JonMichael is Neither Jon nor Michael

Board Game Intro to Through the Desert

THROUGH THE DESERT

Players: Two to Five

Time: 20 - 45 minutes

What is it all about? Players are trying to dominate a stretch of desert by claiming water, land and oases with varying caravans.

What do you do?  Players take turns placing two camels.  They receive points for connecting to oases, covering water holes and closing off territory.  Other points are earned by using the most camels of a color.  There are five colors of camel which each player may use, though two different caravans of the same color cannot occupy adjacent spaces.  The game ends when all the camels of one color are gone.

Why is it fun? While the strategies are fairly straightforward (get the most points, rope off the biggest area), balancing defensive and offensive moves is tricky.  In addition, the game may end at any time once there are two camels of one color making late game gambits much riskier.

Do you have to be lucky? There are few luck elements in this game.

How easy is it? This game is easy to take one and do well at, but winning is another matter entirely.

Board Game Intro to Monopoly

MONOPOLY

Players: Two to Eight

Time: 1-3 hours

What is it all about? Players are trying to develop Atlantic City and bankrupt their competition.

What do you do?  Players take turns rolling the dice and moving around the board.  Most places that they land are properties, which may be purchased or auctioned.  In early portions of the game, mostly players will be buying properties.  Later, the results of these rolls of the die will result in the payment of some quanitity of rent.  Players will try to trade for superior advantage by obtaining all the members of a specific color group.  Once a player has all of a color group, they may develop the properties to further receive money from their opponents.  The game ends when one player has bankrupted all of the others.

Why is it fun? Trading is, for better or worse, the bread and butter of Monopoly.  Players who enjoy wheeling and dealing aspect find the game quite enjoyable.

Do you have to be lucky? Since almost everything that you do is driven by where you land, especially early in the game, this game is highly luck dependent.  There are lots of things that can be done to mitigate this luck.

How easy is it? The explanation of this game is easy - many people know how to play it.  House rules, however, frequently extend the length of this game into a several hour ordeal that does not end.

Board Game Intro to Puerto Rico

PUERTO RICO

Players: Three to Five

Time: First time: 2 hours
After that: 1 1/2 hours tops

What is it all about? Players are trying to develop the island of Puerto Rico by growing and shipping crops, building building and making money.

What do you do?  Players take turns deciding what all players can do on a given turn.  For choosing this, they get a benefit (and sometimes some money) which helps them.  All players then take the actions, which include planting new plantations, assigning and reassigning their workforce, building buildings and growing and shipping goods.  The benefits mostly include additional resources (money, points or workforce) or limited costs.  The game ends when someone has built in all of their available space, all of the workforce is assigned or a certain amount fo goods have been shipped back to the old world.  Shipped goods and buildings are worth points (along with a few bonuses). Most points wins.

Why is it fun? Long term planning is rewarded and there are many ways to win this game.  Players must also watch their own actions and those of others to insure that the next player doesn't gain a greater benefit from your actions than you do.

Do you have to be lucky? This game has very limited luck.

How easy is it? Not that easy.  There's lots going at all times in this game.

Restart

I'm going to try to restart my blog with another of falvors du jour: board games.  We'll see how far I get with this one.  I may still conitnue my novella at some point.  We'll see.