September 11, 2007

Tonight, it was just Hal and I, so we played several two player games.

• Phoenix - Hal won the first two rounds. I made a bit of a comeback in the third round, but it wasn’t enough. Hal won 18 to 17.
• Hive - This is an abstract strategy game with no board. The pieces are bakelite hexagons with insects painted on them. Each type of insect has a different move. The object is to surround your opponent’s queen bee. This was the first time Hal had played. We played two games; I won both, but the second game was much closer than the first.
• Octi - Another abstract strategy game. In this one, each turn you choose between moving one of your pieces, or making one of your pieces more powerful. The rules list several different variations of the game, depending on how complex you want it to be. We played the “fast” game twice. Hal won both times.
• Fibonacci - And yet another abstract strategy game. You move your pieces around the board in amoeba-like groups, trying to surround your opponent’s center piece. This is one of my favorite abstract strategy games, but it doesn’t seem to attract much notice. Hal and I played twice; I won both times.
• Tantrix - And still another abstract strategy game! This game also has pieces that are bakelite hexagons, and does not require a board. Each piece has three line segments on it, each line segment is in a different color (there are four colors total). Players place pieces trying to make the longest possible line or biggest possible loop in their chosen colors. At the end of the game, each player scores the one line or loop that would give the most points. Hal won 17 to 13.

Our next session is on September 25. Hope to see you there.

August 28, 2007

Eight people played three different games tonight.

• Power Grid - played by Eli, Pete, Adam, Phil, and myself. We played on the U.S.A. map. Adam tried running on all environmental plants for a while. I held a monopoly on garbage plants throughout most of the game. During what turned out to be the second to last turn, Pete bought a little too much coal, and ended up missing out on the win because he was a couple of electros short of building into his 15th city. Eli won on the next turn. Final scores: Eli 15 (won on cash), Pete 15, Adam 14, Phil 14, Eric 13.
• Munchkin Bites - Lance, Katie, and Joey. Joey won.
• Poison - Lance, Katie, and Joey. They played by a slightly incorrect version of the rules (they weren’t leaving the card just played in the pot when it went over 13). Lance won.
  

August 14, 2007

Seven people played four different games tonight.

• Thebes - Played by Gabe, Hal, Philip, and myself. This is a light board game where players take the role of archaeologists in the early 1900s. Players must divide their limited time between gaining knowledge, equipment, and assistants in Europe, putting on exhibitions and giving talks, and going to several historic sites to excavate. Gabe won with 57, Philip had 44, I had 43, and Hal had 41. I had played this several times at WBC, but it was a first playing for everyone else.
• Infernal Contraption - Played by Tim, Brian, and Joey. Joey won.
• Unspeakable Words - Played by Tim, Brian, and Joey. This is a Cthulhu-themed card-based word game, where after a player forms a word, he has to roll a 20-sided die to see if he loses some of his sanity. They played two games. Tim won the first game by default, when both Joey and Brian went completely insane. The second game was won by Brian, when he reached the goal of 100 points.
• Qwirkle - Played by Gabe, Hal, and Eric. I held the lead during the first half of the game, but then Hal passed me, and stayed in the lead for the rest of the game. Hal won with 156, I had 137, and Gabe had 119.
  

July 24, 2007

Nine people played seven games.

• Hive - Eric (won), Gabe
• Phoenix - Gabe 23, Eric 10
• Qwirkle - Eric (won), Gabe, Hal
• Munchkin (with all 5 expansions) - Lance (won), Diana, Tim, Brian, Joey
• RoboRally - Gabe (won), Eric, Hal, Phil. Played on the Whirlpool board, with two flags on conveyor belts. Gabe managed to hit both flags in one turn!
  
• Poison - Gabe (won), Eric, Hal
• Quiddler - Gabe 189, Eric 156, Hal 132. We played six rounds (the standard game is eight rounds) before we ran out of time.
  

July 10, 2007

Tonight’s session had eight people.

• Caylus Magna Carta: Hal taught this to Phil, Rush, and me. This is a card game based on Caylus, and it plays faster while retaining much of the feel of the original. It was a fairly close game: Hal and Phil tied at 46, Rush had 43, and I had 40.


• Super Munchkin: Lance (won), Diana, Joe, Katie


• Pirate’s Dice: Lance, Diana, Joe, Katie. Several games were played.


• TransAmerica with the Vexation expansion: Rush (won), Hal, Phil, Eric. Hal’s train went off the edge in the second round.

June 26, 2007

Tonight, we had nine people play six different games:

• Hive - Rush (won), Eric


• Modern Art - Eric 527, Derek 382, Rush 335


• Pirate’s Dice - Lance (won), Tim, Diana, Katie


• Settlers of Catan - Katie (won), Lance, Tim, Hal, Diana, Joey


• Torres - Derek 156, Eric 128, Rush 118


• Carolus Magnus - Eric (won), Derek, Rush

June 12, 2007

Run for Your Life, Candyman!
Originally uploaded by Eric E Haas

The first person to arrive after me was Jamie. Jamie and I played a game of Split, which Jamie won. Then Tim joined us for a game of Aquarius, which Jamie also won. The three of us started a game of Bohnanza. Jamie won with 22, Tim had 19, and I had 18. While we were playing Bohnanza, Diana, Lance, Joey, Brian, and Katie played several games of Pirate’s Dice.

Rush and Phil arrived, and along with Jamie and I, played a game of Fluxx. The game ended when Phil was forced to play a card that gave Rush the win. Meanwhile, Tim, Diana, Joey, Katie, Brian, and Michael started a game of Run for Your Life, Candyman! with real gingerbread cookies. Cookie carnage ensued, and Katie reached the finish line first, with nothing left of her gingerbread man except its two arms, each one down to one hit point. Phil and Jamie left after Fluxx, and Rush and I played a game of Sequence, which I won.