I got a review copy of Spass – Score Cards with Lots of Cowbell. Despite the odd name, it’s actually a fairly basic tool, a score-keeping app for iOS.

Now that’s an useful app. I’ve been using Basic Score Keeper – Free, which is pretty good, but I have to admit Spass looks better and, well, has more cowbell.

The interface is slick, but a bit shrouded in mystery. Once you figure it out, it’s easy to use. You see a score card and can adjust the score – add, subtract, change – then a swipe of a finger shows you the next player (and you can adjust the order of players). Swiping a finger up on the card flips it over to show the score history, and there’s also a button to mark the player as the winner on the reverse side of the card, finishing the game.

The app also keeps records. You can see history data per player and per game. These are pretty cool features.

So, for now I’m using Spass as my main score keeper. One caveat though – I’ve used the app just couple of times so far, and it has crashed once during a game, losing all scores with it. That’s not cool, and if that happens again, I’m switching back to Basic Score Keeper. There are also some mildly annoying UI issues, particularly the non-capitalization of names, but the developer already promised to address those.

For screen shots and more information, see Spass home page.

Had to miss our board game session this week – it’s a busy week – but at least I did meet Janne at the circus school. We had more time than usual, as our kids were having a dress rehearsal for the upcoming circus show. I was expecting to be able to watch the rehearsal, but that didn’t happen – fortunately I had prepared. In the end, we had time for four complete games of Mystery Rummy: Jack the Ripper.

It’s a good game, and the more you play it, the better it gets. I’ve reached more than ten plays now, which is still fairly rare. I only have 116 games so far that I’ve played at least ten times.

Last week I did get to play. I suggested Eclipse or Brass, and we eventually ended up with Eclipse. We had three players, two experienced and one newbie – who had done a remarkable job of reading and understanding the rules, so we needed very little explanation to get going – and we all played humans. So, first three-player game for me and first play with all humans.

My game went bad pretty early on, as I tried to attack two Ancients with most of my fleet (ie. one dreadnought, one cruiser and one interceptor) and the first time the Ancients shot, they killed the dreadnought (which hadn’t fired a shot). The cruiser went next.

That was a major setback. I did recover, though, and eventually my missile boats harassed Tuomo’s empire. Tuomo, however, had been destroying Ancients and growing his empire, and he had hoovered all the 4-point reputation tiles. That was good enough to win the game. I’m just glad I managed not to lose badly, with final scores of 35-28-28 (and I lost the tiebreaker).

Tuomo had to leave, but I played couple of games of Oregon with the new guy. I had to raise my rating to full ten. It’s just so good. I’ve been playing on Yucata.de, and for a long time, I was stuck on 50% winning percentage: I would win some, then I would lose some to balance it out. Now I’m at 56% and hopefully able to keep it growing. Overall my winning percentage is 66%, which is 17% more than I should have (yeah, I do know my expected win percentage).

Two weeks of board games, again:

• Last Train to Wensleydale. This got played once back in 2009 and has been collecting dust ever since. Part of the reason is the assumed two-hour length. Well, we did play a three player game in less than 90 minutes last week, so I suppose it’s not that bad. I should probably try to get this on the table at least couple of more times. This is a weird game that certainly stands out from the standard train game fare. The way you need to get rid of your outrageously expensive track network is interesting. This game also takes some serious planning so that your last turn works out well. Mine didn’t, and I had to suffer huge loss penalty, despite being profitable most of the game. Interesting. Suggest.
• Innovation. Three three-player games with experienced players. Tasty. Enthusiastic.
• Lords of Waterdeep. This was better than expected! Worker placement from Wizards of the Coast, with a Dungeons & Dragons theme and take that mechanics? Doesn’t sound good. Turned out the game was reasonably short (just 80 minutes with five inexperienced players), the take that element was fairly subtle and the game wasn’t half bad. There’s some nice narrative in the quests – it’s not just collecting cubes, well mostly it is, but I thought there was still some fairly fun theme. It was fun to build the Tower of Luck building and complete the “Protect the Tower of Luck” quest – after all, it is my tower… Still just Indifferent. I’ll play again, but won’t suggest myself.
• Felix: Cat in the Sack. Very much a game of skill, this one. I’ve now played seven games, and won the last five. Ok, yesterday I was helped a bit by an opponent who forgot the rules, but still. Lovely filler. Suggest.
• San Juan. It’s been a year from my previous game of San Juan. Way too long. Two quick two-player games were a good reminder that this is an excellent game. Enthusiastic.

Take a look at Making Profit at IndieGoGo. This is a small economic game from Estonia, designed and published by an 18xx PBEM buddy Aigar Alaveer. He hired me to translate the rules, so I’m a bit partial, but it does sound like an interesting game, based on those rules. Simple game of buying and selling shares, developing and running factories. Ok, I have no idea if the idea works or not, but if it does, this just might be a nice little stock market game. My group likes these kinds of games, so expectations are high.

It’s also pleasantly cheap: just $30 for free delivery in Europe and $40 for free world-wide delivery. US games at Kickstarter tend to have world-wide shipping costs starting from $30…

Last three weeks of board games:

• Kingdom Builder. 14 games, or so. I love this one. Turns out my game group doesn’t, but fortunately this works in other contexts, looks like a staple game for Monday night circus school games and I’m sure this is also welcome at Jyväskylä (five games during one weekend says so). The Nomads expansion looks like a must-buy (especially because of the red pieces, clever move delaying such a crucial player colour to the expansion). Lovely game. Suggest.
• Tobago. Bought for Jyväskylä and we played four games in a row. Not bad, considering the three last games took about 30 minutes each. Very nice middle-weight game, light, fun and clever. I can see why this didn’t win Spiel des Jahres, it’s a bit too fiddly for that, but if you’re clever and already experienced with quality board games, Tobago will probably make a pretty good family game. Suggest.
• Fresko. This time with correct rules. Much better that way, but still not that impressive. I was expecting a bit more, to be honest. Indifferent, definitely not a keeper.
• Mystery Rummy: Jekyll & Hyde. No reason to play this when there’s MR: Jack the Ripper. Indifferent (but not Avoid).
• Set. Might have hooked someone to this addiction. That’s fine; world needs more Set players. This was with the iPad version, which is rather nice. Enthusiastic.
• Oregon. Twelve more recorded games since the last update, and more I haven’t recorded (I record Yucata games played on one sitting, but not those that drag on several days). Still fun, this is a very, very lovely game. Enthusiastic.
• Brass. Quite the attraction. In a very unusual turn of events, we’ve now played Brass twice in two weeks. That’s pretty good for a game that takes two and half hours (about an hour for the canal phase, promising a two-hour game, then an hour and a half for the rail phase). I’ve lost both, for some reason I really, really suck in this game. Then again, both games have been fairly close affairs, except for one run-away leader. Interesting. Suggest, possibly enthusiastic if I figure out how to play this game successfully.

My 1000 rating project has reached the 800 rating milestone. Hooray for me.

Photos:

I missed yesterday’s games, thanks to a 39-degree fever. Nasty.

Last week Petri wasn’t present, so we took the opportunity to play games Petri doesn’t care about that much. Unfortunately that list includes Age of Steam… So, of course, that was the first thing on the list. We played the Poland map from Winsome Games. It was fun, but a bit easy with just three players. The map has some interesting features, nothing particularly earth-shaking.

We also played another game of Fresh Fish. This time we had correct expropriation rules and a right-sized playing area. It was much better than the week before, but still it wasn’t much of a success. Too bad. I like it, but for some reason my fellow gamers don’t.

Mystery Rummy: Jack the Ripper, on the other hand, was more successful. It took a hand for my opponents to figure out the game, then it went down smooth. One of the guys already bought his own copy of the game.

What else… I’ve been playing lots of Oregon at Yucata.de. It’s a lovely game. Luck-heavy, maybe, but particularly the two-player game works well and is an interesting challenge. I like it, it’s a good example of the short and smart genre I like. I’m hoping Kingdom Builder turns out to be another highlight in this genre. I bought my own copy already, but I haven’t been able to play it more than once so far, and that was with my five-year-old son.

Last week we played Container and Fresh Fish. Container is one of those games that divide opinions, but we’ve got some fans of the game. I like it, the free-wheeling process of manufacturing, buying, selling and shipping just works. I like the way the economy depends on the players: if players waste money, the economy will crash and burn, but if the players make sure the money goes around, the money will also come around.

We used the The Second Shipment expansion, which I found interesting enough to buy it for myself as well. I particularly enjoyed the warehouse and factory restrictions that emulate the economies of scale by constricting the pricing options on the cheap end, unless players invest more heavily in the infrastructure. Players who focus on one thing get better in it. That works.

Fresh Fish was a bit of a flop. Petri hated it enough that there’s little chance of it getting on the table anymore. Boring, because I think it’s a pretty groovy little game. Quite unlike anything else, really. I stumbled with the expropriation rules, as usual, since it’s a very long time from my last play (when I last sorted the rules out for myself). I’d like to play again, but looks like I’m going to sell the game, as the opportunities are scarce. Shame.

I also taught Dominion to someone who had never played it before. That was strange, but entertaining.

I decided on the Brass vs Age of Industry case: I bought Brass. I think it’s more interesting and Hannu already has Age of Industry + expansions. I don’t really want to think about whether to buy expansions or not.

Biweekly recap time.

• Acquire. More Acquire. This one turned out to be a big hit. I sure don’t mind. Won’t be surprised if this hits ten plays this year. Suggest.
• Age of Industry. I’ve known that Brass is something I should be interested in. Hannu has had Age of Industry since it was published. How come I’ve never played either? No idea, but that’s now properly fixed. We played Age of Industry last week and I then plunged into online Brass at Order of the Hammer. Both are interesting games, and I’m probably going to get one of them. Age of Industry is a bit cleaner (but still a fiddly mess of rules) and has expansion maps, but Brass has more interesting historical flavour and is perhaps a bit more interesting. Suggest.
• Pantheon. Four games last weekend with my mom and the gang. My play was dismal, which they enjoyed, probably. It’s a clever game and I like it a lot, but perhaps a bit more with three than with four. Anyway, a very solid game. Suggest.
• Felix. This is a rather delightful little auction game. I think I’ve won the last four games I’ve played. Always a sign of a great game. Suggest.
• Oregon. Fantastic with two. Plays fast, two games in about 50 minutes. The cowboy race is rough. Enthusiastic.

Good times, good times. Should get to play something tonight, am thinking of introducing my opponent to Dominion, which he has never played, as far as I can tell. Is it cruel or kind?

On the shopping front, there’s the question of Brass and Age of Industry. There’s also Kingdom Builder, which I very much would like to try. Then there’s the Stone Age expansion, which I’ve been considering, but am not sure about. The Spielbox review was impressive, but I’m not sure if it’s that necessary in the end. Also, it’s a bit hard to get right now.

Two weeks ago we played Greed, incorporated. This is a Splotter game that came out in 2009. I’ve played it once before in 2010, then it languished unplayed for two years… But finally we got to play it again. Again, it was a blast. This is one of the most entertaining games I know, few games are as funny as Greed.

I managed to do some nice corporate shenanigans, as I got to run two companies pretty early on. I dumped my initial company in the first wave, then was the first player to start a new company (the guy who bought points instead won the game, though) and inherited another starting company. Those two companies had nice synergy, building railroads and converting them into loans. Money was involved, a lot.

All in all very entertaining game. Perhaps better with four than the five players we had now, but still – we had three newbies involved and still managed to play the game in three hours. That’s not bad at all.

Last week we played Neue Heimat, this time just a single round. That was a bit too much as well. Didn’t get much love, this one. I like it, though – it’s a nice and nasty auction game. The three-round full game is too long and repetitive for me, but I could see myself enjoying the one-round game. However, that’s unlikely to happen. In retrospect I’d say five players is not a good amount of players for this game, things get too chaotic.

We then followed with Acquire. Nobody else had played it before. It’s one of those must-try games, really, as it’s one of rather few games from 1960s that are still worth playing. We had a rather good time with it, too. Acquire works with five, though it’s probably somewhat better with four players.

I’m quite happy with my 1971 3M edition, even though the plastic tiles are bit on the cheap side. The game’s only missing tile racks, because the tiles are a bit small to stand on their own, but that’s quick to fix – I just ordered two sets of four Scrabble racks from eBay, they’re just about perfect for this.

I’ve been selling games. My collection is now 300 games, including expansions. That makes my personal collection about 250 titles, as we have about 50 kids games. My previously owned count at BGG now says 308. I suppose I can be considered an active game trader.

I’ve recently sold Blue Moon (complete set, except promos), Evolution, Black Friday and Offboard.

Recent plays…

• Mystery Rummy: Jack the Ripper has been on my watchlist for years and years (ever since I read From Hell graphic novels back in 2005 or so). I finally got the game last year and played it for the first time last week. It’s a complicated game, so some mistakes were made, but then it rolled pretty smoothly and I think we got some idea of what’s going on in the game. It is pretty good. I like Rummy, and this is an interesting variant with interesting complications.
• Black Friday got the boot. I played the game last week, and we had a pretty bad game. Thanks to early black briefcases, the economy went bust a bit too soon, leading to a 90-minute game (instead of 50–60 minutes as it should be). Bah. The game has potential, but it’s also more fiddly than I like. I sold it.
• Battle Line is one of true classics. I got to introduce it to someone who hadn’t played it before. He loved it, and we played six rounds.

I took my son to the board game club the last time. He was very thrilled about it, very excited. Too bad nobody wanted to play with us. We got one four-player game of Marrakech (Nooa won!), then we played two-player games. Fun, but we can play two-player games at home. Ok, there weren’t that many players and I understand playing with five-year-olds isn’t very high on most people’s wishlist when they come to the board game club, but it was still a bit of a disappointment. However, Nooa definitely wants to go again.

By the way, if you need a scoring app for iOS, try Basic Score Keeper. It’s free and flexible.

Two weeks of games. Last week I expected two players, but we got third. Good that I hadn’t prepared with strictly two-player affairs.

• Dominion: Hinterlands. I’m a Dominion fan, so I like the new expansion. Simple as that. It sure is no Alchemy. There are several interesting cards. Fool’s Gold (money; first played on turn is worth 1, from second on they’re worth 4; if someone buys a Province, you can trash Fool’s Gold to gain Gold) was very popular and used to good effect. Very nice set. Enthusiastic.
• Puzzle Strike. More Puzzle Strike. In the first game I was eliminated fairly quickly and had to watch the other guys slug it out for fifteen minutes or so. That was painfully boring. Other than that, the games were pretty good. Suggest.
• Kings of Mithril. At the circus school I went back to Kings of Mithril. This time we played a bit faster and were able to play two games during the hour we had, almost three. At that speed, the game has a good level of decision-making and interesting stuff to the playing-time. This game is better than the sum of its parts, really – it should be less fun than it is. Delightful game. Suggest.
• It’s Alive! started the games yesterday. So far the only thing I’ll say is that this worked rather well with just two players, despite the auction element. Not a bad filler. Suggest.
• Elder Sign. Considering this game is quite contrary to my interests in many ways (it’s FFG ameritrash, a dice game and a co-op, all features I’m not thrilled about), this was surprisingly good. However, this is definitely going to be my last game of Elder Sign with six players. I might consider the iPad version, maybe. Anyway, not my cup of tea, with all the messy rules and too-small graphical details and fairly non-inspiring game play, but I can see how someone can love this game and the stories it tells. Indifferent.
• Kansas Pacific. One of the less-loved Winsomes, despite being designed by David V.H. Peters, the author of my favourite game Samarkand and SNCF. It just isn’t very thrilling. This time we did have companies across the Land Grant line, unlike the last time, yet it was too late in the game, so buying the Land Grant and attempting to go west wasn’t an option. That seems like a fairly essential part of the game, yet it just hasn’t happened in the two games so far, which is kind of boring. In the end, I’d much rather play other Winsome games, so I’m getting rid of this one. My copy is available on BGG for $35 including shipping (edit: sold in minutes!), in case you missed the recent reprint and want to try the game. Indifferent.
• String Railway: Transport. This didn’t go down too well. I suppose people love the original String Railway too much, and judge this version based on that very different game. This is not a fun game, this is a serious puzzler of a pick-up-and-deliver game. I love it, just like I love the original game, and I’d like to explore this one more. Enthusiastic.

I’ve been listening to Trevor Menear’s Some Kind of Sunshine last couple of days. Check it out, I think it’s a wicked good album.