All Manner of Victories

It was a weekend of heavy gaming in the Morrison household, which I wasn't going to blog about, except for the dramatic, cathartic finish on Sunday.

On Saturday we hosted long-time occasional gamers Katie and Mark. After the remnants of curry and chips were cleared from the table, I asked what everyone fancied playing. Katie, as she always does, suggested Carcassonne, but unfortunately for her my copy had been leant out to a fellow parent from school. I perused the cupboard and suggested Black Orchestra, but Katie's reluctance to learn new rules meant the Fuhrer got to live to see another day. It's attitudes like that that saw Poland annexed.

Instead we played Riff Raff which I won (twice!) by shucking off my long-held habit of finishing last. Mark was on the verge of winning the first game, but all the pieces fell into the sea before his turn arrived, meaning he could only place one piece, rather than his planned two.

Mark had expressed an interest in Pyramid Arcade, so next we had a go at Colour Wheel. This was a big hit with Katie, and we completed our challenge with turns to spare twice. In the second game we threw caution to the wind and started grouping different colours at the same time! It could have been a disaster, but it was a triumph. Everyone was so pleased, I was instructed to take this photo.

loons

With Pyramid Arcade still on the table, we kept things pyramidy with a game of TreeHouse, which is very simple. I took possibly the worst GNN photo ever (and tweeted it).

at the time I really thought this was in focus

We then bashed through a game of Fuji Flush, where Katie went an interesting route of playing her high cards first. It worked up to a degree, as she stormed into an early lead. But I came back into contention, and with my last card the 20, grabbed the win from under the chiselers' fingertips.

Mondo was next, but we found it a rather underwhelming experience overall. "There doesn't seem to be much depth" Sally complained, as her internal gamer broke to the surface of reality for air. The evening was getting blurry at this point, but I think Katie won. Or Mark.

We finished the evening with Push It, returning to the game's recommended method of play: teams. Out of happenstance we ended up as boys v girls.  I'd forgotten how good team play is in Push It. There's more tactics on the table, and you remain invested in what's happening even after you've done two crappy flicks.

Mark developed a technique of always hitting the jack and pushing it towards my discs, and Sally developed a technique of flicking her discs into Katie's lap. The boys won the first game, but the girls took the second game with an extravagant three point flourish at the death.

*

On Sunday my mum came over to see the boys and then have some grown-up time in the evening. We had a little game of Tsuro which Stan won, then the boys showed Crysse what they'd built in the world of Minecraft: a floating house complete with balconies and a roller coaster. My mum is never one to get too excited by computer games, so when she responded with a slightly flat "Wonderful" Stan replied "Mmmm. A little bit sarcastic there".

A lovely family moment.

Later after tea and bedtimes and chats, I got the green light to set up a game. Because my mum's become more curious (maybe indulgent is a better word) of games that aren't necessarily Scrabble, I eyed up Orleans. No! said the voice in my head. Remember Tinner's Trail!

But sometimes I just have to ignore that voice, and run the risk of ridicule and loathing. So - with Sally still upstairs reading Harry Potter to the boys - I set it up and talked my mum through the rules.

Sally entered the room and almost did a comedy double-take when she saw the game laid out on the table. "I'm not sure I can go from stories to... this" she said, but I assumed a casual welcoming air that hid my mounting panic and rising temperature. I also took off my thermal leggings.

Then a strange thing happened. Despite our continued confusion over the difference between scholars and craftsmen, mum began to overtly relish playing. "I love this game!" she said, at least three times, then at the end she said it was the best of the games I'd introduced her to and I should bring it over next time I visit. Sally didn't quite reach the same levels of enthusiasm, but she did seem to enjoy it... The board and pieces are now slightly wine-stained, but never mind.

I think Tinner's Trail is actually simpler

As for the game itself, we missed out (deliberately) one thing, which was the events that define the passing of time in each round, but otherwise played accurately. Sally came to the map belatedly, whilst Crysse kept forgetting you can't move wheels. -The very idea; that a wheel would move!

They both built new buildings for themselves with my mum making a winery and emptying the game's supply of wine, which felt appropriate. I built a biblioteque, and kept joking about how I would go there in the evenings to let off steam - but it was a tough crowd. They were too focussed on other things, I suppose.

You can probably work out who's in the lead at any one moment, but for us it was all a surprise at the end. Sally scored 94 and Crysse and I tied on 120. She didn't want me to find out what the tie-breaker was in case she lost, so we celebrated our shared victory.

Sir Arthur Coal and Oil

This Tuesday, despite my best efforts at dawdling and checking my phone, I arrived early at Joe’s. His family were still in the kitchen eating, so I was escorted to the lounge. A rare treat, with its soft furnishings and lovely view. Katy arrived soon after and she went straight to the window to pick out Bristol landmarks.

Before long, more of us had arrived and Joe decided there were enough of us to take over the kitchen.

The first game was Birds of a Feather, and there were seven of us: Joe, myself, Ben, Matt, Andy, Ian and Katy. Sam was making a last minute dash to the off-licence while we played.

It was a nice warm-up to the evening. Katy complained that she didn’t know what to do, but rejected any suggestion that she should go Dirk. I sailed to a comfortable win, having completed two sets of bird-spotting.

Andrew 28
Ben 21
Matt 20
Joe 20
Katy 19
Andy 19
Ian 18

Then Sam returned and we split into two groups. The evening began as an all Japanese affair, with one half of the table hosting Takashi Ishida’s Magical Athlete, and the other half featuring the Japan-based Tokaido, by 7 Wonders designer Antoine Bauza. And if that weren’t Japanese enough for you, I was on the Sake this evening.

Tokaido features the players travelling from Kyoto to Tokyo, stopping off at inns along the way, and also visiting temples, painting panoramas, buying souvenirs. These all give you points, and at the end of the game, there are bonuses for those how did the most of a particular activity.

The four pieces plod along the road, with the furthest back always the next player to go. This means that simply shooting off into a big lead is pointless, as you simply won’t move again until you’re overtaken.

Katy, Ben, Joe and Andy played Magical Athlete. Ben asked to play this solely based on the picture on the box. He must’ve been disappointed by the under-designed dirt brown track that the races would take place on.

Ian, Sam, Matt and myself went for Tokaido and, apart from Matt getting confused over what colour he’d chosen, it was quite a serene occasion. I was so serene that I let myself fall back into a distant last. Sam went big on souvenirs and the eternally skint artist, Ian, picked up lots of bonus points for panoramas.

Sam 80
Matt 72
Ian 67
Andrew 64

Luckily, Magical Athlete ended at the same time as Tokaido.

Ben 11
Joe 9
Andy 8
Katy 4

So with the eight of us together again, we were able to reshuffle the groups. We split into two groups of four again. This time Katy, Ian, Sam and Matt chose Riff Raff while Joe, me, Andy and Ben played Isle of Trains.

Isle of Trains is a card game not dissimilar to Impulse in that the cards serve a number of functions: as parts of the train, as money to buy new parts and – if you rotate them – they become goods (timber, coal or oil) that you can load onto trains. And here’s the trick: loading goods onto other players’ trains gets you a bonus (more cards, an extra action etc). Once your train has enough, you can make a delivery, either to the discard pile (and then pick up more cards) or by picking up a card in the centre for points.

It’s all quite simple once you got going. Joe never upgraded his engine above the basic level, whereas I did, and I had a caboose to boost the pulling power. Ben upgraded to a level three engine pretty early on. Andy had trouble getting the cards he wanted, at one point having a hand containing only three level one engine cards.

Ben 49
Joe 46
Andy 45
Andrew 40

By the time we’d ended, Riff Raff had long since finished....

Katy 0
Matt 3
Ian 7
Sam 9

... and they’d begun on Africana. Obviously, this evening was going to be an epic. I was too distracted to really appreciate what went on in Africana, but I did notice a couple of moments where players got confused about which colour they were.

To entertain ourselves, we four had a game of For Sale using Joe’s newly bought copy from Italy. The cards were nice and big, and the illustrations clearer. But it’s the same old For Sale that we know and love.

Andrew 77
Andy 59
Ben 58
Joe 51

During this game, Ben found a packet of Skittles in his jacket pocket! Oh, how I wish I lead a life where things like that might happen to me. We all shared in a late-night sugar rush. They were all very welcome except that Katy said she didn't like the orange or purple ones. Insanity.

Then we discovered that Ben had missed his bus, so we played once more while Africana reached its closing stages.

Andrew 60
Ben 59
Joe 58
Andy 47

When Africana finished, it was another win for Katy.

Katy 47
Sam 46
Ian 33
Matt 32

And with the time creeping past 11.30, we were away. What a night! Thanks to Joe for hosting, and to his patient family for letting us turf them out of their kitchen.

The Division makes its first appearance of the season, and after two weeks Katy has the lead in Points and the medal table, while Ben leads on Points Ratio.

Bad Tibiria! Naughty Tibiria!

Saturday games at Sam’s. Ian and I arrived at 7 for a quick run through some games with Sam’s kids. Spyfall, Cardline and Riff Riff were squeezed into something like half an hour. Cardline is the only game that needs an introduction: it’s basically Timeline but with Marvel super heroes and instead of years, you have to place the cards on the table according to statistics: either intelligence, strength or something else.

I did badly, not recognising anyone on the cards and, for some reason, Joe didn't do well either. Ian won the game, showing just how much of his youth he spent immersed in the world of super heroes.

Stanley won Riff Riff thanks to his technique of calmly putting things on the boat without really thinking about it.

After this, the boys went to bed and we decided what to play. We knew Chris was en route and I mentioned he’d be keen to play Caverna. Sam wanted something a little shorter, so we considered others. But when Chris turned up, the ill-disguised excitement he displayed when Caverna was mentioned meant we couldn’t turn him down.

We unpacked as quickly as possible and got Cavernaing. I got off to a flier, being the first to get a new family member. But Sam soon overtook me in the baby business, eventually ending the game with a family of six. He also got some choice bonuses, as did I. Ian went ruby mining in a big way while Chris went down the vegetable route.

We all ran into trouble early on as one harvest followed another and we struggled to feed our families while trying to plan for the future.

The game was notable for me getting in people’s way. It seemed no matter what I did, I had ruined someone else’s plan. I apologised but secretly I was quite happy about it.

Chris complained about too many inefficient moves and Ian was last to expand his family. As such, despite some high scoring bonus rooms, they came third and fourth. And everyone completed their farms and caves, which I was impressed by. I didn’t note the scores, but it was something like:

Sam 80something
Andrew 70something
Ian 65
Chris 63

Then we packed it away. After Thursday’s debacle with leaving an essential part of Railways of the World unpacked, Sam was keen to double check. And, indeed, the lid came off and went back on again twice as we found stray parts of the game (including, shamefully, part of the playing board!). Finally, we got it all away, and Sam picked the box up to take it into the next room.

And in doing so, uncovered yet another counter from the game!

Well, with Caverna finally packed away, we moved on to lighter fare: Tsuro. And what a game it was. All four of us were still alive and fighting with only five spaces left on the board. Impressive. Then, like dominoes, we all died one by one as our last tile inevitably finished us off.

Andrew
Ian
Sam
Chris

Finally, Sam dug out Sumeria, the game of meeple placement and movement that effects a city’s standing. Move into an area, that area shuffles up on the list, with only the top three cities scoring any rewards per round. It’s a short game. At least Sam thought it was. Then he saw that the rules suggested six rounds. We played three.

I think Sam won. Then Ian, then me. I know Chris came last, because he commented on his evening of fourth places as we packed up to leave. Than made it easy to remember, at least.

Delicate Riffles

This Saturday, Sam said Chris would be in town so I agreed to meet up for an evening games session. During the day, however, the weather was terrible and I had started to regret my choice. Luckily, God loves games and just minutes before I was due to leave, the wind and driving rain were replaced by something more welcoming.

When I arrived, Ian was there too, setting up Riff Raff. Chris wasn’t there, so we decided to start playing and he would be bound to turn up. Seconds later, he arrived.

It was a longish game of Riff Raff, with all of us picking up fallen items at one point. Sam’s revolutionary tactic of hanging the sailor off a yardarm by his other arm worked a treat and he stayed there for the rest of the game, but it was Chris who got all his items aboard first.

Chris 0
Andrew 1
Ian 5
Sam 5

Then we discussed which game to play as our main event. We all stood in front of Sam’s games wall, slightly pulling out games that we were considering and then pushing them back when we decided against them. Viticulture won the debate, and so it was brought to the table.

Sam’s record on this game is not great. Apart from a second place, he’s suffered a couple of heavy last places. It seemed like this time he was determined not to let the same thing happen again.

The first time he’d played Viticulture, he’d tried selling a field for money, but found it held him back. He tried the same tactic again (even having two field sold at one point), but with far better results using the money to train more workers and build more buildings. In fact, so invested was he in the world of wine-making that he finished off a bottle of the stuff almost single handed.

Sam's early lead

The rest of us trailed Sam for most of the game. I simply never got going, with few workers and an empty field that I should have sold. A recurring theme was, whenever someone played a card, the other three would jokingly complain how unbalanced the cards were. This may be true, but I think all four of us relied on the cards a lot.

As the game reached its closing stages, Chris suddenly broke away from the trailing pack, completing a number of orders to put last minute pressure on Sam. He couldn’t quite manage it, though.

Sam 23
Chris 22
Ian 17
Andrew 13

By now it was 9.40, and we were in the mood for some lighter games. Poison was chosen first, as a welcome blast from the past. Chris explained how he was trying to perfect a new riffle shuffle technique. This “delicate riffle,” as he called it, didn’t put so much strain on the cards by bending them. Such commitment to gaming left Ian and I speechless.

During the game, Sam’s King Creosote playlist took a turn for the ambient. At first, I fell into a Celtic reverie, babbling about old fishermen with beards and calloused hands appearing through the mist. Then, as the ambiance became more electro, it felt like an episode of Wallander where the angst-ridden detective had taken a day off to play his favourite Reiner Knizia game.

The classic opening gambit

I can’t remember if Poison is supposed to be a raucous knock-about game or not, but we played one round in almost complete silence.

Sam 12
Andrew 24
Chris 31
Ian 36

Next up was Love Letter. “Ian always wins Love Letter,” Sam declared, trying to curse Ian into losing. It didn’t seem to work initially, as Ian won the first round with a shitty Baron.

The music was changed to prog rock bands. Sam, Sally (in the background, doing domestic things) and myself contributed some lovely three part harmonies on the first chorus of “More Than A Feeling.” I briefly regretted not wearing a jacket so I could roll the sleeves up, especially when the playlist (via Phil Collins) morphed into the soundtrack from Miami Vice.

As for the game, despite Ian being dubbed “the Tony Pulis of Love Letter,” he couldn’t replicate his usual form. It was another win for Sam.

Sam 3
Ian 2
Andrew 1
Chris 0

Finally, we knocked off a couple of games of Push It. First to seven, Chris lead from the start:

Chris 7
Sam 5
Ian 3
Andrew 3

And then first to five. I got to four points quickly and then suffered some yips as everyone closed the gap. I had just enough gaming gas left in the tank, though. It helped that the puck was knocked over in my direction on the last round.

Andrew 5
Sam 4
Chris 2
Ian 1

Games were played, drinks were drunk. Now all that was left was for the way home to be wended.

Ships, towers, and submarines

This week's GNN nearly didn't happen, which I believe (I cannot fully recall) would have been a first since the inception of the blog. With the Eastonites busy with nappies and sleep deprivation, Joe unable to host and Andrew poorly, it took a plaintive email from Katy to stir the collective consciousness to life.

I was supposed to be off out on a beer-laden jolly at work, but I decided I was too tired to face two hours of drinking before tea even started, so stepped in to host at the last minute.

Come 7.30 Katy, Ian and Andy appeared at the door, and I forced them to play Riff Raff. This game (see previous post for description) is a lot of fun, unless you're Andy, who announced near the end he didn't like balancing games at all. This began a trio of disdainful verdicts that ran through the evening, with Ian next to bring judgement.

 Riff Raff

But before that happened, Katy won her inaugural seagoing adventure with Riff Raff drawing to a close tight at the top, but with Andy rolling around in the hold, being sick on himself:

Katy 0
Sam 1
Ian 2
Andy 18

We stepped into the front room to admire my shelving pick the next game. I got a bit excited when I realised Andy knew the rules to Firenze, and made an executive decision that he teach us. "It's not a long game!" I trilled, like a town planner in front of the media expecting a bus to sail around the corner on time. Oh, Sammy.

So in Firenze we're all trying to build the towers in the town and get points for doing so. That much was straightforward and easy to pick up. The vagaries of strategy and tactics come in the cards, of which you select one at the start of every turn. The problem was my set of Firenze is German, so there was an awful lot of checking the photocopied English rules, making sure we had the right card, and then attempting to remember what the card did. Andy had been playing online and felt comfortable, so much so that he did at one point get labelled "tower c**t".

Germ of an idea

Katy didn't seem to be that perplexed after some first round confusion. I remained slightly bamboozled throughout, only relaxing slightly when I focused on an obvious plan and ignored everything else (probably to my cost). Ian however had a gaming meltdown, going from semi-fluent in German and semi-lucid on the game to suddenly unable to compute anything - and fatalistically allowing Andy and Katy to take his last two turns for him while he sat and shook his head, like a broken man.

a building site in Florence

Andy, as we thought he might, walked away with it. Ian announced he didn't like the game, with a reasonable degree of conviction. I was disappointed but I don't really feel I've played it yet - I never truly got past asking for translations and wondering what the hell was going on.

Andy 61
Katy 41
Sam 38
Ian 27

It had taken what we in gaming circles call "fucking ages" to play, and we desperately needed some light relief. I was canvassing for Push It when Katy announced she had Deep Sea Adventure so we played that instead. We also played Pretense (non-leaderboard) which I won by getting Katy to change seats with me and dismissing her suspicions that I was about to win Pretense by saying how far-fetched the idea was.

That was mid-adventure, which Katy played with abandon, announcing she never wins whilst going to hair-raising depths of the ocean while the rest of us legged it back to the sub. Andy, despite trying to play safer, never got anywhere. I hedged my bets, mixing some safety play with one bit of luck-pushing.  Unlike my similar Incan Gold tactics, it proved a decent manoeuvre:

Sam 30
Ian 23
Katy 20
Andy 0

With 11 o'clock showing on the clock, we drew the curtain on an unusually quiet Tuesday that had a little bit of everything  - old favourites, new brain-burners, dexterity challenges and push-your-luck dice-rollers. Plus Katy dissing her own game at the end, making up the trio of unimpressed gamers.* But despite that, we had fun.

*she didn't diss the game, actually, just her record in it.

Port out!

With Tuesdays ruled out for me for the next few weeks, I managed to entice Andrew and Ian over for a bit of Monday night action.

We began with Riff Raff. This is like the offspring of Hamsterrolle and King Neptune. The game is constructed from the box itself plus several pieces, making up a wooden boat that sails upon a stormy ocean. The central 'mast' is weighted at the bottom, so whenever a piece is added to the yardarms the boat lists over to that side.

Like Hamsterrolle, first player to get rid of their (eight) pieces wins. Unlike Hamsterrolle, there's an extra element of card play that decides where on the ship you place your piece, and potentially has the (risky) option of placing two pieces.

My first play was disastrous, as pretty much everything fell off the ship twice while Andrew picked up the win. In the second I was more circumspect and nabbed a win just ahead of Ian.

It was fun. A shame it only plays four as I can imagine it being a popular filler at GNN.

After the jolly fare of Riff Raff it was time for something more somber, so we bashed through - if one can 'bash through' a game as dry as this - Viticulture, the game of competitive vineyarding. We wanted to play it while it was "still fresh" although you wouldn't have guessed as much as we spent several minutes simply blinking at the board and checking the rules.

Basically though it's a worker-placement game that's broken into seasons, spring being fighting over turn order for summer and winter (which provide thematically appropriate actions on the board) and autumn is merely a bit of spice. As you plant vines, harvest grapes, crush them into wine, and deliver orders (for points) you can also shenaniganise with the visitor cards, that can be played in summer or winter...

I got off to a good start, but Andrew invoked the witches curse of saying I was winning: over and over, so successfully that my game simply dragged to a halt as the others surged past me.

Viticulture, for all its arid mechanics, does hold some surprises - and I had one up my sleeve that was going to get me four points in one fell swoop! Ha ha! If I could just get some orders that matched my wine... I picked up four orders and none did: they all demanded very expensive red or rose, or champagne, none of which I had in my admittedly limited cellar. Meanwhile Ian ended the game by completing three orders in the last round (I managed two the whole game!) and Andrew made a valiant effort to catch him, but it wasn't quite enough:

Ian 24 (I think)
Andrew 23 (I think)
Sam 16 or something

For a game about wine it does feel rather sober, but it was good to play again. I need to study Ian and Andrew's tactics, as that's not the first time I've ended miles behind. But for me the hit of the night was Riff Raff!