August 27, 2005 |
We returned from Kenosha and soon I had the troops rallied to come over and play games, as had been planned.
| Can't Stop |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Mike | 10, 7, 4 | 1 | |
| Lee | 12, 2 | 2 | * |
| Karla | 8 | 3 (Tie) | |
| Scott | 9 | 3 (Tie) | |
Notes: Lee arrived first and eventually he picked his favorite filler game, Can't Stop. We hadn't played this in quite some time (since mid-May), so I was willing to try it out.
I took a nice lead early as Karla and Lee kept pushing their luck. Scott didn't appear (and get to roll) until the end of the second turn, so he was behind from the get go. Plus he kept pushing his luck and didn't get markers on the board until his 3rd or 4th turn.
I closed the 10 pretty quickly, then Karla, after a bit, closed out the 8, but I was in the lead in 7 and had good representation in 3. Lee was going for the hard to roll 2 and 12, while Scott tended to target whatever someone else had a big lead in.
I then closed the 7's in a bout of lucky rolling and boosted my advantage in 4. Scott then closed out the 9's with some awesome rolling and made fun of Lee because he hadn't closed anything. Lee soon remedied that by getting the 12 then the 2 in consecutive turns. It was between him and me. Lee needed 1 roll on the 6, and I needed one roll on the 4, or two rolls on the 11 (or 3).
It was my turn. "Can I roll a 4 or 11 this turn before Lee gets the dice?" Lee said that he didn't think so. First roll, a 4. I win. Karla got angry at me and called it "reverse hubris."
| Pueblo |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Mike | 37 | 1 | |
| Lee | 42 | 2 | * |
| Karla | 46 | 3 | |
| Scott | 60 | 4 | * |
Notes: With Dan and Annie not yet around (and Jamie and Howard's appearance uncertain), I pulled out Pueblo. I really enjoy this game, and I've brought it to the Madison Board Gamers a couple of times lately. We haven't played it because another building block game, Rumis, keeps taking precedence.
I played keeping in mind the huge mistake from the last time we played: don't go high, especially late. I shared this lesson with everybody, but they insisted on learning by experience (didn't you, Scott?).
The building progressed nicely, with everyone exchanging the lead. Scott had the longest early lead, as he was using Karla's and Lee's blocks as blockers for his own for a while. Mine were somewhat more exposed, but I kept them low, and I was only vulnerable on about 1/4 of the board. Everybody has their weak areas, of course.
Scott was the first to build to level three, and spent a lot of turns protecting himself on that level - doing a pretty good job. Lee soon joined him up there and did the same thing. Karla was last to level three. I never got there.
With my last two colored pieces, I put them on top of each other in a corner that would guarantee points when the chief came around, but only a couple points. Scott and Lee did the same, but their points were higher. So did Karla. Scott had actually gone up to level 4 and was in trouble for the final walk around.
At one point, I had set up Lee and Karla to hose Scott (who was temporarily in the lead). Lee, though, did something else, which resulted in hosing me more than anyone else. I was going to let Lee take it back, but Scott complained (the first time he ever has complained!) so I made Lee do what he wanted. Scott sort of regretted this though, as Karla soon gave him even more points on her turn.
Just before the final walk around, my three opponents hit me with a succession of points (the king was in my vulnerable area). It was kind of a calculated risk for me. I figured I'd be better off taking a double low hit than some big hits.
Scores before the final walk around:
Lee - 18
Scott - 20
Karla - 22
Mike - 25
I felt pretty good, but was worried a little about Lee. He had managed to cover his high pieces and wasn't very exposed. The final walk around really showed the flaws in Scott's "Go High" strategy (despite Karla's insistence that you can never be too high). As his score kept piling up, he said, "Why does my piece keep moving?" About halfway through the walkaround, everyone thought I was going to win, and I had enough leeway (get it?) so that my vulnerable section didn't doom me.
| Betrayal at House on the Hill |
| Results | ||||
| Player | Role | Result | Place | First Time? |
| Mike | Heather Granville | Won, Lived | 1 (Tie) | |
| Lee | Peter Akimoto | Won, Lived | 1 (Tie) | * |
| Dan | Madame Zostra | Won, Lived | 1 (Tie) | |
| Scott | Flash Williams | Won, Lived | 1 (Tie) | |
| Annie | Zoe Ingstrom | Won, Lived | 1 (Tie) | |
| Karla | Father Reinhardt | Lost, Killed | 2 | |
Notes: The six of us left the broken down van at the side of the road and looked for help at the only house nearby, a big, old, creepy looking place on a tussocky hill. Light was fading by the time we got in the front door, which was open for us as we entered.
Father Reinhardt insisted that we all stick together, but Peter said, "I don't care!" and ran off. He almost regretted his youthful eagerness when something slimy took one of his shoes in the research lab on the second floor. The Father also moved, finding a Junk Room and an odd mask. He was too cautious to put it on.
Madame Zostra called upon the spirits to guide her and found a Spirit Board in an abandoned room. We all thought we heard flutterings and creaks for a second, but whatever monsters the spirit board tried to summon didn't appear. Flash, trying to impress me, ran around opening doors and found a Spear in the master bedroom. Zoe found a secret passage (leading to the abandoned room) in the Library.
I followed Flash and Peter upstairs, but fell through the Collapsed floor, landing in the basement Vault, where the weird, shaking walls lured me into the Larder. There I found the Amulet of Ages and felt much tougher.
Peter found the Mystic Elevator, which slammed him to the basement. I heard him crying and tried to console him, but he really knocked his head. The Father tripped and hurt himself trying to leave the Junk Room, and ended up crawling to the library to see what books Zoe had found. Madame Zostra continued exploring, freaking herself out as she rambled through a creaky hallway. Flash wanted to look smart, so he ran downstairs to the library. Zoe left the library and waited out an eerie silence in the Game Room.
I failed to open the Vault while Peter stuffed himself with cans of Spam in the Larder. The Father stumbled about and Madame Zostra found a safe hidden in the Conservatory. Flash found a book on spooks in the library and stayed there for a while longer. Zoe met an Angry Being in the Organ Room, but escaped getting hurt, while I finally opened the Vault in the basement, pulling out the revolver and armor!
Peter found a weird Skull in the basement Kitchen, and it whispered to him but no further evil came just yet. The Father was tempted to open the safe, but couldn't get there before Flash, who opened it to find an Adrenaline Shot and a Lucky Stone. Madame Zostra opened the Chapel and just missed some plaster that fell from the ceiling. Did she hear laughing?
Zoe hunted further and found a Madman babbling under the table in the Dining Room. The fellow wouldn't leave her back and muttered on and on about purple spiders and the death of the winged mice. At that moment, a Spider dropped on me from the ceiling but I sped out of the way and crushed with with a stomp of my boot before it could bite me.
(At about this moment Karla screamed in panic as Jamie and Howard entered our house, Jamie actually crawling on the ground trying to avoid being seen.)
The house was beginning to rattle, and Peter found the stairs to the Foyer. Father Reinhardt gained some sanity through prayer in the chapel, but Madame Zostra entered the charred room, was almost bitten by some...thing, and then eerie stuff started to happen....
Haunt 24: Fly Away Home
Father Reinhardt was killed immediately and we heard the leathery beating of wings! Bats had come to kill us. We needed to get the Organ working and scare it off with a pleasant mixture of sounds, then kill any bats that had stuck themselves to us.
Fortunately, it was a piece of cake. None of the rooms with bonus bats in it were unveiled, so we stopped exploring and went to the Organ Room. It took a couple turns to get it up and running, though Flash (with some Might acquired in the larder) got it started. Then Peter played the right music, the bats fled from the house, and Madame Zostra quickly killed the only bat that was sucking blood, leaving Peter with an odd little mark on his back.
All in all, it was an easy haunt to defeat, though it perhaps could have been worse if it had happened earlier, or if some better rooms were available for Karla (who, it should be added was pissed that she was the traitor). There was little balance in this one, as the 5 of us non-traitors had more than enough rooms searched (and equipment and health) to win it easily. It was pretty much just a matter of a few turns to get the victory.
| Midnight Party |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Annie | -14 | 1 | |
| Mike | -16 | 2 | |
| Lee | -18 | 3 | |
| Dan | -24 | 4 | |
| Scott | -26 | 5 | |
| Karla | -28 | 6 | |
| Jamie | -34 | 7 | |
Notes: As we have few selections for 7+ people, and we have kind of exhausted all my 7+ player games lately (including Shadows Over Camelot, Saboteur, Bang!, and Bohnanza, with many whisperings of playing 6 Nimmt!), Karla selected the rarely chosen Midnight Party.
I always enjoy this game, and got my two favorite spots. I also lucked out in one of my rolls when Hugo first appeared, getting a "5" when any other roll would have doomed my guy. Karla, Dan, Jamie, and Scott all got hit for a lot, and Annie and Lee were hit, too. First round scores:
Mike: 0
Annie: -5
Lee: -7
Karla, Jamie, Scott: -10
Dan: -12
In the second round, Dan didn't care, so he put one of his pieces at the top of Hugo's stairs. I placed mine in my two favorite spots again. Jamie began to argue that the game was all luck, then conceded that it was 85% luck. I disagree; there are placing tactics, and you can play the odds on the dice. If you're way behind you can play one way, and if you are ahead you play another. With more people it's more luck based, certainly, and dice rolling is always luck related, but I feel one can work the odds and tactically place (and move, to some extent) one's pieces to some amount. I'd place luck at about 60%, and I'll try to prove that in a bit.
Anyway, part of Jamie's arguments that it's "all luck" were because he wasn't doing very well. He really got slammed in this round. Karla did well, and Dan actually finished at +3, as he really lucked out in his rolling. Scott and Lee both were hit pretty hard, too.
Mike: -7
Dan: -9
Annie: -11
Karla: -12
Lee: -17
Scott: -19
Jamie: -24
In the last round, rather than stay conservative, I went for the big bonus and this time I got caught pretty early. Karla was knocked out of contention when both of her pieces were caught for -8 each right after mine was caught. Dan had been caught first, trying his "tease" maneuver again. Annie and Lee played very conservatively and did well, finishing in first and third after all. Jamie matched his best round with "only" -10. Dan was hit for -15, and Scott had his best round in getting -7.
| Gulo Gulo |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Karla | Found the baby Gulo | 1 | |
| Mike | 1 Back | 2 (Tie) | |
| Lee | 1 Back | 2 (Tie) | * |
| Jamie | 1 Back | 2 (Tie) | * |
| Scott | 7 Back | 5 | |
Notes: Dan was wiped out and wanted to get some sleep, so Karla lobbied to play Gulo Gulo. I wasn't up for teaching a more difficult game, and I ensured Lee and Jamie that they'd like this one.
It went pretty well, with everyone setting off the egg alarm once or twice. I was actually on the last string of tiles, and had done pretty well, getting the first two without any problem. However, everyone before me had just plucked a blue egg, so there was only one blue egg left in the bowl. It was the one weighing down the egg alarm. As I flipped the next tile, hoping for anything but blue, I flipped a blue. Dammit! I tried to lift the blue egg out in a way that another egg would be able to weigh it down, but it was a vain effort.
Karla was then the first one to the last space and won the game by getting the purple egg on her first flip. Three of us were one space back hoping for her to mess up.
I told them afterwards about Morgan's thoughts that this game was invented at a bar. He said, "It's just coasters and nuts from a bowl." That blew Karla's mind a bit.