Call My Bluff

Three people had arrived and that was enought to start a light quick filler game. In this game, we had only 7 plays and each of them were exact! Gah! That was enought to knock out both myself and Jon which gave the win to Adam.

Santiago

We have not played this game in a while which is sad. It is a good game. I initially guessed wrong in the first two turns so I was off to a bad start. And strangely, for some reason, the group and Ed just did not get along together. Ed was always ended up the odd man out. I paid some high prices to get some valuable plots but it was not enough to win me the game. I came in second.

Torres

Torres is another good game that I have not played enough (but it is a bit of a brain burner or analysis paralysis game). I was a little afraid at the start because I was playing with Ed. And Ed loves this game (and I am sure has played it more recently than I). However, I was able to critically hose him in one instance and maintain control of the highest tower and that gave me the win. Some things that led to it were I was able to go last in 3 of the 4 times and Ed did not have the card he needed at the last play.

Fredericus

Ed and Susan brought a new game for us to play and they needing some playings in order to write a review. So, we played Fredericus. In this game, you “hunt” cards with your falcons in the middle. If clouds are the neighboring cards to an animal card and your big falcon is sitting in that column, then you can take the card. If a cloud and a ground surround an animal card, then your small falcon can take the card. If two ground cards surround opponent’s falcons, you can “hood” them. Being “hooded” is hard to recover from. Your falcon looses its turn, so it cannot escape it for the next time. And only one person needs to spend an action point to hood your falcon again.

The other part of this game is betting that an animal is going to be caught in a column before it becomes your turn again. And I could not predict people’s actions. The game seemed to play too long for what it was worth.

Hispaniola

We finaly got around to playing the Michael Schacht trick taking game that uses a board. It comes in a large box as well, and to be honest, you can easily replace the board with some cards and use a small box. In this game, trump is decided by spending cards. The highest, non-tied, card will determine trump. If there is no unique number, then players pick another card and try again. You must follow suite, but the highest card will win if no trump is played (like Sticheln). The winner of a trick gets to place a pawn on the corresponding ship (neutral if 3 or more colors were played, otherwise the led color). The pawn can displace a previous pawn which will fall onto islands (which count as negative points). As more pawns are displaced, the previous pawns work their way onto more negative islands until they finally go back into your supply.

This was an interesting game that I would like to play again…

Geschenkt

We ended the night with another light card game. I have learned not to take on too many card groups and not to try and force the other players to chip in more tokens. Eventually they will just grab that card.

Lord of the Rings – The Confrontation

And then it was just me and Adam. Adam suggested that we play The Confrontation. Unfortunately, I was not able to grok a strategy. Adam decimated me and made me his tool. I called each match as hopeless early on.

Ed and Susan had their first game day at their new house. I knew I was in for a drive when the directions started with “Take IH-35 North until Oklahoma and then take the first left…”. Its a nice house with 5 acres of land out in Liberty Hill. I don’t know if the commute is worth it. I hate my twenty minute commute from Round Rock.

Around The World in 80 Days

For the first game, we play Around the World in 80 days. I like the game. It is a light and easy game. I would have won but I could not find two ship cards for the last journey! The person to my right kept taking the swap 3 cards action and no ships came out and were left to me when it was my turn. Out of desperation, I spent four gold to draw two more cards (which turned out to be train cards! argh!).

Funkenschlag

For the next game, we had seven people and we split into two games. I played Funkenschlag with Adam which is a risky gamble. He is tough to beat at this game. I limited the board to the difficult area of seas and mountains. Also in the game, we were short of resources. Coal was depleted early and never recovered. Adam was smart in buying the only garbage plant in the game (and taking advantage of the cheap garbage prices). Phase three actually came out half way into the game which is unusual to me. I rarely get to see phase 3 in this game (and it is definately needed). John was a new player and he kept lots of money instead of spending it to make money.

Caribbean

For the next game, I wanted to try out Caribbean. And I found out that it was not such a good game after all. The entire game is a blind guessing game. You place six betting markers each turn and the winner of each ship gets to move it. And if that was not chaotic enough, you can steal treasures from other ships and drop it in your own harbour. Good thing I didn’t buy this game! I won the game easily and I was the only player who used multiple ships to drop treasures to my harbour.

The Gothic Game

For the last game of the night, we played The Gothic Game. This is a fun game where you try to be the last person standing. Susan fell off the wall and into the moat. She was able to avoid drowning and crawl into Dracula’s lair. She was then bitten and turned into a Vampiress. I tried to find a weapon in the Trophy Room but fell into an Iron Maiden. Adam was desperately trying to find some garlic in the Kitchen but was unlucky when Susan glided over him and drank his blood.