3rd Sunday Gaming Group – March

Yesterday was our monthly gaming group day.  We started off with seven players, which can be an awkward number.  Most gaming groups split into two games at that point, with some playing a four player game and others in a three player game.  Sometimes it will split 5/2 instead of 4/3.  However, our group generally wants to be all inclusive, so we looked for a seven player game.  I had hoped my copy of 7 Wonders would have arrived by now, which plays up to seven, but my understanding is that the US distributor is waiting for the shipment to clear Customs.  That wasn’t an option.  We played a few other games instead.

We started with Pit.  I hadn’t played this since high school, and our game wasn’t as rowdy as I remember it.  You are commodity traders on the floor of the exchange, and you are trying to corner your market.  There are no turns.  You are trading in real time by just shouting the number of cards you have available for trade.  There really isn’t much strategy here, it’s just rowdy fun.  It feels a lot like a party game.  In the end, it wasn’t really a hit with the group.

Next we moved on to Citadels, which is a game I like less and less as time goes on.  With three or four players, there are better games to play.  With six to eight players, there is too much time waiting for your turn.  Additionally, there is very little control.  At that point, the game just outstays its welcome.

Dinner was the next agenda item, and then one of our regulars had to go.  At six players, we went with Carcassonne with several expansions:  The River, Inns and Cathedrals and Traders and Builders.  This is a typical European style game, in which the object is to score the most points.  Some points are scored during the game, and some are scored at the end.  This session was interesting in the various approaches people took.  I concentrated on in-game scoring opportunities, and was the leader after play stopped.  Meanwhile the person in last place had concentrated almost exclusively on end-game scoring (though I am not sure that was intentional!).  That player scored roughly 125 out of 140 points all in the endgame, and very nearly won.  It made the end of the game pretty exciting!  The winner blended the two scoring opportunities.  (I came in fourth, if you are wondering.)  This is a game that deserves a review for family and casual gamers, and is on my list.  In the meantime, I will just give it a thumb.

Three more left, and we broke out Pandemic.  This game is designed by the same person who created Forbidden Island, which I have reviewed.  Pandemic is a little longer and a little more complex, though certainly still good for families and casual players.  It is another cooperative game, where everyone is playing as a team against the game mechanisms, trying to cure the world of diseases that are threatening to wipe out the human race.  To put a positive note on it, we solved the world overpopulation problem, since the diseases wiped out the world’s population!  We lost two close games.  This game is also a great one, and is in the hopper for a review too.

By this point, it was getting late, so we called it a night.  For those of you who are curious, I won exactly zero games.  I said I love to play games; I didn’t say I was terribly good at them.  Of the games in this session, my recommendations are:

Pit 
Citadels

Carcassonne

Pandemic

 Until next time,

Keep on rolling!