Category: Gaming

9.5 San Juan

~ m ~ 3 Comments

This game always seems to be billed as second-in-line, because it’s a two-player spin-off of Puerto Rico, a bigger game. But dig around for it, it’s worth it – a great game of skill building up your base city before time runs out. There are lots of ways to achieve that goal – Andrea used a new one on me today (monument-building) to sneak up and clobber me. I guess it’s not too new, Reiley has won before that way. Wait a minute, I think I better reassess… :> Anyway, we play a lot of two player games, and this is one we keep coming back to for its well-balanced strategy options and manageable scope. Here’s Andrea whooping it up on me today… I’m so glad for the little ways I can make her happy. UNTIL NEXT TIME! :>

Reiley and I play war

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Yesterday we decided that Reiley was old enough to play a Real Time Strategy war game with me. She and Wren have been playing multi-player Age of Empires ][: The Conquerers for a long time now, and they’re very skilled at map building and playing in a friendly mode. So Reiley kept up with me just fine. And it’s fortunately not too graphic, especially compared to many, many other games. You get to choose from a variety of actual civilizations, so it’s educational, too (yeah yeah, that’s the ticket).

I sent over a few soldiers to attack her early, and she sent a sneaky counter-attack around the back of my colony. She’s a great opponent, and a really good sport to boot. There’s a little bit of guilt on my part, for 1) letting her play wargames and 2) for not holding back more when I’ve played the game a lot more than she has. But I guess there’s plenty of time for her to surpass her old man (and whip his butt). :>

Poker passion

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The local tournament-style Texas Hold’ Em poker game last night was great fun – I knocked a couple people out and ended up in 4th place. Keith made it to 2nd place, which is typical, and Chris was the first one out, definitely NOT typical. Just goes to show – even though it’s a great game requiring both strategic and bluffing skills, you can’t remove lady luck from the equation. :>

Carcassonne Game Day

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The night before last, the girls stayed with Grammy and Andrea and I found ourselves with a Saturday pretty much all to ourselves. We ate up the morning with a massive game of Carcassonne, including the River, Builders and Traders, The Dragon and the Princess, and Inns and Cathedrals expansions. Later that day, Jane and Larry invited us over to see our Scotland photos on their big HDTV, sweet. The kids all played upstairs while we got in another big game, this time with The Count expansion (which is great). It was fitting to play a game set in France, as they faced Italy in the World Cup Final today. Too bad Zidane tainted the whole experience with a tasteless headbutt to the chest of an Italian player. By the time they lost in a penalty shootout, I had lost the urge to cheer for them. Zidane just eclipsed Rooney for the most disappointing World Cup performance. But it was still a great ride, even if it was full of disappointments and surprises.

Lost Worlds

~ m ~ 2 Comments

OK, it’s kind of a private joke, but I can’t look at the list of games that Dan and I threw together without choking with laughter. Digging the old visions of long gone cyberworlds out of the back of my cranium is like getting hit on the head with a baseball bat. Nostalgia on steroids!!