A bit of a different Sunday evening this week. I get a text mid-afternoon from Fiona saying Marlena and Becky will be there at six, and can I bring some counters for a game (in hindsight it should have been obvious that this involved playing a Cheapass game).
I arrive just after six, and we spend the next half an hour setting up One False Step for Mankind. It needs so many counters and tokens it’s ridiculous! Scott arrives before we begin, so we end up starting a five player at about quarter to 7, after both he and Fee (who have played before) have read the rules and failed to understand them. I end up speed-reading the rules and run the game more than they do, and I’d never played before. The idea was we were supposed to be starting early so Tony wouldn’t have to wait too long after he arrived about 7:30!
Obviously this doesn’t work (one of the games faults is that it takes too long), so we end up playing for about an hour, and then basically stopping. Fee announces Becky as the winner because she managed to send somebody to the moon! Personally I consider myself a winner at that point, as I’m no longer playing! Not a good game.
With Tony also present we need six player games. That’s a little tricky. We start with a quick round of Apples to Apples, which I win (or Tony won and I came second – can’t remember), and then we play Alhambra. I have Elfenland, which also plays six, but that seems like a game that takes twice as long with six than three players, unlike Alhambra where you’re still selling off exactly the same number of tiles. And everyone likes Alhambra anyway.
I get an okay start and am second or third at the second scoring, but collapse at the final scoring, when my two Towers (which was good for second place at the second scoring) gets overtaken by Marlena and Becky and I don’t manage to connect my wall at all. I finish fifth. Tony gets the majority in Gardens to move through to second place, almost catching Becky who has been leading most of the way. She is in a three way split for Towers with Fee and Marlena and has a good wall.
Alhambra isn’t great with six, but it’s useful to have a game that most people enjoy and can handle that many if needed unexpectedly. Most games wouldn’t (I only had Elfenroads cause it has loads of bits needed for One False Step for Mankind – normally I wouldn’t have any six player games).
Afterwards we just sit around playing Apples to Apples some more, lengthening the game to first to ten. Pete joins us this time, which is good for me, as I seem to have a very good understanding of his warped mind (who else would find Witch Hunts Fabulous, I also got him to pick Electric Chair) and I got four of my seven cards from him! Tony wins though.
I’m not sure how much you can read into the fact that the two most successful players at Apples to Apples were Tony and I, the two most serious gamers. Certainly everyone had fun, and it got very silly at times (some of us had been drinking). An enjoyable change from the norm – it seems unlikely we’ll have six players again any time soon, so it’ll probably be back to more serious gaming next time.
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