You're in a dilemma: you want to play Euphrat and Tigris, a fairly complicated game with quite a bit of depth; however, nobody else does. Your friends think the theme is boring, the rules are hard, the game is weird, and that you smell.
Depending upon how good you are at teaching games to people, and your dedication to personal hygiene, some or none of the above gripes may actually be true based upon the perceptions of others.
So, what do you do?
You could give up completely and play Trivial Pursuit, where you'd probably have more fun repeatedly bashing your head against an iron door that has been lined with the outer skin of a pineapple, but I wouldn't recommend that.
You have options. You're a gamer. React to the situation. You haven't been shuffling around those wooden cubes or plastic army pieces or cardboard chits your entire gaming career for nothing! Your whole life has led to this one cusp of time in which your actions could very well dictate a repeating pattern of games-playing for the years to come.
It is of the utmost importance that you do not fail at this critical juncture.
As a result, my recommendation is that you play a card game called the Penguin Ultimatum, which features penguins, sheep, polar bears, seals, and kangaroos playing musical instruments, juggling, tap dancing, and riding unicycles.
Wait, what?
Yeah, that's right, you heard me.
Believe it or not, this little game bears more resemblence to your precious E&T than you might originally think, and has more depth than what might originally appear based on the psychotic theme. Besides, who doesn't like silly themes featuring penguins? People who are dead inside, that's who, so I don't recommend playing games with them. (Because you never know when you might accidentally destroy their phylactery, leaving you with no opponents to play with at all. And nobody wants that.)
But, yes, this is a great game that isn't terribly difficult to teach, has some strategic depth that everyone should be able to enjoy.
Right now, ther's a good chance that you're shaking your head in disgust and gnashing your teeth at the monitor in front of you for having heard me me even draw a comparison between E&T and a game featuring penguins.
But, seriously, look at the evidence:
Exhibit A: Tile-laying
The cards in the Penguin Ultimatum might as well have been tiles, as you play them on the table in a very similar manner. Even more, you're not restricted to playing them to squares on a board, so you're actually given more freedom on where you place your cards since they can go anywhere on the table, as long as it's touching one other card previously placed.
Exhibit B: Tiles are only 'owned' by those with markers on them.
Just because you put a card down, doesn't mean that it's suddenly yours. 237
The cards on the board don't belong to anybody, unless you eventually claim ownership of it using one of your markers.
Exhibit C: Player markers can be moved during gameplay as a game action.
In E&T, you bop your leaders around as a game action. In TPU, you bop your penguins around as a game action. Both serve as your player markers.
Exhibit D: Points are scored when tiles are played.
If certain tiles match certain leaders when they get played, you score points in E&T. If certain animals or activities match certain penguin cards when they get played, you score points in TPU.
Exhibit E: Points are scored where player markers exist.
In E&T, the player markers are leaders. In TPU, they are your penguins.
So, as has been shown, the games are not altogether dissimilar. They share a few traits. Please note, I'm not claiming that they are the same game, or that TPU is nearly as complex as E&T, or that TPU is an easier version of E&T, or anything like that. I'm simply stating that if you enjoy the one, there's a chance that you may enjoy the other when not playing with hardcore gaming buddies. TPU is a game you could potentially bust out with friends and/or family members who are casual gamers. TPU may partially scratch the itch that E&T does, when E&T is unavailable to you as a gaming option.
Emphasis on 'may.'
Even if it doesn't completely scratch the itch, or scratch it at all, it may be you find you enjoy playing the game anyway as it is quite fun. 885