Tuesday 24th January - Caylus

This week there was only Garry, Steve and myself as Richard was off skiing in Utah. Garry chose to give Caylus another spin. We have played this game only twice before but I think we all liked it. As it was a while since the last playing we had a quick resumé of the rules. I think we played it last in October after Essen 2005. This game has been compared to Puerto Rico by many players. Actually 'is this the next Puerto Rico?' by some! I like Caylus a lot but I'm not sure it's the new Puerto Rico, both games are excellent.

When we first played we did misplay quite a few rules. Consequently nobody got very far on the favours track. On the second playing we had sorted all that out and I think we got all the rules right. There are many ways to proceed in the game, just as there are in PR and as the game progresses you can usually see what your opponents are up to. Garry had built a few of the key buildings producing cubes and consequently was very valuable to him throughout the game. I built quite a few times in the castle in the first few turns, gaining favours. I must say that my eyes are a bit dodgy at best and I had a job telling brown and purple apart on the tiles which made me rethink my plan at least twice. Also I must remember that it's no good
trying to build a brown building if you are not getting the appropriate cubes until after the building tile is activated!! Doh!! Nobody used the Inn at all in this game and as we progressed Garry raced away into the lead by a considerable margin. Steve and myself were pretty neck and neck. As soon as the gold mine became available Steve went on it at every opportunity. Ah! I remembered that Steve had amassed a large quantity of gold at the end of the last game.

Three quarters of the way through the game and still nobody had built a residence, it was looking debatable if a blue building was going to built at all. Garry was building stone buildings nearly every turn and was still a long way in the lead. He did try to finish the game by moving the provost over the tower line but Steve pulled it back and forced the game to carry on. I was buying 2 gold each turn towards end but couldn't see me building a blue building. I could see Steve was aiming to build one next turn. I knew if he did he would get close to Garry and leave me in last place. He also was going first in turn order. I would have tried to grab turn order and grab the architect to foil his plan, even though I couldn't build myself, but Garry in his stone building frenzy had build two architects and I knew I couldn't stop him. Steve did build the Library for 16pts so at the game end it turned out to be quite close. I think Garry was glad it ended when it did as he was beginning to run out of steam. So I ended last but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. As I have said before I don't necessarily have to win to enjoy the experience of playing (see my previous posts about Age of Steam).

Final Scores
Garry 94, Steve 90, Colin 78