that I might be able to get a couple, and then dump a bunch of coppers with Forge.  The problem is that I wasn't able to get anywhere near 7 coins until I was able to get a bunch of other cards.  In the end I think I used them maybe twice, and for 1-2 coin each time.  What ended up working for me was a combination of Fishing Villages and Tacticians; I would have the coins from the fishing villages each turn, and every other turn was a big one, and I could get a province on most of these turns.  However, by the time I got that up and running my wife was way ahead, and I (knowingly) split the provinces 4-4.  I had picked up a Nobles along the way, but had dumped my estates, and I thought this would be enough to squeak out the win.  When we added up the score though, I had lost 29-26.  Turns out my wife had kept her estates and had also bought a noble that I hadn't kept track up.  Had I known all of this I probably would of been very close to being able to buy a duchy per turn, and might of been able to get enough before she got the last province or two.  

In this particular game I simply didn't keep track since I was so tired (my wife is too, and new baby will do that), but it still comes back to how closely I want to track the scores during the game.  I am competitive, and want to win, but if it starts to seem like work it totally ruins the fun of playing for me.

7 Wonders - First Blogged Game

7 Wonders is one of our favourite games, even for two players.  A lot of other games we have played and enjoyed with larger groups have a two player version with a 'dummy' player, but we find that most of them loose too much of the gameplay.  7 Wonders is the exception to this for us!  We have played enough times now that we know a lot of the cards that are coming, but the randomization of the 'dummy' pile, plus the ability to block cards from each other keeps it competitive without taking losing the feel of the game.

Despite a new arrival for our family (born last week!), my wife and I were able to get a couple of games in earlier this week.  We usually play with the Leaders and Wonder Pack (meaning it is now 12 wonders) and this time was no exception.

In the first game I finally managed to find a strategy where I could keep my resource count down, using a combination of Hatshepsut, the Marketplace, and making sure I drafted resources for the 'dummy'. This allowed me to focus on military and science, allowing me to pull out a 61 to 52 victory.

7 Wonders, Game 1 - Me at the bottom, my wife at the top, and the 'dummy' to the left

In the second game I decided to forgo military, despite having Rhodes, simply because both my wife and the 'dummy' had one before I even saw them.  She was successful in playing effective leaders due to having Rome, which really helped her.  I tried to focus on suffocating my wife of resources, but she had enough money to stop it from being effective.  I also think I concentrated on the money from Vitruvius' ability too much, which is why I was sort of all over the place on what I was trying to do.  I was defeated handily, 64 to 43.

7 Wonders, Game 2

This simply seems to be one of those games what we can both agree on, and will continue to play often.

Dominion - First Blogged Game

Dominion is one of my favourite games, and one my wife is willing to play with me fairly regularly.

When we play, we generally select a set of kingdom cards randomly using the randomizer cards, from among the expansions we have: Dominion (Original), Intrigue, Seaside, Prosperity, Dark Ages and Hinterlands. This gives us a huge variety of results, but I usually tweak them a bit before we play.  I want to make sure that there is a range of costs available (i.e. not just 2, 5 and 5+) and I also try to have some variety in the mechanics so that multiple strategies/combos are available.  Sometimes they end up working great, other times not so much.  We will play with platinum/colonies if the first one selected is from Prosperity, and with the alternate starting cards if the second card selected is from Dark Ages.

A couple of nights ago we played with the following set; Border Village, Duchess, Ghost Ship, Hermit, Ironworks, Mine, Native Village, Scavenger, Scout and Storeroom.  In this one we played with the Dark Ages alternate starting cards.

I was originally super excited, thinking that this would be a great set.  A couple of plus actions, a plus cards, a plus buy, and a bunch of cards that seem to naturally fit into combos (scout, native village, scavenger).  As we started to play, I just couldn't get my deck going.  I didn't hit 6 coins at all near the beginning, so all my plus actions were from the native village, and without a specific plan its ability is actually more frustrating than useful.  My wife managed to hit a couple of Border Village buys, which got her deck going pretty well.  As a result I started focusing on hermits, and managed to get a few madmen into my deck, which I was able to stack with a native village to pick up my whole deck a couple of times, each resulting in being able to buy two provinces.  That is the only thing that made me able to squeak out a win, 36 to 31 if I recall correctly.

This one was interesting enough that I might actually try playing with this identical set again sometime in the future, which would be a first for us (other than the pre-defined ones in the rulebooks).

Clash of Clans - Townhall Location

Clash of Clans has quickly become one of the games I play the most often.  I had originally tried it out and enjoyed it, then my brother started playing (and a lot more than me) and we now are in the same clan, making it even more fun.

One of the strategies that I currently employ, and many players do, is to keep the townhall out, easily accessible to anyone who attacks.  This means that they get an easy win, and I get a 12 hour shield where no one else can attack me.  The key is that many people will only hit the townhall and leave my resources alone, allowing me to grow faster.  It is almost an essential strategy while raiding for resources, but even so, it just feels wrong!

My base with the townhall easily accessible

I would love to keep my townhall in the middle of my base, and actually win more defensive battles.  However, I have done that in the past, and it just isn't as effective as you end up losing more resources.  My only consolation is having my Hidden Teslas at the townhall, occasionally catching someone off guard, and at the very least forcing them to use some more troops.  I love the game, I just wish I could be successful with a wider range of strategies.