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!
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Monday 5th February 2007
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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....
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....
Friday, January 19, 2007
Thursday 18th January 2007
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, January 15, 2007
Monday 15th January 2007
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...
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, January 14, 2007
Sunday 14th January 2007
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!
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, January 13, 2007
Saturday 13th January 2007
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....
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
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 !?!
Worthy of note: you can score 1 point 'for his nob'! What kind of sick game is this !?!
Monday 8th January 2007
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.
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
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.....
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
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!).
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
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!
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
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.
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.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Monday 11th December, 2006
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!
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!
Friday, December 08, 2006
Monday 4th December 2006
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....
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
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.
Friday, December 01, 2006
Thursday 30th November 2006
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!
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!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
