This week the bitter cold and other events conspired to keep attendance low. We had 5 attendees, and played 3 games.

Attendees: David F. (Host), Scott, Calvin, Durward, & Andrew

Games Played: Rette Sich Wer Kann, Traumfabrik, Balloon Cup

Scott and Calvin brought Rette Sich Wer Kann & Traumfabrik as promised last week, and Rette was the first to hit the table. After spending a few minutes putting together the voting disks (Scotch double-sided tape worked great here) and discussing the rules, we were off in our leaky lifeboats. This game is very interesting and a study in bluff, trust, and betrayal. Every aspect of the game is handled by the basic rule of "Majority Rules" and votes are taken on which ship moves, who gets shoved overboard, and so on. It was interesting to play, and I think everyone had a good time. Early on, Calvin was able to use his last (possibly second) Captain's hat to push a boat with 4 sailors to an island and score 20 points. This proved to be an insurmountable lead, and he won easily, with Scott coming in second and Durward and I tied for third (which is so much better than "tied for last").

Next up was Reiner Knizia's game of movie production, "Traumfabrik". In this game, components of movies (cameramen, directors, actors, guest stars, music, FX, etc.) are available for auction, and they go to the highest bidder. The winner of the bid pays his winning contracts amount into a pot, from which the losers may draw an equal number of contracts each. Thereby, the winner gets poorer, and the losers get richer. I proved in playing this game that it is possible to keep losing more than you gain, however. Durward and Scott fought for the worst film, and Calvin and Andrew completed several movies, while I sat around and watched. Scott and I both completed our first movies on the final turn, which is not a good sign. The final scores were Calvin 78, Andrew 66, Durward 56, Scott 53, David 48. This is a great game, and I look forward to playing it again soon.

Calvin and Scott had to leave a bit early at this point, so I introduced Durward to Stephen Glenn's 2-player game "Balloon Cup". In this game, you compete for the first 3 trophies of 5 available. You compete to win cubes of each trophies color on tiles marked for high and low cards. You can play on your side or your opponents, and this often gives you the choice of using low cards to hurt your opponent on a high tile, or to help yourself on a low tile. Durward caught on quickly and after catching his second trophy ended up with enough leftover cubes from the green trophy I had caught earlier, to also capture his third and win the game. Well played game and one of my favorite 2-player games.

Everyone had a great time, and we look forward to next week. The plan is to play a game of Amun-Re and anything else that strikes our fancy. We meet again this coming Friday (January 23), starting at 7:00 and going until around midnight or so. Follow the links below for directions, and email me for more information, if you wish.