Is a Hamburger a Sandwich?

This is such a wonderfully inane topic that has spawned a 4000 post thread on my message board.  Its great because people get to be the cliche' internet arguer on something that inherently doesn't matter.  I mean really really doesn't matter; it matters less than if Justin Bieber is bigger than Kurt Cobain.   Clearly it's Cobain, coming in at 5'7", but that can change in a couple years as Bieber (5'5") grows up.

So the 3 broad arguments that have been recycled

Populist

This is the primary argument of the Burger Separatists.  No one in their right mind EVER orders a hamburger sandwich.  Just listen to Morgan and Chuck in Good Will Hunting sound like total idjits.

 

Seriously, who calls a burger a sandwich?  I don't.  The only time I would ever do that is ironically and at a restaurant one of my message board friends owns, just to see if he would really refuse me service or would we get a good laugh out of it.

This is kind of a hard argument to counter because you come off as the guy who eliminates Scrabble words because they aren't in the dictionary.  But common usage does not equate reality.  It's like knuckleheads that dismiss evolution as 'only a theory'.  Look up theory in the dictionary sometime genius.  There is a difference between a scientific theory and a conjectural theory.

Speaking of Evolution

The most compelling argument of the Burger Separatists is that a burger may have once been a sandwich but after several generations of eating them, they have evolved into their own class of cuisine.

This is completely anecdotal and inconclusive to boot.   Burger Deniers have linked menu's of several restaurants that list burgers and sandwiches in the same section, sometimes only with the heading of sandwiches!  Burger Separatists counter with their own string of menus.  Both sides have conducted unscientific polls and asked food bloggers with the mixed results continuing.  

Construction  

This is the go to move for the Burger Deniers.   A sandwich is some kind of filling, generally but not limited to meat, surrounded by slices of bread.  

Or as a dictionary defines it

1.  two or more slices of bread or the like with a layer of meat, fish, cheese, etc., between each pair.

While a hamburger bun is not strictly bread, it certainly is 'or the like' since it is also baked flour and yeast.  So unless you are eating a patty plain, and I pity you if that's the case, then a hamburger must be a sandwich.


Which Internet Cliche' was Darren?

I was argue with a fencepost guy.  A burger is a sandwich, but I didn't argue that way for months simply because I wanted to continue stirring the pot.

F@#$ Amun-Re

Amun-Re

Plot:  Egyptian themed; become the most prestigious noble by acquiring wealth and building pyramids.  The theme isn’t well integrated; it’s just there to give the mechanisms a name.

 

Goal:  It’s a game about victory points.  Building pyramids is the chief way to earn VP’s but most money and certain provinces count at end game.

Mechanics: 

The game is played in two eras, with 3 turns per era.

There are 5 phases per turn, and timing matters.  Power cards can only be played in the specific corresponding phase.

Phase 1:  Roll out provinces.  Flip over one province per player to be auctioned.

Phase 2:  Auction the provinces.  The cost has a track based on the Triangular Number Series, or 0, 1, 3 , 6, 10, 15, 21, 28, 36…

Each province is a little different.  Some give you free resources upon buying.  Some give you recurring money every term, some give farms (which is also recurring money but requires additional investment) and a couple give temple spots which is VP at the end of the era.  Everyone will get exactly ONE province.

In 5 player, all provinces will be used, but in 3 or 4 player some will not be played.

Phase 3:  Buy and build.  The game gives a specific order, but the only thing that really matters is that you buy cards first because you can play those immediately.  The resource prices follow the same Triangular Number track as the auctions.

Power cards provide exceptions to the core rules.  Like a pyramid costs less stone, or if you want to over bid me during the auction you have to spend even more money.   You can’t play duplicate cards in the same turn, and you need to pay attention to the corresponding phase they are played in.  For example, cards with a green background are ONLY played in round 5, the harvest.  Cards with a white background are played in this phase.  Some cards give extra VP’s depending on your province lay out.  Like all 3 provinces by the Nile gets you points, or all 3 provinces on the red side of the board.  These VP cards can be combined, although quite a few are mutually exclusive.  You are capped on the number of power cards you may purchase; the number is determined by which provinces you own.

Next you buy farmers.  A farmer gets you cash in harvest phase.  The exact amount depends on the temple phase.

Finally you buy stone.  Stone is used to build pyramids.  3 stones = 1 pyramid, although an action card does discount the price.  It doesn’t take additional actions to convert stone to 

pyramids.

Phase 4:  Donate to the temple.  Secretly donate cash to the temple.  

1)      The higher the grand total from everyone, the more farmers will earn

2)      The person that donates the most gets 3 free things in any combination, 2^nd place gets 2 free things, and 3^rd and 4^th gets 1 free thing.  The ‘most donated’ player also goes first next turn.

3)      Instead of donating, you can play a “-3” card.  By playing this card you lower the grand total by 3, gain 3 gold, and forfeit any free stuff you would get by actually donating money.

Phase 5:  Harvest.  Farmers earn money based on the grand total donated in temple phase.  IF farmers only earn $1 or $2, camel provinces earn money.  These are marked right on the province.  Some provinces just give you cash regardless.  Total everything up and get ready for next turn.

Scoring

Scoring happens at the end of turn 3 and turn 6.    At turn 3 the provinces are reset.  They are no longer owned by anyone and the farmers are swept.  Pyramids built stay.

Score a point for every pyramid.

Score 3 points for every complete set of pyramids.  A set is a pyramid in each province you own.

Check for the province that has the most pyramids on both sides of the Nile.  The winner gets 5 points.

Score VP cards, detailed in phase 3.  These all count as 3 VP each.

Score temples.  Temples earn VP dependent on the donation phase, determined exactly like farmer values.

At turn 6, count money.  The winner gets 6 points, 2^nd place gets 4 points, and 3^rd place gets 2.

Tactics

Very preliminary based on 1 game played.

Power cards seem a lot more important in the first era than the second; you keep your hand.  Duplicate VP cards are worthless in the 2^nd era, but if you get them in the 1st you can at least carry them to the 2^nd.

‘Most pyramids’ is pretty important.  It’s single handedly worth the most points, and if someone gets these points from both sides of the river he will probably win.

Review:

I liked it and think this game will have good replay.  It was reasonably quick paced and the decisions were pretty good.  There might be a Stone Age/Fresco fatal flaw forthcoming, but as of right now it will be fun finding out J

F@#$ Counter Intuitive Strategies (and maybe some other game play fallacies)

Last week, NF played Bohnanza, and the post game analysis got me thinking, Bean game is actually quite counter-intuitive.

#1 - you can't be a dick.  Normally people I would play with would rather cut off their own arm then help their opponent.    And you just can't be that demanding in Bohnanza.  You absolutely have to lose some trades to get to where you want to be.  And if you screw someone, you got to do it in a way that the victim either doesn't know or won't embargo you.



#2 - a card 5 plays deep in your hand is not an asset.    You MUST get it out earlier or switch your focus.  It's counter intuitive, because what if that is something you really want to plant?  Doesn't matter.  If it is buried that far back, it will take way to long to get into play, the opportunity cost is crippling. 



So what are some other counter intuitive games?

Scrabble!

See Mike's post for the exact strategery, but the winner of scrabble is often NOT the guy who plays the longest words.  It's the guy who takes advantage of the triple word and letter scores.

No Thanks!

You are trying to achieve the lowest score and cards count against that.  Why would you want to take cards?  Here's why.  No one is going through the game without taking cards.  With that caveat, it is to your advantage to take the 15, because that allows you to safely take the 14 or 16 later.


Next these aren't quite counter intuitive in my opinion, but some common game fallacies.



Tunnel Vision



Ticket to Ride -  the connections.  Connections are important, but a lot of players neglect the lucrative 6 spot rails to make sure they get connected.  It's opportunity cost again.  By getting locked into one aspect of the game you lose your chance at even bigger points.

Too much money

Race for the Galaxy, Brass and probably a dozen more economic based games.  There comes a time when you have to stop focusing on money and start focusing on victory points.  Failure to make this 'turn' will cost you wins.

F&#( Online Alternatives

Part of the enjoyment of a board game is the board.  And the bits.  And the table.  And particularly the people sitting around it.  Board gaming is a social activity.  Sure I like the competitive side, but I really like hanging out with my friends, laughing, cracking jokes, etc.  Nonetheless, I find some good games play much better online.

Brass:

I think that walrus is dead, i wonder how many people airports kill each year. 

I hate waiting.  So much so in fact, the airport is one of the most detested places on the planet for me.  Why?  Because typically you spend almost all your time at an airport waiting.  And until the advent of the smart phone, a book was about your only recourse.  Just thinking about the airport is starting to make me crabby, so let's move on.  Brass suffers from a lot of analysis.  It's not "analysis paralysis" persay because there's really not that much information to churn through in order to come to a decision, it just takes a bit of time to digest it all and figure out what you want to do.  And it's not just the guys typical prone to it that take the long turns, it's really everyone with a prayer of competing.  It just takes a few minutes to access the board and make your move.  And there's no need to analyze and reanalyze the board as your opponents take their subsequent turns, because it's all going to impact you and change the scenario enough to that you might as well wait until your turn and analyze it once then.  And you can bet that unless your going back to back, your first chioce of actions is someone else's first choice of action and won't be available by the time it comes back to you.  Same goes for your second choice.  It doesn't matter how the board got the way that it did since your last turn.  It is what it is now.  Absorb it all, make your decision, and take your turn.  Because of all that, Brass turns out to be a good game to play online with notifications by email.  As long as you can check your mail a couple times a day, it plays in a week or two.  The experience is pretty satisfying as far as online board games go.  It's a hard, complex game, so winning is more satisfying.  As a social experience, not so much.  There's a place for posting comments, but there isn't typically anything there.

Dominion:

I have a set of four ceiling cats.

Dominion was innovative, some of the best parts of a CCG boiled down and put in board game form.  So many cards and options, every game is different, many strategies are viable in any given set up.  But what makes Dominion interesting is also its problem.  It takes time to determine the card set you're using and set up the rest of the cards correctly per number of players.  Setup can take 10 minutes, while the game itself might only take 30.  And unless you use the same card set, clean up and setup for a second game might take longer.  It can be mitigated though, if everyone is helping and there's a system for selecting a new card it can go pretty fast.  But there's a second problem - the really fun decks are the ones the cycle.  And keeping track of actions, and buys and coins in a cycling deck is a nightmare, especially when the other players are trying to follow along with you.  Now compare these two problems to the online game.  Setup and clean up online just takes a second.  And it's new and fresh every time.  And buys and actions and coins are tracked for you online.  In fact it's right there for everyone to see.  Games online take 10-20 minutes and you fl through half a dozen without blinking.

Tigris & Euphrates:

I played this game a few times with my friends before eventually swearing it off.  It's just too deep.  Or so I thought.  And teaching it was time consuming.  New players were easily frustrated because when they instigated a battle, it typically didn't turn out even close to how they expected.  Resolving fights takes a while anyway because there is a lot of calculation and explanation.  I couldn't get around the mechanics to think about the game in terms of strategy.  Mostly I was just trying not to blow it.  Recently I played it on the iPad with Jason, and it was much more satisfying.  I haven't played in more than 5 years, but it only took about half a game (less than 15 minutes) to figure it all out again.  And we played three times in less than an hour (three players, two real and one AI).  The game is just much more accessable as a computer version.  Battles are calculated and executed for you in a second.  You can play, make mistakes, and play again in a short amount of time.  This makes the learning curve is much more reasonable.  Look forward to playing again, but not on the table.

This is irrelevant but I'm adding it anyway.

Of course beating some faceless sod online is not a substitute for sticking it to your friends.  But these options might help hold you over between game nights.