The Mine Shaft Gap

Venue: Paul’s place
Present: Pat, Brian, Alex, Paul.
Played: Dominion - Intrigue, Theophrastus, Thurn & Taxis, Fredericus.

Possibly the most ‘intimate’ of Sunday night sessions we’ve had for a long long time. While the games played tonight were unusual, they weren’t as ridiculous as those of two weeks ago.
2MP phone camera used for tonight’s pics, which have come out rather lifeless and poor. The Thurn & Taxis one was so bad I chose not to use it at all. The others I’ve tried to tweak to make them slightly more viewable, although it’s possible I’ve just made them worse…

Dominion - Intrigue: This one was deep in progress when I arrived and apparently ran significantly longer than expected. Can’t tell you any more than this.
Results: Brian: 21. Pat: 17. Alex: 16.

Theophrastus: First playing for all of us of this new(-ish) package from Mayfair (Edit: I see that the publication date is 2002, so not that new after all). Players assume the role of apprentice sorcerors under the Master Theophrastus. Per game there are three rounds, in which Theo’s spell is specified and eventually developed by the placing of usually hidden cards, containing various metals, elements (Earth, Air, Fire and Water), and ‘essentials’ (like Sulphur, Mercury, Vitriol, Nitre…). Apprentices must develop their own potions by similarly placing cards, and points are won at the end of each round according to how well their formula has matched Theo’s. Of course there are also various finesse plays and sabotages to mix things up.
A nice concept that I enjoyed playing, despite some frustration at the lack of control (ie., being heavily at the mercy of other players’ actions) that often manifests itself in these types of games. I think the other guys were less impressed than me.
20 mins rules and setup; 30 mins game time.
Results: Alex: 69. Pat, Brian: 65. Paul: 57.

Thurn & Taxis: Brian’s call to play this one tonight. While my game played mechanically and with mediocrity, I thought Brian’s was downright bizarre. He played his first connection set to a natural seven towns, to collect the first 4-point token. But then he ended the game with what must have been a 9- or 10-town chain, to pick up a few more tokens besides, and comfortably take out the game. Clearly some lessons to be learnt from this!
54 mins incl. rules and setup.
Results: Brian (red): 18. Pat (blue): 14. Paul (green): 8. Alex (yellow): 6.

Fredericus: I want to pronounce this title as “Free Derricus”. But since nobody else thought this particularly clever, I shall not.
While I’m tempted to describe this game as ‘unique’, it might be more correct to say ‘atypical’. Players capture mythical creatures by positioning their trained birds of prey around a radial arrangement of lines of cards. The pattern of cards at the ends of the adjacent lines determines success, and other deck mechanics help sharpen each player’s hunting targets. Combined with other wibbles, this leads to some curious and creative plays. It would be good to have another go at this sometime soon.
50 mins incl rules and setup.
Results: Pat (blue): 21. Alex (yellow): 19. Paul (green): 13. Brian (red): 12.