2010 was a Looney Year

I hope to make a full "Year in Review" posting later this weekend, but I wanted to post my 2010 stats for games played. BoardGameGeek makes this pretty easy, since you can log all of your plays and then view a summary. If you're curious, you can see the games I played in 2010 by clicking here.

The two incarnations of Looney Labs' Fluxx that I own -- EcoFluxx and Monty Python Fluxx got the most plays this year (25 and 17 respectively). The World Cup 2010 Card Game was third with 14. Our most popular Friday Night game, Long Shot, was next with 12 plays. Two other Looney Labs games, Chrononauts and Early American Chrononauts finished fifth and seventh.

Granted, the Looney Labs games are short, which meant that the boys and I could play five games of EcoFluxx in the time it would take the gang to play three turns of Here I Stand. But, the games deserve their place at the top -- we really played them a lot (especially in the spring and summer). And, since they all run between $12 and $20, we definitely got my money's worth.

The Week in Review

1. I managed to pull defeat from the jaws of victory in the History of the World game I was winning at GamesByEmail. Steve slipped into first place on the last turn and won with 194 points to my 189. Oh well, second place is better than I've been doing.

2. Patrick and I played the Battle of Akragas scenario in Commands and Colors: Ancients last weekend. This is probably the 12th time we've played this scenario -- Patrick always takes Syracuse, and I always take Carthage. While Carthage won the real battle in 405 BC, I've only seen them win the scenario twice (which explains why Patrick likes to take Syracuse). This time was no exception.

3. Dennis came over for dinner last Friday, and we played a game of Long Shot. Dennis guided Six Gun to a win and collected $290 for the victory. Andrew bought Last Chance, who came in second, giving Andrew $200. My favorite horse Wonder Bred and I both came in third with $190. Patrick finished with $165.

4. I downloaded the iPhone app for GMT's Battleline. I've only had the chance to play it once, but it's a nice implementation. The game is somewhat similar to another Reiner Knizia game, Lost Cities, but (at least at this point) I like Battleline more.

All the news that's fit to "print"

A few odds and ends to report:

1. With the World Cup announcements, Patrick and I were in the mood for some World Cup soccer. So, we pulled out the World Cup Card Game last week. As much as it pained me, I managed to lead France to a victory over Patrick's Brazil in the finals. England topped Italy in the 3rd place game.

2. The night after Thanksgiving, Dennis made it to Mom's house for dinner. And, now that Patrick's golf and soccer seasons are over, we were able to play a game of Long Shot. Dennis bought Slow Jenn, who won the race and gave Dennis the victory with $180. Andrew purchased Six Gun, who came in second -- as did Andrew, with $170. Last Chance finished third, giving Patrick a total of $115, and I came in last with $100.

3. I continue to play a number of games online at GamesByEmail. I'm 0-4 in History of the World games, but I'm winning one of the two that I'm playing now. With Epoch V almost over, I'm 15 points ahead of Tom (who has won more than his fair share of these games). I managed to win the one game of Risk we played -- defeating Al, Jeff and Drew. I (playing the UK)also teamed up with Steve (playing the Soviets) and Tom (playing the US) to win a game of Axis and Allies against Al (playing Japan) and Drew (playing Germany).

4. Labyrinth (which I pre-ordered back in February) arrived last week. GMT had a mixup on my credit card, so I didn't get it when everyone else did in early November. But, as usual, the office folks were apologetic and kind, and got it to me two days later. I've skimmed the rules, and I'm eager to give it a shot.

5. Speaking of which, it took a lot of willpower not to order GMT's new game Commands and Colors: Napoleonics. It's Richard Borg's new game using the Commands and Colors system that started with his game Battlecry in 2000. I have to admit that I hated Battlecry the first time I played it with Al, but I enjoyed subsequent games of Battelcry, as well as Memoir '44 and Commands and Colors: Ancients. What stopped me was thinking about the fact that I haven't played any of these games in over a year. So, I pulled out the Commands and Colors: Ancients rulebook last night; Patrick and I plan to play today.

6. Al (taking England and the Protestants), Andrew (taking the French and the Ottomans) and I (taking the Hapsburgs and the Papacy) played three rounds of Here I Stand using Wargameroom the night before Thanksgiving. It only took about two hours -- including the time we spent working out the computer kinks. Compare that to the six hours it normally takes six of us playing in person. The Ottomans were unstoppable, and Vienna fell in the second turn.

7. Finally, there will be a few games under the tree on Christmas, but I need to keep those a secret.

Mid-Year Report

The year is half over, so I thought I'd look back on my most-played games at this point of 2010.

As I looked at the totals, I couldn't miss an obvious conclusion. The year 2010 is the year that I found Looney Labs games. While the games are not universally loved by gamers (largely because of their chaotic nature), they are fun and quick-playing.

In some ways their quick play makes for an unfair comparison. I'll obviously get more plays out of a Looney Labs game that take 15 minutes to play than a GMT or Fantasy Flight game that takes seven hours. Because of this I have to give a special recognition to GMT's Here I Stand, which I've only played once this year (plus once in December 2009). At this point it would win the 2010 best "new-to-me" game.

With that caveat, here's the list (through June 30th).

1. EcoFluxx (which I've only owned for about a month, but I've played 11 times)
2. Chrononauts (another Looney Labs game, which I've played 9 times)
2. Farkel (a traditional dice game that I've also played 9 times)
4. Early American Chrononauts (Looney Labs' retheming of Chronauts, which I've played 8 times)
4. Hive (which I've also played 8 times, although about half of these were on the iPhone app)
6. Killer Bunnies REMIX (which was the Friday night game of choice for much of the winter and was played 6 times)
6. Long Shot (which is moving up fast, with 6 plays, having been the Friday night choice for the last couple of months)
8. Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age (which I don't even own a physical copy of, but I've played 4 time as an iPhone app)
9. Descent: Journeys in the Dark (a fun dungeon crawl that I've played 3 times, and I think will be played a lot more this year)
9. Scrabble Slam (which I played 3 times with Gillian's family in Jamaica)
9. World Cup Card Game 2010 (which is lots of fun, but probably will be stuck with 3 plays at the end of the year, since the World Cup is almost over)

Long Shot

Long Shot by Z-Man Games has become our regular Friday night game this summer, and tonight was no exception. Andrew is back home from Springfield, but he skipped the game to mow Mom's lawn. Non also sat out the game, since she was feeling a little tired.

One of Mom's two horses, Eight is Enough, finished second. She combined his purse with a pile of cash (and one well-placed bet) to win the game with $230. My horse, Wonder Bred, won the race, but I finished second with $150. Gillian's horse didn't show, but she finished third with $135. One of Patrick's horses, Six Gun, finished third, and Patrick finished with $115. Teresa finished with $110.

Wonder Bred Wins by a Nose

Friday night at Mom's meant another round of Long Shot by Z-Man Games. Andrew is still at the Missouri Innovation Academy in Springfield (Missouri), and Non sat out, but the rest of us had one of the closest races ever.

Patrick continued with his strategy of only placing bets -- without ever buying a horse. It worked this time, as he won the game with $240. Dennis bought the race winner, Wonder Bred, and finished with $215. Gillian and Mom tied for third with $190. Gillian owned the second-place horse, Sure Lee, but Patrick had more money bet on the horse, which is why he was able to win. Mom owned the third-place horse, Rex in Effect. I finished with a mere $70, and Teresa finished with only $50.

In the seven weeks since I bought Long Shot, we've played it five times at Mom's. (We took one week off and played The Adventurers once.) I think it qualifies as a success.

More Long Shot

More of Z-Man Game's Long Shot last night. Andrew is still at the Missouri Innovation Academy in Springfield (Missouri), and Teresa had to leave early, so we were short-handed.

Gillian bought the horse Eight is Enough, and the horse ended up winning by about eight spaces. This, combined with some well-placed bets, gave Gillian the win with $310. Patrick tried out his new strategy of not buying any horses, but using all of his money for bets. He had $25 on Eight is Enough, but that wasn't enough, as he finished second with $265. Mom had the second-place horse, Six Gun, and finished with $205. Non had the third-place horse, Slow Jenn, and finished with $200. I was far behind with $110.

Everyone but me finished with more money than last time, and most folks feel that we're understanding the game better than before. Dennis is supposed to get off of work early next Friday, and he has requested that we play Long Shot.

Friday Night at the Races

Dennis came to Mom's for dinner tonight, and he had requested that we play the horse-racing game Long Shot, by Z-Man Games. Just like last time, Dennis bought horse #4, Slow Jenn, and led her to victory. But he didn't end up having enough money bet on her, so he came in second in the money with $155. Mom owned horse #6, who came in second. In addition to the purse for coming in second, Mom had $20 on the horse, paying 5-1 to place -- she ended up winning the game with $250. Horse #7 finished third, and so did Patrick, with $130. I finished with $65, and Non finished with $40.

The Adventurers!

We celebrated Patrick's birthday tonight. Number one on his wishlist (other than a Thierry Henry jersey) was a 2009 game by Alderic Entertainment Group (AEG) -- The Adventurers. Each player in the game represents an Indiana-Jones-like explorer making his or her way through a Mayan Temple. The adventurer's goal is to gather as much treasure as possible, while avoiding traps such as rolling boulders, lava pits and rickety bridges. The traps are built with 3-D plastic pieces -- similar to the 1963 Ideal game Mouse Trap (although not as elaborate).

The game was nominated for The Dice Tower's awards for Best Family Game, Most Innovative Game and Best Production Values. Tom and Melody Vassel also have a video review at YouTube.

Teresa was able to pick a lock (on her second try) to get a 9-treasure-point card near the exit, and that was the difference, as she ended up winning with 19 points. Gillian came in second with 15 points, I had 10, Patrick had 7. Andrew had 24 points, but was run over by the giant boulder before he could reach the exit. At one point I made the mistake of ending my turn on the rickety bridge. Gillian decided to try to cross the bridge at the same time, and only some lucky rolling prevented our combined weights from causing the bridge to collapse.

Dennis, Non and Mom sat out, but everyone who played it liked it. Dennis requested that we play Longshot next Friday night.

Long(er) Shot

We gave Z-Man Game's Long Shot another try Friday night. In addition to the boys and Teresa, Gillian was back home, and Dennis made a surprise appearance.

Dennis won with $270. He bought the winning horse, bet $20 on it and held onto a pile of cash. Andrew was a close second (with $240), followed by Teresa ($175), Gillian ($160) and Patrick ($130). Mom and Non decided to sit out, and I was the banker.

The boys and Tersa still enjoy it, and Dennis seemed to have a good time too. Gillian said that it was "cute." I haven't actually played it since the first go-around, but I can see why it's popular as a party game. It's easy to learn and fairly quick-moving.

Second Try at Long Shot

Long Shot got its second test tonight -- the first time with the Friday night crowd of Andrew, Patrick, Mom, Non and Teresa. Patrick ended up winning with $280, followed by Mom ($200), Teresa ($185), Non ($165) and Andrew ($75). (I was the banker.)

The reviews were generally positive. Teresa and Mom both said that it took awhile to get used to the idea of playing cards that helped a horse that you've bet on -- even if you don't own the horse. We'll probably give it another try next Friday.

Long Shot

The boys and I had a chance to try out Z-Man Games' Long Shot this afternoon. I ordered it back on May 6th (from Amazon, for $39.95). Long Shot was listed on several folks' top-10 lists for 2009. It's highly rated as a party game.

The game is built around a horserace theme. Players roll dice on their turn to determine which horses move (and how far). Players also draw and play cards that can cause horses to move forward or back on the track. But Long Shot is far more than a roll-and-move game. The object of the game is to have the most money when the race ends. Players start with $25 and can use the money to buy horses or bet on horses (regardless of who owns them). The buying and betting occurs throughout the race, so as a horse's track position changes, it affects the betting and the players' decisions regarding card play. At the end of race, the owners of the top-three horses earn $100, $75 and $50 (respectively) and the horses pay off to the players who placed bets on them.

Andrew won our game with $425. I finished second with $365, and Patrick had $245. All three of us enjoyed the game, and I think it will be even better with more people.

The game represents my latest effort to find a "Friday night" game. The problem is that no one is in the mood for anything complicated on Friday night. Plus, Teresa and Gillian dislike games with even a moderate "take that" element (such as Uno and Killer Bunnies). Farkle was working well, but I was getting a little burned out. While there is a good amount of interaction in Long Shot, there isn't much negative interaction. Also, Teresa likes horse racing, so I'm hoping the theme will appeal to her.