Attendees (11): Steve Walker, Andrew Bradley, Adam Whitney, Eileen Tooke, Warren Madden, Sharon Madden, Michael Hall, Andy Manning, Tamara Ferretti, Aaron, and Danielle.
We met at Steve's house and we needed 3 tables tonight because we had so many gamers ;-) Newbies Aaron and Danielle, friends of the Madden's, joined us tonight too as we continue to add new recruits!
Silverton
Steve, Sharon, Andy, and Andrew got started on a game of Silverton. I have played it once previously. It is an interesting economic/connection game where you try to find good claims that you can tie into your network while selling goods at opportune times. It can run fairly long but there are many tough decisions along the way. This game would take them most of the evening (it was Andy and Andrew's first game too) and they finished up at the end of the session. Andy proved to be the best at Prospecting with final scores of Andy 9325, Sharon 9180, Steve 7600, and Andrew 3730.
Wits and Wagers
I brought this quick party/trivia game and it accommodated all seven other players so we gave it a go. The game is 7 rounds (1 question per round) where everyone rights down their guess secretly. All answers are then revealed and sorted in order from highest to lowest (this can be done since all the answers will be numbers). Then everyone gets the chance to bid on the answer that they think is closest to the real answer - without going over (ie Price is Right). Warren did an amazing job with answers getting 5 of the 7 correct (closest answers) including an exact answer on which year lights were installed at Wrigley Field in Chicago (1988)! Unfortunately for Warren, who had the lead going into the last round, players can wager all their money at the end and Eileen was able to pull out the victory since she was the only player to bet on the correct final answer (her own)! It was fun, quick, and light enough for the Newbies to get everyone started.
Hoity Toity
Warren took the new recruits and Tamara to the 3rd table where they played Hoity Toity. It is an art auction/exhibit game where players try to outguess their opponents next moves. Danielle was able to secure the victory in this one by having the largest art exhibit (15 items) at the end.
Nur Peanuts
Adam, Eileen, and I tried a three player game of Nur Peanuts. It is a different type of Property game (ala Monopoly) where the properties are around in a circle. You only have a fixed amount of money at the beginning of the game and although you may pay each other money at times the bank will never pay the players (so money will run out as the game progresses). It has some interesting twists in that the game ends when one player buys 6 properties and wins, or when the bank buys six properties (player with most money wins), or when one player goes bankrupt (player with most money wins). The only way to buy property is to Stop on the most valuable property that round. There are more complications in how you move (different dice with different probabilities) and an unpredictable group of "banker" tokens that also move around the board.
I have yet to win this game but it is still a fun experience each time. This time I had a plan though. I was able to purchase most of the properties around the $2400 space, which is the most valuable, and therefore when players landed just before or just after it they had to pay me money if they wanted to continue moving (which they usually did). Everything was going well until Adam was able to bump me off of the highest space on a round in which he could win the game if he remained on that space. I spent too much money trying to overtake him and ended up going bankrupt and giving Adam the win anyway... maybe next time ;-)
Bang!
Hoity Toity and Nur Peanuts finished at the same time, and Aaron and Danielle left for dinner, so we were able to start a 5 player game of Bang!. Bang! is a fun, light card game where everyone has a hidden identity (except the Sheriff). In a 5 player game their are 2 Outlaws who are trying to kill the Sheriff, 1 Sheriff and 1 Deputy who are trying to kill the Outlaws and the Renegade, and 1 Renegade who is trying to kill the Deputy and Outlaws and finish off the Sheriff at the end. Tamara was the Sheriff and I was an Outlaw (don't tell anyone). We all were shooting and drinking beer (to stay alive!) until Adam killed off Warren (Outlaw) who was telling everyone that he was the Deputy. Then the Dynamite that Tamara lit came to me and blew up in my face but a quick beer kept me in the game. I proceeded to eliminate Eileen (the other Outlaw - doh!) and then Adam (the Deputy) put me out of my misery... and the Good Guys celebrated their victory!
Around the World in 80 Days
Tamara had to leave next so we were down to 4 players but we had time for 1 more game. Warren pulled out Around the World in 80 Days and we started off the global race. The game is a lighter Euro with a mix of set collection (train and boat cards) with Role selections that give you special benefits and some lucky/unlucky event cards. It has some clever mechanisms that keep the race interesting whether you are in the lead or just behind the pack. Adam pulled ahead early but the Detective slowed him down for a few days. Warren and I were in the back of the race early but I was fortunate to draw an Elephant event card that allowed me to move quickly ahead. I caught up with Adam and Eileen in New York and moved ahead with a special event (I forget the name) that allowed me to move to London without paying the travel cards (for a total of 10 days on that leg). This allowed me to finish the race but the other players could still win if they could finish in less days than me (each round they increase their time by 1 day as a penalty since I had finished). Adam and Eileen tried for 2 rounds to get the right mix of travel cards to catch me but were unable to best my 70 day mark. However, this gave Warren a last minute chance and using a Balloon he came up just later at 71 days -- whew...
All in all, another great gaming session.
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