Slice ‘n’ Dice

As the classic ballad goes: "We had joy, we had fun, flicking bogies in the sun" except it wasn't bogies, but tiny circular spaceships. And we were inside, not out in the dying rays of the day.

Outside: lovely

Inside: even lovelier

There were eight of us. The co-hosts, Adam and Hannah, and the co-guests, Sam, Joe, Ian, Katy, Martin and me. Before Joe and I arrived, the others (minus latecomer Martin) were introduced to Passe Trapp, and game that's short in length but high in tension. It became a feature of the evening, as the go-to time-filler for the waiting gamer.

But first, we had to decide what to play while we waited for Martin. We chose 6nimmt, inviting Dirk along too so Martin could jump in if he arrived mid-game.

The first round began in a strange fashion: the four cards showing were 3, 4, 6, 101. A pattern soon emerged, whereby everyone would play high cards, but lower than 101, which would quickly fill up any potential places to play. A peculiar situation, and one in which Adam thrived, picking up no points at all. Dirk did okay, and was placed fourth. Ian came off worse, with 49 points.

All bases loaded

Round two was more typical and poor old Dirk struggled, as did Hannah who got caught in a dreaded spiral of death. In round three, Martin arrived and took over from Dirk, arresting his slide. In fact, Martin won the only round he played, and he extrapolated his score of 2 across an entire game giving him a hypothetical victory. In his mind. Adam and Katy, though, had a collapse in form, and Katy crashed down to last.

Joe 19
Sam 24
Hannah 34
Adam 44
Andrew 45
Dirk 49
Ian 65
Katy 67

After this, we split into two groups of four. Katy, Ian, Joe and Hannah chose Ascending Empires while the rest of us went for a pot pourri of shortish but devilish games. First was Flamme Rouge. It was Adam's first go, but the rules aren't complicated and we were off before too long.

It was a cagey start until Martin broke away from the pack. After that, Sam and were mostly blocked by Adam's two riders and Martin's second cyclist. Adam could've won right at the end, if he'd drawn a five to get him over a small mountain. But he didn't, so the game lasted one more round and Martin edged ahead in the final reckoning.

1. Martin
2. Adam
3. Andrew
4. Sam

Then we played, at Martin's suggestion, New York Slice. It was new to all of us except Martin but, again, the rules aren't massively deep although the strategy is. Can't say I was too impressed, though. I felt that, like King Of Siam, the last stage see your options shrink dramatically. Nice, though. It does make you hungry, so the strange cheesy crisps were much appreciated.

Adam 35
Martin 29
Andrew 26
Sam 24

Next up was Dicht Dran. Adam and Martin got rules explanations and we began. It was a two round game, and Sam's quick and effective win in round one was enough to see off Adam's surge in round two.

Sam 8
Adam -4
Martin -7
Andrew -13

By now, Ascending Empires was almost at an end. After repeated comments about how civilised it had been, Katy turned on Joe with all the rage of a woman who didn't want to come last twice in a row. She got a five point swing from him to her, changing the standings significantly (but not the winner).

Ian 39
Katy 30
Hannah 27
Joe 25

While the final stages were played out, scores totted up and the game packed away, Passe Trapp was brought out again. Sam and Martin had an epic battle, with Sam repeatedly crying "Martin, stop it!" which made Joe comment that it all sounded a bit non-consensual. When Sam finally won, he lifted both arms up and gave a full blooded cry of joy and relief. And then apologised, because there was a young child asleep upstairs.

Other games were played. Martin got his revenge on Sam. Then Martin beat Adam twice, and then Adam beat Sam. There may have been other games, too. I’m not sure.

Now we were all together again, it was time for some big group fun. Except for Hannah, who bowed out at this point, preferring to head up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire.

First we played Dead Man's Chest. Sam was out first on an ignoble manner. He called Dead Man, and Ian challenged. It turned out to be 3:1. Sam had mis-read the dice. There was quite a lot of blind bidding going on, around the 6:X range, as people gingerly edged from Safe Bet to Unlikely Bet in tiny increments.

Finally, it was against Katy and Adam, both with two gems. Adam made sure to tell everyone that Katy was bound to win, and then he won the next two rounds. His victory came when he bid 1:1 and Katy challenged... it was Dead Man!

What a way to win!

1. Adam
2. Katy
3. Joe
4. Ian
5. Andrew
6. Martin
7. Sam

Then we played Fuji Flush. I kept track of the Dick Points this time, and good thing too since Joe came close to an early Big Swinging Dick when he cleared the whole table (but not every player by one point. Ian had preferred to go home, since he was very tired but we bullied him into a final game. His fatigue showed, when he played the 20 card, thinking it was a 2. Sam, meanwhile, played nothing but sevens for most of the game.

Adam and I got down to our last cards first, the others did everything they could do to stop us. When I jumped on a series begun by Martin and Katy, Katy implored the remaining players to beat them, in a scene reminiscent of that bit in Aliens when someone in the wall of alien gunk suddenly comes to life and begs the marines to kill him.

But no one could. And, at the risk of being targeted for the rest of my life in Fuji Flush, I feel I should point out that this was my third win in a row in this game. (Adam won dick points: Adam 3, Joe 2, all others 1)

Andrew 0
Adam 1
Joe 1
Martin 2
Katy 2
Ian 3
Sam 4

Like, wow, Holmes

I arrived at the opening week of the season a little late, and found Sam's kitchen crammed with eager gamers. Nine of us were present: Sam, Matt, Ian, Joe, Katy, Chris, Martin, Andy and myself. Also joining us for the first game was little Joe, Sam's youngest. We chose Pairs and Sam teamed up with his son.

There were hardly any occasions when people went out on their second card and, indeed, most people lasted three or four rounds. This was bad for me since my strategy relies on other people being unlucky quickly.

In this race to twenty one, little Joe called the shots in the father and son team, and he made the early running, too. Only a poor third round for them allowed other players to catch up and eventually overtake.

Andy 25
Ian 23
Sam & Joe 21
Joe 17
Chris 14
Andrew 10
Katy 9
Martin 8
Matt 7

After this we split into two groups. Flamme Rogue was still in demand, and Katy , Martin, Matt all joined Andy in a game. The rest of us pondered. Watson and Holmes was mentioned but received a guarded response. But five players is a difficult crowd, and after some umming and ahhing, Chris decided that we should play Watson and Holmes after all, reasoning that if we can't decide what to play then we may as well play something new.

We set up in the front room so we could deduce in peace, away from the rowdy rabble of cyclists.

Sam explained the rules and read out the opening scene. Mr Porterfield was murdered! During a piano recital at his mansion, no less. Whodunit?

I got off to a good start, visiting a location that was dripping with clues. After that, though, I mostly wandered about aimlessly, learning very little. The most exciting moment involved the character cards we're dealt at the start of the game. I took great pleasure in announcing that I was Lestrade! And was therefore able to move all the police tokens currently in play. Didn't help much, but felt good.

Joe was the first to go to 221b Baker Street, and he checked his theories against the game, but turned out to be wrong. Despite still technically having a role in the game, he was tempted away by the other group who'd finished Flamme Rogue.

Katy
Martin
Andy
Matt

Katy credited her win to a cyclist she'd christened Rob, after her better half but then, in case I misunderstood, she specified that she had won, in case I gave Rob a win on the leaderboard.

We remaining four kept deducing until Ian made his move by going to 221b Baker Street and successfully answering all three questions.

Ian wins!
Joe, Sam, Chris and Andrew don't.

Once the murder was solved, Sam commented that all three of his guesses would've been wrong. I only got one right - the murder weapon. It was fun, but it did feel a lot like we were all playing the same solo game at the same time. There was a little more interaction than in the three player game, but nothing pivotal.

In the kitchen, the group that stole Joe was playing New York Slice. I didn't pay it much mind, but it ended:

Joe 28
Andy 25
Martin 22
Katy 21
Matt 13

While they played that, the four of us returned to the kitchen and perched on the end of the table and played Cosmic Run. During this game, Chris and Sam both tweeted almost identical photos of the game. A special treat for anyone who follows both accounts.

I kept losing points for planets, but conquering the five dice planet and having aliens made it respectable. Chris clocked up his first win thanks to a last minute grab for treasure.

Chris 54
Sam 52
Ian 51
Andrew 49

As we finished, the others played For Sale. The 30 came out in the first round (along with two other cards in the high twenties) and Martin made a big bid for it, prompting Joe to ask if he was spaffing his wad in the first round. If I remember right, Andy took the thirty. It didn't seem to help.

Matt 61
Martin 59
Katy 56
Joe 47
Andy 33

And so that meant they wee packing up For Sale as we were ending our Cosmic Run. Which meant only one thing: 6nimmt!

During this game, our collective astonishment at the cruelty of the cards was summed up in the phrase “Like... Wow.” Which Joe had learned from his daughters. Joe had special reason to utter these words as he went from first to eighth in the space of a single, terrible round. Martin also suffered a collapse in form, picking up 37 points in the final round.

Ian 17
Sam 24
Andy 32
Andrew 32
Katy 50
Joe 50
Martin 57
Chris 62
Matt 66

And so, we bid farewell to our host and took turns in the toilet before going back home. For some reason, Joe, Katy and I talked about Coldplay. Perhaps we will never know why.

There’s no Division, what with it being the first week and all, so instead I leave you with the 6nimmt Division, ordered by points ratio. Thanks all!

What's the opposite of a point salad?

This week's regular event saw the final games night of the season. Dizzy with anticipation, eight of us crammed into Sam's kitchen: Sam, Katy, Ian, Joe, Martin, Andy (arriving later), myself and newcomer Matt.

While we waited for Andy, we cranked out a swift game of Fuji Flush. It was new to Matt, but there aren't many rules. So few, in fact, that Martin felt he had time to explain the concept of dick points. During the game, Katy complained about her cards, and that gave us the opportunity to explain to Matt that Katy's level of annoyance is in no way connected to how well she's doing.

As for the game, Sam and Joe crossed the finish line hand in proverbial hand. Furthermore, Sam got most dick points, too. Pity it's not a tie breaker.

Sam 0
Joe 0
Matt 2
Martin 2
Ian 3
Katy 3
Andrew 3

By now, Andy was here and with Joe, Martin and Andy bringing new games with a fierce desire to play them, dividing into groups took very little time. Joe, Martin, Matt and Katy set up New York Slice. I know little about it except the basic premise is that you have to share a pizza but you inevitably get last choice, so you have to balance the options, Mammut style. It also looks like the kind of game you don't want to play if you're hungry.

It finished with Joe looking surprised that he'd won.

Joe 33
Martin 30
Matt 28
Katy 28

Ian, Andy, Sam and I went for Flamme Rouge, a cycling game which involves careful deck management as you guide your two cyclists around a course. You have a Sprinter and a Rouler, how each have their own deck of cards. Slightly disappointingly, the artwork is pretty similar, leading to occasional Incan Gold style confusion.

The game itself is rock solid, though. Simple but strategic enough to be exciting. Andy pointed out how well the game recreated the ebb and flow of a real race as we jostled in the peleton, after the leaders.

My strategy was to send one rider off as fast as possible right from the start, to see what happens. Answer: he gets tired.

Sam kept his riders tucked away in the chasing pack, conserving energy. Ian seemed to go from hopeless last to challenging for first and Andy complained about his cards. "It's mostly luck," Sam said, ever the gracious host. Did he mean it?

1. Sam
2. Ian
3. Andrew
4. Andy

By now, New York Slice had finished, and they were onto Ponzi Scheme, a game that has the dubious USP of being a fun re-creation of uncontrollably spiraling debt.

They ran the gamut of emotions from agony to desperation, with the only light relief being other players' discomfort. Joe was in trouble early on and somehow kept holding on, stating at one point "I'm extremely soluble right now." He managed to stay afloat until Katy joined him in ignominious bankruptcy.

Katy, meanwhile, rued her chances of stopping Martin. If she'd given a pound to Matt, he could've done something (I didn't fully understand. I wasn't really listening) and beaten Martin. But she didn't.

Martin 29
Matt 23
Katy 0
Joe 0

It looked like hell, but they all seemed to enjoy it. It also seemed quite long, since the four of us where able to squeeze in a game of Tinners' Trail.

It was Andy's choice since it's a game he feels he should play more but doesn't. We didn't need any prompting as it was set up, quicksticks.

Sam went for a new strategy: buying poor but well-placed mines for cheap. I used the tactic of bidding on empty and distant parts of the map, hoping no one would bid too much against me. Ian put all his energy into taking over Land's End and Lizard Point, while Andy took over the south coast.

By round three, with prices low, we were all hoping for a bumper crop in the final round and the board was still replete with cubes. But Andy's dice rolling let him and all of us down.

Prices stayed low, which goes some of the way to explain the low scores. Ian regretted an adit, Sam miscalculated how much money he'd need and Andy had too much ground to make up. I can't complain, though.

Andrew 91
Sam 79
Ian 68
Andy 63

And now, we were all together again. Katy was keen on Dead Man's Chest and so Matt got the dubious delight of having rules explained to him by people who didn't fully remember the rules themselves. But once we'd all reminded ourselves of how to play, we were off!

Katy struck upon the tactic of always calling low (3-1) as a safe strategy. I looked back in the GNN archives, and the only other person who did that came last too. It seems like it’s only safe for the person you’re sitting next to.

1. Sam
2. Ian
3. Martin
4. Andrew
5. Joe
6. Andy
7. Matt
8. Katy

And with that, we were done. After an evening of all last places, Katy still seemed happy and as she, I and Joe walked home, we discussed Gold West and wondered what the opposite of a point salad would be. I suggested point custard, but they said it had to be something you usually eat by itself. Katy thought of point blancmange, which I liked but Joe didn’t like crossing over from savoury to sweet. He came up with point pie or point sandwich before texting me late at night with his eureka moment: point smoothie! The debate may never be resolved.

On the division, Ian wins the season! Hurrah! Meanwhile, Adam takes points ratio and Martin win the medal table. And that’s it. Phew. See you all next week!