GNN meets NSG at LHG

Apologies in advance for the lack of photos :(

The summer season seems to be in full swing, with many GNN-ers away on holiday, or wilting in the unseasonal heat. With no-one able to host, Martin and I decided to brave the North Street Games meet-up at Left Handed Giant brewpub in Finzels Reach. Not that there was anything much to brave - they're a very friendly bunch, and Martin has been to several of their meet-ups at other venues in the city. 

Martin brought along Nathaniel, who he knew from years ago at London on Board, and who he had discovered was cat-sitting in Bristol, a stones throw from him in Easton! Nathaniel left the cat at home, as far as I'm aware.

I'd brought a bag of games - actually a bag of games in bags - all suitable for three players. We kicked off with Ra, and it was a pleasure to play with what has been called Super Ra, the original Rio Grande edition updated with my playmat and resin tiles. For all the lovely production values of the new version, the simplicity of this one is pretty perfect really - a testament to the fact that bells and whistles don't make a game better (unless it's a game of Bells & Whistles, I suppose).

It was a feisty one, with Martin getting two full racks of tiles to himself at the end of the first epoch, after Nathaniel and I had bowed out. None of our chanting of "Ra! Ra! Ra!" seemed to make any difference whatsoever, and the Ra tiles burrowed ever deeper into the bag. The second epoch was a different story, and ended with all of us still with Sun tiles to play. We all judged the third epoch just about right, and the scores could hardly have been closer, Martin squeaking the win by a point.

Martin 46

Joe 45

Nathaniel 43

Next was Sea, Salt and Paper, which Martin had brought with him. Again, a tense finish, with all three of us crossing the finishing line in the same round, and Nathaniel beating me on the tie breaker. We noted that in 3/4 player game, if any opponent beats the last chance challenge, all opponents get their hand points, which is nice, to quote a phrase.

Nathaniel 41 (w)

Joe 41

Martin 36

During SSP, there was a prize draw to mark the 2nd anniversary of North Street games at Left Handed Giant. Three games and a four pack of beer were the prizes, and we reckoned our chances were pretty good, as we were 3 of 28 people in attendance. But we didn't win, which is fair enough I suppose, given that we're only casual attendees. The games were Spectre, Next Station Tokyo and Under Falling Skies - all good stuff, and brand new!

Back to the bag of games in bags for our next game, Seaside. This sweet little push-your-luck game hasn't seen much action at GNN, mainly because I keep forgetting to bring it, or forgetting I've brought it. It's good pub-table fare, and my stack of wooden chips just beat the others for the win, meaning we'd all won a game so far (I'd rather have won Ra, of course, but I'll take it - a win's a win, as they say).

Our final game was Azul - the travel edition which comes in a bag! For the most part it's a successful miniaturisation, with tiles the size of Spangles, as noted by the two of us at the table old enough to remember Spangles (not Martin). But as also noted, it's not really small or convenient enough to play whilst travelling - I'd rather decant the full size one into a bag and use that.  Whatever, it did the business, and I made some good early running. Nathanial caught me up, but Martin struggled to get his Spangles in a row. Some entirely appropriate dickishness (aided by possibly bad play by me) in the last round left me taking 8 minus points, and Nathaniel winning by 7.

Nathaniel 69

Joe 62

Martin 52

Nathaniel had instigated a handshake after each game, which I rather like, and I suggest we do this at future Tuesdays. Unless of course the game is cooperative, in which case we should give each other the Vs up, or something.

It was only 10.30pm,  but Martin had to be up to catch a plane to Cincinnati and Nathaniel had cats to feed back in Easton, so we wandered off into the warm night, briefly confused by the roadworks blocking Bristol Bridge. A very fun night, and a relief to keep the GNN flame from puttering out, at least this week!