Games Played October 28, 2006

One key to happiness – GAMES

We managed to play only four games in October that counted in our family records. It was a very busy month for all of us, on other activities, and it felt good to get back together and play two games this weekend, anyway.

I have begun giving serious thought to the challenge of modifying our Eurogames that are mostly designed for 5 or 6 players, to allow simultaneous play by our 7 or 8 regular players. It is an intriguing issue.

This week, I brought out Around the World in 80 Days. With one simple modification, it worked perfectly for seven players, although it was designed for a maximum of six. It was Kassi’s first time to play this game, but she learns new games quickly, and she did well for a first time. I trailed the pack throughout the game, until the last turn, sometimes by as many as four cities. However, I drew some good event cards, as well as travel cards, so I was able to make a quick run at the end. I had hoped to do better than I did. I was holding an Elephant card and was ready to move from Bombay to Calcutta, but Sue’s play just before my turn resulted in her drawing the Storm event card, so I had to discard the Elephant card and take a full 12 days for that leg of the trip. It appeared that Katrina had it wrapped up, with a total of 76 days, after Sue finished with 80 and Joel with 79. But, I was able to use an event card on the last turn that brought me to London in 75 days. Joel had just played the Express Train event card, and I was holding the Princess card, which allowed my to use his played Express Train in my turn. That saved me just enough days to beat Katrina. Results: Me first (75 days); Katrina second (76); Joel third (79); Sue fourth (80); Kassi fifth; Mason sixth; Dan last. I believe this will definitely be a game we all play in the future.

As (almost) always, we played Bohnanza, although Natalia chose not to play this time. I had no idea who might win, since many stacks of gold looked similar in size, so I was very surprised to learn that I won by beating Joel and Dan by one gold. Results: Me first; Joel and Dan (tied) second; Kassi fourth; Sue and Katrina (tied fifth); Mason last.

We expect to play more games next weekend, and I hope to have at least one or two more modified for more players by then. It was an interesting month of gaming for the family – of the four games that counted in our records, Katrina won two and I won two. I still trail everyone badly in wins this year (at least Katrina, Mason, Sue, Dan, and Joel), but it feels good to be winning a few, although it’s late in the year. At least I wasn’t completely shut out of wins in 2006.

— Gerald … near Denver, Colorado
aka gamesgrandpa — A grandpa who is a mile high on gaming