Skycastle Event Centre Launch – Session Report
|Games. Games everywhere and I want to play all of them.
This mantra repeated in my mind for most of the eleven hours we spent gaming at the Skycastle Event Centre launch this past Saturday. That seems like a decent chunk of time, so you’d suspect that we made a fair dent into everything that was on offer?
Five games. That’s about as effective as carving through a cement prison wall with a spoon – don’t forget that Andy Dufresne had TIME. Still, five games can certainly be considered a rather decent day of gaming, even more so when considering the lengthy period required to choose a title from the impressive selection of demos on offer – I even spotted Starcraft: The Board Game on a shelf up high.
Here’s a quick session report on what we did play:
Mission Red Planet 2nd Edition
Toward the top of the list of titles the CBQ team were keen to play, this reprint of the popular two Bruno’s (Faidutti and Cathala) 2005 release made it to the table first. With updated components, rules tweaks and the inclusion of a sixth player, we had high hopes.
Mission Red Planet has been widely described as a mash up of Citadels and Alien Frontiers – mainly due to the fusion of the role selection mechanic to that of area control. The steam-punk theme is captured wonderfully in the updated artwork and the overall quality of the components is excellent. For those not familiar with the game, players head up a team of planetary mining experts on a mission to Mars to extract valuable mineral resources. Each team employs the same specialists represented by ten Citadel-like role cards, as well as a team of the most adorable plastic astronaut minis ever. On each turn, players will use one of their specialists to give their team of astronauts the advantage as they board rocket ships destined for Mars.
First off, the decision to order roles played each round as if initiating a Houston countdown was genius. Counting down from 9, as each number on the countdown is reached, players who have chosen the corresponding role card reveal their specialist and effect the cards ability. It adds a great deal of theme an enjoyment handling the reveal in this manner – I dare you to play the game without making crackling intercom sound effects. Ships that launch successfully land on one of ten of Mars’ regions, and the player with the most astronauts in a region is considered to control that region.
The area control aspect is solid, with sufficient depth to make decisions taxing but mechanically simple enough as to not detract from what is the game’s highlight – the roles cards. When do you play the Saboteur, who blows up a docked rocket with everyone aboard? Or perhaps you’ll utilise the Pilot to redirect a rocket to a location of your choosing?
Steer clear of this asteroid field if you prefer a prefer long term planning and minimal interference. At CBQ however, we love a healthy dose of the unknown and being forced to think on our feet and change strategy on the fly. All three of us were in agreement that Mission Red Planet was one of the two best games we played at the launch, look out for a full review soon.
Colt Express
This one’s a bit of a surprise selection, Spiel des Jahres 2015 winner and Wild West programming title Colt Express. I do recall a fair bit of hullabaloo at its 2014 launch, mainly around the 3D train which acts as the game board. And to be sure, that train is indeed something to behold. We were lucky enough to play a version which included a promotional playmat – why this mat with its colourful rendition of train tracks and cacti and steer skulls isn’t a base component is beyond me, but at least there’s a free to print version available.
Players choose one of six bandits, including the rather derivatively named Tuco and Django, each with a unique special power and a deck of action cards. Said actions cards are used for moving, shooting, punching or picking up loot, and are played either face up or facedown in turn order and then resolved using meeples that play out the actions on the train in a kind of cardboard theatre.
As with any game built upon the programming mechanic, the joy is to be found in sequences playing out in slow motion. The realisation that an opponent has acted unexpectedly and you’re left shooting at thin air or grabbing a purse of gold coins that used to be there. Colt Express lacks the depth of a Robo Rally or a Lords of Xidit, but its quick playing time, evocative theme and guaranteed belly laughs are not to be overlooked.
Mysterium
I’ve been blowing hot and cold on Mysterium since it’s Gencon launch. To be more accurate, hot when it was announced, and mostly cold since. Exposure to the game at this year’s rAge didn’t do much to change my cooling opinion, but this seemed like the ideal opportunity to play the full game at a more leisurely pace and with a more familiar group.
The game has been characterised by most as a cross between Cluedo and Dixit, and I’ve been guilty of doing the same, but the Cluedo label is actually a completely superficial one. Yes, a murder occurred at an appropriately spooky mansion and the players as psychics have been tasked with figuring out the who, where and with what, but the deductive nature of the game is pure Dixit. As the Ghost, I attempted to communicate clues to the psychics via the dreamlike imagery of cards from the Vision deck – an incredibly difficult task given the open-ended nature of the imagery. As an example, when attempting to indicate the weapon used in the murder to one of the players, I chose a card with a knight on it to indicate an iron as the murder weapon. However, that same card also had a Rapunzel-like tower, and since one of the options for the murder weapon was a rope, you can guess which weapon the psychic indicated.
A post mortem of the experience revealed a criticism I’ve seen reflected in many reviews – that the experience for the Ghost is far more enjoyable than that of the players. Similarly, Mysterium attempts to pack more ‘game’ in with the addition of a clairvoyancy side game and this ends up adding little to the experience other than unneeded bloat. That said, I personally enjoyed the game more than I expected too given that I was aware of the many criticisms going in. And it remains a stunning game to lose oneself in given the right environment and a group who are game for hamming up the experience.
Ca$h ‘n Guns 2nd Edition
The heist went off like clockwork. The haul is bountiful – diamonds, artwork, cash. But with this many egos in the room, things are bound to go south very quickly. Stickyfingers Eddie is the first to whip out a pistol, Safecracker Suzie is seconds behind. A Mexican Standoff. Reservoir Dogs. Someone’s about to get very rich. Someone’s about to get very dead.
Ca$h ‘n Guns is a wonderfully simple party game. Eight items of loot dealt to the table, each player receives five blanks and three live rounds – load a round to the chamber, 3…2…1 and aim your foam pistol at your least favourite accomplice. Too many pistols directed at your head? Throw your arms up and you’re out of the round, but hey you have your health! Reckon the person pointing a gun at you is bluffing? Stay in the round – if you’re right a share of the loot is yours. If you’re wrong, pick up a wound. Three wounds, and you swim with the fish. There’s a Godfather and the game comes with individual player powers if you need to add some spice to the base game, but the bottom line is that Ca$h ‘n Guns is a blast. So much so, that one of the players at the table picked up his own copy.
Abyss
There’s a reason Abyss made it to so many of 2014’s best of lists in the Artwork category – Xavier Collette’s art is superb. No, really, just look at that photo. It’s easy to see why this title was so eagerly anticipated and I’ve always wondered whether the early hype hurt the game in the long run. I can clearly recall the overall tone of disappointment in the initial reviews, and as us gamers are so often wont to do, I let Abyss slip off my radar.
Great games though have a tendency to endure hardship, and those who dived into Abyss after the waters had become more tranquil tended toward a more positive view. Nevertheless, when Stuart began to read through the rulebook, my brain decided to strand itself on the beach. Perhaps it was simply rules fatigue setting in, perhaps the rulebook could have been written clearer – either way as the first round began I felt like I was drowning.
Thankfully, the game is really just set-collection with location tiles that provide bonuses and Lord cards that manipulate the rules. It’s very easy to pick up, turns flow quickly and I can certainly see a four player game ending in less than an hour. Which given the depth of gameplay on offer is a rather attractive quality. The implementation of a press your luck mechanic is also masterfully handled.
As much as I enjoyed Mission Red Planet, I ended the game in 2nd place without actually knowing what my sub-optimal decisions had been. Dissecting the playthrough seemed an exercise in futility – I’d certainly play it again, but I can’t say I’d approach it with a better idea of what strategy to employ. Abyss, on the other hand, was still swimming through my mind on Sunday morning. Ideas for what to try the next time, how to balance the risk/reward aspect – this is why Abyss was my game of the day.
Thanks to Skycastle for organising a tremendously entertaining event. I know that they are planning to organise a regular game weekend in this style going forward, and CBQ will most certainly be there again. Also, shout-outs to John, Marvin, Marc and Deon for joining our table over the course of the day and adding significantly to the day’s enjoyment. Also, thanks to all those who took the time to say hi!
Stay tuned to our Twitter and Facebook feeds for a heads up as we release new content for the rest of the week.
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David
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grim
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Kyle Hagues
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Shereen Govender
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grim
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Eugene Black
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