Days of Ire: Budapest 1956

I had played it before only as a two-player game, and it had left me with a positive impression. This time, though, the three-player table felt much more fitting: two rebels against one honest Russian is, for me, the best formula for enjoying it. I liked it then; I liked it even more now.

In the game, the central confrontation is set between the two rebels and the Russian player. The three-player setup gives that confrontation the form I consider ideal, rather than the strictly head-to-head experience I had tried before.

The interaction lies precisely in that clash of sides: the two rebels share a camp against a single opponent. I did not feel that we had merely added one more player; the game seemed to gain better balance and become more enjoyable in this configuration.

As soon as we finished, there were five of us gathered and, unfortunately, one friend stood us up. It put a slight damper on the get-together, but at least the menu suddenly gained some freedom of choice — six people, let’s not kid ourselves, is a difficult proposition. To warm up before all that, we had also thrown a game of Peak Oil on the coals.