Kingdom of Solomon

Kingdom of Solomon
Designed by Philip duBarry
Produced by Minion Games

Kingdom of Solomon is a very fun game for 2-4 players and it takes about an hour to play. I have recorded a video review of the game that I will hopefully get up soon as well (after I figure out the best way to do that). I really liked this game a lot and from what I have heard of The Manhattan Project, Tahiti, and of the upcoming Hegemonic (currently on Kickstarter) combined with my love of Nile deLuxor - Minion Games is creating a real name for itself right up there with Rio Grande Games.  A big SHOUT OUT to Minion Games for making this review possible and for making such great entertainment.

The game is basically about worker placement, resource management, and strategic building. I like the theme, and as such it may become a Sunday usual around my place. The components are good, but I love the game play. It really has a great mash up of different gaming elements that remind me of a lot of other games I like:

Agricola - The fact that you take turns placing pawns out on the board and each space is limited to one pawn is very reminiscent of the farming favorite.

Settlers of Catan -You obtain resources (by pawn placement instead of dice rolling in this case - I like this difference between Catan and Solomon) and you use them to build roads and to build "cities."

Power Grid - The Market phase and the fact that you have limited resources reminded me a lot of the green wonder's energy game. Sell them high, buy them low. Make sure you have the resources you need.

Roll Through the Ages - The fact that you can build different things that give you a special ability or advantage along with victory points reminded me of the great dice rolling favorite, RTTA. The temple building also reminded me of checking off little boxes, but here we are placing little cubes to represent the temple being built. It can trigger the end of the game like finishing monuments in RTTA, and it is another way to obtain victory points.

What do you get when you combine all of these great elements? You get Kingdom of Solomon. I think that the game is very well done and I know that my wife and I really enjoyed it. I give the game 3 fingers up (or an equivalent 8 stars out of 10) rating.  I can't wait to try out another Minion Game, seems like they are all fantastic. Check out their newest game Hegemonic on their Kickstarter page and check out what games are in your local store or check out Minion Games' website. This is a link to be able to buy the upgrade kit which includes a really cool promo card. Stay tuned for the video review or at least an update with some pictures.

Buy a board game instead of a video game - and that is How Lou Sees It!

AGAD is Finally Settled

Day 70 - Settlers of Catan
Designed by Klaus Teuber

After 70 days of a game every night, we finally wrap up this project with one of the greats, Settlers of Catan. Tomorrow night I will be writing a summary or review of the A Game A Day (AGAD) project, but for tonight I write a short review on one of the major players in bringing the popularity of board games back to the U.S. and the game that introduced many to the wonderful German strategy type board games. Catan won the German Board Game of the Year (Spiel des Jahres) award in 1995. I still remember the first time I played Catan. It was like nothing I had ever seen before and I was addicted (more on this tomorrow). Some of the key elements that set the game apart include its great replay value with different board set up each game. The game still has the luck element with the die roll, but strategy is key to winning. The game has great player interaction as players trade resources and use knights to steal goods. Players strive to gain the most victory points by building settlements, cities, longest road, and buying development cards. The game is very easy to understand and it is really fun. I do have a few issues with the game. My main issue with the game is that only 3 to 4 players can play the game as-is (you can purchase an expansion for 5 to 6 players). I actually own The Rivals for Catan (a 2 player card version - which is also really fun) so I can play with The Wife all the time. There are other expansions for Settlers of Catan (including an expansion with a 2 player variant), and I have played a couple of them that really change up the game and make things more entertaining. I highly recommend the game to everyone and that is How Lou Sees It.

Board Games 101

LOU'S TOP TEN LIST

The top ten signs that you may be addicted to board games

10. Games like Monopoly and Clue just don't do it for you any more.

9. Your homepage is www.boardgamegeek.com.

8. You find yourself reading board game rules for fun that you don't even own.

7. You have no room for any clothes in your closet - its full of games.

6. Even though you don't know German, you know what Spiel des Jahres means.

5. In a history essay on the Rio Grande you wrote a 20 page paper on the Rio Grand Game company.

4. You know who these people are: Klaus Teuber, Klaus-Jurgen Wrede, Reiner Knizia, Donald X. Vaccarino. Uwe Rosenberg, Matt Leacock, Friedemann Friese, and Alan R. Moon.

3. You find yourself considering purchasing Starfarers of Catan for only $399.99!

2. You find yourself writing a list of the top ten signs that you may be addicted to board games.

and the number 1 sign that you may be addicted to board games....

1. You play a board game on your wedding night.

Board Game History

My friend Wikipedia suggests that board games pre-date literacy skill development! And who really needs to know how to read when you can have so much fun? Games have been found that are as old as 3500 BC.  Basically there are 3 great board game movements.

The 1st movement is what I call the Classic Game Movement. Classics such as Chess, Checkers, Go, Backgammon and a handful of others become the basis of our gaming as a society. These games were packed with strategic elements; to play successfully you needed to look at the entire board and pieces and not only decide what was best for the current turn but for future turns. You had to react to your opponent while progressing forward yourself to obtain the win.

The 2nd movement is what I call the Modern Game Movement. This movement started with Monopoly and Risk. These games looked at the world and created games that involved business and war along with other classics of a less serious nature; Sorry and Uno. Some of the games tried to connect a theme from the world or industry and others were very simple card games. You can definitely see some aspects of the Classic Game Movement in the Modern Game Movement, but most of the games (not all, but most) added more of a luck element to the games and the strategic planning and interaction was lost during this time.

The 3rd movement is what I call the German Game Movement. The Germans, with the help of some other Europeans, saved the board game basically. I'm not saying that Monopoly and Risk are not great games, the fact is, they are...but...it is the German games or (Euro games) that have truly found the greatest balance between the two movements. These games are based more on strategy than luck (but less strategic than Chess or Go), but some still have a lot of luck built into the game. These games are generally very interactive and most of them are different each time you play them. The Settlers of Catan first published in 1995 opened the US to the German board gaming world and the games have since continued to flood in with the great popularity of the Catan games.

The Gateway Game

The Settlers of Catan is THE gateway game for Americans into the German-style games. I don't recall how Settlers came to be in the good ol' US of A, but I remember my first time playing it. Revolutionary! The Modern Game Movement...move over! Settlers said to the world, move over...German-style games are here to stay and rule the board gaming world. Now, there are many other "gateway games," but Settlers definitely started it all. Other good "gateway games" are Carcassonne and Ticket to Ride.

Spiel des Jahres ("Game of the Year")

The Spiel des Jahres, or Game of the Year is pretty much the biggest award any board game (card games included) that a game can win. The game that wins this award basically will out sell any other game. If you want a good game, look at the list of all the previous winners bellow. You can also check out the nominees (also great games). There are also some other awards for complex games etc. given by the same people.

Year	Winner	Designer	Publisher
2011	Qwirkle	Susan McKinley Ross	Schmidt Spiele
2010	Dixit	Jean-Louis Roubira	Libellud
2009	Dominion	Donald X. Vaccarino	Rio Grande Games
2008	Keltis	Reiner Knizia	Kosmos
2007	Zooloretto	Michael Schacht	Abacus Spiele
2006	Thurn and Taxis	Andreas Seyfarth and Karen Seyfarth	Hans im Glück
2005	Niagara	Thomas Liesching	Zoch Verlag
2004	Ticket to Ride	Alan R. Moon	Days of Wonder
2003	Alhambra	Dirk Henn	Queen Games
2002	Villa Paletti	Bill Payne	Zoch Verlag
2001	Carcassonne	Klaus-Jürgen Wrede	Hans im Glück
2000	Torres	Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling	Ravensburger
1999	Tikal	Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling	Ravensburger
1998	Elfenland	Alan R. Moon	Amigo Spiele
1997	Mississippi Queen	Werner Hodel	Goldsieber
1996	El Grande	Wolfgang Kramer and Richard Ulrich	Hans im Glück
1995	The Settlers of Catan	Klaus Teuber	Kosmos
1994	Manhattan	Andreas Seyfarth	Hans im Glück
1993	Liar's Dice	Richard Borg	F.X. Schmid
1992	Um Reifenbreite	Rob Bontenbal	Jumbo
1991	Drunter und Drüber	Klaus Teuber	Hans im Glück
1990	Hoity Toity	Klaus Teuber	F.X. Schmid
1989	Café International	Rudi Hoffmann	Mattel
1988	Barbarossa	Klaus Teuber	Altenburger und Stralsunder
1987	Auf Achse	Wolfgang Kramer	F.X. Schmid
1986	Top Secret Spies	Wolfgang Kramer	Ravensburger
1985	Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective	Raymond Edwards, Suzanne Goldberg and Gary Grady	Kosmos
1984	Railway Rivals	David Watts	Schmidt Spiele
1983	Scotland Yard	Werner Schlegel, Dorothy Garrels, Fritz Ifland, Manfred Burggraf, Werner Scheerer and Wolf Hoermann	Ravensburger
1982	Enchanted Forest	Alex Randolph and Michel Matschoss	Ravensburger
1981	Focus	Sid Sackson	Parker
1980	Rummikub	Ephraim Hertzano	Intelli
1979	Hare and Tortoise	David Parlett	Ravensburger

Websites

Great resource for information on games - www.boardgamegeek.com

Good video reviews on games - www.dicetower.com or search Tom Vasal reviews on Youtube

Play Dominion online - www.dominion.isotropic.org

Play Settlers, Dominion, Carcassonne, and other games online - www.brettspielwelt.de

Play Coloretto online against AIs - here.

Lou's Games
Board games are fantastic, and I am addicted to them. It's not a bad addiction to have though. It provides great interactive entertainment while allowing you to use your noggin. Here are just a few of my games. You can't go wrong with any one of them. I may need to get a bigger game bag...

Lou's Big O' List

If you are interested in some great games, here is a not so little list of some of the greatest (in my opinion...in no particular order):

Dominion, Carcassonne, Settlers of Catan, Rivals for Catan, Hive, Incan Gold, Zooloretto, Coloretto, Aquaretto, Roll Through the Ages, Bohnanza, Kill Dr. Lucky, Jaipur, Ingenious, Citadels, Power Grid, Agricola, Alhambra, Slide 5, Limits, Forbidden Island, Pandemic, Simply Suspects, Ticket to Ride, Cosmic Cows, The Lord of the Rings, Dixit, Killer Bunnies, Lord of the Rings Risk, Star Wars Monopoly, Lost Cities, 7 Wonders, Race for the Galaxy, and Mr. Jack.

There is no end to the amazing games out there, and in my opinion...you can't have too many board games :) What is your favorite board game? 

...and that is How Lou Sees It!