Went with some people from work to a bar called the Phoenix that's literally a block away from my apartment. It bills itself variously as a jazz or piano bar, with live music most nights; while we were there, it was a blues guitarist. Really, really nice atmosphere, reminiscent of the bygone Brazen Head (may it rest in peace), just the sort of place I longed for in college but rarely found. If you come to town, I'm very likely to take you.
A big shout-out to my co-worker Gabriel, whose webpage and blog I recently discovered. And he plays Settlers of Catan! Will wonders never cease. Speaking of which, I found out about a number of rules to that game just before I moved that I hadn't been aware of previously:
* Development cards can be played before you roll the dice.
* Trades where one person gives cards to another for free are against the rules.
* It's possible for another player to do something that causes you to win the game, but you can't actually win until it's your turn. Thus, it's (rarely) possible for someone else to win first!
We haven't had much luck at finding other players here at Cerner, so if you're reading this and you come to town, you might get drafted.
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3 comments:
* True, you can play development cards before you roll the dice. However, the case where it would be beneficial to do so would be extremely unlikely. The only thing I can think of is if you need to build a city to win the game, and you have the two wheat and two ore needed, and three other random resources. You use the year of plenty to get two more, so that if you DO roll a 7, you can discard half your cards without losing your city-money. I know that you can't trade or build before rolling, so I guess that's why I assumed you couldn't play cards either. However, the rules do say that you can.
* There is nothing in the rules that explicitly prohibits this, unless your friend has a different set of rules than I do.
* It's true that you can only win the game when it's your turn. However, I'm not sure how someone else can score points for you, except perhaps in one of the variations of the game.
But, hey, I played at least a dozen games before I discovered that you get free resources when you place your second settlement.
(Yay, posting in my own blog! But it's the easiest way to reply.)
* I would personally be likely to play a soldier before rolling the dice, if I had a Robbered, high-producing tile (like a 6 or an 8). The odds that I'm about to roll it are pretty good.
* Apparently, the rules define a trade as a transfer of one or more cards from each player. Thus, if someone is transferring zero cards, it's not a trade and thus against the rules. Mayfair's FAQ pages confirm this, at least...
* There's at least one scenario I can think of: another player places a settlement that severs someone's road, transferring the Longest Road bonus to you. If they go on to make ten points that turn, they've won, and not you.
* Yeah, that's a good rule to know; using the soldier before rolling is indeed a worthwhile use.
* Also fair enough, but there are usually ways around that (I'll trade you a brick and thirty sheep for your brick).
* Yeah, I thought of that right after posting. I wasn't able to come up with any OTHER ways that it could happen, though.
Of course, I'll forget all of that by the next time I play. I played last night (by insane coincidence) for the first time in at least half a year, and it will be at least as long before I play again. I'd like to eventually try out Cities and Knights of Catan, though.
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