Deflexion
Players: Jake and Rob.
Jake wins!
Primordial Soup
Players: Scott, Jay, Chris, and Angie.
Angie had to go early. But she was clearly pounding the snot out of the rest of us. Her commanding lead would have assured her win in another turn or two. We quit the game at this point, confident at the ultimate outcome of the game.
Angie wins!
Blokus
Players: Sean, Nolan, Jake, Joe (1st game), Rich (2nd game)
While the above game was going on, a couple games of Blokus were going on.
Jake wins game 1!
Jake wins game 2, actually going out! Sean was close in second, with one 4-square piece left over.
Rumis
Players: Jake, Rich, Sean, Nolan.
The Coriconcha board was chosen. Here's how the scores went down...
| Jake | Rich | Sean | Nolan |
| 19 | 9 | 16 | 6 |
Jake wins!
Jake, in just 3 short games, increased his win rate by quite a bit...
Mesopotamia
Players: Scott, Jay, Don, Chris
Scott delivers his offerings first... Scott wins!The only other item of note -- Don was kind of pinned int one corner of the board. His first foray into the rest of the board had him sending one of his followers out to get some lumber. On the next turn, Jay moved a gang into the square Don was on, stole the lumber, and made a hut out of it.
Bohnanza
Players: Jake, Nolan, Sean, Rich
Scores...
| Jake | Nolan | Sean | Rich |
| 7 | 8 | 4 | 11 |
Rich wins, with a nice margin.
Ringgz
Players: Jake, Sean, Nolan, Rich
Scores...| Jake | Sean | Nolan | Rich |
| 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 2 | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| 7 | 7 | 7 | 4 |
Jake wins game 1.
Sean and Nolan win game 2.
Jake, Sean, and Nolan win game 3, in a 3 way tie, in a HUGE scoring game for Ringgz.
Fluxx
Players: Christine, Scott, Jay, Sean, Nolan, Chris, Jake (only in the first game).
We played 2 games of Fluxx.
Game one ended with a gloating Chris waiting for his turn, confident of winning, and making it obvious to those around them. His confidence and gloating was oozing around the board; especially fueled by all the new players...
On the turn before his, Nolan played his Brain card, and the "Brain (no TV)" goal card. Nolan wins!! Chris is humiliated!!! He weeps openly!!!!
Game two was going along well with a "Draw 3" and "Play 5" and "First Play Random", which was all sorts of fun, until Jay was forced to play "Rocket Science". Christine had recently played "Brain" and "Rocket", which is exactly what Rocket Science means. Christine wins!!
Unexploded Cow
Players: Christine, Scott, Jay, Nolan, Chris
Possibly the coolest concept in gamedom, Unexploded Cow is a fun romp. Goofy, mad cows that explode in a variety of ways. What could be more fun?! It's less gruesome than it sounds.Here's the final money count:
| Christine | Scott | Jay | Nolan | Chris |
| $2550 | $2300 | $1100 | $1600 | $2450 |
Christine dealt with her cows the best! She also won the pot with the most city points. Christine wins!!
Coda
Players: Christine, Chris, Nolan (for 2 games, then he left)
We needed a quick game, since Nolan was doing some homework, and was going to head off to class in about 20 minutes. Coda fit perfectly.Nolan, even though he was doing homework at the time, won the first game.
During the second game, even though Nolan (perhaps distracted by his homework) had 2 numbers in the WRONG order, Christine managed to guess them. Even with this, Chris managed to win game 2!
Then Nolan headed for class (which ended up being cancelled... he comes back later).
Chris and Christine continued playing 2-player Coda.
Christine won game 1! It was actually a shut out -- she eliminated ALL of Chris's tiles without him guessing ONE of hers.
Chris won game 2.
Christine won game 3.
BuyWord
Players: Christine, Nolan, Chris
This was last year's Games Magazine's "Game of the Year". It's one I've been looking to buy for a while. I like word games, I like strategy games, and games with fake money are kind of fun.
Turns out this is a fun one! It's pretty clever... You have the opportunity to buy letters, and then have to use those letters in longer words to make a profit. It's a unique concept, really. And one of the last games created by Sid Sackson, who is really a legend in game design.
Here's how the game turned out:
| Christine | Nolan | Chris |
| $350 | $325 | $278 |
Christine wins!
Nolan pointed out that she started out strong. After the game, it was obvious that this is the best way to go. You have to start out strong. At the end of the game, you are fiddling around with the dregs of the alphabet.
Pass the Pigs
Players: Sean, Jon, Christine, Mike, Nolan, Chris
We had a few new people. Again, we were looking for a quick game. We also had a bunch of people. "Pass the Pigs" came up as a good gateway game. It takes little knowledge to play, and it's easy to help the new players. You just roll the pigs, and the people who know what is going on can tell you how well you're doing.Here's the result:
Nolan got 100 first. NOLAN WINS!
Not that it really matters in the standings, but we kept playing... Chris came in 2nd, Sean came in 3rd... and then we quit.
"Pass the Pigs" is a silly game, for sure, but it has a few strategic elements (as long as you don't "pig out" instantly). It is a good way to introduce new folks to the world of gaming... AND it's portable. And you get to chuck pigs around the table. What could be better?
Quo Vadis
Players: Sean, Christine, Jon, Nolan, Chris
I love this game. It is really one of my favorites. It is a Reiner Knizia, which instantly makes it a candidate for one of my faves. Knizia makes wonderful games -- simple to learn, but they always have a twist.This game is political. 100% poltical. I am a political junkie, so I am instantly attracted. When you play, you need to strategically place your senators, and make lucrative deals with the other players. You need to come up with deals. The deals help you, but they can also help those you deal with. The twist is -- once the deal is made, there is no responsibility for anyone to honor the deal. This IS the game. If it weren't for this gameplay element, the game would be moribund, at best. The dealing is an amazing element, and the risk of the deal falling through makes this game have a psycho-strategy unlike any other we have ever played before.
The end of the game was tremendous in this regard!
Nolan was near the end... everyone but Nolan and Jon had entered the final room, which is required to be considered for victory in the game.
Nolan asked for Sean's vote, offering 6 laurels. At this point, Christine suggested that she would do it for 4 laurels, but Nolan ignored the offer.
Sean wanted the points ahead of time. Nolan said "No". Before the deal completely fell through, Nolan offered to give Sean "Half now, half after the vote." He gave Sean 3 laurels, and Sean added them to his collection, and immediately told Nolan that he would NOT vote for him. So now Nolan was out three laurels, and was stuck.
He then turned to Christine and made the same offer -- 6 laurels for her vote. She offered the same counter-offer as Sean - "Half now, half after the vote." Nolan handed over 3 laurels, and Christine did the same as Sean -- NO VOTE.
Now Nolan is out SIX laurels for NOTHING. He said, "FINE! I'll give you FIVE laurels for your vote!" Christine says. "OK, you have my vote." Nolan moves into the senate, and then KEEPS the 5 points promised, filling the senate.
It really didn't matter, since Christine was walloping all of us. But it was still a hysterical end to a super-strategic game, and really illustrated how political this game is. ESPECIALLY at the end when there is little to lose.
Scores:
| Sean | Christine | Jon | Nolan | Chris |
| 12 | 21 | 12 | 7 | 11 |
Christine wins!! By a HUGE margin.
Deflexion
Players: Jake and Nolan
Jake wins!
Settlers of Catan
Players: Jake, Nolan, Chris, Sean, Christine, Jon
Jon had to leave before finishing. His pieces remained on the board until we voted to remove them.
The end of the game... the scores for the remaining players went like this...
| Jake | Nolan | Chris | Sean | Christine |
| 10 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
After Jake stole the "Longest Road" award from Sean, it was only a matter of time...
Jake wins!!!
