Session report: Tula, One Man Thrag, Farook

["Iain Cheyne" <news@...>]

Another piecepack session report:
http://cheyne.net/blog/index.cgi/board_games/tula_farook_1manthrag.htm
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Tula, One Man Thrag, Farook (and New City)

Four games today. This work rate will not continue when I get back to 
London, but for now I'm playing loads of games because we have
lots 
of people and time on this family holiday and because Mexican TV is 
so bad. It also helps that my cousin's house is wired up.

The babies were ill yesterday, so I volunteered to stay at home 
looking after them instead of going to the Frida Kahlo museum - an 
easy choice.

Naturally, I managed to squeeze in some gaming while the babes 
slumbered. I played Tula and One Man Thrag, probably the best known 
piecepack solitaires, although that will probably change after the 
next competition. After the others got back, I managed to persuade my 
brother-in-law to try an abstract game called Farook. We also started 
a game of New City, but had to abandon it we were interrupted and it 
was too late.

Tula is good. It is in the style of a classical card based solitaire, 
but ported to the piecepack. It is very quick, so I played it about 
12 times, but could not complete it, although I came very close a few 
times. Again it has a loose archaeological theme, as Tula is the site 
of a terraced pyramid, about an hours drive from here. The tableau is 
in the shape of a terraced pyramid. My only slight complaint is that 
it breaks down early on too often, but I am keen to complete it, 
which is the acid test of a good solitaire.

One Man Thrag was unexpectedly fun. When I first read the rules I 
thought it would be clumsily tied to the fantasy theme. In fact the 
mechanics are solid and it was a genuine challenge. It's very 
different from card based solitaires, as it has a very thematic feel 
and uses all the different components of the piecepack. If you like 
solitaire and have a piecepack you must try it.

Farook, on the other hand, was not a success. As I am not interested 
in games design, but wanted to help the piecepack community, I put 
together a list of already existing abstract games that can be played 
with the piecepack. Unfortunately, every one I have tried has been a 
turkey. Playing on a 4x4 board feels cramped and static. We could not 
see how to trap the opponent into losing, so the only way we were 
going to win was by the opponent making a mistake. I am no good at 
abstracts and neither is brother-in-law, so there may be tactics we 
were missing, but we were not interested enough to persevere and 
abandoned it.

Thankfully, New City went down very well. We had to stop before the 
finish, but it was very promising. It's great to finally have a 
piecepack game that Ness requests. I'll write up a proper session 
report once I have played it through.

-- 
Iain