April 8, 2008

• Pünct - Phil and I played a game of Pünct. Forgetting that it would end the game, I played my last piece to the board before either of us could make a connection. Phil won on the tie-breaker, having the most points covered in the center hexagon.
• Wiz War - Phil, Eli, and I. Right at the start of the game, both Eli and I went after Phil. I dropped one of Phil’s treasures on my home base, but Phil caught up to Eli and cast Walking Death on him (Walking Death causes the player to lose hit points for moving) before he could reach his home base. Eli never made it back to his home base, and Phil was able to get two treasures back to his home base and win before I could get a second one.
• R-Eco - Phil, Eli, and I. This turned out to be Phil’s night, as he clobbered Eli and me in R-Eco, winning all three games of the evening. Final scores were Phil 14, Eli 5, Eric 3.

Our next session will be on April 22.

March 25, 2008

There were four of us tonight: Phil, Hal, Eli, and myself.

• Illuminati - we played with the Y2K and Bavarian Fire Drill expansions. With four players, the main goal was to control 12 groups. Phil was Discordia (special goal: control 5 weird groups), Hal was the Society of Assassins (special goal: control 6 violent groups), Eli was the Church of the Subgenius (special goal: control 11 groups), and I was Shangri-La (special goal: control 5 peaceful groups). Hal and Eli had a rough start, and Hal especially was plagued with bad rolls throughout the game. I managed to gain control of two peaceful groups quite early, but couldn’t get any more to turn up. Lots of weird groups came out early, and the game started to look like an easy win for Phil. Eli managed to snag several high income groups, and was generating an impressive amount of cash. Several times we managed to keep Phil from getting his last group, but this ran everyone out of cash. In the meantime, Hal was able to get five violent groups. He then turned up Frankenfoods (a group which takes on the alignment of its master), and was able to take it over with a violent group, turning Frankenfoods violent, and giving Hal the win.

Our next session will be April 8.

March 11, 2008

We had four people tonight, including one new-comer, Adam.

• R-Eco - Phil, Adam, and I played this simple card game with a recycling theme. The game was new to both Phil and Adam. Adam and I tied at 16 (both with 2 dumped cards), while Phil ended with 1 (and 4 dumped cards).
• Before the Wind - Eli arrived right after R-Eco, and joined us for a game of Before the Wind. Adam was the only one who hadn’t played before. The game went three rounds, with Eli and me in the lead for most of the game. Phil had trouble getting the action cards he needed, but managed to pile up a good deal of cash. Going into the third round, I had 34 points in ships, and the right goods to fill a 12 point and a 6 point ship, which would give me over 50 points and the win. Eli had two large ships and one small ship, but didn’t have the right goods to fill any of the available large ships. It was my turn to select cards. I drew two shipping cards and two warehouse cards, and selected a shipping card for myself. Phil immediately bid 20 ducats on my shipping card. As I only had 4 ducats in hand, I had to give him the card. The game went on for a few more turns, and Eli was able to collect the goods he needed and ship before I could get another shipping card, giving him the win. Final scores were Eli 58, Eric 46, Adam 29, and Phil 18.
• Uptown - We finished up the evening with a game of Uptown. This was a first playing for Adam and Eli. Adam managed to tie up the 9 column completely, while the other three of us fought over the middle of the board. Phil managed to connect his two groups right near the end of the game. Final scores: Phil 1, Eli 2, Adam 3 and 9 captures, Eric 3 and 12 captures.

Our next session will be March 25.

February 26, 2008

It was just Phil and I tonight.

• Uptown - This is an abstract tile laying game for 2-5 players. Each player has 28 tiles in a particular color (in the two player game, each player takes two colors). Each tile has a symbol on it, one of the letters A through I, one of the digits 1 through 9, one of nine pictures, or a wild card with a dollar sign symbol. The symbol on the tile restricts where on the board the tile can be placed. Players take turns placing tiles, trying to form the least number of connected groups possible. Captures are allowed, but count against the capturing player. I won, 4 to 5.
• Race for the Galaxy - Phil won with 36 to my 25. I was dealt several high value cards that had no abilities, and made the mistake of holding on to them with the hope of building them later, which hampered my early development.
• Tantrix - another abstract tile laying game. We were fairly even up until right near the end, when I managed to connect a six long segment to my 20 long segment. I won with 27 to Phil’s 20.

Our next session will be on March 11.

February 12, 2008

We had a low turn-out tonight, only four people, probably due at least in part to the freezing rain. We also got off to a late start, so only two games.

• Infernal Contraption - Tim, Brian, Hal, and I played Infernal Contraption, with the Sabotage! expansion. Hal had never played before. I had played the basic game before, but not with the expansion. (See 9/25/07.) Early in the game, Hal played a contraption to his machine that allowed him to draw a card from his parts pile and play it immediately. After adding some upgrades, he was able to draw eight(!) cards from his parts pile and play any or all of them. He was able to build one very impressive machine, but after drawing all of those cards from his parts pile, he left himself vulnerable, and he was the first one out. Brian, Tim, and I continued to slug it out. I was losing cards from my parts pile at a frightening rate, but had a contraption with upgrades that allowed me to take cards from the scrap pile and add them to my parts pile, which kept me just barely hanging on for quite a while. Finally, I got to the point where I realized my next turn would be my last. Judging Tim’s parts pile to be smaller than Brian’s, I aimed my machine at Tim, taking him out of the game, but burned my own parts pile in the process, leaving Brian as the winner.
• Guillotine - [Edited 3/3/08] We had about a half-hour left, so we decided to play Guillotine, which Hal won with 24, Tim had 23, I had 21, and Brian had 11.

Our next session will be on February 26.

January 22, 2008

Only three people tonight.

• Triple Triumph - this is a neat little abstract game for 2-4 players. There are 60 plastic pyramids with purple and green sides in various combinations. The bottoms of the pyramids are also either purple or green. During the game, these pyramids are stored in a bag from which players will later draw pyramids at random. Each player has a “hand” of three pyramids. On his turn, a player tries to play his three pyramids to the board, adjacent to existing pyramids. Touching sides must match color. For each matching side, the player scores one point. If there are four adjacent pyramids on the board, another pyramid may be placed upside-down, in the middle of the four upright pyramids. This scores four points, and the base of the upside-down pyramid becomes available for building another level of upright pyramids. Building on an upside down pyramid allows the player to draw one pyramid from the bag to be used immediately. The player’s turn ends when he is unable to play any more pyramids to the board, either because he has no more to play, or because there are no legal plays available. He then draws back up to three, and play continues with the next player. The game ends when no player can make a move. Phil and I player this for the first time. I didn’t record the scores, but I won.
• Race for the Galaxy - This is a card game with mechanics similar to San Juan, but a bit more complex, and a space exploration theme. Phil, Eli, and I played. It was a first playing for both Phil and Eli. I was dealt a good Alien world, and a development that gave me bonus points for Alien worlds, so I concentrated on building all the Alien stuff I could get my hands on. I fell a bit behind on building. Phil and Eli both built their twelfth card on the same turn, ending the game, while I still only had nine cards down. The Alien bonus really helped me, though, as I had five Alien cards. When the game ended, Eli and I tied with 36 each (we tied on the tie-breaker as well), and Phil had 30.
• Triple Triumph - After Phil left, Eli and I played Triple Triumph. I won 70 to 60.
• Fibonacci - Eli and I played two games of Fibonacci. Eli won the first and I won the second.

Our next session will be February 12. Hope to see you there.

January 8, 2008

We had ten people tonight.

• Fibonacci - Phil and I. This was another hard-fought game which Phil eventually won.
• Maharaja - Phil, Hal, Eli, Jamie, and myself. This is another game that I really like that doesn’t seem to be that popular for some reason. This was a first playing for everyone but me, and everyone seemed to enjoy the game. I got off to an early lead, but it didn’t last. Hal placed his last palace in the 9th round, winning the game. Jamie had 6 palaces and 12 gold, Eli had 6 palaces and 10 gold, I had 6 palaces and 8 gold, while Phil came in last with 4 palaces.
• Zombies - Tim, Lance, Joey, and Brian. I didn’t hear who won.
• Guillotine - Eli, Jennifer, Jamie, and myself. Eli won easily with 25, I had 16, Jamie had 14, and Jennifer had 9.

Our next session will be on January 22.