Short Review - Elasund: The First City of Catan

A game by the designer Klaus Teuber of Settlers of Catan fame but a game with a very different feel.

What led us to get the game?

Settlers of Catan, designed by Klaus Teuber, and winner of the Spiel des Jahres was the first euro game we bought as a couple. We knew very little about games at the time and it was too early for it to have garnered the reputation it would go onto achieve as the classic gateway game; it is so long ago that I cannot remember where we bought it or even what led us to buy it. What I do know is that we have had a lot of fun with it playing with friends and family over the years and the birth of the first cloned sheep in 1996 (named Dolly) coinciding with a particular game where one of our godsons produced absolutely HUGE numbers of sheep has meant that for us the sheep will always be Dollies!

Elasund is designed by Klaus Teuber and subtitled the First City of Catan being just one of the games and franchise opportunities spawned following the success of Settlers of Catan. With its heritage and being a tile laying building game (a type of game I really like) it was perhaps not surprising that this game would appear on my wish list. My limited investigations indicated that it offered a similar mechanism to its parent and so was likely to have a similar universal appeal, thus when it appeared on ebay and I put in a bid and on this occasion won. 

Games In A Pub - 24th June 2011

Islands of Settlers and Frogs!

At the request of Simon, the games under consideration included, Settlers of Catan, Tobago, Forbidden Island and Pirate's Cove i.e. games that conjure up images of sunnier climes; a reaction I am sure to the unpleasant stormy weather of the last couple of weeks – so much for the summer solstice! When the group was gathered the decision was Settlers of Catan.

Stéphane had not played this before, Simon and Oliver had but on the unfortunate evening when it had bombed – a review of that evening can be read here. As I started explaining the rules Oliver, presented with a choice of white or blue was jokingly heard to claim that he did not have enough information to make a considered decision!

Match Report - 23rd January 2012

From trading 'Dollies' to some very strange drawings!

With sickness afflicting Crispin, the Safari delights of Tanzania detaining Malcolm and Daniella under the cosh trying to keep a busy family fully fed and watered it was down to Gwen and I to welcome our version of the young ones, Ben, Ruth and Natalie.

These youngsters all like a game with lots of interaction so when it came to selecting which board game to play what better choice than one of the modern classics, Settlers of Catan. A game we have described in previous blog posts in a lot more detail, it requires players to actively trade natural resources with each other in order to advance their civilisation of roads, towns and cities.

Playing with the 5/6 player expansion there was plenty of land for us to colonise although by the end of the game the island felt pretty cramped. Whilst Ben was busy accruing sheep (fondly termed “dollies” since he first played this game with us around the time Dolly was cloned) he was also keeping a watchful eye on my obvious progress and zealously pointed a very unwelcome spotlight on my advancement towards the 10 victory points required to win.

Games in a Pub - 11th December 2011

A large race and then some surprisingly disappointing games

With the rain lashing down outside I was surprised to find a large group ready and willing to play when I arrived at the Blue Anchor, last Sunday. With yet more people arriving close behind me and the festive season approaching it seemed (to me at least!) an ideal opportunity to give Pitch Car another run out.

With the evenings focus on social gaming and with so many people I suggested people pair up and play in teams of 2. It thus accommodated 12 players with a further 3 spectators. Mark and Nick took an early and commanding lead and were way ahead of the rest of us however as they entered the final lap everything went to pot and the way seemed open for Oliver and myself placed in second or the green team (see my post from 18th September 2011) in third. However whilst we were lucky enough to profit from their engine malfunction the green team lost it completely with their car doing pretty much everything you don’t want a car to do bar turning around and driving the wrong way around the track, to the point that they came in in last place - oops.

Match Report 18th July 2011

From anarchy to civilization, but no munchies!

With a the nature of peoples busy lives not knowing till the last minute if we will have 3 or 12 people joining us is all part of the fun. Frequently people aren’t able to confirm till late in the afternoon and teenagers often need a gentle reminder –“Oh you mean games night is tonight, I thought it was.........”. In the end Monday night saw five of us, Malcolm, Daniella, Ben and Gwen, gather around the table for a game or two.

As on the last occasion Ben arrived food in hand and sat down to eat his meal whilst we discussed the world or was the ‘The News of The World’ and what games to play. This week he had gone for roast beef dinner in a Yorkshire pudding, I didn’t think it looked very appetising but what commitment!

Dominion Intrigue (Age 10+, 2-4 players, 30 min playing time)

Our first game of the evening was Dominion but possibly the group’s first use of the Dominion Intrigue expansion box (Gwen and I have tried some of the combinations on our own). I selected the card combination called ‘Deconstruction’ which might have been more aptly names anarchy

Match Report 7th June 2010

Sorry no photos this week.

We had so many people turn up this time that we had standing room only. However this might be to slightly misrepresent the facts. The house is still like a tip as we move more and more out of the areas being decorated into the dinning room  and so with 6 players (and one in reserve, more on this later) we were snugly gathered around the table. This week saw the return of Daniela, plus Pauline, Natalie, Crispin and Malcolm.

We need to watch Malcolm, he is showing signs of competing with Daniela for being the bandit of the group, this was only his second evening with us and he showed a grasp of the game from the very beginning that would ensure he would finish well placed when the points were counted in this weeks game, in spite of the fact that he was the only person not to have played it before. Hmmm very worrying!