Three time’s a charm

Tonight, three gentlemen of fine standing and educated background met together to discuss art, science, history and culture. In other words, three gamers with nothing else to do on a Saturday evening played Timeline and Fresco.

Gonz, Sam and I were in attendance in this impromptu games night, and we had some important matters to deal with before we started the games: the choice of the inaugural Game Of The Month. We put all six contenders in a small bowl, shuffled them around, and drew one out. The game chosen was

Russian Railroads

Congrats Joe! Your choice came out. So that game will be an option for the next four weeks. (Video evidence of the draw is available on request. I won’t put it on YouTube due to my regrettable decision to try and imitate Graham Kelly, former FA boss who would commentate on FA Cup draws.)

But what about the games? Well, we began with a little warm up of Timeline, since it was sitting on Sam’s kitchen table. We guessed about what came first, the catapult or the crossbow, and whether Karl Marx could have written Das Kapital in denim jeans.

1. Andrew
2= Gonz
2= Sam

After this, we continued the cultured theme with Fresco. A new game for Gonz, but one that he’d expressed an interest in. This game of painting cathedral ceilings is a pleasant stroll at first, climbing to tense frustration in the final round. Gonz drew our attention to one particular part of the painting which he didn’t remember from the bible:

Obviously, it’s the fable of the practical-joke playing woman. Is that in Corinthians? I’d have to check.

Anyway, Gonz got the hang of it pretty quickly, and later said he found it quite straightforward. Interestingly, he held on to his extra worker for most of the game, while Sam had the sixth worker sometimes, whereas I never did and was even down to four workers on occasion. But this level of manpower wasn’t necessarily reflected in the scores.

Gonz 82
Andrew 78
Sam 73

I enjoy Fresco, and Gonz said he liked it too, even if he was disappointed at the lack of opportunities to block your opponents. But I appreciate Fresca’s clear target. It’s less of a point salad than Caverna or Village and all the better for it. Plus the simple rules means it might be something of a second gateway game to anyone tired of Ticket To Ride or Settlers.

Then we discussed what light game to finish with. We were seconds away from starting Love Letter when we decided to have another go at Timeline. Once again we were plunged into discussions about ceramics were invented before writing and if the wheel was invented before fire.

1. Sam
2. Andrew
3. Gonz

1. Sam
2= Andrew
2= Gonz

All of which puts Sam on top of the form table, and sends me up to third, having lost that annoying “6”.

						Points
Sam	1	1	3	2	1	8
Martin	1	1	1	2	4	9
Andrew	2	2	2	1	3	10
Steve	1	4	1	3	3	12
Hannah	2	2	1	3	4	12
Gonz	2	3	1	2	4	12
Joe	3	4	3	3	2	15
Anja	2	3	2	4	5	16
Matt	2	2	4	4	5	17
Adam	3	3	3	3	5	17
Will	3	2	5	5	5	20