Merry November 27!

November 29th, 2007

A few minutes after I arrived home from work on Tuesday, a knock on the door announced the arrival of a UPS delivery. Even though the box clearly indicated that it came from Santa, I couldn’t bring myself to wait till 25 December. I tore right into it. In fact, I’d been expecting it. My mysterious Santa has been hinting to me (through posts on this blog and in my BGG mailbox) that something was on the way, a nice touch which really added to the fun.

Check out the wonderful contents. My Boardgamegeek Secret Santa gave me two wonderful games—both Modern Art and YINSH!

I’ve wanted to give Modern Art a try since I first heard of it, in part because it gets such overwhelmingly positive press and in part because its mechanic is completely different from anything else I’ve ever played. Boardgame geek I may be, but I’ve never played an auction game. I’m eager to see what it will be like. I also suspect that, in contrast to the more “genre” games I often favor, this one will be easier to break out with less geeky friends, so it may get more play that some of the games that are gathering dust in my closet.

I got DVONN (a GIPF project game) a few years ago (in expectation of an extended vacation with family who are otherwise sort of unfun). I loved it, and I’ve shared it with several friends who enjoyed it quite a bit too. Unsurprisingly, the friends who like it tend to be chess and go players, delighting in the abstract strategic and mathematical elements of the game

In addition to enjoying DVONN’s gameplay, I took great pleasure in the pieces themselves. They’re elegantly simple, but the aesthetics—color, texture, weight, and shape—delight the senses. (In fact, my daughter loves playing what she calls “the Circle Game.” She’s two, so this mostly means stacking, sorting, and placing the discs, and telling me exactly where I should put mine.)

I expected nothing less from YINSH, and I’m not disappointed. The game only arrived yesterday, and it’s a sort that doesn’t interest my wife much. (Although my daughter and I “played” it once, using a ruleset similar to the Circle Game.) But I did get to read the rules and fiddle with the pieces. I love that the rules are so simple and straightforward that, when I find a willing opponent, we’ll be playing within a minute or two. I love that the game is so complex that we’ll be playing for hours. Combining go, othello (reversi), and connect four, YINSH should be tremendously satisfying.

I have yet to get my gift package out to my BoardGameGeek target, so I’ll have more to say about the whole process soon. So far, though, it’s been fantastic. So . . .

Oh great Secret Santa, thank you!

Entry Filed under: Board Games