Snakes on a game

A week. It's a long time in politics, especially this past week, but it's an age and a half for the GNN regulars eager to match wits over Sam's kitchen table.

We began as a two, with Sam showing me (Andrew) Mint Works. It's a worker placement game in a tiny tin box. We didn't get anywhere near finishing a game, but I played enough to recognise the familiar "Get stuff to get stuff" mechanic at its heart.

First, Matt and Joe arrived and Sam invited his son down for a couple of rounds of Insider. For these, little Joe was always the Master.

In game one, Sam guessed right (ruler) but was not voted as the Insider. Instead, suspicion fell on me since, according to Sam, I had my funny face on. But it wasn't me either. It was Joe, who none of us had even considered!

In game two, Katy was now present and involved. Katy guessed right (the World Cup) but wasn't voted as the insider. Instead it was between me and Matt and a 3-3 vote meant that the Insider won. It was Matt.

I am yet to be the Insider.

Now we were ready for a real game so, with little Joe back in bed, we chose Cobras, a new trick taking game. The game is loosely based on a real event: in India, during the British Raj, there was a problem with a large cobra population, so the British offered a bounty for each dead cobra. Thus lead to the locals breeding cobras just for the bounty. When the British found out, they dropped the scheme, so then all the suddenly worthless cobras were released into the wild, leaving them worse off than when they started.

The game itself is a card game where losing tricks allows you to collect cobras and winning a trick allows you to sell them. But there is an optimal amount. More than that and the value of your pile of cobras suddenly drops in value.

It's all about timing. Losing and winning to maximize your potential. Any unused cobras you have at the end of the round count as negative points. Technically, Matt ended round one on -6 but we allowed him to stay on zero. We're so generous.

Then Sam got stung at the end of round two with fourteen unsold cobras. Neither of them recovered before Katy hit 75 and triggered the end of the game.

Katy 75
Andrew 64
Joe 49
Sam 44
Matt 44

Next up was Blockers! Rarely suggested but always enjoyed, this Knizia-ish game (but not by the great German, as I wrongly assumed) is an underrated gem.

Having said that, I did badly. I'm reminded of Ian's recent poor performance at Railways Of The World after he was so keen to play it. Maybe there is such a thing as Chooser's Curse, whereby those most excited to play a game are least likely to do well.

It was Katy's first game, I believe, which would explain why she couldn't tell how well she was doing. She constantly bemoaned her fate right up until the moment the scores were added up.

Katy 5
Sam 6 (fewest tiles)
Matt 6 (fewer tiles)
Joe 6 (most tiles)
Andrew 7

Katy did, at least, look a bit embarrassed when she discovered how misplaced her pessimism was. Talking of pessimism, Joe announced near the end of the game he'd split his tiles into two groups: "Can't play" and "Will lose me the game."

As for me, well, I entertained the crowd with my straight line right across the board, but starting in the centre meant I was quickly surrounded. Not a good tactic.

Next up was Perudo. So long it remained unloved and alone until its sudden and welcome revival.

In this game, Katy got into an early death spiral, followed by Sam, but Matt was first out. At the end it was between me and Joe, with three dice each. Not a good time for a death spiral, but that's what I got. Joe ended a comfortable winner.

Joe
Andrew
Katy
Sam
Matt


Finally, there was time for two games of Fuji Flush. I was too lazy to record dick points, but had to make a note when Joe pulled off his big swinging dick! All of us had played twos, and he swept them off the table with a nine. Well played.

In the first game, I won again! At the time, I said it was four wins out of five, but I was wrong: it was four wins in a row! I really must do a Fuji Flush division.

Andrew 0
Sam 1
Matt 2
Joe 2
Katy 3

In the second game, Katy got off to a flier, managing to push through twice in the space of playing two cards! Classy stuff. Not enough to steal first place from Matt, but worth a mention.

Matt 0
Andrew 1
Katy 1
Joe 1
Sam 3

And so we were done. We set off back home, happy and enriched. Thanks all!

From Athina to the Pharaohs

Sunday night, and after missing several GNN meets recently, I (Sam) was keen to break out some cubes. Just back from Greece, we'd played some Dice Heist and Pairs, and a lot of Heck Meck - but even in the land of Socrates I couldn't have gotten anyone to play a Greek-themed Euro - especially as I don't own one. So I was craving for something a little heavier - Eclipse, say.

However the evening started belatedly as Sally and I and the boys dashed back from Wales later than planned. My phone was dead and Sally had dropped her phone in the toilet. With no way to contact the guests, we could only veer wildly between traffic up the M4. Luckily they were loitering outside like middle-aged teens, and having gained entry to the house, Ian, Chris and Andrew began playing King of Tokyo whilst Sally and I did housey and parenty things. I didn't witness much of the game, therefore, but Chris was declared King.

Ian then suggested we play Eclipse but by this point my yen for something deep and strategic had slightly waned. Sorry Ian! Instead we proceeded to play a whole bunch of short games, that Chris won. I can't actually remember the order of them all now, despite  drinking no alcohol at all. I must have been drunk on games!

I think the first game was Blockers. Chris was new to it, but it's not hard to pick up. Everyone seemed to have a strategy; Chris going for a ever-widening single group of tiles, Andrew and I going for two groups. Ian berated his tiles, which seemed to come out as some kind of biblical penance. As the game closed out we were all forced to make unproductive moves, and my insistence on sticking to plan A meant I picked up four of Andrew's tiles. Silly game!

Chris
Andrew
Sam
Ian

Then we played Pharaoh's Gulo Gulo, which is exceedingly silly. It's fun though, although the finale can feel a bit of a damp squib if when someone (me, in this instance) enters the Pharaoh's tomb the curse (lifting balls out of a bowl) has been recently reset. Sam wins!

Next up was Spooky Stairs, which is very like Midnight Party in that ghosts are after you, but different in that the hiding in Spooky Stairs is the player's pieces, which get consumed by ghosts. The winner is the first one to the top of the stairs, but the main task of the game (and fun it generates) is all about attempting to keep track of which ghost is yours. When a ghost is rolled, you may swap the positions of two ghosts - even with the early hour, we were thrown into doubt by these shenanigans. I won, but only because Andrew moved my ghost to the top thinking he was winning. And Chris indulged in a (successful) spot of bluff when he deliberately swapped someone else's ghost instead of his own.

We decided to go for a bit of an old-timer after that, breaking out Poison.  It's a filler that takes a little longer than a filler really should, but nice to revisit it all the same. I thought I might be able to snatch the victory from Chris, but a final card with a sting in the tail put paid to me:

Chris 13
Andrew 17
Ian 18
Sam 20

We brought in a few short games to try out but then ignored most of them in favour of playing the quiz game About Time. I've never actually tried the board and bits that come with this game - maybe it's worth a pop, but I can't help feeling the fun is mostly in the cards, were you are trying to identify a year from several facts. We played first to five cards, and Chris won!

There was just time for a little game of Push It before we called it a night.  Chris won...

Chris 11
Ian 10
Andrew 10
Sam 8

Take the Fifth

I’m sure I’ve used this before as a title, but never mind.

Today we congregated at Martin’s house for our GNN weekly. There were just five of us: the host Martin along with Ian, Katy, Joe and myself. Joe and I arrived last, after Joe took a diversion for Piri Piri chicken. When we got to Martin’s house, we found Katy cradling Effie in her arms, glad to have properly met the tiny baby outside the confines of Martin’s papoose. Ian, meanwhile, was cradling a huge glass of lager. Who was the happier? Perhaps we’ll never know.

We considered what was best with five players. Winner’s Circle was mentioned, which I was keen on but Katy wasn’t. Then Beowulf was suggested. We all seemed happy with this suggestion, and Katy was open to learning new rules.

Martin taught her while trying to rock Effie to sleep. This was surprisingly successful. The rule-teaching, I mean. Not trying to get a baby to sleep.

Beowulf started out with some big battles very early on. Bids up to seven symbols were seen as early as round two, as Ian and Katy raised the stakes and got away with it thanks to some luck with their risk taking. Joe and Martin, however, had the worst luck imaginable. I trod a middle path: safe but unprofitable.

It got to such a point that Katy started apologising for her luck. Meanwhile, Joe happily accepted risks, saying “My luck’s gonna change, right?” before he learnt that it would do no such thing. He kept getting kicked out of bidding and was forced to take the fifth choice token (hence the blog title). My tactic (successful in previous games) of saving up until the final round was undone with an unlucky risk, meaning I ended the game with a whole bunch of unused helmet/wild cards in my hand. What a waste.

Katy strode to a clear victory, but perhaps most impressive was Martin who, despite his poor luck, managed to gain second. Ian, after looking so good for much of the game and entering the final stages with a huge hand of cards, might have been disappointed with third. Joe actually scored 18 points, but was hit with a last minute third wound, giving him a –15 punishment.

Katy 35
Martin 21
Ian 14
Andrew 12
Joe 3

After this, with one hour left on the clock we chose Blockers as our next five player battle. Again, this was new to Katy, but it’s so simple that it didn’t take long to explain.

By now, though, Effie was in full grizzle-mode and would not keep quiet for long. She’d seemed quite occupied by watching Beowulf from her father’s arms, but Blockers – despite the brighter colours – didn’t seem to captivate her.

With this distraction, Martin wasn’t at his best. And with Katy perhaps on full-on win mode after being robbed of her favourite colour (I was purple, she had to make do with sky blue) (or cyan, if you like) maybe the result was a foregone conclusion.

The game progressed with plenty of captures and cursing other players for not being in the right places so we could steal from them without damaging our score. Again, right at the end, Joe saw his plan foiled as Ian stole from a group that meant that Joe couldn’t steal from it (since it would split a group) and this apparently took the win from him. It’s a game of fine margins with five players, and with some lengthy pauses for thinking in between goes, even with Effie’s wailing, it took up the final hour.

Katy 5 (and 5 tiles captured)
Joe 5 (and 7)
Ian 5 (and 8)
Andrew 6 (and 9)
Martin 6 (and 13)

With that, we were done. And it was still light outside! “What kind of a games night was that?” asked Joe, amazed at the early hour. It was an evening full of epic tales and abstract reasoning, that’s what kind it was.

Normally, there’d be no point in putting together a leaderboard for week one, but I though Katy would like to see that she’s already scored more than twice as many points as her closest rival.

Blocked and Bound

This week’s regular board-brawl featured a new face: Hollie. Visiting Bristol for a short period, this was her chance to experience for herself what she’d only seen in fictionalised form since she was one of the crew in the sitcom pilot we made last year.

Apart from Hollie, we were Adam (host), Martin, Sam, Andy, Katy, Ian and myself. We began with a nice game involving all of us: 6nimmt! If, that is, 6nimmt can ever be called “nice”. We were using Adam’s Living Dead pack, which brought a little sneering from the purists. But at least, thematically, it’s quite apt because I noticed that during the game we were saying things that could easily be dialogue from a zombie film: “This is horrendous,” “We’re screwed,” etc.

It was close, with me in the lead until the final round. Martin and Katy both posted what they thought were their worst ever rounds (42 and 35 respectively). But most of all, at least you can’t say we make special efforts to be nice to the newcomers.

Andy 19
Adam 20
Andrew 22
Sam 39
Ian 50
Katy 62
Martin 65
Hollie 79

Next up was a game designed by a friend of Martin’s. In this, you draw a card which has an instruction (eg, right palm face down, or always touching nose) that you must obey. During the game, you pick up more cards and end up looking increasingly stupid. Cards against physicality, you could say.

Sam was out first but, ironically, seemed to be the one having most fun. Martin managed to successfully fulfil the wishes of nine cards before he failed. Well done him.

Martin
Hollie
Adam
= Andrew, Katy, Andy
Ian
Sam

Next up we played A Fake Artist goes to New York. We only played one round and Adam cleverly evaded detection by simply copying other player’s drawings of feet. Katy fooled everyone by saying "What is this supposed to be?" and she got most votes as the fake artist, if that means anything.

Then we spilt into two groups of four. Hollie had mentioned to Sam earlier that day a fondness for Dungeons and Dragons, so Sam put two and two together and got Lords of Waterdeep, the D&D themed Eurogame. Andy, Adam, Martin and I went for Blockers.

Unlike LoW and its evocative quest names and locales, Blockers does not lend itself to exciting descriptions. Halfway through, Sam came in to see why we were all so quiet (and also to complain that everyone was stealing his rouges). Meanwhile Martin tried to liven things up by saying “Blockers!” in a singsong voice whenever someone player their Blockers tile. In the end, I did best.

Andrew 4
Martin 5
Adam 6
Andy 7

As for Lords of Waterdeep, Sam lack of rogues undid him while Hollie must;ve felt right at home as she took the win on her debut game.

Hollie 122
Ian 114
Katy 106
Sam 105

Meanwhile, we’d started on Hogger Logger, a game where you simply have to guess whether the next card will be higher or lower than the showing card. Except that the other players are trying to put you off by changing the card (you can change your guess too) or executing actions to try and make things harder.

Adam had no luck, and in his two guesses he had what looked like a safe bet, only to be undone by some unlikely cards. Martin managed to win while I was in the toilet. Martin played a card that made everyone pass their cards (or, in this case, lack of cards) to the left, so he got my card and was the only player with a card. Since no one could stop him, he was able to make a bet on the final card and he was correct. Two victories is enough to win.

Martin 2
Andrew 1
Andy and Adam 0

Then Adam got out Carcassonne. Now, this is a game that I’ve happily been avoiding for the past five years but who can resist Adam’s homemade version. Especially now the fimo meeples are starting to fall to pieces. Well, I sort of pottered about a bit and didn’t do much, while the more experienced players shot off into the lead.

Martin 108
Adam 104
Andy 96
Andrew 56

In the next room, they finished off with Pickomino.

Sam 8 + most tiles
Hollie 8
Ian 3
Katy 2

So, farewell then, Hollie. Will we see her again? Who can say? But she has left us a marker to match on points ratio.

Choosing the best of two strategies

Tonight we arranged ourselves around Joe’s kitchen table. We were five in number, which is perfect for a game of A Fake Artist In New York, except I’d forgotten it and left it at home. Instead, we (Joe, Martin, Sam, Matt and myself) pondered what to play, idly casting an eye over a pile of games but never really approaching a decision. We almost thought about never choosing a game, and just spending a relaxing evening discussing them.

But then the deadlock was broken when Joe brought in Blockers. This underrated abstract game got my instant seal of approval, and debutante Martin was willing to give it a go. He was given a walkthrough of the rules, but asked that Joe not read out the section marked “Strategy”, wanting to work it out for himself. You win the game by having the fewest distinct areas on the board, and having captured the least number of opponents squares.

So we played and blocked and from a very early stage, we got in each other’s way: everyone seemed to try to take control of the middle area. There was a lot of cursing at bad luck, in a very Take It Easy kind of way, as each time we picked up a new tile, it was never quite what we wanted.

It was Matt who really impressed, though, joining up his disparate red nations in a long column that stretched from one edge of the board to the next. It was to prove to be decisive move and one that left him in a strong position for the rest of the game.

Matt 4
Martin 5, wins on a tie breaker
Joe 5
Andrew 6
Sam 8

Finally, after the game had ended, Martin looked at the strategy guide in the rules. We discovered that it recommended one of two strategies: either focusing on having fewest areas or capturing the least tiles. In other words, it just told us what we already knew. It dressed it up a bit by talking about a “Balanced” strategy or the “Edge” strategy, but nothing seemed very deep. Not exactly a discussion on the Sicilian Defence.

It was during Blockers that we decided to play five short games this evening, each chosen by a different player. Joe had chosen Blockers and, since Matt won it, he was given the next choice. He went for Skull and Roses.

It was an odd game. Or maybe all games of Skull and Roses are odd. Joe was an early loser, and was quickly down to one tile that everyone knew was a rose. That didn’t stop him from winning a round with just that one tile.

Meanwhile, Matt, Sam and I all lost a round or two while Matt and Sam won a round. It was then that we suspected that Martin was the only player left to have a skull. This put him in a position of considerable power, if only he’d fully believed it himself. After several rounds of him stopping people from winning, he foolishly played a rose, allowing Matt to guess he’d done that and so he won the game.

Matt 2
Sam 1 (more tiles remaining)
Joe 1
Martin 0 (more tiles remaining)
Andrew 0

Matt had already chosen a game, so Sam was given the choice. He went for High Society, the game of bidding just the right amount or be damned to a cruel last place for your greed.

I think this was the first time we’d played with Martin, who certainly seemed appalled at some of the high bids made for the cards early on. Time after time he’d pass on a bidding round for a mediocre card that was already $20m+ in value. He managed to get the 10 card, though. Matt, meanwhile, was looking good with his x2 card until he picked up a ½ card to go with it. Cautious Sam, with his 7 card and a x2 won it. I found myself in last place, having misjudged the last bidding round. Oh wells.

Sam 14
Matt 12
Martin 10
Joe 8
Andrew BUST! (with 11, for the record)

Since Matt and Sam had already chosen, it was now Martin’s choice. He went for Abluxxen: a swift three round game. However, he didn’t reckon with a tipsy Joe needing a rule refresher on every turn. After the first round of confused gameplay, Joe actually found himself in the lead.

We decided to limit the game to two rounds for the sake of time. Martin must’ve mentally rolled his sleeves up, determined not to let a drunken ingenue take first place, and he did it with some style, finishing with a four of a kind just before I was about to put down a five of a kind.

Martin 26
Joe 17
Matt 13
Andrew 11
Sam 6

Finally, it was my choice and I suggested No Thanks! Sam went for what now seems to be called The Endersby Strategy of picking up low value cards (just like Blockers, this is one of two strategies available: Endersby and Non-Endersby. Although the Non-Endersby Strategy does tend to be quite varied).

We were slightly distracted by the large jar of old school sweets that Joe had on a shelf in the kitchen, and he got it down so we could relive the joys of sherbert lollipops and love hearts (Martin’s first love heart said “Grow Up” which made us all wonder how it knew we were playing board games). Sam, however, did not appreciate the synthetic taste of a Fruit Salad sweet, having to spit it out after only a few seconds chewing.

I went for the middling cards but couldn’t get my two chains to join up and Martin picked up an early 33, deciding he wanted to control the top end, but then let a 34 card go round once too often and Matt picked it up. This sealed both their fates. Joe, though, got a streak of luck and ended with a negative score, to go with the one he got five years ago that he likes to mention every now and again.

Joe –2
Sam 21
Andrew 27
Matt 28
Martin 58

What an evening! Martin convinced us to play one more game of Go Stop before we left and while we finished the whiskey kindly supplied by Joe. We did, but we forgot that Matt is Kryptonite to Go Stop. Just like the last time he played, he ended the game by getting the highest showing card. Thank goodness it wasn’t leaderboard.

Which now looks like this. With Andy and Ian away, Martin stretches his lead at the top to what is surely an unassailable position with only one week left.

I fought the Corn Laws and the Corn Laws won

First day of a new season, and we were just three: Myself, Adam and Joe.

Usually, when we three get together, it means something thematic. Epic, even. Brass, or Railways of the World. Games so immersive that we often end the game with a tan.

This time, we chose Agricola. Adam has been pining for this for years now, and with only Joe dissenting, it won a place on the table with a 2-1 majority. We set up, and it all looked very handsome thanks to Joe’s bespoke wooden items for each item. The wood looked like wood. The stone was suitably stoney, and fish-shaped food swam about in the pond.

Perhaps the slowest part of the game is the start, when you try to work out how to get your minor improvements and your occupations to work together. I decided to go for things that got me food. Joe went for a guy that got him vegetables with grain (or vice versa). I can’t remember what occupations Adam chose. He never seemed to use them much.

It was good to get the old game back on the table. It’s a satisfying game if you’re doing well, but agony if you fall behind. As Adam can attest. Far from being the easy win that we’d all assumed, Adam ended the game with begging cards, and a last minute occupation that absolved him of any minus points for a farm lacking in livestock.

I did much better, but I was still nervous about Joe’s huge pile of carrots and big family. In the final tally, I at first made a mistake, and called a draw, but a second count showed my farm of diversification had won the day.

Andrew 35
Joe 33
Adam 18

And it was still early. Half past nine. We considered a game of Railways of the World. Imagine the kudos! Agricola AND Railways in one evening! However, we couldn’t go through with it. Instead, we chose 10 Days in Africa. It was new to Adam, but since it was from the designer of Ticket To Ride, we thought he’d take to it quickly.

We didn’t realise quite how quickly, as he swiftly won the practice game, and then won the real game too, before Joe and I had even got going. I got into second by number of links.

1. Adam
2. Andrew
3. Joe

Finally, we chose for a nightcap of abstract gaming with Blockers. It’s been a while since this saw the light of day. It was interesting and certainly a nice change. Adam won again, though, with a perfect score of one, almost as if he were getting his own back for Agricola.

Adam 1
Andrew 5
Joe 7

Adam takes top spot on the fledgling form table.

						Points
Adam	1	1	3	5	5	15
Andrew	2	2	1	5	5	15
Joe	3	3	2	5	5	18

Meanwhile, the Division shows that a first place in a big game is better than two in small games, but also that a close second is also better. Of course I post this as an illustration of how the Division works. And also because it'll be the only time I'm ahead of Adam on Points and Points Ratio.

Because one Parisian plague pit is un oeuf

This evening, Sam was away globe-trotting but there was a surprise last-minute addition in the shape of Steve. He arrived just as we’d finished going through the rules of Alien Frontier and, since that can’t be played with five, it was put away and another new game was brought out.

This one was Notre Dame, a game set in 14th century Paris in which you have to gain privilege points by careful use of your influence cubes, while trying to see off the plague.

Adam, as cruel overlord of his arrondissement, allowed the pox to go largely unchecked, preferring to concentrate on using his park to gain extra privilege points. I, meanwhile, was a proto-Louis Pasteur, and I swiftly built up my hospital so I could ignore the threat of the Black Death and focus on other things.

Quentin, too, was big on health care, but he mostly hung around Notre Dame itself, trying to impress people by throwing his money around. Steve seemed unsure of his strategy and often forgot to pick up privilege points when he’d won them. Joe, however, tried a completely unexpected tactic of having hardly any influence cubes on the board at all. This left him somewhat becalmed later in the game, as his options became increasingly limited.

Controversy struck at the end of a round when it was discovered that two cards (which would be used for extra points/money/things) had been accidentally played for two turns in a row, instead of being discarded. Quentin insisted that they stay where they were since he’d been playing that round with those cards in mind, although Adam seemed keen on changing them since he didn’t like them. Joe apologised for his mistake and like gentlemen we accepted and forgave him. It will not be mentioned again.

Not often, anyway.

Final scores were:

Adam 56
Quentin 47
Andrew 44
Steve 34
Joe 30

After this a game of Blockers was suggested as a second game. It takes a minute to learn, unless you’re Steve, who wasn’t aware that points were bad until halfway through. Nevertheless his disparate squares were mostly joined together by the end of the game, and he even said he enjoyed afterwards. The other newcomer, Quentin, swore his way through the game and Adam seemed to use the fact that everyone was gunning for him to his advantage as he sashayed to another win.

Adam 4
Steve 5
Joe 6 (gets 3rd on tie-breaker)
Andrew 6
Quentin 7

And afterwards, we all struggled to put the super-slippy squares back into the right place in the box. As Joe quipped "Blockers: a minute to learn, an hour and a half to put away."

So a comprehensive double victory from Adam, and I hope Sam isn’t too upset when he gets back to the country and finds out he’s not first any more.

The leaderboard...

	Played	Points	Ratio
Adam	15	78	5.2
Sam	15	67	4.46
Andrew	17	63	3.7
Joe	12	46	3.83
Hannah	7	34.5	4.9
Quentin	7	28.5	4.07
Steve	4	16	4

End of term report

A series of potential absentees on Tuesday meant that the last evening of this three-month season was brought forward to Monday. This meant that, although Quentin still could not make it, Hannah was able to attend. So it was me (Andrew), Sam, Joe, Adam and Hannah. At stake in this final evening was Andrew’s attempt at overtaking Joe on points scored, and Sam trying to overtake Quentin on points ratio.

We began with a new game, Blockers. This strategy game of placing squares in a grid was new to most of us, but simple enough that inexperience wasn’t an issue. It was accompanied by a lot of humming as people considered each move, and the final scores put Adam and Hannah joint first, since Joe forgot the tie breaker rule until later in the evening.

Hannah 4
Adam 4
Joe 5
Sam 5
Andrew 7

This was followed by Ticket To Ride. It’s simple, yet tense and with the option to be evil. Despite its popularity, this game is not played very often because Adam is worried that if he brings it, Hannah will complain that he’s practising without her. Joe put on some music which was more suited to trains, although it seems his idea of a train is one that derails and crashes down a hillside in a be-bop jazz style, causing distress to any witnesses.

Joe and Adam began by hoarding cards which made me panic and start building my longest route almost immediately. By the end, I was quite proud that my route from Brest to Sevastopol was the shortest possible. Halfway through, Hannah chose to pick up more short routes, but accidentally replaced all except one she had already completed meaning any chance to score big points had gone begging. Sam – the only newbie to the game today – quickly targeted the longest route with a long looping track that took in most of the eastern Mediterranean. In the end Adam won, with the rest of the rabble following behind.

Adam 127
Sam 119
Andrew 113
Joe 112
Hannah 106

Just to finish the evening, Blockers was brought out again. I wasn’t keen, but was outvoted. As it turns out, they did me a favour as I clocked up a win, thanks to Joe remembering the tie-breaker rule (marked with an asterisk).

Andrew 5*
Joe 5
Hannah 6
Sam 7*
Adam 7

And so we come to the end of the season leader board.

Thanks to two victories, Adam was able to extend his lead over all rivals in both points scored and points ratio. So he takes all the plaudits as undisputed champ of this trimester.

Regarding second place: Andrew ended one solitary point behind Joe in terms of points scored, giving second place to one of the best new illustrators in Britain. Meanwhile, Sam took full advantage of Quentin’s absence to increase his points ratio to take back second. But no one was expecting Hannah to suddenly steal up from behind and nab third from Quentin: the man who gave us this scoring system in the first place!

An extra light-hearted addition for the end of term is the absolute score. This was created by simply adding up the scores of the games (whenever mentioned in full, reversing the scores in games where scoring less wins). Obviously it's not to be taken too seriously since winning at Blockers gets you 7 points, whereas winning at Genoa gets you 700+.

Adam came fourth in this category, which is interesting since it shows he only wins low-scoring games. Meanwhile, I romp home in first thanks to me not having anything better to do with my Tuesday evenings. Hurrah!

And if there’s an absolute score, there has to be an absolute ratio. Right? Right! And it’s Sam who takes first place in this average-most-points-scored-per-game, with Joe in second.

But everyone’s a winner, babe, and that’s the truth!

The leaderboard...

	Played	Points	Ratio	Absolute	Abs. Ratio
Adam	18	90.5	5.03	1,353	75.17
Joe	20	80	4	1,893	94.65
Andrew	22	79	3.59	2,065	93.86
Sam	17	71	4.18	2,010	118.2
Quentin	10	41.5	4.15	342	34.2
Hannah	6	25	4.17	255	42.5
Jonny	1	2	2	NA	NA