• Fort Worth Gamers: gaming session 11/07/17

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    Subject: Fort Worth Gamers: gaming session 11/07/17
    From: Michael Ward <mward258@gmail.com>
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    Tuesday, 11/07/17 6 to 9 PM at the Hulen Mall food court, at 4800 South
    Hulen Street, in southwest Fort Worth, TX.

    We eventually had six gamers at two tables this cool & breezy evening.

    Table #1 - First, Michael L’s Photosynthesis, which was new to the rest. The theme concerns planting, growing, and harvesting trees. The currency of the game are "light points", which are generated each turn. That is, the amount of sunlight that shines on your trees. This can be severely restricted at times by
    other player's nearby trees "throwin' shade" on your trees, depending where the ever moving sun is. The game is played over three "days" (the sun rotating around the six-sided board three times). So basically the game lasts 18 turns. Here's a photo of the main board during a game https://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/3821680/photosynthesis . The bare board is basically three concentric rings surrounding one "four leaf" space. Each player
    begins with a small tree on the outer (4th) ring. From it the player may propagate their species by placing seeds near their trees.

    I'm afraid everyone but the game owner stumbled around making mostly sub-optimal moves the first half of the game. In brief we were told the rules, but given little or no strategy tips. So Michael L seemed to quickly leap into the lead and stay there for a good while. The rest of us eventually figured things out and mostly caught up by the 2/3 mark.

    My initial strategy was to get to the center spot first, as it was worth the most VPs. I made it. But it was a long while before that small acorn (my trees were oaks) grew into a level 3 (large) tree. When I eventually collected it (the game's euphemism for chopping it down and turning it into lumber) I was given one of the circular face down scoring chits. A player's score is mostly from these.

    I was the first to plant an acorn in the center "four leaf" area. And the first
    to collect a full grown tree (in the central spot). I think that earned me 24 points (the most possible for a single tree). Soon others were collecting level
    three trees, as time was now growing short (the sun was on its third/final path around the board). It was only then I figured out Photosynthesis is one of
    those games where to play it well one has to begin planning for the final turn
    4-5 turns before it occurs. Otherwise a lot of your efforts are for naught, as
    you waste effort that won't have time to come to fruition. Alas I figured this
    out one turn too late for it to help me much. At least I told the others (once
    I got the owner to admit nothing left on the board at game end was worth anything). By game end we'd all gained three scoring chits, of varying values. Plus we all had a few unused light points left. These were converted into VPs at a 3:1 ratio.

    Scores: Michael W 62, Emanuel 57, Michael L 53, Connor 49. Duration: one hour and 24 minutes. I believe everyone enjoyed the game.

    My opinion of Photosynthesis was generally good. (Though it could have been taught better; but that wasn't the game's fault.) Its a very nice looking game.
    I *love* the theme, as its one I hadn't seen before. The rules all seem logical and jibe with the theme. I'm glad I got to play a four-player game. I'd
    think 3P would suffer some, and 2P I assume is rather staid, due to less player interaction. For the most part if you like games that require meticulous
    planning and thinking several turns ahead you'll probably like Photosynthesis.
    If on the other hand you're not into rigid control of your affairs, you may chafe at the game's unforgiving air. I rated it a "7" on BGG. I look forward to
    playing it again, although not all that often, as it was a bit too "rigid" for
    me to take often.



    Next, my Sobek, which was new to Michael L. It had been two years since Emanuel
    played. By the end of Round one Michael L had only one set on the table, but it was a doozy; six ivory! However he also lost about 18 points during scoring as he'd taken the most corruption (by far) to gain all those elephant tusks. Even so, he lead handsomely with 33 points, while the rest of us were in the 13-16 range.

    Round two saw Michael L again snag a lot of ivory. But nowhere near as much as in round one. Everyone had a goodly amount of corruption, but Connor had the most (about 11 cards worth). So he suffered for it with some negative VPs. Alas
    we only had time for 2 of 3 rounds. The scores were close enough together that
    anyone could have won if we'd played the third round.

    Incomplete scores: Michael L 49, Michael W 35, Emanuel 34, Connor 30. Duration:
    41 minutes. Michael L enjoyed the game.



    Table#2 - Report by Duane
    Players: Duane & Trevor T
    Game: Tales of the Arabian Nights

    Trevor came in late and as Duane was watching the game progress on Table I (Photosynthesis) he took up Trevor’s invite to play ‘Tales of the Arabian Nights’. I’ve seen this being played here at Ft. Worth Gamers a few times
    and many times at Y2K so was quite interested and excited to play. The game takes place in the world of Ali Baba and Aladdin and Sinbad. You go on an adventure (quest) which takes you to far corners of ancient middle east. During your adventures you stumble upon various encounters which are described in a story book mode. Much like the choose your adventure stories of elementary school, you can play multiple times and with the same encounter have
    literally ten different outcomes. Duane met two goals whereas Trevor met his at a turn before game end. Duane was new to this game and highly enjoyed it and will be purchasing it for future games.

    Final Score: 1st - Duane (20 Destiny & 14 Story), 2nd - Trevor (5 Destiny & 11 Story) Time: 57 minutes


    See BoardgameGeek http://www.boardgamegeek.com/ for more information on the games mentioned above. And if you're in the area on a Tuesday night feel
    free to join us for a game.

    --
    Michael Ward
    Fort Worth Gamers
    And check out our MeetUp page http://www.meetup.com/FortWorthGamers/ .
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