Power Grid
I usually don't enjoy auction-based games. Monopoly has a variation where if you don't buy a property, the other players can bid to buy it. There's something annoying about auctions, for me. The whole 'I'll bid upwards just to run your price up' dynamic is annoying - so is the possibility of bidding way too high, and discovering you've spent too much. I guess I don't gamble for the same reasons.
But Power Grid was really fascinating. The board is geographic in nature; you buy by auction power plants which are built in towns, pay money to extend power lines to neighboring towns along fixed lines, and purchase power sources with which to supply power plants, which then generate - money.
I think part of the fun was that I largely dodged the auctioning phases, settling for second-best power plants. This meant avoiding competing with Bh and randysmith for the same kinds of power plants and power sources. Part was that the map seemed key; so when it was time to choose the placement of the first power plant, I chose a central area, with relatively inexpensive power lines, but with access to both other territories.
The strategy seemed to work pretty well; I tend to assume that with pure strategy games that I will lose for certain the first time out, especially with someone like R, who is brilliant at strategy, a frequent gamer, and more experienced at Power Grid, and Bh, who gets the psych aspect of games and is also strategically brilliant (she sees the big picture and the details, together, faster than anyone I've ever met). Bh isn't great at map-based games, though; she's perpetually embittered at being cornered time after time in Settlers.
I suspect that the next time I play, I will not fare nearly as well. At some point, I'll need to go head-to-head with another player, and my auction-losing skills will sink me. But I think I have a little less trepidation at the prospect.
But Power Grid was really fascinating. The board is geographic in nature; you buy by auction power plants which are built in towns, pay money to extend power lines to neighboring towns along fixed lines, and purchase power sources with which to supply power plants, which then generate - money.
I think part of the fun was that I largely dodged the auctioning phases, settling for second-best power plants. This meant avoiding competing with Bh and randysmith for the same kinds of power plants and power sources. Part was that the map seemed key; so when it was time to choose the placement of the first power plant, I chose a central area, with relatively inexpensive power lines, but with access to both other territories.
The strategy seemed to work pretty well; I tend to assume that with pure strategy games that I will lose for certain the first time out, especially with someone like R, who is brilliant at strategy, a frequent gamer, and more experienced at Power Grid, and Bh, who gets the psych aspect of games and is also strategically brilliant (she sees the big picture and the details, together, faster than anyone I've ever met). Bh isn't great at map-based games, though; she's perpetually embittered at being cornered time after time in Settlers.
I suspect that the next time I play, I will not fare nearly as well. At some point, I'll need to go head-to-head with another player, and my auction-losing skills will sink me. But I think I have a little less trepidation at the prospect.