Mhing/Mahjong
We had actually planned to start the day with Mahjong - Joe had brought his set along with him. But we soon discovered that that could be a little difficult. None of us knew the rules, and the rules in Joe's set were written in Chinglish, which none of us can speak. Whilst I went searching on the net for a set of rules, Joe and Kim played a few hands of Mhing, and Joe broke our record for most number of credits from a single hand (18 crds = 512 pts)!! I also found many different versions of the rules for Mahjong - and most do seem quite similar to the rules of Mhing. The main difference seems to be the fact that you can have four-of-a-kind in Mahjong ("kong"). After all this pfaffing about, we gave up on both. Mahjong would have to wait for another day.
Risk: 2210
We hadn't played Risk: 2210 in a very long time (a year or two I think!), and with five of us there, we thought it high time to dust it off and have another go. Kim was the only one that hadn't played before.
Risk: 2210 is built around the same style of combat as the original Risk, and indeed the rest of the Risk spin-off's. However, there are significant differences in this version, compared to the original:
- There are no missions - the winner is decided by how many territories are owned after 5 turns (or "years").
- There are additional units - various "leaders" may be recruited, each of which have different advantages, and may use the d8 to attack/defend, rather than the d6.
- Expanded map - there are additional territories, in the sea, and even on the moon! The relevant leaders need to be in play to access these regions.
- Action Cards - these provide various bonuses (eg. additional units, prevent attacks on your territory, cut invading armies in half, etc, etc).
- Energy - this is the currency of the future, and is used to recruit leaders, and buy action cards.
After making an ok start in year 1, my team went very rapidly down-hill. I was wiped off the board before the game ended. The scoreboard after year 5 looked liked this:
| Pos | Player | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joe | 38 |
| 2 | Kim | 31 |
| 3 | Simon | 12 |
| 4 | Meals | 5 |
| 5 | Jules | killed in year 4 |
Hotels
This is a game that we used to play quite a bit a very long time ago. As Joe pointed out, it's a Milton-Bradley game, and probably a bit too mainstream for us these days. :P Anyhow, we were in the mood for something light, and Simon, Joe and I had a go. Basically the game is like a really watered-down version of Monopoly, but probably just as much fun. And it's almost entirely based on luck. I have to say, we had quite a laugh while we were playing, but I especially did since I laughed all the way to bank as I bankrupted the others. It was pretty even most of the game - we were all pretty much earning the same as we went around the board, but a few unlucky rolls for the others made the difference. Simon dropped out first, and after I picked up his hotel ("The President", no less), the writing was on the wall for Joe.
Risk
Whilst Joe, Simon and myself were playing Hotels, Dwayne and Sana rocked up. They couldn't be bothered waiting for us to finish, so they started a 4 player game of original Risk with Meals and Kim. And as far as games of Risk go, this was a behemoth! We've found that most games only last for about 30 minutes or so, but after an hour and a quick sneaky-peek at all of their missions it still looked quite evenly balanced. Meals eventually made it across the line first. Good show!
For Sale
Whilst the others finished off their game of Risk Simon, Joe and I played a couple of games of For Sale. This is a really quick and easy game. Each only goes for about 15 minutes, with one round of bidding for properties, then another round where the properties are exchanged for cheques. The one with the most money at the end is the winner. Easy! I won the first game and Simon won the second.
Killer Bunnies
We were all ready at that point to come together for a big 7-player game, and Killer Bunnies it turned out to be. This was the first time that most of the others had seen the pink deck. It actually turned out to be quite a fun game, but early on Meals, Simon and I realised just how over this game we were getting - we hadn't played in quite a few weeks. We played whilst watching The Family Guy, and the game only went for about 90 minutes. At the end, Dwayne had collected most of the carrots, and also picked up those from people that didn't have a bunny (because he had the most cash). Simon also decided to move my single bunny at the end (because he won the zodiac draw), and thus relieved me of the single carrot I had picked up during the game. The carrot went to Dwayne, and as luck would have it, it ended up being the winning carrot!
The Great Museum Caper
Dwayne and Sana left after Killer Bunnies, and we decided to end the night with a very unmemorable game of The Great Museum Caper. The game claims to be based on Cluedo, but probably more resembles Scotland Yard. Joe and Kim both had a go at being the thief, but both were caught and hence stole zero paintings. That brought us close to 2am, and left us hating The Great Musuem Caper and vows to never play it again.
No comments:
Post a Comment