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Ra! Ra! Ra!

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14 Jun 2011 13:24 #97889 by Matt Thrower
Ra! Ra! Ra! was created by Matt Thrower
I whipped out Ra today for the work lunchime gaming club. The first epoch was fantastic, we had some real knife-edge auctions and everyone was really digging the game. Unusually no-one struggled with the rules or concept either so it was competitive from the off.

Epoch 1 finished relatively even. In Epoch 2 the other two players got in early on a number of small but relatively high value auctions before a lot of Ra tiles came out. One player bid out really early but got a good collection of tiles. The other had 1 left - I had 3. Then I called Ra on a block with nothing but 3 civ tiles on it, worth 10 points to the other player. He bid, and won, and I had a clear shot drawing tiles until the epoch end.

I got stupidly lucky. I drew not one, but two full auction blocks of either tiles without drawing a Ra. Then I got 4-5 tiles on my last auction. It was worth over 20 points all told and totally hosed the game.

I tried to explain that I'd never seen that happen before in a game but it totally sucked the fun out of the experience - the third epoch was just going through the motions. I hope everyone understood how freakish that was - I'd forgotten how much fun Ra can be for a Euro, and want to play again :)

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14 Jun 2011 13:52 #97890 by san il defanso
Replied by san il defanso on topic Re: Ra! Ra! Ra!
Ra is from that golden age of Eurogames (maybe 1995-2000?). It's still one of my favorite Euros ever. It's completely abstract, but there is some terrific tension. I've played maybe 20-25 times, and I still haven't figured it out. Furthermore, I don't know anyone who HAS figured the game out completely. Experience helps, but the luck is pretty strong. Thems the breaks.

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14 Jun 2011 14:02 #97891 by Black Barney
Replied by Black Barney on topic Re: Ra! Ra! Ra!
Ra is one of the few Euros that has a nice amount of luck and gambling to it. You took a huge risk and it totally paid off. I've taken massive risks and been hosed before. Seven Wonders is another game where you can play it safe (Military/Resource/Purple) or take risks (Commerce/Science and some Blues)

I like games that have different tactical paths like that.

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14 Jun 2011 14:09 #97892 by SuperWeeks TNT
Replied by SuperWeeks TNT on topic Re: Ra! Ra! Ra!
I love RA. I played it just last weekend. I use the playmats printed off BGG. That was when I first joined BGG and when it was a fun website and not a corporation.

I like Matt's term "knife-edge" auctions. That describes the tense situations that can develop in the game. Knowing when to call "RA" is key.

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14 Jun 2011 14:22 #97894 by Matt Thrower
Replied by Matt Thrower on topic Re: Ra! Ra! Ra!

Black Barney wrote: Ra is one of the few Euros that has a nice amount of luck and gambling to it. You took a huge risk and it totally paid off.


Ah, but I didn't - that's exactly the point. I had relatively little to do with the situation other than forcing another player into a nasty choice by calling Ra on whether he wanted to risk leaving me a bunch of unchallenged auctions or not. He chose wrong - but it could have gone either way.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Black Barney

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14 Jun 2011 14:32 #97897 by Black Barney
Replied by Black Barney on topic Re: Ra! Ra! Ra!
ah, my bad. So it was the other player taking the risk by leaving you with a bunch of suns alone to wreck havoc on the auction bloc

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14 Jun 2011 14:35 #97898 by Jackwraith
Replied by Jackwraith on topic Re: Ra! Ra! Ra!

San Il Defanso wrote: I've played maybe 20-25 times, and I still haven't figured it out. Furthermore, I don't know anyone who HAS figured the game out completely. Experience helps, but the luck is pretty strong. Thems the breaks.


Yeah, it took me a while to come to grips with it at all. The first couple games, we were just kind of riding the draw and waiting for the game to call the auctions. In that respect, it was really kind of a luckfest, outside of deciding when to toss your chits in from epoch to epoch (i.e. do you sacrifice your high numbers now and hit the third with nothing but dregs or not.) But over the next couple games, the tactics of forcing an auction on someone else to clear a path slowly dawned on me and I began to enjoy the game much more.

Like you, I'm still not quite sure I have a grasp on it (we don't play often enough) but it's definitely moved up the ladder of filler games, since it has the added bonus of setting up quickly and taking little time to play with experienced players.

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14 Jun 2011 15:16 #97900 by Jazzbeaux
Replied by Jazzbeaux on topic Re: Ra! Ra! Ra!
Has anyone tried the 2 player rules for Ra? The third edition has them, and they are downloadable from Rio Grande but actual player comments are lacking.

Sam

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14 Jun 2011 16:06 #97905 by wice
Replied by wice on topic Re: Ra! Ra! Ra!
I have played a couple of 2 player games with my wife, it was surprisingly good. of course it's better with more players.

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14 Jun 2011 16:19 #97907 by Jazzbeaux
Replied by Jazzbeaux on topic Re: Ra! Ra! Ra!

I have played a couple of 2 player games with my wife, it was surprisingly good. of course it's better with more players.


Strangely it is good to hear that as I almost bought it to play with my wife but instead went for a true two player game - Rivals of Catan. Have got a selection of games for larger numbers that also do two players and they tend to be weaker as two player.

Sam

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14 Jun 2011 20:18 #97924 by Msample
Replied by Msample on topic Re: Ra! Ra! Ra!
Ra rocks. I especially like the scenario the OP lays out, where one or two players have a shot at filling up the draft with tiles after everyone else has bid out, hoping no sun tiles appear. It's like that old game show Press Your Luck.

"Come on, big bucks, NO WHAMMIES".

Sometimes you get the big bucks, sometimes you get the Whammy.

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14 Jun 2011 20:32 #97925 by Million Dollar Mimring
I have yet to figure out the correct strategy, but nothing beats a group chanting "RA, RA, RA" hoping the last player craps out. Even when I come in dead last, almost always the case, I still have a ton of fun playing.

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