Five games were played in the competition: For Sale, Las Vegas, Liar's Dice, Sneaks & Snitches, and Incan Gold. The competitors were divided into 8 teams of 5 members each. There were three teams from the IT department, two from FI, one from MMA, one from A3DA and one comprising admin and IT support staff (ISG - I have no idea what this acronym means). Each team sent one representative per game. For each game, there were two semi-finals with 4 players each, and the top 2 players in each semi-final advanced to the 4-player final. The exception is Incan Gold, which was played as a single 8-player game.
Players scored 5 points for 1st place, 3 points for 2nd place, 2 points for 3rd/4th place and 1 point for participation. Ties were broken with a coin toss where required.
The venue was Ballroom 2 in Hotel Hatten (where we stayed for the night). It was set up in a traditional ballroom configuration, and the room and tables were probably too large for board games, but everyone was happy to stand around or lean forward. I spent the entire time running around explaining rules, updating results and setting up pairings, so unfortunately I didn't have time to take pictures or monitor the matches closely. But here's approximately what happened.
For Sale
For Sale is played in two phases. In the first phase, players attempt to get valuable properties using a bidding process; you either raise the previous bid or take the lowest-valued property on show and take back half your bid. In the second phase, the players try to sell the properties for as much money as possible. The player with the most money at the end of the game is the winner. For more information, check out its boardgamegeek link or this video review.
The first semi-final was actually a 6-player game and was won by Connie, who was a first-time player. Unfortunately, she was not part of any team, so for the sake of fairness I had to advance the ones in 2nd and 3rd place (Wan Lee from IT01 and Choon Peng from IT02) to the final. Not exactly tournament conditions, I know, but the players didn't mind. The second semi-final was won by Mike (FI02) with $80K, with second place shared by Chee Chian (IT03) and Gabriel (ISG) with $74K each; Chee Chian advanced to the final after a coin toss.
The final was a close affair, where the rounds with high-valued properties saw some aggressive bidding and counter-bidding. The final scores were really close: Chee Chian ($69K), Choon Peng ($63K), Mike ($61K) and Wan Lee ($56K). So the winner of For Sale and title of Supreme Speculator went to Cheng Chee Chian.
For Sale is an interesting game that is deeper than it looks. It's one of those games where you might want to try different strategies, and experience does count (other than Mike, the other finalists have played the game several times before). Although there are chances to banter ("raise my bid, I dare you!"), it tends to be a quiet game with interesting decisions rather than a laugh-out-loud affair. Still, the participants did seem to enjoy themselves.
Las Vegas
In Las Vegas, there are six casinos numbered 1 to 6, each with a number of bank notes assigned to it. Each player rolls initially 8 dice, allocates all dice of one number to the corresponding casino, and retains the remaining dice for future rolls. This continues until all dice are allocated. At the end of the round, the player with most dice at each casino gets the highest valued bank note, and so on. Here's the catch: if you have an equal number of dice as someone else, neither of you get anything. More on Las Vegas at its boardgamegeek page and this video.
This game was by far the noisiest game in the competition, probably because Terence was there facilitating and instigating everything (if you know Terence Choo, you know what I mean). Everyone got into the spirit of things, making alliances, pleading, threatening and cursing (or cheering) dice rolls in the midst of uproarious laughter. Arguably the most popular game in the whole event.
The first semi-final involved Terence (IT02), James (MMA), Phil (A3DA) and, filling in for someone who was absent due to illness, our director Angela for the FI01 team. Despite the possible risks of beating the person who signs their paychecks, the game was won by Terence and James at $470K each, followed by Angela at $360K and Phil at $340K. Like they say, all is fair in love, war and board games (I'm paraphrasing). The second semi-final was close affair where the identity of the winner was in the balance until the last round, possibly the last roll. It was ultimately won by Fabian (IT03) with $420K, followed by William (IT01, $400K), Mei Lan (ISG, $390K) and Marcus (FI02, $290K).
The final was worthy of a HBO mini-series. The previous alliance between James and Terence in the first semi-final proved illusory. Deals were made and rapidly broken. The players used all the tricks of the trade, including but not limited to threats, guilt trips, and prayer (Terence shook his dice and declared his desired results as if he was asking for divine favour). At the end, the winner was determined by a combination of strategic placement and luck of the dice. One pivotal play in the last round occurred when William rolled a 2 on his last die, which created a tied situation with James with 5 dice each (James literally banged his head on the table when that happened). This allowed Fabian to roll a 2 on one of his remaining two dice to claim the big money. Final scores: Fabian $540K, Terence $360K, William $290K and James $230K. The winner of the Las Vegas competition and King of Casinos is Fabian Ng.
Liar's Dice
Liar's Dice is the dice version of the card game Bluff. Everyone rolls their dice and the first player makes a bid, e.g., "six 3's", which means that he believes there are at least six 3's out of all the dice rolled by all players; 1's are wild, so "six 3's" really means "six 3's or 1's". On your turn, you could raise the bid (e.g., "six 5's", "seven 2's" or even "three wilds"); when you raise, you could also reveal one or more dice and re-roll the rest. Alternatively, you could challenge the bid, whereupon everyone reveals their dice and whomever lost the challenge loses a die. The game then restarts with the next round. The last person with dice remaining wins. Liar's Dice is an old game with many variants, which you can read about on its boardgamegeek page.
Was it a coincidence that 3 out of the 8 competitors were female, and all 3 made it to the finals? There were certainly plenty of jokes made by the guys about the inscrutability of the female mind and how women were better liars than men. Anyway, first-time players Christina (A3DA) and Siti (ISG) made it through the first semi-final. The second semi-final went the full distance with all four competitors having one die remaining. After the smoke cleared, Joanne (MMA) and Andy (IT02) survived to reach the final.
In the final, Christina was the first one out, but Siti was unstoppable - she still had four dice when both Andy and Joanne had only one remaining. Joanne challenged Andy's "two wilds" bid and knocked him out when Siti revealed no wilds among her four dice. Siti then won comfortably by bidding "three 5's" that Joanne had to challenge, and there were indeed three 5's among her four dice. The Liar's Dice champion and Luckiest Liar is therefore Siti Nur Shahidah.
Sneaks & Snitches
In Sneaks & Snitches, you play the role of high-class thieves. There are a number of locations each with some items worth stealing. During each turn, all players simultaneously decide to place one snitch and one sneak at two different locations. A snitch at a location stops all sneaks. If your sneak is at a location without snitches, you get the items at that location. If there are multiple sneaks, though, they hinder each other and the players get a lesser reward. At the end of the game, the players with the most of each type of item get points, and the one with the most points is the winner. Think of this as the board game version of the Iocaine powder scene in Princess Bride. Find out more from its boardgamegeek page or this video.
This is probably the quietest game in the competition. During the game, you can see the players looking intently at the items dealt to each location, trying to outthink and outbluff everyone else. When the placements are revealed, there may be some muted groans or fist pumps ("yesss..."), but it seems almost to go against the spirit of the game to show any sort of exuberance. We're high-class thieves, after all.
The first semi-final was a 3-way tie between Steven (IT03), Susie (MMA) and Anh (ISG) with 7 points each. The qualifiers had to be determined randomly, and unfortunately Susie lost out. The second semi-final was really close with 2 points separating all the players. It was won by Swee Noi (FI02) with 7 points, followed by Ching Yun (IT02) and Anita (A3DA) with 6 points each; the coin toss put Ching Yun through.
In the final, Anh was not available, so her spot was taken over by Si Hao. Steven just could not get anything going, and he was never in the running. At the end, I believe Ching Yun with 6 points was just one cube away from tying with Swee Noi and Si Hao with 8 points each. Once again, a major decision was left to chance. A couple of die rolls later, Si Hao claimed the win. So the Sneaks & Snitches champion and the Sneakiest Scoundrel is Ho Si Hao. Special thanks to Weng Choh for overseeing the game across the entire event.
The main issue with Sneaks & Snitches as a competitive game is the tendency to produce ties. All three games required a coin toss of some sort to determine important placings, and the rule book does not suggest any tie-breaking rules. Next time, I'll figure out some tie-breakers (if there is a next time).
Incan Gold
In Incan Gold, you play the part of an adventurer exploring an Incan temple, much like Indiana Jones. Cards are revealed one at a time. A card may depict pieces of treasure that is divided equally among all the players, with the remainder staying on the temple floor. It could be a valuable but indivisible artifact. It may also depict a hazard such as a fire trap or giant snake; the first such hazard is harmless, but if a duplicate of a hazard is drawn, then everyone still in the temple leaves empty-handed. Before each card is dealt, everyone decides simultaneously whether to leave or continue. If you leave, you get to keep your treasure along with whatever is on the temple floor, but you might get even more if you continue exploring...or will you get that second hazard? More information on this excellent push-your-luck game can be found on its boardgamegeek page or this video.
Unfortunately, I did not see much of the Incan Gold gameplay. After a trial game to introduce the new players to the rules, the players went ahead and played the final. The winner was Henry (MMA) with 25 points. Come to think of it, Henry has played this game several times and usually does well, so he has a knack for judging risk and reward (or maybe he's just a lucky fellow). Both Victor (IT03) and Kee Chuah (FI02) had 17 points, but Victor got second place on tie-break with one artifact to zero. 4th place went to Borko (A3DA) with 16 points. The Incan Gold winner and title of Exceptional Explorer goes to Henry Thet Swe.
Incidentally, I did see Anna, Borko's 10-year-old daughter, trying out a game of Incan Gold. She was also enjoying herself watching the antics over at the Las Vegas table. It's never too early to develop the next generation of board gamers. :)
After all the points were tallied, the team that won the overall championship and the title of Team of the Year is IT03, aptly named Champion Material with 16 points, which included the winners of For Sale and Las Vegas. Second place went to the ISG team with 13 points, comprising the winners of Liar's Dice and Sneaks & Snitches.
On the whole, I feel that the (inaugural? annual?) ICT Board Games Challenge 2013 was a reasonable success. I think all the people who come regularly to the monthly staff bonding tabletop gaming sessions enjoyed themselves as usual; some may even have taken a bit more out of it due to the competitive element. There were a few people for whom this event was their first exposure to board games, and hopefully this has piqued their interest enough so that they will attend the monthly sessions in the future.
I understand that there is a proportion of the staff for whom board games just isn't for them, and I respect that. I just hope that everyone was at least able to see what board games are about (i.e., board games is not Monopoly) so that they can make an informed decision as to whether to participate.
You can see the final results here (sorry about the formatting; we had to increase the font size because the projection screen was on the small side).
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