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Archives of Highlights '99 You are visitor number  since 11/23/98 Welcome to the highlights page of the Games Night web site. Every week I write a few lines about what happened at the friday night get togethers of our gaming group. I am trying to get a laugh or two out of the people who are in that gaming group. Other people who wander onto this site may find the highlights page helpful in picking games that might appeal to their friends and game playing groups.  Thanks for stopping by,  Spanky

Who was there: Bill, Dennis, Jeff, Lori, Pete, Spanky

Evil Santa of the night: Jeff! For giving game wins to the undeserving.

Quote of the night: If you ever see me with my head shaved, PAY THE RANSOM!

The first game of the night was Skip-Bo. Everyone but Pete played in this game. Dennis won the game.  Well, won is a strong word. The game was given to Dennis as a gift by Jeff.

The next game played was Chronology. The group set the number of cards needed to win at 12. This game had more cards being missed then normal. Spanky won the game.

Settlers of Catan was the next game. No islands, no rebel, no variants at all. It was missionary style Catan. Bill stayed under the radar for all but one of his opponents. Four out of five of Bills opponents never saw that Bill was in the lead and therefore they never placed the robber on Bill. Bill won the game.

The last game of the night was Five Crowns. Bill won the game.

Who was there: Bill, Bob, Brendan, Dennis, Jeff, Ray, Spanky

Political quirk of the night: Bill might become a Keyester.

The first game of the night was a new game to games night. It was a game of Five Crowns. This is a card game that uses a special deck of cards. The deck has five suits, no aces and, includes six jokers. Players try to accumulate sets of cards such as straight flushes and "of a kind" of three or more cards. This works much like rummy type games. The thing that makes this game unlike rummy is that when the first player to be able to play ALL of his cards in groups and make his discard, the rest of the players have one chance to play cards out of their hands. The remaining players may play the parts of their hand that are valid sets and the remaining unplayed cards count against them. Cards are never played on what another player has put down. The other twist to the game is that there are three cards dealt in the first hand and then one card is added to the deal every hand there after. There is one card that is wild in every hand and that is the card that matches the number of cards dealt for that hand. In the first hand "3s" are wild, second hand "4s"... eleventh hand "kings" are wild. The game is never over till the kings go wild. Jokers are always wild. Bill won the game. The "first time played rule" was in effect.

Chronology was the next game. Ray was the only player not in the game. Very few cards got away from the first player to have a chance at it. Most of the cards that did get away end up in Jeff's timeline. Jeff won the game.

The last game of the night was Settlers of Catan. The "Rebel of Catan" variant was used for this game. All of the players were in this game. Bill had the lead near the end of the game and tried to win by buying SEVEN development cards on his lasts turn. He didn't get the cards that he needed. Ray won the game. Ray is now two for eight in games of Catan, he won catan the very first time he played it.

Who was there: Bill, Dennis, Jeff, Lori, Pete, Spanky

Phrase of the night: "Flute juice"

The first game of the night was Balderdash. The game had been on the shelf, unplayed, for 67 weeks. This game got everyone laughing out loud. Dennis help the laughter along with some of the definitions that he wrote. Pete was the only player missing. Jeff grabbed a early lead and never gave it up. Jeff won the game.

Skip-Bo was the next game. Everyone played. Lori won the game with very little competition.

The next game was Split second. This was the tightest game of Split second ever at games night. Four of the six players had nine points as the last question was read. Lori was the quickest and scored the winning point. Lori wins again.

Lori, having won two out of the three games played, called it a night at this point.

Wizards was the next game played. Bill beat the group like a rented mule. Bill won the game. Bill has won four out of the last five games of Wizards played on games night.

Pete left the group at this point.

The last game of the night was ForGet It. All of the players worked hard to get within 50 points of 500 as to have a good starting point for the final round. Dennis won the game with a 200+ point roll on his last turn.

Who was there: Bob, Brendan, Jeff and Spanky

Crushed box corner of the night: Balderdash

The first game of the night was Brendan, Jeff, and Spanky playing Knok. Spanky had a large lead at the end of the eighth hand and the other players threw in the towel. Spanky won the game.

The next game had the same players and it was a game of Phase 10. Jeff was the only player to complete phase ten and he did it in the 15th hand. Jeff won the game.

Bob, who had arrived in the middle of the above game, was now ready to join in the gaming. Blurt was picked after a little grumbling by some of the players. Bob got the early lead and only had some light competition from Spanky. Bob won the game.

Split Second was the next game. With new rubber bands, the game devise worked evenly. There were no paddles that wouldn't flip and stayed stuck to the table this time. The game went quickly and Spanky was the winner.

Chronology was the next game. The group pick to have the game end when a player won his twelfth card instead of the standard tenth. Bob had never played this game before. Bob, being a quick study when it comes to games, had no trouble getting the hang of the game. Bob did even better than just getting the hang of it, he won the game.

The group wanted to play a longer game and picked Settlers of Catan. The only variant used was the "Rebel of Catan". In this variant a 7 roll acts like a 2 and a 12 roll and, a 2 or a 12 acts like a 7. This make the robber move much less and makes all of the twos and twelve's VERY productive hexes. The "Rebel" variant took an odd twist in this game. The other time that "Rebel" was used there were more than 4 players. The game board layout for 5 or more players has the "2" and "12" away from the edges of the board and a large number of the starting settlements can be built on them. When the small 4 play board was set up, the "2" and the "12" were out on the edge. This worked out so only 2 Settle ment was built on these power house lands. Players went to the spot that had 3 land hexes without the 2 or 12 rather than take a spot that had a 2 or 12 and only one other land hex. Brendan, using a dead end road, hampered Spanky long enough to win the game. Brendan won the game.

The last game of the night was Skip-Bo. There were mistakes made by many of the players. It may have been the hour, or just burned out game playing. Spanky, who made a large error near the end, won the game. To win this game all you really need is luck.

Special note: All four players had their winning percentages go up. How often can that happen?

Who was there: Bill, Brendan, Dennis, Jeff, Lori and Spanky

New sport of the week: Chair catching. You have to use your head to do it right.

The first game of the night was Mille Bornes. There were three teams in this game. They were Spanky & Brendan, Bill & Dennis, Lori & Jeff. The game was not the slow moving mess that it was the last time that it was played. This was due to the use of teams. Bill and Dennis started off the game with a big hand and then were knocked back by the other teams. They came on strong at the end and won the game.

Wizards was the next game. All ten hands had been played and that left Bill and Dennis tied for first place. A tie breaker hand was needed. The group picked to replay the final, ten trick, hand as opposed to replaying the, one trick, first hand as a tie breaker.  Dennis won the game.

Settlers of Catan was the next game. There were not variants used in the game. It was the straight 5-6 player expansion set up. Jeff won the game.

Skip-Bo was the next game. This was a quick game of Skip-Bo. Most of the players had shed very few card when the game ended. Spanky won the game. On the lucky scale of one to ten, with the Lotto being a one and Chess being a ten, this game is about a two and a half. Players can make a costly mistake and lose the game but that is about the limit to the skill needed.

The last game of the night was Knok. Brendan won the game.

Who was there: Bill, Brendan, Dennis, Jeff, Jim, Lori, Pete, Spanky

Second language of the night: Yiddish

The first game of the night was a new game. It was Uno Stacko. The players were Bill, Brendan, Jeff, Lori, and Spanky. This game is very much like normal Jenga with a few changes. There is a die that is thrown by the players and it can change some of the elements of the game such as: reversing the order of play, having a player remove no or two pieces, and reducing the number of pieces that a player has to choose from by more than half. The playing pieces are made of plastic and are harder to remove. The whole tower is much lighter and is affected by taps on the table and people walking in the room more than the standard wood tower of Jenga. Bill won he game when Lori tumbled the tower. The "first time played rule" was in effect.

The next game was a new game also. It was the game called Skip-Bo. It is a game that has players trying to get rid of all the cards in their pile. There is some skill in this game as far as how you play your trash piles. These trash piles are an extension of your hand and can help the players get rid of cards. It is still a game where dumb luck in the cards can beat any strategy. Jeff had a great run in his cards that let him play one after the other and rid himself of all but one and that card was easy for him to play on his next turn. Jeff won the game and the "first time played rule was in effect".

Dennis, Jim and Pete joined the group for the next game. The game was The Great Dalmuti. The group picked 14 hands as the game's length. It was one of the closest games of Dalmuti that the group has ever played. The scores were very close throughout the game. With only two hands left to play, six players were still in the game with a chance to win. Jim won the game.

Jim, Lori and Pete left the group at this point.

The next game was Split Second. The paddles had brand new rubber bands. The game was a quick on with Spanky winning.

The last game of the night was a Skip-Bo. The group like the fact that the game didn't take very long to play the first time and thought that it would work well to end the night. The number one cards, that are needed to start the play stacks, were buried in the players piles and the game took much longer to play than it did in the first game. The game became an endurance test for the players. Jeff won the game and this time it counts.

Who was there: Bill, Dennis, Jeff, Spanky

Phrase of the night: Wake up and smell the monkey.

The first game of the night was Duo. Dennis won the game in the fourth hand.
The second game of the night was Duo also. This time the group set the score needed to win at 40. This was done to make the game last longer. The game lasted for 11 hands this time. Dennis was the winner.

The next game was Settlers of Catan. The 2 and 12 variant and the islands variant were used in this game. This game was odd from the very start. The board layout left many isolated pieces of land. During the game, all of the development cards were bought and still there was no winner. Spanky grabbed the early lead and then stalled at nine point for the last third of the game. Bill won the game when his army became larger than Spanky's.

The final game of the night was Settlers of Catan using the same two variants as the game above. This time it was Jeff and Bill that were the game leaders. Bill got the winning point just a turn ahead of Jeff.

Who was there: Bill, Brendan, Dennis, Jim, Lori, Pete, Spanky

High power of the night: Brendan's batteries. (he kept going and going and going)

The first game of the night was Knok. When this game is played by more than four players, the penalty for a bad knock is so bad that it puts players out of the game. In this game there were five players: Bill, Brendan, Dennis, Lori and Spanky. Lori won the game.

The next game had the same players and it was a game of Can't Stop. It seem like all of the players grabbed two numbers quickly. Dennis took a big risk with one more roll and had it paid off He got his third number and the  win.

Jim and Pete joined the group at this point.

The next game was The Great Damuti. This was one of the largest games of Dalmuti that our group has ever played. With eight players in the game, each player only gets 10 cards. This made the cards paid in taxes more important than normal. Lori and Spanky were locked in a battle for the lead for the last half of the game. Lori had the best hand of the game when she played every card in her hand before any other player could play a single card. At the end of the twelfth hand Lori and Spanky had the same score. In the tie breaker hand Spanky went out first and won the game.

Lori left the group at this point.

The final game of the night was another game of Knok. This time the group decided to try something new. In this game, when somebody made a bad knock, they didn't get the total of all the cards. They only got half of the total. In this way , it was hoped that players would not get so far behind due to one mistake. Pete ruled the game for the last half and won the game.

Who was there: Bill, Jeff, Spanky

Snack of the night: Roasted Amish chestnuts.

This was one of the smallest groups ever at a games night. There were only three players.

The group played Knok first. All nine hands were needed to find a winner. Bill won the game.

The group took the opportunity of being three in number to play a game that is made for three players. The game is Illusions. This game has a random board layout and during the game players can move pieces to new locations. The players must follow the instructions on the back of illusion cards. Who must follow those instruction is determined by what player see when they look at the optical illusions printed on the cards. A player must get all three prize pieces of the world that they pick at the start of the game. Jeff had two of his three pieces very early in the game, but lost a piece due to a harsh card. Bill won the game.

Settlers of Catan was the next game played. The small game board was set up. Not variants were used. It was a hard fought game with Spanky being the winner.

The next game was Sequence. Bill was the winner.

Who was there: Bill, Brendan, Dennis, Jeff, Lori and Spanky

Spice of the night: Adding new variants to Settler of Catan. Finally

The first game of the night was Knok. There were only two bad knocks in the whole game. Lori, who knocked only once, won the game.

Settlers of Catan was the next game that was played. The group used some new variants for this game. The first variant was the "law and order" variant. In this variant knight cards may be played whenever someone moves the robber. They may be played even if it is not your turn. The player who plays the last knight on that "moving of the robber" is the only player who gets to take a card from another player. Some of the players thought that this  back and forth battle of playing knight cards might allow a player to get the largest army card in one fell swoop. The second variant was the "Rebel of Catan". In this variant a 7 roll acts like a 2 and a 12 roll and, a 2 or a 12 acts like a 7. This make the robber move much less and makes all of the twos and twelve's VERY productive hexes. Bill had a settlement on a spot that had a 2 and a 12. One was brick and the other was lumber. Due to a lack of sevens early in the game, Bill got off to a slow start. The odds soon balanced and and Bill ran off with the game on a tide of bricks and lumber. Bill won the game. The law and order variant came up only once and affected the game very little.

Wizards was the next game. Bill, whose only bad bid was in the first hand, took the lead in the eighth hand and held it to win the game. Bill wins the game. Since the new stats pages has started, Bill has won every game of Wizards that the group has played. He is 3 for 3 in Wizards.

Lori left the group at this point.

Bop-It was the next game. The group played it three times.
#1: The pass it type game was played using the setting that gives players the words. Spanky won the game.
#2: The pass it type game was played using the setting that gives players only the sounds. Dennis won the game.
#3: In this game the players used the "going for distance" setting in which players try for as many correct moves in a row as the came get. Spanky won with a wimpy 47 in a row. (It was getting late and everyone was a little slow on reaction time)

The next game was ForGet It. It was a slow game with very little movement in the scores. Jeff got the lead early and ground out a text book win. Jeff won the game.

The last game of the night was Duo. Dennis won on the second hand of the game. He caught everyone with all their cards when he went out on his very first play.

Who was there: Bill, Dennis, Jeff, Lori, Ray, Spanky

Illness of the night: Pickle belly.

The first game of the night was Duo. Ray was the only player who was not in the game. (Ray only played in the final game of the night) Jeff won the game in only five hands.

Chronology was the next game played. I group made the game a little more of a challenge make making the number of cards need to win 12 instead of the standard 10. With more cards in everyone's timelines are harder to place new cards in. This leads to more cards getting to players down the line. Spanky's first 10 cards were all between the american revolution and W.W.II but, he still pulled off the win.

The next game was Knok. The players who "blew up" early ended up in such bad shape that they didn't employ the "knock early and often" strategy. Lori needed to have a good knock on the last hand to win and she didn't get it. Jeff gets the win.

Settlers of Catan was the last game of the night. One of the player had some interesting new variants that came from the world wide web. The group decided to play the same old, vanilla, type game anyway. Bill was in a good position early but drifted off. The main battle was between Lori (who was buying development cards in bulk) and Jeff (who didn't look like a force till the very end). Jeff made a big move at the end of the game to win.

Who was there: Bill, Brendan, Jeff, Lori, Pete, Spanky

Phrase of the night: Watch the monkeeey.

Knok was the first game of the night. Everyone but Pete played. Bill was the winner with half as many points as the next best player.

Blurt was the next game. Again, everyone but Pete played in the game. Bill jumped out to an early lead and then faded. Brendan also made a run in the middle of the game. Spanky won the game. Lori mastered a stealth voice that could not be heard by the person reading the question.

Chronology was the next game the group played. Everyone played in this game. Very few cards were missed during this game. Most of the players still had some very large gaps in their time line, even at the end of the game. It may be time to up the number of cards needed to win the game. Twelve does not seem like a bad idea. Bill won the game.

The next game was Settlers of Catan. The group set up the wronge size board for the number of players playing. The large board, the big island set up, was used for the 6 people playing. There were good places for even the last of the starting settlements placed on the board. Spanky had very few neighbors and lots of room to build, unchecked. This game was a runaway. Spanky won the game with the tenth point coming out of the development deck.

Settlers of Catan was the last game of the night. In this game Bill made some huge moves early in the game and coming very close to a sprint type win. He was pulled down from behind by the robber. The longest road card bounced back and forth between Bill and Spanky till Spanky rolled the only number that could win him the game. Spanky won the game.

Who was there: Bill, Brendan, Dennis, Jeff, Lori, Ray, Spanky

Song of the night: Happy Birthday

Brendan, Jeff and Spanky played a game of Knok while waiting for other gamers to show up. Brendan and Spanky were tied after the ninth hand and a tie breaking hand was played. Jeff knocked and caught Brendan with seven points and Spanky with six. Spanky won the game.

A seven player game of Settlers of Catan was the next game played. The board was put together quickly and the settlement site selection went fast too. Bill and Brendan were hit hard with sevens cutting their hands in half and robbing them of the chance to build. Dennis took the lead in the middle of the game with the longest road card. Spanky, the default person to put the robber on, won the game with a furry of road building at the end of the game. Many of the players needed only one more turn to get their tenth point. It was a very close game.

Ray left the group at this point.

The next game was The Great Dalmuti. The group decided to shorten the game to 12 hands from the suggested 20. Lori won the game by a bunch. She was in the Dalmuti chair only 3 times and yet she stayed close to the top so much that she had a 10 point lead going into the 12th hand. With her lead being so large, there was no reason to play the final hand.

The next five games were all Puppies. Puppies had not been played at a games night since April 3rd. of '98. Puppies have never counted in the percentages on the stats page. The game is listed on the stats page and the winners of double and triple pots get double and triple wins marked.

Puppies #1: Lori won.
Puppies #2: Lori won a double pot.
Puppies #3: Dennis won.
Puppies #4: Dennis won.
Dennis anteed up for everyone for the next game of Puppies.
Puppies #5: Brendan won a double pot and gave the winnings to Dennis.

Who was there: Bill, Brendan, Dennis, Jeff, Lori, Pete and Spanky

Tip of the week: You can find really cool old games at the thrift stores sometimes.

The first game of the night was Wizards. Everyone but Pete played. Bill lead the game for the last five hands and won the game.

The next game was Settlers of Catan. With seven players in the game the group used two complete game sets to make one large board. The players found that even the second of their starter settlement had good numbers. There were a few battles for longest road and the robber did some damage. Bill slipped under most of the players radar, and thus avoided the robber, by having three of his point, face down, in development cards. Bill won the very close game. Most of the players were a single turn from winning.

Pete and Lori left the group at this point.

The final game of the night was Can't Stop. The group decided that the game would not fall under the "first time played" rule due to that fact of most of the players knew this game. Some of the players started with great rolls only to push their luck too far and bust out. A slow pace worked to give Spanky the win.

Who was there: Bill, Jeff, Pete, Spanky

Heads up for the night: These games count for the new stats page.

The first game of the night was Knok. Bill, Jeff and Spanky were the players. The game moves very quick with only 3 players. A good knok by Bill in the 8th hand and a bad knok by Jeff in the 9th gave Bill the win.

Pete showed up in time for the next game. The game was Chronology. The group made the choice to play the standard rules, in which it takes ten cards to win the game. The game was very even with all of the players within a card or two of each other. Spanky won the game.

Settlers of Catan was the next game played. The game board for four players was set up and looked very small. The games night players are normally looking at a much larger board due to the fact of there is normally more players in the game. The game had some early trading that crushed some player's strategies. Bill, who had the best sheep producing land, lost the race to the sheep port due to a trade between Jeff and Spanky. The trade gave Jeff that port and gave Spanky the cards he need to build the first city of the game. The dice were rolling lots of fours and almost no sixes. Spanky won the game.

Pete left the group at this point.

The last game of the night was Wizards. It was a close game between Bill and Jeff. (Spanky was in negative numbers for most of the game) Bill won the game.

Who was there: Bill, Bob, Jeff, Ray, Spanky

Phrase of the night: After this, I'm driving 12 hours to look at a hurricane

Phase 10 was the only game played. If someone remembers who won, let me know and I'll post it.

Who was there: Bill, Dennis, Jeff, Lori, Pete, and Spanky

Exhibition sport of the night: Table putting.

The first game of the night started during the half time of the Browns football game. It was a game of Chronology. Jeff won the game.

The next game was Chronology also. This time the group played the game with a variant in place. The winner would need to have 12 cards instead of the normal 10. Lori was the winner

Pete left the group at this point. The final game of the night was Settlers of Catan. In the whole game, nine was only rolled once. Jeff was the winner.

Who was there: Bill, Brendan, Dennis, Jeff, Spanky

Anticipation of the night: The BROWN'S return to Cleveland!!!

The first game of the night was a new game. The game was Chronology. In this game, players have to place events in the correct place in the time line they have. In this first game only Jeff, Brendan and Spanky played.

The next game was also chronology. Bill won the game.

The third game was chronology too. Dennis won the game.

The next game was Settlers of Catan. It was a close game with quite a few changes in the lead. Spanky won the game.

The final game of the night was chronology. Dennis won the game.

Due to busy summer schedules none of the nights games will be included in the stats. The stats will be starting again sometime in September.

Who was there: Bill, Brendan, Jeff and Lori

Questions of the night: Pick one: go home with Patti or a couple of hours of games?; also Who is Julie?

Phase 10 was the first game of the night. Lori won the game.

Wizards was the last game. Bill won the game.

Who was there: Bill, Brendan, Bob, Jeff, Spanky

Freakish thing of the night: Jeff was glowing.

The first and only game of the night was a brand new game. The game was Phase Ten. It is a contract rummy type card game with a bit of a twist. Players may not move on to the next "contract" till they make their current one. All of the player can be on different "phases". The first player to get their 10th phase wins. It took 19 hands to get a winner. Jeff won the game. The first time played rule was in effect.

Who was there: Bill, Bob, Brendan, Dennis, Jeff, Lori, and Spanky

Freak of the week: Draw eyes on 'um, so the cat will play with them "mice".

The first game of the night was Blurt. Bill jumped out to a big lead, fell back to second and then, won the game.

The second game of the night was Sharks. The game was normal till near the end. At the end of the game, most of the stocks looked very shaky. Bill and Lori both sold all of their stocks to avoid the crash. The crash was very slow in coming. Most of the other player caught up to Bill and Lori level of wealth. When the crash did come, it took just a big enough bit out of the other players to give Bill the win.

At this point, Lori left the group and Bob joined it.

Dalmuti was the next game. Bill was the Greater Dalmuti for more than half the game. Bill won the game.

 Knok was the final game of the night. With a little help from Bob, Bill won the game.

Bill goes four for four.

Who was there: Bill, Brendan, Dennis, Jeff, and Spanky

Thought of the night: I miss the games that made everyone laugh.

The first game was Knok. Bill won the game.

Settlers of Catan was the next game. The group used the normal set up for five players. Jeff stayed under the radar for most of the game and won.

Forget It was the last game of the night. Joe, a guest, joined in this game. Lots of players pushing their luck and busting made for a long game. Good manners were in full view as we let Joe win the game.

Who was there: Bill, Bob, Brendan, Dennis, Jeff, Lori, and Spanky

Phrase of the night: Shar Pei gerbils, I hear that they can turn around in their own skin.

The first game of the night was Duo. Everyone but Bob played. A score of 25 was picked by the group to be the winning score. Brendan went out on his very first turn and won the game.

The next game was Duo and this time everyone played. This time the group picked 50 to be the winning score. Eight hands were played to find a winner. Bill "went out" three times and won the game.

The final game of the night was Mille Bornes. Everyone but Lori played in the game. This game is made for fewer than the six that wanted to play. The game calls for six players to form three teams and play the game that way. The group didn't like that idea and decided to rewrite the rules a bit. All of the players would play alone, no teams. They changed the length to travel to win a hand to 500 from the standard 1000. The score needed to win the game was lowered from 5000 to 3500.  The results of these changes were: It took ten hands to find a winner, players were unable to undo the bad things that other players placed on them, the game dragged on a bit. Bill won the game.

Note to players: The stats page will restart at zero in the first week of August.

Who was there: Bob, Brendan, Jeff, and Spanky.

Problem of the week: Slow start. (Caused by Yokous Tammilingua or Tardious Bobum)

Naval War was the first game of the night. The failed Naval War game last week had the group looking for ways to improve the game's play and have it fit the needs of games night better. The adjustment was made in the number of ships each player gets. Before every hand is dealt, a die is rolled and the number on the die is the number of ships all of the player will get for this hand. Each hand in the game can have a different number of ships. The other adjustments were: Player's hand had only five cards. (hands were six cards), The score needed to win was lowered to 60 from the standard 100 points. The group also toyed with the idea of not having a winning score at all, rather to play a set number of hands and the person with the highest score after the final hand would be the winner. In the game that the group played, the first hand's die roll was a five. Spanky won the game with a score of 65 points on the first hand. The group really wanted to see what the ONE ship per player hands might play like. "whoooosh bang!" Maybe next time.

Bob dusted off an old game of his and brought it to games night. Mille Bornes is the old card game of a car rally. As adults the game plays much tighter than it did as a child. It took ten hands to have anyone get 5000 points. In other words, it was had to get going at all. Jeff won the game. The first time played rule was in effect. Sorry Jeff.

The idea of picking a game out of a hat to start games night every week has been put on the shelf till the new stats page begins. The first week that will count for the new stats page will be the August 6th games night. That will be the first time that the game pick will be used.

Who was there: Bill, Bob, Brendan, Dennis, Jeff, Lori, and Spanky.

Word of the night: WHY.
As in: why did you do that, why are you being a _____, why do you want to do that, why would ANYONE do that, why can't we... etc.

The first and only full game of the night was Knok. Everyone but Bob played in the game. Dennis made four good knocks and no bad ones and won the game. Congrats to Dennis, who now has a batting avg. with more than one number.

An ill-fated Naval War game. The game was very long in its play and marred with players withdrawing from play and forgetting the "for fun", less than "cut throat" nature of play that made games night a pleasurable thing. Naval War may need to be adjusted when it is played by a large number of players. Possibly, four ships and four cards with a lower score to win would be better. No one won this game.

Speaking of pleasurable gaming, The phrase of the night on March 6, 1998 was: "gamester's" mulligan. We have let people take back a "bad" plays on many occasions.

Who was there: Bob, Jeff and, Spanky {Guest players: "Woody" & Woody's significant other.}

Observation of the week: If you bid like a wacko, it screws other players.

The first game of the night started a bit late. Guest players, sometimes, need to be "revved up" before play can begin. The group picked Settlers of Catan set up in the most normal layout. Woody ran amok and won the game easily. I can't remember why but, Jeff said that this game doesn't count. Maybe it was a guest thing.

Bob, Jeff, and Spanky played Wizards next. Jeff and Spanky battled till near the end of the game. Bob was working hard to end the game with a score of zero. WHAT EVER! Jeff won.

Who was there: Bill, Bob, Brendan, Dennis, Jeff, Lori, and Spanky.

Reminder of the week: Trade before ya' build! SHEEESH! How HARD is that to get right?

The first game of the night was Knok. Due to an error in score keeping, Bill's final score was not the game winning 44 points as everyone thought it was. Bill had 51 points, but, that was still good enough to win the game. Lori left the group at this point.

The game of Knok may need to have a rule changed. The game is designed to be played with no more than four players. When there are more players, the penalty for a bad knock is much too high. This high penalty forces the player into an all or nothing strategy which has very little chance of success and, locks the other players at the ridiculously low scores they have early in the game. The whole game breaks down as a couple of the penalized players, trying to get back into contention, knock early hoping to get lucky. When this game is played with 5-8 players, maybe the penalty for a bad knock should be cut in half. That is, add up all of the cards and the penalized player get half of the sum. Hopefully, penalized players would still have a good chance to be in the game without resorting to a drastic strategy.

Settlers of Catan was the next game. The group wanted to play, the "normal" way, with the water around the edges of the board. Some time was lost setting up the board. The "settlement placement" part of this game was strange, in that, some of the best spots trickled through to the later players. The end of the game found three player battling to win. Several of the player bumped into the, well enforced, no trading after building rule. Some players bumped into that rule more than once. Spanky won the game with a great supply of bricks and a brick port.

The final game of the night was the great Dalmuti. The players decided to set the game length at 12 hands. There was NO good peon orders during the whole game. A couple of times during the game, the Greater Dalmuti changed which seat he wanted, forcing everyone else to change their seats. Bob won the game.

Who was there: Bill, Jeff, Pete, and Spanky

Thought for the night: Sometimes, it's the decisions in which there is NO CHOICE, that take the longest.

The first game of the night was Knok. It was played by only three players: Jeff, Pete, and Spanky. Bill won the game with an impressively low score of 11 points.

The next game was Settlers of Catan. The group chose to play the "islands of catan" variant. The board was just about the strangest layout any of the players had ever seen. Spanky had the luck to go first and got the better of the two prime spots on the board. Pete got the other "good" spot. The prime real estate did not pay off well in the early part of the game but, worked great in the last third of the game. Spanky won the game.

The final game of the night was Wizard. This was a wild game with the player not making their bids 3 out of 10 times. Bill only "busted" twice and won the game.

Games night was canceled. (the cat herd got loose)

Games night was canceled. (many of the players were on a camping trip)

Who was there: Bill, Bob, Brendan, Dennis, Jeff, and Spanky

Sneaky play of the week: Calypsonian trump.

The first game of the night was Wizards. Everyone, except Bob, played in this game. It was a rough game with tough bidding. Player did not make their bids 22 out of 60 times. The two players with the least "bad" bids were Bill and Spanky with 3 and 2 respectively. Bill won the game.

The second game of the night was The Great Dalmuti. The group chose to play a game of 12 hands in length. There seems to be a lack of peon orders in this game lately. Long gone are the days with peons ordered to "tweeze my crabs" or even "get everyone a fresh drink". Maybe all of the players are just too nice now. It seems odd that the same group that can argue for over a half hour, about what game to play next, can't think of a funny or good order for the peon. Spanky won the game.

Who was there: Bill, Bob, Brendan, Dennis, Jeff, and Spanky

Whine of the night: "Every time I win a game, it doesn't count."

After one false start, the first game of the night was Knok. Bob was the only player not playing in this game. Bill was the winner.

The next game was Settlers of Catan. The group wanted to play, the "normal" way, with the water around the outside of the board. The early leaders were cut off from new lands and their growth slowed. An unusually large amount of fours and nines were rolled. Those who had those number thrived, and those without, didn't. After a little coaching, Jeff made a huge move that won him the game. Jeff wins the game.

The final game of the night was a brand new game called Ba$eball Tycoon. It's from a small game company. [LaForest Products, Inc. http://www.baseballtycoon.com/] In this game, players are the owners of baseball teams and have to deal with: signing players, free agents, injuries, suspensions, strikes, and all the money that it takes to solve those troubles. It was a slow process to get all of the players up to speed on the rules, but play was quick after everyone knew what to do. Since this was the first time that this game was played at games night, it falls under the "first time played rule" and does not count in the stats. Bill and Dennis owned the winning team.

Who was there: Bill, Bob, Brendan, Dennis, Jeff, Lori, and Spanky

The "Who needs this!" of the night: Scaring the piss out of the puppy, and crying baby noises. Bob and Jeff respectively.

Knok was the first game of the night. Lori was the only player missing from the game. Jeff took the lead after the second hand and never gave it back. Jeff won the game.

At this point a very odd thing happened, everyone agreed on which game should be next, the game picked was Balderdash. A search failed to find the game of Balderdash.

Sharks was the next game played. Everyone played in this game. This was the closest game of sharks ever played at games night. Five of the six losing scores were within a scant margin, less than 15%, of the winner. Bob was the winner with Lori a very close second.

Lori left the group at this point.

The next event at games night was a great deal of whining by everyone about everything. Sheesh! [sic] The next game was Split Second. The playing of the game was suspended as Bob started the battle of the paddle upgrades. Everyone joined the upgrade program. When everyone was happy with their paddles, the game resumed. Bill won the game.

The Final game of the night has Uno. Bill, Dennis, Jeff, and Spanky played. This was the first time that Uno was played at games night. This means that the "first time played" rule was in effect, and that this game doesn't count in the stats. Dennis or Jeff won the game.

PS The idea of having a "game jar" to pick the first game of the night was widely accepted by the group.

Who was there: Bob and Jeff

Repeated order of the week: It's your turn to get the beer.

The first game was For Get It. Bob won the game.

The final game of the night was Sharks. Jeff won the game.

Who was there: Bill, Bob, Brendan, Jeff, and Spanky

Question of the night: Where's Donna, I thought she came with the house?

The games night group added a new venue this week. The group met at Jeff's new place. It is located on just this side of "the sticks". It even has a bit of a "sticks" feel to it.

The first game of the night was Naval War. This is a game that, a long time ago, the group played every week. In the past six month, Naval War has only been played once. A small debate was needed to settle the group on 85 as the winning score. The game only lasted three hands. Brendan won the game using a new tactic. He pointed at everyone else and said that THEY were the best target. He did it often, loudly, and whether it was true or not.

Blurt was the next game. This game has been the domain of Bob and Spanky. Bob was having an off night, blurtwise, so Spanky won the game.

The final game of the night was Settlers of Catan. The group and a new variant to the playing of this game. The new variant is: All 7's rolled during the first two rounds would be rerolled. This variant did speed player's growth and made for a slightly quicker game. Due to a lack of 6s, 9s, and 4s, the game came down to a battle between Bob and Bill. Bob won the game with a one point development card that he bought to end the game. This was the 45th time the group has played Settler of Catan. It feels like it has been played much more than that, but it has not. Of the 45 times that the group has played this game, Bob had played in 31 of them. This is the first time that Bob has won Settlers of Catan. Bob marked the occasion with a little victory dance for the group.

Who was there: Bill, Bob, Brendan, Dennis, Jeff, Lori, and Spanky

Realization of the night: Woof! Dogs will be dogs.

The first game of the night was Knok. Bob was the only player not to play in this game. Bill pulled a near perfect play at the end of the game. It was too little too late. Spanky won the game.

The next game was Blurt. Everyone played. The one answer rule was used during this game. Bob won.

Dalmuti was the next game played. The group pick to play a game of 14 hands in length. The game last much longer than everyone thought it would. It was a tough game with many lead changes. Bill won the game.

Lori and Bob left the group at this point.

The last game of the night was For Get It. Jeff won the game.

Who was there: Bill, Bob, Brendan, Jeff, and Spanky

Sad thought of the week: This will be the last games night at Jeff's old house.

The first game of the night was Knok. Jeff may have broken the scoring record with a tiny score of 30 after all nine hands had been played. Jeff was the winner.

The second game was Settlers of Catan the islands variant. The game started after two bad attempts at setting up the board. The group finally let the set up use the two deserts. The whining during this game was at a record high level. Bill and Spanky both rolled sevens on a turn that would have won the game for them. The group jumped on Bill and knocked him down. Spanky went unnoticed by everyone, except Bill, leaving him able to win the game.

The last game of the night was Scan.It was the quickest game of scan the group has ever played. Bill won the game after the third hand.

The group did talk about having a "game jar" with all of the games that the group plays listed on slips of paper in it. The first game of the night could be drawn from the jar. The game that is drawn would not be placed back in the jar till after all of the games had been drawn. By picking the first game of the night in this manner, all of the games would get played at least twice a year.

Who was there: Bill, Bob, Jeff, Lori and Spanky

Shock of the week: Jeff went home early.

The first game of the week was a brand new game to games night, Duo. It is a card game where players play on one of two discard piles. They must match two out of the three elements of the top card with the card they are playing. The element consist of 4 numbers, 4 colors, and 4 shapes. The game also has wild cards that can match any card, and semi-wild cards the need only match one element. all player start the game with 15 points and loss points every time they are the first player to get rid of all of their cards. The game was over quickly with Lori as the winner. The first time played rule was in effect, so, this game didn't count in the stats.

The group wanted to play Duo again, only this time with all of the players starting with a higher score. The score of 50 was pick as being high enough to have a game that would be long enough to be interesting. The game lasted 16 hands. Three of the players had single digit scores during the last four hands. Lori won the game, and this time it counted.

The next game was Shark. Jeff won the game even though, he took a couple of huge hits when stocks he owned went down.

Lori and Jeff left the group at this point.

The final game of the night was Knok. Bob was in the lead at only two points in this game, after the first hand, and, after the last hand. A great come from behind victory for Bob.

Who was there: Bill, Bob, Brendan, Jeff, and Spanky

Whine of the week: Let's play a game that hasn't been played for a long time.

The group picked Barons of Fyn as the first game to be played. This game had not been played at games night in almost six months. Ten sided dice were used to create the numbers needed to resolve all battles and special play cards outcomes. Normally, the cards in the deck are used to create these numbers. Using the dice made that game last much longer. The game was lasting so long that, the group truncated it after the first time through the deck instead of the normal length of going through the deck twice. The game ended with Bob as the winner.

The final game of the night was Scan. Nine hands were played to find a winner. Bob won the game with more than twice as many points as the second place player.

Who was there: Bill, Bob, Jeff, Lori and Spanky

Question of the week: Is that dog EVER awake.

The first game of the night was Settler of Catan. Everyone wanted to go back to playing the variant that doesn't break up the board into islands. The game end when Jeff built a settlement and scored the final point he needed to win the game. Bill was the first to notice that Jeff had 8 points on the board, the longest road, and the win.

The next game was Knok. This game has become a favorite "quick" game. Quick games can be played at times that the group is waiting for a player to arrive or when a player has to leave is a short time. Bill won the game. He knocked successfully three times early in the game and then "coasted" to the end.

Lori left the group at this point. The final game of the night was Sharks. The note worthy parts of this game were the fact that "Yellow" never got above $4000 a share and Bill ended the game with Bob having an unnoticed pile of cash. Bob won the game.

Who was there: Bill, Bob, Brendan, Jeff, and Spanky

Faux pas of the week: Looking at all four cards in Knok, repeatedly!

The first game of the week was Wizard. It was a good game due to almost all of the players having a chance to win right up to the very last hand. Bill edged out the others to get the win.

Blurt was the next game the group played. To say that "Bob won the game" is an understatement. No other player was even close to Bob.

The game of Dalmuti was the next to be played. The group, after much discussion, chose to set the length of the game at 13 hands. It was another good game. Three of the five players had a chance of winning at the start of the last hand. After the 13th hand, two players had the same score. A tie breaker hand was played. Spanky was the winner.

The final game of the night was Knok. Four of the nine hands ended with an errant "knok". Looking at the score sheet reveals that: Bill knocked 5 times, three errant and two good; Bob knocked twice, one each way; Spanky knocked twice, both good; Brendan and Jeff NEVER knock. Spanky won the game.

Who was there: Bill, Bob, Brendan, Dennis, Jeff, Lori, and Pete

Stuff of the week: (pending report by attending players)

The first game of the night was Wizards. Bill won the game.

The second game of the night was Outwageus. Bill won the game.

The last game of the night was Knok. Bob won the game.

Who was there: Bill, Bob, Brendan, Jeff, Ray, and Spanky

Prayers of the week: Are all for Ray's son, Chuck. May the lord bless and protect him.

The first game of the week was Scan. Everyone except Bob played in this game. Spanky won the game.

The next game was Settlers of Catan. The group played the "islands" variant of the game. The tone of the game was one of heavy lobbying and uneven dice rolls. this lead to wild swings in the player's fortunes. Spanky caught the last big swing and won the game.

The last two games of the night were both Knok. They were both short games; only six hands were played in each game. The first game of Knok was won by Spanky. The second game of Knok was won by Bob.

Who was there: Bill, Bob, Jeff, Lori, Pete, and Spanky

Mistake of the night: Burning in hell on a meat rap. It's a Friday, Lent, Catholic kinda' thing.

The first game of the night was Scan. Everyone but Bob played in this game. In this game players take tricks, and the cards show their suits on their backs. At the end of each hand, players count up their score. Each spades is worth +10, hearts = +5, diamonds = -5, and clubs = -10. Trump changes for each trick. Trump is set by the exposed back of the card on top of the remaining deck. The last seven tricks, of each hand, have no trump. This was the first time that this game was played at games night. Four players, of the five people now playing, had played before. Therefore, the game counts in the stats. Lori won the game.

Wizard was the next game. Everyone played this game. Lori won the game. She edged out Pete and Bob in a very close game.

The next game was Naval War. This game had not been played in nearly four months. The game started a little rough due to players inability to remember the finer points of the game. Pete left after the second hand and didn't complete the game. The game ended very oddly. Some of the player thought that the game was mathematically over. It was not. After some fancy odds calculations, a 3 to 1 odds were set as the chances of Lori overtaking Spanky's score. Dice were rolled to determine a winner. Lori beat the long odds and was declared the winner.

The final game of the night was Knok. Spanky won the game.

No game were played by the group. A great many of the players were taking a trip early the next day. They were heading back home to the snow, and the cold.

No game were played by the group. A great many of the players were taking a trip early the next day. They were heading to Grand Bahama Island for a week of fun, and sun.

Who was there: Bill, Bob, Brendan, Linda (special guest), Jeff and Spanky

Talent of the week: Glass eating.

The first game of the week was a quick game of Knok. Bill, Brendan, Linda, Jeff and Spanky were the players. Linda was the winner. For some unknown reason... this game didn't count in the stats.

Next was a new variant of an old favorite i.e. the islands' variant of Settlers of Catan. The players were Bill, Brendan, Jeff and Spanky. The group had fun learning the best ways of taking advantage of the "new" game board layout. Bob arrived during the game and entertained himself on the computer. The game had a few surprises and will be played again in the near future. The group voted to have this game count as a "first time played" game so, it doesn't count in the stats. Bill was the winner.

Brendan left at this point. The next game was Knok. The players were Bill, Bob, Jeff and Spanky. Bill got caught on a bad knock and need to play aggressively to have any chance. Due to Bill aggressive play, all of the other players did a "duck and cover" kinda' thing. Spanky was the winner.

The last game of the night was Knok with the same players. This time Bill knocked only twice and won the game.

Who was there: Bill, Bob, Brendan, Jeff, Lori, Pete and Spanky

Tough task of the week: Herding cats i.e. setting up Catan.

The first game of the night was Knok. In Knok a player who knocks and is not the lowest get all of the other players points and his own. When this game is played with more than four people the total of their can be quite large, this is a great price to pay for being wrong just once. Poor knocks took most of the players out of the game. Of the nine knocks in this game, only three were successful. Lori won the game.

The next game was Settlers of Catan. The game started with the usual fits and starts of setting up the game board e.g. To use: which set of numbers, how many of each hex. The board had so very odd number combinations. The players got cards easily and often were hurt by the "seven" rolls. For the most part, the game was even. Spanky won the game by buying four development cards on his last play. (two of the development cards were worth a point)

The final game of the night was Dalmuti. The group picked to play a 12 hand game. Only 11 hand were needed to make Bill the winner. Bill was the Dalmuti more than half the time.

Who was there: Bill, Brendan, Bob, Jeff, Pete and Spanky

Request of the week: "Can we have ONE week without settlers?"

The first game of this week was Knok. This game had five "good" knoks and four "bad" ones. Each of the four bad knoks were made by a different player. Bob and Bill were the only players not to make a bad knok. Bill won the game.

Split Second was the next game played. Due to poor penmanship a new guideline was put in place. The question "reader" is the final arbiter of what is and what is not a correct answer. Spanky won the game.

The next game was Blurt. Bob took an early lead and never looked back. Bob won the game before any other player was even 1/3 of the way around the board.

The Great Dalmuti was the next game played. The group picked to play a "short" i.e. twelve hand game. The standard number of hands is twenty. Pete had a good run of luck early, but faded in the later hands. Pete did have one of the best hands this group had ever seen. The last few hands were a battle between Bill and Bob. Bill won the game by a single point.

The final game of the night was Knok. After eight hands the scores for the leading players were: Jeff 53, Bill 56, Spanky 65. Note that the low score wins this game. Spanky was dealt a great hand and knocked early catching Jeff and Bill with 20 and 17 points respectively. Spanky won the game.

Who was there: Bill, Lori, Pete and Spanky

Question of the week: Where is everyone?

The first game of the night was Knok. Lori and Pete were new to this game and a rule review was given before the game began. The person giving the review had forgotten that Lori had never played this game and game the rule review to Pete mostly. "Sorry Lori." It was a close game with an "oops" by Bill on the last hand. Lori, who must have overheard most of the rule review, won the game.

Knok was the second game of the night. This time Bill was error free. Bill won the game.

The next game we played was Wizard. It was another close game with all of the players having a good chance of winning right up till the last few hands. Spanky won the game.

The fourth game of the night was Settlers of Catan. This game had wild swings in the fortunes of the players. Near the end of the game, fortune was with Spanky. He won the game.

Lori called it a night at this point.

The next game was a three player game of Settlers of Catan. Pete beat Bill and Spanky like drums. Pete won the game.

The last game of the night was another game of Knok. Bill "knocked" wildly giving Pete and Spanky breathing room to battle each other. Spanky edged out Pete for the win.

Who was there: Bill, Bob, Brendan, Jeff and Spanky

Costume of the night: Ruffled feathers.

A brand new game started off the new year at games night. The game is called Knok. It is a card and memory game. As always, the first time a game is played at games night it does not count in the stats. The game was longer then normal due to the need to play three tie breaker hands. Bill was the winner.

Knok was the second game played. Bill won that game too.

The group had a great deal of trouble picking the next game to be played. The voting method developed by the group on August 15, 1997 was used to pick Settlers of Catan as the next game to be played. Bill won the game.

Brendan left at this point. Forget It was the next game. Bob was the winner. He used a new strategy that seems to work very well. He got as close as he could to the winning score of 500 point but, he didn't pass 500 points till another player did it first. At that point he needed only to over take the lead player to win.

Yet another game of Knok was next. Bob was the winner.

Split Second was the final game of the night. The group got a little sloppy with writing their answers but, it was almost fair in the number of time each player was given a "gift". Spanky won the game.