Something borrowed

After a few weeks away, Adam T arrived at my house (Sam's) early enough last night for a catch-up and a best-of-three face off over Toy Battle. I won the first, but he took the next two as Katy ducked out of the rain in time to witness the finale, and remarked that if she hadn't played it already, she'd like to.

Ian and Martin followed, and we had a one-round blast of Jam (or JamSumo) whilst we waited for Joe. This was notable for the serial yipping of Martin and I and the slightly less tentative blasting habits of Ian. Joe came in time to see Katy take the laurels, with Adam T's jam all full of unwanted pips.

Katy 0

Martin 3

Ian 4

Sam 9

Adam T 18

Martin waved one of his new games, Bluffit, around saying it would be good for five (or just good, I can't remember now) and everyone was amenable. In this game, everyone has a hand of cards numbered 1-10 and we are bidding with them for one of a bunch of cards on the table, each taking one of the face-up cards for ourselves. 

The catch is that the bids are face-down, so it can be a bit of a gamble: and if you think you've got a higher bid than someone else, you can take the face-up card they took from them instead. This triggers a Love Letter style secret comparison of values (challenger wins ties) and whoever loses gets nothing that round. After ten rounds, all your previously-won cards are now both your score and your bidding hand:  there's an eleventh round where whatever you get with your last bid will become points. 

Both Adam and Martin forewent easy points in favour of stealing from someone - or trying to. Katy was in feisty mode and when Big T said he'd been up since six she pooh-poohed the concept of sympathy in favour of scathing indifference. I tried an extravagant last round bluff and failed. Martin was best Bluffiter.

Martin 61

Katy 55

Ian 43

Sam 42

Joe 41

Adam 36

As things concluded we got a phone call and a - related - late addition! Adam H could suddenly join us after all. Martin proffered another recent addition in boat-moving cube-flicking Cairo, and Katy and Ian joined him. We decided Adam H would probably rather join the non-flicking group and went to peruse the Alcove of Joy, settling on Istanbul. With impeccable timing, Adam H arrived just as I finished teaching the rules to Big T. Fortunately most of it was fresh in his memory, and it was more fun - I think - than the story these baffled expressions tell. 

Cairo has a lowly rating on our favourite website, but you wouldn't have guessed it from the shrieking and laughter. In comparison our fun was slightly more inscrutable, as we ducked and dived around the titular city and struck deals with the governor and smuggler. Big T pointed out that as all the smuggler is doing is trading the same goods with you as you get at the markets, you could argue he's just another trader, maybe trying to shake off an unmerited reputation. Meantime in the other ancient city, Martin had triumphed by replicating Katy's score in Bluffit. Katy had got Ian's Bluffit score and, perhaps wanting to be different, Ian scored half of Adam's:

Martin 55

Katy 43

Ian 18

They broke out Biblios. I missed most of this action but I did hear some shit-eating going on, and it wasn't making Katy grin.

Ian at one point seemed on the verge of fury, but he clearly recovered from whatever had enraged him - sitting with Katy and Martin, it could have been anything - to snag a tied second place. Katy was now Ms Doctor Biblios:

Katy 5

Martin and Ian 4

Was there a tie-breaker? I'm not sure. They began playing Farm Hand, and the air continued to be thick with insults and the uproarious guffawing of Martin, who loves a trick-taker anyway, so if you add manure he's only going to like it more.

As Istanbul got tense, with Adam and I poised on 4 gems and Joe and Big T on three. Adam couldn't remember if he'd bought a bit of jewellery or not. Joe - who was very tired - and I thought he had, and Adam admitted he'd been drinking before he came here. Who to trust? The exhausted guy, the drunk guy, or the one who remembers everything incorrectly, if at all? Speaking of which I don't actually recall what we decided now. I went to the Black Market, had an extremely spawny roll and ended the game:

Sam 5 gems

Adam H 4 gems

Adam T 3 gems, lots of cash

Joe 3 gems, not much cash at all

Farm Hand ended around the same time, with Martin back on top:

Martin 11

Katy 8

Ian 0

Big T was mumbling about leaving so we tempted him to stay with chocolate - which he turned down - and Wriggle Roulette. It was Katy's turn to be angry now, about not being offered chocolate. Sorry Katy. 

This was as stupidly fun as previous plays, with people accidentally busting themselves - too many eels/snakes - or cashing out when there were still eels to be had. Adam H ended the game with 26 eels, but Martin and I stayed in and pushed our luck. I banked at 27, with Martin back on 22. One by one, he kept drawing eels, despite being as I pointed out "the least deserving person in the room". 

Martin 28

Sam 27

Adam H 26

Ian 17

Adam T 11

Katy and Joe 7 each

We now did lose Adam T, and with Other Adam also ruminating on his bedtime quickly set up So Clover. This was a near-triumph, with Adam H's clover semi-portobelloed when the word alcohol appeared on the red herring card. With one of his clues as 'drink' we plumped for it (it was mouth instead). 

Adam and Joe now went home but, fortified by whisky, the remaining trio played Martin's third new game of the night: Jungo. This is a Scout-esque card-shedder where first to empty their hand wins a round, and winning two rounds win you the game. 

As with Scout, you can't rearrange your hand at all and can play escalating sets - although only matching numbers, no runs. If you can't or don't want to play, you can draw from the deck and either discard or slot it anywhere into your hand. If you do play, you can either discard the set (or single) you just beat, or add that to your hand. There's a fair bit of luck in what good stuff/crap you begin with, but enough manipulation involved that it's not devoid of decisions. 

I won the first game in two rounds, and then Ian took the second in the same manner if I recall correctly. We downed the last of our whiskies and called it a night. A nice mix of old and new games, one borrowed (JamSumo) and all the players supplying the blue.