The Hurricane

The scope of this disaster is just staggering. After Katrina missed New Orleans on Monday many of us scoffed over yet another overreported disaster, but then the levees breached and New Orleans slowly began to fill with water. And the scope of the disaster multiplied and multiplied.

What is amazing, shocking, and disgusting is that four days later the Federal Government is still unable to evacuate many of the people in New Orleans and to get them food and water.

I watched last night's Nightline, where Ted Koppel interviewed the head of FEMA, and I think it's the only time I've ever heard Koppel mad. He was polite but he was furious over the utter incompetence of the disaster response. I found two things particularly striking:

* FEMA's inability to respond to why they didn't put any effort into providing evacuation help before the storm. When the FEMA head started trying to blame it on the city was one of the times when Koppel almost went ballistic.

* The FEMA director saying that he didn't know about the crisis in the Convention Center until that day. "Don't you watch the news?" asked Koppel. "It's been on every station for days!"

When all is said and done this had better come home to roost where it deserves to, right on the Federal Government's doorstep. Maybe funds diverted from New Orleans structural work to Iraq did cause part of this disaster. Maybe National Guards diverted to Iraq did worsen the problems. Maybe Bush's sale of wetlands to corporations did make the storm hit harder. But more important than all of that is their incompetent, nearly criminal, response to this disaster. How could they issue an evacuation order for the city, but give no way for the poor residents to get out? How could they still be stumbling around like blind men four days later?

On the other hand what has truly impressed me in this disaster is Texas' response. I cannot believe the effort and goodwill they are offering. They are taking in tens or hundreds of thousands of refugees and telling their communities that they should expect these people to be there for the long-haul. They are asking their citizens to open up their homes, garages, and apartments to people. They are kicking out convention-goers to give those spaces to people in need.

I wonder how many of these residents will be relocated permanently as a result of the lengthy time expected before New Orleans is viable again. I wonder how much of New Orleans will be left when it's done.

A Year's Worth of Gaming

The upcoming Essen show and recent & upcoming awards have got me thinking about how good the last year in board gaming's really been. So, I decided to write up this listing. It's all the games I played in the last year (9/1/04-8/31/05) that were approximately new (or at least newly published in the U.S.), ranked from first to last, with any additional comments on each. This is my listing of how much I like the games, as opposed to my reviews of how good I think the games are. I could probably continue iterating any individual game up or down a few points.

Generally I think that #1-#10 are top notch, #1-#25 were worth buying, and #26-#50 are mostly worth playing.

1. Australia - A fun puzzle game that I think deserves a lot more recognition than it's gotten and shame on me for not reviewing it yet. (Medium)
   
2. In the Shadow of the Emperor - Though I have some concerns about degenerate strategies, I'm currently very happy with this game, and it'd get a lot more play if it weren't fairly long. (Heavy)
   
3. Tower of Babel - This seems like a great "simple" Knizia that still has strategic complexity, but I'm in the honeymoon phase after just one game. (Medium)
   
4. Shadows Over Camelot - Great color, great fun, nice for a real change of gaming pace. (Medium)
   
5. Around the World in 80 Days - A very nicely done card-movement game. (Light)
   
6. Ticket to Ride Europe - A great, slightly heavier sequel to a great game. (Light)
   
7. Rumis - This hasn't gotten as much play lately, but the colored blocks still call out to me whenever I look at the box, and I have fun whenever I play it. (Filler)
   
8. Maharaja - I can't believe this has only gotten 2 plays! It's a good game with some fun play, that somehow continually manages to not hit the table. (Heavy)
   
9. Struggle of Empires - Would probably play this with some regularity if it weren't so long, and I'm hoping that Conquest of the Empire will be even better. (Heavy)
   
10. Ingenious - Totally abstract, but fun and thoughtful gameplay. (Light)
    
11. China - A great majority control game, but somewhat limited due to weight. (Light)
    
12. Cargo - This is a neat puzzle game. It deserves more attention. (Medium)
    
13. Oltremare - A fine trading game, though a little long. I expect my experience to go up if the components are improved on the new edition. (Light)
    
14. Parthenon: Rise of the Aegean - A good resource/building game with neat trade mechanisms. I suspect it works even better among experienced players using the "Tournament" rules.
    
15. Alexander the Great - I expect that my rating of this may fluctuate, but thus far it's an intriguing and original game.
    
16. Caribbean - A very nice blind-bidding game that moves fast and has some original ideas. (Light)
    
17. Blue Moon - This probably predates my time period, but it was a 2004 release, and I started playing it after last September. I like this but haven't been very successful in getting partners to play it so it may be getting some extra weight due to the fact that I want to play it more than I can. Still, a very clever CCG model. (Light)
    
18. Louis XIV - Some neat, thoughtful systems, but nothing that really calls to me thus far. (Medium)
    
19. For Sale - The combination of quick, light play, some strategy, and small size has this ending up in my game bag about half the time. And I finally won a game in Indianapolis! (Filler)
    
20. Der Untergang von Pompeji - Not a lot of substance to this game, but it always keeps me interested and makes me smile. (Light)
    
21. High Bohn Plus - Reflecting of my current assessment of Bohnanza + High Bohn Plus. This game would get a lot more play if it were just 1/3rd shorter. (Light)
    
22. Russian Rails - I do like these games, and wish that they weren't so long. (Medium)
    
23. Saboteur - A great, original filler, with additional kudos because it goes up to 10 players. (Filler)
    
24. Razzia! - Somehow after continued play this one just doesn't hold up to its big brother, and I think it's mainly a matter of aesthetics. I'm looking forward to the full Ra release. (Medium)
    
25. Tutankhamen - A pretty decent light game. (Light)
    
26. Amazonas - I can't believe how far this one has dropped off my radar since its release. It was a somewhat interesting game, but it's generated zero replay. (Medium)
    
27. Primordial Soup - Some great ideas & gameplay, but also a little long because it gets repetitive at the end. (Heavy)
    
28. Marco Polo Expedition - A neat cardplay game that seems to have failed simply because it's not a Knizia gamer's game. (Light)
    
29. Heart of Africa - Overly complex, but with some neat ideas. I'd play it again. (Heavy)
    
30. Iglu Iglu - Some amusing play, and it'll come out again, but it lost some of its luster after a few times through. (Light)
    
31. Trick, Trumps, Game - Currently my first pick for a trick-taking game, I just don't play many of those. (Light)
    
32. Go West! - Too many calculations to have it be common filler play, but the small box-size and big strategy will probably cause it to get pulled out occasionally. (Medium/Filler)
    
33. Boomtown - An OK auction game with some nice color, but it always strikes me as a little long. (Medium)
    
34. Jambo - Something about the randomness of this game just doesn't do it for me. (Light)
    
35. Oceania - Somehow this doesn't thrill me quite as much as its big brother. Still, a fun game. (Light)
    
36. Santiago - A little too arithmetic & calculatory for my tastes, but some pretty pieces and neat design. (Medium)
    
37. TransEuropa - OK, but not very filling. (Filler)
    
38. Cthulhu 500 - This was a lot of fun, though it's American style makes it one I won't play much, besides, I gave away my copy to someone who wanted it more. (Medium)
    
39. Im Auftrag des Konigs - Neat game systems, but dry, dry, dry. This has been my general reaction to most Adlung Spiele games.
    
40. Candamir: The First Settlers - I love the gameplay, but it's too long. (Medium)
    
41. Camelot Legends - OK, but a bit complex and a bit unwieldy. (Medium)
    
42. Geschenkt - There's very little to this game, but it's a rare 5-minute filler, and it remains worthwhile at that length. (Filler)
    
43. Cloud 9 - Amazed I haven't played this much. It's a cute little game, but I guess doesn't have a lot of pull. (Filler)
    
44. Buy Low, Sell High - A very clever Knizia game, but I don't have much desire to keep playing it. (Medium)
    
45. Fifth Avenue - I just can't find the fun in this game, though I'm willing to look again. A few more so-so games and it'd drop to the bottom of my list. If it weren't for aesthetic reasons (the Alea box) this might have gone on my trade list, and I definitely wouldn't keep trying to play it without my faith in the Alea brand. (Medium)
    
46. Senator - Had a very bad first experience with this game due to the rules being misexplained, but I think there still might be a game here. (Medium)
    
47. Oriente - This would be rated higher strictly on its playability, but I don't ever want to try and explain it again. (Medium)
    
48. Easy Come, Easy Go - Light as air, but fun to play. (Filler)
    
49. Farfalia - A pretty well-designed trick-taking game, but I don't see any particular reason to take it back out of the closet. (Light)
    
50. Gloom - An amusing game that's only down here because it's not really my style. Too American. (Light)
    
51. Empyrean Inc. - Nothing really wrong with the game, but it didn't thrill me. (Medium)
    
52. Goldbrau - All that money counting (adding, multiplying, dividing) was just too exhausting for me, and I eventually traded the game for Tigris & Euphrates. (Medium)
    
53. Wench - Once was about enough for me, unless there's booze involved. (Light)
    
54. Mallworld - I think there's a neat game here, but I'm unwilling to hunt for it. My copy is available for trade.
    
55. Station Master - Ugly components & lots of math ended up putting me off of this one. I gave it away, but it's one that I as easily could have kept. (Filler)
    
56. Betrayal at House of the Hill - Not broken, but way too random to be much fun. (Medium)
    
57. Dancing Dice - A cute dice game, but nothing that made me want to play it again. (Light)
    
58. LetterFlip - The letter selection method is just too hit and miss. (Light)
    
59. Succession: Intrigue in the Royal Court - Just not enough to excite me to additional plays. American companies don't understand how to make auctions interesting. (Medium)
    
60. Keythedral - One of my more expensive flops. Too chaotic to allow any real game play, and somehow boring too. I now have it on my trade list, and would love it to be yours. (Medium)
    
61. Shakespeare: The Bard - Some somewhat broken gameplay put me off of this game. It's mainly going to get played in the future because my wife wants to. (Light)
    
62. Submarine - Has a number of degenerate play possibilities that have pretty much put me off the game. A grave disappointment since I like most of Colovini's games. And just added to my trade list as a result. (Medium)
    
63. Kung Fu Fighting - Very not my type of game: all color, no system. (Light)
    
64. Fredericus - Unfortunately, too broken to maintain my interest. (Light)
    
65. Creatures & Cultists - Played this in the new version, and it just seemed tedious. (Medium)
    
66. Mister Bill - This set of daVinci games was directed at younger kids. (Light)
    
67. Fishing for Terrorists - Go. Fish. (Light)
    
68. Moby Pick - Another light DaVinici. (Light)
    
69. Abracadabra - Not fun. (Light)
    
70. Caravans of Ahldarahd - So boring that I'm less willing to play it then entirely broken games. (Medium)
    

70 new plays of "new" games in the last year; wow.