New Games (to me) - Power Grid, Avalon and Camel Up

Games I recently tried

Recently I had a couple of chances to try Power Grid.  We had another family over for dinner and games last weekend, and after the kids were in bed we played a game. This was the first time that my wife and I had played it, and it really helped that our friend has some skill in explaining games, as the concept is different from a lot of the games we have.  It turns out in the end that we had missed a few little rules that may have changed the outcome, but we still got the hang of the game.  We played the US map that night, and then yesterday evening at a guys game night I had a chance to play a 5-player game on the Germany map.

7 Wonders - Resource Management (in 2-Player)

This weekend brought an opportunity to get in a couple of games of 2-Player 7 Wonders (as per our usual with the Leaders and Wonder Pack expansions).  In past games I have definitely hurt myself due to not having enough resources, but this is the first time I can remember playing a 2-Player game where the resources I needed weren't available at all, even for purchase!

In the first game my strategy was to make sure I got a few gray resource cards and ignore the military based on the leaders I had.  The first age went well.  Then about halfway through the second age I realized that not only did I not have any wood, but I couldn't build the second stage of my wonder as there wasn't three wood available between my neighbours (they each had one).  I never did see the double wood card that round, I think that it was likely the last card in the "dummy" player pile (that doesn't get picked up).  Despite a decent science score, I was defeated 60 to 50.

The board at the end of our first game

Recent Gaming - Dominion: Cornucopiua, Suburbia, Ticket to Ride: Europe and 7 Wonders

After a period of very little gaming (sometimes life just gets busy) we have had an opportunity to play a few games lately.

I received Dominion's Cornucopia expansion as a gift, and over the last couple of weeks we have been playing through the recommended card sets found in it's rules.  These are sets that pair with the original Dominion and the Intrigue set.  I recall seeing recommended sets in the rulebooks for some of the later expansions for pairing with Cornucopia, but I am not sure if we will play them.  With only 13 new kingdom cards, and each recommended set having 5 of them, I feel that we have had ample opportunity to see how they work.  Next is probably back to random sets, with the new cards included.

One of the recommended kingdom card sets from Cornucopia

Kickstarter and Print-and-Play

While I have yet to receive a project from Kickstarter, I have now supported a few and I am excited about them!

Kickstarter is something that I was very hesitant about at first.  As far as I can recall there is only one game in my collection that I bought before having played.  The majority of them are games that had been recommended by friends, and that I had tried with them a few times before deciding I liked it enough to go purchase it. 

The first game I supported was Crop Cycle.  I actually had the chance to try and review a hard copy of the game before I supported it.  Although it is not the kind of game I normally play, it is a well designed game and Canadian made.  The campaign was not successful, but a re-launch is planned shortly and I am hoping it is successful this time!

The next game I supported was Artifacts, Inc.  I think the thing that caught my attention was the theme and amazing artwork displayed.  It was enough to get me to read the rules, and made me realize that this is a game I want to play!  This is the first game I got a print-and-play copy of, but more on that below.