Spirit Games Wednesday Night - 2014

[Zarniwoop]

7th May 2014

After getting there early for a change we still did not really get started till quite late due to the usual amount of gamer faffing and people turning up at different times In the end we plumped for Keyflower with the Keyflower: The Farmers expansion in. Everyone at the table enjoys this game and this session did not disappoint. This is by no means a short game, as this was the only game we played that night, but it is very enjoyable and with the way the setup works a different game every time. Really enjoyed this, which is no way biased by the fact of my uncharacteristic victory. Everyone had different approaches to their strategy, which you always need to be prepared to adapt as other players can have a real effect on what you can achieve as the game progresses. It was not easy to call who was going to win out as Philsy and Chris both looked pretty strong but you can never quite tell how the final scoring will go. Paul:82, Philsy/Chris:61, Caz:54 and Phil:51

Here are some of the other games being played:

[Dat]

Rambull! Everybody loves Rambull! Glad Rambull got in on the game. 

[Spirit Games]

21 May 2014
Well it's been a while since I posted anything because I wasn't able to get down to the shop for quite a while after my hip operation, and when I did I was too tired to stay after work for gaming. I am now very much on the road to recovery and with Beer & Pretzels out of the way I should be able to find time to write about the odd Wednesday Night again.
This week we got out one of the old classics Aquire. Neil had pick it up on the Bring and Buy at the weekend, so wanted to try it out. I had not played it for many years, and it was the first time for the rest of the players. It has a very neat quick play mechanism, easy to pick up, but not so easy to win. Paul had a very good win (it wasn't his game!), and Neil whose game it was, spent most of the game broke and came last. Carole and Tom were second and third (not sure which order) and I came fourth.

Phil was in his element, not only did he get to play Concordia for a long wanted second time, but he spent the game buying wine (which is very appropriate), and then won. A very happy bunny.

The last game of the evening was Splendor. When we first got it in I read the rules and thought it sounded interesting and had been hankering for a game, which finally happened at Beer & Pretzels (played 2, lost 2). So I was keen to have another go. Paul, Carole and Phil hadn't played before, but picked up the general idea fairly immediately. As your go is either pick up tokens, buy a card or save a card your actual go is nice and quick with very little downtime for the other players. When when the cards you want have been picked by other players, making the best of what's been left is the key, or just topping up your tokens 'til something more useful to you comes along. Also works well with 2 players.

Sally

[Zarniwoop]

Been some time since I last posted about the Wed Night game sessions, the other players on the evening also seem too busy to post as well so I'll do my best to catch up.

Over the last few weeks we have played the following games:

Railways of the World: The Card Game this was a very interesting game that was quite fun to play. Would not mind giving this another go sometime now I have a better idea of what is going on



Another popular game on the Wed night recently has been Euphoria not managed a game of this myself yet but I have been assured this is a really great game



Glass Road has also seen a bit of table time, played this once myself but the others have gotten a few more plays in. Really neat game with some interesting choices, interesting mechanics and excellent components. Must try and get in on another game of this sometime, it's good to keep trying different games and the Wed night sessions are a good place for this.



There is also a core group working their way through Pathfinder Adventure Card Game and its expansions. I've not tried this myself but the fact they are playing this week after week must in some way go to show how much enjoyment they are getting out of it...



Keyflower has also proved to be a popular choice amongst the Wed night crowd and it is a really great game that plays differently every time, due to the random setup. It's a game both Caz and I like to play when we get the chance.



I have also tried to get Edo to the table a few times. I really like this game, it has some interesting action choice mechanics and it has some tricky gameplay. I will have to try this again on another wed and put in some of the expansions, as reading about these on the geek they do add some interesting elements to the game.



After finally managing to get a game of Tokaido at a friends and obtained the game I brought it along to the Wed night sessions. This is a gentle but extremely fun game where you are travellers along the road to Edo along which you visit bathhouses, restaurants, temples as well as taking panorama's or go shopping. The aim is to accumulate the
most points as you experience all these things. It's a fantastic looking game with more depth than it appears at first glance. The Crossroads adds in extra options which add some intriguing options and also mitigates some of the spaces become worthless as you complete panoramas. Liking this game a lot but does need some better scoring markers they are stupidly tiny....



26th June session we managed to get some older games played in the form of Traders of Carthage and Blue Moon City both are great games and once again it was re-discovering love for older games. I will definitely have to try and get these back to the table again soon.

[Spirit Games]

Where have the last few months gone? My last post started with an apology for not having posted for a while, and this time it's been even longer! In my defence as the summer has been lovely so far I have been outside rather than tied to my computer whenever I had the opportunity. We have, however been playing plenty of games on Wednesday evenings.
Several weeks back Phil and I had several games of Euphoria with different people and numbers each time giving varying results on the scores, with me winning one and being thoroughly beaten into last in another. All very enjoyable though.

A couple of weeks back we had Star and her daughter Philipa join us. As they are new to gaming we got out some of the quick fun games to ease them gently into things, in the last couple of weeks we have played A Fistful of Penguins, Tsuro, Anomia, Cartagena 2, Walk the Plank, Three Little Pigs, Labyrinth, Dodekka, Dobble and a few others I can't remember.

Phil, in the meantime has getting out some of his old favourites, Hacienda and Antike, as well as trying out the newer games Concordia and Istanbul.

Last Wednesday I had a game of Tsuro to start the evening, followed by Dodekka while waiting for more players to arrive. Then we split up and I ended up playing a game of Guildhall, I really like this game, but hadn't played it for some time and got one of the rules wrong, it didn't matter too much as we were all playing the same way, but I must remember to tell the people I was playing with next time they come down. I was beaten into a very last place by three new players, and as is usually the case between the others it was a very close finish with Cameron winning.

Then we played Forbidden Desert. I have only played it once before at Game Expo when it first came out and having lost quite quickly wanted to try again. We didn't fare much better, things weren't looking too bad for a while, until one of the party lost all their water and died, game over!

Then with games finishing and some people leaving there were three of us left looking for a game to finish off the evening. Phil and Chris having seen Guildhall being played earlier fancied a game themselves, so out it came again, this time playing the correct rules, and I just sneaked in a win.

Sally.

[Zarniwoop]

So its been a while since I posted about the games nights. Time and enthusiasm have played a part here where I have less time to post and feel when I do i'm talking mostly to myself.

Still I can't let stuff get me down I enjoy running the forum and I love the gaming hobby.

The Wed night games have continued to be popular with new and old games being played.  There are a good mix of players of all abilities and there is a good atmosphere.

I have been going to these evenings for some time now and have met a lot of good people. There are always so many good games to play and try.

There is a little too much to catch up on for now so I'll try and pick up again from next week.

[Zarniwoop]

15th Oct 2014
So tonight we had a game of 7 wonders, which I seem to be playing quite a lot lately. We had a new visitor to Wed night so this was just the base game but still that is still a great game. It just seems to be one of those games that if someone suggests it there are a lot of people that want to play One of my favourite games that I do not own a copy!!

This was followed by Thebes which is a much older game but one that I really need to play more. Having dragged it off the shelf for a good airing it was really good to give it another go. It reminded me how much I really liked this game and I will have to try and bring it along to another Wed night session to introduce some more people to it.

A good turn out again for this wed, despite those who had gone to Essen for the week being missing. There is always a good mix of players that turn out for these sessions and a good selection of games always get played.

Thanks to Spirit Games for opening the shop later and allowing us to use the shop space, as well as providing refreshments and snacks, always welcome of course we are gamers

[Zarniwoop]

22nd Oct 2014
Well this week saw the return of the "Essen Spiel 2014" absentees from last week with their ill-gotten gains

Richard had grabbed the early crowd to play his selection from his haul and the late crowd got to play Imperial Settlers with Philsy.
Philsy, Barry and Neil all kept comparing this to 51st State which I am not sure if I have played. After the rules explanation I was not too sure what was going on but after the first turn or so it did seem to fall into place. I was playing the Barbarians and it seemed like the cards I really needed to make them work came out in the wrong half of the game. That said I did manage to score reasonably well, despite that handicap, so future plays will mean I will know better what combo of cards work well for me.

I enjoyed the game and would be up for future plays, though given the games I already own this would not be one for me. Though I have some pretty tough criteria these days as space, gaming time and money are an issue. So as Philsy has bought a copy I'll just have to help him play his copy

We finished the evening with a Dungeon exploring card game, where you have a hand of five cards numbered 1-5 to use to progress through each level  grabbing treasure, besting traps or beating monsters. The trick being when to play your best cards or when to hold on to them for later events. I forget the name of the game at the moment, I'm sure if any of the others ever visit here they will scream the name at me Good fun and rounded the evening off nicely.

[Zarniwoop]

Well I guess my hope of keeping these more upto date has failed again, sadly, though posting in general has gone down a lot on here as of late. I believe there is still some Roleplaying going on Wed/Thur and some weekends but who knows really....

Right lets see what I can remember from this last Wednesday evening..

19 Nov 2014
For me I have been itching to try my copy of Hoyuk, I did manage a quick taster 2-player with Phil the previous Saturday which was good, so I managed to grab some extra victims players and set about explaining the game. The rules are simple enough but are hard to comprehend the full meaning until you actually start playing. Players represent clans building up their village, their families will assemble their buildings in blocks and adorn them with ovens or shrines maybe even pens. Each block will compete for rewards of Aspect cards which can be used to build more items for the family or kept to be spent as a set for points. Each round there is some catastrophe that befalls our emerging village and this cost may have to be born by more than one player.The turns are simple but the choices to be made are quite strategic, the game has 3 "modes" Basic, Middle and Advanced each one introducing more elements and scoring options into the game.

The basic games feels quite solid and gives a gentle start to learn the game with but I feel the next game we should probably leap straight to the advanced game as it will provide many more options and some interesting additions to the game. Really good fun and I am glad this is now part of my collection.