Session Report: Odds & Ends

A quick recap of my gaming over the last few days:

Sunday night I played Settlers online with Jennie, Katie, and Toph. Jennie took game one and Toph game two (although I was on the verge of victory...) Jennie's been playing a lot, so perhaps she's gotten pretty good. We will see.

Monday I played a solo game of Pandemic. I had played this once before with all five roles, only giving each role one player card to start. Last time I came within one player turn of winning. This time I lost on turn #2. Three adjacent three-cube yellow fever infections to start the game and a first turn epidemic are not a good combination! Pandemic is a fun diversion as a solo game, but not nearly as fun as four-player. I'd like to get a feel for Pandemic's viability with all five roles, but the jury is still out.

Yesterday I played a bunch of Sorry Sliders games with the kids and we all had fun. Both of them can compete fairly well against me, although I do avoid doing anything particularly mean.

Also, the Mrs. and I played another two-player game of Fury of Dracula. I played the four hunters this time and found the number of cards and decisions a little much. Also much of the game featured screaming and/or yelling children, which was painful. As with our first two games, Dracula lost, although this time it came down to a final dice roll. I don't know about Fury as a two-player game; I'm thinking it is best left to at least three. The hunters being somewhat split up amongst different players is much more thematic in my mind.

Gaming weekend: North Star party games

The family and I were in Syracuse this weekend visiting my sister-in-law and her boyfriend. We picked up copies of Wits & Wagers and Sorry! Sliders at the Target. I had been somewhat shocked that none of our local Walmart stores carried Sliders, it being a mass-market game and all.

We spent lots of time playing board games during our visit, although the vast majority consisted of the two North Star party games in my collection.

Say Anything (3 plays)

We gave this one another try, and for the most part it was a lot of fun. The four of us took our answers a little less seriously than our group had on Friday night, and we did a great job of playing the game briskly. It is possible that Say Anything was more fun this time because the players knew each other a little more and could play off that fact to a greater extent. Perhaps the game can be just as fun with new friends, but we will have to wait and see.

Wits & Wagers (4 plays)

Though I did enjoy our plays of Say Anything, I had even more fun with Wits & Wagers! Instead of answering opinion questions like Say Anything, in Wits & Wagers players answer trivia questions. After everyone has written their guess on their personal dry-erase board, each player bets on which answer is closest to the correct one. I think I found this title to be more fun than the other because the winners of each question are determined by some definite answer and not just the opinion of the current player. Like Say Anything, Wits & Wagers needs to be fast paced to be fun, but this one plays quickly by design due to the 30-second timer used during each answer phase and each betting phase. We played this with four players, but I can see it being even more fun with a full complement of seven (or even more if you play teams).

Pandemic (1 play)

Our play of Pandemic was one of the most tense I've played thus far. Perhaps 3/4 through the player deck we only had one cure and the blue disease was on the verge of overwhelming Europe completely. For a few nervous moments we felt the game was simply out of hand and victory was impossible. A few smart decisions and a heap of luck later, however, we emerged victorious, albeit with seven total outbreaks and a precious few cards remaining.

Sorry Sliders (3 plays?)

Although it wasn't the star of the weekend we did set up Sorry! Sliders and had some fun with it. I think it will be a very enjoyable game in the right circumstances, especially at a party featuring some alcohol. Sorry! Sliders seems to be a fast paced and well designed dexterity game, entertaining for children and adults alike.

Overall the weekend was lots of fun. I only wish we'd played more strategy games, as I'd brought both Dominion and El Grande. Maybe next time...