Triplanetary 1 & 2

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Triplanetary showed up a few months ago from a Kickstarter. I suspected it might be right in my wheelhouse, and it turns out I was correct. It's a pretty cool game.

In any case, this turned out to be a convenient day to haul the game out with my usual opponent for these sorts of games, AS.

Game 1

We played the learning scenario to figure out how move ships around the Solar system.

Game 1 end

I played Red, As played Blue, he won by spending a lot more fuel to get ahead by one turn.

Game 2

Since the first game seemed reasonable, we set up the Escape scenario, which is also very small with 5 counters total. The Fugitives, who are trying to make the escape, have 3 transport ships. The Enforcers have a Corsair and a Corvette. If the Fugitives can exit the top of the map past Jupiter with enough fuel to stop and get into orbit (somewhere, presumably), they win. Let's see how the Fugitives (Blue) did:

Game 2 end

Not so well. One ship got lost in the Asteroids (we botched the rules here in a major way). Another ran out of fuel. And the last was intercepted and disabled, and had all the loot (Fugitives). We called it a draw as we botched the rules so badly in the Asteroid belt.

Fun game! We'll be playing it again for sure.

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What to play next?

Deciding what to play next is always a tough call when faced with a closet full of games, all of which were purchased with intent to play. Here's one I'm dealing with the decision.

  • Something New: this means both something new to me and a game which has been published recently, within the last two or three years.
  • Something Classic: I've acquired a number of games properly considered "classic" which haven't yet been played. The current example would be PanzerGruppe Guderian.
  • Something Again: mastery requires constant practice, which means playing games many, many times to allow nuance to appear.
  • Something Vietnam: as I'm on a Vietnam binge. I don't have all the Vietnam games ever published, but I can say that I have a lot of them, and probably more than most people.
  • Something Obscure: as it's fun to poke around in the dustier corners of game design.
  • Something Different: break away from the same old publishers and try a game from one of the new kids on the block. Or, conversely, dip into legacy with a classic tried and true.
  • Something Light: once in a while it's nice to actually finish a game all the way through in one sitting, in an hour or two.
  • Something Heavy: if possible, it's nice to set up something big and complicated which can be left out for days or weeks or even months, for a leisurely stroll through a very large or long game.

There are surely many more ways to choose, but the above method keeps me busy enough, helps me get both breadth and depth into my play, and provides me with a sense of progress.

The odd man out

When there is an odd man out:

  • Have a solo game ready to play.
  • Keep score or advise on a game in progress.
  • Referee a game in progress.