A funny thing happened on the way to the mausoleum

As the holiday season kicks in, this week's GNN was a sparse affair. Five of us revelled in the uncommon amount of space around Sam's kitchen table. Sam, of course, and Katy, Ian, Martin and myself.

Ian, Sam and I were the early birds. Usually when the three of us get together, it involves whiskey feuled games of Biblios. In deference to the early hour, we went for a barely tipsy game of Grabbell.

This is one of the games you can play with the Wibbell deck of cards. The game has each player picking up cards as fast as possible, as long as they match one of the letters or the border of the card you already have in your hand. There is an additional rule where you can bail out early for a ten point bonus, but the last player left automatically gets the remaining cards, worth one point each. It adds an element of brinkmanship to the proceedings.

Sam 28
Ian 21
Andrew 21

Then we played again, with a baffled Katy watching.

Sam 25
Ian 23
Andrew 20

Now there were four of us we decided to play Fuji Flush, reasoning that Martin was bound to turn up halfway through. In fact, he arrived while we were dealing so, without further ado, he was dealt in.

It was a feisty game, with plenty of occasions when a chain of low cards was quashed by a mean old high card or two. Ian played his hand well, using his twenty to full effect, and then jumping on a series of fives to push through to the win.

Ian 0
Katy 1
Martin 2
Andrew 4
Sam 5

So what was our main course going to be? It was between Beowulf and Taj Mahal and, using logic that I can no longer remember, Taj Mahal was chosen.

I've played this underrated favourite several times, but so infrequently that I listened in to Martin's expert rules explanation, given for the benefit of Ian and Katy.

I took an early lead as I built up a three-region link of mausoleums. But that fell away mid game as Katy sped ahead. The bonus cards were keenly fought over, especially the Princess who nets a cool two points every time you play her. So popular was she that Martin assured us that “everyone has a go on the princess” much to Katy’s disapproval.

Me (brown) in the lead!

Katy's strong tactics were somewhat undone by her own honesty. Ian withdrew from a bidding war, but forgot about winning the purple guy (or "the perp," as Katy called him) and so he could place a Taj Mahal. He did so in a place that would've got Katy six points if she’d gone there and, according to Martin's gloomy prognosis, would've been Katy’s game-winning move.

Katy (burgundy) in the lead!

Later on, she fell back and Martin took the lead despite (or because of?) his warnings that Sam's elephant-heavy strategy would definitely win if not stopped.

Martin 45
Sam 39
Katy 37
Andrew 36
Ian 25

Next up was Polterfass. This game of luck and betting always seems to have a whipping boy: one player who has clearly angered Lady Luck enough that she wants to see you humiliated in front of your friends.

This week it was Katy. Her, shall we say, unique strategy comprised of veering between very low and very high bids. She got hit by minus thirteen points on three separate occasions.

I played like a loose cannon. I deliberately ended a round early, just for fun and then in another round, after my first roll of the barrels, I immediately shook them again, and left the cup upside-downon my beer mat so that any bets would be made with the knowledge that another roll would definitely be revealed. What larks.

But the plaudits go to Ian who, despite Sam’s constant threat and a last minute bid from me, won the game when he was the Polterfass and simply gave out enough beer for him to win, confident that we would have all big high in an attempt to catch him.

He was right.

Ian 79
Sam 71
Andrew 69
Martin 54
Katy -1

Polterfass ended slightly too early to call it a night, so Sluff Off was chosen as a nightcap. Perhaps we'd forgotten how long it was, since five rounds was quickly truncated down to three.

Despite Martin trying to get us in the mood by reading the introduction to the rules explaining the whole ethos of Sluff Off, I didn’t really get into it. Perhaps because it’s not a end-of-evening party game. There was quite a lot of thinking which was a struggle this late in the day. Not for Katy, though.

Katy –6
Sam –8
Andrew –8
Martin –9
Ian –17

And so, a bit later than perhaps was ideal, we were done and released out into the wild. Thanks for hosting, Sam!