Nothing if not annoying

 On a cold Valentine’s night three hardy gamers (Martin, Ian and me (Adam)) converged on Anja, Steve and Louie's house as if we had nothing better to do. Anja was busy applying for a new job, so five of us played Wandering Towers, the game of wizards who can't walk backwards and Towers that can fly.

 It was new to Louie and the rest of us were rusty, so Martin explained the rules and we began: racing toward the Raven Tower, trapping each other under flying masonry and cursing our lost meeples. Somehow the Raven Tower was always behind Martin when it came to his turn (well done Ian!) and somehow Martin always managed to land a tower right on me.

 The finish was close - Louie was first to get his third wizard into the Raven Tower, but hadn't filled all his potions yet. I dunked wizard 3 but had drunk two of my potions, then Steve declined the opportunity to hand me the win (by dropping a tower on Ian) so Ian took the honours by one potion.

Ian wins

Everyone else doesn't

The can of stout isn't included with the game

 Next we played Hit, as Louie’s last game of the evening. Martin managed to pick up a 1, a 2 and a 3 before going bust and showing remarkable swearing restraint, Louie’s cards were repeatedly stolen, leading to a short burst of lying under the table, and Ian never really picked any cards up. I pushed my luck slowly and steadily while Steve saved his luck up for the last couple of rounds, snatching a set of 9’s from his own child in the last round for the win.

Steve 101
Adam 80
Martin 57
Ian 52
Louie 45

 

 At this point Louie was replaced by Anja and we set out to ride whales up and down the ice coast, picking up kelp, cockles, bottles and blubber in Reiner Knizia's Whale Riders. Sadly I didn't get any photos of this lovely game.

 Steve complained more than normal about how we kept taking stuff that was obviously meant for him, while Martin and Ian raced ahead and Anja looked baffled (an enjoyable confusion I think). I steadily completed contracts, noting that I was nothing if not efficient, Steve’s reply provided the title of the blog. 

 Then Martin and Ian hit the end and started spending big money – Martin’s eight gold for four pearls looked foolhardy until he completed another contract and suddenly had the money to buy two more pearls and end the game. But the pearl-chasers lost out to the contract-makers:

Adam 23 pearls (+7 gold)
Steve 23 pearls (+3 gold)
Martin 22 pearls
Ian 21 pearls
Anja 12 pearls  

 Finally we went for a “quick” game of Rapido, the game of falling down some steps in Rio. Climbing up some steps in Rio? Who knows?

 The game involves rolling some slightly odd dice and hoping for a double (instant points!) or a high number (made from combining the two dice) which can be placed on a points podium. If your dice don’t get knocked off the podium by an equal or higher number by the time the turn gets back to you, you score those points. The fly in the ointment is the X on each dice which busts you, ending your turn and knocking you back down a step.

Anja, out in front, earlier

 Anja raced to 12 points before the rest of us had our climbing boots on but then got bogged down. My initial tactic of “If you're on zero the X's don't hurt!” made for going bust a lot. Steve rolled 31 and then went bust four turns in a row. When he finally rolled a 76 (the best roll possible) he had to put it right at the bottom of the podium and only got one point for it. 😁

 In the end Ian couldn’t win it with doubles so cowardly and steady won the day as I carefully edged over the line with a string of 2- and 3-point scores.

Adam 21
Ian 17
Anja 15
Steve 13
Martin 10

The top of the steps! Or the bottom?

And with that we all departed, pondering absent friends, light polution, minor injuries and the new Huddersfield manager.