30 Seconds From Mars to Tokyo

Well, more like 8 minutes. And even that is understating it.

Last Friday we first started with Mission Red Planet, a Secret Satan gift that I had on my wish list to play for a year. We were a bit slow in getting to grips with the rules, but finally did alright.

Mission Red Planet is effectively an area control game. Although the player action mechanic copied from Machiavelli/Citadels works well, we felt that this game is more subtle and doesn't give you the satisfaction of pulling off a good on one your opponents like you can in Citadels.

We will bring it back to the table sometime, but it might turn out a bit scripted once you know the game better. I can see the Explorer getting used en masse in the 5th and 10th turns, with the Recruiter in the 6th.

Then it was on to 8 Minute Empire that is really liked by us all. Jeroen got a good introductory game.

Finally we played two games of King of Tokyo. My first game was really bad, not doing any damage before getting killed myself. In the second I managed to stay out of Tokyo for most of the time while acquiring a card that allowed me to recuperate faster. It meant that when I went I went into Tokyo in good health, I won.