Games Night 24th January 2022

Four of us again meeting up remotely vie Board Game Arena.
With one of our number running a bit late, we thought we’d start with:

from Kosmos.
However, I had to have my computer rebuilt due to a dead graphics card so had to log into everything again, and couldn’t remember passwords, etc. etc. etc. By the time I had finished faffing we were all present. We played the game anyway.
This was my second time playing it, and there is a lot going for this game. It’s biggest hang-up is that your actions really are at the mercy of the other players, but you can befuddle them as much as they do you.
Final scores:
Emily: 38
Malcolm: 36
Paul: 42
Phil: 30
Well done Paul, but there wasn’t very much in it.

Next Emily introduced us to:

from Underdog Games.
She explained the general rules and off we went across the globe, having forgotten some of the key rules.
Nevermind.
I think I knew what I was doing this time and would like to give this game another go.
Final scores:
Emily: 84
Malcolm: 63
Paul: 58
Phil: 87
Phil travelled in style, though Emily wasn’t that far behind. Paul lost his luggage somewhere.

To finish off the evening we returned to:

from 7 Wonders: Architects
This is quite different to the original 7 Wonders game but has the same look and feel to it. Lite, without being without substance.
Final scores:
Emily: 36
Malcolm: 38
Paul: 46
Phil: 43
Another victory for Paul. I was third for the third time this evening – at least I’m consistent.
Another great evening of games!

Games Night 17th January 2022

Four of us this week, once again via Board Game Arena
Due to a chronic case of indecision, we finally settled on:

from Space Cowboys
With a lot of expensive first cards, it took a little while to get going. The game came to the inevitable conclusion when Paul attained the 15 points and, being last player, immediately ended the game.
Final scores:
Emily: 11 (broke tie for second place having purchased less cards)
Malcolm: 11
Paul: 18
Phil: 9
Well done Paul, commiserations to Phil.
Next up we introduced Paul to:

from Rio Grande Games
Emily kindly explained the rules to Paul and we go going setting up that all-important postal service.

The final scores demonstrate just how much better Emily understood the rules than the rest of us…
Emily: 24
Malcolm: 7
Paul: 8
Phil: 6
Well done Emily, getting more than everyone else combined.
Commiserations again to Phil. Better luck next time.
Thanks again to everyone for a great evening.

Games Night 7th June 2021

Just the three of this virtual (via Board Game Arena) week.

Lots of smaller games today.
We kicked off with Splendor (Space Cowboys)

All went swimmingly for most.
In the end the scores were:

	Malcolm	Paul	Phil
White	4	3	1
Blue	5	3	1
Green	2	3	3
Red	4	2	5
Black	4	3	4
Nobles	0	1	2
Score	9	17	13

Nicely done there, Paul!

Next up, Phil introduced us to Railroad ink (Horrible Guild)

After Phil explained some of the rules we embarked on the playing of the game.
The first game was played without us realising we could filp the images.

A victory for Malcolm
We tried it again:

We all improved somewhat, particularly when it was discovered that the shapes could be flipped. Malcolm won again.
We tried it a third time:

Same result.
I really liked this game, not just because I kept winning (which does help, of course) but it’s how my brain works. I also thing this one benefits by being digital. I’m not normally a fan of roll and write games because my penmanship is atrocious.

Moving on, we then played a couple of games of Kingdomino (Blue Orange Games)

Round one saw Malcolm get stymied regarding tile placement:

A big win for Phil there.
Round two:

Better scores all round, but Phil smashed it.

All in all, a great evening of games. Sometimes it’s quite nice to play lots of shorter games rather than spending the whole evening on one game.
Plus, everybody won something.

Games Night 24th May 2021

Four of us for this virtual games night.
Only one game was played, and that was Tzolk’in (CGE).
.
I did my best to appraise the unvitiated with the rules, but I’ve only played this once before, and that was over three years ago.
Nevertheless, for the most part, we did manage to pick up how to play this and managed a pretty good go of it.
The final board looked like this:

With each player having:


However, it’s the scores that count, so final scores were:
Emily: 16
Malcolm: 54
Paul: 33
Phil: 67

Congratulations to Phil who got a comfortable lead there. Commiserations Emily, better luck next time.

Games Night 10th May 2021

Four of us on this virtual gaming week, again via Board Game Arena.

We picked Kingdom Builder (Queen Games).

Malcolm did his best to appraise everyone of the rules and then lots of little virtual wooden houses were virtually placed on a virtual board to score actual points.

Final scores:

	Malcolm	Matt	Paul	Phil
Fishermen	9	10	20	8
Merchents	20	0	16	8
Knights	24	14	26	10
Castle	6	3	3	12
Total	59	27	65	38

Well done Paul, what a decent score there, less so Matt…

Confident we knew what we were doing we played another round.

The end result:

	Malcolm	Matt	Paul	Phil
Miners	23	14	10	4
Knights	28	12	24	22
Lords	24	18	18	12
Castle	9	9	9	9
Total	84	53	61	47

Crused it with a proper score!
This is a game that can benefit from being virtual in that it shows all the legal placements and helps with the end game scoreing.

7 Wonders (Repos Production) next

The card drafting thing happened until it stopped at the end of the game.

Final scores:

	Malcolm	Matt	Paul	Phil
Conflict	-5	7	15	5
Money/3	8	3	5	0
Wonder	10	10	10	10
Civilian	18	15	5	3
Science	0	0	0	38
Commerce	7	0	4	0
Guild	8	16	0	0
Total	46	51	39	56

A strong win by Phil.

Another great evening of games, thanks guys!

Games Night 26th April 2021

Four of us for this virtual week!

This time we kicked off with Puerto Rico ((Rio Grande)).

I game I quite enjoy, though never do very well at.
Lots of things happened, and our boards ended up looking like this:

Yes, we all thought the boards were really tiny on the screen as well.
Final scores:
Malcolm: 37
Matt: 49
Paul: 53
Phil: 39

A win for Paul. I felt somewhat vindicated, although I predictably lost, I wasn’t that far behind Phil.
Matt called it a night, leaving the three of us on our lonesome.

Next up we Phil introduced us to CuBirds (Catch-Up Games)

I got really good and getting a good hand and then losing everything to a reshuffle.
The final collections looked like this:

With my final hand being:

Phil was the winner.
I quite enjoyed this one, though it did get a bit annoying having my hand taken off of me every time I had something workable.
Another great evening!

Games Night 29th March 2021

Six of us for this virtual week!

We thought we’d try our hand at Al Hambra (Queen Games)

We got our money cards and play commenced.
We all built something.
And scored something:

Emily	Malcolm	Matt	Paul	Phil	Ruthie
86	56	58	62	75	56

A decent win for Emily there.

Next up we played Seven Wonders (Repos Production)

Cards were played, money changed hands and armies did their thing.

Final scores:

	Emily	Malcolm	Matt	Paul	Phil	Ruthie
CONFLICT	2	-3	6	16	1	6
COINS	2	3	1	8	10	6
WONDER	0	10	7	10	10	10
CIVILIAN	13	6	19	6	22	23
SCIENCE	13	5	0	4	4	0
COMMERCE	5	3	3	3	4	0
GUILD	14	8	22	0	0	6
Total	51	32	58	47	51	51

Matt’s civilisation for the win!

Finally we played Downforce (Restoration Games)

After the bidding, we owned some cars:

Emily (Determined): Blue
Malcolm (Aggressive): Orange
Matt (Tricky): Green
Paul (Cunning): Red
Phil (Strategic): Yellow
Ruthie (Unpredictable): Black

The end of the race looked a bit like this:

A solid win for Phil!!!

Games Night 22nd March 2021

Five of us this week.
We kicked off with Hanabi (Cocktail Games)

After being given the run-down on how to play this cooperative card game where each player is not allowed to see their own cards, we gave it our best shot.
This was the result.

I’m to understand this was a pretty good go at it.
Next up we played Stone Age (Z-Man Games).

And so our little meeples went of ahunting, agathering, abuilding, afarming and erm amakingmoremeepling.
In the end, the game ended.

Final scores:
Emily: 157
Malcolm: 76
Matt: 83
Paul: 124
Phil: 150
Well done Emily, what a win there!
A great evening of game-playing and the last time I win something for ages.

Games Night 15th March 2021

5 of us this week where our names all begin with either M or P. A warm welcome to Mark.
Lots of games played this evening all played virtually via Board Game Arena
We started off with Downforce (Restoration Games)

Malcolm bought the Orange car
Mark bought the Blue car
Matt bough the Red and Yellow cars
Paul bought the Black car
Phil bought the Green car
The yellow car dominated the race and crossed all the checkpoints first.
2nd: Blue
3rd: Red
4th: Green
5th: Black
6th: Orange

Final scores:

Well done Matt!
I’m still not a fan of this one. I don’t know if it’s because I’m not into the theme (which is a thin veneer at best) or it’s a roll and move game but with cards.

Next we played 7 Wonders Repos Production

We chose for a random board which also was randomly determined which side we got. The game got underway nicely.

In the end, the end happened.
Here’s the scores:

	Malcolm	Mark	Matt	Paul	Phil
Conflict	4	-2	16	0	6
Coin/3	5	7	5	6	1
Wonder	10	20	10	3	10
Civilian	0	5	16	20	25
Science	18	10	0	0	1
Commerce	2	4	0	10	0
Guild	8	0	16	0	8
Total	47	44	63	39	51

Well done Matt… again!

With this being a quick game, we gave it another go:

Final scores:

	Malcolm	Mark	Matt	Paul	Phil
Conflict	18	-4	-6	18	2
Coin/3	1	4	5	11	2
Wonder	20	3	10	10	0
Civilian	3	4	33	5	17
Science	1	28	0	0	34
Commerce	0	0	3	13	0
Guild	12	13	10	0	0
Total	55	48	55	57	55

A nice recovery from last game by Paul, and a 3-way tie for second place. Matt broke the tie by having the most coins, followed by Phil pushing me into 4th place!
I do like this one, it’s got next to no down time and it provides many avenues to success – or failure.

Next up we played Draftosaurus

It’s a game we played and enjoyed last week, so why not give it another shot with more players?

Final scores:
Malcolm: 38
Mark: 27
Matt: 34
Paul: 42
Phil: 37
Another win for Paul!
We played another game and were surprised when Phil selected the alternate boards!

Final scores:
Malcolm: 35
Mark: 41
Matt: 35
Paul: 33
Phil: 41
Ties for the top two scores were settled by who had the most T-Rexs. So Phil took the lead from Mark and I achieved 3rd place over Matt.
Still a fun little game I’m going to have to pick up IRL once I get a job and have some of that money stuff to spare.

At this point Mark bowed out, so the 4 of us moved on to No Thanks! (Amigo)

Phil explained the rules to us and we gave it our best shot.

The scores:
Malcolm: -73
Matt: -24
Paul: -56
Phil: -26
Another win for Matt!

We tried again.

The scores:
Malcolm: -44
Matt: -38
Paul: -49
Phil: -13
Phil finally wins a game he’s introduced!
I’m usually a bit wary of basic number card games, but this one did feel different enough to be worth it.

All in all a great evening. Not often we have the lofty number of 5 players, so that was nice as well.

Games Night 8th March 2021

3 of us for this week’s virtual meet up via Board Game Arena.
The players:
Malcolm
Paul
Phil

I wanted to play Race for the Galaxy (Rio Grande Games)

so we did.
I explained the rules as I remembered them (it being over 1,400 days since I last played it) and we gave it two goes.

The first game ended when Paul played his 12th card.
The scores:
Malcolm: 23
Paul: 34
Phil: 32
So Paul ‘I don’t know what I’m doing’ won that one.

The second game ended when the VP tokens ran out, something none of us were ready for.

The scores:
Malcolm: 36
Paul: 38
Phil: 37
A much closer game where Paul ‘I still don’t know what I’m doing’ won. At least I was in the top three both times and Phil was a consistent close second.

I really enjoyed playing this one again and am beginning to feel I’m getting the hang of the symbology. I do find this a very satisfying game to play. Hoping to play it again soon.

With a little time left over we tried Draftosaurus (Ankama)

A new game to everyone which we picked up pretty quickly.
2 games again.
The end of Game 1 looked like this:

Scores:
Malcolm: 34
Paul: 31
Phil: 30
Victory at least!

The end of Game 2 looked like this:

Scores:
Malcolm: 26
Paul: 40
Phil: 31
Another win by Paul!

I think we all enjoyed this one even though the random die rolls can be a bit annoying at times. Looking forward to playing a IRL version of this game as I’m always a sucker for dinomeeples and this looks to be a very tactile game.

Player of the evening goes to Phil who managed to get second place in everything.