Friday Night Gaming: Moai, Ruse & Bruise, Cosmic Encounter
February 20, 2009
Merwin was sick this night, but managed very well even if he was slower than usual. He definitely wasn't into the last game, but he co-won anyway.
Moai
Named after the famous statues on Easter Island, Moai does a very good job of recreating the desperation and cutthroat nature of its setting, even if the actual mechanics are abstract. For example, in the final turn, Ian made the choice to build moai rather than feed his people because that would give him more victory points. In this respect Moai is like Mall of Horror and I give the game kudos because of it. As the game progresses, fields become barren, trees diminish, and players turn on each other in a desperate bid for survival and building the most and biggest moai.
Players begin with five people cards and nine workers with values 1, 2, and 3 (evenly distributed) with an equal number of workers in reserve. Players bid their people cards for turn order and then N+1 epoch cards are revealed (N = number of players). In turn order, players pick an epoch card. Some epoch cards allow the player to build a boat. Others have effects such as destroying a moai, killing another worker, causing a field to become barren, or burn a unit of wood (on the board or in someone's reserve) or someone's boa ; the players who chooses the card chooses who is affected. The epoch card also indicates how many new people cards the player draws and how many workers must return to the player's hand at the end of the turn. Lastly, for each epoch card showing a palm (which becomes less and less frequent), one unit of wood becomes available.
In turn order, players allocate one worker to get wood, work in the fields, or build moai. These workers supplement any that might have been left on the board from the previous. Workers are placed with their values hidden, except in the fields. A player with a boat can also place a worker there, which is like having a worker in the field. Players assign workers to one of the units of wood available (typically 3 to 6 units per round, I think). The player who has the highest total value of workers allocated to a particular unit get it. The first player decides who wins ties (except in a tie for first player position). In our game, Robert was shut out of wood for several rounds, even when there 6 units of wood for 5 players. As I said, this game is nasty.
Workers building moai may build a moai equal to (or less than) the total value of the workers assigned to the task. There are three moai available for 4-10 victory points each. Thus, you want to get the higher-valued ones before the other players, but this means allocating more and higher-value workers, which may limit your ability to either get wood or feed your workers. If you have the wood and multiple groups of workers, you can even create multiple moai per turn. Ian did this and damn nearly won because of it, even if all his people starved.
Workers in fields (or boats) feed other workers, one per value of the field worker (a value-1 worker in a field only feeds himself, for example). Workers who are not fed starve at the end of the round (but not before they've gotten their wood or built their moai). To stave off starvation you can use acannibalism raid card (from the people deck) and a people card; this kills an opponent's worker (whose value equals the people card you played) but saves one of yours. In our game, I made a point of getting boats, which was wise because it helped prevent my people from starving, but it was also stupid because it marked me as a target and my field workers were targeted. Robert had a lot of raid cards, but not the other people cards to use them.
After logging, building, and feeding (or not), you get to draw new people cards, which you can save for next round or use them now to get more workers from your reserve by playing a pair of cards. People cards are either raid cards or have a value from 1 to 3. Playing a pair of 2s, for example, gives you a new value-2 worker. You can play an unmatched pair, but you get the worker of the lower value. You also have to return workers from the board to your hand. This is good because it allows you to reassign workers more freely, but it is bad because you may be forced to remove workers from a value field or wood-gathering spot.
Eventually, the epoch deck marks the arrival of Europeans and the last round is played. After all is said and done, each surviving worker is worth 1 vp, each spare wood is with 2, but the bulk of the points come from moai. In our game the spread of points was 27 to 30 among 5 players, making for a very close game, but it was Brian who came out on top.
At any point, any one of us could have won had specific actions not been taken against him. Merwin and I ganged up on Ian in the final turn. Both Brian and Merwin had moai destroyed. They hit my fields and even burned one of my boats. The ability to attack leaders is both good and bad and I suspect, based on the comments on BGG, that most gamers find it bad. The winner may be the one who convinces the others to pick on someone else. But it certainly makes for a tense game throughout and gives enough room for a surprise come-from-behind victory.
We might have played it again if Zach hadn't showed up; the poor guy actually sat through most of the game in front of television or watching us pay. The tough decisions does slow the game down and some may find it too long for a game that is mostly a "take that" tactical game.
Ruse & Bruise
I enjoyed this game much more than my first. I essentially stopped worrying and just played cards. I was pretty successful getting the middling cards that others weren't fighting over, but it cost me any shot of getting a complete set and maximizing my score. Ian was taking the "get one of each" approach, but ended up being screwed when Robert had to leave at his pre-stated pumpkin time of 10:30 and we had to end the game early. Brian was the official winner due to a very good last round during which he picked up two 5-vp cards, but if Ian had been allowed to double his score of his incomplete "rainbow" hand, it might have been different.
Cosmic Encounter
Zach and Ian hadn't played before, but I gave a very quick rules overview, dealt out powers, and we were off. I was Hacker, Merwin Kamikaze, Zach Warpish, Ian Dictator, and Brian was Trader. The warp was very crowded, making Zach a force to be reckoned with, but he only managed a few bases*. It wasn't until the very end that Brian "got" trader and realized he should burn through his good cards and trade his junk away. Ian used Dictator defensively and ended up in 3 encounters with Brian at the end. He succumbed to Brian's onslaught with the help of Merwin** for a co-win.
* In one case, I ended his turn by taking his encounter cards during consolation).
** I helped Brian get his fourth base to get my third, hoping that I would get my turn, but Brian won his second encounter and the game.
Merwin was sick this night, but managed very well even if he was slower than usual. He definitely wasn't into the last game, but he co-won anyway.
Moai
Named after the famous statues on Easter Island, Moai does a very good job of recreating the desperation and cutthroat nature of its setting, even if the actual mechanics are abstract. For example, in the final turn, Ian made the choice to build moai rather than feed his people because that would give him more victory points. In this respect Moai is like Mall of Horror and I give the game kudos because of it. As the game progresses, fields become barren, trees diminish, and players turn on each other in a desperate bid for survival and building the most and biggest moai.
Players begin with five people cards and nine workers with values 1, 2, and 3 (evenly distributed) with an equal number of workers in reserve. Players bid their people cards for turn order and then N+1 epoch cards are revealed (N = number of players). In turn order, players pick an epoch card. Some epoch cards allow the player to build a boat. Others have effects such as destroying a moai, killing another worker, causing a field to become barren, or burn a unit of wood (on the board or in someone's reserve) or someone's boa ; the players who chooses the card chooses who is affected. The epoch card also indicates how many new people cards the player draws and how many workers must return to the player's hand at the end of the turn. Lastly, for each epoch card showing a palm (which becomes less and less frequent), one unit of wood becomes available.
In turn order, players allocate one worker to get wood, work in the fields, or build moai. These workers supplement any that might have been left on the board from the previous. Workers are placed with their values hidden, except in the fields. A player with a boat can also place a worker there, which is like having a worker in the field. Players assign workers to one of the units of wood available (typically 3 to 6 units per round, I think). The player who has the highest total value of workers allocated to a particular unit get it. The first player decides who wins ties (except in a tie for first player position). In our game, Robert was shut out of wood for several rounds, even when there 6 units of wood for 5 players. As I said, this game is nasty.
Workers building moai may build a moai equal to (or less than) the total value of the workers assigned to the task. There are three moai available for 4-10 victory points each. Thus, you want to get the higher-valued ones before the other players, but this means allocating more and higher-value workers, which may limit your ability to either get wood or feed your workers. If you have the wood and multiple groups of workers, you can even create multiple moai per turn. Ian did this and damn nearly won because of it, even if all his people starved.
Workers in fields (or boats) feed other workers, one per value of the field worker (a value-1 worker in a field only feeds himself, for example). Workers who are not fed starve at the end of the round (but not before they've gotten their wood or built their moai). To stave off starvation you can use a
After logging, building, and feeding (or not), you get to draw new people cards, which you can save for next round or use them now to get more workers from your reserve by playing a pair of cards. People cards are either raid cards or have a value from 1 to 3. Playing a pair of 2s, for example, gives you a new value-2 worker. You can play an unmatched pair, but you get the worker of the lower value. You also have to return workers from the board to your hand. This is good because it allows you to reassign workers more freely, but it is bad because you may be forced to remove workers from a value field or wood-gathering spot.
Eventually, the epoch deck marks the arrival of Europeans and the last round is played. After all is said and done, each surviving worker is worth 1 vp, each spare wood is with 2, but the bulk of the points come from moai. In our game the spread of points was 27 to 30 among 5 players, making for a very close game, but it was Brian who came out on top.
At any point, any one of us could have won had specific actions not been taken against him. Merwin and I ganged up on Ian in the final turn. Both Brian and Merwin had moai destroyed. They hit my fields and even burned one of my boats. The ability to attack leaders is both good and bad and I suspect, based on the comments on BGG, that most gamers find it bad. The winner may be the one who convinces the others to pick on someone else. But it certainly makes for a tense game throughout and gives enough room for a surprise come-from-behind victory.
We might have played it again if Zach hadn't showed up; the poor guy actually sat through most of the game in front of television or watching us pay. The tough decisions does slow the game down and some may find it too long for a game that is mostly a "take that" tactical game.
Ruse & Bruise
I enjoyed this game much more than my first. I essentially stopped worrying and just played cards. I was pretty successful getting the middling cards that others weren't fighting over, but it cost me any shot of getting a complete set and maximizing my score. Ian was taking the "get one of each" approach, but ended up being screwed when Robert had to leave at his pre-stated pumpkin time of 10:30 and we had to end the game early. Brian was the official winner due to a very good last round during which he picked up two 5-vp cards, but if Ian had been allowed to double his score of his incomplete "rainbow" hand, it might have been different.
Cosmic Encounter
Zach and Ian hadn't played before, but I gave a very quick rules overview, dealt out powers, and we were off. I was Hacker, Merwin Kamikaze, Zach Warpish, Ian Dictator, and Brian was Trader. The warp was very crowded, making Zach a force to be reckoned with, but he only managed a few bases*. It wasn't until the very end that Brian "got" trader and realized he should burn through his good cards and trade his junk away. Ian used Dictator defensively and ended up in 3 encounters with Brian at the end. He succumbed to Brian's onslaught with the help of Merwin** for a co-win.
* In one case, I ended his turn by taking his encounter cards during consolation).
** I helped Brian get his fourth base to get my third, hoping that I would get my turn, but Brian won his second encounter and the game.
Labels: Other Games
posted by Patrick at 11:14 PM
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