Board game club: Terra Nova, Viva Topo!

Board game club was a big hit yesterday, with almost a record crowd of over 20 gamers. I made a quick visit and had time for just a few games.

I've wanted to play Terra Nova to get it off my system. Now I tried the game with four players and found out my expectations were correct: with more than two players, the game is very chaotic and not much fun. The point-sharing mechanism is definitely more interesting than with two players; probably the sweet spot is three players. Well, four is probably nice too, if you like tactical chaos and two is good, if you prefer strategic abstracts... In any case, Terra Nova is definitely not for me, thus I sold it right away at the first chance.

I also tried Viva Topo! with four players, and enjoyed that one immensely. Sure, it's roll and move, but thanks to the brutality of the cat (particularly with four players), the game is great fun. The die can give or take the victory, but it's not all luck, there are different strategical paths to take. It's definitely not a main course, but a very tasty 10 minute snack.

Evening was wrapped up with a round of Flix Mix, which I won despite a bad brain jam halfway through it. I haven't won every round I've played, but every game so far has been mine! Love the game, I really do.