socializing, with board games

[redbird]

cattitude ran into 42itous yesterday, and she invited us over to try some of the lavender ice cream that she had made with flowers from our garden. It was good: I started with a very small serving, in case I didn't like it, and then asked for some more because I did.

We went there this afternoon. The ice cream was good, and we talk and played board games (ones that her three-year-old could play, with a little help, though she got bored before the end of both). We played one game each of Blokus and Ingenious; they both involve placing colored game pieces on a board, but the rules and strategy are different (I think, I don't really have a good feel for the strategy of either).

Comments

[mneme]

Blokus and Ingenious are both great games, but yes, they have very little in common aside from both being games involving putting colored pieces on a board.

They do converge a bit in two player, though.

Blokus is fundamentally an area control and pattern matching game--at a very broad level, it's about "claiming" areas exclusively or almost exclusively for your use, seeing which spots you'll be able to place your larger pieces and thus prioritizing among them, and correctly evaluating which areas you need to spend more attention attacking into or protecting -- particularly given that once a player has populated an area, they typically aren't a big threat there; instead (in multiplayer) you have to worry more about other players enroaching on the spaces you were counting on. Particularly in multiplayer, it's also about correctly judging attack vs defense, given that once a player has populated in any area (including your own) they usually can't stop you from playing a piece or two in there unless they were prioritizing blocking over playing efficiently.

Ingenius is fundamentally a game about color following and control. Because (very much unlike Blokus) there is no player "ownership" of pieces once they're played, players will generally be able to piggy back on one another, so a key element of play is starting the parties in colors you are effective and making sure you get the most of them and then cut them off before other players do as well, ideally while also getting some secondary points; and late in the game, exploiting your Ingenious chains (multiple plays in a row) to make tactical plays and create and then cut off opportunities before other players can gain from them.

In two player, it is much more about denying access to colors you gain an advantage of while making sure your opponent cannot do the same; this style of tactical play is usually not viable in multiplayer because the other players can work together to repopulate a color on the board they both/all want.

So basically:

Blokus: Area control.

Ingenious: Score optomization, using matching between the board and your rack as the key components. Some resource management, since "near ingenious" colors are fundamentally an easily spendable resource that you want to save until it's most valuable.

Also...I've probably played too much of both.