Wow. A game day on the fly. It was a blast. My buddy Chad and his son Alex (11 years old) came over today and we ended up with nine plays of seven games. Honestly, it was one of the best days I've had gaming in a long, long time. Here's the report:
Cartagena - After a bit of dickering, we decided to play some board games. Since I still don't know where all my games are, I grabbed one game I knew I had out. Since I liken this one to Candyland for grownups, I figured it was one that would be easy to teach and learn. I was right. While I won, I was surprised how quickly Alex took the game.
Ark of the Covenant - While we were still unsure what we were going to do, Alex asked for another game. Not to be one to turn down the opportunity, I grabbed one of my all time favorites: Carcassonne. Well, a slight variation (more on that later). Another game that Alex took to quickly and I managed to beat him by only a few sheep.
But, I realized how much original Carcassonne I played when I continually confused a few of the rules. Thankfully I was playing with newbies who didn't care. Alex didn't enjoy this one as much as the first one, but I always enjoy a good game of Carc.
Like It or Lump It (x3) - At this point, my wife Julie came home from a meeting. We invited her to join the game and I remembered that both Alex and Chad mentioned how much they liked Apples to Apples. I decided on a similar game to liven up the group a bit. While I prefer a good strategy game, I'm not opposed to playing a fun social game if the group is right.
And I enjoy this one. Julie won the first two but Alex came on strong to win the last one. Chad and I went for too many laughs and ended up losing, but since we all had a good time, we were all winners (okay, that's cheesy, but it's how I think...)
Apples to Apples - Now the cries were loud for the real game of Apples to Apples. Since there were only four of us, I used a house variant that the box always played a random card. Alex found himself trailing early in the game to the box, but he quickly rebounded. But in the end, I managed to pull off the victory.
The Great Dalmuti - We decided for a slight change of pace and I pulled out Dalmuti. We only played one hand because we needed to go out and help scoop snow, but I have a feeling that we'll play this one again. I offered to be the Greater Peon, so it was all the sweeter when I managed to become the Great Dalmuti. But everyone agreed that we needed to play this one again some day.
At this point, we needed to scoop the snow that had fallen during our game. After coming in and warming up, Alex decided it was time for another game.
Gold Digger - Alex went down and pulled out this Knizia game. I'm not a huge fan, but we gave it a go. After glancing through the rules again, we were off. Chad and Alex committed early to their mines, allow me to sneak in and claim a large victory. Alex decided he didn't care for this one (and no, it wasn't just because he lost!)
Ticket to Ride - Julie was up for another game after Alex selected Ticket to Ride. Chad had played a couple of times before and Julie and I are old pros at the game as we have played close to twenty times this year between the two versions of the game. After explaining the rules to Alex, we were off. Alex got the game. A little too quickly, if you ask Julie since it became clear Alex's main goal was to counter everything Julie was doing. In the end, I won but by a slim margin over, you guessed it: Alex.
All in all, we had a great day. I had forgotten how much fun spending a lazy snowy day with good friends playing good games. Now, I'm looking forward to the next snowy Saturday I can do the exact same thing.
