2003 Year In Review

Total Games Played: 466 (365 last year)

Total Different Games Played: 127 (75)

Total Games New To Me Played: 94

My goal for the year - Play more games than last year

- Goal met by 101 more games!

To My Top 10 for 2003 list (with commentary)

10+ Playings (12 total games/224 playings):

NAME - #Played (#played last year)

Coloretto - 43 (new)

flowerpower - 23 (40)

Queen's Necklace - 23 (new)

Odin's Ravens - 21 (new)

Balloon Cup - 16 (new)

Carcassonne - 16 (51)

King's Breakfast - 16 (new)

Clans - 15 (new)

Alhambra - 14 (new)

Korsar - 14 (new)

Loopin' Louie - 12 (new)

Too Many Cooks - 11 (new)

Definitely shorter games here and this list reflects more card games hitting the

table along with the fact that the Game Club I started at the high school where

I teach turns to these games more than any others when they're not playing

Magic.

Also, given the number of new games present here, this list shows that my

collection keeps expanding and the new, shiny and short ones stay around for

awhile. Shelley and I branched out from our Carcassonne 2-player festival of

last year, turning to Balloon Cup and Odin's Ravens just as often. Carcassonne

was down from 51 plays to 16. Finally, for a quick filler that's easy to teach

and universally liked, you can't beat Coloretto.

5-9 Playings (10 total games/67 playings):

Trias - 9 (new)

Die Fugger - 8 (new)

Edel, Stein, and Reich - 7 (new)

Europa Tour - 7 (new)

Keythedral - 7 (2)

Samurai - 7 (12)

Scream Machine - 6 (new)

Sticheln - 6 (new)

Feurio - 5 (new)

Rumis - 5 (new)

Some of these are discussed below, but I can't say enough about three of the

games above - Trias, Keythedral, and Sticheln. All three are very different and

very enjoyable. I'm still amazed that someone hasn't picked up Keythedral for

reprint at a major publisher. When I want a meaty game, this is the one I turn

to more often than others, especially since few have played it and usually wind

up loving the experience. Stichlen was my introduction into trick-taking card

games (what an odd way into the genre, eh?) and with the right group this game

causes many evil peals of laughter to erupt.

And finally, my top 10 games of 2003, with commentary:

1) Coloretto - The new filler of choice with angsty decisions and quick play

mean it will hit the table just as often in 2004.

2) Odin's Ravens - This one became Shelley's 2-player choice for the year and I

couldn't agree more. Though one round can drag on if each person keeps

expanding the path, and can work as a strategy, this doesn't seem to happen

overly much. Less frequently played in 4th quarter of the year, but still makes

it to the table often.

3) Die Fugger - The new game from Carcassonne designer Klaus-Jurgen Wrede, this

one cant' be beat for its price and size. Also, there's a great little game in

the box! Less good with its 2-player variant, the game works great with 3 & 4

and hit the table 8 times since I bought it in November. Before realizing the

variant rules, I played this one with Greg Parker using the 3/4 player rules and

actually liked it better than playing the 'right' way. This one will get

slipped into a pocket and taken out often.

4) Edel, Stein, and Reich - Fun action choices and bidding mechanism make this

a hit whenever it hits the table. We had been playing with the wrong rules (I'd

been taught that contract cards were kept throughout the game) until heading

down to GenCon SoCal and figuring out what we were doing wrong with Lorna. It's

amazing how getting out of your own group often means you learn the RIGHT way to

play something. Lorna had a rule or two wrong also, so we were able to head

home knowing the right way to play!

5) Die Sieben Siegel - Trick-taking card games became a staple of my gaming

time ths year as I used them to bring some students of mine into gaming (or away

from their Magic decks for awhile). This one's a wonderful addition to the

genre, making for tough choices and a nice twist with the Sabateur.

6) Balloon Cup - Stephen Glenn's fun game of ballooning makes the list as

Shelley's second favorite 2-player game of the year. I can also brag that I

brought my copy to a gaming shindig and got Stephen to sign my trophy cards! I

really enjoy the decisions in this game, though the frustration factor - where

are the grey cards and why haven't I drawn one in 20 turns!!!! - gets to me

sometimes. This is the game that first turned a couple of my students on to

gaming, becoming their favorite game to play with their own copy over the

summer.

7) Alhambra - I enjoy the building aspects of this game and the fact that money

is tight, but actually agree with Greg Parker's assessment that it's a much

better game when played with open money. Tactics of what to buy come into play

as one can see what one's neighbor covets. I taught the game to Greg this

'wrong' way and now he won't play it any other way. I need to go back to this

variant as I think it will bring out the game's shine once again.

8) Feurio - A new Essen release that plays quickly, fits its theme nicely, and

adds some interesting tactics once one understands the way the placement of

firefighters works. This one's still growing on me.

9) Scream Machine - Joe Huber's amusement park game is just plain fun to play.

The artwork's great and the choices one has to make given one's options makes

one wish for just one more action point to do what he/she needs to do. Five and

six players takes a bit too long for the most part, but we'll continue to pull

this one off the shelf for its fun theme alone.

10) King's Breakfast - Another filler that works well, but seems to hit the

table less often than Coloretto (not sure why). The math at the end led to my

purchase of another copy for my wife's 3rd grade classroom.

Honorable Mentions:

Clans - Abstract, but interesting and more than once has led the players to say,

"Let's play that one again" which shows that it works well, but that people

often 'get' it about 1/2 way through their first game.

Maya - Just picked up for Christmas, I like the mechanisms here, though think

the 'advanced' rules will be mandatory in order to prevent a runaway leader

problem.

Wildlife - Finally played this one at GenCon SoCal and really liked its

complexity and myriad ways of scoring. A bit long, but may work quite well with

3-4 at most.

Bridges of Shangri-La -Another Colovini game that draws on many of the

mechanisms in Clans, but adds some layers of complexity. Played only once

(again at GenCon SoCal), but found it interesting enough to pick up a copy.