Sold some games!

Sold some games! Zombies!!! went to Brian after the 3 hr fiasco the last time we played it; I didn't really like it and didn't think that the game wasn't amazing. Pandemic although good, didn't really work with us as a family; the couple of or so times we played it we found it frustrating and annoying. The thing we love about Euro games is the not knowing who has won until right at the end, right up to the final count. Even then things can change in some games. But Pandemic you can see the end coming like a brick wall at 60 mph. You can see the fact you are going to loose and nothing can be done about it, but you have to keep playing otherwise why play. And the fact no one wins if the game wins makes it a bit frustrating. So, it's going to a better home where it might be loved more.

And bought a new one! Ticket to Ride: Europe 1912 expansion.... should be fun over Christmas!

Finally we won at Pandemic!!

Hurray we beat Pandemic!! With the combined brain power of 4 of us plus Maya helping with cards, we finally managed to beat this game with much elation. But it was no mean feat - we just got through with the skin of our teeth, first taking out the blue, then black, then yellow and finally the red disease using a combination of passing cards to the right people in the right cities. We thought we were doomed with Roshni in the US and we needed her in China to finish off the red disease when we realised there was a direct link from San Francisco to Japan which enabled her to pass on the required card to me and then I took all five cards to the Research Station to cure the red disease! A great cheer went up when we won! Can't wait to play again!

2nd play of Pandemic - beaten again!!

Four of us, Anita, Roshni, Maya and I played played this again - again a fun, fast, furious 40 minutes and again we were sounded defeated! We ran out of Player Cards, which is one of the game-over triggers...we even managed to cure 3 of the 4 diseases and eradicate one of them!! The challenge of winning as a team is what makes this game great for us.

Second play of Pandemic - we almost won!!!

A day after our disastrous attempt at saving the world from the 4 diseases of Pandemic, we played again, again with 4 of us with Maya playing with Anita (although she wasn't feeling too well so she mostly observed). This time we were more on the ball - Anita was the Engineer again and she undertook the task of establishing Science Stations throughout the World, firstly in South America where the Yellow disease had exploded and was on its way to North America, then Europe and then Asia. Roshni was the Scientist and she became our key because she only needed 4 instead of the normal 5 disease cards to produce a cure. Kavita was the Medic and flew from city to city stamping on major out breaks to buy the rest of us time. Meanwhile I tried to get together with Roshni to pass her on vital city/disease cards because I had the ability to pass on one city card per action any where in the world as long as we were together.

We got a few epidemics, but luckily there was no major spreads of any diseases and Kavita was able to keep a lid on them. Then a breakthrough with a cure for firstly the blue, then yellow then black diseases! All we needed was to team up in Manilla to share disease cards to get a cure sorted at the Research Station in Japan - except we ran out of player cards! Which meant Game over man! Game over! So close, so close - we could see the inevitable about to happen and we tried all we could to think our way through to beating the game, but to no avail - the red virus runs unchecked through Asia!!

A brilliant game allround - so much tension! A must play again!

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.

Spread the joy of gaming

I was chatting to an old friend on msn the other day, a great guy from school who is a PhD in Astrophysics or something. Anyhow, we started talking about our game collection and I introduced him to boardgamegeek. He came back in a few days and was enthusing about two games he wanted to get and where to get them from, Puerto Rico and Pandemic. Even his wife wanted to get in on the act and was interested in Eketorp! Spread the news people! Yay!