Beyond Monopoly!
I started with a 5-player game of Canal Mania from the Ragnar Brothers. In this, players compete to construct a canal network linking English towns to ferry goods. There are government contracts you have to complete, and you can enlist the help of famous engineers. The game ends with the arrival of the railways. Several players were familiar with it and, despite this, I managed not to come last. Final scores were: Adrian 80, Neil 66, Paul 58, me 54 and Keith 46. I enjoyed this and would play it again. The theme was a change to train games and I liked the engineers mechanic.
Next up was a 6-player game of Power Grid. This is a game I enjoy playing but am hopeless at. this was a typical outing for me: Paul won with 15 cities, Neil and Oliver were next with 14, Hugo and I managed 11 and Adrian could power 9. I wish I was better at this game!
I was then introduced to Cartagena. In this pirates are atttempting to escape from prison to a waiting boat. You play cards to move them along corridors, or they fall back to collect more cards. I found this somewhat challenging ot start with. In the end all 6 of Paul's pirates escaped, along with 3 of Adrian's and 2 of mine and Hugo's.
A good day's gaming!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Friday 1st June, 2007
Lisa and I decided to spend our Friday evening gaming. We started with a go at Trans Europa. Lisa struggled to get across Europe repeatedly allowing me to win on 10. We decided to carry on our Canasta campaign. We each won 2 games, although Lisa leads overall by4695 to 2730, helped by me scoring -260 on one hand!
Thursday 31st May, 2007
Thursday night is now games night as well! I was joined by Greg, Spencer and Vin. We kicked off the evening with Trans Europa. I won on 10 whilst everyone else went 'broke' - my best performance yet! Staying with the railway theme, Lisa then joined us for a game of Ticket to Ride - Marklin Edition. Spencer won this with 117. Lisa and Vin drew for second place with 114. I was next with 102 and Greg limped into last place with 46. The game got a lukewarm reception from Greg and Spencer who preferred the elegant simplicity of the original. Vin and Lisa thought it was great though!
Monday 28th May, 2007
Due to other people's commitments there was no games night. Instead Lisa and I played 6 games of Trans Europa. We both won 3 games, including a memorable one where it took 6 rounds to finish as we were neck and neck each round!
Sunday 27th May, 2007
Ellie enjoyed a long afternoon nap, giving Lisa and I a chance to play a game. We decided to have a 2-player game of Trans Europa. Lisa won with 4; we felt it worked well with 2 players. You have to be more careful with your route planning as their is less of a chance of joining up with other networks.
In the evening we broke out our 2-player favourite Carcassonne The Castle. Lisa won the first game 97 to 76; helped by having the largest keep and 2 (yes 2!) score 5 extra points tokens! However, I got my own back in the second game as I won 119 to her 88, partly by having a large keep and scoring double for it with a token, netting 32 points! To add insult to injury, this was completed by the final tile of the game!
In the evening we broke out our 2-player favourite Carcassonne The Castle. Lisa won the first game 97 to 76; helped by having the largest keep and 2 (yes 2!) score 5 extra points tokens! However, I got my own back in the second game as I won 119 to her 88, partly by having a large keep and scoring double for it with a token, netting 32 points! To add insult to injury, this was completed by the final tile of the game!
Tuesday 22nd May, 2007
Lisa and I opened Ticket To Ride - Marklin Edition this evening. We were impressed with the quality of the pieces and quickly grasped the rules after playing normal TotR. The main difference is that you have passengers in this version which you can collect points tokens with. However, you have to time their movements well or the number of points you collect is reduced. We felt this was a good variant on the original game. Lisa faired a little better than me in the end as she managed to complete 2 more routes. Final scores - Lisa 201, Paul 193.
Monday 21st May, 2007
Whilst our daughters played in the garden, Jason and I had a go at several Pitch Car tracks. Jason won the first 3 races in a row; I got stuck repeatedly on a jump during the first game, and stuck in a tunnel on the second - the third - I kept coming off the track! However, I made up for it (a little!) during the fourth race in which I lapped Jason to take victory!
That evening was Games Night! Spencer, Greg and I started with a game of Trans Europa (borrowed from BM!). After explaining the rules I took the first game. Spencer finished second on 3 and Greg lost. Lisa then joined us for a go. Unfortunately she lost and this time Greg won on 5 to Spencers 3 and my 1.
I then persuaded everyone to have a go at Die Mauer. Lisa bluffed superbly to secure her victory, ending the game with only 2 points worth of buildings left in her supply. Spencer did well ending with only 13 points. With my gate and tower I faired less well, ending with 27 points. Greg, who really does not like this sort of game, finished with a grand total of 32 points. Oh dear!
That evening was Games Night! Spencer, Greg and I started with a game of Trans Europa (borrowed from BM!). After explaining the rules I took the first game. Spencer finished second on 3 and Greg lost. Lisa then joined us for a go. Unfortunately she lost and this time Greg won on 5 to Spencers 3 and my 1.
I then persuaded everyone to have a go at Die Mauer. Lisa bluffed superbly to secure her victory, ending the game with only 2 points worth of buildings left in her supply. Spencer did well ending with only 13 points. With my gate and tower I faired less well, ending with 27 points. Greg, who really does not like this sort of game, finished with a grand total of 32 points. Oh dear!
Sunday 20th May, 2007
Lisa and I spent the evening in the company of Jason and Annette and, as well as good food and good wine, great games were also enjoyed. Annette beat us all at Trans Europa; she finished a route really quickly whilst the rest of us were still floundering around, thus we all went 'bust' on the scoretrack whilst she remained on 8! Lisa won the second game on 9; Jason and I limped home in second place on 1 and this time Annette lost. A lovely evening.
Saturday 19th May, 2007
Today was Beyond Monopoly!
I arrived late so lots of games were in progress. I hung around for awhile until Andy arrived. I then introduced him to the joys of It's Alive! Despite losing 37 to 54 Andy enjoyed the game and was impressed with the artwork.
We then had a go at Balloon Cup. Andy had played before and so explained it to me thoroughly. We enjoyed this as it was well-balanced and fun! Andy won by 1 green cup. We decided to play again. I felt I had made a few blunders and so was happy to play again. I did worse this time losing by the green and the blue cups!
We mutually agreed to try Architekton next - a game neither of us had heard of before. We felt we were missing something as we just kept copying each other's moves to effect a draw; there seemed no reason to do otherwise. We scoured the rules convinced that we must have been playing it wrong but, we hadn't. Not a great game.
I then got involved in a game of Settlers of Catan - my first for sometime. Of the three other players, 1 was new to it and the other 2 were clearly experienced. It felt like there were actually 2 games being played; the experienced guys made no allowances for me and the noob. Needless to say he lost and I limped into third place. Not an enjoyable experience. Little time was taken to explain the rules, tactics or anything.
I then got involved in a game of Winner's Circle. I'm not usually that keen on horse or racing games but this one was okay (and a Reiner Knizia game!). I liked the bluffing involved in the betting and the board itself. In the end I came second out of five, narrowly avoiding victory by losing a photo finish at the end.
All in all a fun day, although the Settlers game will stick in my mind as a BM! lowpoint.
I arrived late so lots of games were in progress. I hung around for awhile until Andy arrived. I then introduced him to the joys of It's Alive! Despite losing 37 to 54 Andy enjoyed the game and was impressed with the artwork.
We then had a go at Balloon Cup. Andy had played before and so explained it to me thoroughly. We enjoyed this as it was well-balanced and fun! Andy won by 1 green cup. We decided to play again. I felt I had made a few blunders and so was happy to play again. I did worse this time losing by the green and the blue cups!
We mutually agreed to try Architekton next - a game neither of us had heard of before. We felt we were missing something as we just kept copying each other's moves to effect a draw; there seemed no reason to do otherwise. We scoured the rules convinced that we must have been playing it wrong but, we hadn't. Not a great game.
I then got involved in a game of Settlers of Catan - my first for sometime. Of the three other players, 1 was new to it and the other 2 were clearly experienced. It felt like there were actually 2 games being played; the experienced guys made no allowances for me and the noob. Needless to say he lost and I limped into third place. Not an enjoyable experience. Little time was taken to explain the rules, tactics or anything.
I then got involved in a game of Winner's Circle. I'm not usually that keen on horse or racing games but this one was okay (and a Reiner Knizia game!). I liked the bluffing involved in the betting and the board itself. In the end I came second out of five, narrowly avoiding victory by losing a photo finish at the end.
All in all a fun day, although the Settlers game will stick in my mind as a BM! lowpoint.
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