Partial elimination made me feel uncomfortable

I have just come to a realisation about a reason that I did not enjoy a particular game. Overall the game was okay, but it drastically made me feel uncomfortable!

This game I played months ago, it has been on my mind searching for the reason I was uncomfortable. I obviously enjoyed something about the game.

In this game you collect and deliver resources, the board is seeded randomly (we played 3/4 times close together) and generates a nice challenge in figuring out the optimum delivery strategy.

However there is blocking and direct attacking. I do not mind attacking in a game and I don't mind direct attacking.

I'll explain direct and in-direct attacks. Games such as Risk, Scythe, Imperial Settlers and Blood Rage all have direct attacks in them. I see in-direct attacks as being in games like Agricola, Viticulture, Terra Mystica and Carcassonne. These are about denying an opponent options available to them.

There is also a segment of games that have a direct attack mechanic but you do not choose who you attack, such as King of Tokyo and Cosmic Encounter.

Going back to the game. As you get further into the game, things tighten up. You become flush with cash/resources and the game begins to say its time to attack and start taking what the other players have. The game is structured in a way where you will not have quite enough and incentive's you to attack an opponent.

This in its own right isn't an issue. However (I'm getting there), in games like this if I attack the strongest player or a player of equal strength a war will ensue and we both lose. This game rewards you to attack the weakest player and technically eliminate them from the game.

2 questions arise.

1. Why do games in general not give you an incentive to attack the strongest?

2. Would it not be best to be fully eliminated, rather than a partial elimination?

This game (and many others) in particular should have some sort of mechanic that gives you an incentive to attack the player/s in the lead or penalise hitting those that are weaker.

For example in this game I was tied in my opinion to win. I could attack the person that I felt I was tied with, but I could see that if I did, it then made sense for that player to retaliate elsewhere as I would be weak at another location.

Where as it actually made sense for me to attack the weaker player, leaving myself strong with no 'chinks in my armour' against the player who I was tied with. However, that leaves the weaker player partially eliminated. Meaning they have to continue playing, but they have no chance of working there way back up and there is still an hour left of game play.

In my opinion (and that is what this entire rant is about) it would have been best for that person to have been knocked out entirely from the game, or a catch up mechanic could have been put in place to draw that player back in and into the running.

I felt awful and really uncomfortable for attacking the weaker option, strategically it made 100% sense. I won the game, but took no joy from it, I was deflated.

Games such as Scythe and Imperial Settlers handle it really well. In Scythe you can have workers in the hex spaces, if a player drives you out of a location they lose as much popularity as you had workers in that area. Popularity is the end game multiplier, you need to think hard if you want to lose any popularity. The weaker player is given a really nice defensive option.

In Imperial Settlers if a player takes out one of your common cards, yes you lose that card. In reality you have only lost its ability. You gain a resource to use next turn and you can still use it as a foundation. Taking that sting out of the blow.

In games like Agricola and Viticulture. Your options effect the other players, but they are never driven backwards. In fact when you take a location in Agricola or Viticulture, the opponent just needs to take a different 'route to market'. That player still has a positive action You also generally do not know where the other players are going either, its normally not 100%, unless your Rainman.

In this game we were all seasoned game players and took it as is, but we all felt it. Maybe it was my feelings being projected on the group, either way I could not recommend this game to any particular group/style of players.

It is now something that I know to stay clear of and when I do my research on games I'm going to ensure I look to see if you are rewarded or not for attacking the weak player.

Neil.

From the Clouds - Spartacus

Spartacus

A Very good intellectual property board game. You control a ludus in Roman times, back stab, bribe and undermine at every opportunity. Each turn an arena combat will have at least 2 players involved. They will potentially duke it out to the death, if your involved or not you still have the opportunity to gamble on the outcome of the match up.

Build up your ludus from a basic setup by outbidding the opposition in the market phase, buying slaves, gladiators, equipment and the 'Host' option. I'll come back to that later. Pay out or receive coins depending on how many slaves to gladiators you have and then proceed with trying to gain points through clever card play.

Art, Graphics and Components
Not the best I have seen in board games, however it is very functional and fits very nicely within the character of the game. Lots of coin tokens and a load of cards. Cards are for the intrigue phase, that have the ability to effect yours and your opponents ludus and the market cards that have the characters from the show. It would have been nice if they were all hand drawn, but Gale Force 9 did a good job in making the screenshots tie in nicely.

My favorite bit is the arena board and miniatures. The miniatures are really nice, even though I have not yet done mine, I know and have seen some amazing paint jobs on these models. The board is a nicely depicted arena with a splash of blood here and there.

Rules and Initial plays
Not a very big rule book and it has pretty big text, with lots of diagrams and pictures assisting in explaining the rules. I found it pretty easy in learning the rules from the rule book and have found that each time I have taught the game it is relatively straight forward. There is pretty much 4 games going on, that have been expertly entwined together that makes Spartacus the game it is. You could even teach each phase as it happens, I don't believe you could win or lose in the first round of the game or even give yourself a lead that you couldn't be brought down from.

Engagement
You are only disengaged for a minute or two each round for your general upkeep. Once the intrigue phase starts, through the market phase and into the arena phase. You should be well and truly engaged with the other players through out.

Through the intrigue phase you will be rebuking and committing intrigue through out this phase. Gaining influence for your ludus, effecting your opponents ludus' and particularly bribing and coercing left right and center.

In the market phase you will be choosing how much coins you will be bidding and trying to out think your opposition.Leading then into the arena phase where at least two players will have fighters committed to the arena. You all have the option to place wagers on the outcomes of the battle, ensuring you will all be engaged.

Decision points

​Primarily for me the key decision points are in the market phase. However their are still valid key decisions made through out the other phases.

In the market phase you will be blind bidding for items, slaves and gladiators. A number of cards will be placed face down, one is turned over and then you place your coins you want to bid into your hand, close it and place it over the middle of the board. Once everyone has done

this, everyone reveals their bid, with the highest bidder claiming the item and paying what they bid.

All other players retain their coins and then continue. The final thing you bid on is the host option. A very key manouevre, worth an influence point and you can dictate the arena battles and if the loser dies or survives (Unless they were decapitated).

One of the key decisions is in trying to figure out how much can I afford to bid and then determining how much the other players will bid and only then placing one more coin the the next highest. I get a big smile when no one bids at all other than one player and they have put 10 coins in their hand.

To summarise, this game is not complex and not difficult to teach. The game play entwined with the theme is amazing and the social dynamics of the table is great. Gale Force 9 have done a really stellar job with this title. When it came out, it was a surprise and was at a great price too. I now have the expansion, so I can play with 6 and it introduces 2 versus 2 arena battles.

I have not covered the battles and you may not think that they are important, but they are. I love the battle mechanic with the dice and the fact that pretty much all the gladiators have unique abilities in addition to their statistics. If your not in the battle, you have the option to gamble on the outcome and I have even been known to take coins for advice mid battle for players.

Always remember coins can flow quite freely as bribes, extortion, etc. Just keep it within the context of the game and try starting out with 1 influence and going up to 12. Makes it a really strategic game in regards to building your ludus and if not try starting out on 1, but finish on 7. This way you need friends to get higher intrigue cards into play.

I really have a great time with this game and I'm looking forward to seeing the X-Men game using the same core mechanics, however I am wary as I do not know how that will work.

Links

Official Spartacus board game page
Gale Force 9

Board Game Geek page for Spartacus

Rule book

From the Clouds - Twilight Imperium 3

Twilight Imperium 3

An epic space game. Utilises lots of components and table space. Extremely rich in theme. Encompasses not only space combat, but developing your race, where to expand too and particularly the diplomacy between everyone.

Each round you will select from a diminishing starting selection of 8 roles and select within the round just when you will enact that role. Their are lots of choices each turn, but you will try to always keep your options open and to limit everyone else's.

Designed by Christian T Petersen, with the art done by Scott Schomburg, Brian Schomburg and Tyler Walpole. Published by Fantasy Flight Games.

Art, Graphics and Components

Where to begin, the art is great! 

Each hexagon tile has a unique looking planet on it with a space backdrop, individually looks good but as a laid out galaxy, looks really amazing. The races look really cool and add to the understanding of the race you are playing. There are a handful of tokens with great art too, like the leader tokens. Primarily this is a game with great graphics, race logos, positioning of text boxes and all the strategy tokens. Resources and influence values are all really easy to see, looks good and very functional.

This game comes in a massive box, I have both expansions in it and it is filled to the brim. Loads of races, loads of tokens to assist with your race management and a massive wad of cards. Technology, political and action cards. Then you have the plastic. Ground forces, carriers, fighters, cruisers, war suns!, etc. Over 60 plastic models per player and that is a total of 8 players when you have the Shattered Empires expansion. Pretty sure that is over 500 pieces and I've painted them all. Took me 3 years of doing them on and off, do not want to paint anything for quite a while.

Rules and Initial plays

With the game being so meaty you are bound to have a long and complex rulebook, which you definitely have here. It is not a wargame rulebook but it is long and you likely will read the rules a few times before you grasp some of the concepts. They are however well laid out and there are a lot of diagrams. Do not rush reading the rules and expect to do something wrong. I played two entire games before I realised that we got the production rules wrong. That said we still thoroughly enjoyed the game. 

You can explain the core mechanics and then discuss the roles more in depth as they happen. The player boards have a summary that is really useful and the main boards planets have the prime details their to hand. After a full round, I would say that the players will pretty much understand the game at that point.

Engagement

The core of the game play predominantly revolves around the action phase, do not get me wrong the strategy phase is very important. However in the action phase, is where you will be sat on the edge of your seat.

In turn you will all get to take an action. This includes building ships, moving units into battle, conquering planets and activating your strategy card.

You will be negotiating and threatening (In game) in this phase to keep your race in 'the race'. You are aiming to achieve certain goals to obtain victory points. Having a player on one side of you being an ally is extremely advantageous, but they will likely double cross you at some point.

You will have a player board, planet cards and technology cards in front of you. Choices like when to use these and how are what create this diplomatic space opera.

The diplomacy for me makes the game, having all these military options - which in its self would make a great game - is great but with parts like all the law cards and goods counters just adds to it all. Laws that change the game could come into effect, wormholes no longer being useable, players with War Suns paying a tax, etc. So not only do you want planets with production but also their influence to stay in a strong position for voting. Goods counters can also be used as bargaining chips as they can be freely exchanged and can be used as resources or influence.

Decision Points

Nearly each and every choice is a valid decision and relevant to the direction you take. Beginning with the strategy phase you have a choice that will dictate your entire turn. The strategy cards will boost you in that area when you play it, but also give the others a chance at a smaller boost in that area (Usually). However if you time it right you may be able to ensure people miss out on the opportunity.

When you exhaust planets for either production or influence, they are used for the remainder of the round, use them wisely. You can try and ascertain what your opponents are up to by looking where their strategy tokens have been allocated. When there is a token in a hexagon their ships are pretty much locked in place for the remainder of the round, use that knowledge to your advantage and if you cannot, be sure to tell who ever it helps, as long as its to your advantage and for a goods counter.

When you have a technology choice, you will have an array of options. Do you pick Cybernetics, boosting your fighters or XRD transporters, boosting your carriers? In the base game there is 24 technology cards and the expansions just add even more.

Summarising, make some time to play this game at least once. I'm not a big science fiction fan but this is my number one game. Primarily due to the narrative created in this game, from the word go until the end their is diplomacy galore entwined within a mechanically sound game. Games take a long time and you may get a few rules wrong the first time or two as I did. We all had the same rule applied to us and I do not feel it unbalanced the game as we had all been effected equally. 

Witnessing a player take an action that they just old another player they were not going to do is so rewarding, unless its against you!

I'm hosting a day of this soon, after feeling I could not play it because of been in the middle of painting the ships. I cannot wait to be totally engrossed within the Twilight Imperium universe for a day.

BoardGameGeek Twilight Imperium page

Official Twilight Imperium page

Fantasy Flight Games

Twilight Imperium 3 rules

From the Clouds - Euphoria: Build a Better Dystopia

Euphoria: Build a Better Dystopia

Euphoria is at its core a worker placement dice game. Placement of workers to receive resources and to minimise any negative outcomes, is what you do action to action. However other players workers
effect your options directly and indirectly. 

Themed in a dystopian world and with great art and design.This is a fantastic game and if you like worker placement, an absolute must try. 

Designed by Jamey Stegmaier and Alan Stone, with the art done by Jacqui Davis and published by Stonemaier Games.

Art, Graphics and Components
Jacqui Davis really captured the essence of the world in the backdrop to this game. You can lose yourself for a few minutes taking in all the details, people working doing specific menial tasks in the different territories, the Icarites in their blimps to the Subterrans in their caverns. Absolutely great job. 

I found the graphics and the layout to really assist in helping learn the game and teach it to others. Its pretty obvious what the graphics mean, I have however had a couple of players mix up the Wastelander and Euphorian cards up. It can make a difference in the game, so I now tell everyone to pay special attention to the letter in the logo. Really helps that the costs of locations are to the side of the placement boxes and the kickback of that location is beneath is consistent throughout.

Components wise I can only discuss what I got in my copy of the game, as in the non-Kickstarter version it is wooden pieces for resources, where as in my version their are gold coloured metal blocks, clay shaped into bricks and stone boulders. The electric is little lightning bolts, water is a water droplet, fruit is orange shaped, these are all wooden. Plus a little head and brain token for each player.

Rules and initial plays
First off, I may be in a minority or minority is very vocal as my gut feeling from Board Game Geek is that the rules are not clear. People had questions about lots of things. I really like worker placement games and I've read hundreds of rule books, I personally grasped what was going on and found the graphics and theme assisted in the immersion of the game and hand in hand the rules. Yes a few different things happen in different locations, but it makes sense and the different groups I've played with have had an easy initial play through. Think the most negative comment was 'I don't understand exactly what I'm doing', he went on to win!

Engagement
I find every action very engaging and even out of my action, as other players workers can change the output of a location. Particularly rewarding when someones high on the knowledge track and you bump them off a space, at that point they roll their worker and if it comes out high for them, goodbye worker!

In addition you can work hand in hand with players to form a market, anyone that doesn't help will be rewarded with a negative bonus ability. 







You have recruits that reveal at certain points too, you could be inadvertently helping another player. When they reveal you can feel gutted that you have helped them so much and then laugh it off. Great game engagement. even though its essentially a worker placement game.

Decision points
Each turn is a valid decision, only occasionally is their only really one place to go and that would only likely be obvious to you. The one down point I could mention is at the beginning, you have such an array of choices to you. 'Where do you begin?' At this point you should pay special attention to your recruits and see if that helps with your choice. However you are not going to lose the game in the first few turns, so do not worry.

Other options like who should I help later on or who do I effect with this ability is key as each of all my games played have been very close.

In all, this is a game that I really enjoy. Fantastic art, graphics, components, rules and game play. I initially rated this as a 9 on BoardGameGeek, after multiple plays that has been increased to a 10 and is now actually become my number 2 in my top ten games.

As stated in my original post, this isn't a regular review. Just a brief explanation of some(of what I think) key points that people may find relevant as a review shouldn't have an emotional bias. These will have.

Few links regarding the game
BoardGameGeek Euphoria
Stonemaier Games
Official Euphoria page
Euphoria rules

From the clouds introduction

Hi I'm Neil and I'll be putting up regular posts in regards to what I see as the emotion behind the games we play. Only came to this realisation when writing the basics of my first article and don't want to be doing a straight up review as that's what Steve and Sam will be covering.

Take note that I'll only likely be covering games I really enjoy, so expect positivity.

In my section I'll be covering these points.

Art, Graphics and Components.
Pretty obvious I think. I'll discuss the different parts of the game.

Rules and Initial plays.
I'll write about how I felt my rules read through went and how easy it was to teach and run through those initial plays.

Engagement.
I'll write about the main parts of the game that have you engaged with the other players as often you find there is a lot going on, but there are only a handful of bits that the game is moving around.

Decision Points.
What I see as one of the most important bit of what I call a strategy board game. If the decision isn't important and there is no real decision, I don't believe that its a real one. I'll discuss the really key decisions and the options open to you.

Remember though that all of this will be based around the emotional state of the game play and all of these may and will likely evolve through future articles. If you like what you read or don't like what you read please email me or post a comment to give me feedback.

Here is a teaser on which game I'll be covering first.