Shabbat Gaming

I issued an open invite for people to come play games on shabbat. Nadine was over for shabbat; she was at our mutual friends on Friday evening where and when she and Noa played several games, including Thunderstone and Notre Dame. Nadine and Noa's family came for lunch, and so did David. Ben came in the afternoon, and so did Rosalyn and her husband and son. Tal joined us for a short time near the end of shabbat.

David's first modern game was Ticket to Ride, which I taught him a few weeks ago. He enjoyed it and seemed eager to play again or learn more new games. He has had experience with longer games (of the Avalon Hill variety) in his youth.

Before lunch, I taught him Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation. He played black and won by killing Frodo. After lunch, Nadine, Noa, David, and I played Tribune. We played with an easy set of conditions. I had an ok first round but made terrible progress on all other rounds. Nadine won, with Noa only one laurel short of completing her conditions on the same turn. Nadine thinks she would have won on points anyway.

While we were on our last rounds, I taught Rosalyn and her family and Ben to play It's Alive. Everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Next, Ben, David, Nadine, and I played Carson City. David and Ben tied at fifty points, with David winning on turn order. I had 43 and Nadine had 41. I took Sheriff on the first round but only secured three points from him, which is kind of a waste. I ended up with control of nine squares on the board, but it wasn't enough to supplement my poor interim scoring. Ben and David had more guns, which gave them an edge, even though there was little fighting.

Meanwhile, I also played Detroit-Cleveland Grand Prix with Rosalyn and her family. They picked it up ok, and we made it through two laps. I had the most money when we stopped.

For the last set of games, I taught Ben and David how to play Tichu and then I called and made a grand Tichu on the first hand (partnered with David). We only made it through a few hands.

Rosalyn, her son, and I also started Settlers of Catan, but it was slow going as they relearned the rules. Tal took over for me so I could concentrate on Tichu. Nadine eventually took over for Tal and Tal joined us. Shabbat drew to a close and we had to abandon both games midway.