Game Night: Saturday 4-1-2000

Well, it was Tim & Beth, Ed and John (Alias Johnny), Jen & I for a evening
of fun.

We started light, since Jen was putting Jacqueline to bed, with a game of
guillotine.  Beth won, of course.  Her point total, however, led me to
start drinking as the game was not even close.

Next, we hauled out a new game called "Mississippi Queen".  (I spelled it
right, just like we all learned!)  If you ever played "Speed Circuit" or
any other Formula 1 game, you notice the similarities immediately.  What
makes this different from a "car" racing game, is that you are not sure of
the course when you start.  The river reveals itself as you move.  The
basic strategy concept is that you have movement speed and "coal" points to
help you out of situations (like tire wear), and can stop at a coal stop
for additional points (the pits).  You HAVE to deliver 2 passengers to the
finish line, making for strategy other than just passing other
steamboats.  Race too fast and end up on the right bank of the river
looking at a sharp left turn... ouch.  Or, do what Ed did and head into the
finish line so fast that he careened off the side and had to go around
again, giving "Black Beth" (she had the black boat) second place.  Ed ended
up in third.  I won easily, but only because I was VERY FAMILIAR with the
mechanics of this type of game.  I won't have such an easy time of it next
time (of which I hope there are many).  There are plenty of passengers to
pick up, but timing is very important.  A crowded passenger stop can cost
you dearly in lost time.  I LOVED this game, most everyone else liked it
alot.  Beth thought it was not her type of game.  I hope Ed brings this
again, I can't wait to play it with Tom or Pete (since Pete rules at plot
games like "Through the Desert" and Tom has played similar avalon hill
plotting type games)

Next we played a game of Medici.  Even though Tim, amidst many cat calls,
gave Beth a stockpile in turn two for 1 lire (by turning 3 cards when only
she had room for 3), Jen ended up winning on the last turn.  Way to go hun!!!

We just kept on going through games.  Next was a game of Wizards.  I like
this game with 6 players like we played it.  I lead for half the game, but
ended up boned in the second half.  Although it was close for the women,
"black" beth pulled it out.  Ed sucked ('nuff said).  [the hilarious moment
of the night was at John's expense.  There are ALL hearts in the trick and
John asks "what suit was lead?".  Sorry for the cruel laughter John, but it
was a hilarious mistake)

Finally, we decided to play a game of Nuclear War.  Ed, John and I all hit
the major problem with this game.  Starting populations are random and we
basically had costal tax shelter islands.  John killed Ed, whose final
retaliation killed John, whose final retaliation killed me.  (If we play
this again, each player will start with 25mil people + cards.)  Tim did not
last much longer.  Then, due to what can only be constrewed as "being
tired", Jen (way in the lead) offered the olive branch of Joint victory to
Beth.  She accepted and we became a planet ruled by women.  Then Jennifer
dragged me upstairs and taught me this is not entirely bad.

We will be playing here for the games next Saturday.  Hope you can attend!

 It's the dawning... of a new era... (The Specials)

OLD BUSINESS

Welly, welly, welly, welly, welly, welly, well... The last two weeks have had a pathetic turnout!!!! Shame on you people for having lives! To bring you up to date...

Two weeks ago, I taught Pete and Michelle how to play "Landlord". Although they liked it, I think it was a little dull with just 3 of us (Jen was painting). Pete won, of course. Landlord is fun, silly, screw your neighbor type game that involves stealing renters (or sometimes killing them). You build apartment buildings and populate them according to who will live with who (whom?). A wonderful game to introduce to new players also.

Last Saturday, Ed and Alias Johnny showed up and we played some FUN new card games Ed brought. First up was "Buried Treasure" by FxSchmidt. This a card game were the cards are placed on the table, face up, stacked like in solitaire. Each round, the four colors (treasures) each score differently, based on who takes first and second place. Each turn, you pick up a card from the treasure pile and add it to yours. A few of the cards, however, allow you to steal 1-4 treasures (quantity is depicted on the card) from an opponents pile. So taking a green treasure may reveal a steal 4 yellow card for the next player. Strategy is sort of like a domino effect. Oh yes, the scoring wrinkle. If you TIE in the quantity with any other player in any treasure color, it is as if you have ZERO of that color!! So, to make it interesting, you start the game with a hand of 6-8 treasures. You can use these on you pile or on your opponents in an attempt to make or break a tie. Very quick to learn, nice social drinking game. 3 thumbs up. We played Twice! John killed us the first game. The second game, Ed and I declared John the winner after we tied for first with 43 points. (Not in the rules, we just added it as a stupid house rule)

The second game was Katzensomethingsomething. Each of the cards were numbered 1-5 or J for joker and had a picture of a cat playing an instrument. You need to assemble "quartets" or a set of four to score. Jokers can be used for either bidding or scoring, but who ever has the most jokers at the end loses 5 points (that's a lot in this game). Cards are turned up and you bid on them using the same cards your using to make sets (similar to "money"). Lots of fun, simple, and we were able to drink beer. 3 thumbs up again. We played twice again, and I *think* Ed won both, but they were close. I liked this better than Buried Treasure, Ed liked Buried Treasure slightly better, and John was undecided. Again though, we all liked both games.

NEW BUSINESS

Next week, we "christen" the new game parlor.

Well, as expected, no one was able to stop by last Saturday probably due to the Easter holiday weeked.  Anyone except Pat!  That's right!!  Pat showed up and you didn't!  Anyways, the Mansons stopped by also, but due to Veronica's sleep schedule, they usually bolt by 8:30pm.

Well, this Saturday is the house warming party.

I even picked up some new games to celebrate. 

CLOUD 9
What comes up must come down so you'd better look before you leap.
 It's a balloon race straight up through the clouds. Score a few points by jumping out of the balloon onto cloud one or two. Or risk it all for the chance to reach Cloud Nine. You'll need nerves of Nirvana in this rarefied atmosphere of strategy and fun.

QUO VADIS
In Quo Vadis? each player becomes the head of a powerful
Roman family striving to gain as much political power and
glory as possible.

            Senators of your faction occupy seats on the various
            committees. To advance, they must make deals and acquire
            votes from other factions to win Caesar's favor. As your
            members advance, they gain the laurels of high office and
            move closer to a seat in the Senate's Inner Sanctum. Your
            faction must advance at least one member into the Inner
            Sanctum and collect more laurels than any other faction to
            win the game.

How will you guide your family to glory in the Senate? Will
you use a charismatic approach or just make sensible deals?
How will you handle the faction that resists your advancement? Will you gloat over your
accomplishments and anger your allies? Are you prudent enough to remain silent when others make mistakes? Will you honor your long term agreements or are others simply fools who trusted you?

ADEL VERPFLICHTET
Voted Game of the Year in Germany, this wondrously simple game of logic and deception is sure to  captivate your family with hours of fun. Ostensibly a race between eccentric English Lords to  acquire esoterica by any means, the antics of their hirelings will recall vivid recollections of the Keystone Cops and entertain you with hours of laughter. It is a game of pure strategy ingeniously   derived from the old "rock, paper, scissors" philosophy of game design and will bring you back  time and again to a game that defies mastery.

RA
Set in ancient Egypt, Ra spans 1500 years of Egyptian
            history. The players seek to expand their power and fame
            by: influencing the Pharaohs, building monuments, farming
            on the Nile, paying homage to the Gods, and advancing the
            technology and culture of the people. And all this for the
            glory of the Sun God Ra! The players strive for power by
            collecting tiles that represent various aspects of
            economic, spiritual, and technological growth. The
            players acquire the tiles by bidding for them in auctions.
            The currency for these auctions is tokens given to players
            by Ra, the sun God. Using these limited tokens, players
            must decide when to bid and how much to get the tiles
            they want.

Reviews of Ra state that people who love Medici must try Ra.  So be it. 

I also now have my own copy of "Settlers".

First off, let me thank everyone who made it out from their busy schedules to attend our "open house" this Saturday. To those of you who missed it, drop me a line and say hello.

I would also like to extend additional thanks to Mike and Christine for coming, the Mansons for their housewarming print gift, Michelle for making and bringing the delicious bread and spread, Sandy and Suzanne for their cakes, and anyone who brought additional beer. I promise to pick up "sour mix" next time I am at a party store.

I don't think we ever managed to get an organized dinner order, but I hope everyone had an enjoyable time. Most people left about midnight or around there abouts.

Highlights included: Tom's lessons in German (adding to our already flush vocabulary from "Hogan's Heroes"), The pile-up on the "carabande ramp", Phil screaming "ahhhhhh" in cloud nine when he seemingly could never meet the dice roll requirements, shouts of "Hail Caesar!!!", and general feeling of camaraderie around the bar tables.

Games played synopsis and reviews:

Carabande is my favorite big party drinking game. Simple, no down time, fun for kids and adults, no skill or brain required, and the handy table holds your drinks. Ed ran a truly underappreciated race. I was almost a FULL lap ahead of all other cars and Ed passed me ON THE FINAL TURN to snatch victory from my grasp. I was impressed not at Ed's skill, but rather that he kept up the level of competition for 3 full laps while I coasted the 2nd lap while drinking beer. The Morgensteins quite possibly have a genetic problem with ramps, as it dominated their playing evening. Neal, Pete and Tom all at one point made a shot that broke the spectators (ok me) out in applause.

Next we played a new game called "Cloud 9". This game is fun like Liar's Dice is fun. You have to decide when to "jump off" and when to stay on (... known when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away...) Is the guy an idiot with 6 cards? Or does he have a wild card in his midst? Its Liars Dice with scoring instead of elimination. We all universally liked this game. And you can learn it in under one minute!

Next was Germany's 1990 game of the year, Adel Verflichtet.  A rock, scissors, paper type game where you are trying to "show off" your collection of antiques. The idea is each round you can either go into purchasing mode or display mode. In purchasing mode, you can either purchase a collectable or attempt to collect the money from the purchaser. See, that way players who have spent their money can recoup funds. In display mode, you can either display your work (for track points), or attempt to steal a collectable from anothers collection. It was more complicated than we thought, probably due to the beer and noise. We played through the game, think we got the rules down, but the enjoyment factor seemed missing. Also, the game seemed geared for more than 4 players even though the box said 2-5. My assumption is that the box should have said, "Get 5 players".

About midnight we played a game of "Quo Vaidis?" where you attempt to become elected as Caesars right hand man. Simple rules, but it boils down to a lot of "one hand washes the other" like in Chinatown. The difference here is that unlike in Chinatown, the game does not detract from the dynamics. It gets real apparent real fast what is going on. Think Diplomacy, where the entire game takes place in the time of one turn in Diplomacy. I liked this game, it was a nice distraction from card games. I did not solicit opinions from the other players as it was getting very late.

A brief question on that. (and this calls for a reply from you). What is you opinion of the current state of "game night"? Is every Saturday ridiculously often or do you like that option always being open? Did you like Saturday's emphasis on social with the game part secondary or was that just a nice break with tradition? What is the fate of game night? Speak up so we can adjust accordingly.