Germantown 06/02/08

Hey everyone! Here's the long-awaited record of the June 2nd session.

• Leslie Barkley
• Aubrey Bell
• Dave and Martha Briggs
• Dave Fair
• Todd Heidenreich
• Doug Hoylman
• Bob Jones
• Carol Loman
• Eric and Laura Reinhold
• Bill Trac
  

I arrived a bit late this evening, so I’m not exactly certain in what order the first few games below were played.

The colorful tile-laying game Uptown has been getting a bit of play of late. I’m not sure I like the components of the game, but the gameplay itself is straightforward and requires a good amount of strategy. Since low scores are better, Laura won this through the tiebreaker. Laura 2 (1 captured tile), Doug 2 (5), Dave 2 (9), Eric 3 (4).

Then came the Scrabble-esque, Qwirkle. Bill was the Qwirkliest with 108 followed by Leslie 99, Carol 95, and Aubrey 89.

Another new filler game that’s seen a lot of play is Big Points. Laura appears to have been on a roll and tied Eric for the victory with 28 points, followed by Dave Fair 18, and Doug 16.

Dave Fair was waiting for me to arrive, so when I did we brought out the classic two-player, Lost Cities. Despite my winning rounds 1 and 3, Dave’s second round gave him enough of a lead to win a very close game. I believe each of us scored at least one 20 point bonus. Dave 56+75+72=203 Bob 67+64+69=200

The fishy sequel/expansion to Coloretto is Aquaretto, where players build aquarium homes for seals, Orcas and penguins. Martha was convincingly the best at providing comfortable habitats. Martha 26, Leslie 21, David Briggs 19, Aubrey 19, and Carol 16.

A game I really enjoy but haven’t played much over the past couple of years is the blind-bidding, Arabian themed, Aladdin’s Dragons. This game has some of the nicest bits in any game and the artwork is fantastic. Some people are turned off by the blind-bidding mechanic, but there’s enough idea of what people are after that it doesn’t bother me a bit. This is the best of the blind-bidding games. Since I was the only one who had played before, there was a bit of a learning curve involved. If we played again, I have no doubt the scores would change significantly. Final scores, Bob 8, Carol 6 (won tie), David Briggs 6, Leslie 5 (won tie), Martha 5.

The Hanging Gardens is quick and easy to play but fairly taxing on the brain. It’s also colorful and fun. Final scores, Bill 23, Laura 23, Doug 21, Eric 21.

Finally, since I was occupied, the other group brought out my favorite game, Taj Mahal. Curse you! Eric walked away with this one, creating a huge, interlocking network of palaces. Final scores were Eric 47, Bill 38, Todd 30, Doug 30, and Dave Fair 25.