New Theme
Ξ August 22nd, 2007 | → 2 Comments | ∇ Uncategorized |
Gotta love wordpress for the flexibility. Comments?
Klang Gaming Session Sat 14 Jul 07 Part II
Ξ August 20th, 2007 | → 2 Comments | ∇ Boardgames |
… continued from Part I…
For the next game, we have the incredibly light and fun Drakon.
In this game, the players play as one of 6 different adventurers. In the basic game, they are the same but in the advance version, all of them have different heroic powers which is usable once per game.
The story is that you’re trapped in the dragon Drakon’s dungeon. And you seek to escape… while taking some of Drakon’s gold along the way!
To do this, players have to explore the dungeon filled with traps, much nastiness while being pursued by Drakon herself! (i assume all wraths are female originated…)
The main mechanic of the game is in the dungeon tiles that the players are dealt and being laid out Betrayal-style. Each player have 4 tiles and they are replenished as they played out. There are about 20 types of tiles with various effects like teleporting, summoning Drakon, losing gold, gaining gold, etc.
In our game, the players are too nice, resulting in a fairly fast cooperative game where the winner quickly gets his required amount of gold and escaped from the dungeon pretty easily. Sigh, must be too much influence from cooperative games. Despite that, Ivan promises that a vicious game can be really nasty with players wondering lost in the dungeon and players tormenting each other with tile effects.
Game plays about 30 mins even with 6 players, so expect a light game of randomness and fun.
After that we did the old standby - Citadels. A close game, it can be said that Vincent and June finally enjoyed the finer nuances of this game and immediately asked to get a copy.
Finally, as we bid adieu to Alvin and Jun Hao, myself and Ivan proceed to teach Vincent and June Carcassonne. Amazingly, the guy - Vincent - did not caught on to the game as well as the girl - June - did. And so, June did well and gave a thumbs up while Vincent didn’t know what hit him and gave a thumbs down. What an odd outcome.
Here’s hoping that the next game session Vincent can finally appreciate Carcassonne, hahaha.
Age of Empires III
Ξ August 20th, 2007 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Boardgames |
Alright, got to do this game last saturday at Mage Cafe. Thanks to Paul and Henry, we got a 3 player game going and it was a blast!
Gameplay utilizes a worker/colonist placement mechanic a-la Caylus/Pillars of the Earth. The various actions available are evocative of the discovery theme, where you can go and discover the new world, colonise them, trade with them, build your buildings, etc.
Scoring is done via a majority type a-la El Grande. The difference is that there is a warfare action that allows players to take other people’s pieces off the board! Again, evocative of the competition theme in the new world.
After the game was over, Paul and I wanted to immediately do it again but Henry declined, citing the need to keep his 100% victory record intact. So I guess it’s 2 thumbs up and a so-so from Henry. (well, 2 and a half thumbs from 3 isn’t so bad…)
Anyway, from the opinion that REALLY matters, you gotta try this game!!! Love it!
Friendly Plug:-
For a report of the game, check out Henry’s blog on it: http://rhyen.blogspot.com/2007/08/saturdays-boardgaming-session.html
Updated Games Collection Page
Ξ August 20th, 2007 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Boardgames |
Just added Age of Empires III, Formula De expansion track: Shanghai/Bahrain and Incan Gold to my Games Collection page. Check it out!
Singapore Makan-makan Trip Report
Ξ August 14th, 2007 | → 4 Comments | ∇ Holiday |
Last weekend’s trip down south to visit me darling working there yielded some yummy results:
1. Breakfast @ Somerset Orchard (The Ascott Group) http://www.somersetorchard.com/home.htm
Breakfast at the 5-star service apartment that li li’s company put her. Some delifrance-class pastries, cornflakes that are actually crunchy, fruits that are actually fresh, salad… You can’t say no to a free breakfast that’s good. Bad news is, heard the rent there’s SGD5k a month and, its location at Orchard Road is the actual attraction rather than the breakfast.
2. Lunch @ The Soup Spoon http://www.thesoupspoon.com/
Now we’re talking, located at Paragon Shopping Centre as well as Raffles City Shopping Centre, this shop serves exactly what it says: High Quality Soup. Difficult to find a seat during meal times, Soup Spoon serves soup that you can really taste the spices. For my meal, I took a special number called ‘Simon and Garfunkel’, the attraction being the soup containing ‘Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme‘. Hehe, now who can resist a soup of THAT description!
Delicious and some soups contain potatoes and chicken slices for that fulfilling feeling. Price about SGD6, add SGD4 for half-sandwich and drink.
3. Dinner @ The Shimbashi Soba http://www.res.com.sg/sobaworld.htm
For something really healthy and light, try Shimbashi Soba at Paragon Shopping Centre. Handmade by a soba master where purportedly only 8 bowls can be made every half an hour, this place is also packed full during meal times. You can get your healthy buckwheat-made soba here together with your sushi/tempura/teriyaki entirely guilt-free! (what cholesterol? it’s got buckwheat, man!) The soba does indeed taste different, the same way that a good wan tan noodle will taste different.
The set soba I had comes with teriyaki chicken and salmon sushi. Wallet damage about SGD25. Quality indeed comes at a price.
4. Lunch no#2 @ The Coffee Connoisseur (tcc) http://www.thecoffeeconnoisseur.com/
I’m going to skip breakfast#2 and Dinner#2 as it’s a repeat, so for Lunch #2 we have tcc at Orchard Road. A boutique/designer food cafe, the meals served here are a work of art, sorta like the meals served in One Bangsar. Admire the food while you eat! Of course, the food is delicious, only the portion is ‘designer’ sized (small).
For this meal I had an eye-catching number called Kahlua Salmon. Comes with designer salmon served well done or med well in delicious sauce, designer mash potatoes finely mashed and designer asparagus arranged artistically. This meal’s set back was SGD25… What to do, designer price.
Now, before I end this piece, let’s have a game where we find out who’s the most observant: who can tell me the similarities/connection between the shops no.2, 3 and 4?
edit: fixed some typos