That sinking feeling

On a train with cack wifi - will add pics this evening

Laura was our host this week, and with Andrew a late withdrawal the blogging reverted to my (Sam's) sweaty hands.

Joe kindly gave me a lift over - despite Laura and I being practically neighbours, it was a relief to the foot. After some breaking-and-entering shenanigans, we found the kitchen replete with hairy men, and Laura. Katy was due a bit later, and Andy could only stay until 9, so there was a bit of boardgame jiggerypokery (BGJP) as we debated options, before Martin, Andy and Gareth played Longboards and Laura, Ian, Joe and I settled on Heckmeck (also known as Pickonimo, AKA the Hammy game)

Laura had child-related distractions, and I had bad luck/decisions, so in the early running it looked like Ian v Joe. Then Laura and I struck back, but not that effectively, and though I stole a tile from Ian Joe's stash was insurmountable. 

Joe 10
Sam 7
Ian 4
Laura 2

They were still playing Longboards so Laura introduced us to Roll For It, the game of dice-rolling to claim cards. Initially it seemed underwhelming, as each turn is a single roll of the dice and choosing where to allot them, if at all, to hopefully claim cards if you're the first person to complete the card demands. 

But as the game continued it got faster and funnier with Katy - who arrived as we started - desperate for six 2's as the rest of us fought it out over another card. As we turned from perplexed to engaged, Longboards finished...

Gareth 41
Martin 39
Andy 33

..and they started playing HIT, which I didn't get any photos of. We were too busy chucking dice and shrieking by then. Eventually Ian claimed the win (22) followed by me (17), Katy (15) Laura on 12 and Joe back on a paltry 5 points. He would have some serious vengeance however, later in the evening. Meantime Gareth absolutely rinsed Andy and Martin at Hit:

Gareth 144
Martin 77
Andy 67

Andy's pumpkin hour was looming but we thought we could squeeze in a quick game of Viva Pamplona! After some inevitable rules-clarifications, we were off! 

Andy appeared to be the early front-runner with his strategy of staying ahead of the bull and grouping runners together worked well: he was rarely pushable and therefore (this is the rule I missed Saturday) you couldn't squeeze points out of him (when you push a runner, the owner gives you a point or two). I did okay out of the first two scoring rounds, but as the bull rampaged past the halfway point I fell behind and kept rolling low dice, stuck behind a pile of fucking tomatoes. Gareth was taking a lot of pushing around at the back too, but staged a mini-recovery. I needed the bull - now invisible to me beyond a mound of vegetables - to not move, but it bundled it's way in to the arena and ended the game. Surprisingly Andy didn't win - it was the quiet man Joe!

Joe 43
Andy 37
Martin 30
Gareth 18
Sam 17

At the other end of the table, they finished Forbidden Island around the same time. Katy announced proudly they sank the island, but won anyway. So distracted was I by the Running of the Bulls that I hadn't witnessed any of this, so hopefully we'll get a mini-epic in the comments. 

Andy had to go, so the four remaining Bull Runners set up Mille Fiori, a game I recalled being relatively straightforward (apart from the boats) but felt bamboozled by when on his very first go, Martin took three turns and scored about 30 points as the rest of us watched in horror. I stared at the boards, stared at my cards, and questioned the wisdom of agreeing to play it.

But wily Joe has been here before. He has a rock solid record with Mille Fiori and as the game played out over the next 45mins or so he shrewdly pegged Martin back, pulling off a dramatic move every time Martin surged away again. We had our fleeting moments but otherwise Gareth and I were in a fight for third. The ending couldn't have been more dramatic, as Joe finally bounded ahead to Martin's panicked cries. But on the final go, he pulled out a double turn, moved his ship and pushed past Joe Berger for the win!

Martin 225
Joe 224
Sam 209
Gareth 174

Katy Laura and Ian, meanwhile, had played Marrakech not once, but twice: I think the second time they did the evil variant. Katy won the first (then Laura, then Ian) and Ian was maxi-evil for the second, trailed by Laura and then Katy in third. 

I had a big day the next day today and my foot was complaining a bit already so I hobbled off, aided by Gareth who also needed to get home. The others stayed on for a crack at So Clover, and pulled off a maximum-pointer! Go GNN. 

The smell of bull

Saturday night. After a day of entertaining nine 13-year-olds (-little Joe's birthday party), what I should probably have done was go to bed. But I wanted some me-time and what better what to spend it than with other people. Specifically, in this case, Ian and Adam H, who arrived at 7.30pm. I had the Great Zimbabwe set up and waiting for them, and proceeded to explain the rules. Every time I go through them the game seems a few degrees easier, although I still had to reference the book twice. 

But essentially it's build and raise - literally - monuments for the win, with the caveat that to do so you need craftspeople, and having craftspeople raises your victory point requirement (VR): it begins at 20, and in theory at least could remain there throughout the game, if your opponents give you the freedom to play using their craftspeople instead. I thought Adam might have bitten off more than he could chew when his VR hit 31, but he combined his craftspeople, specialist and God - both of which give advantages but also push up your VR - to utterly tank Ian and I, hitting something like 38points as we lagged in the late teens. 

Adam admitted he enjoyed himself. I complained aloud about Adam winning. Ian remained silent. 

At this point however, Laura arrived and we blasted through Viva Pamplona!, the somewhat dubiously-themed (in terms of animal welfare) game where you partake in the Running of the Bulls in Spain.

On your turn you roll the two dice and move (or not; the arrow result lets you advance 0-6 spaces) two of your runners. After everyone's done so, a card is flipped, and the bull moves too: often 1,2 or 3 spaces. Occasionally a little faster:

Your goal is to try and remain as close to the bull as possible, so close you can smell his animal scent. If the card flip reveals a scoring card then the bull doesn't move and the runners score: 3points for being on the same spot as the bull, 2pts for just ahead of it and 1pt for two spaces ahead. All runners behind the bull lose points!

Orange spaces cost you a point when you stop there, and there's a double-space full of tomatoes that you need to fully pass, or you'll slip back. If you arrive on a space and your runners outnumber another player there, you can push them back (or forward) a single space. 

This continues until the bull arrives in the arena. Any runners who beat the bull there receive points - as late as possible is better than earlier - but being behind the bull at this stage costs you points, of course. Ian found his bad luck and continuously rolling high worked ultimately in his favour. As we clustered around him on the final corner, he suddenly sped up and gambolled into the arena, leaving everyone behind him! But Ian was the least far behind by some margin, and picked up a win. 

We followed that with Kingdomino Origins, where I missed the drama of the scorecount as I had to go out and collect Joe as the hour hit 10pm. Despite the time though, Laura wanted to revisit Quantum, and Ian and I needed no encouragement. Adam gained a refresher and off we went...

I was first to go and having gotten a cube down, took a two-action bonus card to ready myself for a second. Then I spotted I could get a third cube down on my third turn, and as a result I found myself on the receiving end of unwanted attention (and commentary) from everyone else. My ships were blasted off the board, but thanks to my Tyrannical power, I pushed my dominance up to six twice to get my final two cubes down for the win. As Adam pointed out, going first doesn't harm your chances in Quantum at all, but I was pretty pleased with my win all the same, as Ian and I agreed Quantum remains a top ten game for us. 

Another top night, thanks all!

Nothing if not annoying

 On a cold Valentine’s night three hardy gamers (Martin, Ian and me (Adam)) converged on Anja, Steve and Louie's house as if we had nothing better to do. Anja was busy applying for a new job, so five of us played Wandering Towers, the game of wizards who can't walk backwards and Towers that can fly.

 It was new to Louie and the rest of us were rusty, so Martin explained the rules and we began: racing toward the Raven Tower, trapping each other under flying masonry and cursing our lost meeples. Somehow the Raven Tower was always behind Martin when it came to his turn (well done Ian!) and somehow Martin always managed to land a tower right on me.

 The finish was close - Louie was first to get his third wizard into the Raven Tower, but hadn't filled all his potions yet. I dunked wizard 3 but had drunk two of my potions, then Steve declined the opportunity to hand me the win (by dropping a tower on Ian) so Ian took the honours by one potion.

Ian wins

Everyone else doesn't

The can of stout isn't included with the game

 Next we played Hit, as Louie’s last game of the evening. Martin managed to pick up a 1, a 2 and a 3 before going bust and showing remarkable swearing restraint, Louie’s cards were repeatedly stolen, leading to a short burst of lying under the table, and Ian never really picked any cards up. I pushed my luck slowly and steadily while Steve saved his luck up for the last couple of rounds, snatching a set of 9’s from his own child in the last round for the win.

Steve 101
Adam 80
Martin 57
Ian 52
Louie 45

 

 At this point Louie was replaced by Anja and we set out to ride whales up and down the ice coast, picking up kelp, cockles, bottles and blubber in Reiner Knizia's Whale Riders. Sadly I didn't get any photos of this lovely game.

 Steve complained more than normal about how we kept taking stuff that was obviously meant for him, while Martin and Ian raced ahead and Anja looked baffled (an enjoyable confusion I think). I steadily completed contracts, noting that I was nothing if not efficient, Steve’s reply provided the title of the blog. 

 Then Martin and Ian hit the end and started spending big money – Martin’s eight gold for four pearls looked foolhardy until he completed another contract and suddenly had the money to buy two more pearls and end the game. But the pearl-chasers lost out to the contract-makers:

Adam 23 pearls (+7 gold)
Steve 23 pearls (+3 gold)
Martin 22 pearls
Ian 21 pearls
Anja 12 pearls  

 Finally we went for a “quick” game of Rapido, the game of falling down some steps in Rio. Climbing up some steps in Rio? Who knows?

 The game involves rolling some slightly odd dice and hoping for a double (instant points!) or a high number (made from combining the two dice) which can be placed on a points podium. If your dice don’t get knocked off the podium by an equal or higher number by the time the turn gets back to you, you score those points. The fly in the ointment is the X on each dice which busts you, ending your turn and knocking you back down a step.

Anja, out in front, earlier

 Anja raced to 12 points before the rest of us had our climbing boots on but then got bogged down. My initial tactic of “If you're on zero the X's don't hurt!” made for going bust a lot. Steve rolled 31 and then went bust four turns in a row. When he finally rolled a 76 (the best roll possible) he had to put it right at the bottom of the podium and only got one point for it. 😁

 In the end Ian couldn’t win it with doubles so cowardly and steady won the day as I carefully edged over the line with a string of 2- and 3-point scores.

Adam 21
Ian 17
Anja 15
Steve 13
Martin 10

The top of the steps! Or the bottom?

And with that we all departed, pondering absent friends, light polution, minor injuries and the new Huddersfield manager.

The Dirty Pipe Slapstick Squadron

 I arrived at Sam’s at 7.40 and, once I’d recovered from the surprise of seeing Andy B for the first time in a year (?) we all sat down (me, Andy, Sam, Martin, and Joe) for a quick game of Rapido. It’s such a simple game that Martin explained the rules to Andy while we were playing so that when it came to his turn, he would have no excuse for doing badly. Except for bad luck, of course.

At first, the main recipient of bad luck was Martin who was the last one to score any points at all. Then, mid-game, a run of misfortune meant we all started moving backwards. But eventually it was between me and Sam for the win. Sam edged forward onto space 18 and then rolled a double three to take the win.

Sam, then Andrew, Joe, Martin, Andy

During this game, Katy and Laura arrived. We checked if Laura and Andy had actually met, and they had. We still think of Laura as a newbie even though, as she pointed out: she’s been coming to games nights for years – some of us found this hard to believe.

Andy had to leave in about fifty minutes, so we began to think about what to play. Time pressures didn’t make things easier and before long, Andy had to leave in forty-five minutes and we still hadn’t chosen. Finally, we decided on Diamant. Laura hadn’t played so she got a rules explanation and we set off into five temples.

Since there were seven of us, a lot of jewels got left behind on cards such that Martin, Sam and Laura all left early and got three jewels each. That seemed like a good move until an artefact came out. Katy nabbed that one which also looked like a good move until Andy stayed in til the end and got a 17-jewel card all to himself.

The rest of the game followed suit: paying out generously. Sam went out early saying "I've got a feeling" and then the rest of us died in a fire. Laura picked up 17 jewels in artefacts and then Katy got 20 jewels. Martin, however, had to keep pushing his luck as he fell further behind. We had to explain to Laura that it wasn’t usually like this. There was one temple that behaved as expected: giving us three traps and then a single jewel.

We finished in good time so that Andy wasn’t late for his appointment although I suspect he could’ve left halfway through the game and still won.

Andy 44

Katy 40

Laura 28

Andrew 24

Joe 21

Sam 20

Martin 3

Then we split into two groups of three. Sam, Laura and I played Quantum. I asked Laura if she was okay with something a bit fighty and she said it was fine since she was from Yorkshire. Andy stuck around to watch Martin, Joe and Katy play the first few rounds of Mille Fiori to see if he could work out the rules. Katy must’ve felt nervous as they set up because she seemed unable to finish her sentences (“I think I might need a quick…”)

As for Quantum (or Yorkshire In Space, as it will now be called) Sam explained the rules to Laura and then, sheepishly, made her first move for her. Then it was gloves off. Sam and I were both down to one die at one point or another and Laura managed to win the game when she won two battles to put her aggression up to six and place her last cube.

Laura 0 cubes left

Sam 1

Andrew 2

As for Mille Fiori, it ended

Joe 215

Martin 180

Katy 166

Laura left after this (high on victory, no doubt) and the rest of us played High Society. I bought two cards early on but then I lost track of what other people had paid. I put to 20,000 francs for a late x2 card thinking that my 31,000 in my hand would be enough to avoid elimination. It wasn’t and I was out, finishing behind Katy and Martin who both had a x2 each and nothing to multiply with it.

My multiplier had a picture of a woman laughing at her drink

Sam 9

Joe 8

Martin 0

Katy 0

Andrew OUT!

We finished with So Clover. Katy was first to complete while Joe fretted long enough for their to be a toilet break. Alas, Katy’s intuitive approach to clue-giving came undone as we struggled him “humbug”. Thinking it might be a reference to A Christmas Carol we went with “Candy/grave” when it should’ve been “candy/mud”. The other clovers were all cleared, I think, with some great clues. Martin's four clues were Dirty, Pipe, Slapstick and Squadron which at least saved me the bother of thinking of a blog title. I loved Sam’s clue of “candle” for the words “cake/dynamite” and Joe’s “sideboards” for “moustache/travel” because if a moustache could travel, it would become… 

Joe seemed touched that we got his clover correct on our first attempt. As if he’d finally found people who understood him. 

27 out of 30

Crazy times. Thanks all. See you next week.

Zimbabwe Mojo

Recently Joe, Martin and I were talking about our enthused/misguided/terrible shared habit of constantly bringing new games on Tuesdays, and how it might not hurt to slow down and give things more time. With that in mind, I have - massive hypocrisy alert - been playing (new game) The Great Zimbabwe a lot at home, with a view to bringing it the next few Tuesdays running. If not more. Adam T and Joe joined me for an exploratory outing this week (see Andrew's previous post) but maybe it's worth explaining the basics here in case anyone else's curiosity is piqued enough to give it a go. 

So: in The Great Zimbabwe, each player is a leader of a competing tribe in ancient Africa. However, we're not at war with each other, but trading instead; and we measure our progress by building monuments to our Gods. Which Gods vary - in each game there are many to choose from, but we're monotheistic and once you've chosen a God to worship (and gained the ongoing power they grant you) there's no conversions here. The Gods vary wildly in their powers, and some are stronger than others. But that strength is recognised in your victory point requirement: at the beginning of the game, you need 20 points to win (or at least come close) but every advantage you get in the game pushes the Victory point requirement up. Only the 'easygoing' God Elanga reduces it (by two); however, Elanga grants you no special power at all.

Red's requirement is still on 20, but green and yellow have 

probably started worshipping or something 

The main goal is to raise those monuments, then, but for that you need to pay craftsmen for their ritual goods: a potter, an ivory carver, a throne builder and so on. Someone needs to 'build' these craftsmen in order that players may play them, and doing so also pushes up your victory point requirement - but on the other hand, now you'll be getting loads of cows (basically cash) which is good, because cows pay for things: craftsmen being one, and turn order another. 

bidding plaques in foreground

Turn order is almost an irrelevance in the opening rounds, but becomes increasingly critical as craftsmen are built and paid, and monuments raised. When you raise a monument you need as many different ritual goods as the monument's current level, and each craftsman can only access so many resources per turn, so you can find yourself unable to raise at all if you're last to go. So turn order is decided by bidding, using a curious system of dumping cows on the tribal 'plaques' (see pic above) before bidding is resolved and all cows on plaques are returned to the matching tribe. Say I'm first to bid in that pic (Yellow): if I'm flush with cows, to coin a phrase, I might bid four cows, placing 1-2-3 on yellow-green-red and then the fourth on my own plaque again as the bid 'wraps around'. Green bids next, and starts to the right of where I placed my last cow. It's hard to explain, but easily followed once you've done a round or two. 

wooden crosses mark off used resources in each round

Then the real business starts, although it's surprisingly simple in principle: you have one turn in each round and can take one action with it. The actions are: start a new monument anywhere on the board (exception: not next to any other monument, including diagonals); build a craftsman, placing the craftsman tile somewhere on the board within reach of the resource they need (and ideally close to your own in-progress monuments) or raise a monument.

Raising is where The Great Zimbabwe's juice is, but also where it gets a bit thinky. There is a universal rule-of-three for transportation at play: from resources to craftsmen; from craftsmen to monuments. This includes diagonals, however, and the extremely handy water: no matter how big the water, it counts as a single space. Even if you're further away than you'd like from a craftsman, you can use another monument as a transport 'hub', paying a cow for the privilege, as everyone combines their monuments into a kind of proto-post office, powered by cattle and reluctance.

But each available resource can only be used once per round, which is why turn order can be so important. Having a barn full of cows is no good if you're not using them to score points. 

Taking a God doesn't cost an action: you can do it on any turn you like but, as mentioned above, you're stuck with that God for the rest of the game. Similarly there are a few Specialist cards you can take for their abilities, but each one pushes up your victory point requirement: some rather considerably. 

After everyone's had a turn, players collect all payments to their craftsmen and income equal to their tallest monument, and then bidding begins again for the next round. 

three craftsmen, a specialist and a God (walk into a bar)

The rules aren't complicated: I'd say we've all played games of a similar weight (or heavier) but Zimbabwe's dense thicket of thinking is more about how everything interconnects on the board, with transportation being as critical as income being (almost) as critical as point-scoring. Both Adam and I went an expansionist route, worshipping our Gods and building multiple craftsmen, getting cows galore from Joe who was comparatively reserved on his spending. We should have spotted that we were basically - rules fudge notwithstanding - carving out a path for his easy victory, as I foolishly built the fourth distinct craftsman he needed to put the maximum-height fifth level on his monument for a win. If we'd played correctly he wouldn't have had the cows to do so, but if we'd strategised better we could have forced him to start a new monument (1 point!) instead. 

I wouldn't argue it's a breezy game, and heavy ponderers might find it too thinky thanks to how things overlap on the board. But I certainly feel it's worthy of prolonged investigation, and will continue bringing in the hope that might happen!*

*no pressure obvs x

When we're sixty-four

 I arrived at Joe’s at 8.05pm and found Joe, Laura, Sam, Martin, and Adam T sitting around talking with Laura explaining a scene where she struggled to explain the rules to a new game to people who insist on chatting about, you know, normal things.

First we played Rapido, a dice rolling game by Reiner Knizia. In this, players roll two asymetrically numbered dice to make the highest possible number (i.e, a one and a three would count as 31) while avoiding Xs. Once (if) you have a score you’re happy with, put those dice beside a number, between 1 and 5 and if they’re still ther when it’s your turn again then you score those points. However if someone scores equal or higher than you and places their dice on a lower scoring space, then you’ll be bumped off and won’t score anything.

We began slowly, rolling 6 and 4 a lot and bumping each other off. Then Sam scored a point, but then went bust with his next turn and lost that point. After about five minutes, no one had moved. I rolled 2,2 twice and got two points as a bonus for rolling a double and leapt into the lead. Sam rolled 7,6 which was the highest possible score. Then Laura also rolled 7,6! Then, on his next turn, Sam rolled 7,6 again and bumped off Laura.

In the end, I rolled 7,5 and put my dice on the 5-point spot. If I was still there at the end, I’d win. Everyone tried to stop me, but to no avail.

Andrew 21

Sam 12

Laura 9

Joe 8

Martin 6

Adam 0

Then we split into two groups of three. Sam, Joe and Adam played The Great Zimbabwe, which many people was too long to start so late but Sam insisted they’d get it done by half past ten. 

Laura, Martin and I played Longboard. In this game we are all owners of a surfboard-shaping business and we have to make the longest surfboards with the most stickers on it. Once a surfboard is four cards long it is "shaped" (always said in an American accent) and will score bonus points.

Laura started well, but that was because she hadn’t understood the rules – she’d been following them purely by accident. Once she knew them, she played a lot slower. But slower isn’t necessarily worse, and in the end it couldn’t have been closer.

Martin 46, wins on tie-breaker

Laura 46

Andrew 39

We thought The Great Zimbabwe was still hours from completion so we chose our next game: Mille Fiori or “Mille Fiori (In The Glittering Lagoon)” to give it its full name. We ignored the shipping area at first while Laura and I pushed our ships along the scoring track at the bottom. Martin picked up  bonuses and extra points on the key track and also got more bonuses for that area with oreos, broccoli and fish. Don’t know what it’s called. The market, I guess. 

But despite Martin’s bonuses, Laura kept on his tail and even edged into the lead at one point. Then Martin executed his final move, chained together three “extra turn” bonuses and finished with a healthy lead.

Martin 192

Laura 178

Andrew 142

To our surprise, The Great Zimbabwe came to an end mid-Mille Fiori. I knew little about the game, except for overhearing snippets about trading with cows or having the right God. Apparently it ended when Adam and Sam made the resources that Joe needed to win the game. So he did.

They went on to play Capital Lux 2 Pocket.

Adam 77

Joe 60

Sam 47

And Martin, Laura and I played Sea Salt and Paper. I had a better idea of what to do, but I’m still not sure about when to call a winning hand. Twice I sat on a hand with more than seven points hoping to get more with my next card, only to hear someone else call “stop” or “last chance.” In round two, Laura picked up 5 shells and in the last round we played, I actually had the 2 anchors plus anchor bonus card for 13 points.

Andrew 24

Laura 18

Martin 14

Adam and Laura went home at this point so the four of us played two dismal games of So Clover. During the first game, we fell foul of a mean decoy on Martin’s clover. With clues like “Imprisoned” and “Numbers” we thought a card with “Cage” and “Pie” (i.e, pi) was definitely right but instead
it should’ve been “Nightmare” and “paintbrush” as in “painting by numbers.”

Then in round two we managed to fail on Joe’s clover, getting three out of four wrong. And even on our second go, we didn’t get much closer. We obsessed over thinking that pigeons fly in a v-shape while overlooking that ducks certainly do. But then, the “duck” tile was being used for “Police/Barrack” = “Precinct.”

The only high point was everyone’s guess of “Bang/hook” for my clue of “Trigger” which is really clever and caused a lot of mirth but was unfortunately also wrong.

At this point, we finished, thouroughly defeated by So Clover. I had no work the next day so I was able to stay until the end for a change, but maybe an early night would have been better for my self-esteem.

How I felt after So Clover

Thanks all. See you next week.