Naturelich Games

After quite a long long busy time, I finally found the leisure time for a weekend of games. In the meantime, the Spiel des Jahres nominees had been published and we wanted to try some of the nominees as well as some older games from Essen 2005. Some of those we had only played a couple of times (or once, actually).

Elasund - The First City of Catan

In the afternoon we started playing Elasund - The First City of Catan. Last time we played Elasund was directly after our visit to Essen 2005. The second game offered another devastating defeat for me. Shelak was on a winning route just from the start, while Raven and I were way behind. I am not sure what I am doing wrong, but I just don't seem to get this game. It is much more confrontational then I regularly like to play. Shelak got some rather spectacular confrontational moves on the board. He also concentrated on getting power cards, while I was more going for the money. I was able to get the lead for a couple of minutes. Now, I am convinced that a three player Elasund has a serious "hit-the-leader"-problem ;)
I'll be giving Elasund another chance but I really have to play more aggressively: rather than building my stuff in free spots, I'll have to steal the good spots from my co-players.

Thurn und Taxis

We moved on to play two three-player Thurn und Taxis sessions. T+T is nominated for Spiel des Jahres 2006 and we had already played the game a few times before. Opposed to Elasund, the two games we played did not seem to click with Shelak that much. Raven is totally into the game. She scored big in the first game, while I was able to get a victory in game number two. These games were pretty quick and a lot of fun...

In the meantime, we ordered some "Rollos" for dinner. It's been my first Rollo ever and I liked it a lot. It's a lot of fun having the food all over your hands and plate. Yes, it's difficult to eat this things. :)

Buccanneer

Die Seeräuber (English title: Buccanneer) is another Spiel des Jahres 2006 nominee. The game is published by Queen Games. It is much much lighter than Thurn und Taxis. I consider this game to be a short, nice filler but it's not something I would like to play more than 3 times in a row. We enjoyed two games and I am beginning a few strategies here and there which seem promising. However, it is not as deep as some of the other nominees. It's a light filler or a fun introductory game for new players. I guess it will also work particularly well with kids.

Torres

I had not played Torres in ages. It has been very popular in my gaming group when it won the SdJ six years ago. Since then I have not really played it a lot. But when looking at Shelak's and Raven's game cabinet we decided to work a little bit on the oldies. As a matter of fact, Raven was pretty sure she had never played it before. But I could still remember a lot of the rules. Torres still is a very good game and it is a lot of fun. It's all about getting these small advantages while trying to keep up in other areas of the board. We really have to get it out a few more times a year...

Altogether it has been a wonderful gaming evening and I am anxious to have another one soon. But with the FIFA Worldcup being just around the corner, I believe the gaming will have to stand back a little bit...