New To Me Games: 2/21/2011

ianoble    Board Games, Glen More, New To Me Games, Summoner Wars, Tikal II     glen more, NewToMeGames, Summoner Wars, Tikal II

This is the first article in my new segment New To Me Games. Every Monday I will be highlighting 2 or 3 games that I have not played before. These games are either newly published or have been around for a while, I have just not been presented with the opportunity to play them. Basically I will go over some of the things that made me want to buy the game and then talk about how I felt after my first couple of plays.
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First play: Tikal II: The Lost Temple

ianoble    2-Player, Board Games, Tikal II     first play, review, Tikal II

(Photo by Hélio Andrade via BoardGameGeek.com)

Tikal II has been on my want list for a long time…pretty much from the time it was announced. This is mainly because I really enjoy Tikal, but have never actually picked up a copy. I played it once in person and a few times online, mostly with 4 players. The original was a bit dry, but definitely a brain burner with many opportunities for tough decision making. That being said, I was concerned it might not be a game that would work well with only 2 players. So, in doing my research on the “sequel” I found that they worked hard to have the game play very similar no matter how many players. Also, they recognized the issue with Analysis Paralysis (AP) that a lot of people criticized the original game for. Both welcome changes, in my book and definitely the makings of a game I would be willing to pick up and play with Lisa.

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