I was at work on Tuesday, it was sometime after lunch, and I realized that I had done the unthinkable.  My camera, the vehicle for all of the compelling and artistic photos** found here at GamerChris.com, was at home and not with me.  You see, since the break-in, we've taken to "hiding" some of our valuables around the house, rather than just leaving them sitting on the table.  Apparently, the main reason that I had always been able to remember the camera in the past is that it was sitting out on a table somewhere.  WIth it all hidden away, my feeble mental capacity was unable to remember its vital importance, and it was forgotten.

But do not fear, dear readers!  I would never even consider short-changing you of the reading experience you have come to expect from me.  However, since I have no actual pictures of our game night, I have other plans.  So, enjoy the report, as well as the... uniqueness of the pictures included as well!

Forbidden Island

Forbidden Island continues to be the new hotness with the Hypermind Boardgamers, and I got in two games of it throughout the evening.  Unfortunately, I brought my bad luck with me from the weekend, and both of my attempts to plunder the island were unsuccessful.  At least one of them was on "Elite" level, which was slightly less embarrassing than losing on "Normal".

Both games were actually very close, though.  In the first one, we had back-to-back Waters Rise cards (drawn in the same turn) early, which is actually a good thing (since it removes one of the times you'll put the discard pile back on the flood deck).  But in the end, we still had a bad time of it and lost because we reached the last space on the water level track.  In the second game (the "Elite" one played later in the night), the game literally came down to the last card draw.  If we drew a Helicopter Lift, we'd win, but a Waters Rise card would have sunk Fool's Landing.  We drew the Waters Rise and lost, but the very next card was a Helicopter.  

Time: 25 and 26 minutes
Game 1: Forbidden Island (Normal) - Win, Treasure Hunters (Beth, David*, Michelle & Me) - Lose
Game 2: Forbidden Island (Elite) - Win, Treasure Hunters (Adam, Josh, Tom & Me) - Lose
Ratings: Beth 8, David 8.5, Michelle 7.5, Adam 9, Josh 8.5, Tom 8.5, Me 8

I'm liking Forbidden Island more and more.  At first, I thought that it might be a little too easy, but my results lately have shown me that it has more of a bite.  The way that the game accelerates as you lose more and more island tiles is really interesting, and I still can't believe that the MSRP for this game is a freaking ridiculous $16.  Every household in America should own this game...

Cat pictures go right along with games, right? 
What you're seeing here is actually two mama cats along with their kittens, all tucked in together. 
Macao

I was eager to get Macao, our new Game of the Month!, to the table.  Two copies were available, so some of the experienced players divided up and taught a few newbies.  In my game, I started pretty slow, having some trouble getting the cubes I needed for a card or two together on the same turn.  I stayed ahead on the wall the whole game, however, so I always had first choice of the cards I wanted.  By the end, I managed to clear my tableau, deliver a number of goods, and thankfully, get a number of end-game points from the Palace and Residence to steal the victory from Graham. 

Time: 90 minutes
Score: Me 78, Graham* 71, Brett* 51, Beth 48
Ratings: Me 9, Graham 8, Brett 7, Beth 7

I just plain love playing this game.  I mean, sure I like to win, but the gameplay itself is just so enoyable!  The choices are tough, the turns are quick, there's a lot of tension, you have to react to what the dice (and the other players) give you, you can put together cool combinations of cards, and there's a lot of different ways that you can invest your effort and energy.  It's just so freaking cool. 

And it was also really cool to see 3 sessions of the same 2ish-hour game being played this week.  I just hope that interest doesn't fade too much because of its weight as the month draws on.  I know that in my game, Beth isn't the biggest "heavy game" gamer, and the game didn't necessarily jive with a couple of other people throughout the evening either.  But it seems that people who like Macao really like it.  We'll see, and I certainly plan on playing it every week this month.  


Look, this is a picture of me! 
Or, part of me anyhow.  I was trying to hide in the box, but not even a box this big can contain all that is GamerChris...

Yahtzee: Free for All

While waiting (and waiting and waiting) for the other game of Macao to finish up, 6 of us jumped into a game of Yahtzee: Free for All.  Beth won on the strength of a large straight attached to 4 extra point chips, while Josh and I managed to both come back from at least one turn claiming no card.  Heck, Josh had his cards stolen several times, but still managed to finish in third.

Time: 27 minutes
Score: Beth* 25, Me 23, Josh* 20, Brandon* 19, Chip 17, Graham 16
Ratings: Beth 9, Me 6.5, Josh 7, Brandon 7.5, Chip 7, Graham 5.5

I'll quote (or sort of quote, as best as I can remember anyway) Graham here, "It's great... for Yahtzee."  I mostly agree, but the whole "steal the cards" thing is just a brilliant development for the game.  It's like regular Yahtzee is just the solo version of this game, which should have been the finished game all along.


And look, here's a full-length shot of me!
Okay, I'm big, but not quite that big. But at their (relatively) new exhibit at the NC Zoo, you can get really close to the elephants.  It was cool.
Notre Dame

It was getting kind of lateish, but Chris and I managed to convince Graham to join Josh and us for a game of Notre Dame.  I sort of pursued a Park/Residence strategy, but couldn't put together the cards I needed to get it really going.  And then the rats got all over me, and I was swimming in plague-ridden filth for most of the time.  It didn't end well.

Neither did it end well for Chris, who "led" for most of the game.  Graham played a great game as well, and put a lot of pressure on him.  But then in the last turn, Chris made a big misplay and practically wasted his last action.  According to Chris, here were his thoughts on the last turn: 

Been thinking over my last round of Notre Dame some more, and I do think I could have won with the actions I took.

Trusted Friend -> Carriage House would have let me pick up from 2-4 points (I'm sure my 4-point message was collected already) and an irrelevant bonus.

Then Hotel for a coin would have given me a cube in all seven districts.

Pay the coin to earn 7+1 points, then earn 3+1 from Notre Dame.

As opposed to "gain 5 from ND", which was basically all I did that turn since the rats were already taken care of. 

(2-4) + 8 + 4 = 14-16 points could have scored - 5 actually scored = 9-11 point difference.

+11 points (if my rat-killing message was available) would have put me either over Graham's score or really, really close.

Ah well. The lure of the double-park blinded me.

11 points wouldn't have gotten him the win, but it would have tied him with Graham, and I'm not sure what the tie-breaker is off the top of my head (money maybe?)

Time: 50 minutes
Score: Graham* 59, Chris 48, Josh* 39, Me 37
Ratings: Graham 8.5, Chris 9, Josh 8, Me 8

I think that I'm falling too much into the "strategy" trap with Notre Dame.  I try to come in with some idea of what I want to do before we even get started, and then maybe push a square peg into a round hole all game long.  I think that I'll try to take a shorter-term, tactical/opportunistic approach to the game next time and see if it works any better. 


We made these Turkey Cookies back at Thanksgiving.  When they were all lined up like that, it was a little scary and somewhat disturbing.  I think I saw one of them move once...

No Thanks!

I then played my second game of Forbidden Island with Josh, Tom, and Adam.  It was really late once that was done, but we still weren't ready to give up on game night yet, so No Thanks! hit the table next.  Tom managed to totally screw over Adam early on (mostly because Adam was being greedy), so he was out of the running from the get-go.  Tom took a pretty big lead into the last round (since we usually play one hand per player), but we managed to mess with him significantly while Josh had a great round.  Thankfully, however, my last round was decent enough that  I managed to keep ahead of Josh while Tom plummeted below both of us. 

Time: 36 minutes (for 4 hands)
Score: Me 135. Josh 141, Tom 156, Adam 207
Ratings: Me 8, Josh 9, Tom 8.5, Adam 9

No Thanks! is just the perfect filler.  Especially late in the evening, the bluffing, "take that" factor, and fun just seems to go up and up.  I'd play it any time. 


And finally, an obligatory picture of my gorgeous little girl.  And the cool thing is that I felt her little sister kick for the first time last night.  The little one was rolling around and kicking Gwen really good, and so I jumped at the chance and was able to feel it a little as well.  Samantha never played along like that, 'cause she always stopped moving any time that I tried to feel her kicking around in Gwen's tummy...

Other Games Played

Elfenland
Time: 81 minutes
Score: Charles* 18(+4), Josh* 18(+1), Alton* 17, Chip 17, Mark 15, Chris 14
Ratings: Charles 8, Josh 8, Alton 8, Chip 8, Mark 7.5, Chris 8

Forbidden Island
Time: 13 and 45 minutes
Game 1: Treasure Hunters (Alton, Charles, Chris & Michelle*) - Win; Forbidden Island (Normal) - Lose
Game 2: Forbidden Island (Elite) - Win; Treasure Hunters (Adam* & Tom) - Lose
Ratings: Alton 8, Charles 8, Chris 8, Michelle 7.5, Adam 9, Tom 8.5 

Macao
Time: 165 and 130 minutes
Game 1: Adam 69, Michelle* 61, Tom 38, David* 38
Game 2: Alton 80, Chip 75+, Ken 75, Brad* 47
Ratings: Alton 8.5, Adam 9, Chip 8, Ken 8.5, Michelle 7.3, Tom 9, Brad 6, David 6

Marriage Material
Time: 23 minutes
Score: David* 13, Beth* 30, Michelle* 32 
Ratings: David 2, Beth 3, Michelle 2

Masons
Time: 50 minutes
Score: Brad* 188, Chip 186, Mark 175, Josh 171
Ratings: Brad 8, Chip 8, Mark 8.5, Josh 7.5

Race for the Galaxy (with Brink of War)
Time: 40 and 35 minutes
Game 1: Alton 93, Charles 65, Chris 44, James 33
Game 2: Alton 62+, Charles 62, Ken 37, Chris 31, James 26
Ratings: Alton 10, Charles 10, Chris 10, Ken 8.5, James 10

* First play for that Person
** Note the sarcasm