Entry 12 Update on Stats
We have so far played 64 games, I am really feeling the fatigue now in terms of brainpower. I love games, but watching TV is easier on the brain! I have enjoyed a strong win rate up until this point. MJ was unable to overpower my strategic prowess on many of the games played so far. I also have somehow managed to win Sub Terra despite MJ becoming unconscious, me going to save him and him having the absolute cheek to go unconscious again that same turn!
A few from this list have not made the cut for the collection though;
Exploding Kittens is a good game but just not one I pick out of a lineup. I don’t think I like the end where you are just trying to blow up your opponent, that probably isn’t ideal when the only person I can play games with right now is my partner. A lot of “take that” perhaps is not the flavour of lockdown.
Hey, that’s my fish! Is a fab little short game but the set up annoys me immensely. If there is a digital version then I would play that more. The game has the most cute penguins eve, but cute minis is not a reason to keep a game!
Fluxx is so popular and so many people absolutely love it, but I just don’t like the way the rules change all the time. I guess I’m too much of a planner. Also the card that says look you won feels like a hollow victory. I like to earn a win by being good at the game, not just by drawing the winners card...
For all you stat heads, here are the stats up until Christmas
Number of games played; 71 (64 different games)
Brand new games learnt; 8
Co-op win percentage; 85%
Hannah win stats; 52%
MJ win stats; 24%
HB most picked colour; yellow (38%)
MJ most picked colour; blue (25%)
Total game time; 2170 mins (36.2 hours)
Entry 13; Betwixtmas
This is the name I give those days between Christmas and New Year where you don’t know which way is up, much less what day it is. We are off work, and naff all is open. So we have signed away that time to playing games and eating treats!
The first day of Betwixtmas, Boxing Day, we decided to play a load of the games that we were not really looking forward to; Trivial Pursuit Shuffle was top of the list. We are pretty booksmart people, both have PhDs in Chemistry and yet we absolutely suck at quizzes and general knowledge. Even for things we like and are interested in, we just don’t retain facts. Which really does beg the question how we even got through all that schooling in the first place, but anyway. We are so bad at trivial pursuit that even the shuffle basic game took us forty mins to get through. Forty minutes for one of us to get 4 questions right! We used half the deck of question cards. We really suck at this, and that is why it will come as no surprise that this is winging its way out of our collection quick-sharp. I think the shuffle implementation is a great version of trivial pursuit and if you are even passable at general knowledge, it is probably a nice easy quick way to get your TP fix.
Another we played was Struggle for Catan the card game, this game simply isn’t for me. I keep trying it and I just don’t get on with it. I incidentally don’t particularly like Catan either so I guess that shouldn’t be a surprise. Off out the collection it trots.
I taught MJ how to play The Really Nasty Horse Racing Game. This is epic, epic as in good not as in long. You are racing horses and betting on the outcome. There are horses falling, remounting, runaway horses and photo finishes. It is a bit chaotic, there is a lot of underhand throwing of races to get the result you want, and it is excellent. You win millions in paper money which is always good. It definitely sings at higher player counts, but it is still a decent game at two. Silly, family weight, and good fun. As exciting as the races, but more animal-friendly.
Today was a day for playing the traditional “entry level games”, we played Catan (the card version, see above) and also Carcassonne. Before playing both of these games felt like a chore, but turns out we were right about Catan but as wrong as can be about Carcassonne. Which has earnt all that praise and those glittering awards. This has been sitting on our shelf unplayed, and turns out, unjustifiably. There is something magical in the simplicity of base game Carcassonne. We did have to read the rules as we couldn’t remember much about how to play, but we enjoyed it. So much so, we rescored it out of 10. It earned its place in our collection, and we will be taking it off the shelf a lot more often.
So the moral to my boxing day is don’t trust your remembered impressions always, but sometimes you might be right. And also that a PhD doesn’t make you smart.
Boxing Day roundup; Linkee, Stay Tuned, Carcassonne, Struggle for Catan, Shuffle Trivial Pursuit, and The Really Nasty Horse Racing Game.