The Dirty Pipe Slapstick Squadron

 I arrived at Sam’s at 7.40 and, once I’d recovered from the surprise of seeing Andy B for the first time in a year (?) we all sat down (me, Andy, Sam, Martin, and Joe) for a quick game of Rapido. It’s such a simple game that Martin explained the rules to Andy while we were playing so that when it came to his turn, he would have no excuse for doing badly. Except for bad luck, of course.

At first, the main recipient of bad luck was Martin who was the last one to score any points at all. Then, mid-game, a run of misfortune meant we all started moving backwards. But eventually it was between me and Sam for the win. Sam edged forward onto space 18 and then rolled a double three to take the win.

Sam, then Andrew, Joe, Martin, Andy

During this game, Katy and Laura arrived. We checked if Laura and Andy had actually met, and they had. We still think of Laura as a newbie even though, as she pointed out: she’s been coming to games nights for years – some of us found this hard to believe.

Andy had to leave in about fifty minutes, so we began to think about what to play. Time pressures didn’t make things easier and before long, Andy had to leave in forty-five minutes and we still hadn’t chosen. Finally, we decided on Diamant. Laura hadn’t played so she got a rules explanation and we set off into five temples.

Since there were seven of us, a lot of jewels got left behind on cards such that Martin, Sam and Laura all left early and got three jewels each. That seemed like a good move until an artefact came out. Katy nabbed that one which also looked like a good move until Andy stayed in til the end and got a 17-jewel card all to himself.

The rest of the game followed suit: paying out generously. Sam went out early saying "I've got a feeling" and then the rest of us died in a fire. Laura picked up 17 jewels in artefacts and then Katy got 20 jewels. Martin, however, had to keep pushing his luck as he fell further behind. We had to explain to Laura that it wasn’t usually like this. There was one temple that behaved as expected: giving us three traps and then a single jewel.

We finished in good time so that Andy wasn’t late for his appointment although I suspect he could’ve left halfway through the game and still won.

Andy 44

Katy 40

Laura 28

Andrew 24

Joe 21

Sam 20

Martin 3

Then we split into two groups of three. Sam, Laura and I played Quantum. I asked Laura if she was okay with something a bit fighty and she said it was fine since she was from Yorkshire. Andy stuck around to watch Martin, Joe and Katy play the first few rounds of Mille Fiori to see if he could work out the rules. Katy must’ve felt nervous as they set up because she seemed unable to finish her sentences (“I think I might need a quick…”)

As for Quantum (or Yorkshire In Space, as it will now be called) Sam explained the rules to Laura and then, sheepishly, made her first move for her. Then it was gloves off. Sam and I were both down to one die at one point or another and Laura managed to win the game when she won two battles to put her aggression up to six and place her last cube.

Laura 0 cubes left

Sam 1

Andrew 2

As for Mille Fiori, it ended

Joe 215

Martin 180

Katy 166

Laura left after this (high on victory, no doubt) and the rest of us played High Society. I bought two cards early on but then I lost track of what other people had paid. I put to 20,000 francs for a late x2 card thinking that my 31,000 in my hand would be enough to avoid elimination. It wasn’t and I was out, finishing behind Katy and Martin who both had a x2 each and nothing to multiply with it.

My multiplier had a picture of a woman laughing at her drink

Sam 9

Joe 8

Martin 0

Katy 0

Andrew OUT!

We finished with So Clover. Katy was first to complete while Joe fretted long enough for their to be a toilet break. Alas, Katy’s intuitive approach to clue-giving came undone as we struggled him “humbug”. Thinking it might be a reference to A Christmas Carol we went with “Candy/grave” when it should’ve been “candy/mud”. The other clovers were all cleared, I think, with some great clues. Martin's four clues were Dirty, Pipe, Slapstick and Squadron which at least saved me the bother of thinking of a blog title. I loved Sam’s clue of “candle” for the words “cake/dynamite” and Joe’s “sideboards” for “moustache/travel” because if a moustache could travel, it would become… 

Joe seemed touched that we got his clover correct on our first attempt. As if he’d finally found people who understood him. 

27 out of 30

Crazy times. Thanks all. See you next week.

Harbour Master Blaster

The recent tradition of gamers just passing through continued this week at GNN. Today's arrival was Garry, a writing chum of Sam. Along with these two were Joe (the host), Dan, Martin, Katy, Adam (the new one) and me.

Early on: crisps and... conversation?!

We begun in glorious co-op mode with Just One. Early on, Joe chose his usual path of obscure cultural references and when he didn't, he kept syncing with Adam. Although, truth be told, there were very few duplicates. Katy had the worst luck when she had to guess "sand" with only three clues. But she did it! Dan’s use of “band” as a clue for “tool” worked wonders when Katy used “Tool” as a clue for “Music” when he was guessing. And we went on to get eleven out of twelve, finally impressing the usually snide score track, which read "Awesome! That's a score worth celebrating!"

And celebrate we did. With more games. Joe and Katy were introduced to Sol by Sam and Martin. Dan and Garry were introduced to Potato Man by Adam and I.

Potato Man was fun, with a couple of evil potatoes being vanquished by Super Potato Man. I, however, felt awkward about referring to the green suit as Sexy Potato Lady in front of three people I didn't know so well. Meanwhile, I had a good couple of early rounds while Adam was stung by Explainer's Curse.

Andrew 25
Dan 19
Garry 17
Adam 10

After that, with the sun on the other side of the table still looking pretty stable, I suggested Manila. This fun game of betting and luck-based piracy was new to our newcomers, so I talked them through the rules. Was I hit by Explainer's Curse? Or was it more of a case of Adam finding a winning formula and milking it for all it was worth. His (almost) monopolizing of Harbour Master, who then invested in blue cloth which sent the share price rocketing up and brought the game to an end sooner than I was expecting.

My attempts at piracy to try and thwart Adam's relentless victory came to nothing, but luckily Brown stuff (coffee?) also hit the highest level which bailed me out.

Adam 168
Andrew 105
Dan 70
Garry 64

It lacked the usual swings of outrageous fortune that Manila is so good at, but I think the two newbies liked it.

But what of Sol? They played the 'vestigial structure' variant, allowing them to build in the outer three rings of the board. It's the same variant that I'd played before but I had no idea it had such a grand name.

Katy began slowly, and was still on two points while the other three had moved into the low teens. Martin hardly built anything but he did build two gates in a row, at the end of which Joe built one of those energy transmission thingies in a kindly gesture of "hey, come on in!'

Katy clawed her way out of last while Sam managed to resist the urge to hurl his ships into the sun and it seemed to work for him.

Sam 26
Martin 19
Katy 17
Joe 13

We were still out of sync at this point. I brought out High Society, hoping to time its ending with the finale of Sol but I misjudged it. The game, new to Garry, was mean as ever. Garry picked up an early "1/2" card, meaning he was rich enough to pick up the 10 card. But he was in the strange situation of always bidding against players who thought that the cards were worth twice as much as he did. As such, despite picking up a "x2" card later on, he lost due to lack of funds. It ended with both he and Dan on one card left in their hands, but Dan's was the $25 million card.

Dan 12
Andrew 6
Adam 6
Garry Out! (But scored 11)

Sol had ended and they banged out a quick Kribbeln. And what a game it was. I only caught the end, but even in those few rolls, drama ensued.

Sam was poised to win, needing to beat 29 with his six dice, rolled 6, 6, 6, 4, 4, 2. So close. He picked up the 2 and rolled it... a one! How cruel.

Then Joe, also needing to beat 29, rolled 6, 6, 5, 5, 4, 3. But instead of just picking up the three to roll again, he picked up the three and four. Audacious! And he rolled a 6-6! Amazing. It put him in joint first with Martin and won the game on the tie-breaker.

Joe 22 (plus highest Krib)
Martin 22
Sam 20
Katy 15

Then it was time for Adam to leave. I suggested he could join in by phone if we played Incan Gold, and the mention of this triggered a sudden desire in Joe, wiping aside the previous suggestions of 6nimmt or Tomate Karate. We played Diamant, the new version of Incan Gold, where flimsy paper tents are replaced by sturdy cardboard chests and Zombie Ladies are sadly gone, with rolling logs of spikes in their place.

Katy stayed in longest in round one and got a 17 card all to herself! After that, it was all a matter of trying to catch her. Martin decided the only way to win was to stay in longer than she did. Sam went in the opposite direction, getting out early as soon is it seemed profitable (picking up a rare artifact in round three). And it could’ve worked if the more adventurous among us had had a little more bad luck. Instead, it was a high scoring game.

Katy 54
Andrew 33
Martin 31
Sam 31
Joe 29
Garry 27
Dan 21

And despite coming last, Dan made a note of the game on his phone, declaring that he was going to buy it. A convert!

And then Katy and I departed, with the clock just passing eleven. The rest carried on with Kakerlaken Poker. Thanks to some notes from Sam, I can tell you that “Dan began haemorrhaging stink bugs” was as a remarkably evocative description of the game as you could wish for. Garry, professing uselessness at the real poker, began badly. And just as Martin hit two of something, he passed a card to Dan, saying it was a stink bug. Dan didn’t believe him, but Martin spoke the truth.

Dan loses
Everyone else wins.

Thanks to Sam for the late night results, and thanks to all for joining in for a fun evening. I wonder who our travelling visitor will be next week.

Pass the Duchy

This week was an auspicious occasion as a new name was added to the GNN Roll Of Honour: Rob, Katy's patient and understanding other half. He was here, not for games, but because it was Katy's birthday and he wanted some cake and had agreed to play one game with us.

"Us" were Hannah (hosting), Katy, Andy, Joe, and me. Still to arrive were Adam (also hosting, upstairs putting his son to bed) and Martin. After an unusually long preamble of taking and some lovely cake, we chose For Sale as being just right for a newbie like Rob. Katy preferred Why First but we thought it easier to explain a game in which the winner actually wins.

Rob played a solid game, avoiding some of the common mistakes like Katy paying eight for a 20, but nor did he show any special aptitude, like when Andy spent all his money once he was sure the lowest cards had all gone.

In the second phase, Joe initially dealt only five cheques for six players, and no one noticed until it was time to distribute them. We decided to play that round again, to Katy's annoyance since she'd won that round.

The other notable event was when both $0 cheques came out at the same time. "I hope you didn't all go stupid," said Katy, just before we revealed our cards. Alas, we had all gone stupid. Joe and Katy picked up the zero cheques for 23 and 24. Ouch.

Andrew $52K
Hannah $51K
Andy $47K
Katy $41K
Rob $35K
Joe $30K

After this, Rob left and by now Martin was here, so the only question was, had Adam fallen asleep? Hannah didn't want to go and check, because that would risk resetting the whole bed-time routine back to the start. We pondered that Adam was currently existing in two possible states: awake and asleep, like a sort of Schrodinger's Adam. But then Adam came down, collapsing one of the probability waves and restoring order to the universe.

We split into two groups. Katy and Joe corralled Andy into a game of Isle Of Skye, while Adam and I were introduced by Martin and Hannah to Rheinlander, Martin's recent rediscovery that he wanted to play again before he forgot everything about it.

Rheinlander is a Knizia and, as you'd expect, it's a delicate balance between risk and reward. You can use cards to place shields and more than two shields is a Duchy, and you place a knight next to it, which is good. But if two Duchys (duchies?) join up, then the majority holder gets control of the whole thing. All is not lost for the victim, though, as their removed knight scores points.

It's all hugely confusing.Adam went for the archbishop card, which allows you to remove opponent's shields, so I did my level best to stop him. And it worked. In the final rounds he cursed his lack of archbishop in the way that only board gamers can understand. Also Martin decided to block Adam from doing something, but in the after match analysis, Martin decided it would have been better had he played elsewhere. All fine by me, is I was delighted by my not-last place against such strong opposition.

Hannah 40
Martin 37
Andrew 32
Adam 29

Meanwhile, Isle Of Skye ended in agony for Joe, who was just one coin away from forcing a draw.

Katy 61
Joe 60
Andy 54

Next, it was time for Hannah to meet Fuji Flush. And the concept of dick points.

She took to it very well, and came a comfortable first in our first game.

Hannah 0 cards left
Andy 1
Katy 2
Adam 2
Martin 2
Andrew 2
Joe 4

She was keen on another go, so we dealt again and this time Martin won.

Martin 0
Hannah 1
Andrew 1
Andy 2
Adam 2
Katy 2
Joe 3

Finally, there was time for one more round before Hannah retired for the evening. I began by mocking Joe's two last places, and he paid back my insult with interest.

Joe 0
Adam 1
Andrew 2
Martin 2
Hannah 3
Andy 4
Katy 5

In this game, Katy pushed through no cards at all (thanks to being next to this evening's dick point king , Andy) and we wondered if that had happened before. Well, I checked and it has. By Katy.

Finally, the six of us played Diamant, the Incan Gold remake which improves on the tents and hard to discern Go/Leave cards but then fails slightly with a lack of zombie ladies and some meeples that are a little too extruded, making look as if they are just warping in from another dimension.

Joe went for the 'get out early' tactic and it was almost perfect. Only on round three did he stay in due to peer pressure and we all died. He almost got an extra four gems. My tactic was to leave a dungeon the moment Joe suggested he turn over the next card. Knowing his poor luck, I did pretty well too. No idea what Katy's tactics were.

Joe 22
Adam 13
Andrew 12
Andy 11
Martin 7
Katy 5

And with that, we were gone. Into the night glowing like fireflies with the joys of winning and losing.

This week's Division is a special one for Katy's birthday. I've converted everything to base four and then replaced the digits 0, 1, 2, 3 with K, A, T, Y respectively. No Points Ratio, though because I couldn't be bothered to do decimals (quadrimals?) Thanks all, and special thanks to Hannah for the cake.

Octocon Fun!

Friday 28th Oct

The annual GNN-and-friends away-weekend, this year dubbed Octocon for reasons relating to the phases of the Earth orbiting the sun, began last Friday, and finished on Monday just gone. And it's taken me all week to write it up! Just in time for the next GNN-related outing, which I'm sure we'll get to hear about much more swiftly.

I (Joe) picked up Katy at 4pm friday on the dot, and with a car loaded with games (mostly mine - Katy's collection of three games fit snugly in a single hand (without a bag)), set off towards Ilfracombe, to meet up with Hannah, Adam and Arthur; Anja, Steve and Louie; and Jon. 

We all arrived within half an hour of each other, our home for the weekend a pleasing top floor apartment in a converted cinema. Next door was the Masonic temple.

Our home for the weekend.

And just at the bottom of the road was Lidl. But more important than either of these was the entrance to the tunnel beach, visible from the windows.

Whilst Steve and Anja settled Louie, we five played the inaugural game of the weekend - Pairs.

I went bust in 4 of the 6 rounds, reaching a final score of 10pts. Katy raced to the win with Adam in second.

Katy 21

Adam 18

Hannah 12

Joe 10

Jon 9

With Steve and Anja now in attendance, we thought we'd have a quick 7 player game while Jon's jacket potatoes finished cooking. Incan Gold seemed like the perfect choice.

We played my recently acquired version, the new edition of the original game Diamant (confused?). Katy said she preferred the treasure from the original, whilst I think these new shiny rubies and diamonds are more . . . treasury. No one can argue with the new stay/go cards though - no ambiguity here, and consequently no gimmes for players who play the wrong card. The chests for storing your treasure are more robust than the tents, and don't look like chocolate wrappers, something that has often disturbed Sam in the past. Seemingly the only downside to this new edition is the absence of zombie ladies. They have been replaced with boring old spiky logs on ropes. Poor show. But a fun game with or without zombie ladies, and one which I won. Note the mid-pack, all separated by a single point, and then Steve. Sorry Steve.

Joe 26

Adam 19

Katy 18

Anja 17

Hannah 16

Jon 15

Steve 5

After dinner, the mooting of which games to play began in earnest, except there was really only one choice - tonight we would finally get to play Captain Sonar! Except Hannah bowed out, so we had 6 rather than the optimum 8 players. This meant captains took 1st mate duties too. I suggested we might try starting turn by turn, but by the time we'd been through the rules we thought it might be best to just go for it. Katy and I were radio operators on each sub, Jon and Steve captain/1st mate, and Adam and Anja engineers. A few rule clarifications were necessary, but I must have overlooked the rule which said do not put Anja and Steve on the same team. My job as radio operator (radiographer as Katy kept calling it - that's a different board game I think) was relatively simple, and I kept out of the way while my captain and engineer came to blows over the correct etiquette for imparting information between them. Meanwhile our opponents merrily hunted us down and blew us out of the water. We might have been able to limp away had it not been for my helpful advice earlier, involving leaving a blaze in the engine room to blow itself out rather tackle it (metaphorically), which meant we were already compromised.

There was much discussion afterwards, and Jon as the other captain seemed particularly proud of his teams coordination - Adam won extra points for his submariners beard. I want to play again with the full 8 now - and would have no hesitation in suggesting we hit the ground running with the simultaneous game. But it will be a rare evening where we get 8 players and only 8 players. Here's hoping.

Katy/Jon/Adam 0 damage

Joe/Steve/Anja 4 damage

The night was relatively young but we had all had a long drive, so we finished off with a few games of Rhino Hero, which we kept calling Super Rhino - he eventually got called much worse things due to his superpower seeming to be creeping around buildings looking through windows. I can't say the scores need recording in their entirety, but here you go:

Katy 2 cards left

Adam 3

Joe 4

Steve 4

Anja bust (knocked over a bit of the building)

Jon bust (ditto)

game 2

Adam 1 card left

Anja 2

Steve 3

Joe 3

Katy bust

Jon bust

We then played For Sale:

Anja 49

Katy 45

Jon 42

Adam 41

Joe 36

Steve 34

And went to bed. Apologies for the lack of pictures - my phone was charging.

Saturday 29th October

Mornings start early when you have young children, and we were most of us up and about around 8am. Among the tea and coffee, toast and cereal and episodes of Peppa Pig, that unsettling feeling of 'when are we going to play a game'  crept in, and before long, Jon and I sat down to Paperback. This is a recent favourite of mine; having played and loved the iPad implementation, I tracked down a copy for sale, and it was a big hit with Charlotte and Bea during our break in Polruan at the beginning of this half term. It's essentially Dominion with the added fun of making words. Which, if you like making words, is a lot of fun.

Jon took to it like a pro, but my experience with the game won out, and I won. But I can't remember the scores.

Before the weekend began, I had promised Katy that I would swim in the sea, and so we all set off for the Tunnels Beach, leaving Adam to cook and listen to Test Match Special. Swimming happened. Here are the photos to prove it. The sea was much warmer than recent dips in Henleaze lake, but I was immediately very cold on emerging, and headed for home, leaving the rest of the gang to enjoy the sea air.

pic by Katy - the tunnel to the beach

In the tunnel

Great photo by Steve

Back at the pad, and warmed up, Adam and I talked cooking and crossword until the others returned. Anja and Steve treated us to a smorgasboard of cheeses, salads and crusty rolls, aided by their own and Jon's extremely fine homemade chutneys and pickled beetroot. "But . . . games", I hear you mutter. "Where are the games?"

Qwixx proved a decent dice-chucking filler over the course of the weekend, and in its inaugural outing we had an unusual 3 way tie for the win:

Jon 43

Anja 43

Joe 43

Adam 38

Anja took Louie off to see a friend, Arthur and Hannah had a lie down, and Katy took herself for a stroll (NOT a hike). We men settled down to the first big proper game of the weekend - Scythe, which Jon had brought. 

We had all played before, either with Sam or Jon, so we were up and running fairly swiftly. It was my second game, and I'm still getting to grips with it. Both of my games I have pushed for my upgrade star, and it seems to me it's one that inevitably takes most of the game to complete - I feel I should have had other irons in the fire whilst that was going on. I did focus on keeping my popularity on the up, and combat was eschewed by all for most of the game. But Jon was consistently dropping stars, and inevitably we began to bump up against each other on the board. My paltry power did me no favours in the ensuing clashes, and I lost an important hex to Jon. Adam then chanced his luck with a double fight against Jon, but made a tactical error. He dropped a lot of power on the first fight and won, leaving the second battle Jon's for the taking - and Jon only needed one combat star to end the game. And so it was. I was convinced I was staring at fourth place, but the tie-breaker gave me the silver. However, a look at the scores reveals the sad truth - we were all very much in Jon's shadow.

Jon 63

Joe 37 (most pieces on board)

Steve 37

Adam 36

Steve wanted to play Scythe again straight away! But I had agreed to go with Katy to check out the state of the sea at high tide in prep for Sunday's swim, so the others packed it away while I nipped out.

Katy's pics of Ilfracombe

Damien Hirst statue.

On our return, we found Carcassonne with the kids in full swing. But the game had slowed down, and Jon offered to double up on a game of Qwixx with Katy and me. It was a different story to the earlier three-way tie:

Jon 73

Joe 70

Katy 56

When it finally finished the scores for Carcassonne were:
Adam & Arthur ~90
Jon ~70
Steve & Louie ~65

We all settled down for supper, Hannah and Adams delicious lasagne, and a particularly lovely looking salad.

And they made a crumble with custard too. It was all very tasty. Young 'uns were bathed and bedded, and we debated the evenings games in various ways. Anja suggested first, second and third preferences on post-its, Adam countered with 'push the one you want to play towards the centre of the table'. Katy picked up Castles of Mad King Ludwig and took it over to the coffee table, which settled the matter for Jon and Adam, who joined her. I know nothing of the shenanigans, but the scores were:

Jon 124

Adam 123

Katy 115

Ludwiggers

Meanwhile I introduced Steve, Anja and Hannah to Isle of Skye. I really enjoy this, and am always intrigued by the way the scoring tiles interact, as well as the consistent agony of how to price your tiles. I can't remember precisely what went on, because we were also drinking, but in the end, Hannah won handily:

Hannah 54

Steve 49

Joe 43

Anja 35

Not the most fascinating pic

We played a quick game of Qwixx while Ludwig was played - in fact I think we played it whilst they scored Ludwig. I will refrain from Martin-esque comment on the significance of that.

Joe 61

Steve 59

Anja 56

Hannah 51

Qwixx remained on the table for a 5 player game whilst Katy and I stepped out for a breath of unfresh air, and Jon added to his burgeoning roster of wins:

Jon 72

Hannah 64

Steve 57

Anja 56

Adam 35

After that, Hannah called it a night. Did we even moot Captain Sonar at this point? I think we didn't, it was getting on. But we somehow decided on Dream Home and Thurn & Taxis as the next games on the table.

Thurn & Taxis finished:

Adam 30
Anja 22

Dream Home is a new acquisition of mine, and I'd played a couple of games with my girls in the days before Octocon. I nearly didn't bring it with me, as it's pretty light fare - Ticket to Ride with less strategy kind of light. But it's pretty charming, and was the perfect weight for the time of night and gently fuzzed brains available.

Each player starts with an empty house, and over 12 rounds kits out their home with rooms, scoring points for a two card kitchen, a three card sitting room and so on. At the end there are bonuses for functionality - a bathroom on each floor and a kitchen, bathroom and bedroom - and for a complete roof. There are a few unique rooms, including a games room with real games which we all fought over (except we had nowhere to put it), a sauna and a pantry.

Jon won (again!), but there was a tie for second, and Dream Home has a very cute tie-breaker. You scour the rooms of your home for hidden children (does that sound weird?).  Steve had more children secreted in his home than Katy (yeah ok, it's weird):

Jon 44

Steve 37 (more hostages)

Katy 37

Joe 34

Katy's dream roof

After that it was approaching midnight. Adam had vowed not to set foot out of the house, and he and Jon played a couple of games of Patchwork whilst the other four of us took the air again.

Jon 19

Adam 2 

Jon 12

Adam 2

We returned, everybody was pooped and we all went to bed after a very lovely evening.

Sunday 30th October

The clocks went back during the night, and because this means nothing to small children, we were all up bright and early with an extra hour of gaming to look forward to! In the event, I can't say we made the most of that opportunity - games were not even mooted until lunch had come and gone - but it's quality not quantity that counts (that's patent nonsense, I realise). I had promised brunch, which we decided should be called lunch because everyone was already eating breakfast. Steve, Anja and Louie had to head back to Bristol, so after a round of jolly farewells, the others set off to get some air (fresh this time) while I prepped Shakshuka - a favourite recipe from the Ottolenghi book Plenty, involving stewed peppers, tomatoes and eggs. And spices.

Brupper was served at 12 noon on the dot, and our minds turned to games. But also swimming in the sea. 

Hannah and Adam settled Arthur for an afternoon nap, and then they and Jon debated what big afternoon game to tackle. Waggledance won out, and whilst they got cracking, Katy and I played Patchwork. 

It was Katy's first game, but Jon is a master of rules explanation, and she seemed set to wipe the floor with me, getting a fime button economy going from the outset.

However, one of Jon's bits of advice was 'don't bother going after the 7 button bonus tile - take it if you can, but it's rarely a game winner'. I thought this was sensible advice, but in the closing stages the opportunity arose for me to complete a 7x7 square and take the bonus, and I took it. And I won by a point. 

Joe 15

Katy 14

Katy and I left the Waggledancers to it and hit the sea. We chose a different beach, one that had been closed for a wedding the day before, and clambered into the fairly calm waves over a very rocky shoreline. I suggested swimming out and round the rocks to the beach we had swum from on Saturday; Katy was sensibly more cautious. We had been in the sea for about 10 minutes when the swell picked up considerably, and we looked back at the rocky shore to see quite large waves crashing on to it. We wondered how to get back without being dashed on the rocks, and a Radio Four news report began playing in my head, worrier that I am. 

We headed in, and after a few big waves with a nasty undertow, the swell subsided again and we clambered out. A little scratched and bruised, and cold, but essentially safe.

These photos by Hannah are from the previous day, just because there were to many to post at the start. And also so that you can't see the fuss I was making about some little lapping waves.

Steve looks vexed by our idiocy.

When we returned, Waggle Dance was in full swing, but paused while Arthur was settled. Katy had a bath and a nap, while Jon explained the precarious tension with the current gamestate to me. I didn't properly understand. As the game resumed I chewed away at Saturday's crossword, which was pretty chewy, and the final scores were:

Hannah 7 (fewest dice)

Adam 7

Jon 6

Katy returned from her nap and began prepping curry for the evening, and while Hannah kept Arthur entertained, Jon, Adam and I played Isle of Skye. This means that only Katy didn't play IoS this weekend, and didn't on the subsequent Tuesday fixture either, opting for Scythe. Isle of Scythe. Hmmm.

I did quite well for the first few rounds, but Jon and Adam both jumped ahead in the final reckoning, and the final scores were:

Jon 71

Adam 62

Joe 58

Curry continued to be made, with some discussion over the-rice to-naan ratio;. With Arthur happily imbibing episodes of something CBeebies-ish on the tablet, we four played TeamPlay. Hannah thought it would be funny if she and Adam were on the same team; Adam was willing to give it a go. As it turned out, they pipped Jon and I for the win - it was a great game. We also inaugurated a fun way of revealing the scores. One team plays a score card, then the next team plays score cards until they're in the lead, then the first team play more score cards etc etc. It was nail-biting! And that's from someone who could have drowned earlier the same day. 

Hannah and Adam 29

Jon and Joe 27

The Bombay Mix was so fine it had to be eaten with a spoon.

We stopped for Katy's curry, and delicious it was too. Jon and I had pledged to leave no naan behind, so we went back for seconds and thirds. And there was still an untouched pan full of curry on the hob. Katy cooked for 12.  We all enjoyed the benefit of the clocks going back - it was only 6pm, and the lovely evening of games stretched ahead. 

Hannah tactfully suggested Adam could bath Arthur alone if he liked; and while he did, we four played Dream Home again. Jon won. Again. And no need to go searching for hidden children.

Jon 42

Hannah 38

Joe 37

Katy 33

Adam joined us, and we somehow alighted on Colosseum as the big five player to play next. It's apt that we played it since Jon and I had both brought it - this may be the only game that was in evidence twice for the whole weekend - and it's also a GNN favourite that has been long absent.

Only Katy hadn't played, and whilst it's not complex there are phases, and lots of bits. Jon did some more expert explaining, and we settled into putting on fabulously camp shows in ancient Rome.

For the first three, perhaps four rounds, Katy stormed ahead of us all. Adam had pointed out the pitfall of this (that the last place player gets to take one of your tiles), but equally, Jon pointed out that this meant +3 points for each winner podium accrued. As we who have played before know, in Colosseum, you're only as good as your last show - meaning the show you put on in the final round. And everybody (except me) had a little something up their sleeve. Katy looked on in dismay as first Jon, then Hannah, then Adam leaped ahead of her on the scoreboard. I did the decent thing and languished in fifth place, despite my three star performers.

Adam 89

Hannah 82

Jon 81

Katy 71

Joe 61

many Gandalfs

Caesar's in town. And he's brought a friend.

Colosseum remains a firm favourite of mine, but it is long with five, and I was dismayed (more dismay) to see how time had flown whilst we fiddled while Rome burned. We discussed Lords of Vegas, which Jon had been keen to try for several years, but felt a five player game would be too long, so we decided to introduce him to Midnight Party instead.

It's reputation may have been overplayed, as it wasn't the raucous scene that's lead to it's being banned in several households, but then we were playing with five and the knowledge that a small child was sleeping close by. We played three rounds, and Jon showed us all how to escape from ghosts. I accrued what may be an all time losing score, over seven times the winner and double the next worst score. Ahem.

Jon -10

Hannah -24

Adam -29

Katy -33

Joe -71

Octocon was drawing to a close. Hannah and Adam bowed out, but those of us without present children struggled on. Katy was still using the words 'Lords' and 'Vegas' quite a lot, and it may not have been much later than 9.30pm, (the current benchmark for how late LoV can be broken out) - but it would have been a learning game for Jon, and that tipped the balance. We settled into a gentle game of Land Unter. Or Turn the Tide, as less cultured folk like to call it.

I can't remember much about the game, and it's not one that provides a big narrative apart from the threat of drowning sheep, but Katy beat us both, and boy did she let us know iot. No I'm kidding, she was magnanimous. Actually I can't remember either way; but I feel sure the event wouldn't have gone unremarked.

Katy 10

Joe 2

Jon 1

More scintillating photography!

And yet more...

Were we ready to call it quits? Nearly, and if one person had but the other two had kept playing we'd have gone out with a real whimper - but we were all up for a quick and very silly game of Kakerlaken Salat. This is part of the same family as Kakerlaken Poker, but the similarity is only cosmetic. It's more like Dobble in terms of gameplay, with players trying to rid themsleves of a stack of cards. When you place a card you must name the vegetable in question. Except if it's a repeat of the one underneath you have to name another. And if you play a cockroach card, it forbids the naming of a certain vegetable. So of the four vegetables you may find only one is nameable, and if you hesitate, or name an illegal vegtable, you have to take the stack of cards. It's fun and very silly, and the perfect end to a spiffing weekend of games.

We all woke early on Monday, packed up and scooted without so much as a single die or meeple hitting the table (we did nearly finish the crossword with a little help from Google for the difficult last few clues). But as Katy and I discussed on the drive home, there are always more games to be played, and three evenings of gaming just leaves you wanting more. Thank you to all involved, it was huge fun, and I'm already looking forward to next years con. Septicon? Decepticon.

Explorers, Chieftains, Pirates, Estate Agents

Tuesday arrived, but as Andrew didn't, it was an unusually Sake-free evening for the rest of us: as well as myself (Sam) Joe, Andy, Katy, Ben and Ian sat around the table - or rather, four of us minus Andy and Joe did, as they searched for parking spots in the locale.

They eventually arrived - Joe generously supplying milk for Sally's tea - and embarked on a journey of temple exploration with Joe's update on Incan Gold: Diamant. I made like a chicken and exited early several times, whilst the others pushed their luck.

 chests, not tents

With no Zombie Ladies in Diamant, it fell to the snakes and spiders to do for them. However, Ian managed to pip me and Joe at the finishing post:

Ian 21
Joe/Sam 20
Andy 13
Katy 9
Ben 8

We embarked on big discussion over what to play. It was just like old times, when we couldn't choose between Stone Age and Notre Dame. With nobody in demonstrative mood, it took Andy's generosity to allow the rest of us to finally choose two games, neither of which he was eager to play. He joined Joe and Ben on the Isle of Skye, whilst Katy, Ian and I set up Scythe.

Early doors

While Joe explained the rules to Andy and Ben, the three of us began exploring, producing and encountering with surprising speed. Ian (blue) spread his workers early and upgraded first, Katy (black) managed to enlist rather quickly, whilst I decided to produce all my workers and generate a bunch of stuff to faff about with. By mid-game it looked like Ian wasn't going to be competitive, as he bemoaned his performance and flung up his hands - metaphorically - in defeat.

Katy and I pushed on, and got ourselves both within a furlong of the finishing line. I decided to end the game before Katy could, because although I controlled the central hex, I wasn't 100% sure who would win, and letting her have one more turn would only increase the likelihood that it wasn't me.

We added up using a mixture of calculator and my mental arithmetic, and at first I though Katy had won. But Katy to her credit insisted we do the sums properly, and it turned out I had:

Sam 68
Katy 63
Ian 39

Isle of Skye had finished only ten minutes before us, with the scores at

Joe 86
Ben 70
Andy 56

They'd started another game which I saw nothing of, called Land Unter. Joe won that too:

Joe 8
Andy/Ben 3

While we bashed out a quick game of Pairs. Katy won that, with yet another tie for second:

Katy 21
Ian/Sam 15

before we joined together again for a game of Get Bit, the game of pirates swimming away from a shark before it eats them. I introduced it as the most random game I own, and confessed that I'd finished 2nd over the weekend playing Dirk. Joe and Andy embraced the idea of playing Dirk (it really is random) but it didn't work out quite so well for them, as they were first eaten:

1 Ian
2 Sam
3 Katy
4 Ben
5 Joe
6 Andy

Maybe it's not so random...

Katy, sans legs

We finished with For Sale, which went badly wrong for me in the first part of the game when I paid massively over the odds for the 12 card. Then in the auction phase I bid my low cards when no-one else did! While I was floundering around metaphorically the others were compensating by dropping their counters all over the floor in sympathy. But back in the world of the game, Joe picked up another win to see out the night!

Joe 53
Katy 52
Andy 50
Ian 46
Sam 39

We'll need Andrew's magic fingers to see how the leaderboard is affected, but it was a good night for Joe!