Games Played 2005 - 2nd Quarter

April

4/2: YS at Game Day with Steve, Eric and Mike

Arriving a bit early to Games Day, I stood outside with the rest and struck up some tentative conversation with a couple of the guys. Once again I was struck by some people's lack of social graces (or maybe lack of hearing!). I said hello to one individual difectly to his face (granted as he walked by both times) and received NO response. Coupled with that, as soon as the door was opened by one of the library helpers, one guy shoved his way past without any word of thanks. I walked in a bit later and made sure to say 'thanks.' This happened again in the room itself as a woman opened the room to the tables and chairs and everyone rushed in to get them, again without a word of thanks. I love playing games, but sometimes with some of the people (especially in this area) had more common courtesy. OK, enough griping...

Once the tables and chairs were set, I grabbed my copy of YS out of my tub and announced a desire to get it to the table. Mike of BAP joined me, along with two 'new to me' face, Steve and Eric. Mike had played before, so I ran through the rules with the two new guys and we began bidding for starting positions. I took Shelley's "be sure to get many black gems" strategy, coupled with an attempt to make sure I could win most of the ties I found myself in. This worked VERY effectively as I wound up placing first in at least two of the gem categories and ran away with the win with 95 points to Mike's 78, Eric's 73 and Steve's 67. A couple of throwaway bids by Steve left me wondering about his strategy, but oh well.

4/2: Oltremare with Jodi, Clark, and Art

After a wonderful lunch with my amazing wife who came to meet me, I headed back to the game room, found the tables VERY full, found that Jodi and her gang had spilled out into the library proper and were hunting for a table to play on. Turned out that one of the players had set up his war game, taking up an entire table for at least 3 hours with no one playing it. Though a bit disgruntled when asked to move it (see above for manners rant, espeically since he was playing ANOTHER game at an adjoining table!), he cleared the table off and we were able to get 2 games and 8 people on the one table - a much better use fo the space!

Jodi suggested Oltremare, so I ran through the rules while the other 1/2 of the group played a game of Ingenious (Einfach Genial). I really do enjoy this game, though I think I have it "solved" to some extent, realizing that luck fo the draw is part of the game, I've taken to not worrying about the Pirate stack very much (limiting the pain to some extent), and making sure I play cards that allow me to deliver 3-4 goods every round. That makes my shipping stack quite large and I zoom ahead in the points at the end. This game was no different, especially with cautious newbies who spent far too much time playing 1 card to ship for the next round cards. I won with 60 points to Jodi's 54, Clark's 42 and Art's 41.

4/2: Can't Stop with Jodi, Clark, and Jeff

With 1/2 the group heading off for a late lunch, 4 stayed for a game of Can't Stop, a classic which I'd actually never played. Though fairly light, I enjoyed the 'press your luck' element, though games of this type find me "crapping out" or being far too tentative than I should be. Jodi, on the other hand, did an excellent job of pressing her luck and gaining the topmost spot on 3 numbers for the win. Jeff and I hadn't achieved even 1, while Clark did obtain 1.

4/2: Himalaya with Jodi and Dawn

With the return of the lunch group, we once again split into 2 and I found myself pulling Himalaya out of my tub and enjoying a game with the "advanced" rules with 2 players who had at least played this new game's predecessor previously.

The three tokens that one gets at the beginning of the game as part of the advanced rules allow one to block a path, cause people to double program a path if they want to go down it, or allow a one-time 'take any good' in a particular city. I really like these additions, because they provide one with some influence and a bit more control over possible items to take. The other addition allows the winner of the "goods comparison" rounds to place a religious or political influence rather than taking the 3 point economic influence. This makes keeping goods in those rounds much more desireable and changes one's plans in interesting ways.

In our game things were close throughout, though I'm sad to say taht Dawn forgot the rule about the 'slowed down' path which I placed, causing her to fail to make it to a spot she wasnted to get to. I benefitted the most, obtaining a transaction instead of her. I think that ultimately lost her the game, sadly. Jodi actually won with an economic victory over me.

4/2: Web of Power Card Game with Jodi and Dawn

I'd created this wonderful adaptation of Michael Schacht's board game of the same name (which I also love) and really wanted to get it to the table. Amazingly, Jodi has never played Web of Power itself, so I was glad to get her feet wet with this version. Like the 2-player version that was released as Richelieu, cards are laid out on the table representing the various regions like in the board game. Players then take cards each turn, given some restrictions, and attempt to collect majorities of cards in the various regions. Also, one can place a "claiming stone" on a card that 'reserves' that card for the player unless an opponent gives up one of his/her claiming stones.

Collecting began and we all attempted to keep pace with each other. As the only one experienced in Web of Power play, I did a better job ultimately, winning with a score of 63 points to Jodi's 50 and Dawn's 34. I think they both liked the game, though!

4/2: Flix Mix with Jodi and Dawn

I had to show Jodi a couple of my other recent purchases, and this one that the students at school just love hit the table first. A "play all your cards as fast as you can" game usually doesn't work well for me, but I enjoy this one because you have to recognize the pattern s in the other cards and play your cards on at least two of the "dots" of already played cards.

Jodi and Dawn took a bit to get the hang of things, and I did win easily, but on the second of the 3 rounds they did quite well - Jodi ended the round and Dawn and I each had one card left. Unfortunately Jodi had played a card improperly, so she actually lost the round with 2 points to Dawn and my 1 point (points are bad, by the way). It's a fun game that I'm sure Jodi would be able to get the kids in the family to play.

4/2: Coloretto Amazonas with Jodi and Dawn

With my time for leaving fast approaching, I pulled the last of my new acquisitions out of the tub and ran through the rules for the Coloretto variant that is currently my "most played" game of the year. Collections began and everyone earned at least one of the bonus cards. No one achieved the 6-point bonus as that was the pile we all attempted to stop others from obtaining. As the expereinced player I once again won, but again I'll say that I think Jodi and Dawn enjoyed the game (which doesn't last long at all). I won with 54 points to Dawn's 41 and Jodi's 40.

4/5: Tanz der Hornochsen with Etai, John, Courtney, Danielle, Sam, JT and Lindsay

Offering a couple poitns of extra credit if they could beat me in a game menat that I had a much larger turnout for Game Club this week than in the past. Therefore, the perfect game to pull out of the tub was this boardgame version of 6 Nimmt. I ran through the rules and everyone caught on quickly. Lindsay was rather competitive, and sadly she was the one garnering more points than anyone. Yes, she was able to fall back a bit, but stayed with the most points until the end. I actually wound up winning this one with a score of 5 (having earned negative points on the second to last round), followed by Etai at 12, John (and Chris who took his place in the end) at 17, Courtney at 19, Danielle at 35, Sam at 39, JT at 40 and Lindsay at 48.

4/5: Leapfrog with JT, Etai, Lindsay, Courtney, and Sam

I figured a quick frog race was in order at this point, so I ran through the rules of Leapfrog and we began our racing. Once again Lindsay, who actually scored fairly well, wound up losing because she ended on the plate in the third race. Courtney and JT tied for the win at 15 points, Etai and I tied at 10, and Sam garnered 6 pionts. Lindsay actually earned 12 points....and let out a groan as her frog died.

4/5: 6 Nimmt! (x2) w/ JT, Jody/Drew, Ashley, Courtney, Anne/Etai, Sam, Chris, Derek, and Andrew

Yep, 10 players for a round of this chaotic card game and we had a blast! I did VERY poorly in the first game, earning 35 points and only losing to Andrew. In game 2 I did much better with 8 points, losing only to Ashley who scored only 1 and Courtney who wound up with NO points!

4/5: Wheedle with JT, Jody, Anne, Derek, and Andrew

One final game for the day, and we decided on 3 rounds of this loud and totally fun stock game. I did very well on the first round with a 15 point take, then floundered pretty badly to a score of 27 at the end, leaving me in 2nd place. Anne won with 33 points, and I was followed by Jody at 17, Derek at 16, Andrew at 14 and JT at 5.

4/9: Ticket to Ride - Europe with Clark, Shelley, Michael, and Jodi

An April 8 release date meant that I had to run to the store Friday to snag a copy of this new version of the SdJ winner to take to Jodi's game gathering - and I'm glad I did! Like its forerunner, the European version gives you the options of taking cards, claiming a route, or taking tickets that you need to fulfill, but there are some nice wrinkles that make this more of a "gamers' game."

First, at the beginning of the game players receive ONE big ticket to fulfill, along with three shorter ones. Players choose to keep at least two of these, but then ALL of the long routes are out of the game (no disparities due to the long route claimers that can happen in TtR itself).

Next, there are two new kinds of routes to claim. The first, Ferries, requires one or more locomotive cards, thus churning those through the system a bit better. The second, Tunnels, forces the claimer to possibly play up to THREE more cards in the claiming color - three cards are turned over from the top of the draw dack and any that match the color used to claim require another card to be played.

Finally, there are train stations (3 for each player) that can be built. These are worth 4 points each at the end of the game if they don't get built - a decision that might be called into play. Only one station can go into a city, and they can as a conduit for a player who hasn't been able to claim a route into or out of that city. In other words, a player uses another's route for one segment.

Our game found 3 experienced TtR players along with a couple of newbies (a surprise given the popularity of this one, but it turns out Jodi, the game buyer for much of the group, isn't a big fan of the original. Jodi became the goddess of the cards, drawing a huge hand that made me quite nervous. She did claim the one 8-ticket route and probably would have scored higher if I hadn't ended the game when I did. I had a long, circuitous route from Scandinavia to southern Russia that I completed, along with a couple of other tickets that I snuck in at the end. The tickets, though fewer than Shelley's, wound up giving me the win at 131 points to Shelley and Michael's 117, Jodi's 100, and Clark's 85.

I like the tweaks to the system and certainly see this one coming out often.

4/9: Web of Power with Michael, Shelley, Clark, and Jodi

The previous Saturday saw me playing game with Jodi and it turned out that she'd never played Web of Power, one of my favorite medium-weight games. Happily, I brought along my copy, ran throught he rules for everyone, and we began our monastery and advisor placements. The beauty of this game, in my opinion, is that it's deep enough to get you thinking, has some luck, but ultimately doesn't outstay its welcome. Also, the game stays really close throughout if everyone's paying attention to their possible choices. As the player with the most experience, I did wind up winning, but it was close and everyone had caught onto what they needed to do before long. I scored 44 points to Jodi's 38, Michael's 37, Shelley's 36, and Clark's 25.

4/9: Die Weinhandler with Shelley and Michael

After a quick break and a shuffling of the groups, Michael pulled this wine-themed game off the shelf and I ran through the rules for his benefit. Shelley and I had already played this one, though it seems that I do more poorly at some games that I've played more than newbies! Bidding games tend to be a weak area for me, and an over-bid in the first round left me so far behind the 8-ball for much of the rest of the game, that my wine cellar was pitiful in comparison to either Shelley's or Michael's. In fact, they finished theirs, while mine was still in its infancy. I wound up with a rather pitiful 53 points to Michael's 65 and Shelley's 76.

4/19: King's Breakfast with Chris, Derek, and Lindsay

Another week of school, and another Game Club! STudents began to trickle in as Tutorial started, and I figured we should try this quick and easy game of food portions and proper behavior as a guest. Keeping pace with what's available is key, and as an experienced player of the game, I was able to garner the most points, though everyone did a good job of keeping their choices below the King's feast. Lindsay did wind up losing out on one of her choices and that put her in last place with 58 points. Derek earned 59 points, Chris came in second with 64 and I won with 73.

4/19: 6 Nimmt with Laura, Chad, Chris, Sarah, Lindsay, and JT

After a good reception of this game last time, and due to the fact that it plays with up to 10, 6 Nimmt hit the table next. Luck of the cards, of course, plays a role in this one, and certainly more players equals even grater chaos, but the fun of the moans and groans as cards are turned and the possibility of scoring (which is bad) occurs is priceless. Chad and JT just couldn't catch a break and wound up with 26 and 25 points respectively. I wound up with 15 points, with Lindsay earning 10 points, Laura getting 9, Sarah finishing with 6, and Chris winning with 2 points.

4/19: Perudo with Chad, JT, Laura, Chris, and Lindsay

The call of the cups came next, one of those games that just sits on my shelf and doesn't get played very often, but actually should come out when there's 6 players and you want to have some fun. Dice rolling and bidding then began and Chad just couldnt' catch a break, calling JT and losing dice quickly. JT was the next one out, with Chris systematically robbing him of dice, followed by Laura who couldn't seem to catch Chris in a lie, then Chris. I had 1 die left by this point, and had to go head to head against Lindsay, who still had 4 die. A couple of great rolls later (I rolled ones which are wild), and we were down 2 dice to 1. Unfortunately, my last bluff attempt fell short, since it turned out that Lindsay rolled TWO 1's. She bluffed me for the win.

4/19: 6 Nimmt with JT, Chad, chris, Laura, Frances, and Lindsay

Another game of 6 Nimmt with 7 players and this time JT was the dominant force, getting NO points by the end. Laura nearly won with 2 points, followed by Frances at 10, and Lindsay and me tied at 12. Chris and Chad once again brought up the rear.

4/19: Tanz der Hornochsen with Lindsay, Jody, Frances, Kai, JT and Ashley

Another switch of players, and another game switch, but this time to a similar choice - the boardgame version of 6 Nimmt. I enjoy this game with a number of players, because the chaos just makes for more of those groans that I spoke of before. Tense, with the outcome up in the air right until the end, our game looked like a painful loss for me at first, but then the magical row what allows you to take away points opened up and I was able to get back into the thick of it! In fact, Frances then scored points and wound up "ahead" of me in point totals by one point! Lindsay finally won a game with 5 points, followed by Jody at 9, me at 10, Frances at 11, Kai at 18, JT at 35 and Ashley at 39.

4/26: Einfach Genial with John and Collin

Game Club started early, as John wanted to get going, Collin wanted to join in on a game, and El Gato was working diligently on getting the paper done. I decided to teach them Einfach, and proceeded to leave out a rule (forgot to exclude the outer ring since we were playing with 3 players) and that left scoring oppotunities wide open. I actually trounced the guys, getting all of my colors to 18, a first in my playing of the game. John ended with a low of 9 and Collin finished with a low of 8.

4/26: flowerpower with John

John wanted to keep on playing, and with Collin actually getting to work, a 2-player was in order. Little did John know that I'm a bit of a shark at this nondescript little game, and I wound up trouncing him, playing at least 7 tiles after he'd filled up his side (I TOLD him to play to the shared area more, but he kept building his little areas!). I snagged 21 points to John's 14.

4/26: Tanz der Hornochsen with Victoria, Shannon, Kevin/Etai, Eric/John, Chris, Joe, and Brian

with a big influx of students after the last bell, it was time to pull out a larger game, and this one fit the bill since it can take 8 players. I ran through the rules for everyone (though Shannon and a couple others just didn't seem to grasp the logistics) and I attempted (rather unsuccessfully this outing) to keep my scoring down to a minimum. Joe actually did quite well, ending the game with a win at 9 points, followed by the teams of Kevin/Etai and Eric/John at 18, Brian at 19, me at 23, Shannon at 32, Chris at 41 and Victoria at 53.

4/26: Pit with Shannon, Victoria, Etai, John, Chris, Joe, Jody, Natalie, and Jessica

Players coming and going made this game even more chaotic than usual (and that's saying a lot!). After finding out how much I enjoy Wheedle, this one - Wheedle's forefather - deserved some time on the table, and the bell just adds to the fun. Unlike Wheedle where you're trying to get majorites in everything and you trade by color/type of stock, this game involves trading anonymous stocks in the same quantity. This, of course leads to much shouting and some trades that wind up being two Corn for two Corn. I must say that this was great fun and I was hoarse afterward. Etai pulled off the win with 285 points to John's 245, my 125, Joe's 120, Shannon and Victoria's 75, Jessica's 50, and Natalie and Jody's late-comer scores of zero.

4/26: 6 Nimmt! with Jessica, Chris, Jody, Natalie, Chris, Frances, Joe, and Sam

More additions, so 6 Nimmt with nearly a full allotment hit the table next. Quick rule refresher/teaching for some, and we were off to atttempting to make the most of the hand dealt. Frances won with only 2 points at the end, followed by Jody with 6, then Chris at 8, Sam at 10, Chris #2 at 17, me at 21, Joe at 22, Natalie at 25, and Jessica bringing up the rear at 34.

4/26: 6 Nimmt! with Jessica, Ashley, Chris/Courtney, Sam, Jody, Natalie, Kai, Frances, and Joe

Another round of 6 Nimmt was necessary, and this time I did a bit better, but still wound up taking a rather painful row and earning 17 points. Sam was the supreme winner with ZERO points, followed closely by Joe with only 1. Jessica earned 7, improving dramatically, followed by Kai at 13, Frances at 16, Ashley at 18, the Chris/Courtney team at 20, Natalie at 22, and Jody with a huge stack in last.

4/26: Arriba with Kai, Jessica, Etai, and Courtney

Time for a quick tournament, so I pulled out this fun shape recognition and dexterity game. The students played two initial rounds of 5 players each, then I jumped in for a final round against the winner and runner-up in each of those games. Given that they'd warmed up and I hadn't, I pulled a rather respectable 16 for 3rd place. Courtney won with only 4 cards left, followed by a 9 for Jessica, a 17 for Etai and a "too many to count" last place for Kai.

4/26: Nur Peanuts with Etai, John, Sam Natalie, and Frances

I hadn't pulled this one off the shelf in awhile, so I thought I see how it might go over at school. the guys liked it, especially since I did so poorly at it, but I have to say it's not a favorite of mine at this point. I'll ahve to try it again with the group, but the luck of the dice roll just annoys me to no end - especially since I jus can't catch a break. Sam won with a stack of bills totalling 12000, followed by Etai at 9200, John at 8900, Natalie at 5200, Frances at 4600 and me with ZERO.

4/26: Web of Power with Etai, Sam and John

OK, now ti was time to bring out the REALLY fun stuff! I love this game - short and thought-provoking - and figured this group would grasp the concepts and enjoy it too. Thankfully I was correct. Though they missed some of the obvious scoring opportunities or chances to take points from others, they still played a close game. My experience with the game won the match, but each of them stayed within a couple of points of the others, showing that they had figured out what might work for them. Counselors (cylinders placed in capitals for the second scoring round) were a bit lost on them, but they'd have it down for a second game. I won with 49 points to John's 40, Sam's 38 and Etai's 37.

4/26: Einfach Genial with Sam, Etai, and John

After a "new game" experience, it was time for one last playing of a game that I'd taught to John earlier. Again, my experience with the game paid off for a win, but John put in a good showing, advancing all of his pieces and beating out Sam with a score of 8 to her 7. About 1/2 way through it looked like Sam and I would be neck and neck throughout, but then John made some nice plays to "genious in multiple colors on one turn and streak ahead of Sam. I won with a 10, while Etai did well in numerous colors, but couldn't get one color increased to save his life, ending with a 4.

4/28: Einfach Genial with John

as my TA, John often sits and reads for English or does something else to keep himself busy since I rarely have things for him to do. Today, since the newpaper's put to bed and we have some free time, I challenged him to a face-to-face game of Einfach. Given its 15 minute playing time with 2 and its scalability, I love the fact that it's also a tense little game head to head. We were neck and neck coming down to the end, but my last play gave me just enough to squeek by with a win - both of us had 9, but John had 2 at that number.

4/28: San Juan with Nick, Tim, and Peter

A Monday get together with the guys, and Peter pulled out his copy of San Juan, an game I hadn't played in quite awhile, but had enjoyed more than its big brother, Puerto Rico. We ran through the various buildings and plays before diving in, and everyone kep the game close, building consistently, though I got behind at one point and couldn't seem to get back into the swing of things. Peter won handily with 29 points to Nick and my 24 and Tim's 23.

4/28: Flandern 1302 with Peter, Tim, and Nick

Wow! What a great game! This one's a brainburner, though, as you're trying to gain majorities in 6 different cities while managing your deck of cards that don't get recycled until you play a card and sit out a round of placement. The tension's solid in this one, and I like the "golden ticket" bonus that the starting player gets at the beginning of each round. Peter won with 41 points to my 37, Tim's 36 and Nick's 32, but we all really enjoyed the game, even though it was a good 2 hour session.

4/30: Hennen Rennen (x2) at BAP with PJ, Jeff, Hareesh, and Shelley

Due to a computer malfunction that I've just worked my way around, this will be attempt #2 at writing up a session report for this game and the next. Very frustrating!

After a morning's work at painting, followed by a garden tour in Palo Alto, GAMES moved to the top of the To Do list! Shelley and I wandered up the peninsula to BAP in Foster City for a game or two. When we arrived, the BAP meeting had been moved to a children's daycare room of the church, making for some interesting chaos inside and TINY sinks in the bathroom. People were in the process of playing Puerto Rico, In the Shadow of the Emperor, Traders of Genoa, and others, but some were looking for a game, so I pulled this new Knizia out of my box and we ran through the rules.

A three-part jigsaw board forms a ladder on which there are spaces for cards with points ranging from -1 to 8. Each player then receives wooden chickens and plastic chips in his/her color. Cards are then dealt from a deck ranging from 1-100, and each players forms a 7-card personal draw pile in front of him/her. Three more cards are dealt to each person to form their initial hand. The first round then begins with everyone choosing a card and revealing it simultaneously. Numbers are compared and the player with the SECOND highest card wins, getting to place his/her card with a chicken on it on the ladder. From then on rounds are played in clockwise order starting with the person who won the previous round. This allows for comparison of numbers and a bit of planning, removing SOME of the luck involved. The game ends after 10 rounds (all cards dealt get played) and then scoring is based on the number of chips you have left (chips are lost if your card has to move down on the ladder) coupled with the points your cards on the board earn. Any card knocked off the board by the end of the game is "in the dust" and earns -5 points.

Our first game was short enough that a second game followed immediately. Game 1 found me at the top of the heap in points, earning 32, compared to Hareesh's 28, Jeff's 26, Shelley's 20 (all in chips with no chickens on the board), and PJ's 7. Game 2 found us with closer scores and Jeff winning with a score of 27 to Shelley and PJ's 25, my 24 and Hareesh's 18. Hareesh pointed out that winning the first round with a low number actually hurt his chances since his card was eventually bumped off the board, showing that luck does have a way of coming back to bite you in this one. Thankfully, it's short enough that a game of it doesn't grate on you.

4/30: Oltremare at BAP with PJ, Jeff, Hareesh and Shelley

The group of 5 stuck together, and I decided I'd pull out another game from my stash that the others guys probably hadn't seen or played. This one works quite well for me as a medium-weight game with some luck of the draw, but ultimately some nice strategic planning as you attempt to createthe best pile of shipped goods. I've realized two things that I DID share with the table, though they didn't take my words of advice too quickly to heart - 1) the pirate stack isn't as painful as you might think, 2) trading should be done, but most often when it's NOT your turn. I'd forgotten that ducats can be used in trade along with items, and this adds another layer to the game that I'll remember in the future.

Our game fell into the typical 'newbie mistake' category where so many games find themselves on a first playing. Both PJ and Hareesh spent too much time winding up with a top card that allowed them to ship only 1 good, meaning that their stack at the end was much shorter than Shelley's or mine. Liberal trading helped push Shelley and me to a tie for Prestige at the end, and I'd earned the Prestige in the middle of the game. Hence, my score of 48 was certainly helped along by those 12 points. Shelley earned 39 for 2nd place, followed by Jeff at 38, Hareesh at 35 and PJ at 24.

Everyone seemed to like the game, realized their mistakes in this first run through, and seemed to want to try it again in the future.

April Games Played: 36

YS: 1

Oltremare: 2

Can't Stop: 1

Himalaya: 1

Web of Power Card Game: 1

Flix Mix: 1

 Coloretto Amazonas: 1

Tanz der Hornochsen: 3

Leapfrog: 1

6 Nimmt!: 6

Wheedle: 1

Ticket to Ride - Europe: 1

Web of Power: 2

Die Weinhandler: 1

King's Breakfast: 1

Perudo: 1

Einfach Genial: 3

flowerpower: 1

Pit: 1

Arriba: 1

Nur Peanuts: 1

San Juan: 1

Flandern 1302: 1

Hennen Rennen: 2

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May

5/4: Kubla's Gambol with John

With some time in Journalism with the end of a news cycle, John and I had a chance to play a game fo this "free" game that will be included in the Kublacon program. I printed up an advanced copy and wanted to try it out, so I ran through the rules and we began placing our cards.

This 2-player game involves each player drawing a card from their stack that's made up of 10 cards ranked 1-10, and playing it on coins valued 3-7. The first card played on a coin is placed face down, but both cards are turned face up when both players have a card on a coin. Therefore, some bluffing is involved. John did quite well, getting me to over bid too often which led to my loss at 12 points to John's 16. This one's a nice little game and I think people will be pleasantly surprised by it.

5/4: 6 Nimmt! with Lindsay, Aaron, Chris, Chris, Josh, and Anne

After a partial game of Pit, the numbers of attendees at Game Club rose, so I had to pull out something that could accommodate more. This game fit the bill (as it usually does) and I actually did fairly well this time. Josh and Chris J couuldn't seem to catch a break, scoring 31 and 32 points respecitvely, while Anne pulled in 25. Aaron and Chris nearly bested me, but lost out to my 7, though Lindsay won with only 2 points scored.

5/4: 6 Niummt! with Josh, Joe, Anne, Chris, Chris, Lindsay, Lindsay, and Alicia

Adding more players to the mix left me with two more players ahead of me at final scoring. Joe took most of the cards on the table and ended with a sad 67, while everyone else was under 20. I ended with 9, with Alicia and Chris edging me out, though Lindsay C. topped us all with NO points.

5/4: King's Breakfast with Chris, Chris, Lindsay, and Alicia

After a preliminary round of King's Breakfast that I sat out of, I joined the winners for a final round (had to mix up the games because more 6 Nimmt would have killed the game for me!). Everyone did a good job of keeping their food totals down, but my exerience paid off and I won with 66 points, compared to Alicia's 59, Chris J's 56, Lindsay's 54, and Chris's 40.

5/12: Balloon Cup with Peter

A Thursday Game Night rolled around and I headed over to Peter's, showing up before Tim could make it. We decided on a quick 2-player and since Peter had never played Balloon Cup, I ran throught he rules and we began. Though I love this game and have played it many times, the luck of the draw of both cards and cubes can really bite you and that happened to a greater extent than ever before to me in this game. I was sitting on a hand of 5 red cards for much of the game with no red cubes on the flights. This left me with few options - I actually had to give Peter a solid card for his side at least 3 times. Coupled with a lack of grey cycling through (I needed a grey to complete the 4-cube flight and had to wait 3/4 of the game to get a second one) and I was left in the dust early. Peter won with 3 trophies to my 1, but it really wasn't that close.

5/12: Carolus Magnus with Peter and Tim

With Tim's arrival, I suggested the options of this 'great for 3 players' Colovini game or Himalaya. A coin toss led us down the Colovini path and boy did this one turn into a brain burner. After my rules read and a break for dessert (yum!), the table was quiet as we figured our options, though some initial rules-clarification tabletalk did happen. The luck of the dice can kill you or grace you with just the right cubes, and I felt both situations in the game. About 3/4 of the way through, I was the beneficiary of a big island shift by playing last, then first. I got the perfect roll and took over a 3-castle island that left me with only 1 castle left to play. However, 2 bad rolls after that left me hurting for the right cubes and Tim took the island back 2 rounds later. In the end we stopped as either Peter would have won on the next move, or I could have played kingmaker and ended it in a tie. Good game, though it went on a bit.

5/17: Perudo (2 sets, so 12 players) at Game Club

I won! Yes, that's right, I actually won a 12-person game of Perudo. My orange dice were working for me as Kevin on my left attempted to bluff me out, but I vanquished him. It came down to Aileen and me, but I had 3 dice to her 1, giving me quite an advantage. Triumph!

5/17: Tanz der Hornochsen with Chris, Laura, Aileen, Courtney, and Danielle

After my triumph, I had to be brought low, and that's just what happened. The chips fell poorly for me, leaving me with the most points, even after Danielle had zoomed ahead. Chris wound up with no points, followed by Laura, Aileen, Courtney, then Danielle, who was ONE point behind me. Oy!

5/17: Hennen Rennen with Laura, Courtney, Frances, and Danielle

With Aileen and Chris' departure, we found ourselves in the 5-player realm and were able to get quite a few different games to the table. This fun chicken game (yes, there are wooden chickens in the box) made it out and I ran through the rules. We each began our card selection, attempting to be the SECOND highest player in order to get on the ladder. I did quite well at this one, getting bumped down only twice and winding up with the top spot early on. Courtney and Danielle tied at 13 points each, with Laura scoring 28 and Frances and I tying at 30 points.

5/17: High Society with Frances, Courtney, Rachael, and Laura

Another 5-player as Rachael joined in the fun by taking Danielle's place. Bids flew around the table even though I'd admonished them not to bid too much! Bidding games are the banes of my existence as I find myself playing far too conservatively and thus winding up on the short end too often. Frances bid too wildly and took the "most spent" last place spot, but I'd only earned 3 points by the end, leaving everyone ahead of me. Rachael won with 16 points, followed by Courtney's 10, and Laura's 9.

5/17: Ticket To Ride with Courtney, Rachael, Laura, and Frances

I really do like this game, and love the fact that everyone who plays it 'gets' it fairly quickly and can do well at it by at their second playing at worst. Yes, I have the advantage against these 'newbie' opponents, but I think they all enjoyed the game, even though it takes a bit longer than the quick and luck-filled games we tend to play at Game Club. Rachael didn't click with the Tickets component until about 1/2 way through, but did an excellent job of building long routes that gave her the initial lead. I received a nice long Seattle to New York ticket to start, completed it, drew more tickets, and wound up with the Vancouver to Montreal ticket (just a couple brief connections), giving me a HUGE Ticket total that really was the difference in the game. I won with 127 points to Courtney's 98, Rachael's 97, Laura's 96, and Frances' 68.

5/17: Metallurgie with Rachael

Rachael had to stick around since her sister Chelsea was working on the paper, so Iconvinced her to play a couple of games to pass the time. The first, this new acquisition, is a card game that involves greating patterns by "transmuting" metals into others. You stack Gold on Silver on Copper on Iron and when a certain number of the same type touch, then you score a point and remove a few of them. For example, you need 9 Irons to make a score, then remove 5 of them. It's possible to score multiple times with prudent removals since the card below could create a new connection. Rachael took awhile to get her head around the patterns, but came on strong late in the game to make it close. I won with 12 points to Rachael's 9.

5/17: Einfach Genial with Rachael

MAN! Rachael just schooled me on this one head-to-head, snagging color after color to move everything past the 1/2 way point while I floundered at low numbers with quite a few. She trounced me with a final score of 11 to my 6.

5/18: Geschenkt with Natalie and Reeta

A quick game of press your luck had to happen since Reeta and Natalie were sitting around just babbling. I taught them the rules and they caught on, but both found themselves in chip trouble, while I took a risk and it paid off as Reeta wound up taking a high card since she ran out of chips. I won with 52 points to Reeta's 62 and Natalie's 73.

5/18: Einfach Genial with John and Sam

John and his friend Sam wandered in as John's girlfriend Sam made up a vocabulary quiz. Rather than just having them hang out, I offered to play a game and John jumped at the chance to try this one again. Though Sam didn't catch on until about 1/2 way through, John and I were neck and neck for much of the match. I actually pulled out a win 11 to 10 at the very end.

5/19: Einfach Genial with John

Rematch time as John had little to do as TA and with Press Night "over," I needed a brain break. Once again I was able to win, but primarily due to the fact that I paid close attention to John's needed colors and cut them off whenever possible. Coupled with good tiles draws, I won easily by 3 points, 9 to 6.

5/19: Einfach Genial with Natalie and Rachael

One final game for the day before these two had to head to class, and I took over from John, slowing moving my colors up, failing to get a "genius" in any, but still winning by ONE point over Rachael, who was in the lead for much of the game. I managed to get both of my low colors to 10, while she had two on 9. Natalie's final score was 6.

5/26: Aladdin's Dragons with Jodi, Shelley, and Julie

This is a LATE update, given that I'm writing it in mid-JUNE and I haven't had any time to update the page. Thankfully, I kept some notes on the games played before and during Kublacon and here's the rundown.

This Richard Breese game's been sitting on my shelf for quite some time and I've never gotten it to the table. Well, since Jodi had her copy available at the pre-con party, we pulled it out, she ran through the rules, and we got down to business. Basically, this game's a blind bid for a large number of items, then spend those items later. We kept everything close as we were all attentive to possibilities and outcomes, though this one ultimately left me dissatisfied. I just felt underwhelmed by the game, having seen better Breese designs (ie. Keythedral - a favorite) and not having a great affection for bidding games (though YS just seems to work for me). Shelley and Julie tied with 7 points, while Jodi and I ended with 6, and since there was no tiebreaker (and I see ties being a fairly regular occurrance given the experience, it's another problem I see.

5/26: Relationship Tightrope with Jodi, Shelley, Gd, and J

Julie moved on, but we gained a couple that I'd met at Conquest a couple of years ago and I brought out this Knizia game for a quick run through. I then received a phone call from Karen, mu sub at school and while I was away, Dr. Knizia himself walked by and chatted with the group. Sorry to have missed that! We began our balancing act and I just couldn't seem to catch a break. J and Gd did quite well, and I think J ultimately won.

5/26: Merchants of the Empire with Jodi and Scott

Shelley headed off to bed (she had to teach the next day), so we pulled out Jodi's homemade copy of Merchants of the Empire (ie. Himalaya) and pulled in Scott as a third player. Jodi's done a beautiful job painting the miniature figures for the game and we had fun with our programming of our moves. I stupidly didn't write down the final scores, but think that the new published version does a better job with a few of the mechanisms, and limits the number of political and religious influence better. Great game, though.

5/27: Geschenkt with Peter and Heather

Quick game of Geschenkt after we'd set up and prepped as best we could. Heather gambled big and unfortunately saw her gamble fail her in the end. She finished with 67 points to my 44 and Peter's victorious 40.

5/27: Louis XIV with Greg, Sam, and Kim

For better or worse, I actually attempted to sit down and try a new game Friday evening of Kublacon. Learning a new game with a headset blarinig in your ear, however, is not the perfect setting for success, and about 1/2 way through the game I realized I'd missed a very important rule where one of the chits one could collect worked as a wild. No wonder I was 1-3 steps behind everyone else! With a number of cards that act as "goals" to acheive, and given that the more difficult ones can just clog up your hand though they're worth the same number of points in the end, I think I'd go with a 'always go for the cheaper cards' strategy next time and see what happens. I finished in last place with 34 points, though this was only 2 points behind Kim at 36, but well behind Sam's 46 and Greg's 41.

5/28: Ubongo with Mike, Kevin, and Nicole

My new FAVORITE game!!!! I love the tetris-like pieces that you're supposed to fit perfectly to the various boards you're given. The timer, the multiple possibilities through the roll of a die to dtermine which pieces you use, etc, means that you have to think on your feet, and face either the wonderful feeling of satisfaction or pain when you complete or fail respectively. I actually did quite well and won this game, followed by Kevin, then Mike, then Nicole. ADDICTIVE!

5/28: Ubongo with Scott (Aldie), Shelley, and Kim

Aldie and Derk finished an AMAZING Geekspeak the previous hour and Guido Teuber had mentioned Ubongo, so I pulled Aldie into a game. Coming off the high of the Geekspeak, Aldie kicked our butts, coming in 1st on nearly every round I came in last place this time, but dominated the last round, giving me a victory of sorts.

5/28: Diamant x3 with Aldie, Kim, Michelle (x2), Derk, Shelley, and Greg

I figured since it was fairly late, beers and wine were being sipped, and we had 7 (then 8) players, Diamant, another new acquisition, deserved an inaugural playing. This one's a 'press your luck' gmae that involves exploring caves a a group, splitting up the profits of successful diggings, then running out of the cave with your treasure before running into two of the same catastrophes and losing your loot. The neat twists are that running from the cave can be very profitable if you're the only one who leaves at that time. Since gems are split evenly with left overs left behind, if you leave, you get all of that loot. However, if you leave with others, you have to once again split the items. Also, once a catastrophe causes fleeing, the next cave is less likely to have that event occur (you remove one of those cards for subsequent rounds). We had fun with the game, it's light filler, and the gems are beautiful. I actually won the first game we played, Aldie won the second, then Greg wandered through one cave by himself for a huge treasure trove and the win in game 3.

5/29: Metallurgie with Kevin

Kevin swung by Tabletop at a lull, so we pulled this one out of the bin and I ran throuigh the rules. I like the pattern recognition aspect to this one, and have done well in the games I've played of it. The luck of the cards IS readily apparent, and I wound up with some solid scoring opportunities. We finished quickly and I scored 12 points to Kevin's 7.

May Games Played: 28

1) Kubla's Gambol: 1

2) 6 Nimmt!: 2

3) King's Breakfast: 1

4) Balloon Cup: 1

5) Carolus Magnus: 1

6) Perudo: 1

7) Tanz der Hornochsen: 1

8) Hennen Rennen: 1

9) High Society: 1

10) Ticket to Ride: 1

11) Metallurgie: 2

12) Einfach Genial: 4

13) Geschenkt: 2

14) Aladdin's Dragons: 1

15) Relationship Tightrope: 1

16) Louis XIV: 1

17) Ubongo: 2

18) Diamant: 3

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June

6/10: Vom Kap bis Kairo with Shelley

Yes, that's right, June 10! OK, I did play a couple of games at school that I forgot to keep track of, but really haven't had time to do much gaming with everything going on at school and home. So, when we had some time to kill before and during graduation at LGHS, I pulled a couple of games out of my pocket and proceeded to have Shelley eke out victories from me!!

In this first game, I thought I had everything in the bag. I was 2 tracks ahead of Shelley with only 1 more to go, but she then outbid me twice, scored some excellent track, and there was nothing I could do. She won 8 to 7.

6/10: Die Fugger with Shelley

Another little card game that plays big, and again Shelley pulls off the victory. This time I did quite well for the initial rounds, found myslef stymied in the 4th and penultimate round, but had a large hand due to merchants for the final round. Behind by 21 going into that round, I attempted to make the most of my down card (we both only put 1 down) and moved wine up fairly far. However, Shelley's down card was at 9, and though I scored 52 points on the last round and with my down card, her 33 points kept her 2 ahead for the win at 124 to my 122. Still a great game!

6/11: Walk the Dogs with Erik, Robin, Shelley, Jeff, and Ellie

Erik had us over for a "Simply Fun" party, with Candy as the rep in charge. We started off the afternoon with the BEST of the Simply Fun games, Walk the Dogs. Starting with a row of 60+ dogs, the object is to play one of the two cards you are dealt, taking dogs from the front, back or both of the line, and creating your own line with like dogs grouped earning more points than solo dogs. A quick game to learn (the only one we bought of those played), and the rubber dogs included are just great! Shelley's already given a copy as a gift, and we snagged a copy as well. I wound up coming in second place with 20 points to Robin's 22. Shelley brought up the rear with only 6 points, but did enjoy the game.

6/11: Linkity with Shelley, Robin, and Ellie

This one's a word game from Simply Fun that's made up of a number of cards with a letter on them. The object is to get rid of your cards by playing them and saying a word that relates to the word said before it. For example, if I laid down an "A" card and said, "apple" then someone could play an "S" and say, "Slice." I could then lay down a "T" card and say, "tennis" since you might hit a slice in a tennis match. If a word is doubted, the group votes. I'm not a big fan of word games (weird, given my profession), but this one falls into the "don't need to buy it, but I'd play it" since it plays fast. I won with only 4 points (points are bad and given for cards in hand at the end of a round) after 4 rounds.

6/11: Ubongo with Erik, Robin, and Shelley

After a couple other demos of Simply Fun games, it was time to dip into my tub o' games and play something else. Ubongo, a game I happen to love, and one that few have seen yet, made it out of the tub first, and I ran through the rules for placement and such. This one never fails to both frustrate and amuse as every player winds up with at least one board that 'just doesn't work' until someone else shows them the error of their ways. The timer makes this one frantic, and I actually LIKE the gem scoreboard now - it turns out that we've been playing THAT wrong too, as you're actually supposed to finish your board, move your guy, AND take your gems before the timer runs out - YIKES! With our game (take gems after everyone completes) I wound up winning with 7 gems of a color to Shelley's 6, and Robin and Erik's 5.

6/11: Himalaya with Erik, Candy, and Robin

Candy really wanted to try out Himalaya (another example of the "no one has a copy in the States yet" situation), so I brought it out of the tub, ran through the rules (a bit more to them than Ubongo) and we started seeding the board and roaming through the mountains with our yaks. I must say that this one hasn't lost its fun factor - I love the little plastic bits for each player's yak, political, and religious influence, and the 'doughnut' markers for the contracts work really well given the fact taht cities might already have a religious icon in them and thus fit right into the middle of the contract when placed. This time everyone balanced out their items quite well. Candy and Robin were tied at the end of round 12 for least religious, leaving them in for the next elimination. Candy's ZERO in political regions left her out in the cold, then economic found Robin with 35 to Erik's 26 and my 23. Solid game throughout.

6/14: Einfach Genial with Shelley

Finding ourselves on summer break at the end of a hard day's work on the house, but not wanting to watch TV, I convinced Shelley that we should play a game or two. Unlike our last head-to-head matches at graduation, this time I was able to get the upper hand. Our Einfach Genial game came down to the wire, with Shelley needed Orange, just as I was able to block off scoring in that color. Her 1 point low hurt her when compared to my 5 point low. Yes, I actually beat my wife in a head-to-head match!

6/14: Lost Cities with Shelley

Sadly, much of the bloom has fallen from this initial rose of a game. One of our first 2-player acquisitions, we played this one a TON when we first discovered it, loving the 5-suit strategies and the pain of having to play one of those cards from your hand. Unfortunately, it just doesn't work very well for us anymore. We played 2 rounds and found that the tension we used to feel has become annoyance and frustration now. I'd much rather play flowerpower, Balloon Cup, Odin's Ravens, or Starship Catan if we want a strictly 2-player game on the table.

OASIS OF FUN!!!!

6/23: Ubongo with Mary, Kevin, and Shelley

Well, we made it to The Oasis! After flying to Atlanta Saturday evening, Mary, Kevin, Shelley and I rented a car and travelled to Savannah for Sunday through Tuesday. Sunday's lunch/dinner was at Lady and Sons - a 1 1/2 hour wait led to us getting seated at 3:00, but man was it worth it! Hoecakes, Biscuits, Mac and Cheese, Chicken, Pork, Greens, Mashed Potatoes... a carb feast that stayed with us until the next morning. We toured Savannah on foot, enjoyed the squares everywhere, stopped at our favorite tea joint for lunch on Monday, found out that the "gourmet" grocery in town was, according to more than one source, located at the gas station, and headed out to Tybee Island to gawk at its lighthouse.

Tuesday found us back in Atlanta in time for another great meal at South City Kitchen, followed by a jaunt over to the Botanical Gardens for an evening of wandering through the plants and a SPECIAL treat - a huge model railroad exhibit set up outside the greenhouses. Awesome in scope and breathtaking given the weaving of plant life throughout, I joined the kids in running around and following the 6+ trains that ran throughout the exhibit. This was our 3rd year of going to the Botanical Gardens and we've yet to be disappointed.

Wednesday found us catching and EARLY flight to Washington DC. We decided at the last minute to actually attempt to use the tickets I'd purchased for the Marillion acoustic show out in Arlington, VA. We also made it a point to head to Shelley's favorite tea place, Teaism, for lunch, and actually went to one of their 3 restaurants for nearly every one of our meals while we were there. We also saw Marillion at an in-store appearance at DC's Tower Records, then attended what turned out to be one of the best concerts we've ever been to that evening. Marillion (sans drummer and keyboardist) changed up their compositions and made each tune sparkle. We didn't want them to leave, and given that this was their last night for the tour, they seemed loathe to have it end. Just fantastic!

Thursday found us waiting in line to go to the National Archives (closed last time we were in town) - a favorite of Shelley's. They've remodelled the entire place, adding some amazing displays from the archives. We could have stayed even longer, but a plane flight back to Atlanta called.

Upon returning to Atlanta and finally getting a decent room and a hot shower (accommodations in DC were less than optimal), we found Kevin and Mary, took my box of games down to the game room, and pulled out Ubongo. Giggles and frustrated groans ensued as Mary just couldn't wrap her brain around this one. The one time she actually finished first, she'd played the 3-tile side when the rest of us were playing the 4-tile side. The fun here, though, is that even a person bringing up the rear COULD collect the needced gems to be in the hunt. Kevin won with 6 gems of one color compared to my 5, but Shelley was right behind with 3 sets of 4 and Mary was able to collect a set of 4 for herself.

6/23: Oltremare with Mary, Kevin, Shelley, and Greg

The California Gaming Contingent then joined together for a game of this new favorite, using the supplemental boards I'd produced. I agree with Tami? Angela?... who said that this one supplants Bohnanza for me. It uses some of the same mechanisms, but adds just enough else to make for some excellent combinations of choices. Trading, movement around the board, trying to balance what cards to play and how those will earn various items...it just works for me. That said, our game was close and I pulled off a 1-point victory over Greg, 43 to 42. Shelley and Mary each earned 33 points and Kevin made a first-time player mistake of not shipping enough, earning 30 points total.

6/23: Flandern 1302 with John, Greg, and Kevin

Here's another 'new' acquisition that I was glad to see someone had brought. Greg and Kevin were eager to learn something new, and we roped John (love playing with John!) into the game. I ran through the rules, consulting the text occasionally, since I'd only played once before (think I got everything right), and we began our playing of cards and placement of tiles.

players vie for majority in six cities on the board, but can only place in them ONCE using cards, until they play a card returning their used card back to their hand. Tense standoffs occur as the decision of when to forego placing a tile in order to gain cards back for subsequent rounds can be difficult. The one rule I'd missed from my previous game that turns out to be a HUGE factor is that like-colored tiles cannot be placed adjacent to one another. A couple of times during the game I made the "D'oh!" maneuver to place into a city, only to realize that I couldn't. However, given the late hour and everyone's relative newbie status, we all made similar errors and I actually pulled out a win, scoring 42 points to Greg's 32, Kevin's 28 and John's 24. Everyone gave the game a solid thumbs up, though "brainburner" was the word bandied about afterward.

6/23: Coloretto Amazonas with Greg

Ending the day with a quick one - another new one for Greg - I taught Greg this Coloretto variant that works best with 2 players. We began our animal collecting and actually ended the game by going through the entire deck, rather than with one of us collecting 3 sets. This menas we were paying close attention to what we were both collecting, and made the score quite close. I won with a better group of incomplete sets, scoring 45 points, but Greg pulled in a decent 32.

6/24: Untergang Von Pompeii with Kevin, Shelley and Greg S.

Heading down to the game room to see if anyone was up for breakfast, Shelley and I ran into Greg Schloesser heading out the door to get some grub. We roped him into joining us at The Waffle House and spent a pleasant hour getting to know and gabbing with a guy whose writings I read all the time on the web. What a treat!

Afterwards, we roped in Kevin for a game of Pompeii, or "the game that's received quite a few mixed reviews since debuting at Essen last year." Is it a great game, you ask? No. Is it fun, if you take it for what it is and play with an enjoyable group of people? Sure.

As others have written, the game's divided into to very distinct parts - the placing of people, followed by the fleeing for one's life. The placement aspect involves luck of the draw, but you get a bonus of more people if you place into an area already occupied. Then, once the lava begins flowing - and it could pop up in various places on the board - you get to draw a tile and place more lava, then move two of your people, each moving the number of spaces equivalent to the number of OTHER people were in their starting space.

Greg's cries of "oh no! Aaaaaaah!" for each fried meeple (they're dropped into the volcano) kept us smiling, and the pace of the game was swift enough for me to say that I enjoyed the game, don't need to own it, but would play it again if asked by the right group of people. Greg won with 11 saved meeples to Kevin's 10, and Shelley and my 7.

6/24: Take 5 with Kevin, Shelley, Susan, Greg S., and Leon

With more people walking through the door, and the need for a 6-player game that wasn't too long, I suggested this interesting 6-Nimmt based startegy game that removes much of its predecessor's luck and adds much angst. A certain number of cards are placed into a ring on the table, each player gets a hand to play from, as well as a +5 and x2 card that are worth -10 points if not used by the end of the game. Green vs. Red bullhead cards are played, and if you place the 5th card in a column, you take it, using the 6 Nimmt placing system. The pain comes in the fact that you will HAVE to take piles, but don't want to set up piles for others to snatch before you. Amazingly, in a game where negative scores are frequent, Greg S. was the only one to go negative! Leon trounced all of us with a fantastic score of 20 to his wife Susan's 12, Kevin and my 8, and Shelley's 0. This one's a good game that I really need to pull out of the closet more often.

6/24: Ys with Shelley, Kevin, and Dave

OK, I've said before that I really like this game, unlike so many other 'blind' bidding games that leave me luke warm. The 1/2 blind, 1/2 open bidding allows for bluffs, but also allows for strong plays that assert one's authority in an area. Also, with the myriad of possible places to bid, they choices one has to make can create a round of fairly straightforward bidding, followed by a round of major angst as one finds oneself in direct competition for a particular region.

Shelley and I had played the game before, but Kevin and Dave hadn't, so we sat down and I ran through the rules with everyone. Given the gem collecting, the market area, the special cards, and such, that took a bit, but I'm pretty sure I got everything in. Competition during the game was fierce for the first and second place gems, and I actually wound up winning that race. The fact that Shelley and Kevin tied for second, forcing them to take the third-place score, helped my prospects considerably. Dave placed first in the next two gem types, but I stayed close and made sure I had a number of the black market gems for the final scoring area. My 20 points there kept me above the fray, even though it was the third-highest total. Dave's 8 points in black gems really hurt his final scoring, and he mis-heard their values at the beginning (sorry Dave). Final scores: I had 85 to Shelley's 76, Kevin's 73, and Dave's 69.

6/24: Australia with Kevin, Lionel, and Shelley

In my attempts to get games to the table that I own, but haven't played yet, I enticed Kevin and Shelley to check this one out, then we roped Lionel into playing as well. I ran through the rules (had read through them twice and played a demo game for myself - yes, I'm pathetic) and we actually used the windmill, but agreed that the "if you don't recognize a scoring, then tough luck" rule wasn't one we'd hold fast to for a first playing. We then began our explorations by cool plastic plane. From the start, Lionel's decision to head off on his own, while we bunched up on the other side of the board SEEMED like a bad decision, but turned out to be a scoring bohnanza. He was able to socre huge points with ocean and land placements that worked in multiple regions, AND wound up with some windmill points as well. He finished the game solidly in the lead with 131 points to Kevin and my 108 and Shelley's 97. Is it a good game? Yeah. Is it a game I want to play very often? Nope.

6/24: Niagra with Shelley, Kevin, Curt, and Susan

In my attempt to play every one of the SdJ nominees, I spotted this game and knew I had to get it to the table. Taking it out of the box and setting it up elicited oohs and aahs from Shelley, especially when I placed the board over the top of the boxtop/bottom to allow for the proper waterfall effect. Just gorgeous, right down to the gems and cool wooden boats. Sadly, beyond the coolness of the bits and neat river-movign mechanism, there's not much that I can say I liked about the game. Each player moves his boats up and down the river, using a set of cards to determine how far, then attempts to collect gems from various places and get them safely to home. Again, the concept is fine, but the play itself just becomes painful. If this game played in 10-20 minutes at most, it MIGHT be OK. However, at 45 minutes to an hour, it QUICKLY outstays its welcome and both Shelley and I were VERY glad to have it end. Susan, who claimed about 2/3 of the way through that she was far behind, won easily with 4 of a kind. I'd collected 6 total gems, while Curt, Kevin, and Shelley had each collected 4. If Susan hadn't won at 45 minutes in, the game would have lasted at least 15-20 minutes more. UGH! AND THEN THIS GOES ON TO WIN THE SdJ?????????? Man, that's pathetic!

6/24: Kaleidos with Shelley and Mark

Attempting to remove the bad taste of crappy game from out gaming tastebuds, Shelley and I tracked down this picture/word game that we'd seen others having a fun time with. Each of 4 players (though boards can be shared) gets a set of 12 pictures (6 on front/back of sturdy stock) and a stand for raising them up for easy viewing. A spinner then determines which two possible letters the start player can choose from for that round. Once a letter is chosen, everyone takes their paper/pencil and attempts to find as many nouns that start with that letter as they can in the picture given the time allotted. Comparing notes afterward, players get 1 point for a word that others also have, and 5 points for a word that only they have.

We played through about 8 boards (Mark's a GREAT guy to play with, by the way), laughing at both the words we found and our ineptitude with a couple of the picture/letter choice combinations. I scored 104 points to Mark's 94 and Shelley's 48, but the fun we had made this the essential #1 pick from the prize table if we were lucky enough to get our names pulled first. Happily, that's exactly what happened and we now have our own copy ready for Game Nights and school functions.

6/24: Take it Easy (Oasis Welcoming Game - 70+ participants)

Stven has just a few traditions for Oasis of Fun, but all of them are great. This Firday Night 'everyone plays' game of Take it Easy is a perfect example. Everyone has a set, cracks jokes as numbers are called, and just has a terrific time as Stven attempts to keep us quiet enough that he can call out the numbers. I usually don't do very well, and this time was no exception, as I only earned 131 points, the second lowest score at my table. Gee earned 122, Jessica, who had never played before, earned 137, Greg earned 148, Tami, last year's winner, scored 154, and Shelley was the high scorer for the table, earning 163 points. The best score in the room, however, was 232.

6/24: Himalaya with Shelley, Greg S., and Sheldon

Given the interest in and relative scarcity of Himalaya, the fact that I'd brought one of the two copies and was willing to teach two games of it simultaneously right after the mixer broke up meant that we had a full contingent of gamers rather quickly. I've sung this game's praises before, and after running through the ins and outs for 6 other players (Shelley'd played before) we all got down to it. Greg was a bit distracted by phone problems for the first few rounds, so I think he may have missed a few programming options and made an oops or two. Shelley couldn't seem to catch a break on obtaining religious influence, and that was her ultimate downfall, as she was eliminated first at the end. Greg lost out on political influence, so it came down to economic influence between Sheldon and me, and my 35 points gave me the win. 7-8 point ratings all around show that, IMO, THIS should have won the SdJ.

6/24: Coloretto Amazonas with Bryan

After dinner and Shelley's decision to turn in, I headed back for a couple of quick games before bed. Bryan was the only person free for a game, so I roped him into this Coloretto variant that he'd never tried before. Even with little sleep (he said he'd gotten 2 hours the previous night) Bryan picked up the game and made it close throughout. I squeeked out a win with 41 points to Bryan's 40.

6/24: Flix Mix with Brad, Mark, and Bryan

We picked up two more gamers for another quick one, and they'd never seen this speed variant, so I showed them how ti worked. My lack of full disclosure about my numerous plays, along with my need to make sure I"m good enough to beat my students when they request it meant that I was first in each of the 4 rounds, though everyone seemed to enjoy the diversion. That ended my Friday of gaming at the Oasis.

6/25: Shadows Over Camelot with Shelley, Patrick, Eric, John, Chris, and Lionel

FINALLY, I got to play this one that I've had since Kublacon...and man is it fun! We had some 'experienced' players, along with other newbies and unfortunately one of the newbies (Patrick) wound up as the traitor, having heard only parts of the rules explanation. This left him fairly crippled in his role for the game, forcing him to reveal himself late, after we'd already completed Excalibur and Holy Grail. Those seige engines still crept up on us, however, but we held our ground, beat them back, and wound up with an 11 white to 1 black sword win. It's just a great game, and a step up from the Lord of the Rings cooperative game from Knizia.

6/25: Tower of Babel with Kevin, Greg, Paul, and Shelley

Thank goodness we played this wrong! I was looking forward to this new Knizia game and like the offerings idea - you can claim an item by taking other players' offerings and using theirs or combining them with your own. Sadly, the rule we missed - that the person making the deal gets to place influence on a site IF they use their cards to fulfill the offer - REALLY hurt the game. Though things went quickly, it felt like a very chaotic mess. Greg has now played the game with the RIGHT rules AND with 4 players - the best fit for the game, from his perspective - and given that I trust his opinion, I look forward to getting this one to the table again. However, it moved from the 'purchase' list to the 'play many more times before you even think of purchasing' list. Oh, and I actually won the game we played, hopefully proving to those who don't believe it that winning a game doesn't make it a game I like! :-)

6/25: Around the World in 80 Days with Kevin, Nolan, Paul, and Shelley

Boy, it's painful when two games that you were looking forward to get played back to back and both of them are major disappointments. As I explained above, Tower of Babel turned out to have a rule problem, so there's a distinct possibility that it's much better than I had previously thought. Around the World in 80 Days, however, left me with a rather bad taste in my mouth too, and we played it correctly. Essentially a race game with some card drafting, I think this one would work if it were played QUICKLY. Unfortunately, we did not play as quickly as I think we could or should have, and the game seemed to drag quite a bit. I think I was also in a rather curmudgeonly mood after the Tower of Babel fiasco. Shelley, Paul, and Kevin all got back to London in the same number of days - 76 - and Shelley had the tiebreaker (home first in the group?) for the win. I made it in 80 days, and Nolan finished in 87 days.

6/25: Palazzo with Shelley, Greg, and Ken

After a much needed break (when did I need to take breaks from gaming? I think my obsessiveness is dwindling a bit), Shelley and I returned to the game room, found Greg ready to play something, and tracked down the one copy of Palazzo that Kevin had brought in order to try another new game that had been getting universal praise. Palazzo's another Knizia release that Alea's release shortly. It fits in the mid-weight category, plays rather quickly, and comes in the 'new' smaller box size that Louis XIV also comes in. When Greg began explaining the rules, I immediately thought of Clocktowers, the little card game that Alan Moon released recently - as in that game you are building a multi-level building. In Palazzo's case, the type of stone, level number, and number of windows are all factors in scoring. The neat addition is the choice one must make at the beginning of one's turn. Either one takes money (getting two cards of money compared to everyone else getting one) OR one selects to buy/auction a building level. Two building levels are drawn and placed in either the center quarry, OR on one of four auction spots. Then the active player either buys building pieces from the middle OR initiaes an auction. The trick is that a 1-story building is worth negative points and a 2-story breaks even, so you don't start earning points until your building is rather substantial. Greg and Ken had played previously, and their experience paid off, with Ken earning the win at 33 points to Greg's 26, my 17 and Shelley's 8. I'm happy to say that this one's quite good and is on the 'buy' list.

6/25: Verflixxt with Randy, Jack, Chris, Jon, and Lainie

Another SdJ nominee, and another that should definitely have won out over Niagra (yuck!!!). This one's a light game that involves atttempting to gain positive tiles without feeling too much of the pain of the negative tiles. The tiles are placed in a particular pattern and are only earned if you are the LAST pawn to move off of them. Yes, it's a roll and move game, but there's quite a bit of tactical positioning here that moves it a step or two above the 'typical' roll and move. When its domestic conterpart arrives, I'll definitely order it, as it will go over fairly well at school Game Club meetings. I actually took many tiles, thinking I'd put myself in a rather deep hole, but it turned out that I pulled in a nice, big, positive tile near the end and wound up tying for the win at 11 points with Jack. Lainie scored 9 to Jon's 1 and Randy and Chris's 0.

6/25: Kreta with Erin and Greg

Shelley headed off to bed, and I found Erin and Greg without a game in hand, so I suggested Kreta, a game they'd both been taught earlier. Between the two of them, and given the late hour, we finally figured out the rules and began this new area-majority game. I must say, this (along with Palazzo) has to be the 'new game find' of the Oasis - I really liked this one. Sure, many of the mechanisms are ones we've seen before, but that doesn't diminish the game for me. Everyone has his/her own deck of card to play from. When a scoring gets triggered (anyone can use a turn to play their Scoring card) you get your played cards back into your hand. The cool scoriong mechanism is that areas are numbered and the person who chooses to score gets SOME influence on what will score down the line by choosing or refusing the next card that comes up in the score deck. Different hand cards allow you to play different types of pieces for influence in areas. I must say that I REALLY liked this one, though this first game and the late hour led to one of those regrettable "did I move the right scoring marker just then?" situations that I think may have given me the win. Thankfully, it was close thoughout and I had a couple of excellent opponents. I MAY have won with 76 points to Erin's 75 and Greg's 73, though I may have been a couple points behind Greg....

6/25: King Arthur Kartenspiel with Brian, Greg, and Ken

A King Arthur game? SURE, I'll play! This one's another Knizia and has a fun mechanism of using Knight cards to beat monsters and then use those to fulfill quests with certain requirements. As quick filler, this one's quite good! Given that it's a King Arthur theme, I have to have it! I focused on a couple high-value quests, but failed to obtain enough to pull me out of last place. I scored 26 to Brain's 45, Ken's 38 and Greg's 30.

6/25: China with Kevin O, Kevin N, Greg, and Ken

Looking for something fairly short since I needed to head to bed fairly soon, I suggested this re-theming of Web of Power, one of my favorite mid-level games. I was also interested in how the minor differences in card drawing and board layout might effect the game. Unfortunately, it seems that things have gone a bit awry here, as the game just seems to have lost some of its oomph. I did wind up winning with 37 points to Greg's 27, Kevin N's 26, Kevin O's 25 and Ken's 18, but we all sat around wondering what had happened to the game. I think the rest of the group actually played a copy of Web of Power that we tracked down to see if there was a difference that they could discover. It's sad to see a game I love so much tweaked to a less perfect game.

6/26: Kreta with Shelley and Kevin

Having enjoyed Kreta so much the night before, I had to teach Shelley and Kevin as soon as I could, and both of them enjoyed it as much as I had. Shelley picked this one up rather quickly and did quite well, earning herself a win at 71 points to my 65 and Kevin's 63.

6/26: King Arthur Kartenspiel with Shelley, Brian, and Kevin

Since I'd enjoyed this game last night as well, I figured I might as well follow up with it, and had Brian from last night's game along from the ride again. Once again everyone quickly caught onto the rules and we ran through it quickly, enjoying what it had to offer. I won this time in a close match, earning 39 points to Kevin and Brian's 36 and Shelley's 33.

6/26: Rüsselbande with Shelley and Angelica

Continuing my search for something interesting and unusual that I wouldn't have a chance to play elsewhere, I pulled this game of pig racing out of Stven's stack and his S.O. Angelica joined in on the fun. Another LIGHT game, but one that doesn't outstay its welcome, Rüsselbande immediately appealed to Shelley who loved the wooden pigs that stack - a cool mechanic, as you ride on the back of the lowest pig when it moves, moving your guy for free. Needless to say, it's on order! Angelica won our race, but that mattered little compared to the smiles and laughs the game evoked.

6/26: Alhambra + expansions (Diamonds, Gates, Exchange, and Visier) with Erin, Kevin G., Shelley, Kevin O, and Angelica

Erin had won a copy of Alhambra from the prize table the night before, and I'd broght my all expansions neatly labelled in with my original set, so I suggested we try it and rounded up the maximum of 6 players. Now I usually don't play this with a full compliment, but adding some of the expansions certainly helps mitigate some of the problems inherent in playing with this number. The Diamonds expansion acts as a universal commodity that can be added to another currency or spent on its own. The Gates allows someone to build a gate where a wall otherwise would block access to the fountain (helps with placement). Exchange allows two currencies to be used together to buy a tiles. Finally, Visier provides players in a larger-player game to interrupt play and buy a tile out of turn if they have the exact amount necessary. Somehow I just didn't have the luck on my side in the game, building an Alhambra with few walls and winding up in last place. Erin won by ONE point over Kevin G. with 93 poitns to his 92. Shelley came next with 87 points followed by Kevin O with 61, Angelica with 42 and me with a pitiful 37.

6/26: Himalaya with Angela and Richard

After an excellent margarita-drenched dinner at the Mexican place across the street, Oasis was officially over, but the group from dinner split up and decided to play a game or two. One group played Tower of Babel, while I taugth Himalaya to Angela and Richard. I have to chalk my pathetic loss to too much tequilla, but I just didn't seem to realize how far behind I'd gotten on religious influence. I was the first eliminated on that, and then Angela was behind on political, giving Richard the win. Though I played poorly, this was an excellent game to end the Oasis with.

June Games Played: 35

1) Vom Kap bis Kairo: 1

2) Die Fugger: 1

3) Walk the Dogs: 1

4) Linkity: 1

5) Ubongo: 2

6) Himalaya: 3

7) Einfach Genial: 1

8) Lost Cities: 1

9) Oltremare: 1

10) Flandern 1302: 1

11) Coloretto Amazonas: 2

12) Untergang von Pompeii: 1

13) Take 5: 1

14) Ys: 1

15) Australia: 1

16) Niagra: 1

17) Kaleidos: 1

18) Take it Easy: 1

19) Flix Mix: 1

20) Shadows Over Camelot: 1

21) Tower of Babel: 1

22) Around the World in 80 Days: 1

23) Palazzo: 1

24) Verflixxt: 1

25) Kreta: 2

26) King Arthur Kartenspiel: 2

27) China: 1

28) Rüsselbande: 1

29) Alhambra: 1

Games Played 2005: 163

1) Carcassonne: 3

2) Category 5: 1

3) Leapfrog: 3

4) Hase & Igel: 1

5) Tanz der Hornochsen: 6

6) Ticket to Ride: 2

7) Razzia!: 1

8) Wheedle: 4

9) Weinhandler: 2

10) Fairytale: 8

11) YS: 4

12) Hispaniola: 1

13) King's Breakfast: 1

14) Coloretto: 2

15) Villa Paletti: 1

16) Mall World: 1

17) Himalaya: 7

18) Keythedral: 2

19) Settlers of Catan: 1`

20) Coloretto Amazonas: 18

21) Die Garten der Alhambra: 1

22) Einfach Genial: 11

23) Balloon Cup: 2

24) Motley Fool's Buy Low, Sell High: 1

25) El Grande: 1

26) Der Prestel Schlossgarten: 1

27) Clocktowers: 1

28) Paris Paris: 1

29) Attika: 1

30) Carcassonne: The City: 1

31) 6 Nimmt: 9

32) Starship Catan: 1

33) Oltremare: 3

34) Can't Stop: 1

35) Web of Power Card Game: 1

36) Flix Mix: 2

37) Ticket to Ride Europe: 1

38) Web of Power: 2/China: 1

39) Die Weinhandler: 1

40) King's Breakfast: 2

41) Perudo: 2

42) flowerpower: 1

43) Pit: 1

44) Arriba: 1

45) Nur Peanuts: 1

46) San Juan: 1

47) Flandern 1302: 2

48) Hennen Rennen: 3

49) Kubla's Gambol: 1

50) Carolus Magnus: 1

51) High Society: 1

52) Metallurgie: 2

53) Geschenkt: 2

54) Aladdin's Dragons: 1

55) Relationship Tightrope: 1

56) Louis XIV: 1

57) Ubongo: 4

58) Diamant: 3

59) Vom Kap bis Kairo: 1

60) Die Fugger: 1

61) Walk the Dogs: 1

62) Linkity: 1

63) Lost Cities: 1

64) Untergang von Pompeii: 1

65) Take 5: 1

66) Australia: 1

67) Niagra: 1

68) Kaleidos: 1

69) Take it Easy: 1

70) Shadows Over Camelot: 1

71) Tower of Babel: 1

72) Palazzo: 1

72) Around the World in 80 Days: 1

73) Verflixxt: 1

74) Kreta: 2

75) King Arthur Kartenspiel: 2

76) Rüsselbande: 1

77) Alhambra: 1