The only way is F6

 By the time I'd arrived at 8 o'clock I'd already received a picture of the evening in full swing, as Ian, Martin, Katy, Sam and host Joe began with Cross Clues, scoring 24/25.

By the time I'd arrived (seconds after I received a second photo of them having finished another game 22/25) Martin, Joe and Sam had settled on Hansa Teutonica while Ian, Katy and I pondered our options. Quite limited options, as it happened, and Katy rued not bringing Isle of Skye. In the end we chose something we all knew: Lords of Vegas. 

My initial plan was to sprawl early, nabbing F6 and F5 to make a lovely six-tile casino up on Harmon Avenue and Strip. Ian started well while Katy tried to boost her meagre cash reserves by gambling, failing three times in a row. But then the strip paid out and then her three tile gold casino paid out twice in a row. This meant she was able to exploit all those empty lots near Ian's casinos and before long she was in an unstoppable position. 

Ian and I jostled for second. Ian completed an audacious reroll of my five tile casino with only one of his dice in it. But I got it straight back. Katy ended the game building more casinos than she had dice. Finally the game over card appeared just as I was about to unleash my winning strategy (which would've still only got me a closer second place).

Ian's amazing reroll

Katy 49

Andrew 36

Ian 32

As for Hansa Teutonica, I remember little except remarks about how boring the food was on the little plate tokens and Sam remarking that the person complaining most was the one in the lead, before clarifying that they were all complaining.

Martin 54

Sam 52

Joe 38

Martin remarked it'd probably be a really good game once you knew what you were doing.

They'd finished before us and they filled the time with a quick game of Don Carlo. A game so apparently simple that you may be able to work out the rules just by looking at the photo.

Joe 76

Sam 51

Martin 50

My departure was growing near so I was pleased to hear So Clover as a suggestion. We played with the usual amount sighing, especially from Joe who took so long that Katy suggested he just pass. But everyone struggled and I took the chance to be the first one to complete all four clues.

Ian and I - a solid start

Meanwhile, Sam had to resort to googling something to help him out. My clues and Ian's were successfully deduced. Then Katy, too, scored six out of six, but I'm not sure how since one of her clues relied on a film titled "the silence of killing" only to later be told it was actually called "the act of killing."

Sam's googled clue was a success but he was undone by trying to clue "beer/detergent" with "toilets". Finally, after Martin went clear, we came to Joe's Clover that almost defeated him. And we cleared it! The tricky couple in question was "royal/flour" which he eventually decided on "chapati" because… Indian food is sort of regal. Something like that. It worked, though.

34 out of 36

With that, I set off home. They finished with American Bookshop which Sam won. Joe second and Martin last, with Ian and Katy somewhere in the middle. Results to follow, maybe.

A la Karten

 It's been a while for me since I was in Martin's kitchen, but this was a welcome return as Martin was keen to offload some old books that he'd left on the pavement outside. I didn't see anything I wanted, but once inside, Martin obviously had one already in mind for me. "There's a Japanese one," he said, and went to get it for me. I think everyone picked up something.

And by "everyone" I mean Joe, Steve (arriving later), Adam H, Adam T, Ian as well as myself and the host.

We began as a sextet with Heckmeck am Kartenmeck, which is a bit like For Sale and Raj and, of course, Heckmeck. The first chance we got there was stealing a-plenty with everyone involved, either as theif or victim.

Then in round three, three zero tiles came out. A tricky situation, except for card-poor Joe who passed instantly and used a zero to cover his 34 tile.

At the end, I only had three tiles. Meanwhile, Adam H only had five and he showed us all how the game should be played.

Adam H 30

Adam T 27

Joe 21

Martin 21

Ian 20

Andrew 16

By now it was getting quite warm and the seven of us moved outside to admire Martin's dusty garden furniture and rubber chips on the ground.

We split into two groups. Joe, Steve and Adam H played La Corsa. The rest of us were introduced to American Bookshop. Martin explained the rules and that we should never play against Katy whose supernatural ability at this game defies explanation.

It's an interesting game. Very swingy, with each round offering up differing amounts for the winner. I came a distant last despite winning one round and coming second in another.

As we entered the final round, Martin was on 11, Adam T 1, and Ian 6. A small margin for this game, although I, back in last with -14, was only playing for pride.

It was a photo finish, with Martin foiled by the last card as Adam T nabbed 11 to take the win.

Adam T 12

Martin 10

Ian 5

Andrew -7

By now it was quite dark. La Corsa was in its final stages too as Steve put down his cards and said "read 'em and weep" and Adam H remarked "I can't read 'em."

I asked afterwards what the score was and Adam and Steve gave two different answers. Both agreed he came last, though.

Joe 20

Adam H 18

Steve 15 or 12, depends on who you ask

Back inside and Adam T, Joe and Martin played Sumatra, and Steve, Adam H, Ian and I played Whale Riders. It began in controversial style as I picked a dolphin as my piece, not realising it was yellow and I had to swap with Adam.

I sped off, zipping past lots of cheap pots in order to get first dibs further along the track. Adam, meanwhile, hung back, picking up what he wanted at his leisure while he completed contract after contract. He even ignored a free pearl in order to more efficiently finish another card. He did six in the end, compared to my three. But it was Ian and his middle way who took first prize, leaving Adam to rue his earlier choice: if he’d taken that pearl, he’d have won on a tie-breaker.

Ian 21

Adam H

Andrew 19

Steve 18

I left after Whale Riders, with Sumatra still in full swing. According to a text, Sumatra ended…

Joe 65

Martin 64

Adam T 62

Ian, Adam H and Steve were sill perusing the games closet when I left and it seems they chose Marrakech. Adam messaged me the results and it looks like Ian pipped Adam to first place again.

Ian 58

Adam H 56

Steve bankrupt, owing Adam two coins that would have won him the game

Then I think Steve must’ve gone since they played a five player So Clover, scoring 28/30 after a mix up with Forcefield and Magic/Sheild/Bubble. I saw some nice clue/couplets in the photo. Good work, chaps.

Finally, Joe and Martin ended the night with a game of Cinderella's Dance, which sounds delightful but I really have no idea.

Joe 3

Martin 2

Eight gamers gaming

Another week of GNN. Except this was Christmas week, and previously this involved some kind of cake and a quiz by Sam but this year, all of that was passed over in favour of online gaming.

There were eight of us: Katy, Ian, myself, Sam, Martin, Andy, Steve and Anja. Once technical difficulties were ironed out we tried Fuji Flush and we were reminded how difficult it can be to explain rules online. Sat around a real table, Fuji Flush is pretty easy to understand but somehow the same can’t be said for staring at a screen. Steve professed to be confused and, as is usual when Steve insists he’s baffled, he won. The next couple of minutes were spent with people hitting the deal and recall buttons and generally behaving in a way that would get you thrown out of Vegas.

Then we split into two groups. Steve, Anja, Andy and I chose Thurn and Taxis since Steve and Anja were familiar with it and no one wanted to put them through more rules explanation. I was happy to play, having only recently played it myself. Andy is also familiar with it, mentioning that he’d played about 200 games of it on Yucata. As we began, I didn’t fancy my chances.

The other four of Katy, Martin, Ian and Sam played American Bookshop and Katy won by a country mile.

Katy 31

Sam 3

Martin 3

Ian –5

Then they played Marrakech on BGA and I can attest that it works well as a spectator sport. All the information is available meaning that you can play along with them. And I did enjoy imagining what kind of fruity language Martin came out with when he landed on Ian’s huge carpet and had to play him nine coins.

Sam 50

Ian 40

Katy 39

Martin 28

Then Sam left and the remaining three played Eggs of Ostrich while we finished off T&T.

Martin 14

Ian 9

Katy 7

Meanwhile, in Germany, I was feeling much better about my position after a 6-link route that allowed me to put down six houses. I’d been somewhat helped by Steve and Anja both having to abandon routes, which could explain their joint last place. 

Andy 28

Andrew 17

Steve 7

Anja 7

After this point, Andy left and the six of us finished off with a game of For Sale, with Steve initially daunted by some 200+ ELO ratings among us but we reassured him it was largely meaningless. Recently, a six-coin opening bid has become a classic move but this time Ian showed the power of a four-coin bid as a means of making people commit to a bun fight for treasures or pick up some trash for free.

In the end, the results more or less reflected our ELO ratings after all. And Steve and Anja tied again.

Andrew 52

Ian 47

Martin 46

Anja 40

Steve 40

Katy 27

And with that, we were done. Happy Christmas everyone. See you all soon.

Whose Thurn Is It Anyway?

Just like last week, I arrived late and caught the other gamers (Martin, Joe, Katy, Ian, Adam, Sam) in the middle of a fraught game of For Sale. In amongst all the complaining about their fate, Katy made the observation “I won’t tell you what my four lowest cards add up to, but it’s quite low,” to which Joe responded “Is it a single figure?” I guess Martin was really distracted because he didn’t point out that the four lowest cards can’t possibly add up to a single figure. Ian won, swooping in on the last round by picking up a 15 card with only a 21 bid.

Ian 54

Adam 49

Sam 47

Joe 44

Martin 39

Katy 21

Next we split into two groups. And, just like last week again, Joe, Adam and I joined up while the others went off and had fun somewhere else. There fun was called Mamma Mia, which Sam won.

Our fun was Thurn and Taxis, a game I wasn’t sure I’ve ever played but it looked familiar. Anyway, Adam gave a quick rules refresher and we were off! Well, Adam was off: picking up a province in his first turn. Joe and I did our best, but it was never to be. I lost a route when I couldn’t add to it. Joe, meanwhile, tried to tie up the entire central province in one long trail. Eventually he closed it with one city left because Adam sportingly told us he was about to end the game.

Adam 23

Joe 6

Andrew 3

Adam admitted to having played a lot against Steve and Anja. I’d like to play it again soon, before the rules slip away again.

In the other team, Mamma Mia had given way to American Bookshop. Katy won with 20 while the rest “collectively” got -10. Ian and Sam retired after this game, so Katy and Martin moseyed on over to our hangout to watch us finish off a quick game of Kingdomino. I don’t remember much about this game (and my notes are pretty illegible) but I do recall being amazed that I had the highest ELO points for this game. Before we started playing, that is.

Adam 64

Joe 59 (+ tiebreaker)

Andrew 59

Lastly as a five we had what is possibly the most exciting game of Texas Showdown I’ve played. After round one I was already in last, with four tricks. Then Katy had a run of bad luck: she kept choosing me to lead and then having to take the trick. She also had some connection problems that threatened the game. We asked who her provider was and discovered it was the Post Office. “No wonder it’s so slow,” we chorused, no doubt all imagining the postman delivering each download by hand.

Just after the start of round four, Joe and I were joint last with 8 tricks while Adam and Katy and Martin were joint first with 7. It was far too tense and the game went on for four or five more hands until one of us (Joe, I think) hit his 10th trick and triggered the end of the game.

Martin 7

Andrew 8

Katy 10

Joe 10

Adam 10

An excellent end to the evening. Well played all.

Kingdom Rebuilt (in beta)

I logged on to Discord around twenty minutes late, with a game of For Sale in full swing with Martin, Ian, Andy, Adam H and Katy. I let them chat in the background while I sorted out my candles and alcohol.

Martin won, having spent on average only 1 for his cards. And having spent least thinking time, he pointed out.

Martin 61

Andy 55

Adam H 48

Ian 45

Katy 43

After this it was almost 8, and we were expecting more arrivals. But time waits for no game, especially when that game is Kingdom Builder in beta on BGA. Me, Ian, Adam H and Martin swiftly leave choppy old Discord for the sanctuary of a Google Hangout, only to be followed by Steve who’d just arrived and didn’t quite understand the exclusive nature of our little enclave. He is dismissed back to another Google Hangout where he, Anja, Adam T, Andy and Katy played 7 Wonders twice with Steve winning both times. In fact, everyone replicated their standings twice.

Steve 59

Adam T 58

Anja 48

Katy 41

Andy 31

Steve 61

Adam T 57

Anja 55

Katy 54

Andy 37

Kingdom Builder was a quiet game. Banter was at a minimum, as you’d expect in such a clash of the Titans. If Titans used barns and paddocks to gain territory. I don’t think they did. The beta program worked fine except for when we drew a grass card and it told us we “must build on a Grass.”

When Adam played his final house, I still had ten left. Never stood a chance. Good to play KB again, though.

Martin 63

Adam H 61

Andrew 38

Ian 31

We change Google hangouts, but I’m too busy pouring myself another drink and Katy, Martin Ian and Adam T zip off for a game of American Bookshop. This game is notable for the mid-game update posted by Martin with a quote from Katy “If I was allowed to touch you, Adam, I’d touch you and not in a nice way.” It was notable enough that Joe texted us about it when he got the notification from Discord.

Meanwhile, we (Steve, Anja, Adam H, Andy and me) played Rallyman GT, which was new to most of us so we got a rules explanation from Andy B. I led at first but was swiftly overtaken by everyone. Anja was first to spin off the track so at least I was no longer in last. There was a lot of downtime, and I worried how long this would go on for as we turned the third corner after about half an hour. By the end, Andy crossed the finishing line and then he estimated another ten minutes before we all end. I span out, and got frustrated. I creep across the line in fourth. And I showed such promise.

Andy 25

Adam 18

Steve 15

Andrew 12

Anja 10

In the time we took to play that, American Bookshop finished. Not sure who won, nor if Adam T ever got touched or not.

They then banged off a triplet of Eggs of Ostrich once Ian had left (Adam T 10, Katy 8 Martin 4 and then Adam T 15, Martin 12, Katy 4 then finally Martin 13, Katy 11, Adam 9) before they joined us for 7 Wonders. I got a phone call and decided to bow out, as did Martin and Katy. The remaining players played twice.

Adam T 53

Adam H 45

Andy 41

Adam H 66

Andy 54

Adam T 42

Well done to all. See you next week.

Going to the docks

Another week of remote gaming saw eight people involved. At first, four of us (Martin, Katy, Ian and I) played Tea Time while we waited for the others to arrive. It's a nice game, but I don't really get it. When Ian began with a move where he picked up two cards that cancelled each other out, I thought that was a smart move so I did likewise (having no cards is better than having one or two), only to then learn that Ian had mis-clicked and my admiration had been entirely misplaced.

Martin 43
Ian 37
Katy 33
Andrew 30

During this game, Adam T and Andy B arrived. With still more to come, the six of us chose For Sale as a nice little filler before the evening's main event.

I couldn't tell if Katy's eagerness to play was sarcastic or not, given her poor history at the game, but she did mention the "joint second" that she achieved last week. She started by picking up a 24 card for free band she disparaged bidding exchanges as "dick wars". At this moment Joe joined us, and he must have wondered exactly what game we were playing.

As for the game, Katy got her first win while Adam said "I am able to confirm that there are two zero dollars cards."

Katy 48
Martin 46
Ian 45
Andy 41
Andrew 40
Adam 38

Sam arrived too and we split into two groups of four. Sam, Ian, Katy and Martin played American Bookshop.

Katy 8
Martin -3
Sam -8
Ian -15

While me, Joe, Andy and Adam decided on a real challenge: Yokohama. It had been ages since I played and I made a few sub-optimal moves, as well as forgetting how to score points. Adam, too, was working hard to re-familiarise himself with the game, which lead to "It's all coming back to me now" by Celine Dion going around his head. Andy worked as adviser to the rest of us, since he'd played the online version before. Joe's recent real life game against Katy must have been great preparation since he strode away from us almost from the start.

Joe 131
Andy 113
Adam 70
Andrew 49

During the final stages we noticed Martin, Ian and Katy popping in to watch but never staying long. I hopped over to Google Hangouts, only to see that Ian and Sam had already packed up for bed and Martin and Katy were playing Mandala.

Finally, we were all back together, but only enough for us to bid farewell. I was frazzled after Yokohama, so I popped off first and the rest must have gone soon after because a few minutes later Discord sent me a notification of Martin’s last words of the evening: “Can anyone hear me?... Bye then” which gave me the image of him as an astronaut drifting into deep space.

I'm sure he'll be fine. At least by next week.

More Technical Difficulties

The lockdown continues in one form or another, and so seven housebound gamers joined together for battle at a distance. No Joe or Sam, so our numbers contained Martin, Ian, Andrew, Adam H and Katy at first and then Adam T and Andy B a little later on.

We began with For Sale, where a bid of six is now called “the classic six,” thanks to its frequent use as an opening bid or raise. Katy was very pleased with her “joint second” or, as everyone else called it, “third.”

Martin 56
Ian 52+ tie breaker
Katy 52
Adam 51
Andrew 40

Then we waited for the other Adam and Andy B and while we did we sorted out those who hadn’t reciprocated friendship on the GNN group. This was mostly Katy who only had eight friends. How cold. Then Adam T arrived and we saw Andy B wink in and out of existence for a while until he joined us for a game of 7 Wonders.

Katy quickly found her internet connection was a little dodgy and she frequently ended up offline and had to reboot her machine. While we waited patiently, I quipped that it would be quicker to actually build the seventh wonder.

Adam H 57
Andrew 54
Katy 47 + cash
Martin 47
Andy 36
Ian 33
Adam T 29

Then we split into two. Martin, Adam T, Katy and I played American Bookshop, the cunning trick taker from Japan. It was my first game and I enjoyed it, even if I never quite understood what to play and when. Katy scored positively in every round and won by a mile. Adam never recovered from his -11 round, and I picked up -14 in one round myself.

Katy 27
Martin 1
Andrew -2
Adam -5

Then others played Downforce, which I kept an eye on. They played the variant with powers or something. Anyway, Ian bought three cars while Adam H only had one. And guess what it finished first, by a mile. And at the end of the game we discovered that everyone had always bet on it.

Adam $24m
Andy $23m
Ian $8m

After this they played Red 7 which went on for a surprisingly long time (also with powers, I think). The length of effort barely reflected in the scores.

Ian 2
Adam 1
Andy 0

We had finished American Bookstore and Adam T had left us, so the three of us played Eggs of Ostrich. This game was notable for Katy and I playing an identical game in round three. Amazingly, this ended badly for both of us because on the final card Katy thought she had no choice about what to play and so blurted out that she’d passed. I could see a winning move, but I had to pass as well otherwise I’d burst a bag. Our passing gave all the eggs to Martin who took them gratefully and used them to steal the win right at the end.

Martin 33
Katy 31
Andrew 24

Then the two groups joined together and since we played 7 Wonders with seven, it was only right and proper that we play 6nimmt with six. Ian went clear in round one, and I think that was the only time anyone managed that in what was a pretty brutal game. Martin got into a death spiral which not only triggered the end of the game, but then continued no afterwards thus giving him a shockingly low score.

Adam's turn. Hmm... which row would you choose?

Ian 60
Katy 54
Andy 24
Andrew 23
Adam H 0
Martin -27

And so we were done. I’m sure Katy’s aging tablet breathed a sigh of relief when she finally shut it down. In the meantime we’ll come back and do this all again next week.

Technical Difficulties

After last week's blogger-less games night, which is lost to history without a written record, six gamers (Joe, Ian, Adam H, Katy, Martin and myself) sat at their computers to do virtual battle once more.

But for much longer? Katy told us that she and Joe had played a real game, face to face, recently. Is this the first sign of life beyond the lockdown?

We were waiting for Andy who was expected in fifteen minutes so we tried talking for a bit. But as the time approached, we regretted not playing a quick game. We decided that he wouldn't mind watching for a while so we banged out a quick game of 7 Wonders.

Joe struggled with money but that might have been because he only had three resources and two of them were wood. Martin had lots of resources but still found himself unable to build much.

Adam 65
Joe 51
Ian 49
Martin 48
Katy 43
Andrew 39

Bang on cue, Andy arrived and we split into two groups. Adam, Martin and Joe played Race For The Galaxy. I did keep an eye on it but I understood nothing.

Martin 68
Joe 23
Adam 18

Andy, Katy, Ian and I chose Colt Express as an amusing slice of gaming. But it was short lived. At the start of the second round, after an eventful opener where Ian punched and shot Katy, Andy suddenly vanished. We waited for him to reconnect and then Sam arrived. We chatted and waited and after fifteen minutes we quit the game after we found out we couldn't start a new one until Colt Express was finished.

By this time, Martin popped in to make sure I'd got the details of his impressive win. Andy returned and we split into two new groups. Sam, Martin, Andy and Ian played American Bookshop. I know little else about it.

We played Tichu. Eventually.

First, Adam set up a table but didn't password protect it and a bunch of strangers sat there. Abandoning that, Joe made a new table but left a timer on. Again we changed tables (and Joe changed the web browser) and finally we got our own password protected timer-free table.

We began with Joe calling Grand Tichu immediately, reminding his partner Katy that this meant she should give his best card. He would have done it too except for three bombs at the table; his, mine Adam's.

Joe made amends in the next round, completing a Tichu, but then Adam successfully did a Grand Tichu with a 1-2 finish, netting us 400 points. Joe then completed another Tichu and then suggested we finish at 500 points. With the score at 495 - 205 Adam and I readily agreed. Joe called Tichu and Katy admitted that she wanted to call Tichu but now had to lose, a concept she was unfamiliar with. Joe mentioned if they go out 1-2 with the Tichu, then they'd win. But I had meant to call Tichu but had forgotten to press the right button. So I had a good hand and was able to take the win, ending on a bomb, for style.

I had the dragon, phoenix, three queens and a bomb. Possibly should've called Tichu

Andrew and Adam 570
Joe and Katy 130

American Bookshop had ended too, so while I was on a toilet break, Sam and Joe bade us farewell. When I came back, we remaining six chose For Sale as a quick six-player hit. Katy seemed reluctant, apparently believing this to be her gaming nemesis but this time she did better than she was expecting.

Andrew 52
Ian 49
Martin 46
Adam 43
Katy 41
Andy 34

A second game was agreed upon, and Katy’s gradual improvement continued.

Martin 50
Andrew 49
Adam 47
Katy 42
Andy 40
Ian 38

Finally we chose Perudo as our nightcap. Martin was keen to go to bed and went out quickly. He didn’t go, though, preferring to watch until the end. And what an end it was! The final two were Adam (5 dice) versus Katy (2 dice) and I’m still not sure what happened but Adam got himself into a death spiral. All the more astonishing after playing such a perfect game. Admittedly he pretty much threw away one die: when it was 2 dice each, Adam bid 3 twos. In other words, If Katy had no twos or aces, she could dudo with confidence. Which she did. A schoolboy error from Adam.

Katy 2 dice left
Adam
Andy
Andrew
Martin

And so that was that. Good nights were spoken and connections broken. See you next week!

Tea o'clock

Technically speaking, I was bang on time this week. At least, I had logged into Discord on my phone and was present as Katy, Joe, Martin, Adam T, Ian and Sam arrived. Alas, I was distracted by other things (making a salad, for example) and once I got to a PC, a game of Codenames was already underway.

This meant that my team mate Joe had to decipher spymaster Sam's first clue of ONLINE, 2 and he did it perfectly, picking out Amazon and Web.

Martin was not so lucky with his clues to Ian, Adam and Katy and his clue of WEIGHT lead to them picking one of our clues and then in the second round Martin chose TREASURE as his clue which prompted his colleagues to choose Temple. Alas this turned out to be the assassin and the game ended before I'd really got comfy.

By now Andy B had turned up and so we split into two groups of four. Martin, Joe, Katy and Sam played American Bookshop. Sam described it as a “devilish trick taker” and it was the word “devilish” that swung it for Katy.

They set off to a new Google Hangout so I have no idea what happened there, except that Sam won.

Photos courtesy of Sam

Meanwhile Ian, Adam, Andy and I went for Palaces of Carrera. It was Ian's first go and so Adam gave a rules explanation. Andy took the opportunity to go and get food but later admitted he'd overestimated his familiarity with the game as he had to reference the pdf of the rules. Ian was so quiet and still that I asked him if his avatar on Hangouts was a photo of himself. Adam discovered that you can’t say “bugger” on BGA.

It ended in a rare double victory for Adam. Firstly, for the game of Palaces of Carrara and secondly for the game of Race For The Galaxy that he was finishing off as we were playing.

Adam 78
Andrew 60
Andy 50
Ian 20

We learnt that the other four were playing King Domino, so we sped through 7 Wonders. Andy went into a lengthy debate about whether the left and right arrows on markets meant clockwise or anticlockwise. He must have been very frustrated about this, because he suddenly went big on military in round three. It was a futile gesture, though/

Adam 53
Ian 48
Andrew 44
Andy 39

Kingdomino was still going on so we, in our over excited state, figured we could squeeze one more game of 7 Wonders in. We couldn’t, and they finished halfway through our game. Ian went big on military and yellow commerce buildings on his way to a win.

Ian 56
Andy 51
Adam 48
Andrew 36

Kingdomino ended

Sam 53
Martin 53
Joe 49
Katy 41

Sam won again, this time on a tie-breaker so absurd that Martin scoffed at its very existence.

At this point Ian, Sam and Joe left and the remaining five of us played For Sale. Katy picked up 2, 3 and 4 and wanted the 1 as well except someone beat her to it. It was the most audacious tactic in For Sale since Katy decided to just pass on each round of bidding and pick up whatever. Today’s game ended that same way as that did. With Katy in last.

Andy 57
Martin 53
Adam 49
Andrew 45
Katy 40

Then Adam left which left us as a quartet. We ended the night trying out a simple yet tricky game called Tea Time. It's a set collecting game where each set has a mirror image. Collect two opposing cards and they cancel out. But this may be good because having no cards in a set gets you five points. This makes it better than having one or two.

Martin 41
Andy 33
Katy 27
Andrew 25

Katy 39
Martin 34
Andy 29
Andrew 24

And with that we were done for another week. Thanks all.

Some games

With the worldwide insanity right now being crystallised in the most heinous ways in the US and UK, maybe it wasn't a huge surprise that only four of us were in the mood for gaming. Maybe other GNNers were morbidly fixated on the news, as I (Sam) had been for what seemed like the last two or three weeks. Even more than before. Anyway with the absentees too numerous to list already, we also lost Joe to a late drop-out and began as a four: Ian, Martin, Andy, and myself.

Martin was keen to play American Bookstore, and with an introduction that the game was so named as a revenge on a haughty bookstore paymaster, I was intrigued. Plus - it's a trick-taker, so there was that. However neither of these things rubbed Andy the right way, as he announced early on he wasn't keen, even with the smut-inviting sabotagey delights of playingcards.io as a sideline in entertainment. The game itself was interesting: four suits 0-15 11, standard trick-taking rules apply, and there's no trump suit. Like Poison, having the most cards won in a suit is good, and having any less than the most is bad. The extra twist here is that if you play a card that takes the collective value of all-played-cards to 15 or higher, you take all the cards, no matter the value or suit of what you played. This can be helpful, or sometimes a big pain in the ass. It also means players sometimes don't get to play in a trick! And it gets harder to predict what will happen as the cards run out...

Andy may have warmed to it. One thing that was easy to predict from early on was that he was going to rinse us - and he did.



Andy 40
Martin -2
Sam -3
Ian -19

From there, we headed into space for around four or five missions of The Crew. Even though it's only 24 hours later, I now can't remember very much about them at all! Except I think we took three turns to complete the first mission and did the second mission first time of asking? Second time? I'm not sure. Sorry.



I was doing my Classic Boris and bowing out of any responsibility at this point, barring some wafflingly vague recollection a bit later, but the others headed off into the night to play Red7, which Martin won by some distance apparently! If you don't remember Red7 it's the one where the rules keep changing all the time depending on what card you play.

Maybe next week the world will be different.