Lucky Luxor

 

With the country facing two different routes of either ending the lockdown or going into a second wave of the virus (possibly both at the same time), our potential host Sam erred on the side of caution and so GNN moved back online for another week. I'll be honest, having sampled the joys of real life games, it felt like a real step backwards. But even so, three of us pitched up on Discord for an evening's entertainment.

Me, Ian and Andy arrived and waited for Sam until a text told us he couldn't make it. We fired up Lucky Numbers as a starter. It's a simple blend of draw tile, use or discard tile, until your four by four grid is full. I got lucky with a decent spread of opening numbers, unlike Ian who began with 10, 11, 13 among his tiles.

Andrew 16

Andy 15

Ian 11

After that we played Luxor, which has been seen a couple of times in GNN in cardboard format and was now available in a pixelated version. I got a quick run through of the rules, but it’s pretty straightforward once you understand the card drafting method of only picking from either side of your hand, and replenishing in the middle.

It was fun and enjoyable. It was my first go (and Ian’s too, I think) so we both played pretty similar games, picking up jewelry as we went like we were playing Incan Gold. Andy sent one adventurer off ahead on his own into the central room and then later on he got his second man into the centre to end the game before Ian or I could do it instead.

Andy 63

Andrew 44

Ian 43

Then I had to head off and Ian and Andy finished off with Can’t Stop.

Ian 4

Andy 1

Thanks for the evening. Who knows what kind of world we’ll be in next week?

I’m overlooking a four-leaf clover

I arrived late and watched the second half of a game of Lucky numbers while sorting out my drinks. Ian was first to get to his last tile, but luck was against him and he couldn't place that final one, allowing enough time for Andy to catch up and steal a win.

In the end of game statistics Sam discovered he had seven minutes thinking time, which he was appalled by until he remembered that included the rules explanation.

Next up was Decrypto, the latest board game to be given an online presence with a .io domain. The site was functional and pretty boring, but it seemed to work fine, barring some peculiar word choices. We had "Wriggler" among our code words. Sam and Martin teamed up together "for old times' sake" and Ian, Andy and me made up the other team.

I can't say I was completely up to speed with the game. We got a miscommunication in round one before we fluked an interception in round two by simply guessing 1, 2, 3. Martin and Sam used clever clues to avoid any miscommunication and then used logic to intercept us in round two as well. Finally, after some very literal clues from ourselves, Martin and Sam got the second interception in round three, making this perhaps the shortest game of Decrypto I've played.

Sam and Martin, double agents

Ian, Andy, Andrew, halfwits

Next we played 7 Wonders. Usually this is Ian's strong suit but this time he was predicting his failure early on.

Andy insisted his wonder forced him to go big on military (because otherwise he’s such a peac-loving opponent). Sam finished fourth after being convinced he was in the running

Andy 66

Martin 58

Andrew 53 (+ cash)

Sam 53

Ian 45

Next up was For Sale and we began with the worst 9 ever: pick it up for free and allow everyone else to help themselves to 20+ cards. In the second half of the game Andy charitably picked up both zeroes.

Martin 57

Ian 54

Andrew 53

Sam 48

Andy 43

Now Sam left and Ian was on the verge of departing too, suggesting a short game as his finale. We chose Kingdomino and watched in amazement as Ian built a 60+ point forest. Martin’s lake couldn’t compare.

Ian 85

Martin 72

Andy 56

Andrew 49

Ian’s win seemed to give him a second win, as he deferred sleep in favour of a game of Downforce. Despite being a speedy one-lap race, I was able to make my bed during the downtime between my turns. Martin won the race but Andy bet on him so he won the game.

Andy 21

Martin 15

Andrew 14 (+ cash)

Ian 14

Now Ian finally retired and the remaining three played Lucky Numbers. Andy won again. But, mind you, he had a 3-20 spread early on while I began with numbers on my board ranging from 3-11. I never stood a chance (is my excuse).

And thus we were done. Thanks all.

Quadruple ‘A’ gaming

 “Who would have thought, six months ago, that we’d still be doing games nights online?” Martin asked as we logged onto our rather choppy Discord server. Certainly, we’ve come a long way. Tonight we were six in number: Martin, Katy, Adam H, Adam T, Andy and myself (“Too many ‘A’s,” complained Katy.

First we played 7 Wonders, as it’s somehow now almost a reflex action. Martin found himself unable to change his mind over his choice of card and asked Adam H to wait until he’d sorted it out. Adam did so, despite it ruining his “average thinking time” statistic. Andy went big on military and won. Adam T found some solace in the fact that he at least beat Martin.

Andy 62

Andrew 53

Adam H 51

Katy 50

Adam T 47

Martin 40

Then three of the ‘A’s left for one Google Hangout to play Kingdom Builder while Katy, Martin and Adam T set up on another Hangout for a game of Ninety Nine. This game ended

Martin 310

Adam T 228

Katy 43

In Kingdom Builder, Adam and I make the same mistake. Adam made it first, when I was distracted by sorting out my drinks which is why I didn’t learn from his failure. But while Adam was able to bounce back, I lay moribund and spent the last third of the game building as quickly as I could to keep things moving on.

Adam H 66

Andy 55

Andrew 34

With Ninety Nine unfinished, Andy suggested we play Lucky Numbers, a simple tile placing game in which the numbers in the grid have to increase in value from left to right and top to bottom. Easy to pick up and enjoyable enough that we played two on the bounce. Adam won both times.

With Ninety Nine still unfinished, we had a choice: another game of Lucky Numbers or a return to Rallyman GT. We went for Rallyman GT, only to have Martin pop into our Hangout asking if we’d finished before we’d even got to the first corner. Seeing as how we were a whole lap away from finishing, he went off and the three of them played Kingdom Builder. This was, apparently, Katy’s first go at the game since the old Roll For The Soul days.

Martin 70

Adam T 47

Katy 43

As for Rallyman GT, I think we all span off and it started to rain (immediately after Adam crashed. Coincidence? I think not), requiring that we all make a pit stop to change tires.

After I spin off, I have some catching up to do.

1st Andy

2nd Andrew

3rd Adam

I left after this game, but the remaining five stayed around for a game of For Sale…

Andy 59 

Katy 56 

Martin 53 

Adam H 48 

Adam T 38

After this, the three worst placed players left and the two top players battled it out in a game of Chakra…

Katy 14

Andy 8