Games Played April 1, 2006

One key to happiness – GAMES

We had time for only a few games with the family on this day. Natalia had been invited to a friend’s birthday party, and Katrina had to drive her to it and then pick her up afterward, all during the afternoon.

No, I did not win a game, yet, this year. I hope I don’t go all year without a win!

We started with Settlers of Catan. Mason jumped out quickly and held the lead to the finish. Results: Mason first; Sue second; Katrina third; Joel and me tied fourth; Dan last. It is most unusual for Dan to be last in Settlers. Mason now leads Dan by one victory in Settlers. The competition continues.

I was a little surprised when I received no objections to playing Station Master again. I enjoy this game, although it is a bit chaotic. I led the scoring most of the way, which, of course, set me up for the fall near the end. Since scoring is continuous, as trains are completed, everyone knows the relative standings throughout the game. As the last trains are being assembled, players typically make sure the leader (or the top couple of scorers) get negative-score trains, if at all possible. Near the end of the game, I had two passenger tokens on an eight-car locomotive, and the score was looking good, until Joel played a yellow card that allowed him to move both my tokens off that train and onto one with a negative score building up. I dropped from first place to fifth! This is a real “gotcha” game. Sometimes, our family is not fond of this type of game, but sometimes the game transcends its nastiness. Joel probably enjoys the “defensive” plays as much or more than trying to score well himself. I do hope we play this more during the year. Results: Katrina and Mason tied first; Dan third; Joel fourth; me fifth; Sue last.

While Katrina and Natalia were gone, the five of us remaining decided to get in a game of Bohnanza, which Joel won bigtime! He and Natalia both do very well at this game.

After Katrina and Natalia returned, we had time for a short game and Joel suggested Trumpet, which we had not played recently. He must have felt some vibes, because he beat us by several spaces. Results: Joel first; Sue second; me third; Dan fourth; Katrina fifth; Mason last. I really thought I was going to pull out the win (and get the “loser monkey” off my back). I picked up my last hand and saw some great cards. I needed to win one trick quickly, change trumps to match my best cards, and then I had a good chance to breeze to victory. Joel never gave me a chance to win that important “change trump” trick, before he waltzed to the finish line.

It was a fun day, even though we didn’t get to play very many games. Perhaps I’ll win a game, again, someday…

--- Gerald … near Denver, Colorado; March 2006
aka gamesgrandpa -- A grandpa who is a mile high on gaming