FallCon - A Cornucopia of Gaming

Designer: Tory Niemann
# of Players: 2-4
Playtime: 60 minutes
MSRP: $59.99 CDN
Link to Rules
Synopsis: Alien Frontiers is an Area-Control game with a dice-based worker placement mechanic.  The theme is well implemented in its retro sci-fi theme and the production quality is incredible.

This game plays really well with 2-4 players and can be taught in 10 minutes to a wide range of players.  You receive points for the colonies that you place on the planet and a bonus if you have the most colonies in a region.  Whoever has the most points when one person runs out of colonies, wins!

The dice mechanic is not as luck-based as others of its ilk, as it isn’t important that you roll high numbers.  The various ‘stations’ require different combinations of dice (for example a pair of dice is needed to build a ship at the shipyard, or in the Solar Convertor, you get different amounts of fuel depending on what value you place there).

Alien Frontiers stormed onto the market in late 2010, spurred on by a number of podcasters who fell in love with the elegant mechanics and superior graphic design.  It was also one of the first games to use a consumer funding system called Kickstarter. 

The mechanics of Alien Frontiers aren’t new – you will see the legacy of a number of classic games in its offering.  For example you can credit El Grande for Area Control, Settlers of Catan for scoring, Kingsburg for its dice mechanic.  What Alien Frontiers does, is mix these concepts together with a great theme and brilliant graphics to make an excellent game.

Newer players can jump right in by rolling some dice and play them as they see fit, and the game will move along nicely.  More experienced players will begin to see how the interaction of the various stations and the order in which they are played, can really bring this game up to another level!

Name: Ticket to Ride
Designer: Alan R. Moon
# of Players: 2-5
Playtime: 45 minutes
MSRP: $64.99 CDN
Link to Rules
Synopsis: Ticket to Ride is an excellent game to play with the whole family. At its core is a tactical Rummy game played on a map of North America. Players attempt to connect cities on their Destination Tickets by collecting train cards of different colors and eventually melding (discarding) them to claim railway routes between major cities. The longer the routes, the more points are scored. Whoever has the most points at the end of the game, wins!

Ticket to Ride is one of the first "Euro" style games that I played when I first became interested in the hobby and I have gone back to it regularly over the past 6 years. It is one of my clutch games for introducing new players to boardgaming, mainly for its simple ruleset. Within 10 minutes, I can have the game set up and taught, and also have newcomers claiming routes, blocking my plans and having a great time! And yet while the game is simple enough to teach an 8 year old, there is still enough depth to appeal to a regular gamer like myself. The quick turns, intuitive play and beautiful components translate invariably to an immersive and positive experience for all.

Another great thing about Ticket to Ride is that its designer, Alan R. Moon, continues to explore the system. The availability of different Maps (Europe, Marklin - Germany, Nordic Countries, Switzerland) and mini-expansions keeps the game fresh and provides some flexibility with respect to modifying the level of complexity desired by the game group. Ticket to Ride can now also be played online at the Days of Wonder website. They've even released an iPad app which was recently featured as the iPad Game of the Week.

Ticket to Ride is without a doubt a game that belongs in your game library. If you can't find it in yours, you can be assured you'll find it in ours!

Darren  

Name:  The Settlers of Catan
Designer: Klaus Teuber
# of Players: 3-4
Playtime: 90 minutes
MSRP: $54.99 CDN
Link to Rules
Synopsis: You are immigrants to the island of Catan, trying to tame the land and establish a foothold for your colony. You build roads, settlements and cities by spending resources that you produce and harvest from the areas around you, or trade for with your fellow islanders. The game turns into a race to build settlements (worth 1pt), cities (2pts), the longest road (3 pts), the largest army (3pts), and special monuments (1 pts) as the first one to 10 points wins!

Are you ready to build the best colony on the wonderful island of Catan?

The one, the only, Settlers of Catan! This game has been largely responsible for the modern resurgence in boardgaming and for introducing "Euro" style games to the North American masses. It is a modern classic and is often the first game of this style that people learn to play, as was the case with me.

As with most mass-adopted classics, Settlers' rules are elegant in their simplicity: roll a pair of dice; collect resources based on which tiles are adjoining to your buildings; trade to get the resources you are missing; then build roads, buildings and developments to expand your colony and to get you closer to the 10 point victory goal. The novel-for-its-time modular board also lends itself to a considerable amount of replayability.

From my perspective, the best part of the game is the negotiation phase, where you trade the resources you collected with those players who have the resources you need. Offers fly fast and furious with everyone trying to get the best deal possible for their prized resources. The fine balance between getting what you need and preventing your opponent from getting the better of you really allows this game to shine.

It wouldn’t be Fallcon without our annual Settlers tournament. If you haven't yet played this classic, the scheduled event is a great time to have us teach you the game. Mind you, we'd be just as happy teaching you in the open gaming area. Find a couple of your friends and join us at the table!

Darren