-
Christmas Agricola
I must’ve been pretty nice, since Santa brought me Cuba (befriending game store owners helps). Haven’t tried yet, but the game looks drop dead gorgeous. Mechanisms seem sound as well. Should be fun, might be one of those “nice, but like too many other games” games. My dear wife agreed to play a game with…
-
Thursday session: Xiangqi, Tarot, Tichu
We had to do a last-minute location switch because university is already closed for Christmas. Well, four players gathered at the bar we chose to play in. Not bad, really, as four is all you need… Jaakko was first to arrive and as I had set up a Xiangqi board to go through some example…
-
Shogi and Race for the Galaxy
I met Olli for a quick round of two-player games. Since the ever-friendly postman brought me my Shogi board, that was what we played. Olli has this thing with abstracts: he doesn’t really like to play them, because he basically dislikes their deepness, I suppose. In a sense, I mean, that he sees there’s potential…
-
Verflixxt! with expansions
Last night we were watching Nightwish (they were excellent!) while Nooa was with his grandparents. It was his first night away from us, but apparently everything went well… Can’t wait to see him, in half an hour or so! I miss him already quite a bit. Anyhow, since we didn’t have time for a movie…
-
Thursday session: Agriculture again
While waiting for our fellow gamers, we played a three-player game of Race for the Galaxy. This time everybody knew the rules and played fast and we were able to finish the game in just 15 minutes or so. It was a close one: the scores were 32-32-30, and I was able to win thanks…
-
Visiting Jyväskylä: Villa Paletti, Da Vinci Code, Agricola
I was visiting my parents in Jyväskylä this weekend and as usual, games were played. We started already in the afternoon with Villa Paletti. I like the game, and this reminded me why. It’s just so much fun. The last game we played was particularly delicious. The lowest level was supported by three small pillars:…
-
Thursday session: Agricola, Kuhhandel
After a quick round of Geschenkt, it was time for a double dose of agriculture. Agricola! After figuring out the puzzle of how to fit the game on the table, I went through the rules. Let me say Agricola isn’t a game I like to explain… Just too many things to do, yet most of…
-
Thursday session: Slovenian Tarok, Ottocento
When I arrived, the guys were already playing Mhing. No problem: I dealt myself in and joined the game. It’s flexible that way… Didn’t win the first hand, obviously, but in the second, I got out on what, fourth or fifth card. Getting three jokers in the deal sure helps. My hand was a true…
-
Thursday session: Race for the Galaxy and Canal Mania
We started the session with Race for the Galaxy. Our game took something like 40 minutes this time, so it’s getting faster, perhaps. I went with the novelty goods, as my start cards were bent that way. I got a pretty good engine going there, with Consume: Trade producing a hefty pile of cards and…
-
Thursday session: 1960 and Ubongo Extrem
Yesterday’s game session put quality over quantity. I spent two hours playing 1960 with Sami; this included the rules explanation (15 minutes of that, 1 hour 45 minutes of game). I took Nixon and campaigned against Sami’s JFK. I had told Sami that the endorsements were important and as a result, he beat me out…