2017.01.26: The January Blues Experiment

3-Players: K, Z & W
Location: K
Choice: W
Game: Agricola

Game 1:

Player	Points
K	33
Z	32
W	27

Final Tally:

• K was declared this week's winner!

Game Notes:

• Z was out for 1st time in a month, on a "trial run"..whatever that means
• Full card draft was done.
• Game was over and packed up and everybody left the building before 11pm - didn't think a full draft Agricola could be done that quickly, even with only 3 players!
• K misplayed the 1st round up to the initial harvest, resulting in being the only player with a Begging Card, but then rebounded strongly over the rest of the game.
• W had a decent farm going relatively early, but then faltered for some reason later on.
• Z had two more guys then K and W for several rounds mid-game, and ended game as only one with 5 guys.
• K focussed his card drafting on a food engine, however it was his use of the Travelling Salesman and the Bookshelf/Academic combo Occupations that ultimately won him the game.

Music:

Samsara Blues Experiment: Long Distance Trip (2010)
Muse: Drones (2015)
Space Disco: Spotify Playlist (2015)

2017.01.19 The Sound of Silence Re-Mixed

3-Players: J, K & W
Location: K
Choice: K
Game: Isle of Skye: From Chieftan to King

Game 1:

Player	Points
J	66
K	56
W	55



Scoreboard at end of game 1

Game 2:

Player	Points
K	103
W	76
J	49



K's land at the end of game 2

Final Tally:

Player	Points
k	159
w	131
J	115

• K was declared this week's winner!

Game Notes:

• The prodigal son (Z) may return next week.
• The prodigal father (G) may return the week after that?...
• First time trying Isle of Skye.considered relatively light fare, but with a sufficient amount of tough bidding decisions to be made to make the game interesting enough for our group to enjoy from time to time.we considered it to be Carcassone +
• Agreed that each additional player will add a fair chunk of time to the game play (as there is an aspect of AP to this game that will only get worse with more players/choices), but should still be easily playable on a regular Thursday night even with its max of 5 players.
• Much like El Grande, this is a game where you don't necessarily want to jump out to a lead early.not because you become a target, but rather, because of the mechanism where you receive additional income if you are behind in the game.if you can find a way to build up your clan territory towards massive points in the final two rounds and end of game scoring, while still staying just a little bit behind the others over the first 4 rounds, you will do well!

Music

...

2016 Year-End Gamer Stats and 2016 Year-End Gamer Stats Redux

For your amusement and edification, County has produced stats for those keeping score at home.

Here's what K posted on Jan 3rd, 2017:
 

CUMULATIVE STATS - 5 FEBRUARY 2015 THROUGH 29 DECEMBER 2016
PLAYER	GAMES PLAYED	POSSIBLE PTS	PTS EARNED	GAMER RATE (GR)	VS. AVG GR	% 1st	% 2nd
G	113	176.000	89.115	50.6%	131.2%	37.2%	22.1%
Si	76	128.667	55.417	43.1%	111.6%	22.4%	27.6%
K	93	147.333	62.167	42.2%	109.4%	30.1%	17.2%
Z	34	59.000	23.375	39.6%	102.7%	26.5%	23.5%
Sc	12	22.333	7.250	32.5%	84.1%	16.7%	8.3%
J	70	117.000	35.417	30.3%	78.4%	10.0%	22.9%
M	41	68.333	19.875	29.1%	75.4%	12.2%	19.5%
W	115	180.667	46.813	25.9%	67.2%	12.2%	25.2%
Others	17	34.000	4.667	13.7%	35.6%	11.8%	0.0%

And here are the GAMER RATES for just 2016 (I’ve lumped Sc and “Others” together given how few games were played for each).  Looks like 2016 was a banner year for K J:

 

	Possible Points	Points Earned	GAMER RATE
K	61.333	28.292	46%
Si	51.667	22.583	44%
Sc + Others	10.000	4.125	41%
G	73.333	29.323	40%
Z	57.667	22.708	39%
M	20.667	7.042	34%
J	40.333	10.833	27%
W	77.333	19.313	25%

 

... the Cumulative Monthly chart showing the gradual decline of G…he’s starting to lose it in his old age:

 

Best of luck to all in 2017!!!

 

 

Updated

Follow-up message from K received Jan 15th, 2017

Gents,

 

Z made a suggestion that I should update my stats so that games with more players were worth more than games with less players.  I agreed, so I’ve tweaked the stats to give better percentages (for the same place finish) for games with more players as compared to games with less players.  I also changed the system in line with another suggestion from Z, wherein now the total points awarded for each game is equal to the number of players squared. 

Long story short, although the total points now look quite different from my previous spreadsheet, really it’s the GAMER RATE percentage that is the only thing that matters, and these changes to the stats system didn’t really have too much of an impact on the GAMER RATE percentages.  Didn’t change anybody’s overall placement, but did tighten up the gaps between places a little bit.

 

Revised summary stats under this new approach:

 

CUMULATIVE STATS - 5 FEBRUARY 2015 THROUGH 2 JANUARY 2017
PLAYER	GAMES PLAYED	PTS EARNED	PTS POSSIBLE	GAMER RATE (GR)	VS. AVG GR	% 1st	% 2nd
G	113	680	1,213	56.0%	128.4%	37.2%	22.1%
Si	76	457	901	50.8%	116.4%	22.4%	27.6%
K	95	496	1,032	48.1%	110.2%	30.5%	17.9%
Z	36	201	423	47.6%	109.2%	27.8%	25.0%
Sc	12	69	160	43.1%	98.9%	16.7%	8.3%
J	70	321	831	38.6%	88.5%	10.0%	22.9%
M	41	176	491	35.8%	82.0%	12.2%	19.5%
W	117	372	1,258	29.6%	67.8%	12.0%	24.8%
Others	17	51	246	20.6%	47.2%	11.8%	0.0%

 

Thanks for the suggestions, Z, I prefer this new approach.

-K
 

2017.01.02 Maybe They Were Still Hungover?

3-Players: K, W & Z

Game: Scythe + Key to the City: London
Location: K
Choice: Consensus

Game One (Scythe):

Player	Points
Z	72
K	66*
W	59

Game Two (Key to the City: London):

Player	Points
K	110
Z	100
W	74

 

Final Tally:

Player	Points
K	176
Z	172
W	133

• K was declared this week's winner!

Game Notes:

• K forgot about the end of game bonus point tile, as well as his character’s special ability (!!!).
• K claims that he would likely have won handily had these things been realized. Yes, this comment was recommended for the blog by K.  It doesn’t make it any less accurate ;o)

Music:

Smashing Pumpkins: Siamese Dream
Stone Temple Pilots: Purple
Weezer: Make Believe
Pearl Jam: Vitalogy
Steve Miller Band: 1974-1978 Greatest Hits