Sunday games at Dos Palmas

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Played some games ay place on Sunday afternoon. I got badly crushed on almost everything. Been a long time since I’ve been hammered this hard.

As usual, the number pair first:last represents the title in a series game. For example, Star Realms in general is comprised of Star Realms proper, Colony Wars, and Star Realms: Frontiers.

Star Realms 23:46 I got absolutely crushed on this game, surprisingly so.

Star Realms 24:47 This game came down to the wire, I would have won on my turn.

Star Realms 25:48 crushed again. Opponent does not even attenpt synergy, just goes for mainly Federation to rebuild Authority, card draw, and scrap more or less in that order. He consistently draws across all factions indiscriminantly.

Jump Drive Teaching game, which I lost, and pretty badly as well. Opponent just goes for the big VP cards, with no regard for synergy or faction. He calls is a “blunt” strategy.

In all these games above, I have been overthinking it, attempting to get synergy in play, when my opponent has played very simple games which drive straight to the win. There is a lesson here, I need to figure out how to learn it.

Absolutely Aces finally, I win one!

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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.