Mille Fruit Flies

 I arrived at Joe’s a little after eight, having already been told by WhatsApp about two games of Strike! (Ian won the first, Sam won the second) and then a score of 20 in Cross Clues.

There were six of us around the table once I’d sat down (Martin, Joe, Sam, Adam T, Ian and myself) with Katy expected at some vaguely defined time in the next forty minutes or so. We split into two groups: I had my first game of Mille Fiori with Joe and Martin. Adam, despite having brought a load of games, declared that he was in the mood for something new and so Sam and Ian introduced him to Gold West.

Gold West happened at the far end of the table so, apart from Sam killing three fruit flies (many of which danced around our drinks all night), I have little idea about the game. It was very close though.

Adam 97 + tie breaker

Sam 97

Ian 95

As for Mille Fiori, it was a smorgasbord of potential. Not so much a point salad, more a point kaleidoscope, and I had little idea about what to focus on. I was a permanent distant last and while I enjoyed it, I had little chance of challenging for first place against these experienced players.

Martin 204

Joe 198

Andrew 157

During this time Katy arrived and watched us finish off our respective games. Then the seven of us played Doodle Dash, a simple game of speed drawing according to a single-word clue randomly chosen from a card. Adam asked, just for clarification, exactly how many people here had an art background. But as it was, it was the non-artists who made the running in terms of grabbing the “first to finish” stick. Katy stated that, since she can’t draw, then it was the only option she had. Some of the “doodles” where hilarious, with Martin warning that one of his was “a little bit conceptual.”

One of Katy's offerings. Can't remember what it was meant to be

and, frankly, I have no way of guessing

Sam had the best drawings, but was only once quickest to finish (and then I couldn’t guess his drawing). Ian amazed us all by correctly guessing Martin’s “sandal” which looked more like a croissant to me. I just picked up points by waiting for the first two doodlers to fail, after which the guesser gets to see everyone’s drawings.

My rendition of "skipping". A success!

In the final round, Joe and Martin physically tussled for the “first to finish” stick, with Joe remarking afterwards that he’d actually been scratched. Joe’s nice white tabletop also didn’t do well, with ink smudges wherever we’d put our doodle-boards face down. Joe didn’t seem to bothered about it, while Sam went into full parent mode, wiping up as much of it as he could.

Two drawings, same word.

"Monorail"

Joe 10

Adam 7

Andrew 7

Sam 5

Martin 4

Katy 4

Ian 4

Then we split up again. Martin, Sam and Adam played Tiger and Dragon and, apparently, broke it. They played three rounds and the same strategy won each time. Then Adam left and Sam and Martin played Sea Salt and Paper.

Joe, Ian, Katy and myself played Break The Cube, a puzzle game in which you ask simple questions and try to guess what formation each player has secretly stacked their blocks in. We went around a few times, made a few guesses but began to forget what our initial clues had been.

“I suppose we should’ve used the pads,” said Joe, revealing the existence of some bespoke sheets of paper that we could’ve used to note down our information. We finish the game with no one guessing correctly.

At this point Ian and I left, while the remainers finished off with American Bookshop. Katy used to be so good at this…

Sam 21

Joe 20

Martin 17

Katy -20

Thanks all, it was a blast.