Game Day 11/07/2007

Sans Russcon with Russ

It has been a long while since a sans-Russcon has been held. But with Russ and Anna here in the States, it seemed like a good time to hold it! Especially when it is at William’s and J.P.’s house.

Game #1

Army of Frogs

A side benefit of Russ coming was that he bought some Essen games with him (Army of Frogs and King of Siam). As I was reading the rules, Anna sat down and started a game with me. Russ and J.P. joined in as well. The rules are rather simple. If you can move your own frog, you must. You place one of the two frogs that you drew from the bag (and draw back up to two again). If you can get it so that all of your frogs on the board are touching each other and there are at least seven of them, then you will win. When you move your piece, it jumps in a straight line over other pieces. You cannot break of the group of frogs. There is one also niggly rule where you cannot make a “string” (a line of three frogs out from the group). You can make as many jumps as you like as long as you do not end up in the same spot. And when you place one of the two pieces, you can place another person’s piece anywhere and your own piece where it not not touching one of your own pieces.

Tichu

One thing that I don’t like about the Russcon crowd is that they only play Tichu until 600 points. Sesh, it is possible to score a 600 point delta in one hand! And another difference is that Jeff was confused about the wish. Even though I pointed out repeatedly that the wish was in effect. I had played a straight and wished for the Ace (given that Jeff had called Grand Tichu). Everyone passed, so I led a low pair. After it went around with no one playing a pair of aces, I wondered if perhaps people had forgotten. And the was indeed the case. Jeff argued that the Mahjong should be kept on the table if the wish hadn’t been fulfilled. I guess that I am just used to people constantly reminding of the unfulfilled status…


11/07/2007 The scorecard for a game of Tichu

GT or T bet made or lost

This team scored more points than the other or one twoed

GT/T Team #1 GT/T GT/T Team #2 GT/T
MarkH & Ben Jeffles & JP
  15   T+
185
 
  165 T+   235  
  365     235  
  415     285  
  415   GT+ 685  

Kaker Laken Poker

Wendy brought her gift from Russ to the table. It seemed like a party game so I was wary of playing it. But the only other table was currently just starting a game of Cosmic Encounters so I had no choice but to join it. This is a game about bluffing. You are dealt a hand of cards out of a deck that contains eight different suits of insects (cockroaches, stink bugs, flys, spiders, scorpions), amphibians (toads), and mammals (bats, rats). On your turn, you choose a card from your hand and give it face down to someone. You claim what the card is. That person can either claim that you are correct, that you are lying, or look at it and give it to someone else (calling it the same card or a different type). If they guess correctly (either true or false) then you place the card face up in front of yourself. Otherwise, they place the card face up in front of them. This continues until someone cannot give a card (they lose) or someone has four of the same cards face up (they lose). Everyone else wins.

Fittingly enough, Russ claimed that this game plays much faster with other groups. But our group was rather slow in all aspects of the game.