The Gathering of Friendless Episode 2, "TAKE ME AWAY TO MARSEILLES", occurred last Friday. The kid was off to the south of France with his mum the next day so he visited me for one last gaming session before he went. (He'll be back next month.) All of the ladies invited declined their invitations for various reasons, e.g. Scrabblette had to study, so there were just five boys.
We started with Hamsterrolle while we were waiting for CyberKev to arrive. Some careless play by the kid and I saw our side get beaten badly by Ashley and Hubertus.
We then took advantage of Scrabblette's absence to play a game she hates - Ca$h'n'Gun$. It seems some female people have a real problem with a game where you points guns at people. I don't like guns at all (guns don't kill people, Americans kill people) but I can see the cleverness in the design. In the first game I was killed very quickly - obviously I should have chickened out a bit more but I couldn't believe how vindictive my opponents were - and Ashley won with $130K. In the second game we used special powers and I was the super-coward (+$5K for each chicken-out) so I was able to play defensively enough to survive and aggressively enough to win with $130K.
We then went on to the flagship game for the evening - Urland. I bought this from the U.S. when Scrabblette was there in April and hadn't played it yet, so I was itching for it. We eventually figured out why there were too many gene cards when CyberKev asked "John, did you buy the expansion?". Oh yeah, I remember there was an erweiterung in there somewhere. So I gave a fairly poor rules explanation - i.e. I read the rule book out - because although I'd read the rules they hadn't made enough sense to stick. The dummy player is a strange concept to me, and although it seemed to work OK I still don't really get it. The way the game progressed was that Ashley, Hubertus and the kid bid very high for gene cards, and CyberKev and I were much more conservative. CyberKev got no genes throughout the game, and I only got one. Mine was a good one though - FEET. Soon I was running all over the board and had an ictho in every area. It turned out that CyberKev and I had played right, as we were contending for the win coming into the final scoring. Luckily the rules favoured me, and I won with 35 points compared to CyberKev's 33.
Careful not to look at the clock, we gamed on. I suggested Cartagena which I think is a great simple game, easy to teach and intriguing for new players at least a couple of times. CyberKev said he never wins, so I thought I probably would. However he did win, by maybe 6 cards, over me. As expected, the newbies weren't competitive. The game rewards experience, but I think there might be a plateau where all players play at roughly the same level of ability.
It was then midnight but we were going strong. I suggested The Battle of Lanka, a card game which Scrabblette brought back from India. Don't you wish you had an international games courier :-) ? CyberKev and I and our lady partners had played this game 4 times earlier in the year, so CyberKev and I needed another play to get it onto our nickel lists. In the first game CyberKev won narrowly over me, and in the second game I won by a fair way over everyone else. In the second game I had a card CyberKev desperately needed but I discarded it for the kid instead. It's not a brilliant card game, but it's easy and asuras and rakshasas make a change from dwarves and elves occasionally.
Anyway, the next day the kid went to Dubai (Hey at Dubai goin 2 London now say hi 2 every 1 4 me by!) and London (Hey y'all how u goin? Goin 2 france 2morrow. london i amazin. tower sweet, lords huge, madam 2sards scary (4 me!) (is he alive?!) lol! bye!) and will be in France soon. "Gimme the sound of the rollin' dice, gimme a whiskey don't think twice, deal me the cards that take my blues away... TAKE ME AWAY TO MARSEILLES!"
Showing posts with label Hamsterrolle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hamsterrolle. Show all posts
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Monday, April 02, 2007
First Plays and It Never Rains But It Pours
Many of my unplayed games are kids' games, and with the kid here all weekend and no Scrabblette I had a perfect opportunity to play some of them.
First up was Careers, an old game which I picked up at the Lifeline Bookfest. It's the one where you decide your goal which is a combination of happiness, fame and money and then choose your careers to achieve that goal. The kid enjoyed it a lot and though the first time that he'd not known enough about defining goals to be competitive so we played again. He'd certainly learned all of the tricks I knew for the second game but lost a lot of cash in a hailstorm and I beat him for the second time.
Next was Upwords which I've always thought of as a children's word game. Maybe so, but it's a bit difficult and rewards thought. I'd like to play it again with Scrabblette when she gets back. The kid can't compete with me.
Last time we were in Melbourne we found a copy of Booby-Trap in a toy shop and the kid put on his pleading face until I bought it for him. We set it up last night and played 5 games in about 15 minutes. We agreed it was kinda boring and needed to be traded. The main feature of the game seems to be that it explodes and sprays bits all over the room which is not a strong point in my book. Nephew might like it.
The kid was sick this morning so I stayed home to look after him. We played Under Cover with 2 real players and 2 fakes. It was clearly going to be a race between blue and orange (me). The kid caused blue to win, and then revealed that he was purple, who'd come last. Huh? Tell me about the strategy? OK, maybe 7 players would be better.
We then set up 13 Deadend Drive (which I traded from schlappy) only to hear a tsunami warning for the entire east coast of Australia. We live 2 or 3 kilometres from the beach so it was of some concern to me. As we played the game we kept the TV news on, and I kept checking the web for news of whether any places further north had been washed away. As the game wore on the putative tsunami failed to arrive further and further down the coast, until by the time the game had finished I'd decided we were safe. The kid managed to kill one of his own people, and the last two alive were both mine. I can't remember whether the gummy old gardener or the seductive maid got rich. I hope it was the maid...
Next up was Cluedo: the Great Museum Caper. I've owned this game for many years and although I've played it quite a few times, I don't remember who with. The kid has wanted to play it for such a long time, but when he used to ask all the time he was too little to be able to. In our first game I managed to catch him after he wasted time wandering around the museum stealing no paintings. Then I escaped with 2. I think it was during this game that we heard the side gate close, so I went and told the dog that someone had invaded her territory. It was a parcel delivery man who'd delivered some games from unhalfbricking.com.au. I opened it to take delivery of Cave Troll, On the Underground, Hey! That's My Fish! and Funny Friends.
Then ensued several hours of punching and bagging, punctuated by a mysterious phone call from the nursing home where my mum is very sick and a trip to the shops to get some superglue to repair the chandelier from 13 Deadend Drive. I set up Hey! That's My Fish! and defeated the kid soundly. He challenged me to another game and I beat him even more soundly. I need Scrabblette to play that one too.
I had intended to play Cave Troll but when we got back from the shops there was a small parcel in the mail box - the Portable Adventures card games from Third World Games - Lair of the Rat King and 8th Grade. As if I hadn't unpacked enough games today already! We played two games of Lair of the Rat King. In the first, I was very badly beaten, but the tables were reversed in the second.
Phew! I feel like I've done nothing but play games all day, but of course I prepared 3 meals and cleaned up the kitchen and all the other domestic things as well. My Friendless metric was as high as -11 at one stage during the day, but I suspect with all of the new unplayed games (well, just 3 of them) it has dropped again.
Oh yes, we managed to fit a couple of games of Connect 4 and one of Hamsterrolle in there as well. It's been a busy weekend. I'm going to bed to relax with a Dungeon Master's Guide.
First up was Careers, an old game which I picked up at the Lifeline Bookfest. It's the one where you decide your goal which is a combination of happiness, fame and money and then choose your careers to achieve that goal. The kid enjoyed it a lot and though the first time that he'd not known enough about defining goals to be competitive so we played again. He'd certainly learned all of the tricks I knew for the second game but lost a lot of cash in a hailstorm and I beat him for the second time.
Next was Upwords which I've always thought of as a children's word game. Maybe so, but it's a bit difficult and rewards thought. I'd like to play it again with Scrabblette when she gets back. The kid can't compete with me.
Last time we were in Melbourne we found a copy of Booby-Trap in a toy shop and the kid put on his pleading face until I bought it for him. We set it up last night and played 5 games in about 15 minutes. We agreed it was kinda boring and needed to be traded. The main feature of the game seems to be that it explodes and sprays bits all over the room which is not a strong point in my book. Nephew might like it.
The kid was sick this morning so I stayed home to look after him. We played Under Cover with 2 real players and 2 fakes. It was clearly going to be a race between blue and orange (me). The kid caused blue to win, and then revealed that he was purple, who'd come last. Huh? Tell me about the strategy? OK, maybe 7 players would be better.
We then set up 13 Deadend Drive (which I traded from schlappy) only to hear a tsunami warning for the entire east coast of Australia. We live 2 or 3 kilometres from the beach so it was of some concern to me. As we played the game we kept the TV news on, and I kept checking the web for news of whether any places further north had been washed away. As the game wore on the putative tsunami failed to arrive further and further down the coast, until by the time the game had finished I'd decided we were safe. The kid managed to kill one of his own people, and the last two alive were both mine. I can't remember whether the gummy old gardener or the seductive maid got rich. I hope it was the maid...
Next up was Cluedo: the Great Museum Caper. I've owned this game for many years and although I've played it quite a few times, I don't remember who with. The kid has wanted to play it for such a long time, but when he used to ask all the time he was too little to be able to. In our first game I managed to catch him after he wasted time wandering around the museum stealing no paintings. Then I escaped with 2. I think it was during this game that we heard the side gate close, so I went and told the dog that someone had invaded her territory. It was a parcel delivery man who'd delivered some games from unhalfbricking.com.au. I opened it to take delivery of Cave Troll, On the Underground, Hey! That's My Fish! and Funny Friends.
Then ensued several hours of punching and bagging, punctuated by a mysterious phone call from the nursing home where my mum is very sick and a trip to the shops to get some superglue to repair the chandelier from 13 Deadend Drive. I set up Hey! That's My Fish! and defeated the kid soundly. He challenged me to another game and I beat him even more soundly. I need Scrabblette to play that one too.
I had intended to play Cave Troll but when we got back from the shops there was a small parcel in the mail box - the Portable Adventures card games from Third World Games - Lair of the Rat King and 8th Grade. As if I hadn't unpacked enough games today already! We played two games of Lair of the Rat King. In the first, I was very badly beaten, but the tables were reversed in the second.
Phew! I feel like I've done nothing but play games all day, but of course I prepared 3 meals and cleaned up the kitchen and all the other domestic things as well. My Friendless metric was as high as -11 at one stage during the day, but I suspect with all of the new unplayed games (well, just 3 of them) it has dropped again.
Oh yes, we managed to fit a couple of games of Connect 4 and one of Hamsterrolle in there as well. It's been a busy weekend. I'm going to bed to relax with a Dungeon Master's Guide.
Friday, February 09, 2007
They Have Some Really Good German Games In Germany (Part 3)
Gezanke auf der Planke - This is a game about pirates not wanting to have a bath, because it seems the traditional way for pirates to have a bath is to walk the plank. The bits look very cute, and it reminds me a lot of the kids not wanting to have a shower.
Hexago - An old abstract game which looks like 3-player 5-in-a-row. It's very ugly but I'm interested in how well it works.
Kayanak - A cute kids' game from Haba in which the players are fishing through ice. The ice is represented by a sheet of A4 paper which you actually punch holes through. What a cute idea!
Kippit - This seems to be some sort of balancing game similar to Hamsterrolle but with a seesaw instead. Why would I need it? I don't know - you can't ever have too many beautiful dexterity games, can you?
Die Kutschfahrt zur Teufelsburg (Coach Ride to Devil's Castle) - A hidden role game with teams and traitors and a cool spooky theme that takes from 3 to 10 players? Yes, I think so. The art work reminds me of an illustrated edition of Dracula. My want-list is more bloated than my belly...
Letra-Mix - You have some dice with letters on, and a timer. Roll the dice and make words before the time runs out. Really sounds like my sort of game.
Hexago - An old abstract game which looks like 3-player 5-in-a-row. It's very ugly but I'm interested in how well it works.
Kayanak - A cute kids' game from Haba in which the players are fishing through ice. The ice is represented by a sheet of A4 paper which you actually punch holes through. What a cute idea!
Kippit - This seems to be some sort of balancing game similar to Hamsterrolle but with a seesaw instead. Why would I need it? I don't know - you can't ever have too many beautiful dexterity games, can you?
Die Kutschfahrt zur Teufelsburg (Coach Ride to Devil's Castle) - A hidden role game with teams and traitors and a cool spooky theme that takes from 3 to 10 players? Yes, I think so. The art work reminds me of an illustrated edition of Dracula. My want-list is more bloated than my belly...
Letra-Mix - You have some dice with letters on, and a timer. Roll the dice and make words before the time runs out. Really sounds like my sort of game.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Bring on the Hedonism!
Hedonism:
One of my favourite blogs is xkcd.com. Amongst the silliness and touching thoughts for the lovesick there are some pearls of wisdom such as this one:
It turns out that I'm going to be spending quite a few days over Christmas playing games. After all, I hope to play all the ones that I give at least once :-). But that's my reward for being a brilliant yet miserable and grumpy Java programmer for the rest of my life. If I could figure out how to arrange my life to increase the playing of games and decrease the misery, I would. I'd keep the brilliance and the grumpiness though.
It also means that while other people are buying investment properties and cars and food for their kids and so on, I'm buying games. I don't feel guilt about buying games - all I feel guilt about is not playing the games that I do buy! My collection is quite adequate now, and I think I'd like to focus more on the unusual games rather than the latest hot thing (except BattleLore, nothing will stop me buying BattleLore), and unusual games can be more expensive. So what? My money, my life... I've got the Settlers 10th Anniversary Edition, Hameln, Hamsterrolle, Bamboleo... all of the outrageously expensive ones that are just so cool! BTW, see my latest geeklist.
When I die I want the kid to remember me as a dad who was a hell of a lot of fun to be with. Bring on the games.
| 1. | the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the highest good. |
| 2. | devotion to pleasure as a way of life |
One of my favourite blogs is xkcd.com. Amongst the silliness and touching thoughts for the lovesick there are some pearls of wisdom such as this one:
It turns out that I'm going to be spending quite a few days over Christmas playing games. After all, I hope to play all the ones that I give at least once :-). But that's my reward for being a brilliant yet miserable and grumpy Java programmer for the rest of my life. If I could figure out how to arrange my life to increase the playing of games and decrease the misery, I would. I'd keep the brilliance and the grumpiness though.
It also means that while other people are buying investment properties and cars and food for their kids and so on, I'm buying games. I don't feel guilt about buying games - all I feel guilt about is not playing the games that I do buy! My collection is quite adequate now, and I think I'd like to focus more on the unusual games rather than the latest hot thing (except BattleLore, nothing will stop me buying BattleLore), and unusual games can be more expensive. So what? My money, my life... I've got the Settlers 10th Anniversary Edition, Hameln, Hamsterrolle, Bamboleo... all of the outrageously expensive ones that are just so cool! BTW, see my latest geeklist.
When I die I want the kid to remember me as a dad who was a hell of a lot of fun to be with. Bring on the games.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Back on the Air, Again
Sad day at my house... the kid's mum is moving out. The kid thinks it's a big adventure, but it's pretty traumatic for me. Luckily we mostly agree on what she should take. But it hurts. I have removed Girl's Night Out and Cranium from my collection at BGG. See, there's a bright side to everything. Also, all of the flowery shit / candles / relatives photos / crap has gone from every flat surface, so I can decorate the place in a way I like. Do you think it would be pretentious to leave a half played game of Through the Desert lying around to look beautiful? Hmmm.... Hamsterrolle has to go on display somewhere, and Settlers 10th Anniversary edition if it ever turns up. Any other suggestions?
I have also got my computer running again, after performing my very first motherboard transplant. Nothing can stop me now! Except that I hate messing with computer hardware. I will go now and run the extended stats for all the new people who were asking about them.
I have also got my computer running again, after performing my very first motherboard transplant. Nothing can stop me now! Except that I hate messing with computer hardware. I will go now and run the extended stats for all the new people who were asking about them.
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