Monday, October 6, 2008

The theme, as decided by Ashley, our Trumpeteer...



And many games were played.

Let's see who played, and what got played...

• Ashlei
  
• Ashley
  
• Brian2
  
• Can't-Stop
  
• Cassy
  
• Crystal
  
• Dan
  
• Eden
  
• Fenwick
  
• Harper-Dylan
  
• Jeff (Clavus <-- new nickname!)
  
• Jess
  
• Joe
  
• Joe, a different one
  
• Krysta
  
• Liz
  
• May
  
• Mitesh
  
• Nolan
  
• Patrick
  
• Sam
  
• Steven
  

• Blockhead
  • The old 70's stacking game Blockhead came out first today. Brian2, Jeff (Clavus), Fenwick, and Sam played as people filed in. Fenwick lost #1. Jeff lost #2. Sam lost #3. Jeff lost #4. Fenwick lost #5. Brian2 was tho only one not to lose, so we shall deem Brian2 the winner!
  
  
• Blokus
  • Steven and Ashley played a game of 2-player Blokus. Steven had -8, and Ashley had -5 for the win!
  • Nolan was back! Nolan was big in the club a year ago, and he stopped by to get some transfer info, and managed to get in a few games of Blokus with Fenwick. We played 3 games. Fenwick won game 1. Nolan won games 2 and 3.
  
  
• Cloodle
  • A five player game... Eden, Ashley, Sam, Jess, Fenwick. Cloodle is a co-op game... we all race against the clock! We played twice -- we lost the first one, and won the second.
  
  
• Hamsterolle
  • Four of us loaded up the wheel! It was Jeff (Clavus), Brian2, Steven, and Fenwick. Clavus wrecked the wheel, forcing Fenwick to put an easy piece to allow Steven to easily place his last piece for the win.
  • Another game of the 'rolle was played. Liz, Crystal, Joe, and Harper-Dylan played. No one noted who one, though. It shall ever be a mystery...
  
  
• Mix-Up
  • This is a nice, quick, Connect-4-on-crack kind of game. Brian2 and Fenwick played a couple games. Fenwick won them both...
  • Then, Crystal and Harper-Dylan played! Harper-Dylan won them both...
  
  
• Oodles of Doodles
  • I know a buncha people played this, but we didn't record the scores! I at least wanted to make sure I gave it a mention...
  
  
• Quiddler
  • A 5-player game... The scores, in order from lowest to highest: Fenwick (221), Sam (237), Eden (244), Krysta (256), with Ashlei winning with a very respectable 321 (100 points in front of Fenwick, please notice)!
  • A second, very short, game of Quiddler was played. The 5 players included Can't-Stop, Joe, May, Mitesh, and Dan. Dan won by a point!
  • ANOTHER GAME of Quiddler was done. Jess was begging (in a friendly way) for a decent game of Quiddler with a small group of veterans. Four were playing: Ashley, Jess, Steve, Cassy. The scores (ascendingly)... Ashley (234), Steven (246), Cassy (249), Jess won with 272!
  
  
• Sculptorades
  • The best part of of Cranium, all by itself! It's a co-op game, we all play against the clock and win (or lose), as one. 6 of us played: Brian2, Jeff (Clavus), Ashlei, Patrick, Sam, and Fenwick. We played 3 games. Due to some confusion (mostly from Clavus), we're not sure if we won game 1. But we certainly won games 2 and 3!
  
  
• Ta Yu
  • I love this gorgeous game. It doesn't come out too much because it's just for two, and takes some time and space. But Fenwick and Steven got to play! Fenwick got 8 on one side, 5 on the other side equals 40 points. Steven got 7 and 7 to give him 49 for the win!
  
  
• Thumb Wrestling
  • Just adding this to see if anyone is paying attention... Mitesh and Ashley thumb wrestled. Mitesh won. (Of course, his hand could palm a wok -- he was at a distinct advantage...)
  
  
• Traverse
  • A four player game (the only good way to play, really)... Eden, Mitesh, Joe, and Fenwick. Joe could have done fine, if Mitesh didn't strategical block his last move, until he finished up. Mitesh for the win!
  
  
• Tsuro
  • A 6-player game... [Eden, Krysta, Sam, Jess, Ashley, Fenwick]. Ashley wins!
  • Another game was played with J... (it was just written as "J"... don't know who that is!), Crystal, Ashley, Steven, and Liz. Liz and Ashley ended with a stalemate!
  
  

And now, the picture gallery for this week!!

Blockhead

Blokus

Oodles of Doodles

(editor's note: what IS that!?)

Quiddler: a couple notable results...

Sculptorades

OK, OK, not much going on here...

The beauty that is Ta Yu!

Thumb Wrestling. (YES! Thumb Wrestling!)

Traverse

Tsuro

Villa Paletti

CCF brought us leftover pizzas!!

(The conversation drifted Ashley and Jess sharing a pizza, and there was a reference to making a video called "Two Girls, One Slice." I shall say nothing more.)

More on Wednesday!

Wednesday, Oct 1st

Another theme day...



I wasn't sure if we could find enough games for that theme... but we had 25 that fit in EASILY (If you're interested: Alhambra, Bridges of Shangri-La, Bull in a China Shop (Hey. It's got "china" right in the name...), Chang Cheng, China, Dragon Parade, Dragons of Kir, Gang of Four, Gemblo, Great Wall of China, Honor of the Samurai, Ido, Lotus, Maharaja, Mesopotamia, Ming Dynasty, Oriente, Oshi, Samurai, Ta Yu, Through the Desert, Tichu, Trampel-Fanten, Tsuro, Ur), and we found a few others that were kind of stretch, that we threw in anyway. And, there was Quiddler.

Let's get right down to who was there, and what they did!

• Ashley, Trumpeteer (n)
  
• Brad2 (v)
  
• Brian1, V-P, aka "Thing" (n)
  
• Brian2, Overlord (n)
  
• Can't-Stop (n)
  
• Cengiz, Vizier (p)
  
• Chris (unspecified affiliation, assuming "v")
  
• Crystal (n)
  
• Dan (n)
  
• Fenwick (p)
  
• Jess ("bunny" <-- not sure how this was allowed. I guess because we know a bunny vs. pirate or ninja = victim. Total victim.)
  
• Joe (p)
  
• Jon2 (n)
  
• Liz (p)
  
• May (p)
  
• Mitesh (p)
  
• Sara (v)
  
• Victoria (n)
  

• Bull in a China Shop
  • As I said above, in case you didn't notice I will repeat here: the word "China" is right in the title! It fits the theme, dangit. I really like this game -- mainly a card game, few choices, every one painful, and everything done affects everyone else. It's quite popular among much of Game Club. Five of us played: Ashley, Liz, BrianThing, Cengiz, Fenwick. BrianThing actually ended up with NO China at the end of one round, causing him to have quite a low score. Liz and Cengiz were much better of, tieing for second-to-last. Ashley was next, but Fenwick won the game with 86 points.
  
  
• Dragon Parade
  • This is a little gem of a game. There's lots of luck, and lots of pain, as you watch your best-laid-plans get trampled by everyone else. It's basically a tug-of-war, and trying to outthink your opponenets' tugging. Four people played: Cengiz, Victoria, Joe, and Brian2. It was close, only a 4-point spread between the last place score and the winner, who turned out to be Brian2!
  
  
• Gang of Four
  • Trumpeted as "The #1 Card Game in Asia!" (not sure if that's true), we couldn't have an Asia-day without Gang of Four. It is in my top 20 fave games for sure, probably in the top 10. Fenwick, Cengiz, Liz, and Brian2 got down to business. Liz actually won the first FIVE hands in a row, making her look like the clear favorite. Fenwick took over the top spot, and then Cengiz had a few, too. After Cengiz managed to skunk Liz with all 16 of her cards, the game was ended. Liz ended up in last, and then Brian2, Cengiz, with Fenwick coming out on top with only 40 pts.
  
  
• Gemblo
  • One of the more beautiful games I own. It is imported from Korea, in case you were wondering the Asai tie-in. Two full games were played. The first, was a five-player game, playing with the ralaxed rule set. 5 players on the big board is actually kind of roomy, and with the friendly rules, we were almost all able to get all our bits on the board. Crystal was unable, but the other 4 playing: Ashley, Liz, Brian and Fenwick had a 4-way tie for the win.
    
  • Ashley, May, Brian and Chris later played a 4-player version. You play on a smaller part of the board making 4-players a much greater challenge. In this game, Ashley wins alone, with only 8 gems remaining!
  
  
• Honor of the Samurai
  • Four peopled hopped on this game: Can't-Stop, Mitesh, Dan, and Brian2. This game can go on for a while, and it's tough to remember all the minutiae if you don't play it regularly. After about 25 minutes of explanation, the game got underway. Can't Stop immediately declared himself a target, and was killed by Brian2. Who was soon after killed by Mitesh, who declared himself Shogun, and was never unseated for the win!
  
  
• Ido
  • Another beauty of a game -- it's like playing a 3-d, shifting, Mondrian painting. It doesn't get pulled out enough for me. We had a 4-player game (the ONLY way to play, in my opinion...) with Brian2, Liz, Cengiz, and Fenwick. It was a tight game, with everyone getting one off the board pretty quickly. By Brian2 emplyed the very smart strategy of "get as much on the board as possible for maximum power of movement". And with a proud "Huzzah!" (I swear he said it) Brian2 moved his fourth piece off for the win.
  
  
• Ming Dynasty
  • This is a new one to Game Club. The rules seemed rather daunting, and after a rough start of playing incorrectly, we got the hang of it. The game only last 6 turns, only scoring on the even ones. You each play as a "prince" moving through the countryside, and settling folks in districts. If you dominate a district, you can move into a city, and earn points and tokens (sets of which get traded for points). There are Cloisters where you can claim a few points (but are at risk of being ousted by someone else), and elements of trail-building (a la Elfenland, which I love), as well. It's a well-built game with a variety of strategic elements. I'd love to be able to try this one again soon. Four of us played: Mitesh, Brian2, Dan, and Fenwick. The game actually lasted about an hour and 40 minutes. If we run it again soon, I'm sure we can pound it out in about an hour. Brian2 cashed in some serious sets early on, and had a huge lead, lapping a couple of us on the scoring track. The rest of us struggled to unseat him, killing as many of his Monks as possible. Fenwick got close, but Brian2 managed to keep a TWO POINT LEAD for the win.
  
  
• Quiddler
  • Two games of Quiddler were played (not surprising... it's the one game that comes to EVERY Game Club meeting.) First game had Brian2, Sara, Ashley, Brian, and Victoria. Brian2 won with a fairly decent margin.
  • The other game had Chris, Brian, Ashley, Jon2, Brad2, and May. In this one, Jon2 just barely eked out the win by three points!
  
  
• Tsuro
  • We actually played three games of this back-to-back. It goes quick, and we had some new folks. GREAT gateway game: easy to learn, quick to play, lots can play. We had Crystal, Liz, May, Jess, Fenwick, Ashley, and Brian1. I can sum up the three games quickly: Brian1 WON THREE TIMES.
  
  

And now this week's image gallery!

BULL IN A CHINA SHOP

GANG OF FOUR

GEMBLO - Lookit the pretty!

HONOR OF THE SAMURAI

IDO - more pretty...

MING DYNASTY

TSURO

And here's some peoples playing!

See y'alls Monday!

Monday, September 29, 2008

We had a theme -- I have to give credit to Brad and Ashlei for the idea. It was not mine...



And we played games in this theme. Let's see who played, and what we played...

• Alex (n)
  
• Ashley, Trumpeteer (n)
  
• Becky (p)
  
• Brad, Strategist (n)
  
• Brian2, Overlord (n)
  
• Cassy, Mascot (p)
  
• Fenwick (p)
  
• Gordon (?)
  
• Jess (bunny!? <-- that's what it said on the score sheet)
  
• Joe, Magus (p)
  
• Justin (n)
  
• Sandy (v)
  
• Sean (p)
  
• Steven (p)
  

• Ten Days in Europe
  • Classic route building game. Fenwick ended up winning, spending most of his time in easternmost Europe.
  
  
• Diceland
  • My favorite wargame. I never win, but I like it for some reason. Sean and Fenwick played a quick game. Sean eliminated Fenwick (me!) from the board, and had 2 remaining armies (dice) FTW.
  
  
• Nexus Ops
  • We played a three player game with Sean, Brad, and Fenwick. Brad ended up winning with 10 points (Fenwick had 6, Sean had 4). Fenwick was VERY close to winning, controlling the Monolith, and a "Death From Above" card worth 4 points, which would have been implemented. But alas, it was too late...
  
  
• Portobello Market
  • This is a *NEW* game club entry! It's definitely a pretty game, great bits. It's simple, but the decisions can be tough. Fenwick claimed a lot of points early, but after that, it went downhill quick. It looked like Gordon had won, but then we noticed an area of the board we hadn't scored! Brian ended up winning by ONE point. (Fenwick had an epic loss of 69 points...)
  
  
• Quiddler
  • Steven demolished Cassy, Alex and Jess! He had 298 points, next behind him was 212, and it just went down from there...
  • The game got pulled out again a little later. Sean won that game with, oddly enough, also 298 points. (Fenwick was close behind with 294. Sandy had to leave in the middle and go to class.)
  
  
• Ticket to Ride
  • Five new T2R players dragged this one out. They perused the rules and got going. Not sure they played exactly correctly, but whatever way they played seemed consistent. Joe ended up winning the game by ONE point. And, according to the score sheet comments, "He didn't even try or pay attention the entire game!!!"
  
  

May was at another table teaching people to play "standard" card games like Palace and B.S. So other games and players were happening, but we didn't write it down -- it was pretty informal.

And there's a few pictures!

10 Days in Europe. A classic.

Diceland. Battling Dice. Slightly strategic, slightly luck. All cool.

Nexus Ops is one of the most gorgeous games around. And there's battling aliens!

Portobello Market is a new one to Game Club. Nice bits, easy to play, quick to learn, quick to play. I think this'll come out again...

And here's Brian2's hand...

Wednesday, Sept. 24

We played games! Again, I'll just review the players and games... I was actually away from the game day for a little while, so I didn't get to play as much as I would have liked. We didn't even really make up a theme. I was needing portability, so the unannounced theme was "Games that Come in Smallish Boxes."
Anyhoo, here's the data:

• Ashlei (p)
  
• Ashley (n)
  
• Brian2 (n)
  
• Can't Stop (n)
  
• Cengiz (p)
  
• Dan (p)
  
• Fenwick (p)
  
• Gordon (n)
  
• Jeff (n)
  
• Jess (v)
  
• Joe (p)
  
• Krysta (p)
  
• May (p)
  
• Phil (v)
  
• Sean (p)
  
• Steven (p)
  

AND, instead of just a list, this time I'll add a few details. At the very least, the winner...

• Continuo
  
  • Ashley won this 5-player game of Continuo with 155 points.
    
  • Later, Can't Stop and Sean played... Can't Stop won with 369.
  
  
• Farkel
  
  • Steven wins with 10,100 after May's long reign as leader! [EDITOR'S NOTE: May?? Winning Farkel??? REALLY????]
  
  
• Man Bites Dog
  
  • A couple of games of this were played... Joe won one with 930 points.
  • Gordon won a later game of it with 1045.
  
  
• Quiddler
  
  • Classic. There haven't been many Game Club meetings without Quiddler. Brian2 won with a respectable score of 284 (especially respectable amidst a 5 player game!).
  
  
• Stone Soup
  
  • This is a new one to Game Club. It is basically a variety of a 'standard' card deck game called (abbreviated) B.S. (sometimes called "Cheat" or "I Doubt It"). We had a lot of fun with it, though we probably played with too many people. We played two rounds: Phil won one, Jeff the other.
  
  
• Treehouse
  
  • Treehouse... portable, pretty, simple. Sean and Can't Stop played 4 games. Sean won the first. Can't Stop won the rest.
  
  
• Zombie Fluxx
  
  • This was meant to be like a 10 minute filler game to get the club started. It turned into like an 8 player drag fest. At one point (with a set of rules Draw 5, No Card Bonus, Play All) Phil played his whole hand, got a "Trade Hands" card, and played somebody else's hand, got a "Take Another Turn" to do it all over again. There were some other cards that let him play extra stuff, too. He ended up playing for about 10 minutes BY HIMSELF. I swear he almost played through the entire deck. It was crazy. Joe ended up winning with the "Food for Thought" goal.
  
  

Another good day!

More games on Monday...