Anyway, last Saturday I got to pop over to Frog's. After Nix appeared and dinner was done, we set up Santiago and started to go over the rules. Titus and Mars arrived at that point, and instead of Santiago, we elected to set up Ingenious instead. (My idea; I wanted to try Einfach F2F and I really wasn't feeling up to a negotiation game.) From BSW play, I knew that Einfach would be lighter and less strenuous.
The FFG edition is excellent. Everything's made out of sturdy plastic. The only quibble mone might make would be about the thin boards used for scoring, but that's so minor that it's not worth it.
The rulex explanation took all of five minutes. I attempted by BSW strategy of balanced progression in all colors thoroughout the game. The Frog/George team and the Nix/Mars team both went for INGENIOUS and quickly outdistanced myself and the Titus. The two ouf us were completely shut off from the conglomeration of orange that accumulated early in the game. With very little in the way of orange tiles left, we struggled to catch up. The early leaders, Nix and Mars, found that they had INGENIOUSed all but one color in the homestretch. However, it was that shortage of blue that ultimately cost them the game as I prevented them from scoring that color again. In the end, the Frog/George team won the game.
Frog/George: 12
Nix/Mars: 11-11
Rick: 11-7
Titus: 10
Ingenious is a nice, inoffensive game that is easy to learn and play and is a pleasant way to pass an evening. I don't think that I'd ever look for a game, but it shouldn't take too much to get me to play. I might even call for it once in a while.
1 comment:
I have to say that Ingenious/Einfach has been a real surprise to me. WHile I expected to like it before I played it, I didn't expect to enjoy it nearly so much (I rate it a 9 on the Geek). While it is definitely on the lighter side of middleweight, I think Knizia did a nice job of keeping it elegant while adding just enough ways to manage the luck of the tile draw.
Of course, I know that the abstract thing is an issue for you, whereas I have no problem with it. The funny thing is that, while its original publisher asked for an abstract from Knizia, I suspect that it may have been a themed game when it was first hatched in Dr. Knizia's game laboratory. While it's nothing I want to share publically, I've mused a bit in my idle moments about a couple of possible themes for it.
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