What's this blog all about?

"Board games? You play board games?" I hear you say... yes, but not unlike any board games you've probably ever heard of. Monopoly? Cluedo? Guess Who? Battleships? No, not by a long shot. One day someone introduced me to a great little game called "Carcassonne" - named after a French medieval town of rambling streets, walls and sections - where the aim is to score the most points using little random squares of road, walls and cities.
I was hooked and so began my, then our - the Bradshaw Tribe, adventure into Euro- and Ameritrash- gaming...

Sunday 9 March 2008

Gulo gulo....means "Wolverine"??


Surely this is a mistake.... when someone mentions a Wolverine, the first thing I think of that guy with the hair and claws from the X-Men. Not little cute furry things clutching eggs. But so it seems they are. "Gulo Gulo" is a great little game and much enjoyed by the kids. We played a couple of games last weekend.


Then last night, Anita and I played a great game of Ticket to Ride: Europe - after lights out for the kids and over a glass of wine and a drop of Malibu white rum. :) It turned out to be a complete thrashing by Anita - 120 points to 55. I tried desperately to link up Copenhagen to some place in Turkey but Anita cut me out by using all the trains up, leaving me with a 21 point penalty! Yikes! We agreed we should get the Ticket to Ride:USA edition at some point.


Final Score: Anita 120 Me 55

This morning we decided to crack open the new game Mystery of the Abbey - an interesting Whodunnit based in a monestary. A monk has been done over and it is up to each character to find out which of the 24 characters on the detective sheet did the deed. The abbey is divided up into a series of Latin named rooms, such as the Chapel, Bedrooms, Library etc. On each turn, the players visit rooms and question their fellow monks in the game to determine the characteristics of the wrong-doer - such as fat/thin, bearded/unshaven and which of the three Chapters. This is done by questioning the other players about the cards they hold or which they have marked off on their sheet.


Rooms also allow certain events to take place or cards to be drawn which effect the game. On each rotation of the game circle of players, the current First player moves a little Mass bell one space on the current Mass card until 5th rotation when mass is called (The little tinkling bell is shaken for effect) and all characters return to the Chapel.

It took a little while to get into with me returning to the rule book several times to help people out, but eventually we all got into the game with Anita finally revealing who she thought had done it and was successful. It was a little difficult to understand, especially for the children, what were the right sort of questions to ask, but eventually we all got into the swing of things. It was generally enjoyed by all but again, introducing adults-only to the game may present a different level of game play. Beware, this is a long game - 1 to 1.5hrs recommended.