Game Day

Sunday was game day with my girlfriend. We do not schedule these regularly; we just play when we both have the time. I prefer to wait until there's a large block of time to play many games in a row rather than play a filler every day of the week.

Mastermind: This is one of our regular games over breakfast. As a game in itself, it is fairly boring and random, but it's good to kickstart your brain over coffee. We keep a running tally using the peg track on the side of the board. We play once each way, the winner getting the difference in points. The first to 29 wins the match.

Kahuna: Our first real game of the day, and a casual favorite. This game of sticks and stones has the unusual quality that your "front" is always vulnerable. Bridges support stones (islands), and stones defend bridges. You cannot build a wall of defense because whatever bridges exist on your front can be destroyed by a new stone, causing a ripple effect. Very neat. I won 9-1.

Magna Grecia: Our first time playing a full game. Despite the yellow/orange/red/brown palette, this game looks pretty nice as it starts to build up. Although we finally understand the mechanics of the game, the strategies elude us. It seems that any player-player connectivity or market competition is an almost a break-even endeavor. The only real points seem to come from oracles. I'm hoping lightning will strike some day, since this game is a favorite of some respected gamers. I won 45-24.

Carcassonne: The Castle: Another light and fun game. I built a very large tower. My girlfriend built a very large house. I finished off my tower on the second to last tile for 20 points. She could not complete her house. She managed to cancel out (ie share) my huge market area. Our tiny completed houses cancelled out. She won 77-66.

Alhambra: I don't remember ever winning this game against my girlfriend, and this time was no exception. She always seems to be able to buy with exact change and has an uncanny ability to buy every tile I need just before I am able. Regardless, I pushed on with the longest wall on all 3 scoring phases. I had a 10 point lead going into the 3rd round. She got majority on 4 of the 6 colors, giving her an easy 94-72 win.

Online I have been playing Through the Desert, Alhambra, Richelieu, Hansa, Tikal, Torres, and Shazamm!

[Magna Grecia image by Fawkes]