Now that I've finally reported about Norwood Game DayTM, I can catch up on last week's regular game night as well.  In some ways, it's a pretty good thing to have a backlog of gaming to write about, because I was unable to make it to Hypermind for this week's session due to Gwen's continued recovery.  She's doing well, but is no where ready to watch, bathe, and run after Samantha by herself for an entire evening. 

When I walked in last week, Alton, Chris, and Mark were neck deep in their third game of Race for the Galaxy.  Chris was using military and vomiting forth tons of planets, eventually triggering the end of the game.  But unfortunately for him, he didn't get a useful 6-point development to tie it all together, and Mark stole the game.

Time: 24, 28, and 15 minutes
Game 1: Chris 64, Alton 45
Game 2: Mark 59, Chris 57, Alton 50
Game 3: Mark 47, Chris 40, Alton 31
Ratings: Do I really have to keep writing down "10"'s for these guys?

Witch's Brew

Chip arrived during the game as well, and we all then jumped into a session of Witch's Brew, our Game of the Month! for October.  I'm definitely trying to implement a consistent strategy with the game these days, and this time it worked to perfection.  Instead of trying to compete for early potions, I focus on collecting resources and grabbing up vials through the Warlock and the Fortune Teller.  I don't brew potions until they are worth 3 or more, and I use the Cutpurse and Beggar both to steal others' resources and bring my resource advantage to bear in being able to complete even the larger ones.  In this game, I picked up 11 points in the last round alone to eke out a slim victory.

Time: 33 minutes
Score: Me 26, Alton 23, Chip 22, Mark 22, Chris 19
Ratings: Me 8, Alton 9, Chip 8.5, Mark 8, Chris 9
 
I just continue to have tons of fun with Witch's Brew.  Sure, it's chaotic and frustrating at times, but I think that people who whine too much about that are just upset because they suck at the psychology element of the role selection.  But there's also such a strong hand-management element to the game, and there are enough options that I feel you can really work to formulate and implement a strategy (as I did here).  To some extent, other people's "random" choices certainly influenced my plan, but it's not really random at all.  It just requires a more intangible set of skills to predict and/or manipulate what happens.  

While I also really enjoy Citadels (which is similar in many ways), I actually think that Witch's Brew is more skill-based and offers a greater level of control than its older cousin.  Plus, it's a lot shorter and probably better balanced.  No hate aimed at Citadels or anything, but Witch's Brew definitely has the slight edge for me in that little head-to-head battle.


Endeavor

For the second week in a row, a few of us jumped at getting Endeavor to the table.  Chris and I were joined by Brad and Daphne (who were new to the game), so I had another chance to work on my rules teach.  After floating around a little bit last time and getting really screwed at the end of the game with no way to draw cards, I vowed to do things differently and planned a strategy that would focus on board control and card-drawing.  It worked pretty well.

I worked early to get control of a majority of the Europe and the Mediterranean cities, grabbing up many of the tokens on the connection sites and several of the cards.  I even abolished slavery, which wasn't a big deal since no one ever actually resorted to slavery in the first place.  By the end of the game, I was behind after scoring the advancement tracks and cards and such, but I more than doubled everyone else's board presence (getting 15 additional points from cities and connections), and catapulted to the win. 

Time: 55 minutes
Score: Me 54, Chris 49, Brad 48, Daphne 37
Ratings: Me 8, Chris 8.5, Brad 7, Daphne 7   

I'm definitely enjoying Endeavor a lot as well.  All the choices that you make are important and build on each other throughout the game.  In fact, even the smallest decisions (such as deciding where to ship a token) can have two or three benefits and/or consequences that need to be considered and weighed against each other. 

My one real concern right now is that there seems to be a lack of granularity in the choices.  First of all, there aren't really all that many different buildings.  Having more buildings with different "powers" at Industry levels 1 and 2 would probably give a greater ability to plan and differentiate strategy early on.  (In fact, it definitely seems like a game that could be enhanced by adding in an expansion or two.)  And in some ways, it reminds me a little of Agricola, because while you can still focus a little on certain things you want to emphasize, you still have to maintain a certain level of balance in building up all of your status tracks.  While there's clearly room for exploration of different strategies, I'm a little wary that with repeated play games could start to feel a little samey.  But that's pure speculation, and Endeavor is definitely the new hotness for me right now, so please don't walk away thinking that I'm not enjoying this cool game.

Betrayal at House on the Hill

With 6 gamers looking for action, I suggested the Halloween classic Betrayal at House on the Hill as our next choice.  Betrayal was our Game of the Month! for October two years ago, and I think that it's a greatly thematic experience.  We, of course, use the revised rulebook, FAQ, and revised Traitor's Tome/Secrets of Survival books, just so that there is at least some semblance of balance in the scenarios.

Anyway, we started exploring the house like normal, and within minutes, Chris (playing Father Rhinehardt) stumbled upon an animated doll that beat the crap out of him with a spear.  In fact, he technically should have died, but you can't do that before the haunt occurs, so he was left at his lowest notch for both speed and might.  Pretty soon, James (playing Flash, the fastest and strongest of all the explorers) failed (or succeeded, depending on how you look at it) the haunt roll and was revealed to be the traitor.  We quickly discovered that we had been exploring the Tomb of Dracula, that Flash was now a vampire, and that Dracula would be waking up soon to kick the crap out of all of us.         

Almost immediately, Father Rhinehardt entered a room where he was sucked into the walls and transported to the Furnace Room in the basement.  Unfortunately for him, ending your turn in the Furnace Room deals physical damage to your character, so he succumbed to his previous wounds and the oppressive heat of the furnace, thus kicking the bucket just as things were getting excited.  But heck, at least he didn't have to suffer the bother of become a vampire!

Meanwhile, Flash and Dracula's Bride descended on 9-year-old Missy Dubourde (played by Alton).  She was stuck in spiderwebs, and I (playing 13-year-old Peter Akimoto) was the only one who saw fit to try and help her.  We soon found ourselves fending off attacks from the unholy pair, with Flash wounding me while fiesty little Missy managed to stun the Bride.  Dracula then woke up and went to work converting all the other players into vampires as well.  Chip (playing college-student Heather Granville) was holding the spear, the greatest weapon to use against the vampires.  But Dracula's power was too great, and when Heather was converted, our last, best hope for victory went with her.  

I ran screaming like a little girl from the vampires (of course, actually being a little girl would have apparently served me better), only to be caught and killed by Chip (making him a co-traitor and able to share James' victory).  Brad (playing Madame Zostra) soon fell to Dracula as well, but Alton's little Missy continued to fight off the bride and survive.  In fact, she was the last survivor, and made the only move she could - to pray for sunrise.  Evading ravenous undead at every turn, she made her way to the graveyard, hid behind a tombstone, and waited for the first light of day.  Unfortunately, she couldn't really tell time, and as midnight struck, Flash embraced her into the world of darkness as well.

Time: 63 minutes
Score: Traitors (James and Chip) - Win; Heroes (Alton, Brad, Chris, and Me) - Lose
Ratings: James 7, Chip 7, Alton 7, Brad 7, Chris 7.5, Me 7.5

Betrayal is such a cool game.  Rarely does it fail to provide a fun and interesting experience.  Often, however, it does fall short in balance and strategic depth.  But if you get over yourself a little and just try to have fun, it's a total hoot!  Especially at this time of year, it really deserves at least a play or two if you can get your hands on a copy.


Other Games Played
 
The Downfall of Pompeii
Time: 20 minutes
Score: Chip 11, James 9, Alton 8
Ratings: Chip 8.5, James 10, Alton 8

FITS
Time: 22 minutes
Score: Alton 10, James 10, Chip 8
Ratings: Alton 8, James 9, Chip 9

Well, I hope that I'm able to make it to game night next week.  If I don't, I'll probably explode or something, and that could get very messy.