Board Games - What is hitting your table?

[Bixby]

Thanks Khonnor83 for the info. I will see if I can find someone who has this to get in a play or two.

This past weekend was a mini-Christmas for us. Our youngest daughter has moved away and is living in Calgary, Alberta. She has to work over Christmas so this is her first Christmas away from home. We had a family gathering this past weekend and she was able to come to Regina, SK for a few days. My mom is here on an extended visit from Nova Scotia. Our oldest daughter is on her own but living in Regina so she was able to come over. Add in a boyfriend and we had a group of 6 people. for dinner, wine, and some games.

One of the cool things we have done for Christmas, is get out of the gift-buying race. We instead add money every year to our Kiva.org account to lend money to those in need. Our gift to each other every year is time spent together and a joint meal we all spend the day preparing and savoring.

Here is our Kiva Profile... http://www.kiva.org/lender/RobertLewisons

Enough of that, what about the games...

We played a half dozen games of Toc Toc Woodman, a crazy silly dexterity game that is a fun filler and a good group ice breaker. No depth, just laughs. Also played a number of games of Loopin Louie which falls in the same category. Also got a game of Downfall of Pompeii and two games of Ticket to Ride. A rather heart-warming weekend gathered around the dining room table with family, games, and good food. We are blessed.
 

[CKorfmann]

Sounds like a great weekend Bixby!  I had a really good gaming Sunday as well.  My wife and I met with a local MIB for SJGames and her husband at a game store and we played a game of Munchkin with a few expansions (I won!).  Then we played the new Axe Cop version of Munchkin.  It was quite different, but it was pretty fun. 

We then branched out from Munchkin games and tried Forbidden Island.  It was the first time for all of us and we were able to pull out a victory.  I got the game for my sister's kids for Christmas so I was glad to give it a play. 

We did play one game of Carcassonne (WoF) since they were new to the game and wanted to make sure they were playing it right.  We ended the night with a quick two-player Quarriors.  It was my first time seeing the game and I wanted to know what all the fuss was about.  It was OK, but I'm still not sure I understood all that was going on.  I was very close to winning during the last three turns or so, but lost in the end. 

It was a really fun night and I went home with a whole bunch of Munchkin promos so that made it even that much more fun.

[Bixby]

That sounds awesome CK. Quarriors is a game that needs more expansions I believe. The game is getting repetitive for me after only a few plays. I am a real geek for custom dice so I guess I have a weakness for the game.

[Bixby]

Last night four of us played Power Struggle. I quite enjoy the game. There is a lot going on and a healthy dose of back stabbing involved.
We followed up that with a game of Downfall of Pompeii, Martian Dice, 3 games of Toc Toc Woodman, and finished up with Nacht der Magier

...all in all, a fun night.

[joshgambit]

My wonderful wife gave me Ticket to Ride for our anniversary on Saturday.  Hopefully, we'll be able to play sometime this week!!  It's been in my wishlist for some time now...   

[CKorfmann]

My wonderful wife gave me Ticket to Ride for our anniversary on Saturday.  Hopefully, we'll be able to play sometime this week!!  It's been in my wishlist for some time now...   

Great fun!  Be sure to get the 1910 expansion.

[Bixby]

We just started playing Ticket to Ride with my mom lately. I will certainly look at the 1910 expansion. Thanks.

Last night, we had an evening of three player games. We started with A La Carte which is a cooking game. Quite light and silly. Keeping up with the silly theme, we then played 5 quick games of Loopin Louie and followed that up with 3 quick games of Toc Toc Woodman. Funny how games for 4 year olds are becoming a regular staple at our house.

On to the main event, we played a game of Castles of Burgundy. What an exceptionally great game. It was my first play and I really liked it. Look forward to more plays with this one for sure.

Finished the evening off with a quick game of Fiki Flicking Football.

[CKorfmann]

Last night we had a six-player game of Munchkin.  My wife's two brother were just learning so we were taking it kinda slow.  It got nasty early since we were showing them most of what could happen and we were playing with all the Santa expansions.  One brother quit when he died (cause he had to go) and the other did too a little later, so my wife took over in his spot continuing the game with five.  It lasted for nearly 5 hours!  It didn't help that it was particularly ruthless or that we had to play to level 11.  We had told her brothers that it could last anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours.  I guess we underestimated.

We capped that off with two games of Flash Point.  The first one was lost by damage.  In the second game we won and then decided to try for all 10 POIs and ended up losing the last POI one space from the door.  Going for that perfect victory kinda feels like double or nothing in that game.  We kept having to remind ourselves that we won.  Co-op games have a totally different feel when you win or lose.  It's more of a feeling of satisfaction like a puzzle.

[CKorfmann]

Here's a list of everything I played during the week from Christmas to New Years Day with family and friends.  It was a good week.  

Carcassonne
Flash Point
Sequence
Wits & Wagers
Set
Slide 5
Dixit
Crappy Birthday
Seven Dragons
Forbidden Island
Cribbage
Incan Gold
Apples to Apples
Panic Station
Wizard
Qwirkle
Five Crowns
Ticket to Ride
Bohnanza

[Bixby]

Great list CK! Best part of holiday season is gaming.

Played a 6 player game of Cosmic Encounter last night, followed by two games of 7 Wonders.

[Bixby]

Resurrecting the list.

Played Duel of Ages last night. I cannot really decide how I feel about this game yet, want to play a couple more times before I rate it. Other than that, I am excited that I have played 2 games of War of the Ring: Collector's Edition in the last few weeks. Wow, what a great game and the collector's edition looks superb when set up. Another highlight for me, was this past weekend. I finally got to play Merchants of Venus. Another fantastic game that I hope to play much more. Really been some great gaming lately.

 

[thescottishguy]

Just finished up our tuesday night game night here, we got a few rounds of King of Tokyo in http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/70323/king-of-tokyo , which was amazingly fun, Then we played Robo Rally http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/18/roborally , also very fun, but a bit more complex.

I'd highly recommend both games.

[Bixby]

Just finished up our tuesday night game night here, we got a few rounds of King of Tokyo in http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/70323/king-of-tokyo , which was amazingly fun, Then we played Robo Rally http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/18/roborally , also very fun, but a bit more complex.

I'd highly recommend both games.

Two great games. I have played RoboRally a number of times and think it is a blast. My wife quite enjoys it as well. I managed to get all of the old expansions too. Played King of Tokyo once and had a hoot. Been trying to find a copy ever since. It is hard to find.

[Bixby]

Last week was a pretty strong week for me gaming wise.

War of the Ring Collector's Edition x2
I have owned this for awhile and it is really just recently that I have been able to get some quality time in with the game. I am the first to admit that I am a real sucker for great game components. This game is a treat to behold. I bought all of the custom Strongholds made by user "Fubar Awol" on BGG site to pimp the game out even further. I now have 5 plays logged for this game and I am a solid 0 wins for 5 plays. Even though I apparently suck at playing, I am really enjoying the game play.

Santiago x1
I logged my first play of Santiago this past week. It is an interesting game that involves some negotiation / screwage. I am also not a skilled negotiator so I did not do well at this. Had fun and look forward to more plays.

Endeavor x1
Played this game for the third time. It is really a gem. I like the mechanics and the theme. My wife enjoys it too so I am sure we will be playing more of this in the future. I think this game is best played with 5 players.

Tsuro x3
This is a quick little filler with gorgeous components. We knocked off three quick games while waiting for our fifth player to show up for Monday night game night. This plays quick and would be a good game to play with kids.

The Settlers of Catan x1
We spent Friday night at a friend's house. They had us over for a wonderful meal and we ended the evening with a four player game of Settlers with the Cities & Knights expansion. I burnt out on Settlers years ago, and we have slowly been bringing it back out to the table. I like the addition of Cities & Knights. Fun evening.

Cyclades x1
We had no plans for Saturday night, so a friend popped over and brought Cyclades. We played a three player game. This was my second play of the game and I quite enjoyed it. It is heavy with theme and allows for conflict. I look forward to playing this again.

Sator Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas x1
After Cyclades, we played this game. It is quite unlike any other games I have played. I like the theme and the components. It is always a hit when I put this on the table.

Infinite City x1
We ended our Saturday game session with a 3 player game of Infinite City. This is another quick game that is easy to teach and easy to play. I like the components and feel of the game. Enjoyable evening of play.

That was my week. I do not play any PBEM games so nothing to report there. I have been enjoying Disc Drivin' on the iPad though. A fun implementation of Pitchcar for the iOS.

[Bixby]

Recently, we have been playing Castles of Burgundy. A great game designed by Stefan Feld that uses dice allocation as a mechanic. We have also been playing another game designed by him called Trajan. I am very impressed with his designs. A lot going on and very engaging game play.

Hosted a Crokinole Tournament for 8 players a couple of weeks ago. It was a great trial run and we plan on hosting a larger event soon.

Played the third race of our Formula De season last week. My driver still sucks, but teh game is really fun with a full ten players.