Eketorp and Pandemic - an old favourite and a new game with a surprise

Tonight we played an old favourite, Eketorp, and a new game, Pandemic. Eketorp is about warring Viking villages, battling over resources to build their fortifications. Roshni is particularly adept at this game and before we knew it, she'd won 18 blocks (this is one of the ways to win - the other is that the resource cards run out.) and she won the game on points! The next game was Pandemic - a fast paced game that pits the players against the game to defeat 4 diseases. The game lasted a bit longer than it should (45 mins) but it ended very suddenly when the red disease overran Asia and all was lost!

Family gaming night tonight!!

A family game night is planned for tonight what with the timely purchase of Pandemic - we thought it a good idea to play it with some other games we've not played for a while; Eketorp for starters and probably one other if we get time. Then later when the kids either run off to watch a DVD or go to bed, Anita and I will have a game of Ticket to Ride over wine and nibbles.

Confirmed - we're going to buy Pandemic because it CAN support 5 players!

Whilst looking into Isla Dorada, I also looked up on boardgamegeek about Pandemic, a game I'd heard a lot about and featured in the top 10 Family Board Games. At first I was put off by the idea behind the game - up to 4 players working together to fight world wide disease; sounded lovely. But the more I researched into it, the more I was intrigued. Plus Anita liked the idea of a new style of game where we worked together rather than competitively. Unfortunately it is only a 4 player game - the age range is perfect for us as is the time limit, but it is 2~4 players, with each player taking one of 5 roles, ie one left over. There remained an ambiguity that no one says you cant play 5 players as there is sufficient roles. House rules on 'geek indicate this also. It might make it easier to play against the diseases, but there you go. Also if we like it enough, there is also an add on containing new rules and an official 5 player set of rules.

A bit more research and a question or two on 'geek made my mind up - we'll research Dorada a bit more (because it is so new, with the aim to getting it if it lives up to its reputation), but for now we'll get Pandemic. I had a look on the top ten family games on 'geek - we own 8 of them!! The others being Stone Age which is apparently a Must play but it's 4 players only - and a game called Crokinole which looks like it has play based around marbles and it was invented in 1867, so that's a no then lol.

Memoir '44 - US crush German counterattack! Isla Dorada on order - sort of

Today Roshni and I had a good go at Memoir '44 - as usual Roshni took the role of the Germans whilst I was the Americans in a battle post-Normandy. The Germans wanted to counter-attack but the Americans had paratroopers ready to hold them back. Also two platoons of US tanks were ready to roll because US intelligence had broken German radio signals (That is possibly historically inaccurate but there you go) and the tanks were sent to force back the counter-attack. Roshni tried all she could to force a gap in the US paratrooper lines, but nothing could be done when the US tanks attacked from the left and through the centre, destroying first one then the other German tank platoon. This lead to a general German collapse and a win for US forces! Yay as this is a rare event for me!

Also I paid a visit to Andy at Battlequestgames and had a serious think about a new game - either Isla Dorada, a treasure hunting game set on an island in the 1930s - or Pandemic, a co-op game saving the world from multiply diseases. I put Isla Dorada on order, but Pandemic is quite a good game, ranking very high on the Family Geek list...