Thursday, June 28, 2007

This has nothing to do with gaming, really...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtPkDhM1Brs

...but it references a "palatial palace"...

...Citadels fans will understand.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Summertime... and the gaming is easy...

Game Club Meeting 6/18/2007

Players in attendance....

Don Phelps (pirate)
Fenwick (pirate)
Heather (pirate)
Phil (n/a)
Rachael (pirate)
Sam (ninja)
Sean (pirate)

And now... Onto the session report!




[1:10 pm]

Hive


Players: Don Phelps (p), Sean (p)

As usual, we have shown Don Phelps an abstract, two- player, strategy game (previous ones include Deflexion and Oshi...). AND, as usual, once he has seen one play, he becomes quite invincible!

Two games were played. Don Phelps won the first. Don Phelps won the second.




[1:20 pm]

10 Days in Europe


Players: Sean (p), Fenwick (p)

We needed a quick game to get us going before some other playeres meandered in. the "10 Days" games are a pretty safe bet. I think we like the Europe one a smidge more than the USA one. We had 10 Days in Europe on us, and away we went.



Fenwick won.




[1:30 pm]

Cityscape


Players: Sam (n), Fenwick (p), Sean(p)



We always love the satisfying bits of this game. Sort of a controlled version of playing with blocks as a child. Blocks rock. Sam wandered in, and we immediately roped him into a game. He hadn't played before, but the description of the game is simple... he was up to speed in no time...



How'd it go?? Well, like this:

SamFenwickSean
Round 1409070
Round 2704020
TOTAL11013090


That would make Fenwick the winner of the first round, Sam of the second, and the total going to Fenwick.






[2:06 pm]

Hey! That's MY Fish!


Players: Sam (n), Fenwick (p), Rachael (p), Sean (p)

Penguins. PENGUINS. Did you hear what I said?! Penguins. No one can turn down a game of Hey! That's MY Fish! Ok, maybe somebody could, but they would be out of their mind. The penguins are cute, and basically irresistible!



It was easy to show the newbies how to play, and we dove right in.

As we were setting up, a couple folks toting large cameras came by. They told us that they were shooting a commercial for CCM, and wanted video of people doing enjoyable things on campus. They asked if they could film us. We laughed at the concept, but told them to go right ahead! I think they took a total of 7 seconds of footage before they gave up and made us all sign waivers. It took longer to fill out the waiver form than it did for them to film us. They skittered away before we managed to set up the game... You know, I think it was just those cute-ass penguins that brought them over in the first place...

Anyhoo, Rachael got blocked off fairly quickly, but it was an even battle between the fellas for control.

The final scores came out like this: Rachael - 13, Sam - 24, Fenwick - 26, and Sean - 29.

Sean wins!




[2:45 pm]

Incan Gold


Players: Rachael (p), Sean (p), Sam (p), Fenwick (p)


This is a game Fenwick had read about for a while and picked up recently. It turned out to be crazy amounts of fun.

The bits are nifty -- mostly it's just cards, but there are opaque gemstones in black, turquoise, and gold that are wonderfully shaped and shiny. (Say the next sentence in a squeaky little girl voice in your head...) It's hard to not just eat 'em up, they're so candy-cute.

Anyway, it's a press-your-luck style game, with a whole bunch of psycho-strategy thrown in. The rules are simple... each turn, decide whether to venture further into a temple filled with treasure and horrors, or escape with the treasure you've grabbed so far. The more people who do the same thing, the more the treasure is split up. The longer you stay in the temple, the more likely you will be tragically killed in a horrible adventure accident. Each decision is painful -- both in trying to decide whether to risk your safety, as well as in trying to be unique in your movements and not have to divvy up the goods. Each turn of the cards (another step into the danger-temple) is nail-biting, hair-pulling, breath-stealing and downright hilarious. This will likely remain a Game Club staple for a while. AND an entire game lasts about 15 minutes. Brilliant.

After our first Incan Gold game ever, Rachael had 11 gems, Sean had 38, Fenwick had 46, and Sam had an astounding 71. One of his windfalls occured when he meant to play a "Leave the Temple" card, and instead accidentally played his "Keep Going" card.






[3:05 pm]

King of the Beasts


Players: Phil (n/a), Sean (p), Sam (n), Fenwick (p), Rachael (p)

Phil watched the end of Incan Gold, and we managed to pull him in to a game of King of the Beasts. It's a Reiner Knizia, who is probably the favorite game designer of Game Club. Simple, fun, quick, 50% strategy, 90% luck. Great little speedy party game. The cards have a nice texture, and the whole package is rather compact.



The game results...
PhilSeanSamFenwickRachael
23222
02626
47504
32144
TOTALS
91414817


After 4 rounds.... Rachael wins!






[3:45 pm]

Continuo


Players: Fenwick (p), Rachael (p), Sean (p), Sam (p), Phil (n/a)

This is supposed to be a light, fun, quick semi-strategy game. It was that. For 4 of us.



OK, children, it is time to interrupt our session report for the Game Vocabulary Word of the Day. It is "analysis paralysis". This is a game term for when gameplay is totally halted by someone who has to analyze and re-analyze every stinking possibility on the board. Usually it is accompanied first by joking threats of hostility if haste is not implemented, followed by jokes like "Hey, my clothes are going out of style," or, "I guess I'll just write the Great American Novel while we're waiting," etc. It ends with the joking threats not being jokes anymore, and anyone who suffers from nicotine fits running out of the building to their cars for cigarettes.

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED. Phil was almost killed many times throughout the game for him "analysis paralysis". Actually, Sean and Rachael LEFT THE BUILDING before Phil's last turn, because they couldn't stand it. I'm pretty sure Sam was late for work.

Let's just look at the final scores: Rachael had 115, Sean had 138, Sam had 139, Fenwick had 152, and Phil WON THE GAME with 154. He's really lucky he left with his life intact, there was some ferocious growling whenever it was Phil's seemingly endless turn.



The game usually takes MAYBE 20 minutes. This game took an hour.




[4:55 pm]

Transamerica


Players: Fenwick (p), Rachael (p), Sean (p), Phil (n/a)



Transamerica is a fairly standard Game Club entree. No need to go into much detail, and though we usually record more than the final scores... here's what they were: Phil had 4 to go, Fenwick had 3, Rachael had 1, but Sean was off first for the win!






[5:50 pm]

Quiddler


Players: Fenwick (p), Rachael (p), Sean (p), Heather (pw*)

It's hardly an actual Game Club meeting with Quiddler. This time it finished off the day....

Heather had to leave after the 8-card round, so she only had 158 points. But the rest of us finished the game...

Sean had 255, Rachael had 266, and Fenwick had 268. Fenwick wins!

[* pw = pirate wench ]

Monday, June 25, 2007

"Argh!" said all on this Pirate Filled Day

The Day's Players:
Ashlei
Fenwick
Rachael
Sean

ALL PIRATES!

Today's players were a small group but, as stated twice already, we were all pirate affiliated comrades. Surprisingly, we didn't play many Pirate Themed games. Needless to say Pirates won all of the games today and it will count towards the Summer Semester Points, which as on Who's Line is it Anyway, don't mean a damn thing. (Points from the Fall and Spring Semesters will count towards something though it isn't determined yet.) Unto the games!




[1:30pm]

10 Days in Europe


Players: Sean, Rachael, Ashlei, Fenwick
"Ashlei won!" is all that is listed on the score sheet. I am sure she had a splendid trip.





[2:00pm]

Beat the Buzzard


Players: Sean, Rachael, Ashlei, Fenwick
This is a game that Ashlei stated that she really disliked because she did terrible everytime she played it; she had played it once. It is one of Fenwick's favorites and the assumption is that's because it is a trick taking game. The scoring for each round went like this:
PlayersSeanRachaelAsheiFenwick
Round 12311-410
Round 21115-619
subtotal3426-1029
Round 359026
subtotal3935-1055
Round 419-81316
subtotal5827371
Round 54-71330
TOTAL622016101


The highest score in a round was 30 by Fenwick in round 5.
Major Pillage by Fenwick in that game and, in the end, Ashlei decided she actually liked the game after all. Strange girl.






[2:30pm]

Spectrangle


Players: Sean, Rachael, Ashlei, Fenwick
This is the first time this game has been played in game club so I will give you a bit of a synopsis. The object of the game is to have the highest number of points by the time the triangular board is filled up or all players are blocked from placing anymore pieces. There are 36 triangular pieces in the game with a color (blue, yellow, purple, green, red) on each of their sides in various combinations. Some tiles have one color all the way around and are worth the most points and there are tiles with two or three colors and they are worth less accordingly. You can only place pieces on the board next to other ones that have already been placed that match the color of the side that will be touching. The points in the center of the tile are then multiplied by the number of sides that touch other pieces. Some spots on the board contain numbers which are added to your multiplier. Also, there are a few wild (white) triangles in the game that can be placed next to any color but the score for that tile is multiplied by one. It should be noted that this game comes in nifty triangular packaging that holds the board, pieces, and the bag the pieces are pulled out of - it is quite condensed and interesting to look at (part of the reason it was noticed that day and asked about).
The scores at the end of this game were Sean: 40; Fenwick: 44; Rachael: 61; and Ashlei wins with 74.





[2:50pm]

Samurai


Players: Sean, Rachael, Ashlei, Fenwick
HatBuddahRice Pattie
Sean422
Rachael232
Ashlei243
Fenwick444


The conditions for winning this game are odd and no one fully met them but as Fenwick was the only person with a clear majority in any of the categories it was decided that he would be declared the winner.





[3:25pm]

Hey! That's MY Fish!


Players: Ashlei, Fenwick
Fairly quick and simple game with Fenwick winning 59 to Ashlei's 40.





[3:40pm]

Blokus


Players: Rachael, Ashlei, Fenwick
This is by far one of Ashlei's favorite games although she sometimes gets analysis paralysis while playing (Sorry guys!) Sean was out for a bit and since he hates this game we decided to play it at this point in game day so he was neither left out from a game he enjoys or sat out because he disliked a game.
In this game having the lowest number is the goal because it is the amount of squares you didn't get on the board. Rachael had 20, Ashlei 10, and Fenwick won with only 4 left.





[4:10pm]

Incan Gold


Players: Sean, Rachael, Ashlei, Fenwick
This was either the second or third time Incan Gold was played at game club and we played it twice this day. We played 2 rounds of the game... It looked like this...
=
playerSAMRachaelAshleiFenwick
Round 130143218
Round 212473412
TOTAL42616630


Rachael had the highest single game score with 47, but Ashlei had 2 SOLID rounds. Ashlei wins the game!





[4:55 pm]

Aquarius


Players: Sean, Ashlei, Fenwick
This is NOT Sean's favorite game, and it took some coaxing to get him to play it. But with a little encouragement, and assurance that we would just play one, quick game, he was swayed.

AND he ended up winning with 7 fields all next to each other.





[5:10 pm]

Cityscape


Players: Sean, Ashlei, Fenwic
In terms of satisfying bits, this ranks WAY up on the list. WAY up. It's a fairly simple game, and really easy to accidentally and purposefully get screwed over. But it is quick, fun, and has no random element whatsoever. It's a PERFECT Game Club Game.

We played 3 rounds...

playerAshleiFenwickSean
Round 1706060
Round 2403080
Round 3907070
TOTAL200160210


Ashlei had the highest single round with 90 points, but Sean squeaked it out at the end, winning by 10 points...





[5:30]

Quiddler


Players: Sean, Ashlei, Fenwick
Quiddler. The grand staple game of Game Club. If you don't know Quiddler, feel free to go back into previous blog entries -- there's descriptions there. We play it A LOT. 'Cuz it's awesome.

Scores: Fenwick - 246, Sean - 280, Ashlei - 298.

Fenwick usually does well, but JUST ABOUT ALWAYS loses when playing Ashlei and Sean. If you look at the scores above you will notice: Ashlei wins!





[6:05 pm]

TransAmerica


Players: Sean, Ashlei, Fenwick
TransAmerica is another classic Game Club game. We play it so much that the cards have gotten so grimy from gripping by grubby game grabbers that when we open the box now, the cards are stuck together by the goop. It's a little icky, but they break apart pretty quickly... I might need to buy a new copy at some point. The Quiddler cards (see above) are getting that way, too...

Here's how the rounds went...









playerSeanAshleiFenwick
Round 1win!-3-2
Round 2-2-1win!
Round 3win!-3-2
Round 4-2win!-4
Round 5win!-3-3
Round 6-4-1win!
Round 7-1win!-2
Scores42falls off the board...


Fenwick falls off the board first... Ashlei was still alive with 2 points... But Sean wins with 4 POINTS!





OK, OK, so we only had a few people this week. BUT, we did get to play a bunch of good games. And there was no real fighting, which is always a good, good thing!!

Until next week....

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Why am I Such a Dork?

Hey Gamers and Game Fans!
This is Ashlei, your new CCM SGC blogger.
Or Secretary for those who want the position to sound more prestigious.

Speaking of Club Officers -
The New and Returning Officers for Summer and Fall '07 are:
President - TJ (for his third term)
Vice President - Sean (returning from hiatus)
Blogger/Secretary - Ashlei (me. a-duh!)
Treasurer - Mike 1 (for his third term)

Also, we will be saying goodbye to some of our favorite and most frequent gamers who will be leaving us at the end of the Summer. As a last hurrah of sorts, for those not returning, Game Club will be hosting a picnic at Hedden Park on Sunday, June 10th. The picnic starts around 2:30 and anyone who enjoys games is invited!

As the new blogger I hope to make the updates a more regular thing. By the end of every semester they seem to have dwindled down to nothing, understandably so, as we are all college students (except for Chris). This semester that won't be happening. I assure you that every game that is logged will be blogged (haha, I crack myself up)! But seriously, as long as some sort of score sheet is used the information will be posted!


Now on to the gaming!
Game Date - June 4th, 2007

Players That Day:
Ashlei (Pirate)
Clare (Pirate)
Fenwick (Pirate)
Mike 1 (Pirate)
Gayer Patrick (Ninja)
Sam (Ninja)
Sean (Pirate)

10 Days in Europe

Players: Sean, Mike 1

Fenwick was supposed to play a game with Mike 1 and Sean but ended up picking up Ashlei from the train station. (what a freeloader!) So, the other two boys decided to play a few games of 10 Days. This is how it went:

Scores:
Mike wins game 1, Sean Game 2 and 3. Sean wins overall.

Pirates win this game!



China


Players
: Sean, Fenwick, Ashlei, Mike 1, Sam

Sam showed up about the same time as Fenwick and Ashlei so it was decided that they would all play a 5 player game. China was agreed upon as the next game. We ended up playing the game wrong (which is not uncommon, especially with newer games) by going through the deck of cards three times instead of two. None the less it was a fun game.

Scores: Sean wins with 94, Mike 1 - 67, Ashlei - 63, Fenwick - 47, Sam - 23

Another win for the Pirates!


TransAmerica

Players: Ashlei, Mike 1, Sam, Sean, Fenwick

TransAmerica is a game often played in our club. Its a quick and easy game which was exactly what we needed because Sam had to leave for work shortly after China was finished. Some humor ensued when Sean and Fenwick did the Hungry Chicken and then C ock Fight (something that used to regularly occur at SGC) causing Ashlei to ask, "What ever happened to that?" Sean replied, "I still do it with my mom." Everyone chuckled and Fenwick shuddered while saying "Ew".

Scores: In the first round, Fenwick connected all of his destinations first. Sean moved 5 spaces down the track, starting him off in last place, Ashlei and Sam moved down 2 spaces, and Mike 1 went 1 space.
Mike 1 completed round two, Sean stayed in last moving down 2 spaces, Ashlei and Fenwick went 3 each, and Sam went 1.
The next round was completed by Fenwick (again - yes he is good at this game), Sean didn't better his standings when he moved down 3, Ashlei and Mike 1 went 2, and Sam went 5.
The fourth round was the last one because Sam had to go. Finally, Sean completed first, Mike 1 and Sam went 4, Ashlei went 2, and Fenwick went 1.

The Final Standings were:
Sam loses by moving 12 spaces down the track, Sean - 10, Ashlei - 9, Mike 1 - 7, and Fenwick wins with 4.

Pirates win a third one!


Settlers of Catan (The Great River Expansion)

Players: Ashlei, Sean, Fenwick

After TransAmerica, Sam left for work and Mike 1 had to take care of Because Settlers is best when played with only 3 people, Ashlei recommended playing a game with Sean and Fenwick. As soon as they finished setting up the board Patrick and Clare arrived. Clare wanted to get in on the game but Ashlei was so determined to have it played with three people (although she showed it subtly) that Clare and Patrick decided to play a game of Quiddler.

Scores: In the Great River expansion you get pieces of gold for building roads and settlements along the river tiles. For every three gold the player has they get one victory point to add to the other victory points they have gained throughout the game.
Ashlei gained 2 victory points by obtaining 6 gold. Chris and Sean each recieved 1 victory point by obtaining 3 gold each.
Despite Ashlei having gained the most victory points with gold she ended up losing the game.
In the end Sean won with 10 points - 2 points each for longest road and largest army, 1 victory point for having a library (by development card), 1 victory point for each of his four settlements, and his gold victory point previously mentioned, Fenwick came in second with 6 victory points - 3 for settlements, 2 development cards: a university and a chapel, and his gold victory point, Ashlei lost with 4 victory points - her 2 gold victory points and the 2 settlements that each player starts the game with (pathetic!)

Pirates get their fourth win!

Quiddler

Players: Gayer Patrick, Clare

As previously stated Patrick and Clare came in at the start of Settlers so their game of Quiddler was played at the same time. Also - two girls came over and played Hey! Thats My Fish! by themselves.

Scores: I would like to point out that Patrick is lacking in addition skills as he wrote that Clare had 204 points. (probably for an ego boost). None the less Patrick wins with 255, and Clare had 245 points.

Ninjas first and only win of the day came from this game!

Cartegena

Players: Fenwick, Ashlei, Clare, Gayer Patrick, Sean

Once again we needed a game that five people would be able to play Cartagena is easy to learn and is quick paced with painful decisions throughout the entire game. It is easily one of Ashlei's favorites. Sean said in beginning of game: "Oh he's gonna win" when Fenwick decided to go first. Also, the only reason I have listed Patrick as Gayer Patrick throughout this blog is because of his over the top reaction when I wrote it on the score sheet. Originally, I had no intention of posting it on the blog but he was so adament about me taking it off the sheet and even ripped the paper out of my hand. Lessons: Don't mess with the chick doing the blog. Also, don't take eveything so seriously. Sheesh!

Scores: Clare wa sthe first to get one of her men on the boat. Unfortunately it was the only one of hers that made it there. Fenwick got the second man on the boat and he and Ashlei went back and forth putting guys on until they had two each. Patrick got his first and only guy on (the 6th one), Sean was the last to get his first guy on. Then Fenwick got his third, Sean got the next two, and Chris ended the game by getting his last three on the boat. Chris won with all of his six guys on the boat, Sean came in second with 3, Ashlei third with 2, and Clare and Patrick both shared in the shame of losing the game.

One of the greatest rewards of victory in this game is being the one to push the boat away from the prison and making boat sounds. Fenwick took it a step further. He decided to play a fun game of throw everyone off the boat and having one of his guys flip the bird pirate style. One of Sean's guys came back as a zombie. There were guns and headshots. It was glorious mayhem!

Pirates, again! WOOP WOOP!

In between Cartagena and our next game Patrick was reading a headline that was on the news playing in the student center saying, "Sex with a Lawmaker". In an odd coincidence both Ashlei and Fenwick heard, "Sex with a Llama".


King of Beasts

Players: Fenwick, Ashlei, Clare, Gayer Patrick

Another quick and easy game to play and learn (although Patrick had some trouble keeping the steps in the right order). At some point Clare said, "But I want squids" in the most defeated tone ever that it instantly became the Quote of the Day.

Scores: Ashlei wins with 24, Clare - 21, Fenwick - 15, Pat - 12
I'll put the details up later.

Pirates again (see a pattern anyone?)

4000 A.D.

Players: Sean, Fenwick, Ashlei

This was the last official game of the night. It was long but fun (unlike Starfarers of Catan; different night, ask Ashlei, Fen or Sean).

Scores: Basically if everyone loses their home planet to another person the game ends. Ashlei owned Fenwick, Sean owned Ashlei, and Fenwick owned Sean. To win at this point the amount of planets each person owns is counted up. Ashlei had 6, Fenwick had 4, and Sean lost with only one planet (Ashlei's home). It must be mentioned that Sean had the greatest fleet at one point (I'm not sure of he had the greatest n the end or if Fen did), so there was basically a mutually assured destruction between Fenwick and Sean.

Pirates get another!!


At the end of the night the wins were:
Pirates: 7 - Ninjas: 1

After Club Gaming -
Game: Spy
Players: Fenwick, Ashlei
Scores: Fenwick got rid of all tiles. Ashlei had 2.


This still needs a bit more updating but the posting has been postponed way too long!