1st November 2023
Another big turnout with 19 gamers including three new joiners. We played 11 different games but only two completely new to the club this session.
Getting the session started were some of our usual filler games Ecosystem (now on its 17th session played and another five with the Coral reef version) and Tomb Trader on its seventh play. Then we split up into four tables of longer games.
Isle of Cats was the one of the new games, it has been on the selection table a few times and this time made it out to be played. Four players started filling their ships with cat tiles in a tetris like game. The backstory or theme of the game is that you are citizens of Squalls End on a rescue mission to The Isle of Cats and must rescue as many cats as possible before the evil Lord Vesh arrives. Each cat is represented by a unique (polyomino) tile and belongs to a family (colour), you must find a way to make them all fit on your boat while keeping families together. You can also find treasures and study ancient lessons which give end game goals and additional scoring options.
Flash Point: Fire Rescue was back from session 63 with five players battling against a raging house fire with many people and a cat and a dog to save before it burnt to the ground. It was a slow start as the fire was at the far end of the building from the doors and then two of the three hazardous materials exploded as they couldn’t be reached in time! The crew eventually got the blaze sufficiently under control to rescue everyone and then abandon the area.
Above and Below was back for its third session last played in session 53 where there is a nice review of the gameplay. Soon four players were building villages and exploring the deeps looking for resources and reputation. There was a great emphasis in this game to send as many people as possible (Jame T. sent 4 at one point) on exploring the caves to bring back coins, resources and wonderful tales to boost their reputation. In the end, it was a close call for first and second place, but Oliver managed to re-build his village and balance his resources and adventuring to come out on top.
Power Grid is a very popular Euro game so it is surprising this was only the second time it was played at club (last seen in session 17). The objective of Power Grid is to supply the most cities with power. Players bid against each other to purchase the power plants, however as plants are purchased, newer, more efficient plants become available, thus allowing others access to superior equipment. Additionally, players must acquire the raw materials (coal, oil, garbage, and uranium) needed to power the plants (except for the ‘renewable’ wind farm & solar plants, which require no fuel), making it a constant struggle to upgrade your plants for maximum efficiency while expanding your power network.
Then as the night was still young and three of the tables had chosen more moderate complexity/length games there was time for some more shorter games.
For Sale a lightweight bidding based card game was also on its seventh play. Patchwork Doodle was out for its fifth play for a different type of tetris tile fitting fun. Seven Dragons had its eighth play with the aim to lay a continuous trail of seven dragon pictures in your secret colour. Queendomino was back from the previous session 65 for domino tile laying and contiguous terrain type point scoring. While Kingdomino Duel a roll and write version of the popular base game Kingdomino for two players was tried out for the first time.
The next session is 15th November, there will be a table full of varied games to choose from as always. Do let us know in advance if you have any particular suggestions and we can try and organise that. You can contact us via discord, twitter or email for more information.
Finally an advert and save the date for the annual charity night, traditionally our last session before Christmas. This will be held on November 29th after the next session. Any donations on the door or from the games raffle and bake sale that members can kindly donate to, will be given to a local charity. We have previously supported EACH and St Ives food bank.
Then there will be no sessions in December due to the Christmas holiday and we restart 2024 on January 10th.
- Total Session Attendance: 19
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Board Games: