Games Session
|
|
| Date: |
6th August 2004 |
| Game Played: |
Maya |
|
|
| Players |
Result |
Win |
Ratings |
| Mark K |
50 |
P |
7 |
| Mark G |
39 |
|
7 |
| Garry |
38 |
|
7 |
With
three of us this week, I decided to try this game from Essen last year
that we had so far overlooked. This is a game about pyramid building and
is played over three rounds, each of which has the following four phases.
Firstly, you acquire stone blocks from the quarries; you then transport
them to the pyramid site; you add the blocks to the pyramids being
constructed; and finally players are rewarded for their contribution to
the building of the pyramids. Each player has an identical set of cards
for use in the first two phases. These are laid face down at the quarries
or retained for transportation. Cards laid at the quarries are evaluated,
with the players laying the highest and second-highest valued cards
receiving blocks from the quarry. The more cards laid at the quarry the
more blocks you are likely to acquire. However, you need to retain enough
valued cards to transport the blocks won, otherwise any surplus over what
you can transport is lost. Players then in turn add all the transported
blocks to the pyramids one at a time, with the lowest level of all
pyramids needing to be completed before blocks are added to the next
level. Players then receive victory points depending on how much they have
contributed to each level of each pyramid, but any player receiving VPs
loses a block from each level through "erosion". After three
rounds, whoever has accumulated the most points wins.
This was quite an interesting game
which we all enjoyed. It is very reminiscent of bits of other games but
the bits fit together nicely. The erosion mechanic at the end of each
round helps a bit to rein in the leaders and, although I had a terrible
first round, I still felt I might have got back into it. I didn't and was
cursing my early inattention when Mark K was able to complete a level of
one pyramid I thought was safely mine, by simultaneously playing both a
double move and an add a block to a pyramid special action. Mark G
concentrated on particular pyramids and pushed Mark K all the way in
scoring the first two rounds, but Mark K did enough to extend his lead in
the final round and claim the win.
