Old MB treasures, Spiel des Jahres, and Hanging Gardens

by Susan Rozmiarek

I was mindlessly surfing Craigslist and noticed someone with a bunch of old games from the 1970s and early 80s for sale at almost thrift store prices. Most of them were old kiddie roll-and-move games, but we managed to score some MB classics - King Oil (a childhood favorite of Ed's), Domination, Conspiracy, and Pathfinder. Domination (Focus) fills one of two holes in our Spiel des Jahres collection so that was a nice find. Despite the huge collection of glitzy German games, I still get a thrill from finding treasures in old battered boxes. Now to find people willing to look beyond the flimsy bits and cheesy covers and play them with me....

Speaking of the Spiel des Jahres, the nomination list is newly out and confirms how I'm not keeping up with the gaming world these days. I have played none on the nominees and I haven't even heard of one of them - Blox. Of the others, I only have a real interest in playing Stone Age and maybe Keltis. So, no prediction from me as to who will win. I do only slightly better with the recommended list, having played 3/12 with plans to play several of the others. It was nice to see Agricola given a special award. Yes, I've actually played it and it's even preordered.

One of those recommended games is Hanging Gardens, a recent impulse purchase from our FLGS. Ed and I gave it a whirl last night and quite liked it. It's a spatial, puzzle-type game of the sort we both enjoy. There's not much player interaction though, other than grabbing a card or scoring tile before the other player gets it. I have a hunch that this is going to be much more strategic with two. I can't see that there is going to be much looking ahead with more players.

Tomorrow is our big Memorial Day cookout and game day so I should have pictures and something to talk about here next week. I'm hoping to try out Brass and the new expansion to Pillars of the Earth.

Oh, one more thing - Monastery by the Ragnar Brothers is now up for preorder at Boulder Games. w00t! You can bet I was one of the first in line. I hope it arrives ashore soon.

Posted by Susan Rozmiarek at May 25, 2008 9:51 PM