September 11, 2007

Tonight, it was just Hal and I, so we played several two player games.

• Phoenix - Hal won the first two rounds. I made a bit of a comeback in the third round, but it wasn’t enough. Hal won 18 to 17.
• Hive - This is an abstract strategy game with no board. The pieces are bakelite hexagons with insects painted on them. Each type of insect has a different move. The object is to surround your opponent’s queen bee. This was the first time Hal had played. We played two games; I won both, but the second game was much closer than the first.
• Octi - Another abstract strategy game. In this one, each turn you choose between moving one of your pieces, or making one of your pieces more powerful. The rules list several different variations of the game, depending on how complex you want it to be. We played the “fast” game twice. Hal won both times.
• Fibonacci - And yet another abstract strategy game. You move your pieces around the board in amoeba-like groups, trying to surround your opponent’s center piece. This is one of my favorite abstract strategy games, but it doesn’t seem to attract much notice. Hal and I played twice; I won both times.
• Tantrix - And still another abstract strategy game! This game also has pieces that are bakelite hexagons, and does not require a board. Each piece has three line segments on it, each line segment is in a different color (there are four colors total). Players place pieces trying to make the longest possible line or biggest possible loop in their chosen colors. At the end of the game, each player scores the one line or loop that would give the most points. Hal won 17 to 13.

Our next session is on September 25. Hope to see you there.