Have I mentioned how much I love Game Night?

Monday may have been a holiday but Tuesday was GAME NIGHT! and we had a great turnout. A lot of good games were played and most of the regulars were there. Curt even joined us later in the evening (which is always a treat).

The first game I played was Pizaro & Co. This is a nice little auction game from Thomas Lehmann and Rio Grande Games. The theme is completely pasted on: ostensibly you're kings bidding for the services of a set of famous explorers (most of whom weren't even contemporaries) but it could just as well have been about anything else. Each explorer offers some unique abilities. The most unique aspect of the game is that it's played on two double-sided boards which can be played with either side up. Each side has the same set of explorers but with slightly different abilities. So each explorer comes in two flavors and by flipping the board you can have up to four different game setups. Personally, I'm not a big fan of this game but some people really like it. (We don't normally stock it but I can special order it if you're interested.) Our players were Christopher, Jose, Scott, Mike M., and myself. I promised Scott (who had to leave just before we counted the score) that I'd post the outcome. I don't remember the exact score but Christopher won the game with around 40 points. Scott, Mike, and Jose all tied for second. I came in a distant last.

After that, the guys twisted my arm and forced me to play Caylus again. This time we had five players: Christopher, Jose, Tejas, Mike M., and myself. With that many players, it becomes much harder to execute a strategy; it becomes a much more tactical game. This time there was a bit more screwage with the provost than in games past. I did well, coming in third and within reach of the leader. Jose won.

Curt showed up while we were playing Caylus and after Caylus ended Curt, Christopher, Tejas and I played Mykerinos, a very nice light area control game from Ystari Games, the same company that brought us Caylus. In Mykerinos, players are archaeologists searching the deserts of Egypt for treasures and artifacts to bring back to a museum. Whoever brings back the best stuff will earn the favor of the patrons. Curt and I tied for first place. Christopher and Tejas tied for third.

Finally, Curt, Oren, Christopher and I wrapped up the night with Can't Stop, the classic press your luck game by Sid Sackson. Adam and Mike K. replaced Oren and Christopher for the last couple of games. Can't Stop is an excellent ultra-light filler game. It plays extremely quickly (typically under 20 minutes) and the rules are so easy to grasp that they can be learned just by watching someone else take their turn. On your turn you roll four dice which you can then pair up any way you want. Sum up each pair of dice and put a white marker on the board under those two numbers. Now roll again. If you roll a pair that matches one of your white markers then you get to move it up towards the top. If you roll a pair that doesn't match, you put a third marker on the board. Now every time you roll the dice you MUST have a pair that matches one of your three white markers. Fail to do so and the white markers come off and your turn is over. At any time you can voluntarily stop your turn and place markers on the board where you stopped, locking in your current position. Get three white markers all the way to the top of the board and you win the game.

Other games played tonight included Fury of Dracula and I'm sure there must have been others but I couldn't tell you what they were.