the gathering 2001
------------ the game room animal cracker combat the games to play the gathering 2001 - part 2 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5 ------------ [home]	The Gathering of Friends is a huge gaming event held every year in Columbus, Ohio and organized by American Game Designer, Alan Moon. This year we were lucky enough to be able to attend. Here's what we played, who we played with, and my thoughts about both! We arrived MONDAY night, picked up our nametags right after we checked in and started playing! Click here for a panoramic picture of the room! First up was Wyatt Earp, one of the games we played the most over the seven days. Then a couple of quick games of Knizia's dice-fest Exxtra rounded out the evening. Here I am rolling X's with Dave and Jonathan (David's taking the picture). Fun filler game for the end of the night - no thought required, especially when one's playing against David! TUESDAY morning, David and I started out the day playing Torres with Craig and Ray, whom we met on the shuttle over to the hotel. I always forget how good this game is! Next up was a new game from Vinci designer Philippe Keyaerts, Evo, which was a cute sort of evolve your dino before it gets wiped out by the asteroid game. Alas, there was bidding... so, not a big winner in my eye. Here's Dave, Jenn, Craig and David (I'm playing photographer). Then Mark joined us (Dave and Craig defected) and we played The Princes of Florence, which is one of my all-time faves! David and I ventured off to play Battle Cry. We got to play a tournament scenario from Richard Borg. Way cool! As usual, I played the Confederacy, so that I don't have to feel so bad if I lose.... Sadly, the North was defeated! One of the highlights of "The Gathering" is getting to play some of the new, not-quite yet released games. So, after changing the history of the Civil War, David and I tried out the brand new Alea game The Traders of Genua. The game was just beautiful and the negotiation basis of it was lots of fun. The central mechanism for moving the "Trade Tower" around was also really great! The only negative: it took over 2 hours for a 4-player game. :-( I was itching to play Mystery Rummy #2, which has become a recent addiction of mine. Anyway, we found ourselves at an all Mystery Rummy table! That's Joe playing Mystery Rummy #1 in the front, me, Craig, Pat and David playing Mystery Rummy #2 in the middle, and Dave R. and Emily playing Mystery Rummy #3 in the back. And standing is Mike Fitzgerald, the designer of these fabulous games, himself! Mike then sat down to explain some strategies for the newest game in the series, Mystery Rummy #3: Jekyll and Hyde. Mike's rummy games, including Wyatt Earp, were the games we played the most at "The Gathering". I have to say, I enjoy every single one of them. They each have their own unique and interesting mechanisms and goals and the last two - Wyatt Earp and MR #3: Jekyll & Hyde - really do a great job uniting game play with the theme! We ended the day by playing the new game from Bruno Faidutti, Dragon's Gold. This was a cute negotiation game, that has the players slaying dragons (via cards) and then struggling to divvy up the jewels that they bring. The key lies in collecting the right sort of jewels for the scoring at the end of the game. Here Dave, David and Scott say "hi" to the camera as they set everything up. Mark was the big winner, but I guess he couldn't stick around for the photo! Click here to continue reading my report from "The Gathering"