Tag Archives: Incan Gold

19th February 2013

Most people had arrived by about 8pm, so we started off with the “Feature Game”, For Sale. This is a quick, fun game consisting of two rounds: in the first players buy properties by auction; in the second they sell them again for the greatest profit possible.  There were the usual mix of bad calls and lucky gambles, but the win was well deserved.

For Sale
– Image by BGG contributor 4100xpb

Since one of the players had to leave early, we decided to have a quick game of Incan Gold before she left. This is one of the first games we played back in October last year and is a light, “push your luck” game.  The idea is that players are exploring a mine collecting treasures as they go, but if the mine collapses before they get out, they loose everything.  Another run-away victory and, since she had won both games, the winner decided it was definitely time to leave and give the rest of us a chance…

Incan Gold
– Image used with permission of BGG contributor mikehulsebus

So we all moved on to another bidding game, called The Speicherstadt.  This is an interesting game set in post-Hanseatic League Hamburg.  At its heart, it has a curious auction mechanic where players take it in turns placing markers to indicate which contract, ship or firefighter cards they would like.  The first person to declare an interest in a card then has first refusal, but the cost is proportional to the total number of people interested in the card.  If the first player decides it is too expensive, then the card offered at a discount to the other players in the order they declare their interest; the later the player, the larger the discount.  Although it wasn’t obvious a the time, this was won by a massive margin based on collecting the Counting Offices, fulfilling a couple of lucrative contracts and an unhealthy interest in fire-fighters…

The Speicherstadt
– Image used with permission of BGG contributor henk.rolleman

The final game of the evening was Fleet.  This is another game that we hadn’t played before and also had financial management at its heart albeit with a fishy flavour.  Each round starts with players bidding for fishing licenses.  As well as allowing players to launch boats corresponding to the license type, they also provide their owners with a handy bonus.  Cards are multipurpose, as they can be played as boats, captains or used as currency. This game was also won by a large margin, appropriately by the fisherman with by far the largest fleet of boats.

Fleet
– Image by BGG contributor mattmill

Learning Outcome:  Sometimes an interest in men in uniforms helps, although girls always love a sailor.

billyGOAT’s Birthday Boardgame Bash

It was billyGOAT’s birthday and he decided that what he really fancied was a day playing games with his mates.  So, on a slightly damp afternoon in December, friends from far & wide converged on Challow Village Hall.

The first game up was a six player game of Pillars of the Earth.  This turned out to be a rather long game and took most of the afternoon.  However, since it was one of billyGOAT’s choice games, it was fitting that he ran out the worthy winner.  Meanwhile, games of Discworld: Ankh-Morpork, Riff Raff, Apples to Apples Kids, Dixit, Hamsterrolle, The Great Balloon Race, Ramses Pyramid, Bohnanza, Incan Gold and Shopping List all went on as the masons slowly built their cathedral and the children played with the Scalextric and decorated biscuits.

Pillars of the Earth

Shortly after 6pm, everyone sat down together for a meal of Chinese takeaway (including dumplings) which was followed by a marvellous Jamaica Cake for those who had any space left.  Then, the games recommenced with parallel games of Lord of the Rings and Formula D while games of Billy Biber (aka Log Jam), Dobble (aka Spot It!) and Loupin’ Louie kept the children occupied until it was time for them to go home to bed.  Unfortunately, Lord of the Rings had to be terminated prematurely and the Fellowship failed to make it to Mordor.

Lord of the Rings

Despite its apparently poor reputation to the contrary, the six player game of Formula D on the other hand finished in timely fashion and players moved on to a quick nine player game of The Resistance: Avalon.  With a lot of new players everyone was a little quiet and Mordred’s Minions won easily.

Avalon

By this time, the numbers were beginning to dwindle a little, but there was still time for a quick six player game of Roman chariot racing with Ave Caesar where everyone competed to show due respect to the Emperor.  billyGOAT’s horse, “Dobbin”, made a very slow start, however, it managed a late charge for the line eventually coming second behind “Glue-pot Boy”, who had led from the off.

Ave Caesar

The last game of the night was another game of Avalon, this time with only seven players and victory went to Merlin and the Loyal Servants of Arthur. Then we had to tidy up the kitchen, sweep the hall and hand the keys back.  A good time was had by all and everyone went home tired, but happy.

Finally, many thanks to everyone who helped out in the kitchen during the event, and kept food and drink flowing, while others played; it would not have been possible without them.

16th October 2012

The first three people to arrive started off with a quick game of Incan Gold. This is a relatively short “push your luck” type game where players have to balance chance against increasingly high stakes and out-manoeuvre the other miners to end with the most gem stones in their tent.

Incan Gold

Just as we finished playing, two more people walked through the door, so as it was 8 o’clock, we started the night’s “Feature Game”. This was Finstere Flure (aka Fearsome Floors), which is a silly, yet clever game that seemed to repeatedly catch us out. Everyone has a number of tokens each of which moves by a different amount with players trying to get from one side of the board to the other and escape from Fürst Fieso (The Monster). The clever part is that the monster is attracted to the nearest player and changes direction whenever his path takes him closer to someone else. This makes predicting his movement very difficult and led to much hilarity as the monster repeatedly caught and ate people (especially when they were very close to winning).

Fearsome Floors

The final game of the night was Niagara and was quite tightly fought.  This is a very unusual game where the central strip of the board is made of perspex disks that move, representing the river Niagara, moving at the end of every round.  Players have two little boats that they use to travel up and down the river to collect gems, but beware – anything too close to the Falls risks a watery end.

Niagara

Learning Outcome: Hard won gems can be just as easily lost when water, landslide, spiders or worst of all, thieving gamers are about!