Tired & Cold, But Games Are Coming ...

[shannon_a]

I've been quite run-down again for the last couple of days. I'm hoping that it's just a cold I'm fighting off, rather than a return of my mystery symptoms (now that I've been off antibiotics for about 10 days), but it's hard to tell right now. I've been downing zinc lozenges like they're chocolate and otherwise doing my best to do away with my symptoms, but I'm still very tired this morning, and have been the last couple of days as well. I slept much of yesterday evening rather than either finishing a review of New England or finishing a discussion of Yellow Elves for Tradetalk Magazine. Bad me.

I've also been frequently cold for the last week or so too. Our all-time high temperatures of early last week dropped straight into the 40s and 50s. It's better than the heat, I'll admit, but I wish we could have had some temperate time in between. Kimberly and I have arrived at a compromise on the thermostat where I'm cold all the time and, presumably, she's warm. (Of course she often talks about being hot, then goes and huddles under the blankets, which I don't really understand.)

Ok, that's enough of the ole "Bitch, bitch, whine, whine".

On the bright side, I came into some free spending money lately. It was a refund on some of our closing costs on the house refinance, but offered as a gift because our loan broker didn't want to make money on this transaction, and so rather than rolling the money back into savings I've accepted it in the manner it was offered. And, now that we've been on a tight budget for almost two years, it's nice to have a little bit of free money. I cashed the check last night (and Kimberly's twin check) and then spent about a third of my money. I picked up the nice limited edition hardcover of Stephen King's new Dark Tower book, The Wolves of the Calla, and also a set of new games:

• Amun-Re - The 2003 DSP winner; and a Reiner Knizia design.
  
• Clans - The 2003 DSP 3rd place honoree; also the abstract strategy winner in the recent Games 100 2004 list.
  
• The Traders of Genoa - The 2001 DSP 3rd Place honoree; and one of the games in the well-respected Alea line of games.
  
• Mystery Rummy Case #1: Jack the Ripper - A Rummy-variant that I've heard good things about, and which I hope Kimberly will like for 2-player play (if so, there are 3 other "cases" as well as a related game called Wyatt Earp).
  

In any case, this will put me a ways toward having played the best respected games from each of the last couple of years. For 2003 I'll still need to pick up Alhambra (DSP #2), but I'm hoping that'll be released in an English edition first. (I'm not afraid of the foreign text, but if I'm going to write a review, I figure it's more useful when an English version is out.) For 2002 I already own Puerto Rico (DSP #1) and have it up for play tomorrow, while Transamerica (DSP #2) didn't thrill me because it's yet another railroad game and Dschunke (DSP #3) hasn't been released in English yet--and I'd really like to see an American company release a game named "Junk". For 2001 I've already played (and loved) Carcassonne (DSP #1) though I still need to buy it for myself while Medina (DSP #2) looked a bit too artsy, with its little city built out of wooden pieces.

Anyway, this set of stuff isn't a bad start. With the rest of my money I plan to buy some Oz (the TV show), some trade paperbacks, and some clothes.

Comments

[dougo.livejournal.com]

Uberplay Games is planning to put out The Palace of Alhambra in early 2004. Besides placing second in the Deutsche Spielepreis competition, it also won the Spiel des Jahres award, although I can see why you might put less stock in that prize given last year's Villa Paletti debacle.

It's not clear from your post whether you've played Transamerica and didn't like it, or dismissed it ahead of time based on its theme. If it's the latter, I think you should reconsider, because its mechanics really have nothing to do with the "train game" genre; it's more like a very simplified version of Wildlife Adventure (also known as Expedition). It's not my favorite game, but it's a good quick filler with slightly more strategic subtlety than at first appears. If you're looking for a real train game to avoid, it's Age of Steam; I don't dislike it, but I think it's overrated, winning the 2003 International Gamers Award over a number of more deserving nominees.

You should also give Medina a try; I'm not sure what you mean by "too artsy", but it's a good solid no-luck game of city building that's all about making the right placements at the right time.

[shannon_a]

All great info; thanks. I do indeed place a lot more stock in DSP than Spiel des Jahres. The former seem to be more gamer's games and the latter more casual, and my interest tends toward the first.

I've been liking Uberplay a lot, and writing reviews up of their games. High Society was a couple of weeks ago, and as I noted I was trying to review New England last night. Great to hear they're going to be doing Alhambra & I'm now glad I didn't buy it.

Thanks for the recommendation on Transamerica. I'd actually not purchased it specifically because I have Age of Steam (and Stephenson's Rocket) on my to-buy list, and there's just so many train games that you can have. (Lunar Rails is also on my to-play list, though I'm already familiar with the system). Sounds like I should be considering TA over AoS.

Medina just turns me off because it looks like Cathedral and Rush Hour and any number of other strategy games that put style over substance. When everyone starts off their reviews talking about how beautiful the pieces are, I worry. But I have heard some good recs on it, yours included.

[dougo.livejournal.com]

In particular, the Spiel des Jahres award is geared towards families, whereas the Deutsche Spielpreis is voted on by gamers. Generally I'm more interested in what appeals to gamers instead of families, but the former does also put more weight in good artistic design, clear rules, nice components, etc, which I have to admit are at least a little bit important to me.

I don't know if I'd say you should consider Transamerica over Age of Steam. I do happen to like Transamerica more than Age of Steam, but my point was they fulfill vastly different niches. They might both be try-before-you-buy.

The thing about Medina is that it says right on the box "beautiful wooden components", which might be why reviewers feel compelled to talk about them. But it's as much an exaggeration as some editions of Bluff saying "absolutely no luck"; I actually find the wooden components to be rather plain, even a bit ugly, not to mention the very drab board. But the game would work just fine with cardboard tiles or the like. (Unlike Cathedral, which is actually quite attractive, if overproduced, but also pretty much a broken game.)

[kimberly-a.livejournal.com]

Kimberly and I have arrived at a compromise on the thermostat where I'm cold all the time and, presumably, she's warm. (Of course she often talks about being hot, then goes and huddles under the blankets, which I don't really understand.)

Blankets make me feel safe. When I sit on the couch, I usually will pull a blanket up to cover my legs even in hot weather. It's a weirdness.

As for the temp in the house right now, I've been pretty comfortable (not hot), actually, so we might want to nudge the thermostat up a little bit, so that you aren't as cold.

[shannon_a]

Temperature moved from 67 to 69! That should keep it comfy in the part of the house that is not my office. (My office is also 5-10 degrees less comfortable than the rest of the house, in whichever direction is less comfortable.)

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

We played "Mystery Rummy Vol. I" for the first time recently. Good game.