I’m overlooking a four-leaf clover

I arrived late and watched the second half of a game of Lucky numbers while sorting out my drinks. Ian was first to get to his last tile, but luck was against him and he couldn't place that final one, allowing enough time for Andy to catch up and steal a win.

In the end of game statistics Sam discovered he had seven minutes thinking time, which he was appalled by until he remembered that included the rules explanation.

Next up was Decrypto, the latest board game to be given an online presence with a .io domain. The site was functional and pretty boring, but it seemed to work fine, barring some peculiar word choices. We had "Wriggler" among our code words. Sam and Martin teamed up together "for old times' sake" and Ian, Andy and me made up the other team.

I can't say I was completely up to speed with the game. We got a miscommunication in round one before we fluked an interception in round two by simply guessing 1, 2, 3. Martin and Sam used clever clues to avoid any miscommunication and then used logic to intercept us in round two as well. Finally, after some very literal clues from ourselves, Martin and Sam got the second interception in round three, making this perhaps the shortest game of Decrypto I've played.

Sam and Martin, double agents

Ian, Andy, Andrew, halfwits

Next we played 7 Wonders. Usually this is Ian's strong suit but this time he was predicting his failure early on.

Andy insisted his wonder forced him to go big on military (because otherwise he’s such a peac-loving opponent). Sam finished fourth after being convinced he was in the running

Andy 66

Martin 58

Andrew 53 (+ cash)

Sam 53

Ian 45

Next up was For Sale and we began with the worst 9 ever: pick it up for free and allow everyone else to help themselves to 20+ cards. In the second half of the game Andy charitably picked up both zeroes.

Martin 57

Ian 54

Andrew 53

Sam 48

Andy 43

Now Sam left and Ian was on the verge of departing too, suggesting a short game as his finale. We chose Kingdomino and watched in amazement as Ian built a 60+ point forest. Martin’s lake couldn’t compare.

Ian 85

Martin 72

Andy 56

Andrew 49

Ian’s win seemed to give him a second win, as he deferred sleep in favour of a game of Downforce. Despite being a speedy one-lap race, I was able to make my bed during the downtime between my turns. Martin won the race but Andy bet on him so he won the game.

Andy 21

Martin 15

Andrew 14 (+ cash)

Ian 14

Now Ian finally retired and the remaining three played Lucky Numbers. Andy won again. But, mind you, he had a 3-20 spread early on while I began with numbers on my board ranging from 3-11. I never stood a chance (is my excuse).

And thus we were done. Thanks all.