Dice Boobs

This week witnessed the first GNN of the year for a couple of regulars: Sam, the host, and Joe. However, any attempt at wishing Joe a Happy New Year were met with a dismissive insistence that it was far too late by now.

The rest of us trying to wish him happy tidings were Katy, Ian, Martin, Adam and myself. At the beginning we were also joined by Sam's boys, Stanley and Joe.

We began with Fuji Flush to get us under way. Sam began well, but then got stuck on three cards. Katy began slowly and then shed five cards in quick succession. Stanley played the move of the game, as four of us put down fours and were getting excited about our chances of beating two eights (if I remember this right) when he put down a seventeen and cleared the table.

Doomed

Adam, Katy and Martin were all sitting next to each other and were appalled whenever they had to team up together. It ended in tense fashion with more than half on just one card.

Little Joe 0
Adam 1
Andrew 1
Katy 1
Stanley 1
Martin 1
Joe 2
Sam 3

After this we split into two groups. Joe, Katy, Martin and I chose Majesty. Sam, Stanley, little Joe and Adam went for Blokus, the game of, well, blocking. I didn't pay it too much attention but when the final scores were announced, I was pleased that the two adults had not gone easy on their inexperienced opponents.

Sam 13
Adam 15
Joe 19
Stanley 26

Then it was bed for the boys and a quick two player game of Fugitive. This ended in a draw, as Sam explained "we're not sure who won because I don't have the board or the rules." which would explain the improvised card area.

Sam looked it up on the Internet, and concluded that Adam won. "Something to do with the 29."

Anyway, that was the exciting half of the table. The four of us playing Majesty had a fairly hollow experience. Katy complained throughout that it just wasn't her kind of game and the rest of us found it rather bland. The artwork was typical eurogame medieval subjects and the game mechanism of playing cards to get points was quite drab.

Joe 181
Andrew 177
Katy 159
Martin 143

Back as a single group again, it was time to split up again. Ian had bought the Tichu set he'd received in the Secret Santa, so he and Martin faced Joe and Katy. It started in fine fashion, with two Grand Tichus called and completed in the first two rounds.

Sam, Adam and myself played Rajas of the Ganges. We persuaded Adam by telling him that it was exactly the kind of game that he would be good at. In fact, I was preparing myself for a heavy defeat before we even began.

Near the start of the game, when Sam didn't take a particular option that got him a lot of money, Adam asked if there was a reason he hadn't done that. "Just stupidity," shrugged Sam when he saw what he'd missed.

Adam had clearly decided that money was the way to go, since it had all those bonuses along it. He generated dice so efficiently that he had to use his player mat's “dice boobs” to hold them all.

He also made good use of the Score Mixed Markets option. Then, once the money track had paid out its last bonus, he turned his attention to glory points and quickly finished the game. Sam matched Adam for glory, but not for cash. I was a long way back, having not even picked up my second extra meeple.

Adam's considerable lead on the money track.

1. Adam
2. Sam
3. Andrew

The Tichu group played out one last hand when we had ended. Not the full one-thousand pointer, but enough to give Ian a taste, I imagine.

Joe & Katy 600
Ian & Martin 500

Next up was another reshuffling of the groups. Katy, Martin and I played Azul. You'd have thought, after playing against Adam at a eurogame, I'd have learnt my lesson, but I must've been in a masochistic mood this night. Sam, Joe, Ian and Adam chose Poison.

During these two games, and I can't remember why, we all tried to work out our defining traits. We ended up with Martin – evil, Katy – annoying, Andrew – snide, Joe – avuncular, Ian – self-depreciating, Adam – calculating and Sam – mistaken. Joe, though, did not like his nominated trait. He pointed out that the definition was “kind and friendly towards a younger or less experienced person” which he found somewhat inappropriate. Katy pointed out that he was the oldest one here but, like the New Year's greetings at the start of the evening, Joe simply refused to accept his new defining trait.

All of this shouldn't detract from the gaming activities. In Azul, I was disconcerted by Martin's constant glances over to my board. He played a spoiling game, such that I scored only six points in my first round, but I was too distracted to do the same to Katy. She had no issues with putting together her mosaic and spent most of the game complimenting her own work, like a bird happily chirping in its nice new nest.

Only when she felt victory was assured did she look up and try to ruin Martin's game. He had to pick up negative-scoring tiles at the end of the game, which pushed me into an unlikely second.

Katy 75
Andrew 57
Martin 51

Poison ended:

Sam 4 (with two clear rounds, I believe)
Adam 17
Ian 17
Joe 29

Now it was the end of the evening and we were all together. Dead Man's Chest was suggested and pooh-poohed. Instead we decided on a subdued game of Hugo. This game is usually so loud, it's been banned twice, so we kept out cries of anguish to a minimum. It was especially hard for Katy who got so excited she had to insist she wasn't drunk on the gin she'd bought with her. Unfortunately it came out as “I haven't had any more Jill,” so no one believed her.

We played three rounds. In the first round, Sam was the last-man standing but a comfortable distance ahead. Hugo then sped around two corners and finished him off before he could move. In the second, it was the opposite. Joe was left alive in a precarious position but Hugo wouldn't budge. The dice went right around the table without a Hugo in sight. Then Joe rolled a 1 and managed to sneak into a +3 room.

It was a rare piece of luck for him.

Martin 25
Sam 26
Ian 30
Katy 32
Adam 35
Andrew 37
Joe 41

And with that, we were done. Another quality evening's entertainment done and dusted.

Cornish Pastimes

Last week Sally and I took the boys to Polruan, Cornwall, and though most of the time was spent on the beach we did squeeze in a few games. I'd taken Ice Flow, Flash Point, Hey That's My Fish and Sumeria, the latter an incongruously popular choice with the boys (usually; we didn't actually play it this time).

Castles of Beige

First out of the box was Hey That's My Fish, or Hey, That's My Fish as Jon correctly emphasizes it. This was a two-player with me and Little Joe. After some early shenanigans of Joe's penguins slaloming toward the more rewarding tiles, we settled into a neat pattern of Joe picking up the most fish while I made suggestions as to how he could block me off. It ended closely:

Joe 52
Sam 46
(two tiles left on the 'board')

My apple

Stanley had spotted Blokus at the cottage so we pulled it out. The board is a grid of 1cm squares and each player is given a collection of tetris-style pieces in their own colour. I looked for the rulebook only to find there wasn't one, and I was thinking ho-hum... until I realized the rules are printed on the back of the box. Genius. Here they are:

1. Each player starts in a corner.
2. On their turn players place a piece that cannot be adjacent to any of their own pieces (they can be adjacent to other players') but must touch one of their own pieces at at least one corner.
3. Whoever manages to play the most pieces wins.

The key is squeezing between the corners of opposing players pieces really, and making sure you don't have all your biggest pieces left in the endgame. It was so simple and the boys really liked it - even Sally did, in fact. What I don't understand is how it works as a 2-player - there's so much room on the board you'd have to make a concerted effort to not get all your pieces down. There's probably something on BGG about it…

We played lots of games of this and there were many winners. We also had some pub lunches and I messed about with my phone:




Stanley and I played Ice Flow. I'd remembered it as quite simple but it's actually a bit of a puzzle, trying to get three explorers across the Bering Strait while being pursued by polar bears and stymied by the opposition. There was a fair bit of head-scratching, and although Stanley won (a collaborative effort) it was not requested again.

The other popular game was Flash Point. Stan is not one for tantrums when he loses but he can occasionally get a little forlorn, so I think he liked the fact this was a team effort. Together we put out many fires and rescued many victims, but we also (courtesy of my longstanding blind spot) played a rule wrong, making it easier for ourselves than it should have been. Having corrected it we both died as the building collapsed on us. Oh well.

Finally upon returning to Bristol I suggested Lords of Waterdeep, which Stanley has played before. Joe did not play but was The Shopkeeper - in charge of cube distribution.

Last time Stan needed a little help with some of the reading, but no such qualms for him this time. In fact he shot off into a healthy lead, and although I assisted by 1. once pointing out he could get wizards by going to the harbour and 2. not nicking cubes off him when I could have, he pretty much bossed the game, picking up handsome endgame bonuses that I didn't see coming:

Stanley 145
Sam 122