Damascus 02/29/08

We had a nice-sized crowd for gaming, which saw the return of some familiar faces:

• David, Noreen, Corwin, & Andrew Fair
• Jason Cheng
• Scott, Calvin, & Carly Fisher
• Philippe Hebert
• John-Paul Pizzica
• Lance Slifka
• Bill Trac
• Melinda & Ruben Carbonell
• John Stup
• Bob, Carol, Rachel, and Ben Jones

First up was a pair of quick games of Sticheln. this is a great Trick-Taking game where the focus is on what suits each player does, and does not, want to take. In the first game, Jason (13) won over Dave (8), Scott (5) and Philippe (-8). In game 2 John-Paul (16) won over Jason (13), Philippe (11) and Dave (8).

Next we played Oregon, a quick and fun tile-laying game with the theme of exploring a new state. It plays fast and while is not overly deep, it is pleasantly engaging. John-Paul (77) won over David (61), Carly (60) and Jason (40).

A pair of back-to-back games of Raj were next. Raj is a core game with little theme, but its central mechanism is used in many other favorites (El Grande and Niagara, for example). In game the first Jason (16) won over Carly (12), Dave (8) and John-Paul (4). In game the second Dave (18) won over Jason (13), John-Paul (7) and Carly (-1).

Next up was In the Year of the Dragon, another excellent game from Alea. It can be very unforgiving, but it is still engaging. In this match-up, Calvin (96) crushed the opposition: Philippe (79), Scott (74) and Lance (55).

Another game of Ticket to Ride: Europe took place. The continental train battle is both more brutal (the tunnels) and more forgiving (the stations) than the regular game. Carol (116) proved most adept at completing her routes, followed by Bob (106), rick (98) Linda (95), and Noreen (95).

Three players is probably my favorite way to play Agricola, and this night Philippe and I taught the game to John-Paul. Philippe was able to get some amazing synergy with his stone collecting and food gathering going, and proved unstoppable. Philippe (51) won over Dave (44) and John-Paul (20).

Two games of Tichu were next, with Ruben & Melinda winning game 1 over Bill & Carly, 1005 to 895. Close game! Game 2 was more of a blowout with Jason & Noreen winning 1180 to 520 over Linda & Rachel.

Zooloretto made another appearance, and in this game, Rick (31) managed the win over Carol & Bob (tied with 22 and 3 coins each), Linda (19), and Noreen (15). the used most of the expansions we had...

Key Harvest is the latest from designer Richard Breese, and it looks to be an interesting territory-building/set collecting game. In this playing, Jason (31) won over Lance (27), Calvin (25) and Scott (24).

A quick game of For Sale is never a bad thing. After teaching the rules, the game was underway. Rick (61) continued his dominance of the classic auction filler, with Carol and Bob (57 each) again tying for second, followed by John-Paul (54).

Tonights final game was Web of Power, in which players vie for influence in Europe of the 1800's. Bob (53) used his advisors well and won, followed by Dave (48), Rick (40), Carol (35) and John-Paul (32).

See you soon!