You can't always nyet what you want

 I arrived at Steve and Anja’s house a full forty-five minutes late. Inside were seven people (Ian, Katy, Adam H, Louie, Steve, Anja and Joe) playing a card game called Trios. I don't know anything about except that Louie won on sevens.

Now there were eight of us, with Martin expected around nine o'clock, so we split into two: a lengthy thinky eurogame group that would last for the next hour or so and a quick, lighter group that would be able to accommodate the swap of Martin for Louie when Martin arrived.

Tinners’ Trail passed me by apart from Adam declaring he was going to piss off Anja by taking the adit. Was that the winning move? Probably not.

Adam 106

Ian 105

Anja 95

Steve 70

We lighter folk played Trails of Tucana, a draw (cards) and draw (lines) game. At the start of a turn, two cards are drawn and everyone has to draw a line on their maps joining the two terrains on the cards.

In doing so, you have to join harbours together and also other locations to get extra points and lines. It's simple but fun. 

Katy seemed annoyed at first and had to double check with Louie if “bullshit” is a swear word (it isn't, he said). Joe connected three of his harbours to give him a strong victory over the rest of us.

Joe 78

Andrew 50

Louie 40

Katy 35

A very popular return for this game. I expect to see it again soon.

Then Martin arrived. Louie went to bed and the four of us played Nyet, a trick taking game with a confusing core dynamic of shifting rules, fleeting allegiances and super trumps which are basically their own suit.

Anyway, those shifting rules meant that, in round two, tricks were worth negative points (-2) and Joe’s brilliantly strong hand suddenly became a liability. For him and Katy too because each round begins with a team of two being created by the starting player and for the first three rounds, it was always Katy & Joe against me & Martin. The two of them were hit by -32 points in round two and they never recovered.

In the fourth and final round I was starting player and I could either stick with Martin and finish joint first or go for glory and team up with someone else. I teamed up with Joe but, frankly, my hand wasn't best suited (pardon the pun) to the rules and I almost ended in third behind Katy!

Martin 63

Andrew 45

Katy 36

Joe 18

The other notable event was Martin's popular choice of jalapeno and dill crisps. Popular with everyone except Steve who revealed that he's allergic to dill. 

As Tinners' Trail drew to an end, I had half an eye on the clock but was persuaded to play a quick game of Prey Another Day. 

Katy was taken aback by the artwork that seemed to have been done with highlighter pens. “You could play it in the dark,” she commented. She swept to a sudden win by eating all three other players (all lynxes) in one go.

Katy 5

Joe 4

Andrew 2

Martin 1

And with that, I had to go. Thanks all for another special set of moments. See you next week.