Back to the boardgame café.
We started with
Tsuro of the
Seas, which is
basically Tsuro with complications: you still lay down tiles and try
to stay on the board, but now there are 3-8 monsters moving randomly
about. If they land on you, or in front of you, you're eliminated.
![](tn_IMG_20230216_180959.jpg)
We had some trouble working out from the board iconography how the
monsters were meant to fit on it: in the grid squares? Because if so,
why are the labels laid out the way they are? (Answer: yes, and
because graphic designer.)
But then, well, it's Tsuro but a random thing will come along and
knock you out of the game. It feels like a very clumsy and crude
addition to an elegant base. I note that Jordan Weisman (of
BattleTech fame) is listed as co-designer along with Tom McMurchie
who designed the original, and I can't help thinking that he saw the
basic design and thought "what this needs is MOAR RANDOM".
Not for me, but I'll keep my copy of original Tsuro.
![](tn_IMG_20230216_182930.jpg)
On to
Pandemic:
Contagion
and a copy that was showing its age (we first played it here in
January 2015). There are some neat tricks for exploiting event cards
and I strongly suspect that the winning strategy is to pick up cheap
second-place points from everywhere rather than the big points from
just a few cards.
![](tn_IMG_20230216_192100.jpg)
Very abstract of course, and sometimes frustrating, but overall quite
enjoyable.
![](tn_IMG_20230216_193540.jpg)
Another round of Heat: Pedal to the
Metal
with a different track (which, alas, felt much like the core track). I
can see the appeal, I guess, but it just doesn't feel like racing to
me. I'll definitely play Flamme Rouge again, though.
![](tn_IMG_20230216_201508.jpg)
Finally, Timeline: Historical
Events,
at which we were rubbish again.
![](tn_IMG_20230216_205534.jpg)
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