Photographs
by Ben FloraClick on an image to see it full-sized.
Photo by Tina
David writes:-
Ben won our game, 62 to 49. Ben and I were about even for points scored during the game. At the end of the game, Ben got his Hidden Agenda on Mars, and had stopped me getting mine - my Hidden Agenda was also Mars! Ben got the 8 for Earth, I got the 8 for The Asteroid Belt. I got Pluto and Dollar as Discoveries for 8 points each, Ben got Neptune and Leaf. Ben had Jupiter, Saturn and Smiley for 4 points each, I had Venus. There were also some minor placings.His control of the Leaf row of the Discovery Track clinched it, giving him the ability to re-arrange the turn order. He played first (scoring another 7 points), and the game ended on my free doubling (before I could play a card). He had made sure that the game would end on my free doubling by doubling my Asteroid Belt colony (for which he scored 3 points!) to 512.
I recommend Variant 2 for the 2-player game.
Ben writes:-
I enjoyed playing my first game of the real 6 Billion with the designer David Coutts. The game was fun to play and a nail biter right to the end. I found the rules easy to pick up as a beginner, and yet tactical enough to entertain the expert. A few extra features were added to the game since I played a prototype version. In particular, with the addition of the Discovery Track, 6 Billion has new avenues to explore in order to rack up victory points. The discovery track is a place that I see players fighting to control as it can determine the all important order of play. Thus it has increased the excitement of the overall game and created a new depth of complexity.
Congratulations David for a game well designed.
Photographs by Fotini Kalliakmanis
Click on an image to see it full-sized.
The dealers room doors opened 5 minutes later, and trading was brisk over the 5 days. The biggest buzz was getting Joe Haldeman, Gregory Benford, Robert Silverberg and Terry Pratchett to sign my personal copies of 6 Billion™. Oh yes, and I finally won a game of the production version of 6 Billion™ !
For a list of articles by me, see the Articles page.
