Tuesday's Gaming

I'm late with this post but I have a good excuse. First of all, I've been working overtime (which can be a good thing). Second of all, we have a house guest this week (definitely a good thing 'cause he's a nice guy and he likes games). And finally, my sister-in-law passed away this week after a long fight with a brain tumor (not such a good thing but at least her ordeal is now over). That last one has proved a bit of a distraction as we deal with the fallout and get ready for the funeral this weekend.

Our house guest Greg is staying with us while he gets settled in his new job and finds a place for his family to live. We were happy to have him join us for game night this Tuesday. Hopefully that will become a regular thing.

Lots of games were played but the big long one was Britannia. Four of our group started this up almost immediately and didn't finish until game night was over. It's a long game. I like it but it's too long for my tastes. They seemed to be enjoying themselves. Our kids are going to be studying British history this year and we'll likely pull out this game after that unit since the whole game is played over a historically accurate time line.

Meanwhile, those of us who wanted to actually play more than one game kept busy with other games. First up for me was Pillars of the Earth. I just recently started reading the novel upon which this game is based and this was the first time I'd played the game since I started reading the novel. It's even more interesting now that I recognize who the characters mentioned in the game actually are. You don't need to have ever heard of the novel to appreciate the game but it does add just a teensy bit of flavor which is kind of fun.

Next I played a game of Tichu with Adam, and two of my sons. This was a little bit frustrating for Adam and I since we've played so many games and my sons are just learning. But they're getting better and I'll have them whipped into shape in no time. Everybody's got to start somewhere. I'm glad they're learning young.

The final game of the evening for me was Thebes. And (as is often the case) I discovered that we had missed one teensy little rule the last time we played it which made quite a bit of difference. This time we got it right and I must say that the game was better for it. Somehow we missed that wiping cards in Warsaw costs one week in addition to travel time. (We did not miss the rule about costing additional weeks for subsequent wipes.) Without that rule, it's way too easy to wipe the cards and then pick up the best of whatever comes up before someone else gets a turn, which leads to players getting too many good cards, which leads to too much success at the digs, which leads to later digs being worthless. This time the digs were still somewhat valuable right up to the end. I still think the game is pretty luck heavy but I really don't mind the luck so much since it fits the theme so well.