2009/03/25

March PMS

Well well, it is that time of the month again for PMS. PMS is a fun event where board games lovers get to know new friends and enjoy board games together. This month Pitstoppers Meetup Session (PMS) will be on next Tuesday (31st March 2009).



Information
Date: Tuesday 31st March 2009
Time: 7.00pm to 10.30pm
Venue: Pitstop Cafe
Charges: Free gaming and free flow of drinks as well!
Promotion: Only $7 for main course and $4 for finger food.
Number: 30 pax (By registration only) Register for the event.

Hope to see you then!

Pitstop Cafe, be part of the fun!

weekee

2009/03/19

What is mum up to?

Mum loves cooking. Every now and then she likes to try new stuff. It is always fun to look at how she studied the recipes and actively took down the notes. So what is she up to?



Well for this week she is trying out paper wrapped chicken chop! I had tested the prototype and it taste great! So for those who are dropping by on Friday and Saturday, do ask for it if you want to try something new.

I think you would love it.

Pitstop Cafe, be part of the fun!

WeeKee

2009/03/17

Monopoly Challenge 2009

Monopoly isn't really my favourite game but for fans of this game, you would definitely like to take part in the upcoming Monopoly National Championship.


Registration cost only $4 per participant and winner gets an all expense paid trip for 2 person to Las Vegas!

Event Information

Venue: Plaza Singapura Open Plaza Level 1
Date: Saturday 4th April (Heats) and Sunday 5th April (Quarter, Semi & Finals)
Registration: Register by 29th March

Do note that there are also some changes to the game play to make it more strategic compared to the normal version. For more details, visit http://www.monopoly2009.com.sg 

Pitstop Cafe, be part of the fun!

WeeKee

2009/03/16

An unlucky week

Last week was a really unlucky week. The cafe was broken into by somebody and we lost quite a bit of money which really matters for a small business like us. I was damn pissed off at the evil doer and ready to curse the culprit to death.

I opened my death note, wanting to write that the culprit will choke to death while eating fishball noodles. I did not do that. It wasn't that i was kind hearted but rather I realise i did not have a name.

Despite the losses, we really gotta be thankful that no one was hurt in the incident. The penguins and board games were safe from harm as well. Things could have been worse.

We are still not very sure when the crime was committed. Upon noticing that things were amiss in the cafe by the crew, a police report was filed. By the time I reached the cafe, there were already a few policemen at the scene taking down the statements from the crew.

I was expecting that the police would be doing some high tech stuff like scanning the place with high tech UV light to pick up suspicious footprints or something exciting. However no such stuff happened.

The policemen were mainly taking down statements and investigating for any signs of suspicious activities the vicinity. Photographs were taken and some useful clues were found. Hopefully the security cameras in the Boat Quay area would help in cracking the case too.

It has been an important lesson for us not to get careless especially now that times are bad. We really need to be more vigilant and take more care with our belongings. My mum was mentioning that her friend who is working as a cashier, ended up paying $100 out of her own pocket because some evil doer passed off 100 Thai Baht as Singapore dollars during the peak hour!

We are sharing our bad experience so that it would be a useful lesson to remind everyone to be more mindful and take good care of your personal belongings wherever you go especially during this period of economic uncertainties.

But no matter what lies ahead, do remember to treasure the love ones around you and smile. And if you are looking for a fun time to chase away the gloom, Pitstop Cafe is here for you!

Pitstop Cafe, be part of the fun!

WeeKee

2009/03/01

Board Game Review, Pandemic

This is a review on a pretty recent game called Pandemic. The fact that this is a cooperative game makes it worth the effort to check it out. After all you don't get to find many board games in this genre.

Overview



Pandemic is a game by Matt Leacock. In this game, players cooperate to find the cure for 4 different diseases that is currently infecting the world. It is challenging as players have to find the cure and at the same time prevent the diseases from spreading out of control. 

It is a pure cooperative game in the sense that either the whole team wins or they lose which makes for an interesting gaming experience compared to most games where you are competing with each other.

Game Components

The components are pretty nice and I like the artwork for the cards and the game board. The rulebook is nicely formatted with clear examples which makes it easy to learn the game.









The individual action guide is useful and certainly makes it easier when you are teaching the game to first time players. My only gripe is the game board is rather small. It is not that it makes it difficult to play but I would definitely prefer a bigger game board. 

Game Play

The thing about Pandemic that catches my attention is the game mechanics.  It is well-designed and elegant design in the game play. The game is simple to learn and at the same time it provides an intense gaming experience. 

Like most cooperative games, it adopts the "bad guy good guy" approach. Players get to do something good during their turn. The board then gets it turn and throws in some chaos into the game. 

Pandemic is a game for  4 players where each player assumes one of the five possible roles (scientist, medic, operations, dispatcher and researcher). Each role gives the player an advantage when performing certain actions.




Players starting their adventure from the research center in Atlanta

Players have to work together to find the cures for 4 different diseases to win the game. This is done through the collection of player cards. To find a cure for a disease, a player need to collect 5 cards that have the same symbol as the disease. 

However, if a player is a scientist, only 4 cards is needed. Hence you can see that an important aspect of the the game is to be able to effectively make use of the different abilities provided by players with different roles.



Apart from using these cards to find a cure, they are also allow you to travel to different parts of the world. This makes the gameplay interesting because players have to decide between using the cards to travel or keeping them to find the cure, not to mention that players only get to keep up to 7 cards in their hand.

In the process of finding the cures for the diseases, players would still need to treat regions that are currently infected with different diseases. 



At the end of every turn, a number of new regions will be infected as players draw a certain number of infection cards from the infection cards deck.


The first type of card you learn to hate

Now you might be wondering what is the big deal? After all, you can go to these regions and treat the diseases. This is where the importance of making effective decisions as a team comes into play. If you are not able to treat the diseases fast enough, a region can get over infected causing an outbreak and spreading the disease to other regions.


Not to forget that the outbreak in one region can cascade into multiple outbreaks!

To many outbreaks and your whole team loses the game. The team also loses the game by running out of player cards or the disease cubes. This means that to win the game, the players got to act fast and efficient!



Before you think that the challenge can get any worse, let me introduce to you another set of cards that you will hate. They are the epidemic cards. They appear every now and then throughout the game, creating more chaos. 

When this a card is drawn, a new region will become super infected (with 3 disease cubes). At the same time regions that were previously infected get a higher chance of getting infected again as the infection cards are shuffled and put back to the top of the infection deck.


The second type of card that you hate.

The infection rate also gets a notch higer which means that from now onwards, more regions will be infected at the end of every player turn. Hence the intensity of the game can escalate quickly as things get out of control and more regions become infected.



That basically sum up the game play. The game is pretty easy to learn once players become familar with the importance of the various roles. The challenge would then be how to cooperate as a team and beat the game.

Theme

I think the theme is perfect. With the epidemic and outbreak mechanism, players can really get into the game as they try to control the diseases from spreading further. The theme is that good and it is also the reason why it make me gripe on the size of the board. Finding cures and treating diseases around the globe makes for a grand experience. Yet all the intense actions are squeezed into one small board! A bigger board definitely makes the adventure grander and provides a better gaming experience.


Won't you have prefer a bigger board too?

Conclusion

Pandemic is a really good game with simple yet well-designed mechanics. The game starts slow but become more and more intense as the epidemic cards and increase in infection rate starts to impact the game. 

Players can also set the level of difficulty by playing with different number of epidemic cards which make this game good for beginning players as well as more experience players. However I am disappointed that this game is only for 4 players. It would definitely be more exciting if it can play up to 6 players.

Some people had commented that sometimes a more "experience" player tends to be the only one making the decisions while others follow. I think it is not a common issue and happens only when some players have yet to grasp the concept of the game. As the game progress and players become more familiar with the game play, the interaction between the players also increases.

One key problem that I would foresee is that the game might lack replayabilty. Though the use of different number of epidemic cards can increase the challenge of the game, the game play can feel repetitive after a couple of plays.

My suggestion to this issue is not to be too focus on beating the game but rather enjoy the intense game experience that Pandemic provides. After all, it isn't everyday that you get to work together with your friends to save the world from horrible diseases and that alone make Pandemic one of best cooperative games around.

Pitstop Cafe, be part of the fun!

WeeKee

 
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