Saturday, June 23, 2007

Monday 14th May, 2007

Monday night is Games Night! But before Greg and Spence turned up Lisa and I had time for 2 games of It's Alive! Lisa won the first one 59 to 55 even though it was me who shouted "it's alive!" (I love doing that). I redeemed myself somewhat by winning the second game 48 to 46 and utterring my favourite phrase.... We tried our idea of being able to purchase cards from players' cemeteries with more than one card. It only made a little bit of difference. I think you tend to buy more spare parts in the 2-player game anyway as you have more of an idea what your opponent still needs. I don't think our variant would work with more than 2.



When the others did arrive we all decided trhat we fancied several short games for a change. We started with Trans Europa. Spence won the first game and Greg lost it with Lisa and I drawing in the middle! It had been a close game though. We decided to play again and Greg won this time. Lisa was second, I was third and Spencce was last; a reversal from the previous game!



We then played 2 games of Hey! That's My Fish! -a game we all enjoy but don't play that often. Lisa easily won the first game with 30 floes. I was second with 26 floes, Greg next with 22 and Spencer, whose penguins got a bit stranded, managed 19 floes. Spencer clearly learnt some valuable lessons as he romped to victory in the second game with 33 floes. Lisa did well coming second with 25, whilst Greg and I both managed only 21 floes (I won as I had more individual floes!).



After all that penguin madness we decided to round off the evening with a game of Guillotine. I won this with 22 points. Greg was second with 21, Lisa third with 18 and Spencer last with 17. I paid careful attention to everyone's scores as I had several cards which allowed me to end the game. I chose my moment carefully when I had jsut snatched victory from Greg.... a great evening.



When Spence and Greg left Lisa and I had a quick hand of canasta before retiring to bed. I won this hand scoring 1205 points to Lisa's 640 (I had lots of wild cards!). I currently lead this game 1840 points to 1770 (4 games each!).

Sunday 13th May, 2007

Whilst Ellie had an afternoon nap Lisa and I turned our attention to Trans Europa. I won both games, winning all 3 rounds in the first game. Lisa picked unfortunate cards, particularly for the yellow cities. Still, we both enjoyed playing and having a pot of coffee with cream!

Friday, June 22, 2007

Saturday 12th May, 2007

In the evening Lisa and I played a few games of It's Alive!, which Jack had been kind enough to lend me one of the prototypes of. The 2-player game is surprisingly harder than with any other number we think. It's a much more careful and considered game as you can easily mess up and give your opponent a great advantage.

I won the first game 49 to 39, helped by 2 coffins! The second game was much closer, with Lisa sneaking ahead 51 to 49 (Ihad no coins left!). Lisa destroyed me in the final game 44 to 33. I failed to notice just how much money she was accruing which enabled her to buy 2 coffins and all the best quality body parts. She played really well.

We think we might try a slight variation whereby in the 2-player game you can use more than one card to bring the top card from someone's cemetery into play..... we'll see if it makes any difference!

Thursday 10th May, 2007

Lisa and Lisa S returned home early from the pub and were persuaded to have a go at Trans Europa. Lisa S had not played it before but quickly got her head around the rules and leapt to an early victory. I won the second game by a narrow margin. We all agreed it is a good game, but poor starting placement can really mess it up for you!

Wednesday 9th May, 2007

I trekked into town to join in the playtesting for Jack's next publication, It's Alive! I've played this a couple of times in prototype form and greatly enjoyed it. This was a chance to see the finished artwork and play it with people who had not played before.

The artwork is superb; it matches the theme perfectly. I played two 5-player games and a 3-player. I won the first 5 player and shouted "it's alive!" - which is always fun! I also won the second game, by 2 points (!) although I didn't get to do any shouting that time. In both these games I didn't draw a single Villager's Uprising!

However, I drew 2 of them in the final game and lost, by a point from second place. I think I enjoyed it more with 5 than 3 players - although that may have been something to do with the group dynamics rather than the game. I remain convinced that the game will definately be a hit.