A New Begining

It has been a long time since I have put pen to paper, and a lot of water has passed under the bridge since I last wrote anything, but the joy I encounter around the world of games is still there and the desire to record it is slowly returning!

Many keen Gamers will have a circle of friends and family around them that I would call ‘Social Gamers’. These people enjoy games when they encounter them but rarely buy any themselves and it is unlikely they would list Board Games as a hobby. However it is these people on the periphery of the avid enthusiasts that are fuelling my enthusiasm to start writing again. In particular this brief post was prompted by:

• Turning up to see friends for a BBQ (with no games) and once the table was cleared it was the friends that raided their son’s small stash of games so we could play a game, or two: Straw, Hick Hack and Hey, That’s My Fish! In over 20 years of friendship this was a first!

But this most recent fuel is in addition to:

• Mentioning modern board games (and our Friday lunchtime group) in passing to a colleague at work and having her come back and ask ‘did you mean board games, I love board games! I used to love playing them as a kid and now I have children of my own……’ The conversation that ensued revealed that she was completely unaware of the word of modern board games and for those that know the film the Matrix it was like she had just taken the ‘red pill’. Her eyes where opened and I don’t think it would be going too far to say she was overjoyed at the feast of games now available to choose from! With her desire to involve her young children then her first purchase is not a gamers choice but an excellent little game none the less, Sherlock. It has proven a great success with her family. Gamers will no doubt be pleased to hear that other purchases are Race for the Galaxy, Pandemic, Comuni, Voluspa and Qwirkle.
  
• Highlighting the London On Board Meetup group to another colleague at work (and member of the lunch time group) and he going off over the bank holiday and spending 5 hours gaming with a group of people he had never met before and having a wonderful time.
  
• Combining a love of modern jive dancing with a love of food and obviously games I have been hosting monthly dinners where different people bring different courses and we intersperse each course with a game. The dance friends have never played any of the games before but the combination of good company, good food and good games is proving great fun.
  
• Following last year’s Essen trip it was the game (The Sheep Race) I didn’t buy that ultimately caught the attention of my Social Gaming friends and when I did buy they also wanted copies to play with their families and friends.
  
• Lastly, introducing games designers to the team at work and seeing it result in a Print and Play game for schools – The Flood (more of that in future posts).

It is also nice to report that the gamers group at Crowborough whilst not very visible at pubs in the area is alive and well meeting at a variety of people’s houses anywhere between Tunbridge Wells, Hailsham and Haywards Heath and has drawn in a number of new members. 
It’s meeting are a bit adhoc but its active and has a huge collection of games between its members. The only sad part (from my point of view) is I had hoped to start a Social Gamers Group and it is ultimately now a group of Gamers!

Reviews will follow slowly and other posts as the inspiration takes me but they are likely to be occasional rather than regular! Happy Gaming!

Games in a Pub – 17th February 2013

8 Year Old Holds His Own At Pub Games Night!

As the group gathered they kicked off with one of our most popular fillers, Straw. Straw is an excellent card game that is simple, fast and has sufficient screwage to make it great fun. It is also a great way of helping children with their maths based skills.

With George joining us (Simon and Laura’s 8 year old son) the consensus was to go for a slightly simpler game next (although as will be seen later this really wasn’t necessary) and Abandon Ship was selected. This is an amusing, but lightweight, race game about rats abandoning a sinking ship. Each player has 3 rats to look after. However the fun comes from the fact that the rats are shared and nobody knows who is looking after which rats. As the water level rises sadly the slowest rats get washed away. However the danger for the first rat on deck (the rats climb / race through 50 deck levels) is that it will get trampled by the passengers who are also trying to get off the ship; a close game that was won by George.

Next up at Simon’s suggestions was Infinite City, a game that I would not immediately have picked to play with somebody as young as George but at another level doesn’t surprise me given experiences with other children from families who play lots of games.

Infinite City is a tile laying game where each tile represents one of a number of different types of buildings each of which has some text narrative at the bottom of the tile explaining its special powers when placed in the city. As you place a tile you also place a marker in your player colour and it is these markers that indicate ownership of building which at the game end give victory points. In addition to these points you also score one point for each marker that is connected to 3 or more of its own colour. This was a game George clearly understood and was more than comfortable reading and understanding the text as well as making appropriate decisions! Whilst George didn’t win he competed well at and needed little help and when dad offered help George generally responded with a reasoned and logical argument for his actions.

The final game was The Dwarf King (reviewed here) and is best summarised by Martin’s comment that he would pay good money not to play it again. This is because, I think, that in the final hand the previous scores where completely reversed and the looser at the end of round two became the winner. It may be fun but balanced it is not, particularly if you don’t play the recommended number of hands (put no. in here?) where some of the big swings may get evened out

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More photo's of the evening can be seen here.

Our next event at the Crow and Gate (please note note NOT the Blue Anchor), Crowborough is in two weeks time on Sunday 3rd March starting at 7.00pm - £1 per head. More details can be seen on our Facebook Page Social Gamers - Crowborough

Games in a Pub – 6th January 2013

A new year and a new pub, the Crow and Gate, Crowborough

With the beginning of the New Year we decided to take our merry band on the road and try out a new venue. We have been meeting at the Blue Anchor now for 2 years and it had been my hope to bring the wealth of modern board and card games to the attention of the wider community, not just gamers.

The reality is that with a few exceptions and in spite of the redoubtable efforts of Damian (the landlord at the Blue Anchor) to interest his clientèle in our activities, largely little interest has been shown. So following the premise of nothing ventured nothing gained the idea is to try a new nearby location and see if the winds of chaos result in a different outcome! Time will tell.

Games in A Pub - 9th December 2012

A group of Convicts and Samurai arrive at a new pub! 

With carols at the Blue Anchor and an expected full house it was time to take our games group on the road and move about 2 mins (by car) towards Uckfield to the Crow and Gate. I am not sure what the diners made of as we started our first game of the evening Alcatraz: The Scapegoat , listening to us get into character and drop each other in it.

Games in a Pub – 11th November 2012

3 Return whilst 1 leaves 

Oliver had told us all a couple of weeks ago that he would be moving out of the area soon and as this would be his final night with us he was given free reign to choose the evenings games.

First up was a game of Braggart, reviewed here, this was a game that has been played at our games evening a number of times and with much laughter. It is one of those games which can be played at two levels. You either go for points and don’t worry about the cards or go for fun reading out the boast (made up of a Foe and a Deed card plus optionally Scene and or Result cards). I think this game lived up to Oliver’s hopes and may yet be his first game purchase as he felt his family would enjoy this one.

Games in A Pub - 28th October 2012

It was half term for the local schools and close to Halloween so it was great to welcome a couple of young friends, including a wizard!

The larger element of the group embarked on the traumatic game of RoboRally. More than once I looked across having heard hoots of laughter to see somebody with the head in their hands. A feeling I can immediately recognise from playing this game. I find playing it more than twice a year leaves me feeling I need to see to a counsellor or psychotherapist. Victory eventually went to Oliver however, I can only hope I won’t receive claims for damages from those who at times struggled to reconcile the enjoyment with the chaos and difficulty of getting their robots to complete the simplest of tasks!

Games in Pub - 30th September 2012

Building castles in a pub!

Splitting into two groups one embarked on the ever popular Discworld: Ankh-Morpork whilst 3 of us headed off to medieval France to set about building a castle and the surrounding town.

Discworld: Ankh-Morpork, designed by British designer Martin Wallace, has continued to prove one of our most popular games from last year. On this occasion the players, Robin (Lord Rust), Oliver (Lord Vetinari ) and Simon (Chrysoprase), who was the eventual winner, had an extremely close game with each only 1 point away from winning.

Games in a Pub – 16th September 2012

The group gather after a summer break and immediately head off to Manila

Returning to the group after an absence of three Sunday’s gallivanting around Europe - make that a long drive to Venice for a camping holiday with family and more games of Uno than I care to think about – it really isn’t that good a game.

On the upside I played quite a few games of Hive which I needless to say lost to Gwen, Army of Frogs although one of the green frogs went AWOL, presumably preferring the Italian climate, Zooloreto Würfelspiel a game the boys enjoyed and has inspired them to play its big brother a number of times since they returned and Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small which I played on my own whilst the team went to Aqualandia losing to virtual Gwen (how can she beat me when she isn’t even present?!) and Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers a game I had acquired via a swap and which the team were distinctly unimpressed with.

Back to the Blue Anchor; whilst I had been away the group had played numerous games of King of Tokyo, and Takenoko plus Quarriors and Mansions of Madness.

Games in a Pub - 5th August 2012

Feeding panda's and then a fantasy game with lots of dice

Once again I was not able to able to be with the guys and once again one of them stepped into the breach and picked up the mantle of scribe. On this occasion Stéphene was kind enough to take bring along some games, take photo’s and write the accompanying words. It was a real shame I wasn’t able to make it as having seen their first game at Essen last year, it was one I was keen to play and one that I suspect the Monday night group would enjoy.

Only 3 of us on Sunday which meant it was a great opportunity to get a couple of 2-4 player games out.

We started the evening with a game of Takenoko.

Games in a Pub - 22nd July

A trip to Tokyo plus more paranoia


As I was returning from our holiday in Greece Oliver took over duties as scribe for the group whilst Martin was the man behind the camera.

I (Oliver) was running late and found that the game was just being set up for a round of PanicStation when I got there. Great - paranoia all round, please! I forget who arrived after me (it may have been Simon) but we got down to a run-through of the rules, and then we were off.

Games in a Pub - 8th July 2012

Another crack at Power Grid: The First Sparks plus the paranoia of Panic Station

We gathered on Sunday evening having had some discussion before hand on Facebook about alternative games. The possibilities come down to Eketop, Power Grid: The First Sparks and a late entrant Panic Station.

As we sat down to play the decision went to giving Power Grid: The First Sparks another chance, our previous effort recorded here. Setting up the game was exponentially quicker than last time, although still required us to delve into the sepia like rules to clarify a number of points. Not an easy thing with the rules written in a six point font and the pubs dim lighting. However once we got going the game, with six of us, sped along at a reasonable pace and saw Simon’s clansmen sadly wander from hunting ground to hunting ground in an effort to find FOOD (the currency of the game), an unhappy time for the tribe.

The rest of us were broadly more successful gathering berries and hunting bears and mammoths to the point that within the hour my woad clan were poised to demonstrate their manifest superiority over Martin’s little red clan men (Martin having responded to my previous post stating that he didn’t think it possible that I would win the next game – a clear challenge to the manhood of the woad tribe). As it turned out I had forgotten about the perfidious Oliver and his black tribe. This meant that as my tribe headed to their traditional berry bushes (which in the previous season had yielded a rich harvest for them) they discovered that locusts had descended and the bushes were bare. This rich harvest that was rightfully mine (or so I would like to have seen it) had been stolen by Oliver’s black clad locust tribe and to add insult to injury the few berries he left had been taken by Martin’s veracious red clan!

Games In A Pub - 24th June 2011

Islands of Settlers and Frogs!

At the request of Simon, the games under consideration included, Settlers of Catan, Tobago, Forbidden Island and Pirate's Cove i.e. games that conjure up images of sunnier climes; a reaction I am sure to the unpleasant stormy weather of the last couple of weeks – so much for the summer solstice! When the group was gathered the decision was Settlers of Catan.

Stéphane had not played this before, Simon and Oliver had but on the unfortunate evening when it had bombed – a review of that evening can be read here. As I started explaining the rules Oliver, presented with a choice of white or blue was jokingly heard to claim that he did not have enough information to make a considered decision!

Games In A Pub – 10th June 2012

Triumph of enthusiasm over experience, or should that read the failure!

It was great to welcome another new face, Stephane, to our merry throng and as it turns out a fellow blogger although with quiet a different focus (a link to his blog is here http://drwillettsworkshop.blogspot.co.uk/).

The evening kicked off with a game of TransEuropa whilst we waited for Robin and Oliver to join us. It was Martin and Stephane’s first encounter with this quick, light game and it got a definite thumbs up from them.

The second game Power Grid: The First Sparks was one of only two purchases at this year’s UK Games Expo and one that, despite of having played over 20 games in the intervening time, was yet to be played. With our number at 6 and with it being Stephane’s first encounter with us I was keen to keep everybody together in one game.

Of the games I had brought with me that could accommodate 6 players I only had three: TransEuropa (!), 7 Wonders and Power Grid: The First Sparks. Having played its older and more well known version Power Grid four weeks earlier and believing First Sparks to be a light version of this popular game I thought, what have we got to loose. Well maybe with a different less patient group maybe quiet a lot!

Games in a pub - 27th May 2012

Two in a car and three in a pub!

As Martin and I sped home across the motorway network from the 2012 UK Games Expo in Birmingham the guys back in Crowborough met at the Blue Anchor.

Oliver kindly wrote up the following note and provided the photo’s – thank you.

Just Robin, Simon and myself - as luck would have it, the fates conspired to ensure that the other two were both delayed so I sat with a table full of games and no one to play them for the first 20 minutes or so. One older couple came by in that time and expressed an interest so I explained that I was waiting for the others to turn up, and it's a fortnightly event, maybe we'll see them next time. But sadly they weren't willing to have a go with me in the meantime.

Once the gang of 3 was all present, we ummed and ahhed for a minute or so but eventually picked out Trans Europa to get us going. I got a very lucky set of cards for the first and third round (the third round, as pictured, I had Dublin and Glasgow, combined with Sofia and Bucharest, the finishing position - I was red), which is why the other two look rather glum in the picture and I thought there might have been other reasons! On the second round I was miles behind the others, but my advantage from the first round was insurmountable given the luck I had on the third go. It was a nice, light way to open the evening.

Games In A Pub – 13th May 2012

Tackling the challenges of power and thoughts on falling numbers

As the group gathered Martin began to explain Power Grid, a game he had brought along and which I had read much about and was keen to try (as indeed I am Power Grid: First Sparks, the lighter variant). The game, as with many euro games, offers a relatively simple set of rules that then presents many different choices and ways of reaching the winning conditions. In this game the players find themselves as the bosses of power companies trying to build their business around the provision of power to as many cities in Germany as possible (the reverse of the board shows America).

Players bid for power stations (coal, oil, wind, garbage or nuclear), buy the rights to supply cities and try to cope with the fluctuating fuel markets as they seek to source the fuels for their power stations. In providing the power to the cities they then generate the income that allows them to invest in yet more fuel, power stations and cities.

Neither the board nor the theme grab me, HOWEVER

Games in a Pub – 29th April 2012

Family commitments, a sabotaged deck (?!) and valiant efforts to save the world

With a family celebration on Sunday afternoon evening I showed my face briefly at the pub and, whilst waiting for the full team to gather, we played a quick game of Fuchs & Fertig (won by Oliver) and Straw (won by Robin).

Once Simon had joined us I continued our efforts to introduce Robin to collaborative games, in response to a request he had voiced several Sundays earlier. Having played Panic Station at our previous meeting, this week I took along Pandemic (designed by Matt Leacock, published by ZMAN Games and a classic in this genre). Explaining the game and ensuring the guys were poised to save the world I slipped out of the pub and back to the family bash.

Oliver [O] kindly agreed to record the team’s efforts to save humanity and his record of events are embellished at times by Simon [S] who also sent me some notes of the evening:

Games on a Pub – 15th April 2012

A session report and game review all in one

The as yet un-played Panic Station had been leant to Martin at our last session to see what he thought, as it had previously bombed with my Monday night group. Thankfully I had received a text from Martin to say that whilst on holiday with his family they had played it a number of times and gave it “a massive thumbs up, brilliant for suspense and paranoia”.

With Robin having requested a collaborative game and Panic Station falling broadly into this category it seemed the obvious game to play.

As Martin described the game it was obvious that he had invested some considerable time in reading various posts on BoardGameGeek (geek) concerning this game and that:

Games in a Pub 1st April 2012

A family joins us with a little monkey!

With the start of the Easter school holidays we welcomed one of our youngest ever visitors, along with his Monkey!

When they arrived Oliver and Martin were already warming up their flicking skills on the Crokinole board (a full review of this game and the work necessary to fix it can be read here). Oliver had played this a couple of times at a previous meeting and Martin was frankly appearing to make a real mess of it during the warm up period. He claimed never to have played it before and we could all well believe this. Thankfully there was no money riding on the game because as soon as the warm up was over he was a man transformed playing a skilful game that saw Oliver’s disk being sent repeatedly into the surrounding well. Suffice to say that Martin emerged the victor and left the rest of us a little suspicious about his early apparent inability to flick the disks!

Games in a Pub 18th March 2012

A quiet Mothers Day evening

Whilst Oliver and I were waiting for the others to arrive we had a couple of abortive attempts at Ligretto 2, which really didn’t seem to work as a two player although we have had some fun with it as a four player on previous occasions.

We moved onto Army of Frogs, a game designed for pubs and other hostile gaming environments. It can be carried around in a cloth bag and consists of 44 heavy plastic, marble looking playing pieces. There is no board or cardboard counters to worry about. The game consists of trying to use your hexagon shaped frogs to create an island of 7 frogs of your colour whilst stopping your opponents doing the same thing.

Games in a Pub 4th March 2012

Absence of any posts recently was down to a bout of bronchitis. All is well again now so blogging reviews etc will resume.

Having done a lot of work on the Crokinole game (the story will appear at some point), I was keen to see how people reacted to it at the pub.

Played as a 2 player game each player has 12 wooden disks and takes turns flicking them onto the circular playing board. A board that has 4 scoring zones, the central well worth 20 (disks making it into this are immediately removed and placed to one side to be scored at the end of the game), the central circle worth 15 points the middle ring worth 10 and the outer ring worth 5. Players flick their disks onto the board but if an opponents disk or disks are on the board then you must touch one of them with your new disk or by ricocheting one of your disks already on the board onto one of your opponents disks.. Failure to do this will result in your disk and any of yours it touched being removed from play. When all the disks have been played the players count up their points and the winner scores the difference between the two – it is a game played over a number of rounds, the winner typically being the first to a 100. Although it seemed to be played fairly cautiously at the pub, Gwen and I have found this to be a fast and furious game which sees pieces spinning in all directions including off the board!

Crokinole was played at some point by all the attendees and everybody appeared to enjoy it with a couple commenting about its similarities to Carrom but that it was much faster. However I think it would be fair to say that it didn’t light anybody’s fire, all were happy to play it again but nobody raved about it.

Next up was TransEuropa whilst in another corner of the room Qwirkle was given a run out by Katie, Ben and Andy (I finally managed to remember –write down – their names!). Given the poor / soft lighting it was the first game we have had to play by candlelight, although unless the lighting improves it may not be the last. It had been particularly dark for the first half hour after we arrived. For anybody that is familiar with Qwirkle they will know that whilst it is an excellent game it can prove difficult for those that are colour blind as the red and the orange and the blue and the purple are almost indistinguishable in some lights.

Ben and Andy showed some interest in Existenz (another new game, this time from Holland) but ultimately plumped to join the rest of us for a game of 7 Wonders. This and Ticket To Ride Europe were recently purchased with the proceeds of the last few months at the pub. Ben managed to win, closely followed by Katie. For myself I focussed on my lesson from the previous time I played the game (I should have been collecting papyrus) but each game plays differently it seems (surprise, surprise!) and this time it was brick that I was missing – hey ho, I can loose at any game. Hopefully my whinging about the lack of brick didn’t distract the other players too much!

I mentioned via Twitter that the money collected during our meetings through the season of Lent would go towards CAFOD and we managed to collect £8 which with the governments matched funding will see this rise to £16. Monies collected at our next Sunday will also be donated to CAFOD’s Lent Appeal.

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More photo's from the evening can be seen here.

Our next event at the Blue Anchor, Crowborough is in two weeks time on Sunday 18th March starting at 7pm - £1 per head. More details can be seen on our Facebook Page Social Gamers - Crowborough