Just a Team Asia in Love

 A mere six gamers convened at Anja and Steve's this week; me (Joe), Katy, Martin, Adam H and our hosts. We were joined for the first game by Louie, and that first game was a new acquisition of mine, Dice Pool Party. It's a candy floss light thing, but really quite good fun - a Yahtzee-esque scoring system with all players simultaneously trying to assess the dice pool in three seconds. Louie was the victor by a long way, which might demonstrate that the youth have razor sharp cognition skills, or that he was deciding which category to score after the dice had been revealed. We'll never know.

Forgot to get photos so nicked this one from Sam's Instagram, sorry (and thanks) Sam

Louie was then ushered off to bed, and we six settled in to a game of Ticket to Ride, Team Asia - not played by the group since a Crickowel novocon of old, 2021, while we waited for Katy to test negative for Covid and join us.

The teams were Martin and Anja, Katy and Adam, Me and Steve, and the tension was soon ramping up. For the other teams, at least - Steve and didn't feel the need to break a sweat, and though we weren't the first team to draw new tickets, we ended up doing so several times in the late game, and finding them mostly very doable. I think we got very lucky - we ended up winning longest route by a single place (35, 34,33), and also winning most tickets completed (18). Martin and Anja weren't far behind us - it would have been a dead tie if they'd won longest route instead, but Katy and Adam were languishing a full 36 points shy of the winners. Adam Hillmann, losing at Ticket to Ride!? I know, we were all shocked. But he stayed true to his usual strategy of top-decking, and perhaps in the team variant that was a hindrance, as it left less info for his partner. Then again maybe not - I don't recall paying much attention to what Steve was picking up.

It was fun, in any case - I know TTR is considered a little light for folks like us, but I really enjoy the breezy rules and engaging, sometimes tense gameplay.

We cooled down with a game of Tower Brix - perhaps the first time we've played a full three rounds. We scored pretty well, I think, and the game awarded us with a rating of solid and sturdy. We are yet to hit the higher scoring heights of "true architectural art", but that accolade seems a little over the top in any case, for 8 wooden blocks stacked willy-nilly on a table. 

It's not exactly the Pompidou Center...

The hour was late, but we couldn't depart without our usual Clover closer. Four sixes, a four and a three - and we found some interesting new ways to entertain ourselves whilst waiting for the stragglers.

I'll leave you to decide whether the clues were any good - I thought my Muscle Mary for Iron Fairy ought to have been obvious (despite the slightly illegal two word clue), but no-one at the table was familiar with the term. Such naifs. After that we were all exhausted, and so set off into the chilly night to wend our way home.