Bunker Project Log

Okay, I’ve got 21 minutes to post this before Mrs. G catches on and puts me to work…. so if it’s sloppy, tough.

Anyway, Mrs. G and I took Lost Cities for a spin. This is one of the most often recommended couples games on the Geek. I was also recommended this by a Bunker attendee who shall be known as “THE”.

The idea behind the game is that you are sponsoring expeditions. These are represented by color-coded cards numbered 2 – 10, as well as 3 “investment” cards for each suit. The cards themselves show a progression of the expedition to the goal. The 2 card shows the beginning of the trail, and the 10 shows the final achievement.

Each player starts with 8 cards, and then takes one of two actions, either laying down a card on an expedition (in ascending order), or discarding a card. Once the action is complete, you draw a single card from the deck.

Here I have played my cards in three expeditions.

The game ends the second the last card is taken from the draw pile.

The complicated part of the game is the scoring. You tally up each expedition, and subtract 20 from the total. The 20 represents the costs to mount an expedition. From there, you multiply the result by one plus the number of investment cards played at the start of the expedition. If the expedition was negative, then the multiplier is applied to the negative number. Ouch!

Here’s how you would score the pic above:

Red Expedition: 34 – 20 = 14
Green Expedition: (21 – 20) * (1 + 1 investment card) = 2
Blue Expedition: (34 – 20) * (1 + 1 investment card) = 28
Total: 44 Points

Here is a more disastrous example:

Green Expedition: (27 – 20) * (1 + 1 investment card) = 14
White Expedition: (19 – 20) * (1 + 3 investment cards) = -4
Blue Expedition: (16 – 20) * (1 + 1 investment card) = -8
Yellow Expedition: (16 – 20) * (1 + 1 investment card) = -8
Total: -6 Points

The game is fast, and often it is hard to keep track of who went last, and whether or not it is your turn… or maybe it is that way because Mrs. G is a spazz.

Because of this, I suspect we will play it again. Yet another great filler between epic 2-player Twilight Imperium plays. Boo-yah!

(And I went 10 minutes over.)

At some point over the holidays, Fantasy Flight had their annual blowout sale on their cheaper games. Quicksand was one of the… few… that I ordered. You can’t beat $5.

The game is simple enough. There are six different characters who are in a race to get to the temple at the top of the board.

You move these characters by playing cards from your hand.

You can play as many cards as you want, as long as they are all the same. The only exception is the Mask card, which can stand in for any adventurer. You may move an adventurer one space for each card played.

The catch is, the owner of each character is kept secret, and you can move any character you have cards for. Half of the game is moving characters in order to fake your opponents out. Quite often, the character you are moving as a ruse, belongs to someone else!

Luckily, you have one non-movement option, and that is the quicksand card. You can use this to flip over an adventurer. In order to get the adventurer out of quicksand, you must spend a card of that adventurer’s color to flip them over first.

In the games I have played, it is a slow burn. Everyone moves cautiously in order to keep all of the adventurers tightly packed. It isn’t until halfway up that you have a good handle on who is who. Then, as soon as a single adventurer makes it to the upper left turn, the Quicksand cards begin to fly.

Here you can see the classic Quicksand ending. This was a 3-player game with Pottse, Mrs. G, and I. Green has just won, and I am lamenting how close I was. Note that yellow, blue, and black are all clustered at the end, even though no player controlled them.

And the final reveal:

Overall, this is a great filler. Very simple to learn, quick, and devious for the more devilish players. I have even managed to get the more “Focus-Challenged” ADD Bunkerites to play multiple games.

During the Christmas season, Target had the “Express” version of three popular boardgames: Scrabble Express, Sorry Express, and Monopoly Express. I picked up Scrabble Express right away because it looked good. Sorry I had no interest in, and I have an intense hatred of Monopoly. (Mainly from getting savagely beaten at it by my dad in my tender years.)

However, when Target did their usual clearance thing, and priced these games at $2.50, I had a hard time stopping myself from buying it for two fiddy. I immediately took it to lunch and gave it a test run.

I was hooked.

Basically, this a “press your luck” game. Each player rolls the dice and decides which to place on the circular board.

There are three kinds of dice.

The Cop Dice (the other faces are blank, or has a “Pass Go” face.)

The Property Dice

The House Die

You start with the Cop and Property dice, and receive the House die when you complete a color set (just like in real Monopoly, where you can build houses once you own a complete set of properties.)

Each time you roll the dice, you must first place any Cops onto the board. If you place three, your turn is over and you lose everything. (I’ve seen a player’s turn ended on the first roll.) You can roll as many times as you want, as long as you have less than three.

After your roll, you may place any of the dice that you like on the board. However, each dice on the board is removed from play, narrowing the number of properties you can complete. Certain dice also have the “Chance” question mark, which serves as a wildcard and allows you to complete a color set. You must carefully choose which dice you will use and which you will leave behind.

Once you are satisfied with your rolls, you tally up the score and pass the dice to the next player. The first person to $15,000 wins.

Here is an unusually high scoring (and game winning) turn:

The Green section counts for $3000.
The Blue counts for $3500
The incomplete Pink counts for $300
The Houses are counted at $1000 each, for $4000
The Hotel roll is worth $5000, but only counts if the player already has 4 houses.
Total: $15,800

I have only seen one person successfully roll a Hotel, this was Mrs. G (of course… she of the demonic luck.)

Here is an example of a standard turn sequence:

Roll 1

I first place the Cop. I decide to keep the high scoring Green die, and the cheap Brown. I would have preferred Blue, but the goal is to get the House die in play as soon as possible.??

Roll 2

Another Cop. At this point, I am one Cop from losing everything this turn. Luckily, I got the second Brown, completing the color and allowing me to roll the House die.

Roll 3

This is a useless roll. The house die has netted me a “Broken House”. Luckily, I have no houses to be broken. I have already placed a partial color set (the Green) so I would rather keep the dice to complete that. I end up placing nothing.

Roll 4

I have rolled a House on the House Die. I take one of the four house markers and place them in front of me. I also decide to take the Waterworks for the Utilities set.

Roll 5

Another House, as well as the Electric company. My Utilities are now complete.

Roll 6

Boo! A Broken house! The booby prize is another Green for the set.

Roll 7

Another useless roll. I can’t claim the Hotel because I only have one House.

Roll 8

Oops… there’s that third Cop.?

And here’s how much I score for the turn… a big fat Zero.

?

Had I stopped at roll 7, my total for the turn would have been:

The Brown section counts for $600.
The Utilities counts for $800
The incomplete Green counts for $800
The House counts for $1000
Total: $3,200

This isn’t the deepest game around, but perfect for lunch. I think it has just enough choice to keep it interesting, and just enough luck to make it fun. (It’s as much fun watching your opponents roll as it is to roll yourself.) I keep it in my car just in case.

Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find it anywhere, and am assuming it is a seasonal product. If you happen to see it somewhere, and are intrigued, make sure to pick it up. It is rare!

I’ve spent the last three months tearing apart the Bunker and putting it back together again. (at least three times in fact.) I’ve upgraded a lot, both for the sake of fun, and for my own sanity (no more cable bundle!)

Unfortunately, all this change has resulted in having no time to do anything on the blog, and I’ve gotten out of habit.

However, there’s been a lot of gameplaying to tell about, and a bunch of games that I hope will make it to the table on the next Bunker Party. So, watch this spot!

For the attendees, make sure to comment about the ones that look good so I know which to push when the next BP actually happens!