Naturelich Games

The distribution of terrains in Taluva can be seen on BoardGameGeek in this article by BGG user runaway.

Posted by Naturelich at 1:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The classic board game Die Macher is being reprinted by Valley Games. Why is Die Macher a classic? Maybe it's because it was the first game to be added to BoardGameGeek and therefore bears the unique BGG identifier with number 1? Perhaps the fame is influenced by Scott Nicholson's epic review of the game? In his video review he takes 56 minutes and 35 seconds to explain the game (where on average his shows last for about 15-20 minutes). Maybe, although I watched and listened carefully I did not quite understand all the rules. So I am not sure whether it is a monster or not. The theme certainly struck me as being interesting (given the current political situation in Germany with the rise of the left wing party) and Mike Doyle's brilliant home-made box design spiked my interest, too. Perhaps it is the aftershock of the FIFA Worldcup? On secod thought, I really believe it is all about the theme. Maybe I am just tired of all the renaissance games or the medieval-based games (Hansa, Thurn und Taxis, ...). Those themes have worked pretty well in Germany as they did not touch anything of recent German history.

What did you just think when I wrote "recent German history"? Probably something that is thematically captured in games like Memoir '44, Europe Engulfed, Ardennes '44, Rommel in the Desert? And those are not that popular around here. Can we somehow please adjust to the idea that there is more to German history than WW I and WW II? What about games dealing with the Cold War (okay, there is Twilight Struggle, but it does not focus on the special German situation)? What about games dealing with other recent events in our history? Can someone please create a game about the Stasi (= Department of Homeland State Security) and their "dealings" in the 60s, 70s and 80s? Maybe those topics do not fit all too well into board games. But I think Die Macher touches something interesting: Probably (and hopefully) Germany is build on a stable political democratic system now. How does this system work? Who are the players? What are the strategies to win this game? Can you play around the democratic rule set (I think in the game you can't)? Hopefully, Germany will learn to cope with the social problems it is currently facing. Is there a mechanism for this in Die Macher.

Those of you who know how to play Die Macher are in a great position. For me, it will be interesting to see how a game about the political system works. Thus, bring on Die Macher and let's see what this game tells us about democracy!? Is it really about media control? Can you manipulate them? How far can one go to win?

Posted by Naturelich at 6:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

In a game of Antike, the endgame is characterized by a massive build-up of armies. Being able to conquer an opponent's temple quickly enough may be an important key to victory. However, this is often easier said than done. Game designer and BoardGameGeek user Mac Gerdts has written an interesting guide that explains how to conquer a temple with a massive attack, step-by-step.

Download the file from BoardGameGeek, here.

Posted by Naturelich at 4:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Die Dolmengötter is a tactical game. It is not about finding an innovative strategy and implementing the associated long-term objectives. The game mechanics don't allow players to try different strategic alternatives or opportunities. A long-term focus is simply wrong in Die Dolmengötter.

The game is truly tactical. It is about gaining a slight short- to mid-term advantage over the other players. So far, I have failed every time I tried to play the game on a strategic level. This approach simply does not work here, as a different player will probably bring the game to an end before the strategic advantages could have generated their positive effects. Dolmengötter is all about the small steps.

Having learned this the hard way, I thought about writing a few articles on the tactical options and game mechanics in Die Dolmengötter. Perhaps this will become a little series of articles that investigates multiple aspects of the tactics. I am not certain if this has been done on any of the other board game blogs but I certainly find it an interesting idea. I'll give it a try and see how people like it (if you have written something similar about a different game please let me know - I'd be anxious to read it!).

The goal of this basic article is to investigate the different opportunities during the first player's first turn in the game. Two more things:

1. You need to be familiar with the game rules (available here in English).

2. You need to be the smallest person at the gaming table. Because this is the only case in which you will ever get the chance to start the game. If you are as tall as me you will probably be interested in an "upcoming" article on possible counter moves or try to talk your game group into rotating start players. Naah, not gonna happen...

Continue reading "Dolmengötter Tactics #1 - The First Turn" »

Posted by Naturelich at 11:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Click the image to enlarge

The Ticket to Ride PC game has recently been published in the United States. While it is on the market in Europe for a while the destination tickets have not yet been published officially. erps has gathered detailed information on the tickets and their distribution. The picture above gives a good impression of the route distribution.

Continue reading "T2R PC: Destination tickets on the Swiss map" »

Posted by Naturelich at 11:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A good strategy article for the basic Carcassonne game has been published on The Game Table: click here to read Carcassonne: The Math.

A similar article is available on BoardGameGeek, here.

(via Musings, Ramblings, and Things Left Unsaid)

Posted by Naturelich at 6:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)