Markers Aurelius

This week's games night began with eight people sat around Sam's kitchen table: Sam, Stanley, Joe, other Joe, Martin, Quentin, Katy, and me. We needed a short game we could all play before one of the Joes had to go to bed. We chose Insider and dealt Quentin in despite him never having played before.

Regular gamer Joe was the master and he handled our questions dutifully until Martin blurted out "Is it a volcano?" which was the correct word.

We discussed whether or not Martin was the Insider, but we had very little to go on. In the end, only Joe voted against him and it went to another round of voting, with Quentin's questions "Is it geological?" and "Is it a mountain?" bringing suspicion upon him, but he wasn't the Insider either. It was Stanley!

We played again, after Martin explained the finer details of the rules to Quentin, and this time it was the smaller of the two Joes who was the master. I guessed correctly ("baseball") but only Katy voted against me. Maybe there's something about him, but we chose Quentin again and we were wrong again because it was Stanley again.

One Joe went to bed and we split into two groups and played a couple of short games until Ian was due to arrive. Joe, Katy and Martin played Maskmen. Katy won with a whole round still to play but was a little put out to see her magnificent lead shorn down to a narrow victory by the end.

Katy 4
Joe 3
Martin 1

Sam, Stanley, Quentin and I chose Spy Tricks, a game I had no recollection of despite having played only a few days before. Sam won big in the final round, putting his double bet onto the correct card, and just squeezed past his son into first place.

Sam 25
Stanley 24
Quentin 20
Andrew 11

Now Stanley went to bed and Ian arrived. We rearranged the groups into me, Martin, Sam and Ian playing Senators while Joe, Katy and Quentin played Let's Make A Bus Route. That game ended

Joe 60
Katy 47
Quentin 47

And then they moved on to Good Little Tricks, a devilish card game whose basic premise escapes me at the moment. There was a fair amount of people claiming they were going to "shoot the moon," though.

Joe -21
Katy -26
Quentin -34

We were still playing Senators when they were done, so they bashed out a quick single round of Little Tricks:

Quentin 0
Joe -7
Katy -20

Meanwhile, over in Ancient Rome, we'd seen all kinds of history flash before our eyes. After Sam had the rules explained to him, our first game was over in minutes as the fourth War card game after only five or six rounds.

Sam 8
Andrew 7
Ian 6
Martin 6

We set up to play again and this time it was more of an epic, with the fourth War card not coming out until the very end. But before then all manner of events unfolded. I was hit by Civil Unrest and a lack of cash during some extortion, meaning I lost two senators but I was then able to cash in two high scoring sets of cards for 51 in cash which I used to buy my way into first place. Other players took turns being in last place, first Ian then Martin and finally Sam. But that fourth War never seemed to arrive and Ian ran out of cash, meaning he slipped further back while my frugal final rounds got me first on a tie-breaker.

Andrew 11 + 8)
Martin 11 (+2)
Sam 10
Ian 9

Finally we were all together for a game of Just One. We started well, but soon duplicates started to creep in. Sam did well to get 'cocoon' with only 'chrysalis' and 'enclosed' to guide him. Joe was less fortunate, having the impossible task of getting 'panda' from the two remaining clues (after four bamboos wiped themselves out) which were 'diplomacy' and 'eyes'. Once again we were "wow, not bad" according to the score sheet.

There was one more game in us thanks to generous offers of lifts from Joe and Quentin, and it was Fuji Flush. I was first to one card but just couldn't push through. Mid-game, Katy was doing so badly that she claimed she had more cards than when she started. But it was Quentin who was able to join his last card to another already on the table and push through for victory.

Joe's best Godfather face during Fuji Flush.

Quentin 0 cards left
Andrew 1
Martin 1
Sam 2
Katy 2
Ian 3
Joe 4

And that was all. As we set off, I somehow managed to lose my phone so at the moment I have no photos from the evening, but hopefully I'll put them on later (EDIT: done it!). Thanks to everyone for a splendid time.

Twice Upon A Time In The West

1875 in the Wild West was not a time for faint hearts or sophisticated tastes. In those days, your reputation stuck to you like the thick clay mud of Red Falls and was just as hard to shift. One man managed it, though. One man turned his back on his outlaw ways and became a legendary sheriff. We began with the unlikely ballad of Billy The Kid.

In our first game of the day, Ian took on the role of outlaw Billy The Kid, Joe was sharp-shooter Annie Oakley, I was lawman Bass Reeves and Matt (Joe’s friend, not regular Matt) was the Native American scout Bloody Knife.

Ian started by attacking a bandit and mining for gold. My early attempt at arresting him went badly awry, allowing him to get to the bank (that Joe had just robbed) for money and Legendary Points. Just after that, I managed to arrest him and then won at poker in a celebratory game.

Ian was already a long way in the lead, though. Joe was the only wanted man on the board with both Matt and I acting as marshals, Joe had difficulty finding anywhere safe so he hid out in Red Falls. His situation went from bad to worse when Ian killed a bandit and chose to become another marshal instead of an outlaw. It was three against one. It couldn’t last. While “lawman” Ian was at the “theatre” (a lot of subtext in this game) he sent the sheriff to arrest Joe. This move got him past the 15 point end-game trigger.

Once Joe had been let out of Darkrock Sheriff’s Office, he strolled across the road to try and rob the bank. The rehabilitation programs in this day and age left a lot to be desired. But he failed and ended the game hiding in an old mine. Matt, after a slow start, spent most of his later game going from gold mine to bank to brothel, while I just squeezed into third with a last round spending spree at the general store, upgrading all my goods for LPs.

Ian 22
Joe 19
Andrew 15
Matt 14

The game took two and a half hours and, after a slow start, it was a lot of fun. We felt ready to tackle it again that evening. In the meantime, Joe made food and Matt felt the need to take a break from games (?!) so Ian and I played Let’s Make A Bus Route and Las Vegas. I won one, Ian won the other and if you aggregate the scores together, Ian came out on top

Ian 350,032
Andrew 240,044

Then, after some delicious food from Joe we set off again into the dusty mesa-strewn landscape of Western Legends, but with the extra rules of cattle wrangling/rustling and personal goals. This time I was the outlaw Jesse James, Matt was the gambling lawman Wyatt Earp, Ian was the Native American scout Y.B. Rowdy and Joe was the “folk hero” Wild Bill Hicock.

The only year that these four could reasonably be in the same place at the same time was 1876 (with the proviso that Y.B. Rowdy was only fourteen years old, but people grew up fast in those days) so I guess that’s when this all happened.

This time I took an early lead. Despite starting near Darkwood and it’s lawmen, I manage to get some gold to the bank in time to profit from it. Joe went cattle rustling, while Matt started off by playing lots of poker. Everyone except me bought a hat early on, allowing them to get extra LPs for winning at poker, and Matt milked it for all it was worth. Pity you don’t get extra points for an impressive hand, since Matt won with a full house and Joe won with a flush.

Ian’s Native American senses must have deserted him, however, as he went to the “theatre” (possibly the same “theatre” opened by Wyatt Earp’s wife in 1874, thanks Wikipedia) in Red Falls where Joe was already waiting. Joe’s next turn consisted of him spending $120 on “entertainment”, robbing the conveniently-placed Ian, and then spending that money ($60) on more “entertainment”.

In Ian’s next turn, he attempted to get revenge by arresting Joe three times. Ian twice used a special card that anulls the results of a fight and instigates a new one. This attempt to drain Joe of his poker cards didn’t work and so, no doubt to cheer himself up, Ian spent his remaining cash on enjoying some “showbusiness”.

Matt’s biggest problem was not being robbed – he pretty much had half the board to himself while the rest of us were holed up in Red Falls. He was trying to work out how to maximise his full wallet and three gold nuggets. Go straight to the bank for Legendary Points only, or try and pick a way through to the “theatre” and risk losing that gold in a town as lawless as Red Falls? In the end, he avoided Red Falls entirely and went for the safer option of buying/upgrading at the general store.

But then Joe ended the game sooner than anyone was expecting, including him. He won big at the poker (beating me) and then, like an addicted fool, returned to the “theatre”where he earned enough Legendary Points to hit the twenty point mark, thus ending the game. There was some discussion about whether the rules say there should be one more round, but we decided to end it there. It had been a long day.

Joe 29
Andrew 22
Ian 19
Martin 16

Thanks all. A great evening, and a fun game. I think the cattle aspect certainly helps the game, while the personal goals bit seemed a bit unnecessary. But the game is full of nice comedy moments and well done to Joe for winning the second game more or less in the style of the character he was representing.

Let's Make a Games Night

Tonight's games night was my first time in a month, having been away in Japan for the previous three weeks. But that time wasn't just spent eating, hiking and thinking to myself "I wonder what that is," oh no. I brought back games for Sam, Martin and Joe, three of which got their debut today.

Anja and Steve were hosting and Sam, Ian, Matt, Martin, Joe and myself were the guests. But Martin and Matt were late comers and Anja was putting little Luther to bed, so Steve was introduced to a little light game of Fool's Gold to start us off.

Sam sped into an early lead and became a bit of a gravel magnet as a result. Steve quickly joined him on three gold nuggets and when I pulled out two golds in a row, I thought maybe I'd have a chance, too. Joe was generously demonstrating to Steve just how funny Fool's Gold can be by repeatedly going bust. Suddenly, Steve pulled his fourth nugget out of the bag and it was all over.

Steve 4
Sam 3
Andrew 3
Ian 1
Joe 0

Towards the end of this game, we somehow got talking about a song called "Dancing in the moonlight," which I had assumed was the Toploader "classic" from the olden days until Steve insisted that Smashing Pumpkins did a cover of it, at which point I realised that it couldn't possibly be.

We were also treated to a brief visit from Luther. Anja later told us that, back in bed, he'd asked "When I'm six can I stay up and play games?" How adorable.

Now Matt had arrived, we were six in number, so we split into two groups of three. Joe, Matt, and me got to enjoy using pens (as per the slogan on the box) with Let's Make A Bus Route, new from Japan.

It's like a very genteel version of the video game Crazy Taxi, where you have to take passengers to their destinations. You draw a route around a shared map of Kyoto trying to connect students to universities, commuters to train stations, and tourists to temples. You get bonus points for completing a secret journey or fulfilling certain criteria randomly chosen at the start of the game (ie, visit three temples, pick up five pensioners). It was a very jolly experience although after my initial tactic of scoring maximum for a temple (fourteen points!) I kind of ran out of ideas. The other two didn't.

Matt 49
Joe 44
Andrew 24

Meanwhile, the other three tried Maskmen and, by all accounts, it was a bit of an ordeal. After struggling with the rules, Steve decided to check for unofficial rules on the Board Game Geek. It didn't help and despite all three of them reading the rules, they gave up, baffled. After this, Martin arrived and Anja came downstairs.

Martin wanted to try Maskmen, assuring everyone he had some idea about what was going on. Sam, Joe and Matt join him."It's just like quantum physics," he said at the end of his rules explanation which didn't strike me as particularly encouraging. Later he insisted "someone had a really good flow chart." They played on an improvised coffee table made of two occasional tables with a "Road Ahead Closed" sign balanced on top.

I saw Oregon in the family games cupboard and, despite Anja and Steve having only just played it recently with their son, it was brought to the table if only to avoid more thoughtful procrastination while we decide what we were all in the mood for.

We battled for prime pieces of real estate, mostly settling around churches for points. It was Ian's first go but he seemed to get the jist of things pretty quickly.

Despite Steve making a great deal out of explaining the end-game criteria to Ian we all missed Anja's steadily decreasing meeple stash until, before you knew it, the game was over. Luckily, I had the cards for one more high scoring move and my gold and coal pushed me into the front of it very tight pack.

Andrew 51
Steve 49
Ian 48
Anja 47

As for Maskmen, thanks to Martin's clarifications, it turned out to be an enjoyable, if counter intuitive game. I was relieved, glad that I hadn't just brought a shit game halfway across the world.

Sam 4
Martin 3
Matt 1
Joe 0

After this, they played another game from Japan, Nakanuki Paradise. I know little about this game except for the comparisons people drew after playing, saying it had shades of Eggs Of Ostrich and a hint of Polterfass.

Martin 25
Sam 23
Matt 23
Joe 14 ("too greedy, Joe," said Martin)

On the big table (the one not made out of traffic signs) we played a bit of Gold Fever while the others finished their game. This time, Steve provided the comic relief with a remarkable routine in which he'd pull one gravel of each kind, pause, and then pull out another gravel and instantly go bust. It was a joke that just got funnier the more we saw it. He finally got a gold nugget just before I got my fourth to win the game.

Andrew 4
Anja 3
Ian 3
Steve 1

After this, the groups were rearranged and Sam, Anja, Steve and myself played Menara, the tower building dexterity co-op game. The others sat down with Let's Make A Bus Route (on a sign warning of a closed road. How ironic!)

Menara started hesitantly, as you might expect with three newbies. But once we were accustomed to the notion of swapping your pillars beforehand things ran pretty smoothly. Our initial target of four floors increased to six due to a couple of impossible requests from the decks of cards. But we overcame this and were not far from success when Sam said "I can do this!" just before brushing his knuckle gently against our edifice and sending it to the ground.

Meanwhile, Let's Make A Bus Route ended...

Matt 54
Joe 52
Ian 45
Martin 44

And with this, we were done. With the hour hand creeping towards 11, Martin made it clear he had another game in him, but the consensus was for an end to the evening. Thanks to the hosts with their spicy sour peanuts and thanks to the guests too. It was very nice to be back.