Game Night Writeup

Last night's game night had a respectable turnout. Most of the regulars were there and my son Kray was able to attend as well. I arrived while a few openers (Money, and The Bottle Imp) were wrapping up and then we divided into three groups for the main events.

Christopher, Oren and I played Caylus. Just in case you've been living under a rock and haven't heard of it, Caylus is definitely the new darling of the euro-gaming world. It's meteored up to third place on the Board Game Geek top games list. This is the third or fourth time I've played it and I have to say that I've found it very worthy of all the buzz it's received. It's deep, strategic, exceptionally well balanced, and a whole lot of fun. I'd gladly play it any time. Christopher won, followed by myself and then Oren. All three scores were pretty close and had Christopher not managed to build the cathedral (worth 25 VP) before me I'd have won the game. Good times. Can't wait to play again.

Mike M. and Tejas played Memoir '44. I don't know which scenarios they played, nor do I know who won but they appeared to be enjoying themselves. Memoir is a great game that enables players to simulate dozens of historical conflicts that occured during the liberation of Europe at the end of World War II. It's not as deep or accurate as a full-fledged war game, but neither is it as difficult to play. It plays quickly and it's a heck of a lot of fun.

Kray, Adam, Birch, Wade, Jose, and Mike K. played World of Warcraft, Kray's new pride and joy. This is a monster game. Their game lasted well over five hours. I haven't played it myself so I can only comment on what I saw and what I saw looked pretty good. It's chock full of delicious figures, cards, counters, etc. The board is gorgeous. The production quality is first rate (this is a Fantasy Flight huge-box game, similar to Descent or Twilight Imperium III in production quality). Everyone involved in the game seemed to be enjoying themselves.

After our game of Caylus ended, Mike, Oren, Christopher and I played a few hands of Tichu while we waited for the WoW game to finish. Eventually Christopher had to leave and our game broke up after a few three-handed hands of Tichu (which is not nearly as satisfying as the standard four player game).

Can't wait for next week when we get to do it all again!