Forget 'Em Not!

Last night, after a rather odd game of Ra (remind me never to play with the full complement - far too chaotic), four of us at Chippenham Games Club settled down to a game of Die Haendler (recently reissued by Z-Man - apparently with some improvements). For those of you unfamiliar with this beautiful game, Die Haendler is a game about trading and negotiation, in which players buy goods, send them to other cities on carts and sell them on for profit. This profit is then used to buy and maintain a higher social status. It looks very pretty, with its crafted pieces, shaped goods and almost-tile playing cards; but underneath this serene and attractive exterior is one of the most cut-throat games you'll ever play.

But, I digress; the point is, I once again tried to educate other people in a game I thought I knew the rules to, only to find I had forgotten some really key rules. This isn't early onset Alzheimer's or anything; it's just a matter of a gap of around eight years or so since I last played. And worse of all, I thought I still knew how to play. This created a few problems:

1. I had to find solutions to allow the game to continue, having forgot rules which should have been properly implemented at the start.

2. I carried out actions which were against the rules, throughout the course of the game.

3. I came in last place.

Alright, none of this is really surprising; but for a game I thought I knew, I was really shocked at how much I'd forgotten. For instance, the complexities of the rules of Chess reasonably outweigh those present in Die Haendler, yet I can still remember the rules. I haven't played Chess in a very long time, either. Perhaps a better example would be Kingmaker, a game I last played in 1985 or 1986 (the exact year escapes me); I would be able to set this up tomorrow and play without error, especially after a quick rules recap.

So what is it that made me so forgetful? Surely it cannot be short-term memory loss, because we're talking about something I played some time ago (although I did review the rulebook more recently)? Maybe I was never attentive enough when I used to play it, which seems odd, as it's one of my favourites of all time? No, it has to be something else, and right now the only thing I can think of is that I was pushed for time to get the game underway.

Of course, none of this saves me the embarrassment of my losing a poorly-taught game; but at least I lost in style - after rising higher than the other players, I took myself back down to Peasantville in the very last turn. There has to be another outing for this one; I aim to try it with the new, Z-Man rules. I'll let you know how it goes.