Shear Heart Attack

On a mild February evening, I rang on Sam’s doorbell a couple of times and then, seeing that his son Stan was sitting down to watch Netflix, I knocked on the door and he let me in.

I walked into the kitchen to find Sam, Joe, Ian and Laura finishing a game of So Clover. There then followed a discussion about what to play with five, when Laura decided she wanted to play Orbit. We were setting up when Adam H called, saying his prior appointment had been cancelled and could he join. We said yes and, deciding that six-player Orbit would be too long, split into two groups. Laura, Sam and Ian continued to recreate the space race while Joe and I set up Sheepy Time in expectation of Adam’s imminent arrival.

Both groups started perilously. Ian said he’d regretted his decision, even after his first turn. We in Sheepy land discovered that the last people to play the game hadn’t separated the nightmare cards from the pack. We spent almost a minute getting the cards in order. How upsetting.

The game itself was very tense. Joe decided his strategy was to get scared as soon as possible in order to exploit some scared-reliant tiles for points. In round two he placed his sheep firmly in front of the nightmare and waited impatiently for it to move and scare him. My strategy was to pile up Zees on one tile which, if I landed on it, I could cash in for two points each. I triggered this bonus and put myself in a winning position. All I had to do was pass the fence and I had exactly the card to do it. Alas, now was the time when the nightmare hitched up its skirts and sped around the track, jumping the fence and waking us all up. My point-scoring zees were all gone and I was not confident of a win.

In the next round Joe passed his pillow by a decent ten-point margin and ended his game. Adam and I had to keep going and I was pleased with my final score of thirteen points past my pillow, but Adam won decisively. Despite having a pillow furthest along, he used a series of tiles to spin him around the track several times, ending up as the eventual winner.

Adam 15 spaces past his pillow

Andrew 13

Joe 10

At this moment, with uncanny synchronicity, Orbit was also finishing. Whatever Ian’s initial doubts were, they must have been overcome as he won a close game.

Ian 26 + tiebreaker

Laura 26

Sam 23

There was then a pretty extensive conversation about being sick while Ian and Sam perused the games wall. Since Laura had decided to go home, they were looking for a five-player option, and they selected Texas Showdown.

And what game it is. Each hand rich with betrayal and self-destruction, almost in equal measure. Adam was faced with a choice of making Sam take the trick or Joe and both of them had played the highest card in the hand, meaning they'd chose who would lead next. Adam said that since Sam would probably chose him to lead, then he’d make Joe pick up the trick. Unimpressed, Joe immediately nominated Adam to lead the next hand anyway.

Sam and Ian started with clear rounds and Ian was last to pick up any trick at all, and he did so with a bemused “what’s going on?” It was close and we entered round four with Joe leading 6, 7, 7, 8, 8. It’s a shame that you don’t get points for accurately evaluating your hand, because Sam perfectly predicted his own downfall. Joe, meanwhile, went clear just when it mattered.

Joe 6

Ian 7

Andrew 10

Adam 11

Sam 13

And with that, I left. The others stayed for a round or two of So Clover, scoring 12 and 14.

Thanks all, see you next Tuesday.