Saturday and this morning, my 4-player group managed to play (in order) Lords of Waterdeep twice (new to 2 players), Discworld: Ankh-Morpork once (new to everyone), Lost Cities twice, and Wiz-War (8th edition) once (new to 2 players).
We’ve all played 2-player LC, but playing it 4-player (two 2-player teams) for the first time at first twisted our brains. But we ended up enjoying it, maybe more so than with two players, given the trading and no communication mechanisms introduced in the 4-player game. Each team (guys vs. gals) won once.
LoW was a huge hit! The two new players loved it, and the 4-player game was just as enjoyable as the 2-player game. Both games ended with the winner’s VP total being within 10 or so VPs of the 4th place player’s VP total.
D:A started out with accusations flying everywhere as to whom had whose personality card! I originally had the personality whose win condition is to have a minion in 9 areas, but traded it in for one of the remaining three personalities (chosen at random) that weren’t originally dealt when the ladies were correctly convinced of my personality. I ended up drawing Commander Vimes, who wins as soon as the draw deck’s depleted, which it ended up being!
We all enjoyed the game, but decisions became tougher and tougher as more player pieces were added to the board. I don’t think any of us played efficiently, since checking for victory conditions at the start of a player’s turn means you should probably construct a hand of 4-5 cards that can be played all in one turn. Playing a card with a “Play another card” icon on it just to play another card seemed like a waste of such cards. When compared to LoW, all three preferred it to D:A. But I really want to play it again!
Our 4-player game of Wiz-War didn’t last nearly as long as our 2-player games, but it was still fun and a hit with the new players. We played with the recommended beginners decks, and they picked up the game quickly. Had the eventual winner, since the start of the game, not had possession of the stone that provides an additional movement point (we couldn’t destroy it!) and continually drawn an energy card after playing one on every turn (with only 4 cards in hand, no less, for 90% of the game!), we might have been able to stop her. But she had the right card every time (for example, she drew a card on her turn just prior to being hit with a spell (which would destroy her stone) that allowed her to cancel the spell). We’ll definitely play it 4-player again, but with all of the schools at once for maximum chaos!
