My February Gaming

 While my February gaming wasn’t particularly packed with learning new games, looking back at it, there was a focus on slightly larger micro games. As I have written about in the past, 18 cards is where a micro game has enough design space to flex its muscles.

I learned:

Ham Fisted

This Mars Vacation

Pocket Puffins

Confusing Lands

Roll and Safari

Guards and Goblins (published version)

I also revisited Pentaquark, a game I hadn’t liked that much the first time. It had been long enough since my last play and I had grown enough as a solitaire gamer that it was practically like playing it for the first time. And a better experience this time.

Ham Fisted, Pocket Puffins, Confusing Lands and Guards and Goblins were also games that crossed the line between nano game and micro game. If you are used to huge, table sprawling games, there probably doesn’t feel like much of a difference. And I know that major reason that 18 cards is a format for micro games is because that is one sheet at many professional printers.

Still, I realized that there are a lot more 18 card games that I would pull out to play with other gamers compared to nano games. And every game I learned in February is a game that I can see myself going back to.

The best game I learned was Confusing Lands, which has entered into regular rotation and seems likely to stay there. It is definitely a game that I would recommend.

Pentaquark was worth revisiting

 I tried playing Pentaquark about seven or eight years ago. And I did not like it.

I found it frustrating and counter-intuitive. I found the process of the game preoccupied me and I couldn’t focus on the actual playing of the game. It was a major disappointment in my experiences with Button Shy Games.

 

However, when I was reminded that Pentaquark existed, I decided that I should give it another chance. I learned it when was I still relatively new to PnP and solitaire games. In the time since I tried it, I have played quite a few solitaire or solitaire friendly games.

Short version: I liked Pentaquark more the second time around. And a lot of that comes from the fact that I have better idea of what the game is doing. 

Pentaquark, while definitely acknowledging its quantum physics theme, is really a game about card sorting. Which is basically card solitaire 101. And I understood that back in my first go.

And I firmly believe that using tried and true mechanics is not a bad thing. Insisting on reinventing the wheel leads to square wheels. It’s what you build on that foundation that matters.

And I know see that how whole suites in Pentaquark exist for you to be able to sacrifice them, to manipulate the tableau to get what you want. That the need to plan around how the deck will flip every round is a feature, not a bug. How the end goal is very specific, not arbitrary.

Mind you, I now actually think Pentaquark is actually harder to win than I first thought. But it makes sense to me. And that makes a big difference.

It isn’t my new favorite game. It feels more intuitive but it also feels pretty dry. However, I think, as I grok the game more and more, I could develop mental muscle memory that would make the game relaxing.

And I have found that Pentaquark has a whopping four expansions and a campaign mode. Either a lot of folks liked it more than I did and/or it is a serious passion project.

Pentaquark was worth giving it a second chance.

Pentaquark just doesn’t click for me

I want to like Pentaquark. It’s a quirky solitaire game based on particle physics with almost no set up and a short playing time. That’s the kind of game I’ve been exploring lately.

But... I’ve finally it weirdly fiddly and very counterintuitive. I feel like all the pieces should click together if I look at it hard enough and, when I see how all the gears fit together, I’ll be able to fluidly play it and enjoy it.

Mechanically, it’s simple. You’re sorting the cards into three piles, trying to get a specific assortment of cards into a specific pile. It has the added twist that every card has an anti side on the back and, every time you shuffle the deck, you flip the deck over.

However, you have to sort the cards into groups based on color and facing, which has different effects depending on what pile they’re in. And somehow, it doesn’t click when I’m playing and I struggle to make sure I’m playing this simple game right. 

I feel like there are too many moving parts for a game that is this short. Like I’m too busy making sure I’m following the rules to actually play the game.

I like the tiny little company of Button Shy. They make neat little games of all sorts and they offer PnP as an option and they really seem to try and push the envelope on what you can do with a handful of cards. 

But Pentaquark feels like an experiment that didn’t work. I’m not entirely giving up yet. I am still hoping it clicks and flows. But, for now, it’s just a grind.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/207242/pentaquark