www.theblisspages.com - pasteboard and plastic 3
www.theblisspages.com - pasteboard and plastic 3Links on this page: Tavula : Guatemala Café : Space Dealer : Munchkin : Werewolf : Die Mauer : Zooloretto
The first Pasteboard and Plastic event in Saltdean was in November 2005. This is the third event, in July 2007, and a worthy successor.
I'd like to thank Dick, a regular at our gaming group, for organising it so well. We had an attendance of around twenty this time.
I wanted to play some of my favourite games and took ten with me, as well as five to sell. In the event, I only played one of the games I took, and sold two. However I bought four, Battlelore, Oceania , Zooloretto and Light Speed. You might like to look at my board games pages.
Thanks to Helen for the pictures.
If you have any comments, or have found any errors or omissions, please drop me an email.
We started with two games of Tavula, a game I've played before and plan to buy.
Deceptively simple, you lay out a volcanic island and settle it.
However, you might find your settlements plagued by volcanoes, and opponents towers and temples appearing instead.
players: Jim, Richard, Dick, Mike
playing time: about 1 hour for both games
We then played Guatemala Café. I haven't seen, or even heard of this one before. It incorporates elements of several other games, but they fit together harmoniously. There are two boards, one containing resources: workers, factories, ships and coffee bags (which trigger scorings), and the other is the playing area, where you place your resources. As in any good game, there are difficult choices to make, and the end result was close.
players: Jim, Richard, Dick, Mike
playing time: 1.75 hours
We had two games of Space Dealer, a game I've played once before. This lasts a maximum of thirty minutes, with a CD giving the countdown. We had no player handy, but both games were won in twenty minutes anyway. All players have egg-timers, and you play in your own time whenever a timer is free. Do you upgrade your technology level, make that generator or produce resources? I always seemed to have had a great strategy that would pay off in five minutes, and then found another player had won...
I enjoyed this and look forward to giving it another go – with the CD. Don't forget to calibrate the timers as they vary considerably.
players: Martin, Glynn, Peter, Mike
playing time: about 0.6 hour for both games
We started with two games of Munchkin, a game I brought. This is a very silly and enjoyable game with the right crowd. I found I'd been playing with a few rules wrong, and it was even more fun than I remembered.
players: Martin, Glynn, Peter, Mike
playing time: 1.25 hours
Werewolf is a great party game, and can take many players. Rules and player aids are available from werewolf and BoardgameGeek.
In the village are two werewolves - the only protection a village seer. During the night the werewolves strike. In the morning, the surviving villagers cast around for someone to blame - and lynch them. Usually the hapless victim is just another villager, or worse, the seer, but sometimes they get lucky, and a werewolf howls no more. Will evil triumph?
players: ten including Martin, Helen, Jim, Glynn, Richard, Dick, and Mike
playing time: 10 minutes per round
We then played three rounds of Die Mauer, a game I own, but didn't take. It's a very simple game, but if you don't out-think and out-bluff your opponents, you can be left with a large negative score – as Dick found to his cost!
Rules in English are available from BoardgameGeek.
players: Helen, Pete, Dick, Mike, and Glynn
playing time: 10 minutes per round
We finished with a game of Zooloretto.
I thought this was a bit too easy, with all of us reaching nearly maximum scores, but we missed the point. It's not about buying the right animals for your zoo, but sending the wrong animals to other players' zoos.
In a three-player game, two species are removed, but I would like to try without this, which should make for a lower-scoring, but much nastier game.
Free expansions and player aids are available from BoardgameGeek.
players: Jim, Helen, Dick, Mike
playing time: about 1 hour for both games
After 12 hours, I packed up and wended my way home, weary but satisfied. I plan to attend Pastboard and Plastic 4.
updated Mon 09 Jul '07 give feedback...
:
: © Mike Bliss 2009