In the Games Cupboard

Saturday 2nd June, 2007

2008-05-21T06:47:00.000-07:00

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!

Friday 1st June, 2007

2008-05-21T06:42:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-21T05:07:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-21T04:10:00.001-07:00

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

2008-05-21T03:57:00.001-07:00

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!

Tuesday 22nd May, 2007

2008-05-21T03:51:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-21T03:38:00.000-07:00

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!

Sunday 20th May, 2007

2008-05-21T03:33:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-21T01:04:00.000-07:00

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.

Monday 14th May, 2007

2007-06-23T01:31:00.001-07:00

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

2007-06-23T01:26:00.000-07:00

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!

Saturday 12th May, 2007

2007-06-22T08:16:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-22T08:13:00.001-07:00

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

2007-06-22T08:06:00.000-07:00

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.

Monday 7th May, 2007

2007-05-08T21:53:00.000-07:00

Monday night is games night! Lisa and I were joined by Greg and Vin. To begin with we introduced them both to Trans Europa (definately my 'game of the moment!'). They both really enjoyed this and, similar to Lisa on Saturday, tried different approaches. It was interesting for me playing it with 4 (previous player numbers were 2 or 3) and thus all 35 cities, rather than the usual 25. It was quite a different game. Your network would be impossible to complete if you did not join to other people's. Occasionally a link would be started and abandoned when another player's network suddenly became closer to your own somewhere else on the board. All the rounds we played were close - which made it quite exciting! In the end Vin won with Greg and I drawing for second place. Lisa brought up the rear... but only just! We agreed it was a good game and Greg is contemplating purchasing it to take on holiday.

Lisa then departed to do some work. The three of us decided to have another go at Tigris & Euphrates. We agreed that we had all enjoyed it when we played it previously, although we found it quite abstract and didn't have a clue how to form a strategy. This didn't really change much as we played! I was convinced Vin had won after he spent several rounds gaining loads of cubes from 3 temples. Then I thought Greg took the lead as he forced me into a run of disastrous conflicts. I never thought I was in the lead or that I was doing particularly well. Vin appeared to have a clear strategy with his temple building, Greg seemed commited to consistently finding ways to stop Vin. Yet in the end I won! I still don't know how. The fewest number of any coloured cube I had was 18 compared to Greg and Vin's 13. I amassed cubes by slowly and innoccuously placing tiles and scoring for them.... winning the occasional conflict... dividing a kngdom to palm off some of the temple goodies.... and avoiding some conflicts wherever I could. This seems to have been a winning strategy even if it wasn't a conscious one!

I like this game but I don't feel I've learnt to play it yet. Tonight's performance probably won't inform how I play next time as I still don't really know what to do.... still it's well worth playing again.... and again..... and again....

Sunday 6th May, 2007

2007-05-08T21:50:00.000-07:00

In our usual Sunday afternoon routine.... whilst Ellie slept, Lisa and I decided to play a game. In a change to the norm though we played 3 games of Trans Europa. I won all 3 games, although they were all fairly close. Lisa started to look fed up with losing (she did seem to have harder routes than me!) but assured me that she was still enjoying it and thought it was a good game.

Saturday 5th may, 2007 (2)

2007-05-08T21:40:00.000-07:00

I borrowed a copy of Trans Europa from Beyond Monopoly. It's a game I've played and enjoyed and it is staying firmly on my wishlist! I brought it home as I thought Lisa might enjoy it. She certainly did! She enjoyed having her European geography challenged and she appreciated the simplicity of the game. She tried several strategies; starting centrally, starting towards the edge, starting near her opponent, starting at the opposite side of the board to her opponent. I really admired her pioneering spirit!

We played three games (each of three rounds). I won 2 and Lisa won 1. We surmised that all of the above approaches had pros and cons. I faired better starting centrally, whilst Lisa won her game by starting at one edge. I felt this approach could be risky in the 2-player game as you are reliant on your opponents rail network going near where you need it to.

We really enjoyed this game and agreed we would play it some more.....instead of Carcassonne The Castle for awhile!

Saturday 5th May, 2007

2007-05-08T18:40:00.000-07:00

Today I made it to Beyond Monopoly! Soon after arriving I joined with Robert, Richard and Paul A to play Marra Cash - a game Richard had brought. In essence this is an auction and area control game in which you try to lure shoppers to your bazaars to earn money. Players auction off bazaars of various colours and get a cut if they can lure shoppers to bazaars of the same colour.

It sounds a bit abstract but it was actually good fun. I think I would play differently a second time as I bid too much in a couple of auctions and backed out of a crucial one too soon! All in all a good game which I would happily play again. Robert won with 6,900, I came second with 5,300, Richard was a surprise third with 4,050 and Paul A brought up the rear with 3,900.

Many people then dissapeared for a long lunchbreak. When they returned I joined with Andrew, Keith, Jim, John and Richard to have a go at Shadows Over Camelot. I have been curious about this for sometime as co-operative games are few and far between. As with all Days of Wonder games production values were astoundingly high. The game was enhanced for me as Jim quickly cycled home to fetch his beautifully handpainted miniatures.

I liked this game. It could be described as a themed series of rummy games but that would be a little unfair. The Knights of the Round Table are questing to rout the forces of evil. They do this by placing white swords on the Round Table. These swords are awarded for successfully completing Quests. However, if the Knights fail, then black swords are placed instead. It was quite hard playing collaboratively when the rules state that you cannot clearly discuss the cards in your hand or your intentions.

The game is made more interesting by the dealing out of Loyalty cards, as a result of which one player may be a traitor. If this is the case then that player must surreptitiously work to scupper the efforts of his companions. He can be accused and unmasked however. I was playing Sir Gawain (of Green Knight fame!) and I was actually the traitor. I enjoyed this role immensely as it lead to the type of psychological gaming I enjoy. No one accused me and I managed to foil several Quests apparently innocently. Once Darkness prevailed I revealed my allegiance to evil and claimed my victory. I wouldn't want to play this every week but it will remain on my wishlist!

Finally, Jim suggested that we try a game he'd brought; Oltre Mare (another one on my wishlist!). Keith had to depart so that left myself, Jim, Richard, John and Andrew. Jim and Richard had both played before and so managed to explain the basics to the rest of us. Oltre Mare is essentially a hand-building trading card game. The pretty board with cool sailing ships on is not as important as it first appears. Jim had printed out some really useful reference sheets without which I think I would have been lost. As I am currently a "bear of little brain" I found this game a bit too hard. There were a lot of options and I could not work out what the ramifications were going to be. I was hideously behind for most of the game but I recovered somewhat at the end. Jim won with 50 points. Andrew was second with 47, whilst John and Richard drew for third with 42. I was a little behind with 39. This game will reamin on my wishlist although I don't think I will play it again until I am fully recovered from my neurological problems.

All in all a great day's gaming!

Wednesday 2nd May, 2007

2007-05-03T06:22:00.000-07:00

After Ellie had retired for the evening Lisa and I broke out Carcassonne The Castle, again. It was a fairly close game, although Lisa managed to snag most of the tokens. In the end she won with 116 to my 109. She did well with the markets, although I did have the largest keep.

Monday 30th April, 2007

2007-05-03T06:16:00.000-07:00

Before Monday night is games night, Lisa and I played the deciding game of Carcassonne the Castle. Lisa wiped the floor with me - 104 to 75. She managed to pick up all of the tokens until the 56/57 corner on the score track(!) and was able to use them to great effect. How humiliating!

Greg and Spencer then arrived and the four of us had a quick game of Guillotine. Spencer played this really well, ending the game when he was clearly in the lead. He amassed 17 heads, Lisa 12 and Greg and I both ahd 11.

We then brought out Fire and Axe for the third Monday running! Spencer won with 166 (and the Bloodiest Axe!) Lisa did well scoring 155 and Greg and I were Shield Brothers with 141. Settling accounted for most of my points! A fun evening once again.

Sunday 29th April, 2007

2007-05-03T06:12:00.000-07:00

Whilst Ellie had her afternoon nap, Lisa and I sat down to 2 games of Carcassonne The Castle. I won the first one with 85 points to Lisa's 74. This was mainly due to tokens allowing me to score an unfinished road, an unfinished house and an unfinished tower!

However, victory ws shortlived as Lisa won the second game 118 to 103. She had 10 markets to my 2 and the biggest keep which scored her 8 points.

A fun afternoon of games, although Ellie woke up before we could play a decider....

Wednesday 25th April, 2007

2007-05-03T06:02:00.000-07:00

As he had a week off from work Greg came over this afternoon and brought Memoir '44 with him. This is another game that I have heard lots about but have not played so I was quite keen to give it a go. The box and all the components are lovely. The rule book is really clear and simple to follow. We played the first 5 scenarios in order, randomising who played Axis or Allies each game.

I won the first game, Pegasus Bridge, as the Allies. I obtained 4 medals to Greg's 3. It was a hard fought contest, although once I'd cleared the Nazis away from one bridge it became a little easier.

I was the Allies again in the second game, St Mere Eglise. I won this one with 4 medals to Greg's 3, mainly because of a perfect parachute drop at the start of the game.

I played the Axis troops in Swordbeach and managed to win 6 medals to Greg's 3. Hard to see how the Allies could win that one though! The artillery is just too powerful.

I was the Nazis again for Pointe du Hoc where I got royally creamed 4 medals to 1. I just couldn't get the command cards to make my troops do anything useful! Frustrating!

Finally I plumped for the Allies at Omaha Beach. The same command card problem arose and I was soundly thrashed 6 medals to 1 - Greg played this one well and kept me safely pinned down throughout.

Although I am no longer a huge fan of wargames, and WW2 has never particularly appealed, I thought this was a great game with pleasing, well-balanced mechanics. I had a fantastic afternoon. And there was cake. Did I mention the cake? Thanks Greg!

Tuesday 24th April, 2007

2007-05-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

Mal and I met for lunch at a local pub (something of a tradition). Whilst we waited for our steaks to arrive we enjoyed a quick game of Fluxx. Mal won easily with 10 cards in his hand. He played really well to create this situation. The steaks were perfect by the way!

Monday 23rd April 2007

2007-05-03T05:53:00.000-07:00

Before everyone descended to play games, Lisa and I squeezed in 3 hands of canasta. Lisa won the first with 1640 points to my 1120, bringing her total to 6915 and mine to 5230. Victory was clearly in her sites and she managed it on the next hand, managing 1035 points to my 1510. Final scores - Lisa 7950, me 6740. We are now drawing 4 games each. We played the first hand of a new game and Lisa won this one to with 1130 to my 635. Oh dear.

The hordes did not descend, only Greg. He brought Fire and Axe with him, so the three of us played this. I lost hideously due to abysmal (no, really, really bad... honest) dice rolls. Greg won easily and Lisa acquitted herself well. I still think this is a great game, although a little harder with 3 players I thought.

Monday 16th April, 2007

2007-05-03T05:41:00.000-07:00

Monday night is games night! I was joined by Greg, Spencer and Vin. Greg brought his new purchase along, Fire and Axe, so we gave this ago.

Sadly, I've lost the notes I made on the night. But I do remember thinking it was a good game; finely balanced and with lovely pieces. I remember that I came last, but not by much... and subsequent re-reading of the rules showed that we'd scored the saga cards incorrectly and I would actually have won! A great game and a lovely evening.

Wednesday 11th April, 2007

2007-05-03T05:34:00.000-07:00

Mal came around for dinner in the evening. He joined Lisa and I in 2 games of Fluxx. I won the first one with coffee and doughnuts; Mal won the second with the brain (but no TV).

Lisa then headed off to do some work whilst Mal and I played a further four games.... all of which I won!

Tuesday 10th April, 2007

2007-05-03T05:30:00.000-07:00

Mal and I spent the afternoon together, chatting, idling away the time and playing Fluxx. Actually, we played 12 games! I won 9 and Mal won 3. No hard feelings though as I was often rather lucky with the cards, whereas Mal's victories were well executed masterplans!

Monday 9th April, 2007

2007-05-03T02:40:00.000-07:00

Monday night is games night! Lisa and I were joined by Jack, Lou, Greg, Vin and Spencer. We decided to have a go at Pitch Car first. I haven't played this for quite some time so it was fun to get it out again, especially as we used the Expansion Pack to include some chicanes and a troublesome bridge.

Jack demonstrated a really impressive flicking technique which powered him to an easy victory. I came next about a quarter lap behind. Greg and Vin had an epic struggle for third place which Greg finally won. Lisa was next soem distance ahead of Lou. Spencer brought up the rear after having a disastroud time getting through the tunnel early on.

We then shrank the table and put the chairs back for a six-player game of Carcassonne including the Princess & the Dragon expansion. This was good fun. The dragon was brutal burning all in it's path. As a result farmers didn't appear (and stay) until near the end of the game. people focussed much more on completing small features as they didn't want their meeples to be on the dragon's flight path!

In the end Greg won with 86 points and one of the few farmers in the game. Vin was second with 64 and I was third witrh 62. Spencer managed 44 (and had a farmer!) whilst Lou scored 43. Jack was last with 24. He had faired badly at the teeth of the dragon but still..... quite a low score!

We liked this expansion. Lisa and I had been less impressed with it in the 2-player game. Here it was fun and meant that everyone had to change their normal playing style (although Greg's farmer did win him the game in the end as there were lots of little cities). The princess was used nastily a couple of times and the competition to obtain the fairy was often quite heated! This made Carcassonne feel much more adversarial, which was fun for a change.

A lovely evening of fun and frolics!

Sunday 8th April, 2007

2007-04-27T12:34:00.000-07:00

Whilst our fair womenfolk took our smaller womenfolk out for the day, Vin and I enjoyed a day of lad's gaming. Did we marry the right women or what!

Vin was very eager to introduce me to Rommel's Panzers which, to quote BGG is a "MicroHistory #1 in the Metagaming MicroHistory series.
A game of Tactical Unit combat in North Africa. In 1941 Erwin Rommel arrived in North Africa to save the collapsing Italian empire. Among the units under his command was the Deutches Afrika Korps. With the Afrika Korps Rommel wreaked havoc and exercised such military ingenuity that he would therafter be known as "The Desert Fox"."

Now, this involves moving tiny cardboard squares on a map made up of hexagons. I used to love this sort of thing over a decade ago but I have kind of lost interest since. Still, I'm happy to play anything at least once and so I gladly sat down to a game. I didn't mind having to count hexes to assess range, or refer to hit tables half as much as I thought I would. It was good fun.

We played the 'Dawn Attack' scenario in which a British armoured encampment is surprised at dawn by a German Panzer column. It was a hard-fought battle but, in the end, the British were victorious although they only had two vehicles remaining.

Next, I introduced Vin to the joys of Carcassonne The Castle - perfect for two-players. Vin really enjoyed this and was only narrowly defeated 89 points to 84. I had the largest keep which gained me 7 points.

We then tried the two-player version of Finster Flure (Fearsome Floors). Vin enjoyed this a lot more than the four-player version we had played previously; it's much quicker for one thing. In the end Vin was victorious as two of his team escaped from the monster whilst only one of mine survived.

Vin then requested another go at The Castle. This time he was royally whipped 97 to 67. I managed to obtain most of the tokens and finish several high scoring buildings towards the end of the game.

We then decided to play Carcassonne with the added bonus of the Builders & Traders expansion. We played this twice and I won both (178 to 129 and 198 to 139). I concentrated on obtaining the trade goods tokens to ensure a monopoly. I also managed to place some high scoring farmers (and piggies!).

All in all a great days gaming and the realisation that hex-based wargames are more fun than I thought they would be!

Saturday 7th April, 2007

2007-04-27T02:00:00.000-07:00

Today I made it to Beyond Monopoly! Despite it being a very sunny day, and it being the AGM, quite a few people had turned up.

First up I played Trans Europa with Richard and Michael. I had not played this before, although it is onmy wishlist. It is a simple game in which you construct a rail network based on a hand of location cards. You can join onto other players' networks if they get you nearer where you need to be. We played this once, although it took 2 rounds due to the mechanism whereby you work out how many links you were short of completing your network and count down to 0. I won both rounds due to some good fortune in drawing cards for easy to get to places! A good game which will remain on my wishlist.

Next up was Vabanque - a casino game I had not heard of before. It is a game of gambling and bluffing. A the end I was the clear winner with 490 points, to Michael's 250 and Richard's 170. I expect this game would be more fun, and more random, with more players. As it was I quite quickly worked out my opponents tells when they were bluffing and I managed to set up a pattern so that there was no way I could lose on the final hand. I would happily play this again, although I'm not sure it will go on my wishlist.

Richard, Michael and I were then joined by Ian, Hugo and Anna to play Citadels. I've wanted to play this for ages and was glad to get the chance. In the end Hugo won with 26 points, Richard was second with 24. Michael and I drew for third with 19, Ian was next with 18 and Anna brought up the rear with 13. I enjoyed this game, although it is really a glorified card game! I think it would be more fun amongst a group of friends; there was a fair amount of downtime as people chose their characters. As we didn't know each other there was very little banter. Still, this one shall remain on the wishlist.

The six of us then embarked on Fist of Dragonstones; another game I'd never heard of. Not too sure about this one; another glorified card game. I came second with 2 points, outmanouvered at the end by Michael who outbid me for the third point. I liked the mechanics of the game but the theme was a bit daft. I would play it again though. IU suspect it would be more fun with less than 6.

All in all a good way to spend some time over the Bank Holiday weekend. Members can now borrow games from Beyond Monopoly, so I'm going to discuss loaning Trans Europa with Lisa!

Wednesday 28th March, 2007

2007-04-27T01:54:00.000-07:00

With an evening to ourselves, Lisa and I decided to enjoy a couple of hands of canasta, before turning our attentions to the TV!

I won the first hand with 1145 points to Lisa's 440. I picked up quite a few wild cards and so was able to go out quickly. This hand brought our total scores to me 2900 with Lisa leading 3060.

The second hand was closer than the score shows. Lisa managed to pick up all 4 red 3's (worth lots of points!) and got a natural canasta. She went out just before I did. She scored 2115 (huge score!) to my 1210. Lisa now leads 5275 to my 4110. Still, Lisa needs 150 to meld in the next hand...

Tuesday 27th March, 2007

2007-03-29T07:17:00.000-07:00

I met Mal in a local pub for lunch. He asked that I take Fluxx along as he was desperate to play a few games. In the end, we started a game waiting for our meal to arrive, we finished it after eating, we started another waiting for dessert, then finished that one and three more games. I can't remember who won what, but we had a lovely time, chatting, eating and playing. A delightful way to spend an afternoon!

Monday 26th March, 2007

2007-03-29T07:05:00.000-07:00

Monday night is games night! I was joined by Greg, Spencer and Vin. We decided to have a go at Tigris & Euphrates - a game I bought some months ago but had not yet played due to my neurological problems. Having read through the rules several times I felt up to giving it a go. Spencer had played it once before but didn't remember it that well. Vin and Greg had heard good things but had not played it.

We spent a good 40 mins trying to understand the rules but decided that we'd probably fair better just getting stuck in. I have to say that this is a good, abstract game. There are enough elements to make strategising challenging and, on a first play, it was often impossible to work out what your opponents were trying to do. The game lasted about 2 hours - slowed down I think by quite a lot of rules checking. Vin won in the end having 11 of each colour of victory cubes. Spencer was second, I was third and Greg limped home in last place.

I struggled to score blue points as I drew only 3 blue tiles during the entire game! Vin did very well by being the victorious defender in many battles which he didn't instigate... similarly Greg lost mainly because he was the defeated aggressor in these clashes. Vin did manage his goes well though to maximise his scoring.

In retrospect I got too attached to a kingdom as I failed to realise how fluid the game was. Just as I was starting to have a game plan I realised we were almost out of tiles and would finish in a couple of rounds! Despite this I did really enjoy it and would happily play it again. I did find it mentally fatiguing as I had to take in a lot of new information and apply it to a new context - activities my brain currently finds hard. Still, it was well worth the effort.

The next day I realised that the four of us could have finished the game of Britannia we started a few weeks ago....doh!

Saturday 24th March, 2007

2007-03-29T06:51:00.000-07:00

Our friend Helen came to visit us this afternoon. After Ellie had retired for the evening we three grown-ups decided to play some games. Being Lisa's current favourite we introduced Helen to Fluxx. Helen was suitably dumbfounded and befuddled during the first game (although much alcohol had been consumed by this point in the evening!). I won the first game with 5 keepers. Despite her bemusedness Helen was happy to play again .... I won again (money no taxes)....we played again.... Lisa winning with toast.

Lisa decided that Diamant may be a little more fun and less brain-aching. Helen really enjoyed this one, even though both the games we played were relatively low scoring. Lisa won the first one with 48 jewels. Helen came second with a respectable 21 jewels, and I assumed my usual spot, at the back with only 17 jewels

Following on from Lisa's cautious style of play, Helen won the second game with 62 jewels. I was not far behind with 54 and, for a change, Lisa was last with 28.

We decided to round off the evening with a couple of games of Carcassonne - a game Helen had heard us rave about but had not actually seen. We decided to play without farmers to make explaining it a bit simpler (given our alcohol intake!). Lisa won the first game with 71 points due to her usual trick of managing to place most of the monasteries! I came second with 54; most of these points came from a large city I didn't think I was going to finish. Helen managed a very respectable 43 and was keen to play again now that she realised that filling in the gaps to make it look pretty was probably not the best tactical approach to the game!

I managed to win with 79 points although I don't really understand how that happened. Helen did really well (and played quite aggressively) to come second with 74. Lisa suffered most from Helen's style of play as she had several meeples tied up for most of the game on features which Helen made impossible to finish. This hampered Lisa's score to 66.

A lovely afternoon and evening.

Wednesday 21st March, 2007

2007-03-29T04:58:00.000-07:00

Mal came to spend the evening with us and, after eating a yumy dinner, we sat down to play a few games. To start with we re-introduced him to Carcassonne. We decided to play without farmers to make it a bit quicker and easier to play. Lisa did really well, placing most of the monasteries and finishing a high scoring city. I did atrociously and didn't manage to finsish much at all. Mal faired a bit better and managed to share points with Lisa for a few big scoring features. It was a satisfying game and the final scores felt suitably close. Lisa won with 89, Mal was second with 67 and I brought up the rear with 56.

Lisa and I then introduced Mal to Fluxx. I won the first game with 5 keepers. Mal initially hated this game; he just couldn't grasp it or see how to play strategically. When we reassured him that this was often how people felt after one go, and that it's best not to think strategically, he was happy to try again. He won this time with peace (no war) and was keen to play again. Lisa decided to head for bed at this point, but Mal was keen to play again. He and I had 3 more games with me winning 1 and Mal winning 2. He seemed to really enjoy it once he got his head around it!

Fluxx rounded off a pleasant evening.

Monday 19th March 2007

2007-03-29T00:12:00.000-07:00

Monday night is games night! Lisa and I were joined by Greg and Spencer. To start with we had a quick game of Fluxx. This has really grown on me now that my brain has adjusted to it! Lisa has liked it since she first played. As it was I won this game with death by chocolate - still my favourite goal I think.

We then brought out Hey! That's My Fish! which we haven't played for awhile. I thought I'd done fairly well slicing off an expanse of ice for myself - but I hadn't oticed that I had mainly single fish floes! Oops....

In the end Greg won with 32 fish and Spencer was second with 26. They had something of an epic struggle to control a large ice floe which ended u;p with them sharing it fairly evenly. I managed third with 22 fish and Lisa, who fell fowl of Greg and Spence's penguin-empire-building, managed only 19. Still, we all agreed it had been a good game and that the scores were fairly close.

We all fancied something a little more involved next and Greg suggested Masons. It had been awhile since we had played this so Lisa did a quick rules refresher.... which was really useful. As we played I realised that I would score heavily for joining up the little cities that were starting and creating a large, central city. Everyone was surprised when I did this, as it denied usd all lots of scoring opportunities. But when I managed to score nearly 40 points off the 2 cards I played they realised why it had been a good tactic. It was quite an intense game after this. My lead dwindeled and Lisa overtook me and soon became uncatchable. She later admitted that she kept getting useful cards. I missed scoring rounds twice to enable me to swap my rather useless cards. On one memorable occassion the cards I discarded were replaced by identical ones! Lisa played really well and in the end was the clear winner with 115 points. I managed second, mainly due to my early high scoring, with 109. Spencer was next with 96 and Greg limped in with 79 points - he had had awful cards for most of the game.

As it was only 10pm we decided to have a quick game of Carcassonne. This lasted exactly 28 minutes! Greg and I spent lots of meeples contesting a big field... a contest which i finally won and which gave me the points to win the game with 65 points. Due to scoring nearly all the monasteries Lisa came second with 60 points. Greg lost out on scoring for the big field and this left him in third place with 47. Close behind was Spencer with 44 who didn't really get to place any high scoring farmers or build any monasteries. He did have a magnificent city though! A good game.

Another good evening of fun, frivolous conversation and enjoyable gaming.

Sunday 18th March, 2007

2007-03-25T14:35:00.000-07:00

Before heading back home in the evening we managed a few more games with the in-laws.... mostly whilst Ellie had a lengthy afternoon nap!

Valerie and Cara joined Lisa and I for two more games of Fluxx. Valerie won the first one with rocket to the moon and Cara won the second with 10 cards in her hand. We all agreed we liked this game but that it was quite mentally tiring!

Raymond then joined us for 4 games of Diamant - the clear favourite with the family this weekend. My bold tactics paid off in the first game as I won easily with 56 jewels. Second was Valerie with 38. Vara was third with 25, Lisa fourth with 23 and Raymond occupied my usual spot with just 13!

In the second game, Cara had an easy victory with 41 jewels. Lisa and I tied for second with 27, whilst Vlaerie was next with 17 and Raymond got none.

Fortunes were reversed in the third game when Raymond won by miles with 72 jewels. Next was Cara with 45, then Valerie and Paul with 23 and finally Lisa with 22. The game felt closer than it actually was; Raymond got most if his haul ont he first mine when everyone else was overcautious and came out a bit prematurely!

Cara headed off for a nap at this point (she'd had a very early start with her niece!) but the rest of us carried on for a final game. It was low scoring with victory eventually going to me with just 25 jewels. Raymond was second with 22, Lisa third with 18 and Valerie last with 12.

We had to stop at this point as Ellie had woken up.

Saturday 17th March, 2007

2007-03-25T14:09:00.000-07:00

Lisa, Ellie and I went to stay with Lisa's family for the weekend. In amongst having a lovely, relaxing weekend, we also managed a few games.

On Saturday evening Cara and Valerie joined us to play Fluxx. Initially they found it rather hard going, but opted to give it a second go. It is strangely confusing when you first play. I won the first game by having 5 keepers. Lisa won the second with milk and cookies - her favourite combination!

We decided to play something less mentally taxing. Fortunately we'd taken Diamant with us as this had been popular before. Raymond joined us for this.

The first game was extraordinarily low scoring. Cara won with 17 jewels, Raymond had 16, Valerie 15, Lisa 14 and I managed.... erm.... none.

Things improved a little in the second game with Cara again winning but with 41 jewels this time. Valerie was a fairly close second with 33 and Lisa a slightly distant third with 26. Raymond managed only 13 and I scraped in last with only 12.

In the third game Raymond finished miles ahead with 29 jewels; Lisa second with 12 and Cara and Valerie drew for third place with 4 each. I again managed 0!

The family adjourned to watch TV leaving Lisa and I to have a few 2-player games of Fluxx. Lisa won the first one by having ten cards in her hand. I won the second with the rocket to the moon. Lisa won the third in only 2 goes by having peace (but no war). Lisa won the fourth and final go in just 4 moves with death by chocolate. An impressive display of randomness!

Later on, Ellie joined Cara, Lisa and I for a go at the Shopping List game - Ellie won this by several items....but refused to do her victiry dance!

In the evening Lisa and I had 5 further games of Fluxx; I won 4 of them but Lisa won hers in just 3 moves!

Whilst Lisa persuaded Ellie to go to sleep that evening the rest of us had 2 further games of Diamant. Raymond, Cara and I drew for first place with 30 jewels each; Valeries brought up the rear with 13. Frustratingly I would have won had I stayed in for one more card....

Flushed with his success, Raymond went on to win the second game with 65 jewels. Valerie was next with 56, Car third with 23 and I took my usual place at the rear with just 18.

Still, a lovely day and more games squeezed in than Lisa and I expected!

Monday 12th March 2007

2007-03-14T04:54:00.000-07:00

Before Monday Night is Games Night, Lisa and I had 3 hands of canasta. I won the first 2 bringing my total to 1935 to Lisa's 1445. I had a disastrous third hand which Lisa exploited really well. She forced me to finish on -180 (total of 1755) whilst she pulled ahead to 2620.

Spencer, Greg, and Jack then arrived. The five of us had 3 quick games of Fluxx. I had not played this before. My current neurological problems meant that I found this constantly shifting game rather hard. I can't even think how to describe it.... in the end, Lisa (who loved the game) won the first hand by having milk and chocolate (!). Greg won the next 2 with the pyramid and the eye and and then the eye and the brain. Just follow the link... I'm too tired to explain!

Lisa then left us and Vin arrived. We decided to settle down to a game of Caylus. Jack got off to an impressive start but was quickly eclipsed by Vin who built up an untouchable lead. Greg and Spencer were a bit behind and it took me ages to even get off the starting blocks. With all the prevaricating and pondering the evening wore on. Sadly Jack withdrew at 10.30pm as he had to be up early to catch a train the next morning.

The remaining four soldiered on for a few more rounds. We then decided we had all had enough with 3 rounds left to play. Vin was the clear winner with 62 points. Spencer was next with 41, most of them scored by manic castle-building in the final round. Surprisingly I came third with 32 points and Greg brought up the rear on 27. To be fair if we had carried on, Greg would have overtaken me in the next round and I think would have at least caught up with Spencer as he was all set to build a prestige building....

A good evening even if we did all seem a bit tired and jaded.

Saturday 10th march 2007

2007-03-14T04:43:00.000-07:00

Lisa, Eleanor and I had a fabulous evening with Elen and her parents, Jason and Annette. After the kids had gone to bed I persuaded the grown ups to play Diamant. Lisa and I quickly explained the rules of the game - which takes longer than actually playing it! The game went down well. Jason and Annette kept asking to play it again so we had 4 games despite the lateness of the hour. I had a disastrous evening (I blame the wine); I kept staying in the mines too long....

That said, I won the first game with 26 jewels. Lisa was second with 20. Jason and Annette scored 11 and 8 respectively; they were a little overcautious to start with!

The tables turned in the second game. Jason romped to an easy victory with 32 jewels with Annette a distant second with 21. She pipped Lisa to second place who managed 20. I managed only 3....

Annette proved victorious in the third game amassing 36 jewels. Jason was next with 28. Lisa and I both got no jewels. Not a one...

In the fourth and final game Jason managed to haul away 39 jewels, just ahead of Annette with 32. Lisa came third with 21 and I brought up the rear with an embarrassing 6.

Still, we all had a lovely evening and Jason and Annette are keen to try another game.... they'll be playing Caylus by Christmas!

Friday 9th March 2007

2007-03-14T04:36:00.000-07:00

Lisa and I sat down to enjoy 4 hands of canasta. In the first hand I managed to go out quickly. I scored only 915 points but made Lisa have -45. I repeated this in the second hand, scoring 1290 for myself and -120 for Lisa. This put me in the lead, and within sight of victory, with 6545 to Lisa's 4970.

Although Lisa scored the most points in the third hand (1430) I got 1200 which put me over the 7500 victory threshold. This means that I now lead 4 games to 3!

We then played the first hand of a new game. I failed to adjust to the low melding and was whooped; Lisa got 1035 whilst I ended on -65. Oh dear!

We then fancied another game of Carcassonne - The Castle. Lisa won a resounding victory at this with 128 points to my 97. She did really well obtaining most of the tokens and managing to complete several large structures. A good evening.

Thursday 8th March 2007

2007-03-14T04:09:00.000-07:00

Lisa and I fancied a change this evening and so out came our old favourite Carcassonne - The Castle! The game was closer than the final scores show; I won with 133 points to Lisa's 101. She scored for a large unfinsihed keep amd I managed to snag to extra points at the end. I managed to finish an impressive road network and have the most market stalls. A fun game.

Wednesday 7th March 2007

2007-03-14T04:04:00.000-07:00

Lisa and I had a quiet evening to ourselves and so we decided to have 2 games of Carcassonne and the Traders & Builders expansion. Again, we both enjoyed the variation the expansion brings to the basic game.

In the first game I managed to have a monopoly on two types of goods and position my pig well in a big field. This helped me to my 219 points to 194 victory.

The second game was much closer. We both shared the largest field and Lisa did well with the resources. I managed to move my builder around alot and benefitted from the extra go he can bring. I just sneaked victory, 193 points to Lisa's 191!

Tuesday 6th March 2007

2007-03-14T04:01:00.000-07:00

Lisa and I played 2 hands of canasta, winning one apiece. Lisa is now in the lead with 5135 to my 4340.

Monday 5th March 2007

2007-03-14T02:10:00.000-07:00

Before Monday Night is Games Night Lisa and I enjoyed two quick hands of canasta. The first hand was pretty close. Lisa won it with 1010 points to my 560. This brought her total to 3155 and mine to 1710. In the next hand I went out really quickly due to picking up the deck at a good time! I scored only 975 points but forced Lisa to lose 190 points! (It's rare that I force her into a minus situation!). This put me back in the game with 2685 points to lisa's 2965.

Greg, Spencer and Vin then arrived and we set up Britannia. I played this once before and won (!) despite being fairly clueless about what I was doing. Still, it had been good fun. This is a 'sweep of history' game. Each of the four players represents several races who invade England sometime between the Roman occupation and the Norman invasion of 1066. The fortunes of the different races wax and wain roughly in accordance with history (although last time I managed to still have the Brigantes hanging around when the Normans turned up!). Every so often a race scores points depending on which regions they hold. Points are also scored for whacking the romans and killing opposition leaders - heroic figures who turn up occasionally.

As I had previously been victorious I was selected to play the Romans. This is quite hard as, although you have 4 subsequent races whereas everyone else has 4 in total, the Romans are your only really good one. Therefore you have to score most of your points early in the game and watch everyone else catch up and possibly overtake you later on. That said, I managed to amass 113 points with the Romans, which I think is quite good!

The Romans pretty much stayed out of Wales which allowed Spencer to consolidate his position there with the erm... Welsh! A little later and there was an epic struggle between the Angles and the Saxons for control of most of England. I did fairly well wresting control of most of Scotland from the Picts.

In the end we stopped playing at the end of Round 7; about halfway through. It had taken us 3 hours to get this far and we decided to conclude on another evening.

Scores thus far are:

Greg : 74
Spencer: 84
Paul: 143
Vin: 63

But we've got along way to go yet!

Sunday 4th March 2007

2007-03-14T01:51:00.000-07:00

Maisy's parents Sarah and Stuart and my god son Henry came over for Sunday dinner. After we had stuffed ourselves with a huge leg of lamb the grown ups and Maisy played 3 games of Diamant - again at Maisy's request.

The first game was low scoring as 2 mines collapsed early on. In the end Stuart won with 23 jewels. Sarah was next with 18. Paul had 16 to Lisa's 15 and Maisy, now a bit sulky, was last with 7.

Lisa then left to play with the littlies. I convincingly won the second game with 58 jewels; I had stayed in longer than others on 2 occasions and reaped the rewards! Stuart came second with 31, Sarah third with 28 and Maisy was again last with 20 (beware the sulky child!).

Sarah then headed off to help Lisa with the littlies who, by now, had placed every toy imaginable somewhere on the floor. I won the third game with 56 jewels, again due to staying in some mines a bit longer than the others. Stuart tried this tactic but left it a little late; he came second with 47 jewels. Maisy played sensibly and safely, although this netted her only 34 jewels. Her mind had been elsewhere throughout the three games as she was in charge of dividing the jewels - a job she did admirably.

In the evening, when our guests had departed and an exhausted Eleanor was sound asleep clutching a teddy in bed, Lisa and I sat down to a game of Carcassonne, again with the Traders & Builders expansion.

This was a really close game. I finally won with 188 points to Lisa's 183. Lisa had monopolies in all 2 of the resources and we drew for the third; netting Lisa 30 points and me 10! I managed to sneak my pig into a field with 8 cities, thu scoring 32 points. Again we really enjoyed the tactics of this expansion; Lisa managed to complete far more cities and thus managed to amass the resources. I focussed on controlling the largest field. Both tactics are valid and a 5 point lead is nothing! Again, though, neither of us felt we used the builder particularly effectively as Lisa's got stuck on a road for most of the game and mine was stuck in a city....

Saturday 3rd March 2007

2007-03-13T12:52:00.000-07:00

With Eleanor sound asleep, and Lisa busy preparing dinner, Maisy and I had a quick game of Diamant. Maisy did really well at this winning by 82 jewels to my 50. I kept staying in a bit too long....

A little later Lisa joined us for a go at the new Disney version of Monopoly. We played for a couple of hours before Maisy got bored. She was declared the winner as she had the most money (hhmmm?).

To be honest it was fun playing with Maisy but the game is flawed. It goes on way too long and the added features just make it longer not more fun....erm..... I think I've ranted about this before! I have.

Once both kids were off to bed Lisa and I brought out Carcassonne and, after last night's adventure, decided to try the Traders & Builders expansion! We really enjoyed this and agreed that it had far more of an impact onthe 2-player game.

It was close all the way through but in the end Lisa just sneaked ahead with 183 points to my 180! Both our builders got tied up early on in the game and so we didn't make as good use of them as we would of liked. I managed to position my pig in a field I controlled to score 44 points at the end (without this I would have suffered an ignoble defeat rather than a TCP-needing one!). Lisa really enjoyed this and said that it makes Carcassonne more like The Castle... I see what she means as it becomes a lot more tactical than normal. She initially did really well finishing cities to obtain resources. She changed tactics a bit later to sneak into the big field; this gave me a chance to get more resources. In the end I got 20 points for them whilst Lisa scored 10. We really enjoyed this expansion and felt it worked really well with the two of us. A great success.

Friday 2nd March 2007

2007-03-13T11:09:00.000-07:00

Lisa and I enjoyed a couple of games of Diamant with Lisa's 8-year old god daughter, Maisy. She really likes Diamant and requested that we play it!

I won the first game with 66 jewels; most of these came from the first mine when Lisa and Maisy both came out too early. I also profited in the third mine as they stayed in and got squished whilst I beat a hasty retreat. Lisa came second with 31 and Maisy was third with 9.

In a reversal of fortunes Maisy dominated the next game and finished with a massive haul of 83 jewels. A lot of her stash was collected in mine 2 as Lisa and I came out far too early. there was then a run of nine cards without a disaster! Maisy played this mine really well, getting out just before the roof caved in! I caught up in the fourth and fifth mines to finish with 67 jewels. Lisa was more cautious than usual and so came last with 41 jewels.

With Maisy tucked up in bed, Lisa and I broke out Carcassonne. We decided to add on the Inns and Cathedrals expansion - our first time! In the end, Lisa won with 173 points to my 158. It had felt like a close game throughout. I caught up at the end, mainly due to winning possession of a field with 11 cities in it! Lisa completed a large city containing a cathedral for 48 points! This was finished about midway through the game, although neither of us thought it would be completed (in fact, I had banked on it not being!). Neither of us were happy with our use of the big meeples. The inns seemed to work well as we both finished all of our roads except one.

We decided to give it another go. This time I won with 182 points to Lisa's 122. I managed to complete a city with a cathedral for 36 points. I also pushed Lisa out of a field with 12 cities in it!

We are not sure if this expansion adds much to the 2-player game. We thought that being penalised for not finishing the roads and cities would make it more interesting. But it just meant that we worked harder to finish them! We got into the habit of placing the cathedral tiles to scupper a city for the other person. This didn't really work either. We enjoyed having the additional tiles but it felt like 'more of the same' really, although that isn't a bad thing! We don't think we've got our heads around effective use of the big meeples; we didn't get to use them as farmers where we expect they would be particularly useful.

All in all, a good game but not improved as much as we had hoped by inclusion of this expansion.

Thursday 1st March 2007

2007-03-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

Lisa and I spent part of the evening playing four hands of canasta. I won the first 2, giving me a total of 8255; well over the 7500 winning threshold. I managed to keep Lisa's scores low, which was just as well as she also finished past the threshold with 7960 points. That made the series level at three games each.

In the first hand of the new game Lisa played exceedingly well to amass 1765 points to my -220!

I won the next game scoring 1370 (giving me a total of 1150) and limiting Lisa's to 380 (total: 2145).

A fun evening with some good strategy from both of us.

Wednesday 28th February 2007

2007-03-13T10:53:00.000-07:00

Lisa and I had a quick hand of canasta. I won with 1425 points, bringing my total to 6095. Lisa scored only 650 but is still in the lead with a total of 6145.

Tuesday 27th February 2007

2007-03-13T10:48:00.000-07:00

Lisa and I spent the time waiting for 'Life on Mars' on TV playing canasta. I won the first hand scoring 1295 to Lisa's 1000 points. This brought my total to 3440, Lisa's to 3230. Lisa then won the next hand with 2265 to my 1230. This was actually a close game as I could have gone out on my next go....had it got that far! Final scores: Lisa in the lead with 5495 me with 4670.

Monday 26th February 2007

2007-03-13T10:31:00.000-07:00

Monday night is games night! But before this.... Lisa and I had a few hands of canasta. I won both hands, scoring 580 in the first and 1565 in the second. This brought my total to 2145 due to my -415 score in the first hand of the game! Lisa scored 480 and then 585, bringing her total to 2230 - so she's still in the lead!

We were then joined by Jack and Lou (again!) and Greg for a game of Guillotine. Lou did really well, winning this with 24 points. Lisa came second with 18, Greg and Paul drew for third with 16 whilst Jack brought up the rear with 14.

Spencer then arrived, so all six of us spent the rest of the evening playing Powergrid with the US map. The game worked well with six and was a close run thing throughout - not neccesarily reflected by the final scores. We were all hampered by the good power stations proving elusive. In the end, Greg won as he could power 14 cities. Jack and Spencer could both power 13, although Jack had the most money. Paul, Lou and Lisa all could power 12, although Paul had the most money, followed by Lisa. As Lou had not played the game before she did really. Even though she was in last place it had been a close game and all of us really enjoyed it and had a pleasant evening.

Sunday 25th February 2005

2007-03-13T09:23:00.000-07:00

Lisa and I had a lovely afternoon with Jack and his wife, Lou. Ellie loved having more grown-up attention than usual and she definitely warmed to both of them (Lou's presence was even requested in the bathroom at bath time - a high honour indeed!).

After a meal of build-your-own-tortillas (one of Ellie's favourites) the grown-ups retired to an evening of games. First up we tried It's Alive! - the prototype of the next game Jack's publishing. I had played and enjoyed this before, but it was a new experience for Lisa!

We both really enjoyed this and Lou and Jack, who I'm guessing have both played it rather a lot, seemed to enjoy playing it with us. The game is essentially a race to purchase body parts to complete a cadaver. The villagers can upset your plans and sometimes its best to auction body parts to the other Dr Frankenstein's to add to your bank role.

Lisa really took to this game, enjoying the theme and the straightforward mechanics. She won the first game with 51 points. She also got to shout out "It's Alive!" as she finished her body-reconstruction. Lou came second with 44, Jack just behind his wife with 43 and I brought up the rear with 37.

We all wanted to play again...which must be a good sign for the success of the game! Lou won this time with 57, Jack was second with 45, I came third with 38 and, in a reversal of fortune, Lisa was last with 34.

After this we elected to play Carcassonne - the first time Lisa had played with more than 3 players! It was a close game. Jack and I felt a bit put upon as our spouses kept muscling in on our cities and fields. It was a tense, satisfying game, which was reflected in the scoring. Lou and myself drew for first place with 59 points. Jack was next with 56 and then came Lisa with 53. She commented that she really enjoyed playing the 4-player version but had suffered as she had not finished several potentially high scoring features as the tiles simply ran out! As she doesn't usually play with farmers I thought she did really well.

We fancied something quick and simple next so out came Diamant, a game I think was new to Lou. Lisa won the first game with 42 stones. Lou was close behind with 39. I came next with 35 and Jack was last with 25. I won the next game with 28 jewels despite having no jewels until the fourth mine. Lisa was second with 23 and Jack and Lou drew for third place with 20 jewels.

Jack then requested Guillotine, another new game for Lou. This was a good, fun game to round off the evening with. I won the first game with 27 points, due to several palace guards. Lisa was second with 18, Lou close behind with 17. Jack did... not so well with 9 points. Before calling it a night we had another go. I won this one as well (!) with 20 points. Lisa and Lou drew for second place with 17 points - Jack.... did not so well again with 11 points.

A fantastic evening with lovely company and good games.

Saturday 24th February 2007

2007-03-13T08:30:00.000-07:00

Whilst Eleanor had her afternoon nap, I introduced Lisa to my homemade copy of Hive. After getting over her fear of spiders Lisa quickly took to this game. The aim is to surround your opponents Queen Bee by positioning your team of grasshoppers, beetles, soldier ants and, yes, spiders. I won the first two games and Lisa set me up admirably to win the third! Lisa commented how similar this game is to chess; you position pieces to disadvantage your opponent several moves hence. It was a connection I hadn't made, but I see what she means!

We fancied something a bit longer and so we turned our attention to Carcassonne. Our set was recently returned to us and we hadn't both played for months. We decided to play with farmers - in the past we've often left them out.

It was a very close game. The scoring hinged on ownership of a large field with 9 completed cities in it. In the end, after careful positioning and some lucky tiles, we both managed to have 3 meeples in this field. Because of this titanic battle, 3 monasteries went unscored.

In the end Lisa was victorious with 118 points to my 117! We both really enjoyed this and were glad we had played. We decided not to play any other games after this as we were both quite mentally tired!

Monday 19th February 2007

2007-02-20T00:33:00.000-08:00

Monday night is Games Night! Sadly, only Greg made it this week. However, I took this opportunity to introduce him to one of my favourite games, Carcassonne - The Castle. This is designed as a 2-player game so it seemed appropriate. Greg really enjoyed this once he got his head around how to position pieces. He agreed that it seems to be a fairly simple game but it is actually quite complex.

I pulled ahead in the scoring at one point. However, Greg got the token to score an unfinished road and he therefore constructed a very long road during the game. This really helped him catch up. I did manage to get most of the tokens that we passed and the biggest keep. But it ended with the scores closer than we thought they were going to be; Me 102, Greg 89.

Lisa then joined us for a three-player game of Caylus. This was a really good game; the leader kept changing and we were all within a few points of each other until the last round. In the last round Greg managed to build the only prestige building, the cathedral, which gave him 25 points. This gave him an unasailable lead.

Lisa did really well as she had not played this before. She got the hang of it quite quickly and played quite aggressively at times by moving the provost to scupper other player's building efforts (a good tactic!). Greg focussed on building whilst I concentrated more on dominating the castle building; both strategies seem valid! However, Greg did win with 102 points, I had 99, and Lisa had 77. Lisa lost out at the end as she had no gold which turns into lots of victory points. We all really enjoyed this and agreed that it works well with three players.

So, despite the compact nature of our gaming group, we still had a lovely evening.

Sunday 18th February 2007

2007-02-18T15:29:00.000-08:00

Whilst Eleanor had an afternoon nap, Lisa and I enjoyed a quick game of Carcassonne The Castle. This looked to be a fairly close game. Lisa finished a huge tower, whilst I scored heavily for an unfinished road (with token) and had the largest keep. However, I also managed to obtain the most markets which helped me to my 109 points to 75 victory. Lisa played well but was frustrated that I managed to get to the corners on the scoreboard (and therefore the handy tokens!) before she did.

In the evening we played several hands of canasta. Lisa currently leads 3 games to 1. In this game I was winning 3960 points to Lisa's 2760. In the first hand Lisa profited hugely from the high melding threshold my score put me at. She got several canastas, including a natural one (worth 500 points) and scored 1570, bringing her total to 4330. I managed only 485 points (total: 4445).

Lisa played exceedingly well in the next hand and destroyed me, going out before I had done anything really. I managed 230 points whilst Lisa scored 1035. This put Lisa in the lead; 5365 to 4675.

With the help of many wild cards I managed to go out fairly quickly during the next hand to limit Lisa's scoring potential. I scored 1175 to Lisa's 595.

The next hand commenced with the scores very close: Lisa just ahead with 5960 to my 5850. I managed the next hand really well and managd to go out concealed for 895 really quickly. This stung Lisa who scored only 20!

This put me in the lead - 6745 to 5980. In the final hand I went out although Lisa scored the most points. Lisa scored 1290 bringing her total to 7270 - 230 shy of victory. I got exactly 1000 points making my total 7745; over the 7500 required. This means that Lisa now leads 3 games to 2.

We started the next game, which was disastrous for me, as Lisa went out really quickly scoring 1165 and leaving me with -415!!! Oh well. Fun none the less.

Saturday 17th February 2007

2007-02-18T06:08:00.000-08:00

Today I made it to Beyond Monopoly! The club had relocated to Room 3 down the hall from our usual Room 1. I have to say that I wouldn't mind changing rooms permanently; it felt larger, lighter and brighter.... no storage cupboards for games though!

This marked the second birthday of Beyond Monopoly and it was nice to see the occasion marked by a high turnout, including more children than usual, which I strongly approve of, and several new faces.

I arrived around 11am and soon launched into a game of Manhattan with Bill, Paul and Keith. This is a fairly simple game in which you compete to build the tallest building, occupy the top floor(s) of skyscrapers and have the most of them in each city. Placement is based on a hand of cards and the orientation of where you are sitting. I enjoyed this alot although I got creamed! The game lasts for 4 rounds and in the first 2 it looked like I was being ganged up on! I simply could not recover from this and it gave Paul an opportunity to sneak ahead (no one challenged his dominance until it was too late!)

Final scores:
Paul 56
Keith 51
Bill 39
Me 31

My only slight complaint about this game is that I was unimpressed with the washed-out colours of the building blocks.

Next up was Die Saulen von Venedig (The Pillars of Venice?) which only Keith had played before. Kevin joined us for this one to bring us up to 5 players. I really enjoyed this game, although I again was royally trounced. Based on a card hand you play characters in Venice who can perform different actions. The 'pitchdipper' allows you to sink columns into the marsh on which other characters can construct buildings. Despite being in German this was still really good fun. I misplayed this as I did not expect the end to come so rapidly! If playing again I would build more and sink less columns. I would also make better use of the spy and gondolier to obtain extra points. Still, this is definately one I would like to own.

Final scores:
Paul 45
Bill 41
Kevin 37
Keith 34
Me 22

Last time I went to Beyond Monopoly I decided to tell people I was playing with about my neurological problems in case I looked like a complete idiot! I then felt like a bit of a fraud when I won several games! Today I decided not to mention it. Bad move! My apologies to the guys I played with as I said I had not played Niagara before. In fact I have but I don't remember playing it. I even own it but didn't remember that either!

This is a fast game in which you use canoes to collect jewels then paddle furiously upstream to deposit them whilst trying to avoid getting swept over the waterfall; something several of us failed to do....repeatedly! I like that you can influence the weather and thus the speed of the river.

I managed to lose this one as well! Bill won with seven different jewels. The other Paul had 6, Keith had 4 and Kevin and I each had 2. Still good fun though.

Bill left us at this point and the other Paul introduced us to the fast and furious card game 6nimmt. To be honest I didn't enjoy this that much. I think I missed a rule somewhere and this game didn't agree with my neurological problems. In essence, you have a hand of cards with numbers and bullsheads on them. You want to end up with as few of the heads as possible. Cards are layed out in rows and you simultaneously reveal the card to play. The lowest numebr goes first. There are several rows and you place cards in sequence along them. If you have to place the sixth card in a row then you have to pick up the row and thus accrue bullsheads.

I was hopeless at this! To be fair I did improve; in the first hand I misunderstood the entire game and picked up 34 heads. Things improved in the second hand so I only picked up 19 (still the worst of all of us). Then in the third hand I picked up only 2. The game ends when a players total score is 66 or above.

In the end Paul, Keith and I all went over 66 in the fourth hand. Kevin won magisterially with a total of only 21! I think his mind likes this kind of game! I'm not sure if I would play this again, although I did like it's 'filler' potential.

Kevin and Paul then departed. As everyone else seemed occupied Keith introduced me to the pleasures of Hive. This is a game I've been aware of since the first time I went to Beyond Monopoly but haven't got around to playing. In essence you have hexes representing different insects with different skills. The object is to surround the opposing queen bee. It's harder than it sounds! Keith and I played lots of times but I only won once. Again, this was more of a brain burner than it would normally be when I am firing on all cylinders. Still, I really enjoyed it and its definately a game I would love to own.

I rounded off the day by joining Jon, Chris and Amanda in a game of Carcassonne. This was the first time Chris and Amanda had been to the club (and their first bash at Carcassonne). I hope they continue to come; it's nice seeing couples there and they both seemed genuinely excited about the games. Jon gave a potted history of German games as we played which was hugely informative and useful; he really knows his stuff!

I realised that, despite it being my favourite game, I haven't played Carcassonne for months.....probably since last July! That was probably why I did so abysmally. I tried to compete with Jon for farmer-dominance in a field that was worth 24 points. Jon won that contest and I had failed to create a back-up plan! Chris and Amanda both did well getting their heads around a game which appears so simple but can quickly become quite complex.

Final scores:
Jon 81
Chris 64
Me 62
Amanda 55

All in all an enjoyable day if lacklustre scorewise. Now, I wonder if I can make a bootleg copy of Hive....

Thursday 15th February 2007

2007-02-15T14:17:00.000-08:00

Once Lisa and I had the evening to ourselves we decided to have a couple of quick games; something we've not managed to do for awhile. First up was Carcassonne - The Castle. This is still one of our favourite games.

Lisa took an early lead and managed to sneak around most of the corners and collect the rather useful tokens. Paul rallied a little but was unable to compete really. Still, the final scores were closer than we expected. Lisa won with 101 points to Paul's 92. Lisa managed to secure the largest keep, which gave her 8 points.

It was fun to play this after quite a break.

Next up was a hand of Canasta, which we haven't played since November! We had a warm up hand to re-acquaint us with the game. Lisa was massacred!

This was repeated in the game proper. Carrying on our previous match, Paul scored 950 points, bringing his total to 3960. Lisa scored 80, bringing her total to 2760. I now need 12o points to meld in the next hand though....

Monday 12th February 2007

2007-02-15T01:01:00.000-08:00

Monday Night is Games Night! Tonight I was joined by Spencer, Jack and Greg, with Vin arriving later in the evening.

We played a couple of quick games whilst waiting for Vin to arrive. First up was my homemade copy of Die Mauer. This is a simple bluffing game in which players try to empty their hand of town wall segments by guessing which piece the master builder is attempting to construct. It's a really simple game; describing the rules makes it sound more complicated than it actually is.

Spencer won this, being the first to have built all his pieces, Jack was next with wall worth only 5 points left in his hand. Paul was next with 6 points worth and Greg brought up the rear with 26 points left. I don't think Greg enjoyed it!

As Vin had not yet arrived we turned our attentions to Guillotine. This is something of a favourite as it is always good fun and is easy to play. Spencer and Jack drew on 20 points, although as Jack had executed the King we felt he was the moral victor... sort of. Greg came next with 17 points and Paul was last with 16.

Vin arrived during Guillotine and so we decided to play Alhambra. This is a beautifully-produced Queen game. It's one of those which is easy to play but hard to play well. The aim is to build the palace of Alhambra by purchasing tiles. You can choose to purchase tiles or collect cash each turn. There are three scoring rounds during the game where poits are awarded for the length of your enclosing wall and having the most, or second most, or even third most, of each building type.

I've previously not done too well at this. This time I kept more of an eye on who was building what and managed to score for several building types. As a result I cam joint first with Greg (we both had 85 points), Spence was next with 80 and Vin and Jack drew for last place with 58 points.

Another fun evening with much wit, laughter, and some sarcasm!

Monday 5th February 2007

2007-02-07T04:36:00.000-08:00

Monday night is Games Night! I was joined by Vin and Greg this week; three being a cosy number! We decided to get our teeth stuck in to Caylus. Greg and I had played it before once, although I could hardly remember it and Greg was a bit hazy. Vin was simply curious as he had heard that it is supossedly a very good game.

It was! We went slowly having a thorough read of the rules. Once we understood the theme - placing workers to build either a town or a castle and receiving points for doing so - it made sense. I had a couple of disastrous moves at the start of the game when I didn't understand the rules as well as I did later on, and it took me most of the game to recover from this. Greg did very well and built lots, earning many point for constructing prestige buildings; this was a trend Vin attempted to follow although he also put alot of effort into castle building. Greg also made good use of the goldmine and the merchant-thingy which got him 3 denier each go!

In the end Greg's lead was unassailable and he won with 98 points. Despite early failings I managed to rally to come second with 80 points, sneaking ahead of Vin at the last minute with 76 points.

This is a very good game and one I look forward to playing again.

Saturday 3rd February 2007

2007-02-07T03:58:00.000-08:00

At long last I made it to Beyond Monopoly; my first visit since the onset of my neurological problems. I had a good, if slightly nervous time. I had decided to explain briefly to people that I am having some difficulties; I thought this would spare embarrassment if I had to constantly ask the same rules-related question over and over (a good call as it turned out!).

I forgot to note down scores or the names of other players...so my apologies to all concerned.

First up was a new game for me; Der Dieb von Bagdad (Thief of Baghdad). The aim of this one is to steal four treaure chests from a range of six palaces by bribing guards, placing your thieves, and placing your guards to confound the attempts of others. All actions depend on the cards you hold which allow you to perform an action in the palace matching the guards (similar to Ticket to Ride). You can collect three cards per turn and place a piece or move a piece on the board, or you can skip a go, get three cards and a Dancing Girl Card, which acts as a wild card. There is some merit in collecting cards for awhile I discovered. However, when a treasure chest is stolen from a palace, the next one in the palace requires more thieves, therefore its best not to wait too long.

The two people who had played it before came first and second (Mason), I came third and Colin came last. I sense that with more experience this would be a fairly simple game. However, in my current condition I found it quite hard, although quite quick! It is made by Queen Games and is up to their ususal high standards.

Jon then introduced five of us to Die Mauer; a bluffing game in which you work collectively to build a castle wall. Jon had a copy of this to sell and I was tempted (despite Lisa's ruling that I cannot buy any games until 2008). However, when I got home I created a bootleg version!

Again, this is a simple game requiring an ability to remember who has already placed what and then trying to outbluff your opponents. I really enjoyed this (hence the homemade effort!) and would happily play it again. In the end I came third.

I then played Hey! That's My Fish with Mason and Colin. I managed to win by slicing off a fair chunk of ice; I think they were concentrating more on the 3-fish floes and so didn't spot what I was trying to do.

The three of us then moved on to Diamant whilst others went off for lunch. I managed to win this as well (and realised that Lisa and I have been playing it slightly wrong.. although after discussion we decided we like our way more!).

Colin and Mason then introduced me to the auction game, Modern Art. In this you represent a gallery and have to buy and sell works of modern art at varying forms of auction. The more popular the work of one artist becomes, the more expensive their work is in later rounds. I really enjoyed this as I quite like the psychological aspect of auction games. I managed to win this although I don't understand how!

I then joined four others (including Mason and another Paul) to play Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers for the first time. I have been curious about this for sometime, particularly as several people say they prefer it to original Carcassonne.

It has some nice features. Hunters can be placed in meadows (like farmers). They score 2 points for each animal in the meadow, although they lose one deer for each tiger that is also there. Rivers (as opposed to roads) are terminated by lakes. A fisherman scores for the number of tiles between lakes and the number of fish in those lakes. This made rivers quite profitable as long as you could finish them (unfinished features score nothing at the end - another change). My favourite feature was the fishing huts. Each player has two of these. They can be placed on a river system and, at games end, score for the total number of fish in the whole system; this could 'net' a lot of points!

The mountains worked like cities, with mushrooms instead of shields. Some mountain tiles contained gold nuggets, which allow you to draw a special tile. These had less common landscape variants, such as a three-way river junction, and some tiles which change the rules a little, thus allowing for high scoring if placed well.

I ended up winning this, mainly due to two high scoring fishing huts and a better-stocked-than-I-realised meadow! I enjoyed this game and would love to own a copy! I slightly prefer original Carcassonne, but I suspect only because I played it first. My only slight complaint was that the colouration of the tiles did not offer much of a visual contrast, which I found made it slightly harder to work out where pieces could fit.

All in all, a great day. I had a chat with Jon and several other 'regulars'. I played 4 new games (I always said I wanted to play at least 1 new game each time I went) and I managed to win 3 games (my best victory score ever!). More importantly, I had been putting off returning to Beyond Monopoly as I felt my neurological problems would hamper my enjoyment, would make me feel embarrassed and might even put me off games. I'm pleased I waited until I felt truly ready to return. As it was, some things were hard, but the games and the people were great, and made it worth the effort.

Wednesday 24th January 2007

2007-02-07T03:55:00.000-08:00

Lisa and I played cribbage. Lisa played well. I didn't. She won. The end.

Almost...

I seem to lack the ability to construct good hands at this game. Sometimes I was dealt fairly poor hands and Lisa admitted that she did have several amazingly good ones. But still....I feel I'm doing something wrong.

Its still a good game though.

Tuesday 23rd January 2007

2007-02-07T03:47:00.000-08:00

Lisa and I have borrowed Uno Extreme (interestingly known as 'Uno Attack' in the US). We didn't think it would play very well with just two, but we gave it a go. The rules say that the loser is the first to 500. In the first hand Lisa scored 1. We realised at that point that we may need to scale down the scoring! In the second hand Paul scored 2, effectively confirming our suspicions! Lisa then scored 20, bringing her total to 21. We decided to play to only 200. Paul eventually won scoring 66 to Lisa's 240. The game lasted for 8 hands.

We actually quite enjoyed this. We struggled to remember the powers of the special cards so there was a fair bit of rules checking. The battery-powered card dispenser was good fun; although I seemed to be dealt 4+ cards with depressing regularity. Of course, having more cards can be an advantage....

We strongly felt that this game would be great fun in a crowd with alcohol being involved. It did not work so well with just 2 though, as we suspected.

Sunday 21st January 2007

2007-02-07T03:06:00.000-08:00

Lisa, Eleanor and I went to visit Sarah, Stuart, Maisy and Henry today for a lovely Sunday lunch. Me being me I took a game along with me to see if they could be persuaded to have a go. Whilst Eleanor and Henry napped, the rest of us played Diamant. It appeared to go down well, as we had 3 games of it!

Sarah did well winning the first game with 39 jewels. Lisa was next with 17, Stuart and Maisy (who is aged 8 I should point out!) were next with 15 and Paul brought up the rear with only 8. Everyone had got to grips with the rules of the game really quickly (one of the nice things about this game).

The second game saw a reversal of fortunes. Paul won with 63 jewels, Lisa was next with 53, then Maisy with 39, Stuart with 24 and finally Sarah, the previous winner, with 22. Interestingly Mine 5 collapsed after only 2 cards were drawn... yet it was still a fairly high scoring game. In fact there were only 9 gemstones left uncollected at the end of the game; Lisa and I do not think there have ever been so few left when we have played before.

The third game was disastrous. Mines collapsed very quickly and few jewels were collected at all. However, Maisy won with 11 jewels, Sarah managed 5 and Paul had 1. Lisa and Stuart failed to collect any!

Everyone agreed it had been fun and that Diamant is a good, fun, quick game; just what was needed after Sunday lunch.

I was then persuaded, by Stuart and Maisy, to have a go at the Disney Edition of Monopoly. I agreed. I haven't played Monopoly for a few years and, to be honest, I used to quite like it. I had forgotten how long it takes to play (although that is a good discipline to instil in kids!) and how repetitive it can become.

This edition had some nice features; the pieces were weighty reproductions of Disney characters and the spaces on the board were movies rather than places. In the middle was a giant pop-up Disney-esque castle which was stunning (although it did prevent players seeing the far side of the board).

The problems started with the rule changes. For starters (this may have been a house rule set to make play easier for littlies) everyone had £5000 more than you normally start with. This meant that there was no disincentive to just buy everything you land on... your money isn't going to run out quick enough to stop you doing this.

There is a golden Tinkerbell statuette who moves on to the next property when a double is rolled. If you land on this fairy space and someone already owns the movie, then the bank pays the fine rather than the player. I quite liked this random element to begin with, but later in the game I found it annoying as it repeatedly stopped people having to mortgage property thus elongating the game. If you land on an unowned movie with Tinkerbell on it then you get the movie FOR FREE! I felt that this really didn't add anything to the game, apart from, again, making it longer. I admit I did benefit from this feature (once), but interestingly, Maisy (who won in the end) benefitted from this several times.

The stations have been replaced with modes of transport (including Mr Incredible's car..which I really like!). You can choose to 'drive' the vehicles to cut the corners off the board and go straight to the next 'vehicle' (think 'station'!) but efffectively miss a go. This meant that you could bypass expensive properties and avoid paying for landing on them. Again, this seemed good fun to start with but ends up making for a long game.

Now, I admit, I did lose! But I still think my dislike of the game is warranted. I would play it again with Maisy, because she was fun to play with and I had a good time. I would also play standard Monopoly (if required) as it might now seem quite fast! However, the rule changes made it a very long game and it reminded me of playing Monopoly years ago; it starts out being fun, but then it becomes repetitive and ultimately horribly competitive - or you get knocked out and feel obliged to spend half an hour watching everyone else slog it out. Oh the joys of childhood....

Thursday 18th January 2007

2007-01-19T00:27:00.000-08:00

Lisa and I spent part of the evening playing Cribbage. Lisa easily won both games. She was fortunate in that she received many high-scoring combinations of cards and she then played them very well to score even more points during the game. A demonstration by a talented player which I would have been grateful to observe had it not been me getting trounced! Mope, mope, mope.

Monday 15th January 2007

2007-01-15T23:56:00.000-08:00

Monday night is games night! I was joined by Greg, Andy (who made it last week), Spencer (freed from fatherhood for the evening) and Jack (all sorted after the festivities).

To start with Lisa joined us in a quick game of Diamant, joining which Spencer arrived and laughed at our misfortune (or ineptitude, I'm not sure which). Despite getting off to a good start Lisa could only manage third place with 13 jewels, behind Jack's 19 and Andy's 17. We'll quickly gloss over the fact that Greg and I scored nothing..... One of the mines yielded no jewels at all before collapsing.

Lisa then retired to the study to do some work. The gang then had a go at Jack's prototytpe 'Codename: Monster' (although we quite liked referring to it as "It's Alive!" - possibly with more exclamation marks!). As this game is in the early stages of production I won't go into too much detail. Each player is a graverobber attempting to construct an entire body from parts. There is also molney which can be used to purchase body parts. The mechanics of the game worked well and it was great fun. We all made suggestions for the final artwork etc and all the feedback was positive.... apart from how annoying the Village Uprisings can be (I suppose they are unless you're selling pitchforks and flaming torches).

Not too surprisingly Jack won both games! Final scores were:
Game one: Jack, 54, Paul 48, Greg 40, Spencer and Andy 25.
Game two: Jack 61, Spencer 44, Paul and Andy 41 and Greg 37.

A promising game for the future.

We then moved on to Falling; a card game I had picked up at Steer's recent mad giveaway. What can I say.... this game was utter chaos...on a biblical scale! I don't even know how to describe it! One player is the dealer, the others are falling to the ground and fighting. The aim is to be the last one to hit the ground. You play cards to delay your own fall and speed up that of your opponents. It is frenetic, mad and rapid.

We had six goes at this in very little time.

Game one: Spencer dealt. Andy hit the ground first (ie lost!) followed by Paul, Jack and Greg.
Game two: Spencer dealt. Paul hit the ground first, followed by Jack, Andy and Greg.
Game three: Greg dealt. Spencer hit the ground first, followed by Andy, Paul and Jack.
Game four: Jack dealt. Andy hit the ground first, followed by Paul, Spencer and Greg.
Game five: Greg dealt. Paul hit the ground first, followed by Spencer, Jack and Andy.
Game six: Andy dealt. Greg hit the ground first, followed by Paul, Jack and Spencer.

Mad game but great fun.

And that was it. Sadly, this was Andy's last Monday nigth as he is moving with his family ot the wilds of Lincolnshire. He will be greatly missed and is always welcome on a Monday (lisa and I have offered him use of the guest room).

After everyone had left, I suggested that Lisa and I play Cribbage, curled up in front of the fire eating liqeur chocolates (I knew she would find this hard to refuse!). Sadly, she agreed and whooped me royally. She got two very high scoring crib hands which helped her immensely. I realised she is better at discarding than I am...yet. Maybe next time...

Sunday 14th January 2007

2007-01-14T10:28:00.000-08:00

In a desperate bid to maintain some dignity and self-respect, Lisa suggested taht we play Cribbage whilst Eleanor enjoyed her afternoon nap. She failed on both counts as I won 2 games in a row. Go me! To be fair, I was hugely fortunate with the cards I was dealt.

After having dinner and before heading for a bath, Eleanor declared her wish to play 'Two By Two'. She won both games, although we had all matched our animals in the first game, but Ellie was the first to find a raincloud. In the second game she reached this stage whilst Lisa and I both had an animal left. Beaten by a 2 year old..... again ..... 2 days running!

Saturday 13th January 2007

2007-01-13T08:20:00.000-08:00

Lisa, Eleanor and I played Ellies' Shopping List game, which she received as a Christmas present. It is fun, quick and simple. It is beautifully produced to Orchard Toys' usual high standard.

Ellie was the first to obtain all eight items in her shopping trolley. Lisa and I had managed to find only 6 items each. Beaten by a 2 year old....

A little later the three of us turned our attention to 'Two by Two'; a Noah's Ark game in which you have to remember where animals are and match them up before placing them in a cardboard boat. Ellie loves it and she is now quite good at remembering where tiles are. This may explain how she won, whilst Lisa and I still had 2 animals each left to match.

Ellie wanted to play again after her storming victory and, being indulgent parents, we.... indulged her! This time Paul won. Ellie was the first to match all her animals but failed to find a raincloud which is needed to make the Ark sail away. Lisa was again left with 2 animals.

Eleanor retired to bed a bit later and Paul and Lisa had another go at Cribbage. Paul demonstrated that he has got the hang of this by winning 2 games. Life is sweet....

Friday 12th January 2007

2007-01-13T08:13:00.000-08:00

Lisa decided that she should teach me to play Cribbage. She did. It was fun. We each won one game (first to 61 points). The end.

Worthy of note: you can score 1 point 'for his nob'! What kind of sick game is this !?!

Monday 8th January 2007

2007-01-13T07:59:00.000-08:00

This was the first Monday Night is Games Night of 2007!

I was joined by Vin, Greg and Andy. After we had gassed with Lisa for half an hour and noticed our matching haircuts (not Lisa's!) we settled down to play Masons.

We all like this game as it is quite straightforward to play yet a bit mentally challenging. It was a fairly close game, with each of us spending sometime in the lead. In the end though, Vin who assures us he did have a strategy, won convincingly with 93 points. Paul and Greg managed 84, whilst Andy limped at the rear with 59 points. Much childish laughter had occurred, particualrly when Vin had to place a Pink Palace.....

Masons is a fairly quick game so we decided to try Alhambra. Vin had not played this before but the rest of us had played twice. The silliness continued even though this is a much harder game. Once again I realised too late that amassing money in the early stages is more important than building lots. I did remember, however, about checking that you may score more for coming second with one building colour than for sharing the points with someone else who has the same number as you. This did affect my purchasing strategy and I felt it paid off in the end.

Final scores: Greg 118, Paul 102, Andy 96, Vin 62.

In an uncharacteristically petulant moment Vin declared that he will not play Alhambra again and that we all smelt of pooh.

Monday 1st January 2007

2007-01-13T07:51:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

After a lovely evening with Lisa S, Richard and Emma to see in the New Year, Lisa, Ellie and I returned home. After her late night Ellie retired for an afternoon nap. Lisa and I decided to celebrate the start of 2007 .... by playing Carcassonne - The Castle.

Paul won the first game 107 points to Lisa's 98. It had been a close game. Paul had managed to fisnish a large tower just after collecting a token which allowed him to score double for this. This was mitigated by Lisa having a 'score an unfinshed road' token as well as a very long, branching road.

Paul also won the second game 99 points to Lisa's 70. Paul managed to score for most of the markets (something Lisa normally manages!) and finished a large tower with his last tile without which he would have lost. Lisa was suitably miffed!

Of note: this was the first time we drew an unplaceable tile (market stall between two curving bits of road). The rules say that the unplaceable tile is discarded and will play no further part in the game. We were both a little disappointed as the market is worth 3 points. Oh well.....

Monday 25th December 2006

2007-01-13T07:25:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

After a day of presents, food, chocolate, food, alcohol, snoozing, food, TV and a little more food followed by more alcohol Lisa and I decided to play some games.....what else is Christmas about?

Cara, Lisa's sister, joined us in a quick game of Diamant. We think she liked this, although complained that it sounded much more complicated how we explained it at the start than it actually was as you played it. As she won with 61 jewels to Paul's 60 and Lisa's disastrous 30, I don't know what she was complaining about!

Cara then departed to watch 'The Vicar of Dibley' (Lisa and I are not huge fans!). Instead Lisa and I played 3 quick games of Hey! That's My Fish! Of all the games I play regularly this is the one I find my neurological problems have most affected. I really struggle to play it. Not surprisingly Lisa won the first two games (59 fish to 41 and 63 fish to 37). I must stress though that she did play REALLY well in both games. She completely shut off most of the ice floes and mopped up the remaining fish. It reminded me at times of playing Connect Four as a child; remember when you were in the position that whichever side of the opponents line of three you went they were still going to get the fourth? It was just like that. She outmanouvered me repeatedly.

I clawed back some dignity in the third game by managing to block Lisa's blocking moves! It was fairly close as this was not a very good territory-grabbing approach but I held on to win with 57 fish to Lisa's 43.

We then had a go at Carcassonne - The Castle; clearly still our favourite game! This was an incredibly close game even though we were virtually almost playing at opposite ends of the board. Lisa won by 94 points to 91 - is that the closest game we've had? We were both happy with our performances and I certainly did not begrudge Lisa her victory. Given the amount of alcohol we had consumed by this point that we could even place the tiles was quite an achievement!

Worthy of note was that this game marked the inaugural use of the new BAG! This was fashioned for me as a Christmas present by my mother in law from the remains of a leg of my recently thrown away favourite pair of trousers! I deny rumours that my victory was due to Lisa's unease at being prompted to put her hand in my trousers every time it was her go!

Once 'The Vicar of Dibley' had finished Cara rejoined us and asked to play Diamant again. Lisa and I foolishly agreed and allowed ourselves to be whooped; Cara scored 62, Paul managed 39 and Lisa scraped along behind with 29 jewels. We then collapsed drunkenly in our beds having had a marvellous Christmas Day (apart form losing hideously at Diamant to someone who hadn't played it before. Mope, mope, mope!).

Sunday 24th December 2006

2007-01-13T07:18:00.000-08:00

Once we were firmly ensconced at the in-laws, Eleanor was tucked up in bed, presents were neatly arranged around the tree and everyone was watching 'Coronation Street', Lisa and I (not soap fans!) had a game of Carcassonne - The Castle.

The game went really quickly - maybe because we felt a little selfish not joining in with the rest of the family. We arranged the board diagonally to see if this would alter our habit of both starting at the same points on the board.... it did! We both played aggressively to score quick points and hamper each others building efforts. Lisa faired much better, due to securing quite a lot of markets, managing to finish a huge house and thus scoring extra points at the end. She had also managed to accrue the most tokens by scoring small amounts and landing on the corners ahead of me to collect them. An easy victory for Lisa with 97 points to Paul's 67.

In my defence I would like it to be known that I was somwhere beyond 'tipsy' at this stage of the evening and my critical thinking skills were non-existant!

Saturday 16th December 2006

2007-01-13T07:08:00.000-08:00

Following our normal habits, whilst Eleanor napped, Lisa and I played two games of Carcassonne - The Castle. We felt a little guilty as there was loads of christmas-related stuff we ought to do but, hey, it is the season to be jolly!

The first game was very close and neither of us knew who had won until the final scoring. In the end Paul snatched victory with 90 points to Lisa's 83. Lisa was a little annoyed as she had missed an opportunity to score about 8 points earlier in the game....

She made up for her error in the second game by managing to place 8 markets and 'own' them with only one meeple! She then got a token to score 4 points per stall in one market field. This netted her 32 points and significantly assisted in her 108 to 76 points win! She also tried a new tactic; she would finsish of my buildings and roads which scored me points but stopped them getting very big and thus scoring more. This worked particularly well as I had a score an unfinished building token and score an unfinished road token neither of which I could use.

Sometimes I feel myself starting to sulk.

Monday 11th December, 2006

2006-12-12T05:51:00.000-08:00

Monday night is Games Night! Jack, Greg, Andy and I began the evening with a quick game of Guillotine. Andy got off to a roaring start on the first day and could not be caught. Final scores: Andy 24, Jack 19, Greg 18, Paul 14. We like this game; it is quick, fun and simple.

Vin then arrived and joined us in a game of Puerto Rico (Lisa was tempted to join in but decided to do the work she had brought home instead). This felt like a quick game and the final scores were fairly close: Greg 35, Paul & Jack 30, Vin 25 and Andy 23. Of note..... Vin ABANDONED his coffee-buying approach!

We rounded off the evening with a quick game of Diamant. Lisa joined us for this and much hilarity ensued. Fianl scores: Vin 28 (most of which he acquired in the first mine), Lisa 14, Paul 11 (he had no precious stones until the fourth mine), Jack 9, Greg 8 and Andy 5.

Also of note....Andy won a game...he assured us this is a rare event and so is worthy of note.

Sadly, this was our last Monday night until 2007 due to the forthcoming festivities etc. Merry Christmas everyone!

Monday 4th December 2006

2006-12-08T13:11:00.000-08:00

Lisa and I were joined by Jack (who brought games), Spencer, Andy and Greg for the ritual that is Monday Night. First up was Ticket To Ride. I had played this once before and I thought Lisa may enjoy it. She certainly did. Spencer, who arrived a little late, teamed up with her. It was a good game, although the board seemed to fill up quite quickly. Lisa got off to an early, and ultimately unassailable, lead. I rallied towards the end coming from last place to erm... second to last.... courtesy of several tickets I managed to complete. Lisa really enjoyed it she said!

Final scores:
Lisa 102, Andy 84, Jack 84, Paul 80, Greg 69.

Next up waas the classic Settlers of Catan, played with the 5-6 Player Expansion Set. Again, Lisa had not played this before. The game lasted for two and a half hours due mainly to rule changes within the expansion and the scarcity of grain and clay throughout the game. I still think this is an excellent game, although I'm more mixed about the expansion.

We had fun making silly comments ("I've got wood for sheep!") and realising that with a bit of letter re-arranging the game could be called 'Cettlers of Satan' (read Kettlers!) which made us chuckle!

Despite getting off to an appalling start and looking out of it for most of the game I finally managed to sneak ahead at the end of the game thus bringing it to a close.

Final scores:
Paul 10, Spencer 8, Greg 7 (with the most armies EVER!), Jack 7, Andy 6 and Lisa 4.

Lisa has not said much about this game except that she preferred Power Grid and Puerto Rico. She later conceded that it might be more fun with less players and hence no expansion. We shall have to see....

Sunday 3rd December 2006

2006-12-08T13:06:00.000-08:00

As Ellie enjoyed a Sunday afternoon snooze, Lisa and I enjoyed a game of Carcassonne - The Castle. It was a close game throughout, with no one establishing a clear lead. It came down to the final scoring to see that Paul had won with 89 points to Lisa's 81. It was a good game and we both enjoyed it, although Lisa was a little annoyed not to have used her tokens more effectively.

Thursday 30th November 2006

2006-12-01T04:08:00.000-08:00

Lisa and I decided to try the two-player variant of Border Reivers. This was the first time Lisa had played and the first time I had played with only two. We both admired the quality of the pieces and the general production. Lisa felt that at times the rules were not as clear as they could be. She thought that the game was hard to get into for someone who does not have a history of board/wargames (apart from playing Risk once...an expereince she is keen not to repeat!). This was her enduring criticism of the game, particularly the combat system which she could not make sense of (although I think I found a way to explain it afterwards).

In the end I won with 46 gold to Lisa's 38. We are a little concerned that we were not playing it correctly. We both realised that we could easily sit and build our settled empires without fighting each other and see who was the first to get 40 gold. There appeared to be no incentive to attack each other (definately not the case with 3 or 4 players).

Interestingly we both chose the Market, Training Camp and Guildhouses cards to improve the chances of increasing armies and revenue. I later chose a Reiving Party card which I used twice to annoy Lisa and keep down her income from taxation. I also got hold of the Mine which was worth doing. There was only one battle (apart from the Reiving Party) which I won by using Siege Engines to reduce Lisa's Castle to a Fortress and having twice as many armies. I then went on to destroy her city just soon enough to stop her winning by gaining more gold.

Although we enjoyed playing the game together it felt a little unsatisfactory. Lisa could have won really quickly had she not bothered defending an area which I did later attack. Had she used the armies committed to this to create cities she would have taxed her way to victory much sooner.

We will try it again soon and Lisa did say that she would like to try the 3 or 4 player version as well!

Monday 27th November 2006

2006-11-29T01:34:00.000-08:00

Monday night is games night! Paul and Lisa were joined by Andy, Greg and Vin. We played Powergrid, a new game for Lisa. Paul struggled with this a bit but still really enjoyed it. The good power stations proved elusive, however...

Greg eventually won being able to power 15 cities. Vin came second also powering 15 cities but having less cash! Andy came third after a stunning comeback. Lisa came fourth after leading most of the wayk and Paul came last after poor positioning at the start of the game.

Lisa really enjoyed this..almost as much as Puerto Rico she said! I just knew she would like resource management games!

A good evening.

Saturday 25th November 2006

2006-11-29T01:29:00.000-08:00

Whilst Eleanor napped Lisa and I had 2 games of Carcassonne The Castle (we had both missed this and regretted not taking it to Center Parcs!)

Lisa won the first game 108 to Paul's 90. She was greatly helped to do this by having tokens which allowed her to score an unfinished house (7) and an unfinished road (20).

Paul won the second game scoring 115 to Lisa's 84. This was due to having 2 'score 5 points' tokens and completing a very large tower and a very long road towards the end of the game.

It felt good to be reunited with our current, favourite game!

Friday 24th November 2006

2006-11-29T01:25:00.000-08:00

Steer joined Lisa and I for dinner (Roast Duck!) and we then introduced him to Hey! That's My Fish over a bottle of wine (or 2). Steer enjoyed this and his mathematical mind seemed stimulated....

Steer 36, Lisa 33, Paul 27.
Lisa 46, Paul 32, Steer 21.
Lisa 36, Steer 32, Paul 31.
Steer 40, Paul 33, Lisa 23.

He was then persuaded to try Guillotine...3 times!
Paul 34, Lisa 30, Steer 29.
Lisa 19, Paul 17, Steer 16.
Steer 24, Paul 23, Lisa 21.

A fabulous evening.

Monday 20th November 2006

2006-11-29T01:18:00.000-08:00

Monday night is games night...even if we had only just got home from Center Parcs! Paul was joined by Jack, Greg and Andy. We decided to try Vlanderen 1302; a game only Paul and Andy had played before. It took everyone a while to get into it but then appeared to be enjoyed. The game felt even closer than the final scores indicate:

Greg 46, Jack 42, Andy 36, Paul 34, Neutral 8.

We all fancied something quicker and less mentally challenging next, so we had 2 games of Guillotine.

Paul and Jack drew the first game (17 points), Greg 12, Andy 11.
Greg 23 (quietly collecting palace guards!), Jack 22, Paul 19, Andy 12.

A fun evening once again!

Sunday 19th November 2006

2006-11-29T01:09:00.000-08:00

Whilst Eleanor napped, and Lisa S, Richard and Baby Emma were swimming, Lisa and I thought we would try the 2-player version of Finstere Flure. Lisa had previously tried this in a group and had not particularly enjoyed it. She found the 2-player version gave her the chance to better understand how the monster moves and how he can be lured towards the opposing pieces.

Paul won the first game by gettting 2 tokens out to Lisa's 1 (5 were eaten though!)

The second game was a draw (although Lisa had the moral victory!) as we each got 2 pieces out.

We played again in the evening and Lisa won easily, getting 3 of her peices to safety whilst Paul managed only 1!

Lisa S and Richard then joined us for 2 games of Diamant.

Lisa S 46, Richard 45, Lisa 0, Paul 0 (our worst game ever!)
Lisa 36, Lisa S 36, Paul 27, Richard 18.

We then moved on to Hey! That's My Fish.
Lisa S 35, Paul 31, Lisa 17, Richard 16.
Paul 40, Lisa S 22, Richard 20, Lisa 16.

Lisa and I then had a final go at Finstere Flure; Lisa won with 2 of her pieces making it to safety whislt Paul managed to rescue just 1.

Saturday 18th November 2006

2006-11-29T01:00:00.000-08:00

After another day of swimming and relaxing at Center Parcs, Lisa and I persuaded Lisa S and Richard to try Hey! That's My Fish. Depsite Lisa S observing that it used 'tictacs' they both really enjoyed this and did far better than Lisa and I (this is one game I am currently finding ridiculously difficult with my current neurological problems). We enjoyed 3 games:

Richard 27, Lisa S 27 (Richard had the most floes), Lisa 22, Paul 22 (Lisa had the most floes).
Lisa 2 28, Richard 27, Paul 22, Lisa 22 (Paul had the most floes).
Lisa 26, Paul 26 (tied for floes!), Lisa S 25, Richard 22.

Lisa S then requested another go at Diamant. The first game got off to a bad start; the first mine was infested with scorpions after two cards were drawn both showing scorpions...mine two caved in with two rock falls before any jewels were found!

Scores recovered after this, although Paul had no jewels until mine 4!

Paul 51, Lisa S 36, Richard 30, Lisa 29.

Game 2 went much more smoothly:
Richard 36, Lisa S 30, Paul 21, Lisa 20.

Friday 17th November 2006

2006-11-29T00:54:00.000-08:00

We spent a long weekend at Center Parcs with Lisa S, Richard and their little baby daughter, Emma (who is gorgeous!). Lisa and I managed to persuade them to have a go at a few games we happened to take with us....

This evening we introduced them to the joys of Diamant. Lisa S liked the jewels (shiny!) and both liked the easy rapidity of the game.

Amidst the consumption of alcohol we had three games:

Paul 52, Richard 37, Lisa S 28, Lisa 25.
Paul 44, Lisa S 36, Richard 23, Lisa 11
Lisa S 24, Lisa 11, Richard 2, Paul 2.

There are some shockingly low scores in there....

Monday 13th November 2006

2006-11-14T02:11:00.000-08:00

The usual Monday night fun took place...

I was joined by Spencer, Greg and Andy. First up was a quick game of Hey! That's My Fish. Despite not having played before Spencer won! (Spencer - 32, Paul - 27, Greg - 22, Andy - 15).

Vin then arrived and we built the Pitch Car track shown above! Despite not having played this before Andy won and Vin came second. Paul was next with Spencer then Greg bringing up the rear.

We then sat down again for a go at Niagara. Vin impressed us all by winning this (eventually) with 7 gems. Greg and Spencer each had 6, Andy had 5 and Paul had 4 (although he only needed a yellow one to have one of each colour). This game took longer than usual as there was a lot of tactical 'stealing' going on!

A great evening!

Saturday 11th November, 2006

2006-11-13T02:21:00.000-08:00

Our routine at weekends seems to have become that whilst Eleanor has a nap Lisa and I play a game. Today we returned to Canasta. My impaired thinking does not seem to spoil my results at this although I do find it harder to play than normal. We had three hands with Paul winning the first two and Lisa the last one (Paul - 1205, 1310 and 495; Lisa - 470, 920, 1290). This was a new game and the final scores were Paul 3010 and Lisa 2680. Lisa currently leads 3 games to 1. Paul was a little annoyed with the final hand as he miscounted his wild cards and could have scored nearer 1500 points! Oh well....there's always next weekend.

Friday 10th November 2006

2006-11-11T07:32:00.001-08:00

After Eleanor had gone to bed, Lisa and I had a game of Carcassonne - The Castle. It was a close game; itwas not clear who had won unitl the final scoring. Lisa won with 102 to Paul's 96. Her tactic of scoring a few points repeatedly and collecting more of the tokens from the early part of the scoring track paid off. She ended up having an 'add 5 to your final score' token, as well as 'score an unfinished road' and 'add 2 to your largest house'. The latter also gave her the largest keep scoring her an additional 7 points. This galls a little as she won by only 6! Oh well....

Today I discovered that in January 2007 there will be another extension to Pitchcars! It will feature 2 straights, 2 flat ended curves (allowing for crossovers) and, most excitingly, 4 half-curves! I am already picturing track layouts in my mind.... However, Lisa insists that when I promised not to buy any more games until 2008 (!) this did include expansion sets. I have tried arguing, repeatedly, that this is not the case but...she gets scary!

Tuesday 7th November 2006

2006-11-10T04:55:00.000-08:00

Before going to the cinema (to see Terry Gilliam's 'Tideland') Mal and I decided to have a quick go at Pitchcars. Mal had previously enjoyed this and had taken an early lead in our 'lifetime championship type thingy' 5 - 4. My challenged brain struggled to construct the track (as shown) as I kept gettting confused as to which track design I was following! It was harder than it looks to play on. The chicane on the straight was particularly challenging and held us both up repeatedly. We did manage to get one 'action shot'; Mal's car can be seen in the air just above the track. We were both rather proud of this.

In the end Paul won both games, bringing the running total to Paul 6, Mal 5....it could still go either way!

Monday 6th November 2006

2006-11-09T07:32:00.000-08:00

Monday was once again games night. I was joined by Jack, Greg and Vin (who arrived after our first two games of Hey! That's My Fish which Lisa played with us).

To be honest I can't really remember much of the evening. However, this is due to my current neurological problems rather than it being a forgettable evening. On the contrary I do remember that I had a really good time and enjoyed myself.

I do remember (sort of) playing Hey! That's My Fish. Lisa won the two games she played (Lisa 29, Paul 28, Greg 21, Jack, 20: Lisa 34, Greg 23, Paul 21 and Jack 18). Despite a poor showing in the first two games Jack confidently won the third (once Lisa left us and was replaced by Vin). Score was Jack 29, Greg 22, Paul and Vin 20 each. Vin and Greg had not played this before but both enjoyed the quickness and elegant simplicity of the game.

We then played Masons. I don't remember this much except that I was behind for much of the game but finished in 2nd place. Sadly, I can't remember how this happened. This is a game I enjoy but I have not yet found a good approach to it. Greg won 147, Paul 137, Jack 133 and Vin 121.

We rounded off the evening with a game of Niagara. Apart from teasing Vin who was weighing his options for .... a lengthy period of time, I don't remember this at all...which is sad as it was only the second time I have played it. Greg won with one jewel of each colour, Paul had 6, Jack and Vin had 4 each.

A fun evening was had by all and we hope to be joined again by Andy and Spencer next week.

Sunday 5th November 2006

2006-11-06T02:02:00.000-08:00

Whilst Eleanor slept we snuck in a quick game of.....Carcassonne - The Castle! Using the approach favoured by Lisa the previous evening (and being hugely lucky with tile draws!) Paul won. 118 to Lisa's 79. For the majority of the game it appeared that our keeps would remain tiny (3 tiles each) and so no one would score the points for the remaining space. Therefore neither of us bothered trying to shrink the remaining largest area. With my penultimate tile I managed to finish a seven tile house and get the extra 11 points...I was also fortunate with markets and scoring double for a large tower thanks to a token collected from the score track.

Saturday 4th November 2006

2006-11-06T01:55:00.000-08:00

Whilst Eleanor was enjoying her long, afternoon nap Lisa and I enjoyed 2 games of Carcassonne - The Castle. This is firmly our favourite game at the moment. It is still new enough to feel fresh and is perfect for two people; a lot of games are less impressive in their two player form so we are pleased to have one designed just for two! Its also more complex than it first appears. We try different tactical approaches and are still learning how each other thinks. There are a lot of variables and the tiles run out quickly (30 each). I like the way the board offers a definite boundary...although it can start to feel claustraphobic.

The first game was close; Lisa won 102 to Paul's 96. It was not clear until the end who was going to win. Lisa's approach was to try to score small off every tile...if it could contribute to a larger construction then so much the better.

Lisa won the second game easily using this tactic scoring 115 to Paul's 79. In this game Lisa managed to score so that she picked up nearly all the tokens on the score track which gave her a massive advantage. Paul also committed two meeples early on to holding two market stalls each. In retrospect I think it wopuld have been wiser to keep the meeples in play and score more points the same way Lisa did!

Friday 3rd November 2006

2006-11-06T01:48:00.000-08:00

Instead of collapsing in front of the TV Lisa and I decided to play several games of Carcassonne The Castle... before collapsing in front of the TV.

The first game was close; Paul won 77 to Lisa's 67. In the second game Paul was fortunate in that he collected 2 tokens scoring 4 points per market stall in one court. Paul had 9 markets in two courts netting 36 points! He also secured the largest keep giving him victory 120 to 57. Lisa's revenge was swift and she demolished Paul in the third game 108 to 53. (She managed this despite having consumed several mugs of mulled wine and looking a bit rosy-cheeked!).

Thursday 2nd November 2006

2006-11-03T04:30:00.000-08:00

Once again, whilst Eleanor snoozed, Lisa and I had 3 quick games of Carcassonne - The Castle. (It was a long snooze!). Despite Lisa obtaining most of the markets in the first game Paul won 92 to 86. In the second game Lisa once again dominated the markets but her pieces were tied up for too much of the game stopping her getting "quick" points. Paul took advantage of this (and having the larger keep) and won 111 to 94. Lisa returned to form in the third game and trounced Paul 93 to 70. This was an interesting game as both keeps were of the same size so no one picked up the 15 available bonus points.

As usual we both enjoyed playing this game. My current cognitive problems only affected my play a little bit (usually stupid tile-placement) and were counteracted by the amount of luck I received!

Monday 30th October 2006

2006-10-31T06:29:00.000-08:00

Lisa and I were joined by Andy and Greg for games! Vin is off recovering from a weekend in Whitby, Jack phoned to say he was going to have a quiet night in with The Wife and Spencer is excused after his partner, Jessica, gave birth to a baby girl on Saturday night! Congratulations and welcome to the world Little One.

Once again aiming to keep things simple for my malfunctioning brain we kicked off with Diamant. After being victorious through recklessness last week I decided to go for overcautiousness this week. It paid off! Final scores:
Paul 37
Lisa 30
Andy 24
Greg 14

We then moved on to Alhambra, a game Andy and I had played before (although I can barely remember it). This is not as complicated as it first appears and is good fun. I am a sucker for tile-laying games though! My impaired cognitive abilities were evident however. I failed to apply a strategy, realising late in the game that I should have accrued more money earlier on to buy more properties towards the end. A few last minute purchases helped me pick up my score. Unfortunately Lisa's strong position was eroded by Greg and Andy buying odd buildings to reduce her advantage. Her really long wall could not save her! Despite it being his first attempt at this game, Greg clearly got the hang of it and romped to victory. Final scores:

Greg 103
Andy 83
Paul 81
Lisa 79

As it is nearly Halloween we decided to end with another go at Finster Flure (Fearsome Floors). Once again this was good fun but more mentally taxing than it appears. Despite everything, I managed to win...although to be honest.... I was not really thinking beyond "must move pieces....preferably away from monster...." ( a man-sized slime creature this time).

Once again a great evening much enhanced by Andy bringing green-filled chocolate rolls!

On a personal note, I really enjoy when Lisa joins in with us on Monday nights ...I can't put into words why, other than to say it is nice to do something together!

Thursday 26th October 2006

2006-10-31T06:22:00.000-08:00

In the 'quiet time' between Ellie going to bed and anything decent coming on the telly, Lisa and I decided to try Hey That's My Fish. I had played this before at Beyond Monopoly and enjoyed it enough to buy a copy. Upon unpacking it I was once again struck by what a stupidly big box it is for so few components. The wooden penguins are cool though!

The aim of the game is to traverse hexagonal ice floes with your flock of penguins and collect the most fish. It is surprisingly tactical as you can trap penguins and the ice floes have differing numbers of fish upon them (1,2 or 3).

Sadly my brain failed me and despite almost drawing the first game, Lisa won the second competently after she had got used to the game's mechanics. We both enjoyed it though and were impressed with how complex such a simple-seeming game can be..... we look forward to teaching it to Ellie!

Monday 23rd October 2006

2006-10-31T06:11:00.000-08:00

Monday night is games night...after a considerable break due to my hospital stay etc. I was joined by Andy, Greg, Spence and Vin who kindly agreed to play simpler games as my brain is not functioning properly yet.

First up was Guillotine, which is becoming something of a favourite 'fast' game. Despite not really remembering how to play very clearly I managed to win! Poor Vin may have done better if anyone had remembered to tell him that the game takes place over only 3 days! Final scores:

Paul - 18
Andy - 17
Vin - 14
Spence - 13
Greg - 11

Next up was Finster Flure (Fearsome Floors)... a dungeon-based game in which you have to move your team of counters out of the dungeon whilst avoiding being eaten by a monster; in this case a tuxedo wearing giant eyeball! Part of the fun is in positioning your pieces to lure the monster towards other players' pieces. It turned out to be harder than it sounded. Spencer won convincingly and I was pleased to see that I was not the only person who failed to think tactically (although I have a good excuse!).

We decided to round off the evening with Diamant. My lack of tactical ability made me play rather more recklessly than I think I would normally do. However, this time it paid off as I won. Final scores:

Paul - 37
Andy - 33
Vin - 30
Greg - 25
Spence - 21

A fun evening was had by all, except Greg who bemoaned not winning!

Saturday 21st October 2006

2006-10-31T06:05:00.000-08:00

It has been awhile since I played any games due to my recent neurological problems. Although my cognitive abilites are still impaired Lisa and I took the opportunity to play Canasta whilst Eleanor had a snooze.

Despite my problems I managed to win 6 of the 9 hands and thus won my first game! Managing to obtain all four red 2's helped, scoring 800 points.

The scores were:
Paul 1735
Lisa - 315

Paul - 5
Lisa 1355

Paul 1045
Lisa 375

Paul 930
Lisa - 130

Paul 1830
Lisa 765

Paul 860
Lisa 755

Paul 950
Lisa 40

Paul 985
Lisa 490

Paul 950
Lisa 1050

Lisa leads 3 games to 1.

Sunday 17th September

2006-09-18T09:55:00.000-07:00

Once again whilst Eleanor enjoyed a nap Lisa and I decided to have a go at Carcassonne - The Princess and the Dragon. We decided to play 'Speed Carcassonne' (ie no farmers!). We enjoyed this expansion but did not feel we saw its full potential with only two players.

The dragon was fairly powerless as we took it in turns to move it; this wouldn't happen with more than two players. (Despite this I did manage to manouvre the fairy a few times so that Lisa was forced to 'eat' her own meeples whilst moving the dragon...very satisfying!).

We both liked the wormhole tiles and the Princess tiles. In the two player game they added quite an advantage. I managed to score a large city which Lisa had previously been booted out of by the Princess. Lisa did manage to complete a huge city though!

The fairy was an....interesting addition. We struggled to remember the bonus point for still having the fairy at the start of your turn and we only scored a bonus three points for having her on a completed feature once.

I really liked the dragon meeple but was less sure about the fairy meeple. The tiles were lovely, although the road under the city seems a little pointless. I really liked the monastery (grrrr..cloister) in the city though. I look forward to trying it again with more players.

Final Scores:
Lisa 149
Paul 157

We wondered if we were missing something with the volcano tiles. After the first one has been placed and the dragon arrives what do the others do? We placed them but you cannot meeple them...but you do get control of the fairy....we wondered if the dragon should move to the new volcano?

Saturday 16th September

2006-09-18T09:37:00.000-07:00

Saturday was Beyond Monopoly at the Railway Institute in York. There was a good turnout and I managed to squeeze in 5 new games…which is a record for me!

Jon announced that the club will be playing games at the National Railway Museum in York on a Sunday in November. We don’t have to play only ‘train games’ though! I’m hoping to volunteer my services as I would like to do something to help out the club.

Jon also announced that we are going to be the first featured ‘Club of the Month’ in a new BBC games magazine! How cool is that! I hope that Jon is as proud of this as he should be….

First of all I got involved in a game of the Lord of the Rings with Andy, Mike, Adrian and George. To be honest I nearly bought this a few years ago but didn’t as it didn’t tie-in with the movies. Now, this seems refreshing. The game was excellent. I particularly liked the collaborative nature of it; I really felt that we were competing with Sauron and the evil hordes rather than against each other. In fact I was quite happy to sacrifice my character to increase the Fellowship’s chances. As it was my efforts were fruitless…

I also liked the interchangeable and reversible boards. The artwork was really good too. A solid 8 out of 10 from me. It was pointed out to us that we had played the idiot-level stupid persons version of the game…and still lost!

Next up the five of us were joined by Kevin for three hands of Who’s the Ass. This is a quick card game very similar to ….a standard card game whose name I can’t seem to remember (rummy?). It was good fun and I was pleased to come second. George did really well winning two hands, although he did have all four jokers in one of them! Final scores:

George 25
Paul 26
Mike 42
Kevin 66
Andy 80
Adrian 93

Kevin and George then headed off and the remaining four of us tried our hand at Hansa. In this game you play a fourteenth/fifteenth century trader in Scandinavia. You pay to move a trading ship, build trading booths in cities and buy and sell goods. I really enjoyed this. I particularly liked that you got taxed if you were doing too well and that it is not in your interests to stockpile goods too much. I felt this was quite a realistic aspect of trading at that time. (Monopolies seemed to become more economically viable 100-150 years later). The final scores were:
Mike 44
Paul 39
Adrian 35
Andy 35
Despite none of us having played this ever before we all enjoyed it.

Adrian then headed off to play something less mentally-taxing (I spotted him being introduced to Border Reivers) whilst the remaining three of us played Aqua Romana. I had not played this before but Mike and Andy gave clear instructions. Despite losing I really enjoyed this game and I hope to add it to my collection at some point. (I’m a sucker for tile-laying games!). It reminded me a little of Carcassonne: The Castle in that the board is a finite area and as tiles are placed it fills up rapidly. I quickly realised that my opening tactic of building straight pieces of aquaduct was flawed. I think I will do better next time. Final Scores:
Mike 33
Andy 32
Paul 28

I thought the quality of the board and playing pieces was outstanding and the mechanics were elegantly simple.

We decided on a final game before Mike and I had to head off. Mike introduced us to Adel Verplicht…which he said translates as Hoity Toity. I won this game but still enjoyed it a little less than the others. In essence you have to build a collection of antiquities to display at castles. Each turn you secretly choose to go to the auction house or the castle. Then you can buy new goods, steal money from the auction house, or steal part of a collection, display your exhibits or play a detective who foils any robbery attempts. There was a fair amount of bluffing and poker-facing going on….Mike consistently countered Andy’s moves! I fortuitously built the largest collection and then managed to arrest all the thieves leaving me free to exhibit my collection repeatedly and win the most points! Mike came second with Andy limping along in third. I think this may work better with more players. With only three it was relatively easy to work out what everyone was going to do.

All in all a really good day. It was nice to see Jack getting a go at Pitch Car and introducing people to Border Reivers. Also I think this was the first Beyond Monopoly when I have not played a single game with Jon!