I arrived at a little before 8 and found four gamers around Sam's kitchen table: Sam, Martin, Ian and Katy. They'd just finished a game of Spicy in which Katy didn't score until the final round and Ian didn't score at all.
Sam 35
Martin 33
Katy 13
Ian 0
Then we set up Cross Clues as the ideal game to play while waiting for Joe to arrive since he could just join in once he was here. He arrived mid game and initially misread Airport as Apricot but luckily that didn't hinder his clue giving.
We didn't do very well. I'm not sure but I think we got six wrong.
Then we played Formula Motor Racing, an old Knizia game that showed it's age in the instructions that referred to the players as "gentlemen (and ladies)". It might be a Knizia game, but there’s player elimination, even though each player has two cars so if one spins out, you can be more cautious with the other.
Martin was the first to spin out and he did so in spectacular fashion. He used the spin out card in which the active player rolls a 12D die and the car in the position indicated by the die is out of the race. If the roll isn’t favourable, the player can roll again.
Martin rolled a 1. No good for him, since he was leading at the time so he rolled again. Martin rolled another 1. How we laughed.
Katy also crashed and took Sam out with her but she recovered from that to win the race and the game.
Katy 10
Ian 7
Sam 6
Joe 2
Andrew 1
Martin 0
The game’s instructions suggest running seventeen races to recreate an entire Grand Prix. Maybe not.
Then we split into two. Martin, Katy and Joe played Tajuto during which Joe boasted about how good he was at pulling the pink and that “I’m known for my lucky drawers.” In among this Carry On Tajuto type humour, Joe seemed to be looking good for the win until the final count which saw Martin and Joe rejoicing in their shared victory.
Joe 19
Martin 19
Katy 11
Ian, Sam and I dug out Tin Goose again. Just like our last game, I was frugal again and I even passed on a chance to buy a plane when I thought the price had got out of hand. And this happened a fair amount as the auction prices were much higher than before.
Andrew 324
Sam 303
Ian 210
The two games ended at the same time, so we finished with Swat, a sort of cross between Ra and Snap. The aim of the game is to collect scoring sets while avoiding negative cards. The cards are dealt from the top of the deck by one player while the others wait until they’re happy with what’s on offer at which point they slap the player board in the centre of the table. Often this would be accompanied by cries from the other players, annoyed at having missed out on a promising haul. Sometimes it was accompanied by the cries of the player who claimed the cards only to find a last minute -4 fly card added to the pile.
Sam once slapped so slowly that Martin was able to get his hand under Sam’s to claim the cards. Ian managed to underslap (is that a word?) Katy twice, much to her frustration. However, Katy scored 41 in the first round and no one else got close.
Katy 75
Sam 65
Martin 55
Joe 52
Ian 52
Andrew 45
Then Katy, Ian and I went home while Martin, Sam and Joe finished on Sheepy Time. According to Sam, “Martin won, Joe in second and I was miles back in third.”
Thanks for the evening, guys. See you all soon.
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