From Deep Sea to Deep Sleep (and back again)

I (Sam) broke my recent lazy habit of Voi-ing to Joe's house and actually got on a bike again, arriving ruddy-faced from the cold to find Laura already there and Martin, presumably, en route. Along with Joe that was it! A surprisingly player-lite games night of just four. We began by plunging into the watery depths to play Crash Octopus. 

the sea, the sea

This is a fairly silly dexterity game where players each have a boat, and are trying to collect treasure by flicking it into said boat (you can also spend a turn moving your boat instead). In your way is the furious octopus - and the other players. Whenever someone 'finds' treasure, they stack it on their boat and then the octopus might attack: all players take a turn dropping a die off the octopus' head and sending it hurtling, if you can, into the other boats. If it knocks stuff off, that's just too bad! 

If the die didn't hit a ship you move the octopus instead: blank-side up is a tentacle, pink-side up is the head. The constantly shifting octo-parts mean your ship can go from comparative safety to immediate danger, as the head looms up beside you. But you can always try and move it with your own 'attack' by bouncing the die away from your boat...

Laura hides behind a tentacle

I wouldn't argue it's the most elegant design ever, but it was 20 minutes of chaotic fun, and supplied the surprise of the night when Joe's octopus attack saw the die spin around Martin's boat: without actually touching it at all, it nudged Martin's treasures into the sea!

The aftermath of the attack

Joe and I took the laurels here with three matching treasures each. I think Laura had one and Martin none. Next up was Sheepy Time, where one swapped one nightmare pursuer for another. 

nodding off

This was new to Martin and Laura, but is in essence a luck-pushing game of trying to get the most sleep: every time your sheep manages to complete a circuit of the course and jump the fence, you - potentially - score five points, but face the dilemma of 'waking up' 'calling it a night' -ie dropping out of the round and banking your score- or keeping going and risk getting nothing if the Nightmare completes a full circuit before you do. Appended to that are various powers around the edge of the board you can access by spending 'zees'.

final round tension

Additionally, each round sees your target of 'winks' - what you need to win - drop to more immediately-achievable levels depending on your level of success. Last time I played fairly conservatively and did really badly. This time I can vouch that ignoring zees and focusing entirely on movement is also a moribund strategy. In the final round I dropped out to propel myself from last place to a potential second, only to discover - as Joe won - that according to the rules there is no such thing as second. 

"You're a nothing" Martin clarified. It was karma for my making chicken noises at Joe, I guess. 

I didn't make note of the scores, but it was along the lines of

Joe something

Everyone else: nothings

Martin and Laura were keen to introduce Joe to Quirky Circuits, the game of navigating automated vacuum cleaners around tables and bees over anthills. Like The Mind, players play co-operatively but without knowing which movement cards they've played until all are revealed. The goal in each round is to navigate a thing (vacuum collects dust, bee picks up and delivers pollen) until it's tasks are complete. As well as the above catch, there's also the fact you have a hand of just four cards and - in some rounds - must play one, or even two of them, before the others. Everyone's also on limited time, as rounds are powered by a battery that's slowly running out...

the cat does nothing

We hoovered the lounge easily though, introducing Joe to the basic concepts, before stepping outside and taking control of the bee. Now our task was a little more difficult, as the teenage bee was still getting used to the concept of braking: if you went fast, it would drift another square. 

move one, move one, rotate 180º, move north (must be played first!)

On the other hand, cards that rotated the bee north could be very helpful. It was a close-run thing in our final game (of four) as the ants nearly carried off the pollen and the battery was in the red, but we completed the task with seconds to spare! On that note of triumph, Laura departed and the three of us settled on The Crew: Mission Deep Sea. 

Joe's task

We were hit with some devilishly difficult tasks, but managed to navigate them pretty well on the whole. I think we failed once, allowed me a do-over once, but broadly speaking sailed through a few rounds with comparative ease. 

Another mission

As the clock ticked past eleven we wrapped things up on a quiet, but satisfying GNN night. Hope to see a few more faces next week!