Games Played July 8, 2006

One key to happiness – GAMES

We managed to play four games today. Might have played one more, but for a long telephone call interruption.

First game up (again) was Bohnanza. This is a good game to begin the afternoon, because all seven of us enjoy it. When it is finished, Natalia usually goes off and does her own things for the rest of the day, unless we happen to pull out another one she likes. This was Joel’s day for games, and he easily won Bohnanza. Results: Joel first, Natalia second (she always does well in this game), Dan and Mason (tied) third, me fifth, Katrina sixth, Sue last. Although Sue didn’t do well this time, she holds second place for the most wins of Bohnanza, just one victory behind Mason, overall.

Next up was Boomtown. Although the rules say this is a game for 3-5 players, we’ve found that 6 can play it fine. Joel requested this game, and he won. In fact, he came close to the record high score (held by Sue – 89), with an 86. At the same time, I set a new low score of 26 (I also had the previous low score of 31). Obviously, I don’t understand how to play this game very well. Results: Joel first, Katrina second, Sue third, Mason fourth, Dan fifth, me last. Katrina complains about playing this game, saying she really doesn’t like it, but out of the four times we’ve played it, she’s won once, Joel once, and Sue twice.

Joel also requested Carcassonne. This was a slow game of Carcassonne, with some unusual battles for large cities. Amazingly, I managed to steal a very large city. Dan piled up bonus points with the most barrels and ribbons (cloth), and I made lots of points with several fields, as I had the last time we played. Last time, the final scoring brought me from last to fourth, this time, I led most the game and managed to hold on for the win. Results: me first, Dan second, Katrina third, Mason fourth, Joel fifth, Sue last.

Final game of the day was Settlers of Catan (no surprise). This, too, was a very slow-developing game (for us). Dan and Joel have been playing Settlers online this summer, and the scores reflected that. In fact, Dan simply ran away with the game. Results: Dan first (10 points), Joel – Sue – Mason (tied with 5 points) second , Katrina and me (tied with 4 points) last. Although the game started slowly, it ended fairly quickly. Dan zoomed ahead early and finished fast. Dan is just one game behind Mason, again, in wins of Settlers (18 to 17).

I decided this was not a particularly good weekend to introduce Australia. Unfortunately, I believe we may not all be together for games the next two weekends, so it looks like August may be the month to try Australia, unless we can manage it on the last Saturday of this month.

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