Key(s) to Victory

 A quartet of gamers congregated this evening at Joe’s. I was a little late and I found Joe, Sam and Martin deep in thought over a game of fiction. This plays the same as Wordle, except that one of the clues given is a lie. Therefore, the player(s) trying to guess the word also have to work out which of the clues in each guess isn’t true.

 

The game also comes with some nicely illustrated cards that contain sections from classic literature, such as Wizard of Oz, The Great Gatsby, etc. In these sections all the five letter words are highlighted, with those unique words picked out in yellow. I suppose knowing which novel a guess comes from might help the guessers?

Anyway, Sam and Joe eventually got the word, Swarm, having agonised over the ramifications of each clue being a potential lie.

As a foursome, we began with Agent Avenue or, as Joe called it, “A gent. A venue.” This takes the ancient mechanic of going in a circle, trying to catch your opponent, and adds some cunning double bluff as the distance that your “agents” move is decided which of two cards you pick up at the start of your turn. 

There are only two agents, so we played as teams. At the start of the round, the two players on a team chose a card from their hand. One is placed face up, the other face down. And then the other team chooses which card to take.

Do they take the safe option – the visible card? Or do they gamble on the hidden one that may send your agent many spaces forward or drag him back?

It was a lot of fun and it got pretty desperate towards the end when the draw pile ran out and we had to rely on those cards left in our hands.

But most fun was had from the unexpected innuendo as the two people on each party would ask each other if they wanted to go face up or face down. Oddly, it never stopped being funny, like extremely polite foreplay.

Andrew & Martin - Spycatchers!

Sam & Joe - face down in the gutter

Then we dug out Mille Fiori, an old familiar that we could set up and get going within seconds. I chose red instead of purple, somehow mistaking my usual favourite for blue. Not sure what happened.

By the end of round 1 Martin has chained together a bunch of keys for an extra go and a twenty point bonus such that the scores were Martin 57, Andrew 13, Sam 8, Joe 7. Surely it was done and dusted.

But then we whittled away his lead and I managed to chain together a 35 point move and squeezed a few points ahead of him! Maybe there was hope! 

Well, no. At least not for me. I was stuck with some dopey cards and I fell further and further back. Joe, meanwhile, shifted up a gear and in the fourth round - when Martin was starting player and theoretically had the biggest advantage - he was able to overtake us both. He was in the lead in round five, when he was starting player again. Could he make the advantage count?

Well, he didn’t have time to find out, as Martin got just the card he needed that scored big and put down his last two tiles for a win.

Martin 213

Joe 194

Sam 175

Andrew 158

Next up was Montage, the crossword game. Joe and I played against Martin and Sam. In this game allows a guess to stand if it fits in with the letters already on the board. For example, when Sam gave the clue “job” for a four letter space, I said “work” and Joe said “poop” and either would have been fine.

Joe and I started well and completed a “zone” (four zones for the win) but then Sam clued and Martin guessed their way through a storming run that saw them complete three zones in one turn and then, shortly after that, finish the fourth for the win.

Sam and Martin 4

Joe and Andrew 1

At this point I went home. The promise of So Clover couldn’t keep me - too many word games, even for me. But they played on without me, scoring 11/18 and then 18/18.

Thanks guys, see you soon.

Reinerlander

 I arrived at Sam’s house marginally before Ian did, giving me the rare privilege of being first to a games night. The three of us waited a few short minutes before Martin arrived and that would be the total attendance for this week. Sam mentioned that Martin was bringing him an old Reiner Knizia game, apparently in a huge box. The box, when it finally emerged from Martin’s bag, wasn’t quite as big as Sam was expecting, but it was colder. Martin explained it had been next to the beers.

The game is area control where you place your knights according to the cards in your hand, numbered 1-50-something. You can place a knight using this card on the relevant space or discard any card and then expand any already existing group of knights: a Duchy. Gaining control of castles allows you to add knights and strengthen your Duchy which is important because if they connect to an opponent’s larger duchy then you will lose control. Duchies get you points and, as the rulebook’s helpful strategy guide tells us, getting a high score is a good idea.

Ian and Martin battled over a large Duchy in the West while I collected castles – this used up my knights and threatened to trigger an early end to the game until the others picked on me and sent my castle-sitting knights back into my supply. Sam, meanwhile, built up his presence on an island, quickly dubbed “Samhatten” which remained a constant threat that he may be able to cross the river and join it to an opponent’s duchy.

He never did, though. He didn’t need to.

Sam 53

Ian 43

Andrew 29

Martin 27

Next up wasa welcome return for Montage, the crossword game, with Martin & Ian v Sam & I. We used the Bolivia set up which, we soon discovered, limits players to three and four letter words for most of the game. We clued as best we could, given the shortness of the words involved. Martin’s clue “old fashioned email” for Fax was nice, but failed. So did my “Cloth box” for bag. Shamefully, this logic was used again later when Martin clued “Cardboard bag” for box and I was too slow to knock and Sam and I lost the chance to intercept.

There were a couple of times when all three knocks came simultaneously but someone blurted the answer out anyway. We played on regardless, and Sam and I took the win but the tight Bolivian layout meant it wasn’t quite the smash hit that I recall. Hope to see it again soon, though.

Sam & Andrew, 4 quadrants

Ian & Martin 2

Then I decided to be sensible and leave early. It was only 10pm but since I’d got there first, I felt that I’d had my fill. The other three got out Mille Fiori.

Martin 197

Sam 195

Ian 183

And then they banged out three So Clovers!

16, 18, 18

Thanks all. See you next week!

Rome burned, onions wept

Seven gamers and Joe's kitchen table came together this week in a resounding crash of bonhomie and rivalry. Joe, Sam, Martin, Ian, Adam T, Katy and me were all seated by 7.30 and we began with all of us collaborating in a game of Belratti.

This Dixit-ish game of detecting conscious choices from random chance is a firm favourite but are we getting to good? Since discussing our choices is not allowed, Sam hit upon a method of giving his cards a percentage according to how good a match they were for one of the two targets. This was quickly adopted by all of us except Katy who refused to reduce her art to a mere number.

We did well but, also, we got lucky. We linked wasp to a clapperboard because they had stripes, only for Adam to tell us that the real link was B-Movie. Too smart for us. And despite a lengthy discussion as to what was better matched to mouth: bread or cigarette, we got it wrong. Bread should have gone with the other topic - tiger. Tiger bread, you see. Well done, Martin. Sorry we didn't get it.

Us 21
Belratti 6

Then we split into two groups. The Was Sticht gang (Joe, Ian, Adam and me) regrouped for another attempt at the wily trick taker while Katy, Martin and Sam sat around the card table for a feisty game of Senators.

Was Sticht started hesitantly, with Ian having to have two attempts at explaining who won which trick during the opening matrix stage. Then the game was remarkable for a large number of no trumps, and for round three when I dealt out no green cards at all in the first half of the matrix.

The game was much smoother this time, with Joe cleverly choosing his cards according to one of the criteria ("no tricks", "no green cards," etc) he needed to complete.

But I won again! Is this the game for me? It was close, though.

Andrew 3 plus 16 on the tiebreaker
Joe 3 plus 13
Ian 2
Adam 1

While we finished that, the card table gang finished Senators and two other games too. From what I can gather, Martin was in the lead and then saw a sudden collapse in support, followed by the third war ending the game in dramatic fashion.

Katy 11
Sam 10
Martin 9

They followed this up with Heul Doch Mau Mau. I don't know what variant they were playing but when Martin said "balls!" in frustration, Katy replied "hairy or shaved?" I didn't note Martin's answer but judging by the final score, his frustration can't have lasted long.

Martin 114
Katy 85
Sam 83

They also managed to squeeze in one round of the word game Handsome. Sam won.

Sam 3
Katy 1
Martin 1

Then there was a period of reshuffling, with four crossword wizards (Sam, Adam, Joe and Martin) going head to head over a game of Montage. Although Sam did apologize beforehand that anyone paired with him would lose.

I tried to listen in to make notes but the only clue I heard was "Donkey" and its answer was "Ass". But I'm sure the rest of the clues were brilliant.

Joe and Martin won!
Sam and Adam didn't.

The rest of us played Downfall of Pompeii, which needed a little rule refresher but was otherwise smooth sailing. We were a little surprised when the rules told us that the owner of the game should set everything up but, since Joe was already playing Montage, we struggled on without him.

It was a memorable game Katy who got one Omen card after another, allowing her to throw her opponents into the volcano. She ended with no meeples left to put on the board when, luckily, Vesuvius erupted. I wonder if I got the Relative Rule wrong but it was wrong for all of us, so never mind.

It was enormous fun pushing lava into the path of our opponents so they died a fiery death. Kathy's early advantage lead to her victor.

Katy 7
Ian 6
Andrew 5

Around this time Adam left and the remaining three bashed out a quick game of Eggs Of Ostrich to fill the time until Pompeii was covered in lava.

Martin 11
Joe 6
Sam 3

Then the six of us played Stinker. Winning entries that I managed to write down were...

Why is a good man hard to find? Polio Death (Ian)
What's under the Pope's hat? Courgettes (Joe)
The name of a fairy tale? Alana and the Bum (Martin)
How to tell someone they have bad breath? Smell toilet to compare. (Katy)

Don't recall the category for this one.

Martin 32
Joe 27
Katy 25
Sam 24
Andrew 11
Ian 9

Then Sam and Ian left, while the final four played on past the eleventh hour with a rousing game of Krass Kariert, the card game of no winners, just losers. We all lost one life in the four rounds that we played and so we called it a draw and went home rejoicing in our shared non-defeat.

Waldorf Bamboo

This Tuesday found four gamers pitched up around Martin's table for their weekly helping of convivial fun. Joining Martin were Ian, Joe and myself: the four Time Of Crisists. But there'd be no Roman intrigue today, instead we began with Montage. Had this game been designed in Japan it would have been called something like Let's Build A Crossword Puzzle! since that is, by and large what you're doing. Each coloured counter represents five letters and clues have to be devised that your partner can guess before both of your opponents can (being ready to guess is signified by knocking on the table).

It was Ian's first game and I'm not sure what he made of it as a lot of the clues revolved around dogs. "Not a dog," was used twice: once for "cat" and once by Ian himself for "feline" (although Joe's guess of "gerbil" also fitted the letters on the board and was funnier). And, Martin's dog-clue trilogy ran like so: A dog with a point. (Spike) Round a dog's neck. (Bandana) And then, just too late for the game but he shared it anyway: A dog's skintight disguise. (Catsuit)

As for the scores, Joe and Martin ran into a swift 3-0 lead before consolidating with a 4-0 victory.

Next up was Blue Lagoon, Knizia's feisty game of area control in a Pacific paradise. In both rounds, Martin managed to build around a piece of bamboo in the corner, effectively allowing him to choose when a round ended. This Walled-Off Bamboo strategy soon morphed into Waldorf Bamboo - a panda's favourite salad, apparently. Hence the blog title.

During the game, Martin sped into an early lead but at the end of round one had only three villages, all in corners. I had four villages, mostly quite central so although I was in third behind Ian, I felt pretty good about my situation. Ian, like Martin, scored big for items while Joe struggled to get started and trailed a distant last.

In round two Martin found it impossible to get anywhere. Being in the corners and having three opponents actively trying to stop him made life very difficult. He did try to sneak inconspicuously along the edge of the board to reach a distant item and Ian was happy to let him do it until he blocked Martin off at the very last minute. Both cruel and funny.

I went for area control and a smattering of items, but this paid off as I bossed the four of the largest islands for big points. Joe picked up four of a kind and a set to give his score some respectability while Ian chained islands together, stopping me from doing so in the process. It was close, but I was very pleased to get my first win on Blue Lagoon.

Andrew 149
Martin 143
Ian 140
Joe 117

Next up was Krass Kariert, a trick taker where the value of the tricks don't matter, just whether or not you can play a legal hand. Also, there are no winners, just one loser and in this game Ian was first to lose all his lives.

Martin and Andrew, both lives intact
Joe, one life lost
Ian no lives left

After that we played a game of Potato Man, the four player only trick-taker based around potatoes of all kinds: evil, super and sexy. In the first low scoring round we sneered at anyone winning a trick with the red suit, deriding their crusty red sacks. In round three, though, suddenly Ian won two gold sacks in a row in a display of masterly control. He had the last super potato man in his hand and so was able to use his evil potato men without fear. His lead after this was so great that we decided to forfeit the fourth round, giving Ian a comfortable win.

Ian 28
Martin 17
Joe 11
Andrew 11

Then we finished with the old favourite, The Mind. Is there another game which so regularly serves up more close shaves and agonising missed opportunities as this one?

Round one was tough (27 was the lowest card, followed by 31, 88 and 90) but we got through to round four before we lost our first life. Martin and I were at cross purposes over 35 and 36. Surprisingly, we got those numbers again in the next round, but this time got them down in the right order.

Joe became curiously fascinated by the way a bottle opener rested perfectly across a bowl. We respectfully listened to his theory that this might be a major breakthrough in bridge building and we tried to not worry.

He was still rock solid in the game, though, and we reached the Dark Mind with no shurikens but two lives. We lasted until round three before luck finally clipped our wings. But none of the mistakes had been huge and we felt pretty good about our achievement.

A fine way to end the evening. We set off home having all won a game and then joined our forces together for a rousing co op finale. Delightful.

I'm totally incensed

This Tuesday's GNN-ness started a few minutes earlier than expected when I met former regular Steve as I walked to Sam's. He couldn't make it tonight, but he told me of a recent visit to a games shop in Germany. Has his flame been rekindled? We can only hope.

I arrived at Sam's to find the host and Joe already halfway through a game of Kribbeln and a margarita each. The roll & write game didn't last long with just two players, but despite its short duration it was surprisingly tense.

Joe 12
Sam 12

By the time they were done, Ian and Martin had joined us. We weren't expecting Katy and Adam for another fifteen minutes so we squeezed in a quick game of No Thanks! The game which, as Ian noted, you can't turn down because it sounds like you're agreeing.

Ian went for the low cards, with the rest of us going for higher cards. In my case, much higher. Martin seemed resigned to the fact that his favoured cards would be picked by other players, with a weary question (rhetorical, I hope) of "Who wants to kick me in the balls?" whenever he turned over certain cards. Turns out, the player furthest from wanting to kick his balls was the clear winner.

Ian 6
Sam 23
Andrew 26
Martin 29
Joe 29

Now we were seven, so we split into to. Three (Katy, Ian and Martin) took on the undead in Hit Z Road. The remainder (Sam, Adam, Joe and me) chose Tribes.

Tribes has been a recent hit of the summer with Sam playing several games and had enjoyed it. This time, though, for whatever reason, the wheels fell of the game's engine.

Sam's early bad luck with exploring didn't help his cause. He found a lot of incense, which is fine for ceremonial burials, but not much else. At least it gave me the blog title.

But it was probably the twin threat of two event tiles that exhausted tiles (ie, took away resources) that really caused problems. No matter how much we avoided them, eventually they got played, with Adam suddenly finding all his abundant fields were barren. On the other hand, he had almost all the shells (the game's currency, used to avoid choosing a tile) while the rest of us had only a few, if any.

This meant there were a few goes were we couldn't afford to choose our action and Adam could only explore, trying to find new resources to use. The game entered a sort of holding pattern, while we slowly tried to get our plans in place.

I was first to leap into action and, since I was already in the lead, my victory was pretty comprehensive.

Andrew 28
Sam 18
Joe 11
Adam 11

Tribes didn't get a lot of love, and Sam admitted that if that had been his first game, he wouldn't have been impressed either. He seemed baffled by how it had played out, as if he didn’t recognise the game at all. Perhaps the most entertaining parts were the text messages from Joe’s daughter on a camping trip wanting to know how to make a kettle boil faster. “Don’t look at it,” suggested Adam.

Hit Z Road, on the other hand, was all excitement accompanied by a steady flow of expletives, mostly from Martin. They had a hard time of it, and had only two survivors left by the time the tougher cards came out.

They didn't last much longer. No one reached the West coast, but Martin was last man standing.

Martin, one survivor still alive
Ian, died later
Katy, died earlier

Since we ended at the same time, groups were rearranged. And I think it was around now when Joe insisted he could probably kick himself in the balls. He even stood up, lifting his left foot up, yoga-like in the required direction. Just as a proof of concept: I don't think actual contact was made. I guess those margaritas were pretty potent.

Now Adam, Katy and Ian played Biblios while Martin & me and Joe & Sam teamed up for Montage.

Montage was tough and I kept getting the colours confused, and I had the embarrassment of giving a clue and then having to retract it. Sam & Joe were perhaps feeling the effect of the early margaritas, since the game was over quite quickly.

Martin & Andrew 4
Sam & Joe 1

Biblios (of the Extreme type) ended with some low scoring dice to fight over.

Adam 7
Katy 5
Ian 1

Then they played NMBR9 while we were finishing off Montage. It appears that Katy is not a fan of this game. Adam, on the other hand...

Adam 111
Ian 65
Katy 46

Then we rearranged again. Now Adam, Sam, Martin and Joe played Polterfass (with fresh margaritas). Ian and I chose Pickomino/Heck Meck as our game, thinking that Katy might be amused at other people's misfortune. Unfortunately the misfortune was all hers. She obsessed over the 27 tile, winning it, losing it, getting it back, and then losing it again. If we’d hoped to get Katy in a better mood, then we had failed. Ian, though, failed more constructively than I did.

Ian 8 (and the 30 tile)
Andrew 8 (and the 29 tiles)
Katy 0

Still needing a pick-me-up for a Katy suffering from a gaming lull, we brought out the big guns: Colour Wheel from Pyramid Arcade. With its bright colours and co-operative ethos, it’s like a board game equivalent of a My Little Pony film. Slowly the mix of shiny plastic and puzzling logic brought out Katy’s better side. And we even solved the puzzle!

By now Polterfass had ended too, with Sam scoring a last-ditch high of 13 points in a round to avoid ending in negative points, which is where he spent most of the game. Adam, though, won again.

Adam 75
Joe 41
Martin 35
Sam 11

They also played another game of Kribbeln which I only know about thanks to the photos on my phone.

I forgot to note the scores, but I did take a photo of the score card near the end. It looks like Joe nicked it in the final round.

Finally, it was time to the finale: Fuji Flush. Ian managed to put a new spin on his reputation of Le Coq Bloquer by repeatedly playing a card that wiped out the chain before I was going to join it. Amazing. Frustrating for me, but it seemed to be a winning strategy.

Ian 0 cards left
Martin 1
Adam 1
Katy 1
Sam 2
Andrew 2
Joe 2

And with that, we were done. Emotionally exhausted and really quite drunk. That’s Tuesday for you!

Season’s End

This Tuesday was a grim looking one, with grey skies and vague suggestions of rain. But that wouldn’t stop seven gamers of dreaming of capping their season with a glorious run of form on its final day: Sam (the host), Joe, Katy, Ian, Martin, Andy and me.

I arrived bang on time, but found the fun was already underway, with Ian and Sam going head to head in NMBR9.

Sam 68
Ian 45

Katy was there too and before long, the rest of the gang had arrived. We split into two groups. At one end of the table, Sam, Martin, Joe and I began with NMBR9. This was mine and Martin's first go and, having watched baffled as other people played, I was keen to learn the secrets of this game.

The rules are very simple: just build up layers without overhanging or covering gaps. The shapes of the numbers, though, must've taken ages to get right during playtesting since they often seem to hint at a winning position without it ever really coming to fruition. This explains Martin's comment "It's already annoying.'

Sam mused on the role of the four: a low value, an awkward shape, but such a nice colour. I thought I'd done badly but I was quite pleased to have beaten Martin, whose maths skills are so strong he was able to tell us what he'd scored just by glancing at his tiles.

Sam 99
Joe 79
Andrew 50
Martin 46

"Right," said Martin in a tone of voice usually used before spitting on both palms, grabbing an axe and chopping down a tree, "we have to play again."

So we did. Sam had daddy duty to attend to upstairs, but we had no trouble remembering the few rules. Martin did slightly better this time.

Martin 103
Joe 84
Andrew 77

On the other half of the table, Andy, Katy and Ian began with For Sale. I was too engrossed in my game to pay it too much mind, but I did notice that Katy picked up both zeroes and lost a low bidding round with a decent highest card.

Andy 84
Ian 82
Katy 67

Then they dug out Port Royal which I think was Ian's suggestion. If so, it ruins my recent theory that the player most keen on a game does worst.

Ian 12
Katy 10
Andy 9

Then they whipped off a quick Beasty Bar. The scores, according to Katy's notes, were:

Andy 4 - 32
Katy 4 - 33
Ian 0

Katy left a note of explanation: "[Ian] went to the pub, night club too noisy!"

While this was happening, the four of us were knee deep in Montage, the crossword game from1973. It was Joe and me against Martin and Sam. Just like last time, I was very quick to get Martin's clues. For example, "every colour has one," I correctly guessed as "Vowel" because in the game, each of the five coloured tiles has a vowel. Both Sam and Joe complained that was far too meta.

In the end, though, Joe and I had enough of a connection to take the win. The general consensus was that it was a fun game, but very stressful.

Andrew & Joe 4
Sam & Martin 1

Then the trio broke out Flamme Rouge. The course (chosen at random) was completely flat: no hills at all. And while Katy and Andy set up, Ian took one of the little plastic cyclists, placed it on the neck of a beer bottle, stared at it, and then put it back on the table. Oh, the mysteries of Ian's internal workings.

Katy had an interesting strategy: one rider sped off ahead (using all three 9 cards in the first three turns) while the other lagged far behind in last. Andy was the only one to cross the finishing line, leaving the other two to rejoice in their shared defeat.

1st Andy
=2nd Katy
=2nd Ian

While this was going on, the quartet were playing Barenpark, the game that’s apparently impossible to play without saying it’s better than Cottage Garden.

Martin 89
Sam 82
Andrew 79
Joe 65

Finally we’d all finished together. Katy and I swapped seats and the gaming madness continued. The four of them launched into Cobras while Ian, Andy and I chose Hit Z Road.

I know little about Cobras, except for a dunken note of “stale peanuts” next to the results on my scrap of paper. However, Joe kindly gave Katy and I a lift home afterwards and he explained how satisfying the game was, especially since he always seemed to have the card that Martin didn’t want him to have.

Joe 109
Martin 92
Katy 57
Sam 46

Hit Z Road offered up the usual crazy and impossible escapes that your typical zombie movies have, complete with the ending of one guy still alive with no hope of escape as the credits roll. Ian rolled five targets to wipe out five zombies in one go, then Andy rolled four targets agaist five and later I rolled four against four.

Most impressively, though, was Andy’s last stand as his final survivor with his final die rolled one target after another and picked off six zombies. But then another six turned up and he died immediately.

I won merely by being last man standing.

Andrew: alive!
Andy & Ian: both dead!

Then we were all together for a game of Fuji Flush. I was too lazy to take note of the dick points but if memory serves, they were pretty rubbish, with 3s knocking out 2s and the like. Only Martin impressed, removing five 2s with an eleven, even though he could have joined in with a 2 of his own. Classic Martin.

Ian 0
Martin 1
Andrew 1
Andy 1
Sam 1
Joe 3
Katy 4

And that was that! We all sped off, eager to be back home far too late for a weekday evening. As for the Division, despite Katy’s poor showing, no one else was able to put together a challenge to unseat her from the top. Adam’s points ratio is invincible.

And I think I’ll rest the Division for the summer months, since attendance gets a bit sparse and it becomes, dare I say it, a bit silly?

But that’s for the future! Next week, to be exact.

See you then!

Revolution nmbr 9

As England baked under a midsummer heatwave, Joe's call to host this week's event was met with a bumper response. Ten of us (Sam, Andy, Matt W, Matt K (previously known as Matt and Matt2 respectively), Martin, Katy, Ian, Adam, Chris and myself) arrived for an evening's entertainment that spilled out of Joe's kitchen and into the garden.

The first game to be done and dusted was Nmbr 9, a new game with Take It Easy tones in that everyone has the same options, which quickly diverge among the players.

Adam 95
Ian 79
Sam 61
Chris 50

I was one of the four lucky enough to start outside. Me, Martin, Joe and Matt K played Montage, a crossword game without any letters. Instead, colours stand for a group of letters.

The aim of the game is to give clues (maximum five words) to words whose letters fit the coloured counters on the board. It's a team game and you hope that your partner gets the clue (indicated by knocking on the table) before both - and it must be both - of your opponents do. The board is divided into nine sectors and the winning team is the one that gets a majority of its pieces in four sectors.

All of this takes place under the watchful eye of an hourglass. Everything in a turn: choosing the position, thinking of a clue, giving the clue, solving the clue, must happen before the sand runs out. Obviously, planning ahead is key.

I paired up with Matt and Joe was with Martin. Up against two giant intellects meant Matt and I were the underdogs. When Joe gave the clue "Prince's reign" and Martin got it with "purple" I thought we were in trouble. However, they were perfectly happy to go route-one with the clue "Number two" from Martin, meaning "poo" which Joe got without even looking at the board.

Martin & Joe 4
Matt & Andrew 1

Inside, Adam, Ian, Chris and Sam were flying the flag for chunky Eurogame with Raiders Of The North Sea. While Matt1 and Katy waited for Andy to arrive, at which point they threw themselves into Flamme Rouge. I know nothing other than the result.

Early days with Flamme Rouge and Raiders...

1. Andy
2. Matt
3. Katy

They followed this with Nmbr 9.

Matt 86
Andy 61
Katy 56

Meanwhile, us outside moved onto Movable Type, continuing the recent trend for word games. Joe sold it to us by saying "It has a fun aspect."

Sheer folly!

This time, there are four rounds of trying to make the highest scoring word using the five cards in your hand and three open cards that anyone can use. The better you do, the more cards you can take from the array of all cards that were used that round. Then, in the fifth and final round, those cards would be used to make the highest scoring word you can manage.

A ha ha!

Martin 20 (he won with Mashable)
Joe 19 (ticketing)
Andrew 17 (fleshy)
Matt K 16 (jilted) (I think. Can’t read my writing)

Apart from the marauding Vikings in the North Sea, the rest of us had finished our games at the same time, so we had a quick reshuffle. Katy, Joe and Martin brought a card table outside and played Cobras.

Cobras in the long grass

Joe was first to hit the game ending score, but then fell back due to negative cobras on his card at the end of the round. This allowed a delighted Katy ("We've screwed Joe!") to grab a win.

Katy 113
Joe 105
Martin 75

An unimpressed cat

Meanwhile, Andy, me and the two Matts played Escape From The Aliens In Outer Space. This is a game of hidden identities and escaping and/or attacking. I didn't have much of an clue how to play, and the game for me may as well have been called Have A Nice Stroll Through A Spaceship.

My unhelpful notes during Escape...

The two Matts were more clued in. Alien Matt W killed Human Matt K early on, just because Matt K made a noise near him. This meant the last human, Andy, had to escape. He managed to get to an escape pod, but it malfunctioned. Rather than try to walk across to another escape pod, he played a card the allowed him to mutate into an alien and the game ended in a draw.

Not a bad game. Would probably have been more fun if I'd known what was going on.

Still playing Raiders...

On the card table, Cobras had been replaced by Eggs of Ostrich.

Martin 15
Katy 10
Joe 9

The four of us played Andy's print and play (and laminate) version of Red7. After a rules explanation, I played a card that immediately knocked newcomer Matt K out. A very steep learning curve. But he came back well, and we ended after three rounds. We had to, since the light had faded so much that most of round three was played under the light from my mobile phone.

Really quite dark now

Matt K 39
Andy 12
Matt W 0
Andrew 0

By now Raiders of the North Sea had ended. Everyone else had gone through multiple games and rules explanations, but the pure of heart on one half of Joe's kitchen table had gone through an epic. A game, after which, they all stood around proudly and talked about what they'd just done.

Nearing the end of the game

Ian 43
Adam 39
Sam 36
Chris 31

And they even managed to squeeze in a game of Nmbr 9. Ian quickly said he’d got off to a bad start. I couldn’t tell how he knew this so I took a photograph, hoping that one day I’d look back and understand what he’d meant.

He was right, though.

Adam 72
Chris 67
Sam 61 (“Again!”)
Ian 52

Finally, we were all together and all inside. So we went for a rule-stretching 11-player game of 6nimmt. We could only manage two rounds before time caught up with us. Short, but agonising, as the quotes I jotted down demonstrate:

“Joseph, you wanker!” me, probably.

“It’s like golf!” Ian

“My dreams were ruined years ago.” Sam

“I’m going to get boned and not in a good way.” Katy

It ended like so:

Adam 10
Matt K 12
Matt W 14
Chris 14
Sam 19
Ian 28
Katy 35
Andy 39
Joe 39
Martin 43
Andrew 52

Thanks all. A bit of a classic.