Lost Treasures of the Eurogames Reclamation Project

I got it in the last math trade here from Sag. Missing a green dude, but we make it work.

You know what game just completely flopped for us? A La Carte. I figured the cooking angle and all of the fun components (pans, spoons, shaker bottles, etc.) would draw them in but they didn't even really like playing with that stuff. I guess because we have other cooking toys. The game itself, I dunno, they just didn't get it and I got a sense that it would probably be one of those that would seem like the best game in the world played at a convention around 3am after a night of drinking. I tried to play it with some adults and they just didn't connect with it either. The concept is so good, it seems like fun but for some reason it just isn't. One thing I really don't like is the food in it...I hate that it's like Garbage Pail Kids-like gross-out stuff. I actually would have liked it more if it were real food. It's kind of tough when you have vegetarian kids to explain why there's a hippopatums soup or a dead chicken with a wine bottle on a plate (Coq au vin).

I have the whole thing, Dessert and the rare Beilage add-on. It's the other that was on the "maybe not keep this" list".

That's a bummer. It's been a hit at my house, even when we introduced it to my 9 year old nephew a few weeks back. I don't use the coffee cups and just call that a re-roll and most of the time ignore the crepes. Thinking about it though, we never really approached it like a competitive game, more of an activity I guess - Played kitchen I guess. Points at the end were pretty meaningless and we didn't stress about making a perfect dish.

So, there's been some comments made about this being a "feeding frenzy"...And to address that, here's a little sales-pitch on why I think you should buy/trade for Hellas.

Hellas is two player game that is about the lightest 4x game that I know of (and I'm sure people will argue that it isn't).

The goal of the game is to control 10 cities. The map starts small with just a few hexes and from there you eXplore by performing a "Voyage" action allowing you to flip and place new hexes which may contain cities. You then eXpand into the new land by moving your troops around and performing "Burst of Strength" actions - Players do have a limited pool of troops and ships so to get to the ten cities turtling can't happen and you can't always present a strong front. You eXploit the resources of the gods by drawing cards and using their effects - These often augment or make more powerful the basic actions you're able to take on a turn. And then lastly you have to eXterminate your opponent and take their cities in order to get your ten and win since you won't find all ten by exploring alone.

For a 60 minute game it is pretty tight and there's always a back and forth feel as cities change possession. Knowledge of three god decks is pretty vital though because it will be with card play that will jump you ahead in the city count or claw you back if you fall behind. Ares helps your land units, Poseidon helps navel units and the Zeus deck give you some pretty powerful overall effects. And these cards are powerful and what gives the game its flavor and prevents it from dissolving to just an abstract game with a slapped on theme.

If you can find a copy cheap then I'd say snag it. It isn't one I'd play a premium for, but it is a flavorful game full of character and theme in a tiny box with streamlined rules.

Yeah, I am too...they really like cooking stuff and they were super excited when I put it out. But it lasted literally like 15 minutes. I don't think they really understood the game part of it, actually...and trying to get them to do the seasoning without just dumping the whole bottle out was a fool's errand. We had it out again a couple of nights ago and it just wasn't fun. I think when they get a little older it may be better, it seems like a good one for like 7-10.

But then again, my kids (almost 3 and 4.5) love Takenoko and can actually play it pretty much by the rules with guidance. Rampage too, we just don't use the cards.

The feeding frenzy is because I think we've all realized that- oh shit- all those games we thought would always be around are suddenly...not around. And they're getting expensive. And there's actually not much in terms of reprint prospects because these games have actually kind of landed where the old Sid Sackson/3M style games did...out of fashion and not really in demand at large. Even freaking Knizia games. 15 years ago, it was ALL about Knizia. Now it's all about Vlaada. ANd you can't buy a new copy of Modern Art off a store shelf.

The ERP feeding frenzy seems to only be between like 3 people really. The rest of us either still have all the Euro's we liked from those days or simply aren't interested. I like talking about them because they're board games and I like talking board games with the folks here, but none of this has inspired any new purchases for me. I have dibs on Journey to the Center of the Earth for $10 in Barnes big post-ERP sale though.

Wrong. THe ERP is touching lives all over the world.

Dibs on Manila.

I refuse to play Journey to the Center of the Earth because of that damn Goose on the box. For some reason, it enrages me.

Also, I think that Ghost Chase is a great kids game.

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Scissors, welcome to Vichy F:AT.

I find it funny, and smacking with irony, just how divisive the ERP is.

Yeah, it is funny, isn't it. I love it.

The Swarm is one of the weirdest Eurogames I've ever played. It might be REALLY good too. Some very unusual mechanics going on. Really cool action selection mechanic. Fun combination of exploring, tile laying, networking. Oh, and a huge dose of take that incentivized by giving you points for putting the crab, whale, or storm on somebody else. Seems like a lot going on, but it's really simple. About 60 minutes tops. Pretty sure it tanked because of the esoteric (in the US) connection to an unknown novel and the nastiness. Not sure it feels like Kramer/Kiesling title at all...unless it's some lost design from like 1991 they just put the Swarm theme onto.