Humbled

unrelated to the post, but I'm always humbled by mountains (and great art).  By Albert Bierstadt

Moving day is here.  As I type, two workers are upstairs packing our possessions, readying them for the long journey overseas.  Change is always hard [and a topic for another post], but today, I'm humbled.

Their van arrived at 9:20am; I was thankful for the extra hour (we were given a window of "8 to 10").  My gratitude quickly turned to disbelief, however; two older people (in their fifties, I'd guess), were hobbling out of the vehicle and making their way towards our door.  Their stooped posture, slow pace and awkward gaits suggested locomotion of any kind was a considerable undertaking.  And my first thought was selfish.  They sent these two to pack our home?!  We'll be here all day!  I circumspectly inquired if more would be arriving; the answer was courteous.  "The two of us do this all the time, sir, no problem."

As I write, it's now been six hours.  They work steadily, breaking only for a small lunch.  They have trouble with stairs but work well and efficiently.  They appear content with their lot, neither bemoaning their station nor begrudging me mine.  My initial displeasure has changed to admiration.  I wonder- what kind of lives have they led?  How do they do this daily?  Are they in pain?  How much?  And . . . how spoiled am I?

People deal with change differently.  It's easy to focus on my current transitory state and be consumed with anxiety, fear, and stress.  We're moving to a new country in less than two weeks.  Will the kids adjust to the new environment?  Will we?  Will our stuff get damaged?  How will we handle the hotel?  I need to remember that so many people have a harder road than I.  That this present- temporary- inconvenience is nothing compared to the daily hardship many endure.  People right in my neighborhood, living peaceful and content lives despite long hours, physical strain, and lower wages.  I need some perspective.  

Candyland

Today's review is of the 1949 release, Candyland.  For 2-4 players, it takes forever.

Overview
In Candyland, your goal is to get your character to candy castle (or whatever it's called).  On your turn, you draw a card.  Each will have a quantity (one or two) and color.  Advance to the next space based on that- for example, if your card has two blues, you advance two blue spaces.  One red would advance to the next red space.  Special cards take you forward or backward on the board.  First to get to the end wins!

one iteration of the board; image from here

Review
This is a horrible game.  I get it; it's for ages 3+.  I'm not expecting depth here.  But a game should overcome a challenge through meaningful choices.  There are no choices of any kind here.  Draw a card, move forward or backward.  That's it.  As one friend said, it's like rolling dice and declaring the higher roll the winner.  But it's worse, because it takes much longer, and can drag on interminably if you get sent backwards by a special card.  Boo.  I just got done playing my 3-year-old in two games.  Thankfully, he won without too much drama . . . though I may have doctored the deck to make that happen.

Rating: F

Split

Kevin has many personalities.  Some call it an illness or condition; Dr. Fletcher believes it to be an advancement of humanity, in a sense- the mind is powerful, to the point that it can cure or create problems.  But what she does not know is that another personality lurks beneath the surface . . . and is about to be unleashed.  Is it true that we can become what we believe ourselves to be? 

Eighteen years ago, I enjoyed M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable, a kind of superhero tale with profound message.  Split is set in the same universe (and Glass is a forthcoming 2019 film that ties them both together).  The message here is more difficult to discern (The broken are healed?  We are what we believe?), but this is still a powerful film.  Shyamalan is the master of suspense, delivering it in a manner that's deeply disturbing yet free of gratuitous sex and violence- the horror is suggested and implied, but not shown; a welcome subtlety in an immoderate age.  But I promise, your pulse will pound through the entire film (and my wife refused to watch it; be warned, this is not for all).  There were a few loose ends that were unsatisfying- I suspect the sequel will address them.  Watch Unbreakable- it's better- and then watch this before checking out Glass in 2019.

Rating: A-

An Unhurried Life (Alan Fadling)

Our lives are too crazy; we're always in a hurry, and Alan Fadling argues that we need silence, solitude, and listening.  Looking at the life of Jesus- who worked deliberate periods of solitude into His demanding schedule- Fadling looks at an unhurried life from several angles:
- unhurried apprenticeship
- productivity and the difference between laziness and 'unhurriedness'
- temptation
- caring and praying in an unhurried manner
- rest and its rhythms in creation
- suffering and maturity and their relation to time
- spiritual practices

This was a good read; the author makes many good points.  It's easy for me to fall into the busyness trap in the modern era- with instant communication, attention spans are shriveling, fast is normal, and stress is rising.  We need to remember that, looking at Scripture, "there is a surprising amount of nonwork space God builds into the weekly, monthly, annual and lifetime rhythms of his people."  And why?  In part because "maturity is the fruit of a long and focused journey toward realizing that everything good can only be truly enjoyed in the only One who is truly good."  And, in part, requires rest, reflection, and prayer.  Otherwise, the author "continue[s] to see evidence that our hurry, rather than getting more done, often gets the wrong thing done- and a lot of it!"

Rating: A

Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig

Today's review is of the 2018 release, Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig.  For 3-7 players, it takes an hour.

Overview
King Ludwig, a nineteenth century Bavarian monarch, was wild about castles, building many magnificent structures during his reign (though the age of fortification was long past).  In Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig, you and your partners will try and satisfy the mad monarch.

This is a tile placement/drafting game with a twist- each player is responsible for half of two castles (one on either side of him).  No player has their own structure; each are shared.  There are two rounds.  For each, the players take a stack of nine shuffled tiles, choose two, and pass the remainder to the left (round 1) or right (round 2).  Each then places their tiles- one in the castle to their left, one to their right- based on overall placement guidelines (like you must have one side flush with an existing, you can build up, out, or down, based on existing structures, etc.) and discussing with their partner on that side.  Then take your new stack of seven, choose two, and do repeat the process until the stacks are down to one tile each.  Discard this tile and begin round 2, drawing a new stack of nine.

castle in progress; image from here

At the end of that draft, total the score of each castle.  Throughout the game, bonuses are reached once a castle has 3, and then 5, of a given type of room (like dining room, sleeping room, etc.), which increases the castle's point value.  Each room also has a score on the bottom- often for what's surrounding it (like "2 points for every dining room adjacent to it").  A player's score is the lower score of their adjacent castles (if Dave has his left castle as 47, and his right as 58, his score is 47).  Highest score wins!

Review
I like tile placement games, and I enjoyed this one.  There is a lot going on, and it's important to synchronize (so everyone's drafting and placing at the same time) or it gets chaotic.  Sharing castles was a neat twist (though I can't help but think a variant where each has their dedicated structure would also be interesting).  Scoring at the end takes forever, but it's still fun.  And, it goes up to 7 players- unusual and appreciated.

game trays- well designed!  image from here

The art is good, the theme interesting (some room names are deliberately funny), and the storage trays are really well-designed (a rarity, and quite satisfying).  The attention to detail is nice, too- each castle token included in the game represents a different real-life German castle.  Overall, I think this is a good game, well worth a look.

Rating: A

Pioneer Days

Today's review is of the 2017 release, Pioneer Days.  For 2-4 players, it takes an hour.

Overview
You are a pioneer set for Oregon!  You have four weeks to get there, and the journey will be difficult; storms, raids, disease, and famine can all stand in your way.  All is not lost, though- you will be able to recruit helpers, buy goods at general stores, get more wagons, and earn favors along the way.  Do you have what it takes?

game components; image from here

Starting with a wagon and pioneer board (which dictates what special ability and other resources you have to start the game), the game is played over four weeks.  Each week consists of five days.  On the beginning of each day, the first player (which rotates each day) will randomly draw [x+1] dice out of the bag, where [x] = the number of players you have.  He'll roll those dice and choose one, using it to:
- recruit the worker present under the matching symbol on the main board
- take the amount of silver corresponding to the symbol's printed value on the main board
- use it for the symbol itself (so if it's wood, take one wood)

In turn order, each other player then chooses one die and does the same.  The color of the leftover die advances the matching disaster track one space.  Then the first player token passes to the next player and the next day begins.  Play continues in such fashion until the dice bag is empty, signifying the end of the week.  Then, players can do end of week actions (including earning favors by fulfilling conditions as stated on the rotating town cards at the top of the board).  After this, a new week begins by putting the dice back in the bag, turning two new towns face-up, and replenishing the workers and general store.  After four weeks, the game ends, with the person with the most favors being the winner!

The disaster track can spell doom for your party if unprepared.  Make sure you have enough wood (for wagons), medicine (for people), food (for cattle), or other things handy to weather whatever shall pass. 

Review
I enjoyed this game.  I like that the dice can be used for several actions, giving plenty of meaningful choices each round.  The disaster track adds an element of suspense, and the workers/towns give variation.  It's an Oregon Trail-themed dice placement game, and (in my book) is a winner.
Watch it Played has an excellent overview here.

Rating: A

The Art of Magic the Gathering: Dominaria

Last month, I looked at a Magic art book centered on the Ixalan expansion.  Today we have another such art book, about Dominaria.

Dominaria was Magic's original 'plane'- the world on which all expansions were initially based.  From Mark Rosewater, Magic Design Architect:
It "was a frequent setting for the first fourteen years- around forty expansions take place on Dominaria or places that would eventually be identified as part of Dominaria."

Eventually be identified- that's a key phrase.  A bunch of later expansions would be identified as taking place on Dominaria, after the fact.

Originally, Magic wasn't nearly as well organized or planned as it is today.  Ixalan, for example, was a world created from nothing with a very specific and intentional theme.  So too were Innistrad, Mirrodin, Ravnica, and Zendikar.  But in the beginning, the designers hadn't yet fleshed out this idea, so Dominaria was a de facto location for many sets- a 'hodgepodge', per Rosewater.  This specific book covers the art and backstory of the Dominaria expansion, which came out this year and commemorates Magic's 25th anniversary with a return to the world that started it all.

The designers looked into Dominaria's varied past and pulled key elements from it to create this expansion.  And "in this book, you'll get a chance to see what Dominaria once was and what it's become.  You'll see a world that's been through wars, invasions, temporal disasters, magical climate change, planar overlay, and more worldwide threats than any other plane in the multiverse, and come out the other side a happy, thriving world."  Accordingly, the Dominaria book is wide in scope.  The writing is on par with the Ixalan book (informative, repetitive, vanilla).  The art is great.  I liked this, but its lack of cohesive theme (compared to Ixalan) knock it down a notch.

These Magic books are fun, but what I'd really like is a definitive/official history of the game in this format, complete with art from every expansion.  That would be amazing.

Rating: A-

Discoveries

Today's review is of the 2015 release, Discoveries (The Journeys of Lewis & Clark).  For 2-4 players, it takes 60 minutes.

Overview
You are part of the famed Lewis & Clark expedition, charged to explore the Louisiana Purchase.  To do so, you'll use your dice to recruit Indian tribes, explore terrain (mountains and rivers in different combinations), and journal about your discoveries. 

Each player has 5 workers (dice) in their color.  To start the game, each player rolls these dice and places their workers in their main supply area.  On your turn, you either place workers or 'rest' by getting dice.
- you can place the workers, based on their face, on appropriate spaces to recruit Indians, explore terrain, etc.  You can place only one type of face at a time (though you may place multiple dice of that face) and take a specific action (like recruiting friendly Indians) only once per turn.  Once you spend your dice, they go to either the right or left banks of the board (as indicated by their face). 
- you can rest by taking all workers (regardless of color) from the right bank (regardless of color), left bank (regardless of color), or all your color dice back (regardless of location).  You roll them and place them in your supply.  Thus, you could end up with some of your opponent's workers, or neutral ones (which are introduced as Indian tribes are recruited).

game in progress; image from here

Ultimately, the game is about completing exploration cards (some combination of mountains and rivers), which grant victory points or scientific finds (like new flora and fauna).  Once the card deck is gone, points are totaled based on stated victory points on the cards, number of teepees (differing values are found on each Indian tribe), and sets of scientific finds.  Highest score wins!

Review
Last year, I read an excellent account of the Lewis & Clark expedition.  Ever since, I've been drawn to Lewis & Clark board games (you'd be surprised how many there are), though I didn't get a chance to play one until yesterday.  I was looking forward to this, but sadly disappointed.  The art is great, the dice 'rotation' mechanic is novel and interesting, I like how Indian tribes are incorporated, and there are some cool history-based things included.  But as a friend said, the overall gameplay feels dry.  A good strategy wasn't clear, either- I was convinced I was getting hammered, but ended up winning.  I don't know what else to say about it; it doesn't grab you like a good game should.

Rating: B-

MTG Arena

Magic: The Gathering Arena is a free* digital/online PC version of the collectible card game.  Wizards of the Coast has several online offerings over the years:
- the Magic 2015 app, available for mobile devices
- Magic: The Gathering Online, which is a decidedly not free online version of the card game, where you buy digital packs, have a digital collection, can trade with players and do everything you could with the physical version
- Duels of the Planeswalkers, two releases (2009 and 2012) for PC/Playstation/Xbox that simplified several facets of the game

So what makes Arena different?
- there's no simplification of the rules
- it's free to play
- it has cards only from Ixalan set forward (MTGO has all or most expansions)
- you have different daily quests (like "cast 20 creatures" or "win 5 games") to unlock points, which you can use to open packs and grow your collection
- no player card trading and, at present, no choice of opponent (future releases will allow you to play with friends)

a game in progress; image from here (which also has a good review of the game)

screenshot from one of my games in progress

Currently in open beta (it had been closed initially), it's an attempt to reach a more casual MTG audience.  I've tried Duels and Magic 2015, and I much prefer Arena.  Deck building is pretty easy, and the gameplay is fast and intuitive.  You get preconstructed decks right off the bat, and earn more soon after.  The points you get for victories and quests are adequate to get a decent number of packs to grow your collection.  I love being able to sit down and play a quick 10-minute game (and the kids enjoy watching).  It would be great for beginners, and fun for casual players like me.  It's greatly improved my skills and understanding of different card interactions and certain game rules.  All in all, I highly recommend it.

Interested?  Check it out the trailer here and official site here.

*there are optional in-game purchases