Prezcon 2020: Close Games

I am sitting poolside again at Prezcon, relaxing before a morning start to History of the World. Yesterday was a great day of boardgaming. It was a story of close game throughout the day. I played Settlers of Catan, 100 Gates of Torii, History of the World, Texas Glory, and Plague & Pestilence.

The biggest part of the day was heat one of History of the World. “History” is a drafting and area control game (Smallworld, published many years later, shares some of its mechanics) where you play a succession of civilizations throughout history. I derive a great deal of pleasure in playing History in spending time with the players at Prezcon. Because of the length of the game, there is time to socialize, kibbitz, and rib people when their dice rolling is exceptionally poor. There was a lot of laughter at our table. My table was a close game competitively – going into the last turn of the game, five of the six players had a chance to win, providing they drafted the right civilizations. I ended up finishing third, and had a great time.

In the evening, I played my second game of Texas Glory of the week. Texas Glory is an asymmetrical game of the Texas Revolution. Santa Anna and the Mexicans are very strong, but have difficult victory conditions. The Texans are weaker and play a delaying defense. Playing the Texans (or Texians, as I read they called themselves at the time), the high point of drama in the game came from a trap I set for Santa Anna. If the Texans can kill Santa Anna, they win immediately. Santa Anna became separated from most of his army. I engaged him, killed his escorting unit and whittled him down to one health. The next turn, I was able to exercise the “Comanche raid”. This gave me three d6 dice to roll against Santa Anna. If I rolled a 1, 2, or 3 on any of the dice, I would win the game....I rolled 4, 5, and 6! Santa Anna lives! Play continues for the last three turns of the game. The Texans are barely holding on. On the last turn, if I lose one town, I lose the entire game. The Mexican army is spent. I get a key reinforcement at Matagorda, defend there successfully, and win the game.

Settlers of Catan and The 100 Torii were also close games. I missed winning Settlers by a card and one point. I lost The 100 Torii on tiebreaker (The 100 Torii is a new tile laying game (think Carcasonne). I don't particularly care for that type of game, because I struggle to orient and lay tiles effetively, but this game plays pretty quickly).

I closed the night playing Plague & Pestilence with my friends Matt and Chandler. P&P is an old game I used to play in college. Despite the name, it is light hearted and doesn't take long to play. It was a good late night game.

Today involves heat two of History of the World, an almost assured spot playing in the Texas Glory semifinals, Puerto Rico, and other possible games in the evening. I should also have time to swim in the pool in the afternoon.

Prezcon 2020, Reflections on What Makes It Fun

It is day three of Prezcon (Wednesday), the middle of the convention where attendance starts to pick up and build into the weekend. I arrived on Monday on the official first day. It turns out that about 50 people or so arrived the day before that to hang out and play games.

I have realized that the joy I get in playing in the Prezcon game tournaments is the opportunity to have scheduled playing time for games, as opposed to any delight in possibly winning a tournament. Today, for example, I know I get to play Texas Glory at 12:00 noon. I never do better in that tournament than winning one game (and often win none), but it is a game I enjoy and Prezcon is the only place I play it. Another game I get to play exclusively at Prezcon are History of the World. These are fun games, but are outside the interest of the people I usually game with. Being a week long convention where I have few responsibilities, it is a great opportunity to play these games.

Prezcon is also largely about hanging out with friends for a week and playing boardgames, not just playing boardgames. Part of that feeling probably comes from my general performance in tournaments – I am not winning tournaments (except for one in 2016). I win enough individual games for some competitive pleasure, but I am losing more games than I win. It has taken me several years to realize the pleasure of boardgaming with people and with friends over the competitive nature of the games.

So far at this year's Prezcon, I have played one new game: Terraforming Mars. It was a lot of fun (and I understand why so many people enjoy playing it). There are a lot of symbols and a lot of mechanics going on, so the initial game is a little intimidating.

I have also played Azul, Wingspan, Texas Glory, Conquest of Paradise, 7 Wonders, and Castles of Burgundy. Burgundy is funny. I enjoy immensely, but I feel like I am out of my league in playing it competitively. Yesterday, I scored what I consider a respectable score (213) and finished last on my board. My friend Matt and I made the joke that we need a “minor league” tournament for players like ourselves.

Prezcon 2019 Day 5

It is a little strange to think that I have been playing boardgames everyday for for nearly a week.  I am fortunate to have the opportunity to do that.

While playing a game of Puerto Rico yesterday, I was lamenting the fact that I have been learning so many new boardgames over the last couple of years, that I haven't gotten good at the games.  I haven't explored the depths of the games I have learned, because I have only played them a handful of times.  When I attend my company's monthly boardgame days (we actually have them) or gather at friends' houses to game, it is usually introducing new games.  This involves explaining the rules and trying to quickly grasp some of the mechanics in order to play a decent game.  The games also take longer to play because most of the players will have never played.  I would like, instead, to play a fewer number of games and learn more of the intricacies and strategies of play.

Here is a quick list of the games I played yesterday.  I have an early morning History of the World final to run to.

History of the World
Conquest of Paradise
Puerto Rico
Liar's Dice
7 Wonders 
Epic Wizard Duels

Prezcon 2019 Day 4

I know some wonderful and thoughtful people at Prezcon.  Yesterday was my birthday and friends bought me cake.  They presented it during one of the games we were playing, sang, and did everything else associated with an impromptu birthday celebration.  Most of the last several years, my birthday has occurred on Prezcon.  Being able to game has been reward enough as a birthday celebration, but this year's heartfelt birthday wishes warmed my heart.  I am truly blessed.

Day 4 of Prezcon involved more games.  As the week has progressed, the crowds in the tournament area and the open gaming room has increased.  The weekend will hold the biggest crowds.  If you have never been to Prezcon, or haven't been in recent years, and are looking to test it out, I recommend attending Thursday night, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  I did that in 2011, arriving late Thursday when I actually managed to learn and play a game (Columbia Games' War of 1812), and then playing games all day Friday and Saturday.  Attending for the long weekend will give you a good feel for what happens at the convention.

Here are the games I played yesterday.

History of the World:  My second game didn't go as well as my first.  I made some decisions that placed my pieces in the way of other advancing armies and that cost me as the game progressed.

After History of the World, I had some time to swim in the hotel pool and take a dip in the hot tub. That is yet another great thing about Prezcon.

San Juan

Wingspan

Puerto Rico:    I really need to play this game more often.  I hadn't played since last Prezcon and it showed.  I wasn't following a good rhythm in the game, and it helped my opponents.  I get another opportunity to play today.

Conquest of Paradise:  This is a well designed, fun 4x game in Polynesia.  I played a close game where all four players scored enough for a possible victory.  I finished third where the points spread was 24, 23.5, 23, and 22.  I played a little bit too conservatively and that kept me from winning.

Prezcon 2019 Day 3

Good games create an environment where the players make interesting decisions.  Interest is driven by the mechanics and can be supported by the theme and the look of the game.  Outside of the game, one's enjoyment of the game is expanded by friendly company.

 I only played four games yesterday, but one of them was a very long game.  I had a great time.  Today, I have a full slate of tournament games scheduled.  I still might find time in the afternoon to swim in the pool.

Settlers of Catan:    I did better in my second play of this game.  I managed to win, so that I have a game to play (Catan quarterfinals) at the end of the week.

History of the World:  HotW takes about five hours to play.  Prezcon, being a weeklong convention is the ideal time to play it.  I enjoy the company of the people, and I love the theme of the game (and thinking about the ancient civilizations in the game).  Its mechanics are straightforward, but I still find the decisions interesting.  There is a lot of downtime between a player's turns.  That can promote social conversations, so the players make a big difference in the enjoyment of the game.  Yesterday, I tied for first place and lost on the tiebreaker.

18Lilliput:  This is a lightweight version of an 18XX game.  In the game, you run a Lilliputian railroad company where you are managing the price of your railroad stock, investing in trains of your rail company, and investing in other companies.  There are a lot of interesting decisions to make.  The game, however, felt like real life work to me.  I can tell it is a good game, but there is more math calculations than I prefer.  I joked with my friends that I wanted to get a spreadsheet and macros to work through the game.

Azul:  I wrapped up the night playing in the Azul semifinals.  For being a short game with light mechanics, Azul has a lot to think about.  I was out of my depth in the semifinals playing against two particularly good players with lots of experience in the game.  I finished last, but I would like to play more games of Azul.  I will probably buy a copy for myself.

Prezcon 2019 Day 2

I had another boardgame packed day yesterday.  I played six games, with one of them being new.  My play level in the different games ranged from good to poor. 

In one of the games where I played poorly, one of my opponents seemed to be suspicious of my intentions.  He made a comment at the end that implied I might have been colluding with the person who won the game.  This player was the type of person who kibbitzes and expresses a bit of frustration when opponents play differently from how he thinks they should play.  Kibbitzing is pretty common in games, but the frustration aspect is unusual at Prezcon where I have found people to be cool and laid back.  The game in which this occurred is one that I am not an expert, but I do occasionally win.  I also don't play the game outside Prezcon so my level of play varies greatly.  It is interesting that this player appears to project his own expertise (real or otherwise) on all of his opponents and appears to become suspicious if people play differently from what he perceives is the best way.  A lot of this is speculation on my part because I don't know what is going on in another person's mind.

Weird things can happen in games.  A friend of mine told me a story of another opponent who refuses to play with my friend this opponent perceived an unusual play by my friend as something against the rules (the play was legal, and my friend is very good at this game).  This opponent has actually gone so far as to withdraw from a tournament rather than play against my friend.  People can take some of these games too seriously. 

Here are the games I played yesterday.

San Juan:  a quick, card driven version of Puerto Rico.  Puerto Rico is one of my favorites (it is like consulting), so this game was fun.

Texas Glory:  I lost this game as the Texians (Texans).  This is an asymmetrical game about the Texas Revolution.  I think I played pretty well, and I was playing against one of the top players in the tournament.

Settlers of Catan:  I didn't do great in this game, but I have another chance to play today.

Castles of Burgundy:  I didn't do great in this game either.  I made a very poor decision at the beginning and I started losing concentration later in the game.  I have another chance to play today.

 Azul:  I won my first game of Azul.  It was quite the turnaround from my previous Azul game on Monday.  I get to play in the semifinals tonight.  We will see how it goes.

Mysterium:  I finally got a chance to play this cooperative, "Clue by pictures" game.  I am not a fan co-op games, but the company of friends made it fun.  This was a great way to close the night.  We "won" the game, despite many jokes about us new players on how individuals can win (the answer is, "we all win together, or we all lose together.  There are no individual winners!").  The premise of the game is that a ghost of a murder victim is trying to communicate with psychics (the players) about the identity, location, and weapon of the murderer.  The catch is that the ghost can only communicate in pictures.  The play involves trying to link pictures provided by the "ghost" with pictures representing the murder suspects, possible locations, and possible murder weapons.  Oftentimes, the pictures the ghost is choosing from are difficult to link to what is on the board.  It makes the process to identify the murderer difficult (being a psychic is hard!).  Mysterium is good game where people can play, and not take it too seriously.

Lots more games today, including History of the World!

Prezcon 2019 Day 1

As in years past, I find myself sitting by the pool this morning at Prezcon thinking about my experience so far.  Yesterday, my first day at Prezcon 2019, was a lot of fun.  I have seen several of my friends already and played boardgames with many of them. The drive to Prezcon was uneventful, even with strong winds that pushed my little FIAT around a bit.  I played a surprising number of games for a Prezcon Monday:  six, with two of them being new to me.

Driving down to Prezcon yesterday, I reflected upong what drives my enjoyment of the convention.  It has taken me years to realize this, but a large part of the enjoyment is spending time with like minded people.  This is also true for rowing.  In both boardgaming and rowing, the activity brings me in contact with who enjoy breaking down an activity into its components and figuring them out.  It also brings me into contact with people who, to varying degrees are competitive.  For boardgaming specifically, this involves learning how a game works or learning deeper depths of the mechanics of a more familiar game.  While I enjoy trying to win, the games I play, I also enjoy the interactions with players and the conversations after and between games.  Prezcon provides the opportunity to have dinner with fellow gamers, chat with them, and share experiences about new games and new experiences with familiar games.

I played six games yesterdays:  Scythe, Sagrada, two games of 7 Wonders, Azul, and Wingspan.  There is also a tongue and cheek tournament for Rock, Paper, Scissors, but I don't really include that in the count.

Scythe:   I played this for the first time, and attended most of the demo.  I did exceptionally poorly in the game, but found it interesting and learned how many of the mechanics worked.  My difficulty with the game is that I missed a key part of the demo where specifics for end game scoring was discussed.  During my game, I tried to fake it by observing what others were doing.  That didn't work, but I had fund and want to try the game again.

Sagrada:  This is another game I played for the first time.  It is a light and fairly quick game.  It is a dice drafting game where one lays down colored dice on a board in a required pattern (to make a stained glass window pattern).  There are rules concerning the numbers and colors of the dice in each placed tile.  I enjoyed playing it, but I experienced little bits of frustration when I would forget about a specific rule on dice placement.  I did respectably, only losing by about 10% (the scores were 49, 49, and 45).  I think this is a game with wide appeal to both people who play a lot of boardgames and those are more casual in the hobby.

7 Wonders:  I played two pick up games of this, and it is one of my favorite games.  My copy of the game is well used -- the box is falling apart and needs, as my friend Matt said, "some tape love".

Azul:  I recently learned this game and, playing for the third time ever, had my worst score (I made a serious misplay that resulted in getting stuck with the maximum penalty in a game round).  This is another game that is relatively short and has wide appeal to include casual boardgamers.

Wingspan:  I brought my recently purchased copy to play at Prezcon.  I absolutely love this game.  It has engine building mechanics which I enjoy, has a limited number of decisions to make during one's turn that speeds up play, and has well made game components.  The game designers also put a lot of research and effort to fully develop the birdwatcher theme.  Cards are beautifully illustrated, the flavor text provides short facts about the birds, and the mechanics feel right to what the birds actually do in real life.  Playing the game with Prezcon gamers put the game through a kind of playtesting wringer.  Small corners of the rulebook needed to be investigated for clarity (example:  the use of a "wildcard" feature and its interactions with other parts of the gamee), and we identified one typo in one of the goal cards (the Photographer goal, for anyone familiar with Wingspan, appears to be missing information).  The scores were also very different from the previous games I had played.  In my previous games, winning scores ranged from 77 to 81.  In this game, 74 was the lowest score, second was 95, and 108 was the winner.  Players pretty much play in parallel (there are no "screw with your opponent" mechanisms), and everyone at the table did a good job in building the bird collecting engines.  I expect to be able to get at least one more game of this in, this week.