Rats, I was invited to game party today. In fact, it's still going on as I write this. I really wish I could've gone--besides all of those new games that recently arrived, this would've been a chance to play games with some folks I haven't seen in some time. Unfortunately for the boardgaming, this was also the weekend that my in-laws came down to visit. No getting away for me. The in-laws aren't game players themselves. Well, except for Mexican Train Dominoes. I know that game gets some flack from serious hobbyists, however I would've even been happy playing that. Although my mother-in-law suggested it, the game never happened.
The silver lining, though, is that I played a few games with my kids. Not only were they not bad, the games were generally well received. Even better, my son said he really liked a couple, and made some game requests. Wow! I still wish I could've gone to that game party today, but that helps take the sting away. (And has a lot of potential!)
First was Mission Command:Sea. I'd purchased all three of the Mission Command series during a KB Toys sale, but they'd remained in shrinkwrap for months. Now I needed to decide which to open & keep, and which to donate during a holiday toy drive. He expressed some interest in the air-to-air game first, but I steered him elsewhere. We've owned Screaming Eagles for a while, so I already know that one. (Though if he's interested, we'll definitely keep it and send Screaming Eagles back to ebay.) MC:Sea turned out to be pretty decent. Not great, but certainly entertaining. The production is nice, particularly for the price, and I like the missile rules.
That was yesterday. This morning I got both my kids to try King's Breakfast with me. I prefer Coloretto to this one, but I like it well enough. Recently I figured out that the theme and presentation may appeal to kids, so I thought it was time to buy one. Sam warmed up to it pretty quick, but Molly's interested faded about as fast. I think stripping some of the cards out when playing with two kids might've been a good idea. Now I'm just hoping they'd be willing to try again in a little while, especially Molly. Sometimes I think these games may be more fun after they've had a while to sink in. I know Cartagena didn't go over well with them when I borrowed a friend's copy, then some months later Sam requested it.
Before King's Breakfast I played two quick games of another new arrival, Rumis, with Sam. This we both liked straight away. Blokus is good, but a bit longer and more challenging. Rumis may not really be any lighter or shorter, although it felt that way to us. I'm looking forward to trying it with 3 or 4 players--this looks like a winner.
I'm just as excited about a couple games we didn't play. Both kids picked out a game to play with grandma & grandpa, in case we did that. Well, we didn't, and Molly's pick was our old staple, Apples to Apples Jr. Sam, however, picked Drunter & Druber. I'd tried it with the kids earlier in the week. Here again, I didn't think it really succeeded, but now here was Sam asking to play it. Wow! And if that weren't enough, he said he wanted to learn how to play "the bean game." That's Bohnanza, of course, which he heard the adults playing during Thanksgiving.Could family game sessions be in my future? I'd almost given up on that.
Near me is an upscale kid's toy/science/clothing store that has Rumis. It doesn't look like it's a big seller (I've been twice, and they have the same copies hanging around), so I'm hoping they'll discount it after Christmas. But I already have Pueblo and I'm worried I'll just be buying a variation. Does Rumis "feel" much different that Pueblo (I know it looks the same, but is the experience of playing it much different)? Or do you think the game is only a slight improvement or un-improvement as the case may be?
Posted by: Mike M at December 13, 2004 08:56 PMRumis is more like a 3-D version of Blokus than a variation of Pueblo. People have also called Rumis a 3-D Tetris. In Pueblo all of the pieces are the same shape and you know can always place a piece, maybe not always in the best position, but you will play a piece each turn. In Rumis all of your pieces are different unique shapes so using them wisely is part of the puzzle. Also in Rumis you can get shut out if you play pooring. Since peices left over is part of your score (the negative part), you do not want to get shut out early.
Pueblo is played on the square board (although the sacred sites can change the building area) vs Rumis which is played on several different boards (4 come with the game and a couple more are available on the Rumis website). Each board has a different footprint for the building site and a different building restriction (tower, steps, pyramid, etc) which changes the strategy for each.
The scoring/goal in the two games are different as well. In Pueblo you don't want to be seen, in Rumis you only score positive/good points if you are seen from the top at the end of the game.
Blokus, Rumis and Pueblo are all good games for spacial gamers. I feel that they are all worth having in a game collection as they present different challenges.
Another 3-D block building game is Aztec (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/1071). It's only two player and the game play is not interesting as Rumis & Pueblo. Aztec is hard to get and fairly expensive, but it does look cool.
Posted by: Ed Rozmairek at December 16, 2004 09:29 AM