Match Report 9th May 2011

3 light games and a lot of laughter

With Crispin, Natalie and Daniella (and then Ben joining us half way through the evening) we had what turned out to be one of the funniest evenings we have had in a long time, getting three games in, two of which we had not played for many months. I only hope that my efforts to record the events do the evening and the participant’s justice.

Bohnanza (Age 12+, 2-7 players, 45 min playing time)

We started the evening with one of the group’s favourites Bohnanza . A game that requires every player to be vocal and creative in proposing trades that seek to maximise the cards they have available and so generate the richest harvest of beans. This is not a game for the hesitant or quiet, or at least not with

Match Report 25th October 2010

Well the group was small, but the munchies where huge! This week saw the return of Natalie and Liza (enjoying the brief respite from their educational studies) joined by Daniella and Crispin. Pauline had planned to join us but sadly was laid low with a cold, Malcolm was visiting relatives, Alex was touring Florida, Ben was watching one of the boats in their flotilla explode (hmmm – thankfully everybody got off safely) and Ian was cramming more homework in preparation for yet more exams.

Dixit (Age 8+, 3-6 players, 30 min playing time)

Fresh (well actually exhausted) back from the Spiel at Essen I suggested we start with one of the new games Dixit. This years winner of the coveted Spiel des Jahres award, described in brief here. This game (despite being simple and non confrontational) seems to create very strong reactions with people either loving or hating it a “Marmite game” as Ian put it. With Daniela falling in the camp of those that really like this game then it come as no surprise that she triumphed in this game, although without her oft heard cry of ‘ I don’t really understand this game’!

Patrician (Age 8+, 2-5 players, 50 min playing time)

Moving on we gave another run out to Patrician, a more tactical game described here. On this occasion Natalie triumphed which heralded time for the munchies. With an apple cake prepared by Daniela and cup cakes prepared by Natalie we were spoiled for choice and this distraction may have contributed to Crispin failing to win through on any of the games.

Bohnanza (Age 8+, 2-7 players, 45 min playing time)

Lastly we came to the ever popular Bohnanza (described in more detail here). This game was marked by much complaining on my part against the restrictive practices of the ladies who seemed to be picking on me, refusing to trade and then accusing me of sharp practice, as if! With the female dominance and Crispin distracted by the food it was no surprise that Natalie and Daniela tied for first place in this game.

So whilst the group was small we had extra munchies and managed to get three games in and a really great evening.

Match Report 19th July 2010

The team line up for this week was denuded by the absence of Pauline(at a BBQ), Natalie still recovering from her graduation celebrations – well done (actually working with a judge this week but recovering from a party seemed more interesting), Josh up north with his girlfriend, Alex still in Kerry discovering what the Irish mean when they say it’s a ‘soft day’, day after day, after day, after day…., Ben briefly back in the country but with other commitments, and finally Helene having run out of time, after a day out and finding that there are sometimes just not enough hours in the day.

On the positive front our numbers this time were augmented for our second game by two youngsters we found loitering around in Daniella’s house looking for a game It seemed churlish of us adults to be playing such fun games and deny the opportunity to them. It might be analogised to showing

Match Report 16th June 2010

Following unprecedented demand (well Alex indicated that he was around, up for a game and would be away for the next couple of games evenings) we held an impromptu Tuesday event with Alex and myself being joined by Malcolm and Ian.

It looked at one point that Joe might joins us as well however the allure of Brazil vs North Korea I suspect kept this footy mad chap away.

Patrician
With an array of games before them to choose from Alex liked the sound of Patrician (one of the games picked up at the recent UK Games Expo).

Patrician comes with a slightly abstract board showing the major renaissance cities of Italy each with building sites for two towers. The towers can be of varying heights, the smaller cities allowing towers of no more than 5 levels in total, between the two sites, whilst other cities allow towers of up to 9 levels. With the simple rules and the opportunity to score points either from being the player with the most layers in a tower  or collecting sets of three portraits (found on some of the cards that allow you to build your towers  (see the attached photos) there are a number of ways of gaining the points necessary to win the game. These alternatives gave the Patrician sufficient interest that we would all want to play it again yet left it quick to play (about half an hour) and quick to learn - a useful addition to the growing collection.

UK Games Expo - Day 2, Saturday 5th June 2010

Well after a good night’s rest (hmmm finally going to sleep at 1pm, woken up at 2pm by a friend currently in the US forgetting the time zone difference or was that getting his own back for my earlier text in the middle of the American night - so at best 4 hours) off to the show across the road with the aim of beating the rush. An idea obviously shared by a number of other keen punters as the queue went round the block. Thankfully the pre booked ticket collected the day before soon had Paul, Stewart and myself ushered through the throng.

Early purchases
After a quick look round (avoiding the Daleks and Imperial Storm Troopers) I bought the first game of the day. As Tim had indicated the night before Patrizier (the English game being Patrician) was being sold for a mere £8 (from JKLM) albeit with the rules in German (the English ones being on BoardGameGeek, I hoped!).

The participation games (in the Kniziathon & Mynd Games area) were yet to start so more browsing led me to a couple of fantasy artists (Ralph Horsley being one) and their stunning work albeit not necessarily something I would want on the wall at home. A second look at the bring-and-buy stand highlighted once again how far games had moved on since I started. At one point I suspected that my wife had arrived via the Tardis to sell off some of my older games, things like Azhantai High Lightning, Machiavelli and a number of others. Maybe when I get home I will I will box these up and archive them to some dark corner rather than waste good shelf space with games that whilst good are not the types of game either I or our group enjoy playing and whose boards and components look rudimentary and amateurish compared with today offerings.

Working with children

One of the nice things about the show was the opportunity at every corner to play new games and meet new people. In particular the effort put in by Nigel Scarfe of Imagination Games to run an area devoted to children’s games I think is worthy of note. Not surprisingly there was a huge amount of energy and a great buzz through the morning with an awards ceremony in the afternoon. Meeting Nigel was one of the highlights of the weekend for me, hearing about the work he has been undertaking in taking games into schools, libraries, old people’s homes and more and the tremendous reaction he has been getting.

UK Games Expo - Day 1, Friday 4th June 2010

With the pre show starting on Friday (no traders) just lots of opportunities to play games I arrived in Birmingham and having checked into the hotel found myself with a selection of three games rooms to choose from and a bar. Faced with knowing nobody, where to start? I took the plunge in the largest of the three rooms and went up to a group of three guys who looked like they were just getting a game out of a box and had a spare chair and asked if I could join them. Thankfully they said yes and so my journey and indeed the games began.

1st Game - Seeland

The game they were setting up was a new game called Seeland from Ravensburg (the German equivalent, maybe, of Hasbro in the US) and involved the reclamation of the Dutch wetlands by the placement of windmills and the cultivation of tulips, cabbages and rapeseed. A beautiful looking game with high quality piece and graphics that uses a roundel (as part of the game mechanics) to determine what options are available concerning the acquisition of windmills and crops. It was somewhat strange to be the person who was quite obviously the least knowledgeable on a game (as running my own group and being the only buyer of games means I doubt if I have played any games in the last 20 years where I haven’t read the rules first) and frequently sought clarifications and benefited from the patience and kindness of my three fellow players (Paul, Steve and Brian). For a large part of the game Steve and Paul led the points through judicious placement of the resources they had available with me bringing up the rear, but somewhere around the half way mark things started to go better for me as I began to appreciate the nuance of the game and when it came to the final score I had somehow won - a surprise to both me and the others! For me at least I will definitely be looking to add Seeland to my collection at some point.

Interspersed through the game the others were assailed by questions from me on all manner of things about the world of board games. It soon became clear that they inhabited another end of the hobby with I think Steve and Paul indicating that they typically played of the order of 60 games a month! I think my jaw hit the floor at this point and I felt a twinge in case my wife had heard that number.