While he was doing that I was selling lots of spice at the markets, and the game moved at a brisk pace. Half an hour in, Stanley roamed down from his bed to watch a couple of rounds, and after he went back upstairs the game was pretty much done! I triggered the end of the game with my fame and money markers passing each other (they travel in opposite directions in order to do this) but Andrew still had one last turn... I spotted a way he could beat me, but to be fair the options in Rajas are so bountiful there were probably numerous ways to do it!
Andrew : top Raja
Sam: second-best Raja
My markers (yellow) and Andrew's (blue) in the background
With the hour still early, I introduced Andrew to the delights of Burgle Bros, a co-op game where you're trying to pull off a slightly farcical heist - cracking three safes on three floors of the same building - as three guards wander around and you try your best to avoid them: if you're in the same 'room' as them a fourth time, you're caught and immediately shop your accomplices.
We began trapped in a corner as a guard wandered to and fro, unaware of what pain he was causing us. Then we broke free and cracked the first safe. Andrew made his way to the second floor whilst I moved on to the third - separating like this helps a lot, as it means the guards move about a bit less.
Andrew did travel up through a duct to help me crack the third floor safe, but then returned to his task as I escaped through the roof. He needed to flip a tile to reveal a number to crack the safe, and flipping the tile involved rolling a single six. It was a pity Martin wasn't there to see how many times Andrew rolled one, two, three, and then four dice (using up his four actions) over and over before he finally rolled the needed six! It was bizarre. And all the time it ate up saw the guard stumble on him, franctially rolling dice and appealing to the Gods. He was caught - and so was I!
Andrew and Sam: in chokey.
And then we played Biblios! And what a Biblios it was, with Andrew convinced from early on that he'd lost, and me increasingly optimistic that I'd won, as Andrew ended the auction phase with bugger-all cash and I had the pick of the last few cards. Unfortunately though, it wasn't enough! If I'd just bid higher on the 2 Blue card, things could have been so different...
A classic trio of games. Thanks Andrew and see some of you Saturday...
That's was great. I was in a pretty shit mood when I arrived, having had my fill of "chirpy banter" at work, but those three games put me back on track. And Sam, of course.
ReplyDeleteRace For The Ganges, or whatever its called, is still a big pull for me. Just the right side of point salad-y. Thanks to Sam for pointing out my winning move. Maybe he wanted to cut the game short - I had been a bit prone to AP during the match. I was a bit unnerved by Stan coming down and telling his dad what his best move was.
Burglar Bros was fun, and there was a genuine feeling of being a bank robber as you hid in an alcove while the guard walked past. Pity about my feeble keypad-solving abilities.
Finally, Biblios. I thought I was doomed. Sam was handing me red cards like they were one golds. I expected him to say "eat shit" when he handed them over. Luckily I paid an extortionate 7 gold for a two blue card, which was enough to tip things in my favour. Phew.
Roll on Saturday.
(Oh, and by the way, Sam texted about the blog being finished while I was near Maplins, so another new record set.)
Soon I hope to have it down by the time you close the front door
DeleteOh and we should have kept playing Burgle Bros - you’re only caught if the guard comes into your room ( or vice versa) and you don’t have any stealth tokens left!
ReplyDelete