Bring out an old favourite - oh, and go on then, 7 Wonders

With the weekend nearly over, having spent most of it at the in-laws celebrating a joint birthday for Maya and her cousin Anusha, we decided to use up the rest of the Sunday afternoon/early evening playing some games. Firstly I grabbed an old favourite that hasn't been played in a while, Zooleretto. It has been some time since we last played this and I, and probably all of us, had forgot how much we enjoyed it. 

The premise of the game is to build and run the most successful Zoo - each player starts with a zoo board with three locations for animals, a 6 animal spot, a 5 animal spot and a 4 animal spot. There is also a Barn on the board for spare animals that cannot be located. 15 tiles are also separated from the bag and placed aside for the End Game. 

Each player receives a "lorry" - a wooden container with three slots. These are placed in the middle of the table and a black bag is passed around from which the player draws a tile and places it on one of the free slots on a wooden lorry. The tiles could be an animal (elephant, tiger, panda etc), a coin for financial deals (the player starts with 2) or a Refreshment Stand. 

The lorries gradually fill up, with players trying to place animals and other tiles in a combination that they want but hope no one else wants. Play continues, with drawing of tiles, until a player decides they want a particular lorry - at this point, they pass on the bag without drawing and simply take the lorry of their choice - this can be a lorry with one, two or all three spaces filled. 

Once the player has taken a lorry, they take the tiles and either place them in empty animal spots (the same animal can only go into the same enclosure - no flamingoes into the tiger pen, as much as we want to!), into their own money supply or as a refreshment stand for an enclosure. If the player has no room for an animal tile (or more), then that spare animal has to go into the Barn. Animals in the Barn cause negative points at the end of the game. 

Each enclosure has two point values (well three actually) - a Full value, a Only One To Go value and Only a Few Animals + A Refreshment. This sounds complex, but in reality it isn't. 

For example, the 1st Enclosure with 6 animal spaces scores 10/6 - this means if you fill it with 6 pandas for example, you get 10 points at the end of the game - only 5 pandas, you get 6 points at the end of the game. If you say for example put in only 3, but you have a Refreshment Stall in the bottom right of the enclosure, the player is allowed 1 point per animal e.g. 3 points in this case. No Refreshment Stall = 0 points! 

So the aim is to fill those enclosures - some enclosures also give coins for filling them up; coins can be used to open up a new 5 space enclosure, buy animals from other players Barns (1 coin to them, 1 to the bank), remove an animal from your own barn etc etc. It's all down to management of the Zoo as well as picking the animals, but it's done on a very simple level that even Maya can appreciate. That's not to say its too simple for adults. 

Animals can also have offspring, for example some animal tiles come with a Male and Female symbol, which when placed in the same enclosure, produces a small round baby animal tile which can be used to bolster an enclosure number. Animals can only be paired once, so a new male or female would need a new male or female tile to produce a 2nd child tile. 

Finally, when all of the tiles are used up, the tiles from the 15 separate ones are used for 1 round then the game ends. 

Scoring is based on the following: 

Successful filling of enclosures;

Number of similar refreshment types = 2 points per type (eg three apple carts = 1 type = 2 points)

Number of similar animal types in the barn = -2 points per type (eg 1 camel, 2 tigers, 2 pandas = 3 different types = -6 points). 

This is a highly enjoyable game to play and the final winner is hard to determine until right until the end. It's loved by every one in the family and they are always up for a game. It's full of strategy and management that's not too hard to handle, so fun for everyone! 

Afterwards we also had a game of 7 Wonders just because we love it so much! It's hard to think we'll ever find a game to replace it! 

Gaming in front of an open fire

An open fire as in cosy, coal and logs and not in the guns n bullets variety. Anyhow we decided to crack open a few games with our backs to the lovely glowing fire. Firstly it was all time family favourite Zooleretto. It was a hard fought game between myself, Roshni and Maya. This time we used the proper "Remove an animal depending on the number of players" - we removed Kangaroos and Flamingoes. This made the game go so much better as we didn't end up with a surplus of animals each at the end. There was still room to make plays for each others spare animals and even run out of animals before we'd completed Pens. The game felt much much better. Roshni won in the end.

Then came a couple of games of Mayas all time favourite, Diamant. This involved all accept Kavita as she was doing homework. Such an easy concept yet devilishly addictive - it requires a combination of luck and nerves to make sure you outwit your opponents yet come out with enough gems to make the effort worthwhile.

Maya won the first round, whilst Anita won the second.

Gaming day jolly!!

Yay! Monday was a day of getting together with my best mate Matt at his place whilst he had the place to himself for a few days to play games, eat pizza and drink beer! It was also an opportunity to introduce him and his game-aspiring daughter to Euro gaming :) I had brought most of the games with me to try and squeeze in as much as possible.

Firstly we played Diamant as a good introduction. This went down a storm - very popular as it is very easy to learn but difficult to master - Hannah, Matts daughter, got the idea straight away and loved it - eventually winning the game.

Next out of the bag was Zooloretto - obviously it took a bit to explain the rules, but the game proceeded quite well, with only a few references to the rules - this game has a great system where although it is a fairly complex game, say compared to Diamant, there is no text in the game to get confused with; no cards to read or text to ponder over. Again highly enjoyed by all - and again won by Hannah. :)

It was time then to drop off Hannah to her grandparents; after which Matt and I explored the contents of 7th Fleet and Gunslinger, just to get an idea of what ye olde '80s punch counter games were like - actually Gunslinger looked quite attractive to play and if I'd known the rules we'd have given it a go.

So we had a go at Back to the Future the card game - I've played this a few times solo play, so this was a good chance to test out the rules with two of us. The concept of how to play took a bit to understand (even for me and I'd played a few times!) but after getting into the swing of it, it was a great game - won by Matt in the end.

Next was Niagara - Matt loved the idea of the plastic discs acting as the flowing river and there was much merriment in pseudo-Mexican voices. The ending was full of tension as we both had our fill of gems, me 5 different coloured gems, Matt his mixed collection of 7. We just needed to get one more gem each to the finishing line. With our last paddle cards and the end in sight, we raced for him - Matt pipping me to the post!! Another game lost! :)

Next was Memoir '44 - actually two games of Memoir as it was so popular with Matt. The only unfortunate thing I found was that set up took too long and was actually a bit confusing with two people on opposite sides of the table whilst looking at the map in the book. Something to consider in the future. But the games went off really well - the first an American attack against heavily entrenched German positions - including several elite German tank platoons; leading to a win by Germany that followed the course of History. Then it was another try at an Omaha beach landing, this time with Matt as the Americans. This turned into an unmitigated disaster for the Yanks as one after another unit and platoon were destroyed or mown down on the beaches of France.  Notch one up for me! this would turn out to be my only win of the day...

Finally we had a game of Last Night on Earth - and as I'd not played this before, game play proceeded a little slowly at first as Matt read the rules, counters were punched and cards were shuffled. The scenario we took was Get Petrol and Keys for the Truck! or something like that. This involved my humans searching for petrol and keys whilst fending off the undead! Unfortunately one character after another died and then the Sun set and it was game over man game over! A good game, if not 100% my cup of tea in its mechanics. Perhaps another couple of games will win me over.

In all, a hugely successful gaming day/night! Cannot wait to do it again!

Gaming at last!

After 3 weeks of virtually no gaming at all, due to spending a lot of time in the loft clearing it out, making room for a work desk, storage etc, we finally managed to play a couple of games - Maya, Anita and I played a good game of Niagara, where Anita won by a deft little steal of a gem from me, then a quick pick up of another gem on the next turn. Then we played Zooloretto and Maya and I came joint 1st as I used the last of my coins to remove an animal from my barn, hence saving me from an extra -2 points at the end of the game!

It was nice to be back in the boxes and playing again after so long.

Holiday gaming!

Just because we up sticks and go away on holiday to Derbyshire for a week, doesn't mean we stop playing :) Firstly we had a game of the old favourite Citadels, deftly won by Anita.

Couple of days later we had a play of Zooloretto - not played this in a while - again won by Anita! Both great games to enjoy over a beer, wine (juice for the kids!) and Doritos!

Another purchase - but lying low for a while to avoid Wrath of Wife!

I couldn't escape the Gravitational Pull of Battlequest on Saturday and popped in to get some more Top Trumps and the Stalingrad add on for Memoir. Andy's also had a bit of a change around and added some more family friendly stock. First to catch my eye was Pandemic which I'd had my eye on for a while, but I'm worried about the "domineering individual" over a group of co-op players - especially as I'd be playing with a younger team and I'd end up being THAT player! :) Which I don't want. Was sorely tempted to get the 1910 add on for Ticket to Ride USA and/or the couple of new Zooleretto add ons I'd spotted but I decided against it - buying one thing was wrath enough! I'll have to avoid the place for a couple of weeks...

A Saturday of gaming

Wow - a whole load of games today - first Eketorp, then Zooloetto then Ticket to Ride (USA map). Eketorp was played by myself, Roshni and Maya - a fab game of warring Viking tribes (I think Eketorp is German for Viking although Google Translate doesn't seem to think so, but hey, what does Google know...). The idea is everyone gets a group of little wooden guys, a card is drawn that shows where to place several pieces of material (Bales of grass/hay, wood, clay and stone) - each worth more in points value.

Once these have been placed, players then secretly using a marked board and screen place their warriors where they want to attack or claim materials. Once revealed, everyone moves their warriors to the appropriate places - any in dispute then have to fight over the materials using combat cards marked 1 to 6; the higher card wins, knocking the other to a hospital, the bigger the difference in card numbers, the longer they have to stay in the hospital - but the cards are swapped over and placed on the board where they can be picked up again if the the players cards run out, so you can't ever have one dominating player - neat idea.

After all combat has taken place, including any attacks on villages, players take back their "booty" to store in their village. The first to 18 pieces ends the game and score is counted on the number of pieces * their value (grass/hay worth 1 whilst stone is worth 5).

This is a medium length game, but a fantastic play - everyone one can get involved and it is simple to play; combat mechanics is very simple, but effective and play never becomes stagnated. An all round favourite.

Later in the evening was a 4 player Zooloretto - again a great game, Roshni won just in time; taking the Polar Bear Cub add on was decisive. The Cub halves all Barn negative scores at the end of the game.

Finally in the evening over drinks and crisps, Anita and I duked it out in a game of Ticket to Ride: USA map. In a close fought contest, Anita passed me by 3 points when it came to the ticket count up at the end, but she failed on one ticket, loosing her 10 points - final score 92 to me, 87 to Anita! I never win at this! Yay!

A Sunday of gaming fun

Today was a nice sunny Sunday and before I was tasked to tackled the overgrowing garden, we sat to play some games. Poor Kavita had homework to attend to so Roshni, Maya, Anita and I had a game of Zooleretto, Diamant and Formula 1.

Zooleretto was a good blur of animals, money and competition. You have to be quick on your toes to outwit Anita at this game; yet with the competitiveness it also brings out the friendly banter of helping each other to achieve the animals we need. With this game we played with the Petting Zoo, Elephant/Zebra/Flamingo mini-add ons and Polar Bear cub add ons, giving just the right balance of complexity vs fun. A few times Anita asked Maya if she was ok or needed help but she shook her head and said "I'm thinking" lol.

Final score Anita (41), Me (28), Roshni and Maya (18)

The zoos build up; the Polar bear is still up for grabs;	The game is in full swing - they are usually a fast, frantic affair with hands all over.

Bank Holiday Gaming Madness!!

Wow! What a bank holiday weekend! What do you do when it's the standard UK Bank Holiday fair ie cold wet and damp? Get out your favourite Euro games and start gaming like mad!! This was a weekend we wanted to spend time as a family, and gaming is one of the best ways we can do this.



Firstly, it was one of Maya's favourites - Gulo Gulo. A fun family favourite - nice quick and simple especially for the younger gamer - results: Roshni won! :)



Ok, then it was Ticket to Ride: USA version. An excellent tactical game with nice and simple rules. Last time we played this, the Europe version, the kids just didn't quite get it, so we thought we would play the simpler US one in teams. So it was Kavita and I vs Roshni and Anita with Maya playing with her own stuff by her own accord. They started to get a good idea of what was involved to play, especially Kavita who started to get into the tactical side. Still, it was an Anita/Roshni win at a crushing 131 to 57.

Then came another big family fav, especially with Anita, Zooloretto. This is a brilliant family game with so many tactical aspects that are very subtle and easily played by the kids, even Maya with a little help. Anita obsolutely loves this one and it shows! :) Final scores Roshni/Anita - 35, Maya - 29, Kavita 26 and me bringing up the rear at 17.

The addons really bring great new dimensions to the game and are thoroughly worth it. Cannot wait to get Aquaretto!

Up next was Queens Necklace - a great little 'Days of Wonder' Gem trading game set in the 1800s or something in France. The idea is to purchase gems that may well sell for large amounts at the Kings court at three sales that will occur during the game. And that is what I love about Euro style games - the time limit on the back of the box is how long it will last! When they say 1 hr, its how long it will last because of in built game mechanics and rules. Its an amazing principle. So if we know we have only 45 mins spare, we dig out Zooleretto knowing it will last 45 mins. Again Anita won this hands down - Kavita: £140, Anita: £480, Maya: £240 and me: £280.

Then there was time for quick game of Diamant - always a favourite with Maya - and yes, yet again she wiped the floor with us! Maya: 43, Kavita: 35, Anita: 25 and Me: 18...

Finally today we played Eketorp. Just a great game - all sorts of fun - although I tried lots of tactical gaming and Viking raids on other villages, yet again Maya won us out (She is 5 remember...!) - 5th place - Me 17 points 4th place - Roshni 26 points 3rd place - Kavita 30 points, 2nd place - Anita with 32 points and finally Maya with a whopping 47 points!!

A great gaming weekend for one and all.

When parents game.....

Crikey been a while since I blogged - is that a bad thing? Anyhow, introduced another member of the family, my mum, came to stay and was introduced to Zooleretto and Diamant - a highly enjoyable hour and a half for the kids. Haven't really gamed for a while which is bad....so intend to get in some more asap. Less XBox Live, more board gaming - although Anita is happy to participate in both - how many husbands can say that?!

When neighbours play games!

Friday was a great success. Andy and Maggie came over in the evening bringing wine and chat. We got down to a game of Zooleretto, which after a few moments of confusion and questions, was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Having adults only play adds a certain spin to the game - immediately Andy started to impliment a strategy and was doing very well. It was a VERY close game, with final scores:
Anita - 28
Maggie - 26
Andy - 25
Me - 22

With some more red wine poured out, we ploughed ahead with a game of Eketorp. The first round is always a little slow to start which helps in a way to get the newbies used to the rules. Then we started in earnest and it turned out to be a very good game, Andy turned into quite an opponent and I daftly went for broke on the last turn to get some extra building materials, leaving no one in the village to find it attacked from two sides!! With no defence, they got away with two bales of straw! The rotters! Final scores -
Me - 40
Anita - 31
Maggie - 26
Andy - 21

Overall they loved it and enjoyed themselves. It was a great way to de-stress and they couldn't believe there was such well designed games which had well built parts and were fun to play. They are looking forward to the next game evening - especially to play "Mystery of the Abbey".

A Friday night of gaming fun planned

Just been around to invite our neighbours and friends, Andy and Maggie, for a relaxing evening of wine, nibbles and games. Ok it may not sound great, but they are both teachers, a highly stressful job, and next Friday marks the start of half-term (hurray they say!) so it'll be good for them to cool their heels with a free evening of fun, over a bottle of wine or three. Probably introduce them to Ticket to Ride: Europe, then maybe a quick filler like Formula Motor Racing and then finish up with something like Zooleretto or Citadels. Should be a nice evening in!

A weekend of gaming - yay!

Well, what an action packed weekend that was - gaming wise.

Friday night involved a fun game of Zooleretto - this is quickly becoming a family favourite. Saturday we picked up two new games from our local game supplier, www.battlequestgames.co.uk, a great guy called Andy based in Horsham who can get in any game on a whim and we save on postage as we just take a drive over! :)

The games were Gulo Gulo and Bohnanza. The first was received with much anticipation as it is a really kid friendly game where players play gulo gulos/wolverines sent to rescue a baby one from the bird lair. A series of octagonal markers mark out which coloured egg from the nest must be stolen - these eggs vary in size from large blue ones to tiny child-size-only-fingers yellow ones. The problem is that the nest (A wooden bowl) has an alarm - a stick with a small egg weight on the top. The idea is to take an egg without any other eggs falling out and/or the sticking falling out of the bowl to the table. Tricker than it sounds. If you successfully take that coloured egg, you move on to the coloured tile you uncovered, otherwise you move back to the last tile of that colour. Maya and the girls love this game, especially Maya with her tiny fingers. But fortunes change quickly and you can look like you are winning and suddenly the alarm goes off and you fall back several spaces.... recommended for 4+

We didn't play Bohnanza, although I plan to try to get in a game soon. In the evening, Anita and I played an enjoyable game of Ticket to Ride: Europe over a glass of wine. This game makes an enjoyable experience of strategy and skill with the children who just really didnt get the idea.

Gaming weekend.....

Well what a weekend that was.... everyone was very excited about having a whole weekend of gaming, especially me in that Dad was due over and I wanted to show off out new front room lay out and the game storage table with all the games. Sad I know but there you go.

Friday evening we played Formula Motor Racing - a great little simple play-by-placing-cards game using two plastic cards per team on a strip of 12 car places. As the cards are played, events take place in the race and positions change and cars crash out. Very simple and exciting, easily played by Maya (4) with little prompting - until it got to the point where Anita was giving "Strategic advice" on her card placement. In the end Anita came 1st and 2nd.

Then we had a game of Zooloretto, a fab zoo based management game from Germany. It looks complex but it is very simple to play - although this is not to understate its beautifully simple strategic side that the girls (even Maya) managed to pick up on - go German game makers!! Basically you have a zoo which you have to fill up the attractions in order to gain money to do more things with your zoo, expand it, move animals about, buy animals etc. Each turn everyone places a card counter onto a wooden "Lorry" with three spaces on them to carry animals, stalls, money etc. Then everyone takes the turn to draw a card and place on a lorry of their choice.

The player can keep doing this or take a lorry (Say they want the lorry with two elephants and the drinks stall or dustbin as Maya calls it.) and distribute the animals in the zoo. Any spare go into the barn. Once the counters have run out, then scoring takes place. Animals in the barn count against the final score. This is a basic coverage of the game but it is very compelling to play.

Unfortunately a broken washing machine, that lead to a 4.5hr round trip to Farnborough, on Saturday messed up our plans - so no gaming on Saturday and we were so tired, we didn't do any on Sunday!! :(